Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="CPaladin" data-source="post: 8931742" data-attributes="member: 7030144"><p>Session 149 (November 17, 2022)</p><p></p><p>19 O-Tar (cont'd)</p><p>It is nearly time for the Council to teleport to Mandrath for the funeral, but they have a few pressing matters first. Dame Brionna has a report [attached] from Sergeant Fenwick of the city guard that a page of the court was targeted by an assassin, though he survived; page was named Darben, and he was attacked with a crossbow with a poisoned bolt as he was leaving Paranswarmian temple. He's at a chirurgeon's, with one guard; Dame Brionna increases the guard on him. Kit sets her people on tracing the poison that was used and see who might have been skulking in shadows. Also, it was a heavy crossbow bolt, in the Upper City, which is surprising.</p><p></p><p>Kit does object reading on the bolt, and gets a clear picture of the chirurgeon and of the assassin, and then the boltmaker. The assassin looks to be local, used to heavy labor, of common birth, and practicing shooting at targets; started out incompetent with a crossbow. Kit concludes by comparing his callouses to her dad's that he's a stone mason. She also sees a woman of similar birth who appears and then vanishes.</p><p></p><p>Kit also received a long report about Hanal. [Attached] There are some 4 million refugees fleeing the country. The capital is in an advanced state of collapse, with demons and Blooddriven roaming the streets openly. Most of the sutlers of the Hanalian army have deserted.</p><p></p><p>Dame Brionna suggests using sutlers who are fleeing the army to help organize and supply the refugees. They also reach out to the Weeping Woman's clergy to vet and assist this process. They agree that they need to discuss this with Anastasia as well.</p><p></p><p>It takes them a moment to figure out exactly who Darben is, but he is the heir-apparent of the Kov of Snatterkaz (his nephew), and a page in the household of Alistair. They immediately move him back into the palace and command that he be added to the list of pages that are not permitted to leave the palace.</p><p></p><p>The lieutenant in charge of one of Dame Brionna's squads reports to her. His squad traveled to the chirurgeon's house to move Darben back into the safety of the palace. As they arrived, the city guard who was in position already was killed, also with a crossbow. Darben, however, was not further harmed, and they were able to bring him back to the palace. Kit asks that the crossbow bolt be brought to the palace. When it arrives, she does an object reading on it; this one was shot by the same person. However, the person before that who had this one was a male priest, lawful evil, who blessed the bolt, and then back to the same boltmaker. Weapons makers within Canberry City are registered, so they send a description of the boltmaker to the registry to identify him.</p><p></p><p>They add Darben to the list of pages not permitted to leave the palace; a priest of Paranswarm will now come to him. (They also confirm that the priest of Paranswarm was not the priest who blessed the bolt--they call him to the palace and then Kit observes him secretly while he waits in an antechamber and compares him to the person she saw with object reading.) [There's a slight potential inconsistency here--when Darben first arrived, Alistair instructed him not to leave the palace without permission and placed him on the list of people who were not permitted out. So he should have had a priest coming to him, instead of traveling to the Hanalian court in exile to attend Paranswarmian services. We didn't remember this at the time, and haven't fully reconciled it yet.]</p><p></p><p>The chirurgeon reports that Darben will live; he was fortunate, because if the bolt had struck a little lower, it would have gone through his heart. Before the guards arrived, someone was trying to pick the lock on his door, though not with much skill. He also reports that there are shortages of herbs, and is surprised that the chirurgeon's union has not contacted the palace about it. The priest who was summoned neutralized the poison, which would have otherwise turned him into an idiot. Psions or a potent alchemist could have made it; it was made from kyrith.</p><p></p><p>Kit's father comes stomping in. He knows who the person was; working on the cathedral, a fanatic who thinks Glordiadelians should wipe out other religions. "A skilled stonemason, though."</p><p></p><p>They keep her father at the palace, send some people to bring him in, and call for Princess Anastasia.</p><p></p><p>Anastasia is horrified about the whole thing. Dame Brionna asks who would be next in line if Darben died. Her answer doesn't reassure anyone: his mother's sister, a stromette who is loyal to the Usurper, would have the best claim.</p><p></p><p>They also tell her about the conditions in the capital, and about the number of refugees fleeing. They also tell her about knowing the disposition of the Iron Legions and the supply problems. She points out that a third of the legions are missing--not casualties, as far as she knows, but simply missing in the list of legions. Over 100 legions are missing. The countryfolk have generally been faster to flee than the residents of the other cities, but the cities will have grossly inadequate food supply.</p><p></p><p>Kit asks Anastasia about a report of the military placing victims in "thrones." Anastasia responds that those may be concentrators, which allow the enemy to strap victims in and to drain their lives, which supplies energy that is then fed north. They are selective about who they strap in--most of the people they take are simply killed. Anastasia also says that she has been informed by a loyal na-strom that they are building these things in concealed ways, under ground or under lead.</p><p></p><p>Kit suggests scrying to see if they can find the legion standards of the missing legions. Dame Brionna mentions the possibility that they might be off-plane.</p><p></p><p>They begin interrogating the mason-assassin. He is a mad zealot. A priest told him that the best thing to do was to kill the boy because he is a servant of the Darkness. His wife had recently died, and he blamed her death on Glordiadel's displeasure about the toleration of servants of darkness. He got the crossbow with silver from the priest. He practiced extensively, and then shot him. The priest said he needed to die. The priest was named Dervon the Bold, and he "shined with the Light. When you look at him, it's like he's surrounded and transfigured by the light of Glordiadel. When he speaks of the light of Purity and truth he begins to glow from within, and it spreads out from within him. I've never seen the like."</p><p></p><p>"Was there blue flame?"