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

Zeitgeist Zuesdays Session 28, Part Two - Vigil Longis

Aulus' Cello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC-6ELLuQ5M

Vigil Longis

As they trudged towards the outpost, Korrigan talked to the patrolmen. He heard a lot of grumbling. Most of the men had been there over five years! The threat of renewed conflict between Risur and Danor meant that Crisillyir had forgotten her new colony. Brother Talbot was relatively green, having requested this posting just two years ago. Clearly this fact annoyed the others, despite Talbot’s own growing cynicism. He explained their care and caution as fear of weretiger attack and said he thought these daily patrols were pointless. “Our commander insists. For discipline’s sake.”

At length they reached Vigil Longis. It was nothing more than a crude stockade, mounted atop a magically raised table of stone at the centre of a wide clearing. A fraise of sharpened spikes provided defence. They had to climb a rope-ladder to gain access, and the gate was opened. The soothing sound of a cello could be heard thoughout the compound. As they headed for the largest building – the chapel – the sound grew louder and clearer. Inside, they found the music was being played by a giant of a man, crouched over the instrument as if it were a toy. When Brother Lionel approached he stopped playing and looked up. His eyes were a piercing blue.

This was Aulus Atticus. When he stood, he towered over Korrigan. He was well over seven feet tall and his build was enormous. In a heavily accented, and surprisingly airy, though resonant voice, he welcomed them to Vigil Longis. He was glad they had come, he said, and was especially glad to see another genuo credeto in their number. However, he had hoped there would be more of them. Korrigan nodded and said that there were indeed four more. They had become separated, he said, but he had received word that they were on their way. Aulus was glad. Their arrival might break an ongoing stalemate, give the outpost the chance to capitalise on some recent gains, and boost the troops’ morale. He naturally assumed that they would join together in an assault on the weretigers (advanced word of their request for silver weapons seemed to indicate as much) and asked only for their reason for doing so. Korrigan withheld the full details, saying simply that they sought an important artefact that would help them turn the tide of a global conflict – one so dire that even an remote outpost might have heard word of it. Indeed, Aulus Atticus had heard of the events in Flint three years ago, and that the very same colossus had stomped through the southern jungle only a fortnight ago.

The rest of the unit arrived at the fort. Aulus and the others went out from the chapel to greet them. (As they stepped out into the light, Korrigan noticed the hook pendant around Atticus’ neck glinting in the sunlight, and thought of his own, hidden beneath his tunic.) Soldiers gathered round. It was immediately apparent that there were no women stationed here at all.. Gupta noticed some of the men gawping at her. Brother Lionel noticed this too and admonished them, sotto voce. (Later, in the dining hall, the men kept their gaze resolutely downward; Aulus Atticus had chastised them too.) Aulus greeted the newcomers and then led them on a tour of the outpost.

From the twenty-foot-high walls, they saw a pyre where the dead were burned, “for fear if they are buried, the savages will dig them up and eat them, as they do their own kind”. They took in the armoury, recreation centre and mess hall – where holy food conjured by the chaplains was served at mealtimes. They took in the commander’s quarters – a large room dominated by Aulus Atticus’ giant suit of golden plate armour. And they visited the barracks – half-empty, since the depredations of the weretigers began: Aulus once commanded 150 men; now there were only seventy-odd. But they had enjoyed success recently: Aulus himself had slain the weretiger’s druidic leader in their last attack.

Now to the practical business of accommodation: Ordinarily they would have been required to bed down with the men, but as their group contained a female, they were given use of the rec centre, with beds provided from the barracks. Aulus asked Korrigan to join him after dinner so that they could formulate an initial plan of attack. The godhand proposed that they wait a full day to allow everyone to fully recover, and begin their assault on the morning of the next day. Korrigan merely nodded.

When the tour was over and they were left to their own devices, Rumdoom returned to the armoury and bought bigger, better silver weapons to augment the knives they secured in Sentosa. Uru, feeling strangely sorry for these forgotten soldiers, mingled with the rank-and-file in the guise of Vitus Sigismund, and tried to reassure them that their sacrifices and dedication had not been forgotten back home.

After a dinner of conjured food, Korrigan visited Aulus Atticus in his chambers. He wasted no time in telling the commander that the unit would not be joining in any attack on the weretigers. Aulus maintained his composure, but was clearly ruffled. At first Korrigan attempted diplomacy, and tried in vain to convince Aulus that further conflict was unnecessary. But the godhand viewed his mission here as an extension of the holy war against the Demonocracy, thousands of years ago. When he asked how Korrigan intended to get at the artefact he sought, it almost sounded like a threat. Above all, he was keen to establish if Korrigan intended to parley with the ‘knife-eared savages’ or, worse, help them attack the outpost.

