Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)

[CPaladin]

[Session 112, cont'd]
They send the faerie dragon to open contact with the crystal dragons, and find out if they’re now available to be hired. He brings a gift of gems.

They discuss how the attack happened. It could have been a spell left in the Patriarch’s chamber to monitor them. That’s the most likely since they were corrupted.

Dame Constance guesses that the ooze is chaos ooze, a material that infests some of the planes of the Abyss. Given time and enough of it, and it will ingest any biological form. It’s like gray ooze or the like. Given time, it can even etch stone. A rain of chaos ooze would require a very powerful spell. A domain level spell, or perhaps a boon granted to a magus or cleric not quite of that status.

A disheveled and bloody pit fiend appears with a pop. “Mistress… they are defeated.”

“You’re the only one left, aren’t you?”

It raises a clawed thumb.

“Well, that was expensive. Still, you did well. I release you from the rest of your service, and dismiss you to any plane other than this one.”

Discussing the ooze, she says, “Get me a sample, and I will confirm that it is chaos ooze, and perhaps determine a plane of origin. I don’t think it’s Zuggtmoy—she has a brain. Some of the others—Xanadar? Perhaps.”

* * *

Dame Brionna has a military report. [Attached] The battlelines in Hanal have stabilized and should be able to hold through the winter, and the Cov of Boromark has made contact with the Inquisition army. It probably doesn’t make a long-term difference in the war, since the usurper still has more power, but it stabilizes things.

The South Kingdoms have rallied around the crown, especially with the Empress’s new status. But there are lots of problems with rogue slavers—not officially Argoni, but selling to the Argoni. We need to counter them to retain support, but we don’t have enough troops there at present.

The Council plans to dispatch the entire 18th Field Army of irregulars and 3 legions of the cavalry and 2 legions of light crossbowmen of the 22nd. They also pass the word among the old nobility of the South Kingdoms that they need to act now to stabilize the area, suppress slaving, and build support for the Empress Caitlyn and Alistair, or that they will not continue to have meaningful titles.

(The 23rd and 24th field armies will now be up to the point of being green.)

9 Tar-Chund
Lord Davion returns the following morning.

"Once the Patriarch emerged secure, the Knights of Truth were unwilling to fight on either side. We were able to suppress the other side with some 4000 casualties, mostly on the other side. The Sytryites were brutal in suppressing them once they were confident that they were heretics.

"The oddest thing were the trio of demons I had to kill. They were disguised as angels of Sytry—I don’t expect demons to be that clever. All you have to do is look at their psychic signature, and the difference is clear. But they were physically disguised as perfect copies.

"Oh, and this might be useful to you. He holds out a small stone. It’s a hearing stone. Attune it by physical proximity, and set a trigger word, and you will be able to hear it. It was in the patriarch’s audience chamber.

"The matrix is a powerful, full matrix, Eldron or Eldar in make, possibly from before the division. It was a communication matrix, but has been repurposed. Even though someone has repurposed it, it doesn’t believe in intervening in human affairs. It is intelligent and immobile, but very powerful—more powerful than me," says Lord Davion. "It tolerated me, because it approved of what I was doing."

They plan on sending over Grandmaster Farsensor, when they can, to both examine the matrix and communicate with it, and to search out any lingering heretics or traitors among the Sytrites.

Dame Constance confirms that it is chaos ooze. She begins divinations on which plane it’s linked to, and therefore which demon lord—that will take 4 days.

13 Tar-Chund
Dame Constance reports on her results with the ooze.

“The chaos slime hails from the layer of the Abyss known as Shevacla, the layer of the Slime Pits, and Lord Jubilex. I would not have guessed that Jubilex would involve himself, but he either has, or lesser creatures following him have. The slime sample is largely composed of the get of Afithix, the shards of Lord Jubilex’s being that are continuously shed and thus have the hint of sentience. The entire rain of slime was barely sentient. The crops will not recover. It’s very close to the end of the harvest anyway—those that weren’t brought in, too late to plant anything new. Anything that wasn’t brought in, will almost all have rotted. By the spring, it will be cleansed. People who were burned by it can be healed. It will be as if they were burned by acid. Had they pooled, they might have been a larger danger.”

They send a message that the Sytryites need to check for anywhere it might have pooled and agglomerated, because it will grow in intelligence and gain spell abilities as it agglomerates.

They reach out to Glordiadelian realms on Khamista to encourage them to sell grain to Sytry.

They reach out to the Holy See of Paranswarm, informing them of the Sytry crusade, and encouraging them to redeploy some of their armies to Hanal now that the armies of Sytry are redeploying.

* * *

The faerie dragon also reports that the crystal dragons were hired to attack the Paranswarmians if the Paranswarmians attack Holy Cortose anytime in the next 5 years. The contract isn’t voided by the death of the person who created it—remains in place for the next 5 years no matter what.

