ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.

[gideonpepys]

You're going to have Ottavia on Odiem? I guess I forgot what happened to her in your campaign. What's the story?

She teamed up with the party and they grew to like her. She turned Korrigan on to a biography of Triegenes written by William Miller (and banned by the clergy has a heretical text), and supported them in combat. When they reached Ashima Shimtu, however, they forgot to include Ottavia in their bargain for freedom, and when they surfaced in the sea she wasn't there. I half expected they might go back for her, but she was forgotten. Four years as the pet/plaything of a demoness has taken its toll on Ottavia, and she won't be very happy to see her old friends. It just felt like an easier fit, that deep into the dungeon.

Is the inclusion of the Grandis Kamanov simulacrum foreshadowing too? Or is there another purpose to her presence on Odiem?

As for Pemberton, well, we expect him to team up with the PCs eventually anyway, but I'd try to find a way to play up antagonism, so they're distrustful of him and he of them. It might just be a 'feeling each other out' scene, with no real consequence. Or if the party does well, perhaps in adventure 9 you could have one of his agents in duplicant form aboard one of the Danoran ships in Flint Harbor, sabotaging it to give the PCs some help. But yeah, I think I'd go with 'close to the chest.'

Low key was my instinct, with added antagonism. Might chuck some Ob operatives at the PCs out of the blue (as they were chased to Macdam so an Ob presence makes sense). In fact, the Ob ships wre last sighted just off-shore, but I'm guessing it doesn't make that much sense for them to still be waiting here. I'd like for the porteurs to show up again, though. Might they use a divination to predict the PC's arrival on Odiem and catch them there?

 

[RangerWickett]

Komanov is there to learn how the Sacrament of Apotheosis is performed, because in adventure 11 she's trying to destroy the world for the sake of her patron, the Voice of Rot.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 30, Part Two - Vision of the Far Future

“Constables.” Rock Rackus said with awkward formality. “Is that an asteroid I do spy?” Through a gap in the forest canopy, they watched a white conflagration streak across the heavens, tumbling end over end. The air roared with its passage. It disappeared from view, but a moment later blinding light flashed through the darkened forest from where it had landed. The ground bucked beneath them, and only then did they hear the deafening explosion of the impact.

“Son of a bitch!” Rackus yelped, abandoning all attempts at civility. “There’s more of ‘em! Follow me!” He set off at a run through the trees. There were other figures all around them, too indistinct for them to recognise. They set off after Rackus, Matunaaga easily overtaking him and scouting ahead. Uru jumped on Little Jack and weaved through the trees. Gupta struggled to run at full pelt, conscious of the puncture wounds to her inner thigh. Only then did they realise that Rumdoom hadn’t moved. He was rooted to the spot, staring up in awe at the pitch-black heavens. They called to him and he still didn’t budge. Korrigan went back for him while the others ran on.

“This is it!” said Rumdoom when Korrigan took hold of him. “This is what I saw!” There were tears in his eyes. “The sky: no stars. The end! I meant to tell you but…” He began sobbing uncontrollably. There was no time to discuss the matter further. More asteroids were striking to the left and right, and they heard screams from behind them: hostile figures appeared, though too far away to make out, and they were attacking the rest of the fleeing crowd. Korrigan dragged Rumdoom along with him.

Gupta stopped and focused and allowed inspiration to come to her, as it always did if she gave herself pause. “Av!” she announced. “This is Av!”

“No it isn’t,” said Uriel, unhelpfully. (This didn’t look like Av!)

Leon teleported in front of Rackus and tried to stop him. “We need to get to the ship!” said Rackus. Now they could see it up ahead, lit up against the blackness of the starless sky by small, white flames: a steam ship, though it rested on dry land. Matunaaga wasn’t far away from it now, but all of a sudden a great crevasse opened up in front of him and almost swallowed him whole.

Out of nowhere, to the left, right and behind them, their pursuers appeared: flayed warriors, tightly bound with barbed gold chains. Each bore a golden lance and shield. They were able to give chase easily by teleporting despite their golden bonds.

Uriel turned to Korrigan and said, “I suspect this is what happens if we fail.”

They fought off the first wave of attacks by these golden legionnaires – Uru sprayed a pair of them with shuriken and took them out of the race entirely. But then their commander appeared: a foul, gigantic four-limbed demon with a dog-like face; flayed just like the legionnaires and also bound in golden chains. It hurled infernal fires after them and teleported too.

One of the chain-bound troopers caught Rumdoom with its lance. Chains spiralled down the lance to ensare him. Korrigan stepped in. He stomped on the ground, unleashing an earthshock that knocked the troopers backwards.

The golden glabrezu raised a pincer and cast a spell that sent Gupta and others flying into the air, the gravity beneath their feet magically reversed. Gupta steadied herself and Asked the Question, “Don’t you want to join us up here?” Not only did her charm give the glabrezu pause, it was punished for disobedience to some absent master by a tightening of chains that pierced its flesh.

Leon activated the Wayfarer Lantern again. This time he used a rarified oil from the portal plane Leave the Nest. Everyone caught in the anti-gravity zone was able to fly out! Matunaaga followed this up with a perfectly aimed shot that hit the glabrezu right between its glowing eyes, killing it instantly.

They flew over the chasm, reached the earthbound ship, gathered up the cool white flames and caused the vision to vanish.

Now they found themselves all cramped up together in a small prayer chamber. They wriggled free of this confined space and returned to the main hall, where the frieze of Ingatan was gone – replaced by a fiery doorway.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained – they rested up again and stepped through the door to find themselves on the roof of the Refuge, beside the gigantic, crossed legs of Ingatan. Floating at head height was a broken, silver circlet: the Lost Arc.

Uriel took it. Even as he reached for it, he experienced the tug of old memories and a sense of what direction they might be coming from. Even when he tried it on, which was painful as the Arc was sharp, these sensations did not intensify. It seemed that he was somehow attuned to the thing, and mere proximity was all it took.