In order to establish a common language and convince Aulus that he could be trusted, Korrigan chose this moment to reveal his Humble Hook. The godhand was astonished and asked if he could take a closer look. The power of the hook was evident. Breathlessly, Aulus declared this to be the Humble Hook – a long-lost clergy artefact that once hung round the neck of Cardinal Silvestri himself. How had Korrigan come by such a thing?

Korrigan told him it had been worn for a very long time “by the man I seek to oppose. But then it left him and came to me. The hook chose me.” The godhand was silent for a long time while he took all this in. When he spoke again his tone was almost supplicant. “Why has it brought you to me?”

Drawing on his knowledge of the life of Triegenes, and the particular interpretation rendered by William Miller, in the book recommended to him by Ottavia Sacerdote many years ago, Korrigan insisted that the man he knew – who ascended to godhood by virtue of his own sheer will – was not a god of war, but a god of peace; that Korrigan himself would not seek to choose any side in this conflict or betray the clergy’s hospitality. As he spoke, he felt warm emanations from the hook, signalling its approval of his words, and they were clearly having a profound effect on Aulus... Though tempted to go further, he decided not to try to tell the godhand what to do, and instead humbly asked that they be allowed to depart in the morning.

Atticus agreed.

Back in their quarters, Uru teased Gupta about how many indigenous tribes-people the unit had helped to wipe out (which was only partly true). Korrigan arrived and told them they were leaving the following day. It was at this point that Leon revealed he had imprisoned Talios in the absurdist web. This led to a lively debate about what to do with her. Uriel took particular offence to Uru’s suggestion that she might serve as a ‘bargaining chip’, and stormed outside when Leon countenanced keeping her in the web until after their dealings with the weretigers were done.

Thus agitated, Uriel did not sleep, but spent an uneasy night beset by visions, as if experiencing flashes of memory from each of the men here. At one point he felt he saw the moment that Aulus Atticus – floating off the ground, radiating light, and flanked by summoned angels – came face-to-face with the weretiger druid Jakumar, in hybrid form, fangs bared, razor-sharp briar tendrils whipping around him. Then Uriel flinched at the impending violence, and the vision was gone.

As they lay in the dark that night, Uru and Rumdoom had a whispered conversation about how things had become so confusing. “Have you noticed how everything went wrong after Korrigan told a lie?”

End of Session

Session 29, Part One - Kanta Mahala

Fine rain and thin mist accompanied their departure from Vigil Longis. The clergy detachment turned out in full regalia, in what might have been a sign of respect, an expression of determination, a show of strength, or all three. Aulus Atticus appeared in his golden armour – puissant and palpable, even from a distance. (Uriel felt strongly that he must have worn that sort of armour at some point in the past.) Aulus and Korrigan saluted one another and exchanged a few words. Aulus said bluntly that he hoped Korrigan would not pursue a dishonourable path in order to get to the artefact, and Korrigan said he would not.

Feeling very much in tune with his godhand persona, Uru paused on the threshold to say a few uplifting words, but they felt hollow in the face of the deflated soldiers, whose hope of reinforcements had been dashed. And so it was that they left the stockade and headed back into the jungle. All that remained of their presence was a single rune Gupta had etched into a hidden spot in the rec room. It was the elvish rune for Hewanharimau.

Leon ‘ported them back to the spot where they had run into the patrol. Uriel created an inverted circle of protection against fey creatures, and they released Talios from the absurdist web. Snarling, she sought to escape, and found herself penned in, whereupon Gupta muttered an incantation and erased her memories. She was confused, but they were able to explain the circumstances, and gloss over the sudden transition. They once again won her trust and at length she set off towards Bramblehome as originally planned. Gupta stuck close to the young weretiger, feeling very protective while they remained in the vicinity of the stockade. Talios seemed equally protective of her new charges, warning Uru and Matunaaga not to range too far from her, for fear their approach might meet a hostile response from other weretiger scouts.