</p><p></p><p>"I saw no flame, only light, light."</p><p></p><p>They decide to hold him until they can have Dervon the Bold arrested, and then to hand him over to the regular city authorities for trial.</p><p></p><p>----</p><p></p><p>The lot of them teleport to Mandrath. Kit decides to leave Jamie in the palace, though she both doesn't want to leave him and doesn't want to take him with her. Dame Brionna arranges a variety of escape plans, arcane, divine, and psionic. They teleport into a staging area at the palace at Mandrath City. It isn't too crowded when they arrive.</p><p></p><p>They are announced, and then a woman in completely white except for a black sash, standing with a group of other women similarly dressed, approaches. "At last I get to meet you. We must have apported in at precisely the right time. I'm the Black Witch. It's an honor to I meet you in person."</p><p></p><p>"It is an honor to meet you as well, Your Grace."</p><p></p><p>"Losing the Archbaroness has not been good for this continent."</p><p></p><p>"It is a great tragedy, indeed, although tragedy understates the degree of malice involved in the enemy causing it."</p><p></p><p>"And her daughter never enjoyed this position and never intended to reign. She is very green. I do not know how well she will rise to the occasion."</p><p></p><p>"I have undertaken to the Temple of Paranswarm that I will have certain conversations with her daughter, and see to it that that she understands her need to to step up and carry out her duties, even if she does not wish to or had not intended to."</p><p></p><p>"It's good that someone such as yourself will do what someone like myself cannot do so."</p><p></p><p>"And were someone from, say, Tarsh to have that conversation, there might be a feeling of seeking to treat Mandrath as being a satellite or the like, where obviously that could not possibly be a relationship between Canberry and Mandrath."</p><p></p><p>"Correct. And Emperor Jazriel is very young indeed. That does not make him unproficient. His hold on Tarsh gets stronger section by section. But he is very young."</p><p></p><p>"Do you know, is His Holiness coming?"</p><p></p><p>"I have not been informed, but let's be honest: How could he not? True, some of the traditionalists will mutter about him leaving the Holy See, but for the funeral of the Defender of the Faith..."</p><p></p><p>"Do you know, has an effective regency been established for Ergmoth?"</p><p></p><p>"No, there is as of yet no effort to establish a permanent regent. The First Mouth has declared that the new Archbaroness will fill the position temporarily, but we all know that it's very temporary, since she must remain here. She will be hard pressed enough to maintain order and loyalty in her own realm."</p><p></p><p>"Yes."</p><p></p><p>"If there were not the matter of faith, I would consider the Grand Duchess's sister, Lady Micarlanna, but for Ergmoth, it must be a Paranswarmian. There's already one Paranswarmian kingdom with a regent of the Light. That cost the temple much, but they were related. Even relationship would not allow for Ergmoth, with the Holy See in it."</p><p></p><p>"Would her sister consider accepting endarkening?"</p><p></p><p>"I have not had the chance to talk to her. She did engage in the quest to recover the young Grand Duke. Unfortunately, as you know, it failed. She does take these things seriously. Perhaps. Perhaps I will attempt to speak to her, but perhaps it would not be a bad thing if you did as well."</p><p></p><p>Behind them, they hear a hum, and a moment later the same friendly herald announces, "The Lord Guardian of the City of Ravenscrag."</p><p></p><p>The Black Witch and her entourage of women, all of whom radiate powerful magic, start moving along to avoid blocking the arrival of more guests. Alistair and the Council follow after them, as she seems to know where she's going and they do not.</p><p></p><p>The palace is large, though not as large as the palace in Canberry, and well fortified. They enter a large reception hall, with perhaps 100 people in it. There is a long reception line, with the new Archbaroness--Lady Deborah-- greeting everyone in turn. Lady Deborah is distinctly older than Alistair or Jazriel, but only perhaps 30, and with a well-favored appearance. There are guards, but Dame Brionna views them as grossly inadequate. Some of her guards go out as scouts or pickets, to keep an eye on things.</p><p></p><p>There is a bishop of Paranswarm standing behind and to the left of the Archbaroness, with a symbol of the Weeping Woman on his stoll--a single red teardrop on the black stoll.</p><p></p><p>She murmurs things with the Black Witch, who then moves along.</p><p></p><p>"Your Most Excellence."</p><p></p><p>"Your Majesty. My mother spoke very well of you."</p><p></p><p>"We offer our most sincere condolences on your losses."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you. I appreciate your coming all this way..." She launches into what is clearly formal pleasantries.</p><p></p><p>They can hear a certain stirring in the line behind them.</p><p></p><p>"Now is not the time for us to have a more involved conversation, but based in part on some undertakings that I have made to the leadership of your temple, I will need to speak in private with you at a more appropriate time. Your consort would be more than welcome to join us as it touches on him as well."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you, Your Majesty. That is more courteous than I'm used to."</p><p></p><p>"Perhaps do not thank me too much until after we've had a chance to speak. But I will simply say now, if there is anything that we can do to support you and to assist you, we are more than happy to do so."</p><p></p><p>Kit circulates and has conversations about the Lord Guardian of Ravenskrag. He felt that he had to attend, because Mandrath is the second most important trade partner with the Eastern Trade Federation (and by extension Ravenskrag), behind only Tarsh. He appears dreadfully bored, as he is known to many, and viewed as too important for many of the members of the monarchical entourages to approach, but not significant enough for many of the rulers themselves to want to spend time with.</p><p></p><p>Most of the great leaders of the world are present-almost all of the ones from Khamista, and a smattering of other ones. The Black Witch and the White Witch stake out positions on opposite walls of the room. It is a who's-who of Khamista, with a dribble of Zestqua, and a dash of Drucien. Meredith the Dazzling also attends, somewhat surprisingly. Masque is represented by a group of wolf-masked people, representing the Empress. (Kit arranges through young Lord Brightspan for the service to provide the delegation from Masque food that is suitable for them to have--because they cannot remove their masks in public, the regular canapes and even drinks could not be eaten.)