They bid farewell to the bagheva clan. Betronga was not at all gracious. In the cold light of day, he clearly felt that he had not bargained hard enough, but Sokana was on hand to placate him. She and Gupta shared a few parting words. Leon asked her if there was anything they could do for her, and she said simply, “withdraw” conflating all human activity with the clergy. She also had a few whispered words for Uriel, when he asked her about Hewanharimau and the nature of rakshasa, for he was convinced he would one day have to face one. Careful not to be overheard by the other Children, she told him of a weapon hidden in the sealed temple in Rumar Terakhir: the weapon that had slain their god, and could slay any such immortal creature – the Arsenal of Dhebisu.

They had already discussed priorities, time-limits and other exigencies. Without further ado, they performed powerful travel rituals and set off in search of the Perpetual City, hoping to find out more about the Hierophant.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 31, Part One - The Perpetual City

Before travelling all the way to the Perpetual City, they decided to pursue Uriel’s nagging awareness of much closer memories, which he had experienced since his first contact with the Arc. The direction was southward, but not having any idea of distance, they swiftly teleported to Vigil Longis in an attempt to triangulate. Two lines on a map suggested a point about twenty miles south. On flying phantom steeds, they covered the distance in no time. Once there, Uriel was beset by a host of competing sensations, and used Hand of Fate to narrow them down. Following the direction of this ritual brought them to the ruins of a long-abandoned village, where the Arc caused a memory to manifest. To their surprise, the memory event was real – not an image or illusion that could be pierced by Leon’s truesight. Uriel was entirely swept up by the event and took on the appearance of his former self – a deva named Talmai.

Through their observation of a montage of events, it emerged that he had lived in the village for a long time, receiving tutelage in Seedism. One elder eladrin said that their religion was much the same as the one now practised in the human realm of Risur, “though the humans make the mistake of worshipping the beasts we regard as brethren”. Towards the end of this sequence, Talmai donned more elaborate robe, as an indication of his growing status. The event ended as he prepared to lead a squadron of rajput against another clergy incursion. Then Uriel found that, although he did not remember much else about Talmai’s life, when he looked about him, he could identify plants and animals that had been strange to him before. Their names came to him in Elvish (and he also had a smattering of Dwarven). He felt certain that in order to learn more, he needed to revisit the end of each incarnation, no matter how painful or traumatic that was.

To that end, they travelled far to the east, shadow-walking on phantom steeds to arrive at the edge of a huge crater just as the sun began to set. They already knew something of the history of the place: that the architecture of the buildings carved into its walls matched that of the early clergy; that the scholar who had first proposed a shared heritage between the two belief systems had been burned as a heretic; that the eladrin believed the site was a place of great evil.

They witnessed one such evil during the memory event that had drawn them here: Wielding a mighty white staff, Talmai approached the lip of the crater, closed his eyes and drew a sharp breath before he turned to dismiss the troop of eladrin warriors gathered behind him. They referred to him as ‘Hierophant’ now and were reluctant to withdraw. The Hierophant told them that the humans had released a demon – whether by accident, or on purpose, to foil pursuit. As he spoke, the demon rose above the lip of the crater, flying on wings of shadow. The rest of its huge body was corporeal, humanoid and muscular, though its head resembled that of both a shark and a rhinoceros. A great battle began in which the Hierophant hurled druidic magic at the demon and it responded with terrible blows and infernal heat. The unit found themselves beset by this fire and withdrew. Suddenly, the battle took a turn for the worse when the demon shattered the Hierophant’s staff. Uriel fell back and the demon moved to make the killing blow.

Matunaaga whisked Uriel away telepathically and Leon moved him further still. The memory event collapsed leaving Uriel dazed and disoriented. They had hit a snag. If Uriel had to relive his own death, and the memory events were not illusory, then he would be killed; nothing more than a road-bump for a deva, but they did not have time to wait for him to reincarnate, or to search the jungle for him when he did. Uriel proposed that they try to fight and beat the demon, but Gupta shook her head. She had stared in wonder at the memory and knew that Uriel would have to relive the exact events to access his prior self. Then Rumdoom said that if this was not Uriel’s time to die, he would prevent him from doing so.

They approached the lip of the crater again and the memory event restarted. This time, the Hierophant was allowed to perish at the hands of the demon and the memory event ended. Rumdoom was true to his word, but Uriel was still unconscious and very badly injured. They withdrew from the crater, set up camp and set about healing him. During the night, despite Uru’s shadowy wards that should have concealed them from view, their campsite was approached by a group of elderly eladrin hermits. They had seen what had transpired and wanted to meet the reincarnation of the Hierophant, who was by now conscious, if a little shaken. They questioned the group, and were relieved to learn that they had no intention of entering the Perpetual City. These hermits lived here for the sole purpose of protecting the place from intrusion, but the unit had shadow-walked right through their wards! Once their concerns had been laid to rest, they produced the broken pieces of the Staff of the Hierophant and gave them to Uriel. (They could not say what had become of the demon; perhaps it lived in the jungle still, or perhaps the clergy had caged it once again?)

Uriel now knew something of the Hierophant’s power and found he was able to produce fire seeds and grasping foliage. But he still did not feel like ‘Talmai’, and did not have all of his memories. Gupta asked him what it had been like for him to die, as her experiences had been sad and frightening. Uriel said that for him death was a new beginning. (In this case, he knew that he had reincarnated in the middle of a clergy encampment! They must have known this was a reincarnation of the deva they had just defeated; they kept him divorced from his old memories and planned to return him to the fold back in Crisillyir.) Rumdoom joined in their conversation and talked quite eloquently about his interpretation of the Heid Eschatol, ‘Rumschatology’. Then he opened up about what had been haunting him these past few months, and had caused him to freeze during the Vision of the far Future:

When he was at the height of his confidence, about two-and-a-half years after arriving in Trekhom and setting up the Cult of Rumschatology there, Rumdoom realised that if he was able to decide in the moment if a person’s 'ending' was 'good' or not, then surely it must be possible for him to know what their best ending would be – in other words, what he was saving them for. In pursuit of this knowledge, he began to experiment with meditation (which he wasn't very good at) and, when that failed, with increasingly powerful hallucinogenics. Eventually, this led to a vision in which Rumdoom saw his own ending. It frightened him, so he dismissed it at first, but it recurred with greater clarity:

Rumdoom stands beneath an empty sky – no stars, moon or sun – though the occasional chunk of debris hurtles by like a meteor. That emptiness is a key feature of the dream; he knows it is somehow important, not a mere absence of clarity. Alongside him are members of the unit, and others, who he does not recognise. They are exhausted, having fought some terrible, final battle, from which they have emerged victorious. And yet a sense of doom or deflation pervades.