So they stuck together, even when it became obvious that they were being stalked. Uru also noticed songbirds behaving strangely overhead, following the group from tree to tree before wheeling away in unison. At last, not far from Kanta Mahala, they were challenged by a pair of weretigers who stepped out onto the trail in hybrid form, raising a pair of stone axes that an ordinary eladrin would not have the strength to wield. They demanded to know where Talios had been, who these strangers were, and why she had brought them so close to Bramblehome. Talios said haughtily that these were questions only Betronga should ask of her and that she was taking these allies of the Unseen Court to see him. With that, she pushed past them, and led the unit out of the brush, where they were greeted by a splendid sight:

Twin waterfalls cascaded down from a point a hundred feet above, where an unnamed river was bisected by a natural awning of stone that loomed over a shallow cave. A switchback trail led up the cave where Ingatan’s Refuge was situated: a spacious temple carved from the rock itself, with a massive statue of Ingatan sitting atop it, barely visible in the shadows and mist, his four arms held palm-upwards, expectantly.

The Children of Hewanharimau had built huts in a tangle of massive thorny vines that had grown up around Ingatan’s Refuge. It was evident why the clergy had struggled to mount an assault on the temple: they needed greater mobility and a lot more men.

The unit was now treated to its second show of force that day. Fighters appeared on every level of the refuge, and stepped out of the jungle to form a semicircle around them as they approached the switchback. The sky above them began to roil and rumble, churned up by the magic of four shamans who stood atop the temple, joined now by their songbird companions. Rain fell even more heavily and the air was charged with the threat of lightning.

Before they could set foot on the switchback, another eladrin appeared at the very top. Though he was difficult to make out at this distance, his poise was evident, as was the huge black longbow he wielded. This was Betronga and he was flanked by two enormous dire tigers that prowled around him and rubbed against him affectionately. After just a moment he raised the bow and fired. When the arrow struck the path at the foot of the switchback trail, one of the dire tigers immediately appeared there and raised itself up threateningly. They came to a halt, and Talios held out a warding arm. Then Betronga mounted the second tiger and slowly sauntered down to meet them. He stopped on the first and lowest bend of the switchback and began to parley from there. His manner was brash and gruff.

“Where have you been?” he demanded of Talios, “vanishing for days and then leading these strangers into our midst?”

To avoid further pursuit of this line of questioning, Korrigan stepped in and greeted Betronga respectfully. He told them they had come seeking the aid of the Children of Hewanharimau and had been at great pains to avoid the nearby human encampment. He asked for permission to access Ingatan’s Refuge. Betronga sneered and asked why he should help outsiders, whose allegiance he could not know. Korrigan said that there was a great war going on elsewhere, that would see the Dreaming wrenched from Lanjyr, and asked for help in averting this threat. Betronga had heard rumors of war, and of a black monster crashing through the woods to the south, visible only by the shadow it cast. “Scouts say the monster heads for Crisillyir, and I want to fight alongside it to drive away all the humans I can.” They told him the monster was a foe, and that they sought the Lost Arc of Reida in order to stop it. Betronga sniffed the air. “You say you come peacefully, but I smell silver.” Uriel piped up: “We said we came peacefully, not stupidly.” This blunt approach appeared to chime with Betronga, who nodded and sneered appreciatively. Then he said, equally bluntly, that they could gain access to the refuge by helping him to drive the clergy away. “You humans come to eladrin lands and do nothing but take. You must earn our favour by helping us to slay the priests, or you will leave empty handed.”

Korrigan asked for time to think about this, to which Betronga responded with a harsh bark of forced laughter. “You have until tonight, when my clan awakes. Until then, you must remain down here.” He set guards to keep an eye on them, and left his dire tigers outside the entrance to Ingatan’s Refuge.

Session 29, Part Two - The Handmaiden

They set up camp and immediately began to consider their options. To begin with, Talios stuck around, and when she overheard them talking about how to dissuade Betronga from attacking Vigil Longis, she blurted out that such a course of action was hopeless – Betronga was determined to win the favour of Jakumar’s wife and marry her himself. An outsider, she had come to Ingatan’s Refuge two years ago and become Jakumar’s spouse. She wanted the blood of the clergy godhand who had slain Jakumar. They thanked her for the information, but continued their discussions in private:

Many ideas were bandied around, including trying to set up a straight fight between Aulus Atticus and Betronga. They thought they might teleport back to Vigil Longis, stuff Atticus in the absurdist web and pretend they had killed him. Rumdoom suggested they try to persuade Aulus Atticus to simply “leave for a bit, and then come back”. Meanwhile, Uru seemed to have wholly embraced his godhand persona (which he had long since dropped) and advocated a return to Vigil Longis to join with the clergy in wiping out the weretigers. (He wanted to add to their roster of genocides, which included – in his strange fey mind, at least – the lizardmen of the Sool Marshes; their suahagin adversaries; the gnolls of the Cult of the Steel Lord; and his own people!) Fortunately, more level heads prevailed and they petitioned Morgan Cippiano once again: could he arrange for the detachment at Vigil Longis to be withdrawn? They were at pains to stress the limiting time factor and Cippiano could only say that he would do his best.