</p><p></p><p>Kit also receives a discrete message suggesting that she fix her make-up in a dressing chamber. She slips out and meets with her counterpart; en route, she notes a variety of minds lurking within the walls.</p><p></p><p>Kit enters a room with a single, female guard outside. A few minutes later, a familiar courtier enters, walks next to her, and begins pinning her clothes back in position while talking quietly.</p><p></p><p>"Thank you for coming to meet me. The Archbarony faces a trying time, and we will need to focus on holding the realm together, but someone needs to be keeping an eye on the broader issues that threaten Khamista."</p><p></p><p>"Let's begin with Mandrath's issues, so I can see if we can do anything to assist."</p><p></p><p>"I do not know that there is anything anyone but the Archbaroness can do. She must be strong, and demonstrate her strength, to prevent the nobles from breaking away. All of the nobles have their own armies. We are originally a confederacy. We became an archbarony by the might and the willpower of her great-grandfather. When there's any sign of weakness, some of the old rulers go their own way, and they become dominions that are too small to be safe or powerful themselves, while leaving Mandrath diminished and weakened."</p><p></p><p>"So what what kind of show of strength would impress them?"</p><p></p><p>"Her mother's approach was to make an example out of some of the nobles, to show that disloyalty meant death. Several nobles announced that they would take their fleets and their lands and leave. They announced it in court. She had them seized and executed and there was not another murmur."</p><p></p><p>"So a public show of force."</p><p></p><p>"But I do not know that the new Archbaroness would be willing to follow her mother's approach. She does not have the stomach to execute people to strengthen her grasp on the reins. We're already hearing people murmur about how they their fleets could do better in trade if they weren't part of the Archbarony, yet Lady Deborah is reluctant to treat that as treason."</p><p></p><p>"Are there any convenient external enemies that they could all band together against?"</p><p></p><p>"Possibly one. There are three separate kingdoms to our northeast between the Archbarony and Ko Re Pek. One of them has been raiding our border, but it is unclear which one. Taking action against them might demonstrate strength, but they are also Paranswarmian, and attacking the wrong one could create difficulties."</p><p></p><p>"Yes, that sounds promising. I will tell all of this to my liege and see if he can help your liege go in the right direction."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you. Nonetheless, I think the greater matter is beyond our borders. The split in the Temple of Sytry is already more serious than people realize. There are two temples, functionally: the Temple of Sytry and the Temple of the Blue Star, which has effectively split off. The false temple seized Ko Re Pek, which had to then be rescued. Our concern is that in some of your nations, there is now a third column, though not a large one. If they were called to action, they could disrupt much of this entire continent, at least those lands that follow the Light, which is most of them. Because they were historically compatible, though more fanatical, there are followers of Sytry in nearly every Glordiadelian country. And while the split is obvious to the Paranswarmian hierarchy, and I believe to the Glordiadelian, but it is difficult for them to take actions. Informing the followers of Sytry that their split temple is actually serving a great evil would not be received well, and might push them away and thus towards the Blue Sun."</p><p></p><p>"Maybe we can work from the top down through the Ecumenical Council?"</p><p></p><p>"That would require the patriarch of Sytry-- the true patriarch of Sytry--to be willing to admit that the split exists. The true patriarch of Sytry has been, thus far, unwilling to publicly admit the schism.</p><p></p><p>"As you may know, one of the old orders of mystics is based in Mandrath. Our mystics tell us that at this point those who follow the Blue Star in the heavenly plane are in retreat. They are being driven out with the help of the Lady Gunnora. Once they have been fully driven out, we will then have three independent faiths of the Light. Many of their followers and priests appear to be acting in good faith, but that only makes matters worse. We thought this information is particularly important for you since your lord has been declared the Protector."</p><p></p><p>"Yes, it is his duty to take care of this, even if that isn't our particular section of the Light."</p><p></p><p>"Exactly."</p><p></p><p>"And we've seen some worrying things among people who call themselves followers of Sytry recently. And that's why I was worried when you told me about this schism. This might explain some of what we've seen, with heretics among Glordiadelians striking out at followers of other religions."</p><p></p><p>"Yes. It appears to us, --though Lady Mandrath's network was not the largest on the continent, I am temporarily able to access the network of Ergmoth as well-- that they are in some cases passing themselves off as followers of Glordiadel. Tarhanna is heavily influenced. They had an open temple of Sytry nearly a third the size of the established temple, and that temple has split. The Emperor of Tarhanna should be here."</p><p></p><p>"I will have my liege talk to him."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you." She finishes adjusting a hairpin. About that time, another lady comes in. "I hate these bustles. Don't you all hate these bustles?"</p><p></p><p>"I'm very glad that the fashion for bustles has not yet reached Drucien."</p><p></p><p>"It's reached Khamista. I have to come in here to breathe."</p><p></p><p>The other lady, a functionary with one of the other delegations, introduces herself, and shortly later Kit makes her way back to the reception.</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p><<Note to whoever controls these things: no bustles in Canberry fashion.>></p><p></p><p><<In Canberry, that's really the Empress,>> says Alistair.</p><p></p><p><<Yes, it pretty much is the Empress,>> agrees Dame Brionna.</p><p></p><p><<When we get home, I've got to have a talk about fashion with her...>></p><p></p><p><<The Mistress of Protocol and other authorities on etiquette also play some role,>> adds Alistair.</p><p></p><p><<That means your sister is probably one of the fashion setters,>> Kit thinks at Dame Brionna. <<Alright, so we're going to talk to all of these people.>></p><p></p><p><<This is not our highest priority,>> responds Dame Brionna drily.