Each one of them nods in agreement, acknowledging that the time has come – that their work is done. A decision has already been taken, and now they merely act in accordance with it. They walk to the edge of a precipice and look down. The ground beneath their feet is silvery bright and metallic; above them, inky blackness. But below, there is a churning maelstrom that seems to be drawing everything towards it.

Rumdoom and his friends steel themselves. There is nothing more to be done. Their fight is over and their presence in this world is nothing more than a hindrance now. Some words are spoken, shouted over but lost on the wind. There is a final moment of hesitation. Then together, as one - some hand-in-hand, even - they leap into the gyre. Rumdoom feels the vertiginous lurch, the rush, the wind, the pressure, the pain, as he and his friends are torn apart and ended.

To begin with he convinced himself to dismiss the vision. After all, he was no longer part of the unit – he had retired. But he had spent the whole time in Trekhom secretly hoping that Korrigan would call him back into action. Now that hope was tainted by the knowledge that he was hoping for the vision to prove true. So he went off the rails, Rumdoom-style and only really came round once he had rejoined the unit in Seobriga. But the more he enjoyed being back in the unit, the more guilty he felt because he believed that he was in some way wishing for them to come to ending he had foreseen. Since talking to the priest at the temple of Ingatan Rumdoom had come to the conclusion that he ought to tell them, but couldn't quite bring himself to do so. But the final vision in Ingatan’s Refuge so closely matched the events of his premonition that he froze, endangering them all. So he decided it was time to come clean.

His confession brought about a silence which persisted until morning.

 

[RangerWickett]

You cruel bastard you. I like you.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 31, Part Two - Return to Sentosa

You cruel bastard you. I like you.

Thanks. I like you too! But if you think that's cruel, get this:

They decided to teleport back to Rumah Terakhir. Following Athrylla Valanar’s directions, they came to an underground ruin where a portal opened and they were ushered into Sentosa. An honour guard escorted them to Kasvarina. Asrabey Varal met them. Surly as ever, he seemed disgruntled by their success, which made little sense since he recommended them for the job. They found Kasvarina in the walled garden at the rear of her home, making flatbread. She said she found this relaxing and that it connected her to her roots. When they revealed the Arc she thanked them profusely and tried it on at once. (Unlike Uriel, she could not gain any benefit from mere proximity.) It was very uncomfortable, the thin metal biting into her scalp, but at once she felt drawn to a location in Sentosa – a house where she and her husbands stayed when they visited Sentosa. Once they got past the confused modern-day residents, the memory-event manifested, revealing lavish decorations befitting royalty.

Asrabey was with them, and was drawn into the memory too:

Kasvarina and Asrabey are returning from a diplomatic event, and begin to undress. Asrabey is frustrated with Athrylla’s desire to appease Crisillyir, and says he’s eager to be home to Ushanti. Kasvarina tells him that in truth she needs to send him on a mission – a long one. He is to travel Risur and offer his services to the Unseen Court as a warrior, and she might never see him again.

Asrabey suggests they lie together one last time, and he touches her face. But she withdraws. She announces she’s leaving the next morning for the ruin of her home town Resal, to pay her respects to her daughters. Asrabey begrudgingly gives her space, and they lie down in separate beds.

Then the memory ended. Kasvarina and Asrabey blinked in confusion. Gupta realised that, unlike Uriel, it would be better if Kasvarina tried to keep control of herself, rather than become fully absorbed in the memory.

At once, Asrabey announced that he was leaving Sentosa. He departed without further ado.

The Lost Arc now drew Kasvarina to the huge central pyramid. They diplomatically side-stepped the guards and other interlocutors and once again found themselves in the presence of Athrylla Valanar, who had been expecting them. Instead of the austere audience she had anticipated, a memory-event took place and she was drawn into it just as Asrabey had been:

In the memory, Athrylla’s court is shaded by trees and cooled by magic to resist the summer heat. Kasvarina arrives accompanied by another eladrin matriarch, Latika (Kasvarina, Latika, and Athrylla originally formed the famous Triad of Endurance who rallied the survivors of Elfaivar for a century). Also with her are four eladrin men, including Sor Daeron, a famous general who led the retreat after the Great Malice, saving tens of thousands of soldiers.

Kasvarina is at her most austere as she explains that a dragon tyrant named Rilego has abducted her daughter Launga, and she is rallying allies to mount a rescue mission. Athrylla’s initial concern dies off, though, as she looks to Latika, sensing something is amiss. …

At this point, Athrylla shrugged off the influence of the crown and lunged for Kasvarina to tear it off her head. Uru was faster and pinned her arms with a sticky web. There was uproar from the confused eladrin bystanders, as the memory event collapsed. A diplomatic incident was averted by Athrylla, who burned off the webs, calmed her furious courtiers and confessed that the reason for her actions were purely selfish: For four centuries she had felt that Kasvarina blamed her for not coming along on the rescue mission. Kasvarina’s daughter Launga died, and Kasvarina herself nearly perished too. Athrylla had suspected something was amiss, but she did not help. She was worried now that Kasvarina would witness this incident and become hostile towards her and Sentosa.

Kasvarina blinked again – she had failed to maintain control on this occasion. But Athrylla’s honesty affected her and she was magnanimous. With Athrylla’s blessing, the memory event was allowed to replay and complete:

Athrylla explains that while she will not abandon another sister in peril, she thinks it’s risky to send so many matriarchs into what might be a trap. So she offers to send soldiers instead. Kasvarina diplomatically accepts, and says that they’ll be teleporting to Seobriga within an hour.

Kasvarina said Athrylla was right not to risk another matriarch, and the fact that Latika had not included her in the betrayal meant that she was not to blame, despite her suspicions. The two parted on reasonably good terms, with Athrylla’s blessing for this ‘new, wise and temperate Kasvarina’ to leave Sentosa in search of further enlightenment.