While they waited, Uru was sent to find out more about this ‘outsider’ who had bewitched both Jakumar and Betronga. Talios had said she did not live in the huts among the brambles any more, but had withdrawn to the cave at the rear of the refuge with the elderly, the sick and the children. This was no easy matter as the dire tigers were alert for intrusion and possessed of preternatural senses. But Uru was a master of stealth and managed to slip by.

In the huge cave, moving among the non-combatants, he spotted a woman who clearly did not belong to the tribe. Uru recognised her as none other than Sokana Rel, the ‘handmaiden’ who had helped Duchess Ethelyn of Shale in her assassination attempt on her brother, King Aodhan. Just a few months ago, at the Duchess’ request, Korrigan had tried to find out what had happened to Sokana, only to learn that she had disappeared from custody. Vekeshi influence was suspected. And so Leon sent to the Old Stag to ask him if he had any sway over Sokana. The Old Stag said that he might – it just depended on how grateful she felt for her release! He promised to try, and Leon wrote a letter requesting an audience and handed it to a weretiger guard.

Some time later Leon, and Leon alone, was admitted up the switchback trail. At the top he was met by Betronga who, flanked by his tigers, circled Leon demonstratively and then withdrew – letting him know that this request had been granted only by his say-so.

Sokana Rel came out to meet Leon. She did so not only because of her debt to the Old Stag, she said very quietly, but because of a strange dream she had had the night before in which Duchess Ethelyn spoke to her aboard the Coaltongue and asked her to think kindly of her captors and to help them if she could. “’Do not think of them as mere servants of the Crown,’ she said. ‘They may be our best hope of avoiding the prophecy.’” Sokana then said that none of this would be necessary if they had not interfered. Whatever had happened in Flint since then had happened as a consequence of their intrusion.

Leon explained that there was a direct link between those consequences and their mission to retrieve the Lost Arc. The clergy were strong opponents, he said, and went on to try to convince her to encourage Betronga to back down. “You speak as if I can control Betronga’s mind. I have no more power to do so than you have. His desire to kill the godhand is his own, though he declares it is the means by which he seeks to win me.” Leon asked what she thought would happen if they de-escalated the situation. “Betronga would consider you to have stolen his revenge away. But if you can make it happen without his knowledge, I might be able to persuade him to grant you access to the Refuge as a favour, and to view the clergy’s withdrawal as a sign of his strength. I will do so for Ethelyn and the Vekeshi.” Leon then asked if she wanted to be here. Sokana said she had travelled throughout Elfaivar and stopped here because it was the only place they had continued to fight back against the clergy. “I am as steeped in revenge as Betronga, but I do not allow it to blind me.”

Later they met with Betronga who wanted their answer. They agreed to help, but said they needed time to rest. They also tried to buy more time by suggesting he allow them to scout out the stockade. Betronga said there was no need, they had seen it already. Matunaaga said, “But we haven’t.” Betronga was unmoved – he would countenance no departure and planned to strike in the morning, when the clergy would least expect it. (Jakumar’s attacks had always been at night.) When he went, Korrigan jokingly asked Uru if he would pretend to be Aulus and let Betronga kill him. Then he became very serious once again and brooded: a message had already come from Moergan Cippiano – there would be no order to withdraw. But Korrigan was determined to follow the urgings of the Humble Hook, so closely did they chime with his own principles.

They set up a tent for the night. Leaving Rumdoom, Uriel, Matunaaga and Uriel to keep up appearances, Korrigan, Leon and Gupta teleported back to Vigil Longis where they sought an audience with Aulus Atticus.

Aulus met them in the chapel in full armour, flanked by his chaplains and with four guards on hand. His initial distrust was evident. Korrigan set about trying to persuade Aulus to withdraw from Vigil Longis, using all the means at his disposal. Aulus countered every reason and refused to budge: the very depredations his men had suffered thus far made it all the more important they should not negate their own sacrifice.

In the end, Korrigan heaved a sigh of reluctance and reminded Aulus Atticus that he bore the Humble Hook. His arrival here at this time was a divine message. The Hook wanted Atticus to leave.