</p><p></p><p>Kit then shifts to relaying the various pieces of more relevant information she received. <<Am I right that the Ecumenical Council is the best way to get at the issues with the Temple of Sytry?>></p><p></p><p><<Probably,>> replies Alistair. <<We should see if we can persuade the patriarch of Sytry to excommunicate various members of the other faction. That's probably easier than trying to get him to condemn the whole schismatic faction, and what we want is actually for them to be flushed out into the open.>></p><p></p><p><<The trouble is the worries that the patriarch will not want to do that because that's an admission of people having been disloyal to him, and of there being dissent within his church.>></p><p></p><p><<No, of course, but it doesn't help for that to be happening.>></p><p></p><p>The next arrival announced is the Emperor of Tarhanna, who is the only person they have seen with a larger entourage than the extensive guard that Dame Brionna insisted they bring. Emperor Jazriel of Tarsh travels light-- a captain of the guard, a few bodyguards, and what looks like an ecclesiastical advisor who may not even be a bishop.</p><p></p><p>Dame Brionna gives a nod of politeness, respect, and evaluation of "could I take this person if necessary?" towards the Emperor of Tarhanna's guard captain. She concludes she probably could.</p><p></p><p>Alistair makes an effort to catch the Emperor of Tarhanna's eye as he heads up the receiving line, and then positions their group a little ways past the Archbaroness and waits.</p><p></p><p>The Emperor of Tarhanna very courteously greets the Archbaroness, then gives her as close to an embrace as royals ever give each other and walks on to where the Southern Drucien delegation stands.</p><p></p><p>"Your Imperial Majesty."</p><p></p><p>"Protector. It's an honor to be in your presence."</p><p></p><p>"We are as ever thankful for all that Tarhanna does for the Light on Khamista."</p><p></p><p>"We're thankful for your guidance and help, and your sending those people who have reclaimed a considerable amount of the land."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, that. We just mentioned a few things to the Patriarch. If His Holiness then saw fit to take some of those actions, that is to the Church's credit, not ours."</p><p></p><p>"What matters is that you did, and that Krashmere is now withdrawing from those areas. I think they're running out of Noldor to run things, and Moriquendarim have taken the human slaves that they can for the time being. They have left behind many undead, however."</p><p></p><p>"They are indeed short on Noldor, and some of their Noldor are now otherwise occupied. There are internal matters that have taken some of them off plane for the time being. Certainly not weakening them to the point that it would be wise at all for humans to actually test themselves against them, but changing how they need to posture themselves in areas that are not within their central control."</p><p></p><p>"This is an unfortunate time for us to have this discussion. We will need to all do what we can to continue to support Mandrath."</p><p></p><p>"It would be unfortunate if the stability of this region were compromised."</p><p></p><p>"Very unfortunate. I've offered whatever aid we can. We have long been trade partners with Mandrath, and that makes them important to our welfare as well."</p><p></p><p>"Of course. I've heard that one of their tiny neighbors is nipping at the border a little bit. You wouldn't know which one that is, would you?"</p><p></p><p>"We have agents everywhere. You have to when you primarily depend on trade."</p><p></p><p>"Of course, we understand."</p><p></p><p>"None of them are large enough to be real threats."</p><p></p><p>"Nevertheless, if Lady Deborah could take some strong actions that would put some of her rivals on the back foot, it might be fortunate."</p><p></p><p>"Give me a few minutes to find out."</p><p></p><p>"Excellent. The other matter I wanted to speak to you about was how aware you are of the concerns about the cult of the Blue Sun within the Temple of Sytry."</p><p></p><p>"I know that different factions in the temple have been having disagreements about matters of theology."</p><p></p><p>"The matter is more serious than that."</p><p></p><p>"We have a very substantial number of Sytryites in the Empire. The conflict I am observing is ridiculous, far beyond matters that you would expect between members of the same faith."</p><p></p><p>"No doubt. Allow me to provide a little background on this conflict. The being that is known as the Blue Sun is not, in fact, the Sytryan demigod that Sytry Himself, and certainly the Temple of Sytry, believed him to be. Instead, the Blue Sun is a being that is better known by the name of Arthranax."</p><p></p><p>"Indeed?"</p><p></p><p>"Thus this is not a split between branches of the faith that have different perspectives on doctrine or a conflict over what exactly is orthodoxy or the like, but rather this is the best informed followers of Blue Sun having subscribed to outright heresy, and seeking to subvert and destroy the Temple of Sytry. And indeed we know on the celestial planes that there was a plot to seek to consume and destroy Sytry Himself to elevate further the Blue Sun, let us say, for I do not like to say the other name more often than necessary. That also means that this is not, from the perspective of the greater Church of the Light, an internal conflict between factions of a fellow church of the light, but rather it is a corrupt, vile, and proscribed cult, seeking to subvert and destroy a faith that, although problematic, is very much on the side of good."</p><p></p><p>"I had no idea. How deep does the corruption go?"</p><p></p><p>"Certainly most of the common followers, and indeed some of the clergy, have no knowledge of what they have wandered into. And so again, remembering the ways in which the Light is different from the Darkness, and we are attentive to principles of good, we can't simply purge them in mass. At the same time, the corrupt leadership must be routed out, and they must be guided back into following the actual Light as they should."</p><p></p><p>"This is troubling at best. I did not realize matters were so dangerous. I will have our people speak to theirs in Tarhanna."</p><p></p><p>"I believe that the best path forward would be for their patriarch to formally throw out the leadership of the other side, but as yet, they may not be ready for that."</p><p></p><p>"I can see what their archbishop and their hierarchy can do about them, however."</p><p></p><p>"You may also encounter people who have a blue flame within their chest, or rocks that have a blue flame about them, with a translucency of flesh. Those are diabolical, but they're not devils in the ordinary sense of the term. Servitors of this blue flame are fallen angels or the like, that have fallen into the service of evil."