Departure would wait until the following day. Meanwhile, each of unit spent their downtime as they saw fit: a few of them headed for the Bent Leaf, where Uru spread malicious rumours for reasons best known to himself; Korrigan called on Kieran Sentacore, who asked if he could leave Sentosa in their company; Uriel went to see if anyone could help him fix the Staff of the Hierophant, but no one in Sentosa could do so.

Leon went back to Kasvarina’s dwelling to continue their conversation from his first visit. When they were alone, he presented her with the spices her daughter Dala had loved, which he had retrieved from Rationalis on a secretive solo outing. Kasvarina accepted the gift with astonishment and regarded Leon with fresh eyes. They talked for much of the evening, and she agreed to help him learn about Elfaivaran warcasting.

Gupta tracked down Helandra, who told her that her Vekeshi friend Jaques was not permitted in Sentosa for fear of his influence on Kasvarina. Helandra said that he could be found in Ushanti – the enclave Kasvarina once ruled. The ananta paudha was off-duty and returned with Gupta to the suite of rooms she and the unit shared, on the fringes of the Akela Sathi. As she was at liberty to do as she pleased, Helandra and Gupta renewed their acquaintance in familiar style. As they lay together, Helandra expressed concern about the livid wounds on Gupta’s inner thigh. For obvious reasons, Gupta chose to lie about their origin, little realising what that lie would cost Helandra:

In the dark, still hours, only Uru was awake to hear the woman’s cries, as they echoed through the complex and were suddenly cut short. He sent Winkin, Blinkin and Nod to investigate and they returned from Gupta’s room with a dreadful report. Uru summoned his ghostly entourage to rouse Matunaaga, Rumdoom and Leon, and together they ended the grisly chamber. Within, a huge tiger had killed and partially eaten poor Helandra. It turned on them and was swiftly webbed, stunned and stuffed into a pocket dimension. They put Helandra’s remains in there too.

With unnerving efficiency, Uru used the entourage to clean up the blood and the gore. Their ghostly moans disturbed the sleep of those nearby, and at least one guest turned to his hostess with a request for “whatever he’s having”. Then they got up early the next morning and left – except Korrigan, who woke to a sending that they had gone to explore the ruins. It would be up to him to escort Kasvarina from Sentosa.

Only when they reached the relative safety of Rumah Terakir (having been released from Sentosa by the dour Faedravan) did they release the transformed Gupta, still in tiger form. Uriel was now in on their dirty little secret and, though disapproving, provided a warding circle for their protection, trapping the weretiger inside. He was also instrumental in coaxing Gupta from her savage form. She became mostly human once again, and huddled in the warding circle, naked and shivering.

They returned her clothes and asked her why she had chosen to become a weretiger.

“The way I was fighting the Ob was not enough,” she said, simply.

They debated what to do next. (Return and confess and try to smooth things over? Simply leave and not look back?) Some angry words were exchanged when Uru described the eladrin as ‘painted savages’ and Talmai – not Uriel – responded with a fearful admonition. While the argument raged, Korrigan arrived, with Kasvarina, Kieran Sentacore, and the other dwarves. (Hildegaard did not look amused at being forgotten by her husband, who had instead spent his time in a bar and a brothel.)

Everyone stopped talking and waited to hear what Korrigan would make of the whole unpleasant business. …

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 32, Part One - The Blessing of Hewanharimau

Korrigan’s first question was “Why didn’t I know about this?” - about Gupta’s extraordinary decision to willingly contract lycanthropy. Gupta made a wan excuse about not having a moment to talk to him, and not being sure it would even work. “This proves my past,” she said. She looked terrible – weak and anaemic; she had been interrupted before she could consume her victim. Korrigan made it clear that he considered this to be a serious breach of trust.

Korrigan’s second question was: “What is the danger that this will reoccur?” Gupta did not want to relinquish the ‘blessing’, but admitted that she needed help to learn to control it. Uriel said that they had already thought of ways they could minimise the risk. He was fairly certain they could contain Gupta in a magic circle when she transformed and Uru could provide game for her to eat to avoid the terrible emptiness that now afflicted her. “It’s not as if we don’t produce enough corpses,” he said.

Korrigan then raised the issue of how they should handle Sentosa. For his part did not simply want to sneak away. Quite apart from the morality of such an action, there were untold political ramifications too.

Kasvarina said that they would be ill-advised to submit themselves to the labyrinthine judicial process practised by the eladrin. Selfishly, she was reluctant to relinquish her own newly won freedom, though she was clearly concerned about what had happened, frequently checking out Leon to gauge his reaction. Leon was very conscious of her gaze and stayed silent for the moment.

Kieran Sentacore sat down on a log with his head in his hands. Where were the civilised travelling companions he had hoped for?

Then Kasvarina held out a glimmer of hope for Gupta. She said it was a shame that her search for revenge for her family should have produced a collateral victim too and wondered how much Gupta would be prepared to do to make amends. Gupta said she would do much as she had cared for Helandra. So Kasvarina told them of a group of priests who worshipped Sarasvati, the god of reincarnation and once made their home in her home town of Resal. The priests of Sarasvati offered a means to restore victims to life, but only if the killer was willing to sacrifice their own life-force.

When Gupta said she would be willing to try, Leon advised Korrigan to reach out to Sentosa only once they had left Rumah Terakir. “Report the crime, but tell them you were unaware of it when you left. Then tell them we are seeking to make amends.” (Once again, Leon had handled the dirty work, providing an ‘earth’ for Korrigan so he could still wear the Humble Hook…) It was then established that they had business to attend to in the ruins before they left (and before Korrigan contacted Sentosa) – specifically, Uriel’s search for the Arsenal of Dhebisu.