Aulus bowed his head for a time, then looked back up with moisture evident in his piercing blue eyes. “Thank you,” he said, to Korrigan’s surprise. Then he issued an order for immediate withdrawal.

So far no tragedy. That's good.

Session 29, Part Three - Happy Ending?

RangerWickett said:

So far no tragedy. That's good.

Click to expand...

I agree. I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of effort and determination they had put into not having a fight. Of course, I had all the carefully selected minis in my bag, and knowing from the week before they were planning on a peaceful solution, began to think of sneaky ways to with them...

Happy Ending?

Early the next morning, before dawn, the bagheva clan rose, wordlessly daubed themselves in thick, bloody warpaint (which Uru knew to be both animal and human) and set off towards Vigil Longis. They moved quickly and quietly, with songbirds ranging ahead searching for patrols. Sokana Rel chose to come with them, which greatly pleased Betronga, as she would witness his triumph. Sokana spoke briefly to Korrigan and urged him to think well of Duchess Ethelyn, despite what he must perceive as her deep betrayal. He could never know the agony that preceded her decision, having failed to persuade her brother to change course. She also asked that he convey her sincere thanks to the duchess, should the opportunity arise.

Talios was thrilled. She circled and danced around the unit, telling them stories of past battles, warning them to beware of the godhand and his angels, and revelling in her part in this venture and the fact that she had brought these great warriors to Bramblehome, who would now turn the tide of the conflict in favour of the eladrin.

Of course, that was not to be – or at least not in the way she anticipated. When they neared Vigil Longis, scouts returned to report that the air was thick with smoke. Betronga said that the humans must have known they were coming, and that they were setting bonfires to dull their senses. But soon more reports came back to say that Vigil Longis itself was ablaze. The weretigers proceeded cautiously, lest this prove to be a human trap, but at length they stood in the shadow of the stockade, and saw that it was destroyed and abandoned.

Betronga was incensed and prowled around full of unspent energy and aggression. He gnashed and cursed and spat and then sent scouts off in pursuit of the soldiers. If they were just a few hours ahead perhaps they could catch them? Sokana stepped in and, as promised, began to work her charms on the young Raja. She calmed him, soothed his ego and encouraged him to see this as a great victory, not a lost opportunity for glory. Duly placated, and reduced to brooding quietly, Betronga gave the order to return to Kanta Mahala.

On the way home the mood of the tribe began to improve, with the huge weight of the omnipresent clergy threat lifted from their shoulders. There was no need for stealth. They laughed and joked and sang. Buoyed by their ebullience, Betronga loudly declared that there would be a great feast on their return to the refuge. They would show their guests true eladrin hospitality and celebrate their good fortune by honouring their promises.

As they went, Leon came alongside Gupta and asked her why she wanted to know about the Vekeshi. Gupta told Leon that when she had died, both times, she had seen things – things that she could only describe as “Hell”. Her family were trapped and suffering. Beyond seeking a way to relieve their torment – which she had no clear way to do – Gupta sought revenge on those who had put them there. Then she took a deep breath and confessed that she had already overstepped the bounds of morality and legality in pursuing her vendetta: Instead of apprehending the Obscurati operative Sylyx (whom the unit knew better as ‘Norm’), she had allowed her emotions to get the better of her and simply executed him on the spot. This was the very case which had made her name and brought her to Stover Delft’s attention. She gave a sigh of relief having finally admitted her crime. As Norm had only been able to escape custody in the wake of Leon’s own escape – when the Mugwump disabled the antimagic field in the RHC holding cells – and had gone on to murder RHC B-team officer Niniel Erendis, this ‘crime’ of Gupta’s was unlikely to earn a sanction from the unit, and Leon simply nodded in acknowledgement and acceptance of the facts.

Confession over, Gupta went on to say that she had looked into the Vekeshi philosophy and thought that it could teach her how to seek vengeance in a way that would not destroy her. She added, also, that she thought her mother must have been half eladrin, and for that reason alone felt she might pursue Vekeshi Mysticism.

Leon listened sympathetically and promised to help if he could, but added that his contacts with the Vekeshi were slender these days, (he had really been using the Vekeshi as much as they had used him, as a way to gain access and favour with the Unseen Court) though he sympathised heavily with the Vekeshi cause.

When their conversation was over, Gupta realised that Sokana was close by and it was evident she had overheard them from her gaze. There was an intensity that Gupta understood and reciprocated.