</p><p></p><p>"They should be purged, indeed."</p><p></p><p>"They must be."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you for this information, Protector. These are interesting times."</p><p></p><p>"Sadly true. We do not have nearly as large a presence of Sytryites on Drucien, but we will continue to keep an eye on these cults and do our best to suppress them. Should you find anything of particular note, please don't hesitate to call on us."</p><p></p><p>"I certainly will, and I will have that name for you shortly."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you."</p><p></p><p>The Emperor of Tarhanna withdraws, and has an urgent conversation with several members of his entourage. They can't tell which of his courtiers he's getting the report from, but soon a page approaches Dame Brionna with a small piece of paper with a single name written on it.</p><p>[cont'd]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CPaladin, post: 8931742, member: 7030144"] Session 149 (November 17, 2022) 19 O-Tar (cont'd) It is nearly time for the Council to teleport to Mandrath for the funeral, but they have a few pressing matters first. Dame Brionna has a report [attached] from Sergeant Fenwick of the city guard that a page of the court was targeted by an assassin, though he survived; page was named Darben, and he was attacked with a crossbow with a poisoned bolt as he was leaving Paranswarmian temple. He's at a chirurgeon's, with one guard; Dame Brionna increases the guard on him. Kit sets her people on tracing the poison that was used and see who might have been skulking in shadows. Also, it was a heavy crossbow bolt, in the Upper City, which is surprising. Kit does object reading on the bolt, and gets a clear picture of the chirurgeon and of the assassin, and then the boltmaker. The assassin looks to be local, used to heavy labor, of common birth, and practicing shooting at targets; started out incompetent with a crossbow. Kit concludes by comparing his callouses to her dad's that he's a stone mason. She also sees a woman of similar birth who appears and then vanishes. Kit also received a long report about Hanal. [Attached] There are some 4 million refugees fleeing the country. The capital is in an advanced state of collapse, with demons and Blooddriven roaming the streets openly. Most of the sutlers of the Hanalian army have deserted. Dame Brionna suggests using sutlers who are fleeing the army to help organize and supply the refugees. They also reach out to the Weeping Woman's clergy to vet and assist this process. They agree that they need to discuss this with Anastasia as well. It takes them a moment to figure out exactly who Darben is, but he is the heir-apparent of the Kov of Snatterkaz (his nephew), and a page in the household of Alistair. They immediately move him back into the palace and command that he be added to the list of pages that are not permitted to leave the palace. The lieutenant in charge of one of Dame Brionna's squads reports to her. His squad traveled to the chirurgeon's house to move Darben back into the safety of the palace. As they arrived, the city guard who was in position already was killed, also with a crossbow. Darben, however, was not further harmed, and they were able to bring him back to the palace. Kit asks that the crossbow bolt be brought to the palace. When it arrives, she does an object reading on it; this one was shot by the same person. However, the person before that who had this one was a male priest, lawful evil, who blessed the bolt, and then back to the same boltmaker. Weapons makers within Canberry City are registered, so they send a description of the boltmaker to the registry to identify him. They add Darben to the list of pages not permitted to leave the palace; a priest of Paranswarm will now come to him. (They also confirm that the priest of Paranswarm was not the priest who blessed the bolt--they call him to the palace and then Kit observes him secretly while he waits in an antechamber and compares him to the person she saw with object reading.) [There's a slight potential inconsistency here--when Darben first arrived, Alistair instructed him not to leave the palace without permission and placed him on the list of people who were not permitted out. So he should have had a priest coming to him, instead of traveling to the Hanalian court in exile to attend Paranswarmian services. We didn't remember this at the time, and haven't fully reconciled it yet.] The chirurgeon reports that Darben will live; he was fortunate, because if the bolt had struck a little lower, it would have gone through his heart. Before the guards arrived, someone was trying to pick the lock on his door, though not with much skill. He also reports that there are shortages of herbs, and is surprised that the chirurgeon's union has not contacted the palace about it. The priest who was summoned neutralized the poison, which would have otherwise turned him into an idiot. Psions or a potent alchemist could have made it; it was made from kyrith. Kit's father comes stomping in. He knows who the person was; working on the cathedral, a fanatic who thinks Glordiadelians should wipe out other religions. "A skilled stonemason, though." They keep her father at the palace, send some people to bring him in, and call for Princess Anastasia. Anastasia is horrified about the whole thing. Dame Brionna asks who would be next in line if Darben died. Her answer doesn't reassure anyone: his mother's sister, a stromette who is loyal to the Usurper, would have the best claim. They also tell her about the conditions in the capital, and about the number of refugees fleeing. They also tell her about knowing the disposition of the Iron Legions and the supply problems. She points out that a third of the legions are missing--not casualties, as far as she knows, but simply missing in the list of legions. Over 100 legions are missing. The countryfolk have generally been faster to flee than the residents of the other cities, but the cities will have grossly inadequate food supply. Kit asks Anastasia about a report of the military placing victims in "thrones." Anastasia responds that those may be concentrators, which allow the enemy to strap victims in and to drain their lives, which supplies energy that is then fed north. They are selective about who they strap in--most of the people they take are simply killed. Anastasia also says that she has been informed by a loyal na-strom that they are building these things in concealed ways, under ground or under lead. Kit suggests scrying to see if they can find the legion standards of the missing legions. Dame Brionna mentions the possibility that they might be off-plane. They begin interrogating the mason-assassin. He is a mad zealot. A