Rumdoom, meanwhile, had been distracted by domestic matters. Hildegaard was furious that he had forgotten about her on his return to Sentosa. He worked very hard to placate her – explaining that he hadn’t been in his right mind lately, but that he had had something of an epiphany in Ingatan’s Refuge that would mean things would be better from now on. Hildegaard complained bitterly about being taken for granted and that Rumdoom was leaving everything they had worked for in Trekhom to rot: His trusty band of Rumschatologists reported that they had been attacked when trying to move the Skull of Cheshimox, to ship it to Macdam as requested. They had managed to fight the rival cultists off, but were now too nervous to try to move the Skull. It was those pesky followers of Grandis Komanov again! Rumdoom promised that they would look into this matter as soon as they were able. Hildegaard was placated for the time being.

As they walked towards the temple, in an offering of transparency to Korrigan, Gupta confessed to her execution of Norm/Sylyx (which she had previously only revealed to Leon). Her motives had been personal, not professional. Korrigan said that the unit was often forced to work outside conventional moral confines. Uru was worried and asked, “Do we have to report all extra-judicial killings from now on?”

When they reached the lonely temple, Rumdoom worked to roll away the stone. Gupta, Hildegaard, Thurgid and Kieran Sentacore waited outside. Within, once their eyes had adjusted to the gloom, they saw the bowl of blood Sokana had mentioned, on a plinth in the centre of a high chamber that was otherwise featureless. In accordance with her account of the temple, they tried to leave. At once the guardian appeared: a female construct with an eerie phosphorescence. It held a shining blue star in its hand and demanded to know which of them would stand against evil. At once, Uriel answered that he would do so, but named Rumdoom as his champion. The guardian paused for a moment, then said, “Very well. Arm yourself, champion, and prove it.” The ‘star’ transformed into a bastard sword as it attacked – then into a club, a spear, a great axe, a short sword... Rumdoom withstood its blows and fought back. Before a more final conclusion could be reached, the battered guardian raised its hand for a cessation, then knelt and offered the arsenal – now back in the shape of a glowing meteor – to Rumdoom. He took it and the guardian vanished. Then he handed the arsenal to Uriel. Uriel found that he could shape it with ease, and that he was able to wield whatever weapon he made with great facility.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 32, Part Two - You Can't Go Home Again

Resal, Kasvarina’s old home town, was gone now – erased and replaced by the clergy town of Airone Azzurro: a dreary, noisome strip of feeble mango orchards.

An elderly eladrin man, who looked very similar to Kieran Sentacore, save for his more rustic attire, waved to them politely as they passed by. A lot of elder eladrin had given up resisting the colonists, it seemed, and now worked alongside them in the fields.

With a heavy heart, Kasvarina led them to a memory event:

Vertigo grips her, and she begins to step in a light, dancing ring as the memory-event sweeps across the area, revealing a massed crowd of weary and bitter eladrin men.

Just weeks after the Great Malice, the retreat of the surviving eladrin reached Resal, Kasvarina’s home town. At the time she was the only woman left in the whole army, and she had assumed the only one of her whole race. But in Resal she found her daughter Launga, who had already located a half-dozen other women and brought them with her to Resal. Launga is taller than her mother, and dressed in the garb of a jungle ranger. The group also includes Latika (who a century later betrayed Kasvarina), and Athrylla (who went on to lead the enclave Sentosa).

As the memory-event begins, the crowd of soldiers listen to a mass funeral service. At the edge of the crowd, Kasvarina, Launga, and the other women are speaking softly with Sor Daeron about how they each survived. Launga was gathering resources in the Dreaming; Athrylla was shape-changed into a dragon attacking Sid Minos; Kasvarina was teleporting across the world.

Sor looks completely bereft of any enthusiasm as he states that he sees no possible way for the nation to survive if so few women are left. He asks if he was a coward to retreat rather than redouble the assault and die seeking vengeance. Launga says that they all need time to grieve, and that there may be a way to survive. Latika responds that there is no use for grief. Grief is so the survivors can keep on living. The women start to argue about what course to take, while Kasvarina remains silent, feeling wracked with guilt.

Then Kasvarina looks up as the priest finishes his rites and introduces the poet Vekesh, who will deliver the eulogy in song. Beside him, a musician strums a simple guitar. What follows is one of the most stir¬ring performances ever delivered in the world’s history, though much of it is lost on those who don’t speak Elven or who are unfamiliar with Elfaivaran culture.

Laden with mourning and tragedy, the song weaves metaphors from other old Elfaivaran myths and history, and Vekesh draws heavily upon the three aspects of Srasama – maiden, mother, and crone. He seems to follow the traditional three-verse rhythm of eladrin elegies, singing of the maiden’s joy and wonder, of the mother’s comfort and strife; but when he should sing of the crone’s burden of loss and death, he says nothing while the guitarist plays. Then Vekesh repeats the first two verses, adjusting his tone to show that he is mourning not his nation’s death, but Srasama’s.

In his fifth verse he comes to his point: this is only a mourning song if it ends with death. The eladrin people are not defeated as long as they refuse to go with the crone to the afterlife. Vekesh pleads for the listeners to seek retribution, yes, but not to throw themselves to their deaths. They should grieve, and endure, and grow strong, and rebuild from weakeness to prosper with strength.

This is the first time since the Great Malice anyone in the army has had the strength to sing, providing a hope that the soldiers here were desperately yearning for. It probably doesn’t hurt that Vekesh’s refrain is memorable and life-affirming to sing along with. By the time he completes the song, most of the crowd has joined in and men are openly weeping.

Kasvarina doesn’t cry, but she tells the other women to follow her. She walks into the center of the ring, thanks Vekesh, and addresses the crowd. She proclaims that many of her sisters have perished – one of her own daughters included – but she still lives, and others like her. No man here, she declares, will give his life for revenge, not until last woman of their people is found and safely returned home.

The crone, she says, would grow old with grief until she joined those who had died before her. So Kasvarina forsakes grief, and asks that those here follow her and her sisters, so that their people may never die.
She tells Vekesh to sing again, and this time she and the other women join in a traditional mourning dance. But like Vekesh’s song, they avoid the part of the dance that would signal grief. The memory-event slowly fades with Vekesh’s song, until Kasvarina finishes her dance alone.

This performance had attracted a crowd of colonists, who watched with awe and started to ask the unit what was going on. A few of the Crisillyiri soldiers asked one another if they should report this, but they seemed too amazed to be worried. Korrigan turned to these people and asked them to respect the memories they had witnessed. He told them they had nothing to fear and suggested they disperse. They did so, such was his calm authority.