Later, when the feast was in full swing, and Betronga was distracted by grandstanding and drink, Sokana approached Gupta and whispered that she knew of a way that Gupta could focus her desire for vengeance – one that she herself had taken and that had led her to this place. She suggested that Gupta partake of the ‘blessing of Hewanharimau’; if found worthy, this would also prove her heritage, for Hewanharimau only bestowed his blessing on those of eladrin blood. Gupta indicated her interest and that Sokana should continue.

There were two ways she might choose to do this: firstly, she could enter the temple of Hewanharimau and drink from the bowl of tiger’s blood therein, just as Sokana had done, but the disadvantage of this method was that it drew the ire of the temple’s deadly guardian and Sokana herself had only barely escaped with her life. The second method was simpler and would take the form of a mere bite. Under the right conditions, and administered in the right way, it might even be pleasurable. That intensity of gaze again; again reciprocated by Gupta. But what of Betronga? “I will stay with him, and become his, no doubt. He is not so bad and may improve. But he is of no use to me just now, and I choose to begin our courtship under better circumstances.” They slipped away to Sokana’s quarters during Korrigan’s big speech.

Korrigan spoke of their victory and phrased his toast to give all credit to Betronga, whose leadership even the mighty godhand must have feared. (Later, he issued a final sending to Morgan Cippanio requesting that he organise a formal commendation for Aulus Atticus. The reply was, “That I can do.”) The Humble Hook purred warmly on his chest and Korrigan felt sure that he had done the right thing.

Uru joined a circle of shamans and talked to them about the coming war, in an attempt to secure their support, but these eladrin spiritualists were put on edge by this strange deep faen technologist, with his clicking toys and whirring gadgets, and they made their excuses and left.

Uriel was accosted by an elderly eladrin man – a blind sitar player whose music suddenly stopped when Uriel approached and who reached out to touch Uriel’s sleeve. “Could it really be the Hierophant?” he old man gasped, and went on to say that Uriel’s aura was almost identical to a deva who lived in this region around three-hundred years ago. Uriel was keen to talk to the old man and discovered that the Hierophant was a Seedist leader who fought against the clergy for many years, before his death “in the Perpetual City, to the east”.

... but in the end I decided not to. I felt that Korrigan's player deserved his reward, so instead of winning an ally in either camp, he gets +2 to concordance with the Humble Hook.

The elderly sitar player reminds me to post a link to the soundtrack I used for their arrival in Kanta Mahala:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMhFL9lXChU

Did you plan to have Gupta be low level but a frikkin' weretiger from the beginning?

RangerWickett said:

Did you plan to have Gupta be low level but a frikkin' weretiger from the beginning?

Click to expand...

As a matter of fact, no. It was a relatively recent idea and I didn't run it by the player ahead of the session, so it really was a spur of the moment decision. Fun, yes?

Vision of the Far Past

The following morning they gathered at the entrance to the temple and went inside. The interior was very still. The first room was a refuge hall, dimly lit from without, with a passage leading North and two archways to the west. Prayer mats lay on the ground, still pristine, even smelling freshly washed, despite the ground around them being covered in flaky moss. A fresco on the eastern wall depicted an idealized form of the god Ingatan: a rotund, four-armed figure flanked by elephants. He held a flame in each hand, painted with a different color: gray, red, yellow, white. The archways to the west led to a dining room, pantry and kitchen. A tub of water, some peppery breads and a single banana could be found here – all still perfectly fresh.

Along the corridor they found four more archways: three obscured by swirling mist, while the fourth radiated warmth. Those who stepped into this room were subjected to a sudden blast of fire. It hurt, but was intended for purification. Uriel subjected himself to the flames deliberately after others revealed its function by accident.

They turned to the mist-filled archways and gathered around the first. Rumdoom went in. He disappeared at once and communication was impossible. Leon followed just behind him.

Everything beyond was monochrome. They stood, not in an ascetic chamber, but on the deck of a great seafaring vessel, now the venue for a huge party. A brass band played, while dozens of guests milled about in amusement, sharing laughter and casual conversation. The familiar face of Stover Delft emerged from the crowd and he snagged Rumdoom’s arm. “Do me a favour and go make sure the Duchess isn’t ‘sleeping through’ the king’s speech in order to embarrass her brother.”

It was the deck of the Coaltongue, almost five years earlier!

Curious to see how this would play out, the pair headed belowdecks, while Korrigan, Gupta, Uriel and Matunaaga stepped onto the main deck and into the party. Uru lingered outside, not happy at the idea of plunging through the strange mists.

Two decks down, Rumdoom and Leon ran into Sokana Rel. She stopped, mid-stride and her expression changed from one of grim determination – the very one she wore when they tried to stop her the first time – to one of astonishment.