priest told him that the best thing to do was to kill the boy because he is a servant of the Darkness. His wife had recently died, and he blamed her death on Glordiadel's displeasure about the toleration of servants of darkness. He got the crossbow with silver from the priest. He practiced extensively, and then shot him. The priest said he needed to die. The priest was named Dervon the Bold, and he "shined with the Light. When you look at him, it's like he's surrounded and transfigured by the light of Glordiadel. When he speaks of the light of Purity and truth he begins to glow from within, and it spreads out from within him. I've never seen the like." "Was there blue flame?" "I saw no flame, only light, light." They decide to hold him until they can have Dervon the Bold arrested, and then to hand him over to the regular city authorities for trial. ---- The lot of them teleport to Mandrath. Kit decides to leave Jamie in the palace, though she both doesn't want to leave him and doesn't want to take him with her. Dame Brionna arranges a variety of escape plans, arcane, divine, and psionic. They teleport into a staging area at the palace at Mandrath City. It isn't too crowded when they arrive. They are announced, and then a woman in completely white except for a black sash, standing with a group of other women similarly dressed, approaches. "At last I get to meet you. We must have apported in at precisely the right time. I'm the Black Witch. It's an honor to I meet you in person." "It is an honor to meet you as well, Your Grace." "Losing the Archbaroness has not been good for this continent." "It is a great tragedy, indeed, although tragedy understates the degree of malice involved in the enemy causing it." "And her daughter never enjoyed this position and never intended to reign. She is very green. I do not know how well she will rise to the occasion." "I have undertaken to the Temple of Paranswarm that I will have certain conversations with her daughter, and see to it that that she understands her need to to step up and carry out her duties, even if she does not wish to or had not intended to." "It's good that someone such as yourself will do what someone like myself cannot do so." "And were someone from, say, Tarsh to have that conversation, there might be a feeling of seeking to treat Mandrath as being a satellite or the like, where obviously that could not possibly be a relationship between Canberry and Mandrath." "Correct. And Emperor Jazriel is very young indeed. That does not make him unproficient. His hold on Tarsh gets stronger section by section. But he is very young." "Do you know, is His Holiness coming?" "I have not been informed, but let's be honest: How could he not? True, some of the traditionalists will mutter about him leaving the Holy See, but for the funeral of the Defender of the Faith..." "Do you know, has an effective regency been established for Ergmoth?" "No, there is as of yet no effort to establish a permanent regent. The First Mouth has declared that the new Archbaroness will fill the position temporarily, but we all know that it's very temporary, since she must remain here. She will be hard pressed enough to maintain order and loyalty in her own realm." "Yes." "If there were not the matter of faith, I would consider the Grand Duchess's sister, Lady Micarlanna, but for Ergmoth, it must be a Paranswarmian. There's already one Paranswarmian kingdom with a regent of the Light. That cost the temple much, but they were related. Even relationship would not allow for Ergmoth, with the Holy See in it." "Would her sister consider accepting endarkening?" "I have not had the chance to talk to her. She did engage in the quest to recover the young Grand Duke. Unfortunately, as you know, it failed. She does take these things seriously. Perhaps. Perhaps I will attempt to speak to her, but perhaps it would not be a bad thing if you did as well." Behind them, they hear a hum, and a moment later the same friendly herald announces, "The Lord Guardian of the City of Ravenscrag." The Black Witch and her entourage of women, all of whom radiate powerful magic, start moving along to avoid blocking the arrival of more guests. Alistair and the Council follow after them, as she seems to know where she's going and they do not. The palace is large, though not as large as the palace in Canberry, and well fortified. They enter a large reception hall, with perhaps 100 people in it. There is a long reception line, with the new Archbaroness--Lady Deborah-- greeting everyone in turn. Lady Deborah is distinctly older than Alistair or Jazriel, but only perhaps 30, and with a well-favored appearance. There are guards, but Dame Brionna views them as grossly inadequate. Some of her guards go out as scouts or pickets, to keep an eye on things. There is a bishop of Paranswarm standing behind and to the left of the Archbaroness, with a symbol of the Weeping Woman on his stoll--a single red teardrop on the black stoll. She murmurs things with the Black Witch, who then moves along. "Your Most Excellence." "Your Majesty. My mother spoke very well of you." "We offer our most sincere condolences on your losses." "Thank you. I appreciate your coming all this way..." She launches into what is clearly formal pleasantries. They can hear a certain stirring in the line behind them. "Now is not the time for us to have a more involved conversation, but based in part on some undertakings that I have made to the leadership of your temple, I will need to speak in private with you at a more appropriate time. Your consort would be more than welcome to join us as it touches on him as well." "Thank you, Your Majesty. That is more courteous than I'm used to." "Perhaps do not thank me too much until after we've had a chance to speak. But I will simply say now, if there is anything that we can do to support you and to assist you, we are more than happy to do so." Kit circulates and has conversations about the Lord Guardian of Ravenskrag. He felt that he had to attend, because Mandrath is the second most important trade partner with the Eastern Trade Federation (and by extension Ravenskrag), behind only Tarsh. He appears dreadfully bored, as he is known to many, and viewed as too important for many of the members of the monarchical entourages to approach, but not significant enough for many of the rulers themselves to want to spend time with. Most of the great leaders of the world are present-almost all of the ones from Khamista, and a smattering of other ones. The Black Witch and the White Witch stake out positions on opposite walls of the room. It is a who's-who of Khamista, with a dribble of Zestqua, and a dash of Drucien. Meredith the Dazzling also attends, somewhat surprisingly. Masque is represented by a group of wolf-masked people, representing the Empress. (Kit