Having once again failed to maintain control of herself, Kasvarina sighed and said she now understood how she became this other woman, after a loss so great. That was all she said, as already she was drawn toward another site in the town. “My home,” she said, with some trepidation.

Kieran Sentacore kept muttering to himself in disbelief as they made their way through the town. This was a dream come true for a historian such as he!

The second memory event in Resal caused a house to rise up around them while they stood on the banks of a polluted river:

In this memory, talks with her daughters Launga and Dala while she packs her bags for a long journey. The younger Dala is rounder of face and is using cantrips to alter her hair’s color, trying to inject levity to keep the parting from being sad. Around her neck hangs a three-faceted amber pendant, carved with icons of Srasama’s three forms.

Launga can’t believe her mother plans to go back to Alais Primos after she nearly died there. She offers to go with her, but Kasvarina tells her not to abandon her assignments. “If the ranamandala rejects our request, I might be branded a traitor, and so you both need to show they are loyal.” Dala jokes that a good start would be to tell the army that they’re hiding a human in their house. Kasvarina gives her a very motherly glare.

At that moment, Nicodemus walks in from another room, but it’s the elderly eladrin who Nicodemus is wearing. He’s smoking, and his features shift back and forth from eladrin to Nicodemus’ own salt-and-pepper human face. Nicodemus has managed to resist being swept up in things, so he watches with amusement as Kasvarina’s daughters thank him for saving their mother’s life.

Nicodemus – out of character; clearly in control of himself and acting in the present moment – touches their faces and apologizes for not having been able to save them. (They do not respond, figments that they are.) Then he addresses Kasvarina, and causes her to snap out of the memory and regain control of herself.

He tells Kasvarina that he wants to help her, and asks her to come with him. When she refuses, Nicodemus clarifies that if she wants to learn her past, her options are come with him willingly, come with him as a prisoner, or be killed. As for the party, he’d prefer not to have to kill them, so he asks them to surrender now.

Nicodemus was in no rush to end the memory; he confessed to being a bit nostalgic about the whole thing, and even hopped back into character, encouraging the daughters to remember what he told them about the history behind the war, and why the everyday people weren’t to blame.

The memory event played out, the house faded away. Then Nicodemus cupped his hands and whispered a code word. Instantly, purple light flooded the area, and six Ob golems appeared from the Bleak Gate, surrounded by a mass of undead. Each golem bore a wayfarer lantern in its chest and between them they had rendered the area coterminous – though in the Bleak Gate there was no river and the unit was surrounded by zombies on all sides.

Matunaaga reacted at once, by trying to take out two of the lanterns with his rifle. Instead, he simply shattered the protective glass in front of them. Uriel muttered a command, and used the sanctuary spell he had learned from Ingatan to ward the weary Gupta from harm. Korrigan ordered Matunaaga to keep firing and he did so – taking out two of the lanterns before the golems could even move. In between them a wedge of zombies vanished. Kasvarina burned a path towards that empty space, while Uru took out another golem with a single shot. The golem in the middle vanished into the Bleak Gate and a path was opened up, just as the other golems prepared to open fire with their integrated cannon.

Leon raised his own wayfarer lantern. He had chosen the rarefied oil of menagerie, an experimental pocket plane where sentient creature could change shape at will and all undead were dazed. In this fashion did the unit escape Nicodemus’ trap, while the Obscurati leader lit up a cigarette and shook his head in despair. As a final insult, Matunaaga and Uru took out the remaining Wayfarer Lanterns as they went. Suddenly, the zombies and the golems all vanished, leaving only the elderly eladrin, who took the cigarette out of his mouth, grimaced, spat in disgust, then looked around in confusion, wondering how he had got here. Nicodemus was gone.

Elsewhere, Gupta discovered that the priests of Sarasvati no longer lived here. But rumour had it they had travelled to the ‘Crucible’ – that strip of land between Elfaivar and Crisillyir where eladrin guerrillas waged an ongoing (and largely symbolic) war of resistance. There the priests practised their healing arts in defiance of the clergy.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 32, Part Three - The Enclave Ushanti

Before her untimely death, poor Helandra had provided them with a means to reach Ushanti – in the form of her Vekeshi contact Jaques, who was eager to meet Kasvarina. Unlike Sentosa, Ushanti drifted slightly through the jungles of Elfaivar, and its interior was not analogous to the real world. Similar to a rope trick, the entrance was an invisible extra-di­mensional portal, which changed location each day. As luck would have it, there was enough time to reach Ushanti in just a few hours and they arrived in the early evening. They approached with caution, heedful of Asrabey’s warnings: this had been Kasvarina’s enclave and might be a hotbed of Ob activity. Jaques met them – a talkative, half-elven wideboy who said he had known Gupta’s parents, shook her firmly by the hand (and promised, sotto voce, to tell her more, privately, later).

The portal led to a hill that overlooked a field and a forest connected by an impossible river that flowed in an infinity shape. Buildings clustered near the crossing in the centre of the demi-plane, and the whole enclave was scarcely two miles across. Its current ruler, an ebullient eladrin man named Ajit, was only too pleased to welcome them, and happy to have Kasvarina returned to the fold. She explained her predicament, and he granted them free rein to explore Ushanti. That night they would feast, and be his honoured guests. Korrigan tried his best to divine any ill-will, but these conspirators were slippery: he could sense no malice in Ajit. Only as they left his presence did Gupta whisper, “That man is Obscurati.”

Thus forewarned they began to explore the enclave, in the company of Jaques and other old friends of Kasvarina’s. It turned out there were many more loyal to the Vekeshi cause than the Obscurati one, and they were keenly aware of the schism: power and authority were held by Ajit and his cronies who had taken over soon after Kasvarina disappeared. With Korrigan’s blessing, Uru slipped away to investigate further. Leon, too, became invisible and tailed the unit from a distance, just in case.