“This is it,” she said. “This is the dream I had. The one where the duchess tells me to help you!” She looked over their shoulder at the door to the duchess’ chamber. They went to the door and opened it. Inside, writhing tentacles came in at every window. One held the duchess in its clutches. She saw them and struggled free. “Let go of me, you silly old fool!”

There followed a very strange encounter in which it was established that both Sokana and Duchess Ethelyn were present in the moment, elsewhere in Lanjyr but summoned here by the magic that surrounded them. Sokana had the chance to thank Ethelyn herself, and apologise for failing her. For her part, Ethelyn made her own apology and urged Sokana not to bear a grudge against ‘these brave officers’ who might now be their best hope of staving off Risur’s fate. Suddenly put in mind of her mission, Sokana glanced down at her hands. They were empty. “No rod,” she said. “This must be after I threw it in the engine. …”

At that moment, up on the main deck, the stern erupted in a great conflagration of red and black flame – the only colour visible. Eyes seethed with hunger as the fire coalesced into two misshapen, four-legged beasts formed of glowing slag clad in steel plating. Distracted, Ethelyn found herself dragged back out of the porthole and Leon and Rumdoom ran back upwards as fast as they could.

Korrigan shouted orders, as Uriel backed away and Gupta studied these flame demons for weaknesses. Matunaaga responded to the shouts of his commander by drawing both pistols and – while elegantly sidestepping the first assault of one of the beasts – emptying both chambers into its belly, ripping a hole which he then targeted with fists and kicks, tearing into the demon but burning himself as he did so.

The flame demons tore huge chunks out of the ship with each strike, each stomp, and the officers were seared by blasts of heat and forced to dodge huge chunks of flying debris. Matunaaga’s relentless barrage of bullets and blows tore the first demon in half, only for it to collapse in on itself before exploding outwards in a burst of necrotic fire that even Korrigan could not shrug off. Squinting in the heat, they focussed fire on the second demon and, thanks to the timely arrival of Uru – whose anxiety for his friends had gotten the better of his caution – soon felled the brute, only for that one to explode too.

Once these violent death throes had subsided they saw two small, bright, white flames lingering where the demons had fallen. Cautiously and curiously, Leon approached and found he could cup the cold flames in his hands. Bringing them together caused the vision to vanish, and they found themselves in a bare stone room with a washing basin and clean robes fitted perfectly for them. The fog at the doorway had vanished.

They took some time to rest and heal up. Korrigan using his hurtloam-infused hands to soothe their burns. As this was easiest if they stripped off their armour, they decided to don the robes and bathe in the washing basin. The water blushed with dirt and blood from their hands and faces, but clarified almost at once. Uru took full advantage and, wearing only his bespoke robe, clambered into the basin and washed his entire body thoroughly. Despite the magically purified water, no one else used the bowl after that.

End of Session

Bit of advice for our next session, please, [MENTION=63]RangerWickett[/MENTION]. I'm not sure I understand the Lance of Triegenes map properly - or if I do understand it, how it works tactically in the final battle of the adventure and the Vision of the Near Future. Is the whole central section 'covered'? If so, how high is the chamber? Is the entire central section - the black section - solid? How high does it go? How tall is the 'lance'? In the Vision encounter, it describes a shadowy figure in the centre of the chamber. If the middle is solid, where is the centre, or do you just mean inside? Are the Tragedies supposed to fly in and out of the chamber through the walls? In the final encounter, how does Borne affect the combat? Only on the outer platforms? Or can he attack PCs in the central chamber?

In short, I don't get how the set-up of the map - as I am interpreting it - is supposed to work.

PS. That's a real weakness of mine generally - and probably why I need to beef up most encounters!

The 'crystals' are just a section of floor, flush with everything else. The black is amethyst. The gold is topaz. It's just fancy decoration, and once upon a time was a teleportation circle controlled by the hierarchs. Also, if the fight goes on too long at the end of the adventure, it's the first section of the floor that collapses, leaving a big gap.

The cartographer probably shouldn't have give it facets, because that makes it look raised.

The top floor has a roof, with the ceiling twenty feet up. The balconies have no roof, but they do have railings. The shadowy figure is meant to suggest that Andrei von Recklinghausen possibly dies here. The Tragedies are incorporeal, so yes, they can fly through walls. The trick is destroy them while they're inside the tower, instead of going outside and getting strafed.