arranges through young Lord Brightspan for the service to provide the delegation from Masque food that is suitable for them to have--because they cannot remove their masks in public, the regular canapes and even drinks could not be eaten.) Kit also receives a discrete message suggesting that she fix her make-up in a dressing chamber. She slips out and meets with her counterpart; en route, she notes a variety of minds lurking within the walls. Kit enters a room with a single, female guard outside. A few minutes later, a familiar courtier enters, walks next to her, and begins pinning her clothes back in position while talking quietly. "Thank you for coming to meet me. The Archbarony faces a trying time, and we will need to focus on holding the realm together, but someone needs to be keeping an eye on the broader issues that threaten Khamista." "Let's begin with Mandrath's issues, so I can see if we can do anything to assist." "I do not know that there is anything anyone but the Archbaroness can do. She must be strong, and demonstrate her strength, to prevent the nobles from breaking away. All of the nobles have their own armies. We are originally a confederacy. We became an archbarony by the might and the willpower of her great-grandfather. When there's any sign of weakness, some of the old rulers go their own way, and they become dominions that are too small to be safe or powerful themselves, while leaving Mandrath diminished and weakened." "So what what kind of show of strength would impress them?" "Her mother's approach was to make an example out of some of the nobles, to show that disloyalty meant death. Several nobles announced that they would take their fleets and their lands and leave. They announced it in court. She had them seized and executed and there was not another murmur." "So a public show of force." "But I do not know that the new Archbaroness would be willing to follow her mother's approach. She does not have the stomach to execute people to strengthen her grasp on the reins. We're already hearing people murmur about how they their fleets could do better in trade if they weren't part of the Archbarony, yet Lady Deborah is reluctant to treat that as treason." "Are there any convenient external enemies that they could all band together against?" "Possibly one. There are three separate kingdoms to our northeast between the Archbarony and Ko Re Pek. One of them has been raiding our border, but it is unclear which one. Taking action against them might demonstrate strength, but they are also Paranswarmian, and attacking the wrong one could create difficulties." "Yes, that sounds promising. I will tell all of this to my liege and see if he can help your liege go in the right direction." "Thank you. Nonetheless, I think the greater matter is beyond our borders. The split in the Temple of Sytry is already more serious than people realize. There are two temples, functionally: the Temple of Sytry and the Temple of the Blue Star, which has effectively split off. The false temple seized Ko Re Pek, which had to then be rescued. Our concern is that in some of your nations, there is now a third column, though not a large one. If they were called to action, they could disrupt much of this entire continent, at least those lands that follow the Light, which is most of them. Because they were historically compatible, though more fanatical, there are followers of Sytry in nearly every Glordiadelian country. And while the split is obvious to the Paranswarmian hierarchy, and I believe to the Glordiadelian, but it is difficult for them to take actions. Informing the followers of Sytry that their split temple is actually serving a great evil would not be received well, and might push them away and thus towards the Blue Sun." "Maybe we can work from the top down through the Ecumenical Council?" "That would require the patriarch of Sytry-- the true patriarch of Sytry--to be willing to admit that the split exists. The true patriarch of Sytry has been, thus far, unwilling to publicly admit the schism. "As you may know, one of the old orders of mystics is based in Mandrath. Our mystics tell us that at this point those who follow the Blue Star in the heavenly plane are in retreat. They are being driven out with the help of the Lady Gunnora. Once they have been fully driven out, we will then have three independent faiths of the Light. Many of their followers and priests appear to be acting in good faith, but that only makes matters worse. We thought this information is particularly important for you since your lord has been declared the Protector." "Yes, it is his duty to take care of this, even if that isn't our particular section of the Light." "Exactly." "And we've seen some worrying things among people who call themselves followers of Sytry recently. And that's why I was worried when you told me about this schism. This might explain some of what we've seen, with heretics among Glordiadelians striking out at followers of other religions." "Yes. It appears to us, --though Lady Mandrath's network was not the largest on the continent, I am temporarily able to access the network of Ergmoth as well-- that they are in some cases passing themselves off as followers of Glordiadel. Tarhanna is heavily influenced. They had an open temple of Sytry nearly a third the size of the established temple, and that temple has split. The Emperor of Tarhanna should be here." "I will have my liege talk to him." "Thank you." She finishes adjusting a hairpin. About that time, another lady comes in. "I hate these bustles. Don't you all hate these bustles?" "I'm very glad that the fashion for bustles has not yet reached Drucien." "It's reached Khamista. I have to come in here to breathe." The other lady, a functionary with one of the other delegations, introduces herself, and shortly later Kit makes her way back to the reception. * * * <<Note to whoever controls these things: no bustles in Canberry fashion.>> <<In Canberry, that's really the Empress,>> says Alistair. <<Yes, it pretty much is the Empress,>> agrees Dame Brionna. <<When we get home, I've got to have a talk about fashion with her...>> <<The Mistress of Protocol and other authorities on etiquette also play some role,>> adds Alistair. <<That means your sister is probably one of the fashion setters,>> Kit thinks at Dame Brionna. <<Alright, so we're going to talk to all of these people.>> <<This is not our highest priority,>> responds Dame Brionna drily. Kit then shifts to relaying the various pieces of more relevant information she received. <<Am I right that the Ecumenical Council is the best way to get at the issues with the Temple of Sytry?>> <<Probably,>> replies Alistair. <<We should see if we can persuade the patriarch of Sytry to excommunicate various members of the other faction. That's probably easier than trying to get him to condemn the whole schismatic faction, and what we want is actually for them to be flushed out into the open.