The Arc of Reida first led Kasvarina to the matriarch’s gardens:

In this memory-event, Nicodemus (in the body of a young human merchant) is escorted into Kasvarina’s garden. He asks her the status of a mission to steal from a Clergy library and slay its keeper, but Kasvarina says she’s busy with matters that are important to her people, and doesn’t have time to keep pursuing these vendettas. She feels the Clergy have been sufficiently punished, and her fellow matriarch Athrylla is trying to pursue an actual peace.

Nicodemus argues with her for several minutes, stating that he has finally hit upon a greater plan, something that will change the whole world. He starts to ask what she knows about skyseers and planar magic, but she changes the subject to the garden, and invites him to stay and relax. Nicodemus keeps arguing, and eventually Kasvarina gets upset and orders her guards to take him away.

Oddly, in Nicodemus’ absence, Korrigan felt himself drawn into this event. He managed to keep control of his wits, and sensed that the connection stemmed from his possession of the Humble Hook, which must have been around Nicodemus’ neck at the time.

Now Kasvarina was drawn to her old home. By now a sizable crowd had gathered to witness the strange reshaping of reality. The Lost Arc of Reida and Kasvarina Varal?!? Inconceivable!

A second memory event transpired. Again, Korrigan was drawn in and this time he allowed himself to ‘become’ Nicodemus more fully:

Kasvarina is browsing a bookshelf when she sniffs the air and detects the scent of cigarette smoke. She tentatively calls out, “William?” but a man replies, “It’s Nicodemus.”

She opens the door and lets in Nicodemus (in a new body as always). Their postures and sentences suggest intense discomfort, like they’re talking around an issue. Nicodemus explains that it took him a few bodies to get here, and spotting a map on a table he idly traces his path – “Pala, to the coast, over to Trekhom, then by boat to Vendricce. I had to walk from there.”

Kasvarina steps close as if to touch him, and he quickly moves to the bookshelf. He suggests a few books he heard of lately that she should get, then mentions that he’s heading back to old Methia to look for someone. She asks if he wants her to come, and he says that he’ll send when the time is right. He might need a year to figure out the next step. In the meanwhile, he suggests she take Vekesh’s advice and keep on living.

Kasvarina responds that Vekesh was caught by the Clergy and killed a year ago. After a pause she invites Nic to stay for a few days. He nods, and the memory ends.

When it did, Korrigan felt that he knew the way to Pala – to the east of Methia and north of the Malice Lands.

Before they had chance to ruminate on what they had learned so far, Uru returned with news that he had overheard Ajit making plans to drug them and have his soldiers murder them in their sleep. Uru had taken the precautionary step of placing a very deadly poison in Ajit’s own drink, when the enclave leader had paused for refreshment a short while ago. He had lingered to check it was consumed, and just long enough to ensure its efficacy. Ajit was dead.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and having already scoped out the relative strength of the two factions, Korrigan marshalled the sizable Vekeshi contingent behind him, and led a coup. Ajit’s supporters were caught unawares, and their resistance faltered when they found their leader was already dead. By the time the unit went to bed that night a triumvirate of Vekeshi had been installed as co-leaders of Ushanti (not Jaques, though – he was very much a free spirit), and the Ob loyalists had been rounded up and gaoled, pending trial. Not bad for a day’s work.

When the dust had settled, Jaques found time to talk to Gupta. He told her that he knew her parents very well. Yes, they were Panoply adherents, but first and foremost they were Vekeshi – particularly Gupta’s mother. It had often been Jaques’ task to relay orders to them; orders that frequently came from Kasvarina herself. The news that Kasvarina – one of the shining lights and founders of the Vekeshi movement had in secret been working for another clandestine faction had sent shockwaves through the whole movement. As for Gupta’s parents, the nature of their ongoing mission, had shifted over time: to begin with they had worked to weaken the Risuri hold on Axis Island; once the Yerasol conflict was over they had used their contacts in the Docker movement to ensure specific cargo was shifted without drawing official attention: cargo that, with hindsight, was clearly destined for the construction of the colossus.

Gupta processed the news that her parents had had an unwitting hand in their own death, that they had been Vekeshi all along, and that she was now travelling with the person who had so fatally misled them. “Now I hate the Obscurati even more,” she said. Then she went to find Uriel, so he could contain her when she transformed, and help her to learn to control her tiger form.


End of session

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 33, Part One

Many Sendings

Leon spent the early morning in Ushanti in conversation and then in training with Kasvarina, who had agreed to try to verse him in the art of Elfaivaran warcasting. Their initial discussion focused on the morality of the situation that had arisen in Sentosa – Gupta’s murder of the ananta paudha, and the unit’s subsequent flight. Kasvarina still hoped she had picked the ‘right side’, particularly as Asrabey had vouched for the unit’s rectitude. But Helandra’s death had cast things in a very different light. Leon was at pains to stress Gupta’s intention to redeem herself and linked that to Kasvarina’s own. She was satisfied in particular that neither Leon nor any other member of the unit was sanguine about the event and hoped that the priests of Sarasvati would be able to help. She and Leon then engaged in a strenuous bout of training and Leon felt sure that a ‘moment’ had passed between them. Or was it just his imagination?

It turned out that Ushanti had access to a linked portal with the pocket plane from which Vekeshi Mystics launched their guerrilla attacks in the Crucible, close to Vendricce. Gupta, Kasvarina and Uriel were keen to explore that option. But there was also the matter of travelling to Macdam to see if Benedict Pemberton would rendezvous with them as Leon had suggested. Korrigan decided that he, Leon and Uru would go to Macdam, while the rest of the group travelled to the Crucible, but he gave the others orders not to leave the pocket plane until he returned.

Before they set off, they fired off some sendings: First to Ken Don, who owed them a lifetime of favours for preventing his summary execution at the hands of Vitus Sigismund. They asked Don to find out if there were any clergy records of deva having been ‘rescued’ from the eladrin in 240 AOV (the date Talmai the Heirophant died). Korrigan also asked Don if he could establish more about William Miller’s early life and background. They also sent to Captain Smith aboard the Impossible (now docked in Seobriga), and requested that he return their paired sending stone, so that Leon could use follow the voice to rejoin the others more easily. (They made a mental note to return for the Sunfish which they had sunk at the mouth of the Tapi River close to Port Perrault, but right now they did not have time.)