The lance itself is 1700 feet at its pinnacle. Yes, that's ludicrous, but this was the seat of power of the second greatest empire the world has seen. (The greatest was in War of the Burning Sky, but that's on another continent. *wink*)

Borne can smash people on the balconies or anyone bold enough to go outside the tower, but the only attack that could reach into the tower is the Spirit Cascade, and he could only target spots he could see if he sort of peered through one of the balcony doorways.

Session 30, Part One - Raiders of the Lost Arc

The second vision took the unit back to the more recent past – to Tinker Oddcog’s Magma Emporium in the heart of a volcano on Isla Dolas Focas. They hunkered down, expecting trouble. Uriel stuck next to Gupta, who always seemed to know what she was doing. The turbine whirred on overdrive and the heat rose to unbearable levels. Small, white flames appeared, dotted throughout the foundry. Using his canary pendant, Korrigan braved the searing heat of the turbine to grab one; Matunaaga propelled himself up to the gantry and grabbed another. Searching for more, Leon entered the schematics room and found himself face-to-face with a duplicant of Benedict Pemberton. (There was a third flame here too.)

A halting conversation followed in which it was established that, yes, this was all an illusion – albeit a very dangerous one – but that Pemberton was really here: re-routed from another duplicant he was occupying in the real world. The wily dragon tyrant sought to establish if this was a trick “of our mutual enemy Nicodemus” before asking where the group might go next, and offering to send “a few of his metal friends to help”. While his allies burned, Leon said that he did not have time to talk, but added, impromptu, “If you really want to parley, we’ll see you on Macdam in three days time” and gave him the name of their favourite inn. Then he snatched the white flame, and joined it with the others, causing the vision to fade.

The ascetic chamber they found themselves in this time contained the bodies of twelve eladrin women in repose. They had not decayed in the five-hundred years since the Great Malice laid them low. It was a sorry, moving sight.

Now two of the flames held by the frieze of Ingatan in the refuge hall were ablaze.

The third vision found them beside a magical portal on a balcony on an impossibly high tower. Uriel recognised this as the Lance of Triegenes, in the old clergy capital of Methia. But the Lance had collapsed when the magic required to sustain it vanished; Methia was now at the heart of the dead magic zone. How, then had Uriel recognised it? He suddenly realised that his first incarnation – or, rather, the man he originally was – must have been here. He pushed his way forward and stumbled to the centre of the main chamber, where the floor was inlaid with amethyst and topaz. He was brought to a halt by an impenetrable shadow within which he could see a slumped, muscular figure.

Meanwhile, each of the four portals produced a wailing, moaning spirit that beset the unit with psychic attacks – unbearable grief, terror and betrayal. They targeted Uriel and dropped him. Leon activated the Wayfarer Lamp, channelling Vona, to burn the spirits with radiant energy. These spirits could pass through the walls, attacking as they went, and when slain produced a small white flame that fell to hover just above the floor. Gupta said that they should try to avoid killing them when they were flying out in mid-air, but Matunaaga couldn’t help himself and was forced to dive off the building in pursuit of one falling flame. Korrigan shouted an order, and Leon created a wormhole in midair, causing Matunaaga to ‘fall’ sideways back on top of the lance.

Before they brought the four flames together, at Uriel’s insistence they drew them to where he stood. Just before the vision faded, they saw that the shadowy figure was Andrei von Recklinghausen!

This time, when they materialised in the Refuge, they were treated to an image of their own burned corpses. This dissipated and they saw a final, mist-shrouded door leading south. So close to his goal, Uriel headed for the door without thinking and had to be stopped by Matunaaga and Gupta so everyone could rest and heal up.

When they finally entered the last door, the fog parted to reveal a final vision:

...

A brief pause in the narrative to ellicit further input from our illustrious Adventure Path Director, if possible. Needless to say, I was not expecting Leon to make a date with Benedict Pemberton. I have all sorts of ideas about how to play that out, but wondered what you think Pemberton would do, bearing in mind that in my campaign he hates the Ob more than he hates the PCs (but that they did thwart him in adventure 6, so they're hardly best of friends).

If it helps, I don't really need Pemberton to show up on Odiem as I intend to have Ottavia Sacerdote disrupt that memory event instead.

My initial thought was to have Pemberton play his cards close to his chest, and try to pump the PCs for information, while simultaneously revealing that Macbannin used him as 'back up' during Schism - plugged his head in and told him everything, just in case the PCs didn't make it. (To explain how he managed to figure things out even though his duplicant was exposed.) I'd be very grateful for any additional ideas, please, @RangerWickett.

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

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.'