>> <<The trouble is the worries that the patriarch will not want to do that because that's an admission of people having been disloyal to him, and of there being dissent within his church.>> <<No, of course, but it doesn't help for that to be happening.>> The next arrival announced is the Emperor of Tarhanna, who is the only person they have seen with a larger entourage than the extensive guard that Dame Brionna insisted they bring. Emperor Jazriel of Tarsh travels light-- a captain of the guard, a few bodyguards, and what looks like an ecclesiastical advisor who may not even be a bishop. Dame Brionna gives a nod of politeness, respect, and evaluation of "could I take this person if necessary?" towards the Emperor of Tarhanna's guard captain. She concludes she probably could. Alistair makes an effort to catch the Emperor of Tarhanna's eye as he heads up the receiving line, and then positions their group a little ways past the Archbaroness and waits. The Emperor of Tarhanna very courteously greets the Archbaroness, then gives her as close to an embrace as royals ever give each other and walks on to where the Southern Drucien delegation stands. "Your Imperial Majesty." "Protector. It's an honor to be in your presence." "We are as ever thankful for all that Tarhanna does for the Light on Khamista." "We're thankful for your guidance and help, and your sending those people who have reclaimed a considerable amount of the land." "Oh, that. We just mentioned a few things to the Patriarch. If His Holiness then saw fit to take some of those actions, that is to the Church's credit, not ours." "What matters is that you did, and that Krashmere is now withdrawing from those areas. I think they're running out of Noldor to run things, and Moriquendarim have taken the human slaves that they can for the time being. They have left behind many undead, however." "They are indeed short on Noldor, and some of their Noldor are now otherwise occupied. There are internal matters that have taken some of them off plane for the time being. Certainly not weakening them to the point that it would be wise at all for humans to actually test themselves against them, but changing how they need to posture themselves in areas that are not within their central control." "This is an unfortunate time for us to have this discussion. We will need to all do what we can to continue to support Mandrath." "It would be unfortunate if the stability of this region were compromised." "Very unfortunate. I've offered whatever aid we can. We have long been trade partners with Mandrath, and that makes them important to our welfare as well." "Of course. I've heard that one of their tiny neighbors is nipping at the border a little bit. You wouldn't know which one that is, would you?" "We have agents everywhere. You have to when you primarily depend on trade." "Of course, we understand." "None of them are large enough to be real threats." "Nevertheless, if Lady Deborah could take some strong actions that would put some of her rivals on the back foot, it might be fortunate." "Give me a few minutes to find out." "Excellent. The other matter I wanted to speak to you about was how aware you are of the concerns about the cult of the Blue Sun within the Temple of Sytry." "I know that different factions in the temple have been having disagreements about matters of theology." "The matter is more serious than that." "We have a very substantial number of Sytryites in the Empire. The conflict I am observing is ridiculous, far beyond matters that you would expect between members of the same faith." "No doubt. Allow me to provide a little background on this conflict. The being that is known as the Blue Sun is not, in fact, the Sytryan demigod that Sytry Himself, and certainly the Temple of Sytry, believed him to be. Instead, the Blue Sun is a being that is better known by the name of Arthranax." "Indeed?" "Thus this is not a split between branches of the faith that have different perspectives on doctrine or a conflict over what exactly is orthodoxy or the like, but rather this is the best informed followers of Blue Sun having subscribed to outright heresy, and seeking to subvert and destroy the Temple of Sytry. And indeed we know on the celestial planes that there was a plot to seek to consume and destroy Sytry Himself to elevate further the Blue Sun, let us say, for I do not like to say the other name more often than necessary. That also means that this is not, from the perspective of the greater Church of the Light, an internal conflict between factions of a fellow church of the light, but rather it is a corrupt, vile, and proscribed cult, seeking to subvert and destroy a faith that, although problematic, is very much on the side of good." "I had no idea. How deep does the corruption go?" "Certainly most of the common followers, and indeed some of the clergy, have no knowledge of what they have wandered into. And so again, remembering the ways in which the Light is different from the Darkness, and we are attentive to principles of good, we can't simply purge them in mass. At the same time, the corrupt leadership must be routed out, and they must be guided back into following the actual Light as they should." "This is troubling at best. I did not realize matters were so dangerous. I will have our people speak to theirs in Tarhanna." "I believe that the best path forward would be for their patriarch to formally throw out the leadership of the other side, but as yet, they may not be ready for that." "I can see what their archbishop and their hierarchy can do about them, however." "You may also encounter people who have a blue flame within their chest, or rocks that have a blue flame about them, with a translucency of flesh. Those are diabolical, but they're not devils in the ordinary sense of the term. Servitors of this blue flame are fallen angels or the like, that have fallen into the service of evil." "They should be purged, indeed." "They must be." "Thank you for this information, Protector. These are interesting times." "Sadly true. We do not have nearly as large a presence of Sytryites on Drucien, but we will continue to keep an eye on these cults and do our best to suppress them. Should you find anything of particular note, please don't hesitate to call on us." "I certainly will, and I will have that name for you shortly." "Thank you." The Emperor of Tarhanna withdraws, and has an urgent conversation with several members of his entourage. They can't tell which of his courtiers he's getting the report from, but soon a page approaches Dame Brionna with a small piece of paper with a single name written on it. [cont'd] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)
Top