They sent an update to Delft, emphasising their effortless escape from Nicodemus’ trap. Delft ‘congratulated’ them drily and said he also had news but wanted to speak to them directly if possible, should their travels bring them to Flint.

Gupta sent a message to Melissa Amerie. She said they might be visiting soon, and asked if Melissa could find out more about deva in Ber. The half-orc journalist said that she was no historian, but was keen to know more about their impending visit: the monthly Panoply journal in which she published her serialised accounts of the unit’s adventures in Ber were selling like hotcakes – even shipping additional copies to Risur and elsewhere. She hoped to organise a welcome party for the local heroes whose role in saving Ber from a dragon tyrant was now well known.

Gupta was feeling a lot better today. The others had provided her tiger form with a live goat during her transformation and consuming it had spared her the gnawing hunger of yesterday. While she had been unable to retain control of herself while transformed, she had been able to switch back out of tiger form through force of will, and successfully made a deliberate transformation too. Uriel kept her safely trapped in a warding circle throughout (and confirmed she had no control of her tiger form by deftly, and somewhat recklessly, stepping in and out of the circle when the tiger went for him).

But Gupta still felt terrible about Helandra and later, when they went their separate ways, Gupta took Helandra’s body from the absurdist web, bound her respectfully, and bore her through the linked portal herself. She cut a strange sight on arrival.

Seaside Rendezvous

Despite the mysterious fluctuations that now affected all long-range teleports, Leon was able to bring himself, Korrigan and Uru to within a few feet of his intended destination – just on the outskirts of Macdam. From there, they sent Uru into the town to scout out their rendezvous point: the One-Eyed Rat, a sizable dockside inn that was a good deal more salubrious than its name suggested. It was bustling at lunchtime, but Uru was able to sneak into the smoke and shadows of the ceiling, and pick his way from beam to beam before sending out Winkin, Blinkin & Nod to hunt for duplicants. They found one – a lonely hooded figure, with an unlit pipe in its mouth and an untouched drink on the table in front of it. It didn’t look like Pemberton. Uru sent a messenger wind to Korrigan and Leon, who now teleported to the upstairs landing, and entered the saloon from up there.

At once, the tubby landlord spotted them and directed them to the stranger who had given their names when he entered that morning. “He hasn’t drunk much,” the landlord complained. He asked if the pair would be staying long and wished they had given him notice of their arrival, but they brushed him off politely and approached the duplicant. It looked up, gave a sigh of relief and double-checked their names. Then it said, “Hold on a moment.” They held their breath and listened for tell-tale sounds of ticking, but instead of exploding the duplicant merely juddered a bit before its facial features moulded themselves to those of the industrialist Benedict Pemberton. He moved awkwardly in the duplicant (one arm was barely functional) and complained that it was a mothballed prototype.

“Well now,” he said, “why don’t you gentlemen tell me why you dragged me all the way here?”

When they sat down, Korrigan first sought to establish how sore Pemberton was about his defeat in Ber. Pemberton held up a hand, took out a pen-knife, opened it, handed it to Leon and asked him to hold it a moment. Then he searched his pockets and took out a case of fine cigars, apologised that there was ‘only one’, retrieved the knife from Leon, snipped the end of the cigar and lit it from a candle on the table. Then he stowed the knife, sat back in a cloud of cigar smoke, and reminded Korrigan that they had thwarted him not once, but twice: Three years ago Korrigan had turned political Risur, and popular opinion, against the joint enterprise of Pemberton Industries and Black Star Mining. This had led to a falling out with Aodhan and Pemberton’s eventual withdrawal from Risur.

They briefly bandied words about the nature of his oath to the kings of Risur. (“A vow I was forced to make on pain of death, and which I long since regret. I’m sure you know how that feels,” he said, looking directly at Leon.) Pemberton maintained that he had adhered to the letter, if not the spirit, of the oath, and could not understand why Risur thought it necessary to thwart him. “Twice!”

Korrigan gave a smile and said, “I make no apologies for either occasion, but I am sorry about what became of your daughter.”

Pemberton accepted this at face value and shared something of the depth of that loss: Teraklir had been an unexpected surprise, albeit a flawed one – hatched from a clutch of eggs he had found in his old lair, laid by his mate before she was slain. He was grateful to the unit for avenging her death.

Needless to say, the Ob had indeed drawn his attention. “Having looked into the matter, I have decided that they are not an organisation with whom I am prepared to share the world.”

Leon again reiterated their request to share information. Pemberton shook his head. “Son, I know how to walk and whistle at the same time. I don’t need to share information with you. All I asked was that you tell me what you’re up to so I can see if I can help.” He wasn’t about to tell them his plans, for obvious reasons. Leon then proposed that they fill him in on what they had learned on Mutravir.

Pemberton shrugged. “I learned everything I need to know from a mutual friend. Reed Macbannin. I guess he was using me as a fail-safe in case he couldn’t get you off the island. He had the presence of mind to reactivate the head of the duplicant I sent along as a welcome present, after it was blown clean off.” To their surprise, Macbannin had already told Pemberton about the Grand Design. Korrigan asked Pemberton what he knew about Nicodemus. “Not much. But he’s one hubristic son-of-a-bitch,” said Pemberton. Coming from a dragon tyrant that was saying something.

They discussed Borne. Here, Pemberton could not help but express admiration for their creation which was beyond the wildest fever-dreams of contemporary technologists. But now that Tinker was dead, Pemberton could offer no insights into how to control it. “That colossus is the reason these people need to be stopped: because they’re capable. Capable of doing what they are trying to do, but not necessarily capable of controlling it.”

Leon focused Pemberton’s attention on Axis Island. Pemberton nodded with interest when the importance of the island was emphasised (here, it seemed, was at least something he had not derived from Macbannin’s hasty info-dump). The island was in Danoran hands and no doubt well defended, but couldn’t Pemberton try to infiltrate in a civilian capacity – as a technological expert?

Pemberton was about to respond to this suggestion when both outside doors were simultaneously kicked in, and filled with carbine-wielding porteurs de mort, who loudly demanded their surrender.