The Council thinks about whether they can technically get the crystal dragons to fight the Hanalians, but the contract is probably too specific, and the crystal dragons are pretty smart.
[End Session 112. As a side note, at the end of this session, the PCs leveled up to 18th level, not that it matters much.]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 113 (July 1, 2020)

Tar-Chund 14
They receive a report of 4 field armies departing through the mountain pass to the Southeast of Holy Cortose. [Attached] They marched directly into a large white mist, with bits of flames. They did not emerge. The mists showed up about an hour before the army arrived—vollers of the Duchy of Ergmoth observed them disappear.

They call for Dame Constance and Grandmaster Farsensor. He begins scrying for remnants of the gate. He finds an area where, over 5 or 6 acres, everything is dessicated and dead. “Here. I can find the remnants of the gate. It sucked the life out of the earth as it worked.”

"Where did they go?"

“Dame Constance?”

She grumbles, and then her vision shifts far, far to the south to a huge island.

"I knew there was a third place. There are demons and eldritch spawn there. This is obviously the third place that they were trying to break through. It’s an abandoned land, no humans since the Day of the Dead when they were enslaved by the Argoni and it was cleared out. They are a pair of islands to the west of the islands of the Archbarony of Mandrath."

They discuss sending a devil to spy. The risk of discovery is too high, they conclude. So instead they send a psionic spy eye, because they have very weak psionic defenses, except perhaps for the githyanki. Dame Constance is confident that she eliminated the githyanki.

Kit contacts the spy mistress of Mandrath and tells her what they’ve found. They also ask her to keep track of any signs of food to supply the army.

Dame Constance notes that they placed seals to allow for the teleportation. "This was beyond domain magic. There was ritual magic stretching back months or years, likely with sacrifice. That sort of magic hasn’t been used at least since the Second Age. Humans are incapable of it, and it can kill elves. The Unseelie could do it, but likely wouldn’t. A sufficient sacrifice of elven and fey blood might allow an adept to do it. But it was likely done by Arthranax, most likely by indwelling in a human vessel. If we could find out where he had traveled, we might be able to find likely spots."

They ask the Sytryites for records of Hierarch Garret’s travels, to see if they can identify other possible sites he might have prepared.

They also renew our requests to the archives for studies of noble geneology and anything that seems out of place or planned, or arranged.

The Council calls for Bishop Waters, and they ask him about the Day of the Dead.

"It was a mistake. Each age ends with a day of the dead; the longer the Age has run, the more delicate the balance is. The Fourth Age was long, but no one thought that the balance was close to tipping. And then a certain elven prince of the highest blood got ahold of the color Blue, and forgot his theology and used the color Blue to attack Lord Morgoth, and instead of prevailing, he precipitated the Day of the Dead. He did all the proper things, did all the proper quests, became the Blue Mage, and then he wished that Krashmere were Blue, thinking that that would overthrow Morgoth. Within the ancient wood he ruled—the High Wood, daemons and loths erupted from the earth and the sky, and the dead arose, and there was carnage. Two thousand elves died. The Argoni moved fast to enslave and pillage in response.

[If you think this sounds like the action of a PC having catastrophic effects on the game world, you're not wrong. This was well before I started playing in Aphonion, however.]

"No one foresaw it. There were other odd movements. Neither the Eldar nor the Noldar nor the great oracles foresaw it.

"The Wood has been retaken—the Wood of Hope and Salvation is what the younger brother of the prince named it after he retook it. But it is still tenuous."

"Do you know anything of the Hierarch of Sytry named Garret?"

"Yes. He hoped he might ascend, but the other hierarchs voted against him and installed the present hierarch less than 3 years ago. Ultimately only two of the hierarchs voted for him, though he was thought to be a shoe-in."

They tell him that he turned to Arthranax.

"Extraordinary. He of all of them should have known better. He was highly trained in the arts of magic as well as priestly matters. I can’t imagine he was corrupted as a hierarch—that someone could be corrupted and then rise to be a hierarch seems more likely."

They decide they need to warn the Sytryites to be very careful vetting any replacement hierarchs and the new Knight Commander of the Knights of Truth.

The Council summons the Ambassador of Sytry. They ask after the Patriarch.

“He is well, and he is safe. He speaks with the God, and the conversation is long. We believe he also seeks dispensation to stop suppressing psionics. Sytry is a rigid faith, but psionics can perhaps prevent corruption in the future.”

They encourage the patriarch to be cautious in selecting Hierarchs or senior Knights of Truth—there may still be hiding heretics.

“His confessor advises likewise. We may request that Grandmaster Farsensor visit and assist.”

The Council explains what happened to the four field armies.

[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 113, cont'd]
19 Tar-Chund
They have a big party before Lammes; it’s pretty debauched and gets a little out of hand.

20 Tar-Chund
Lammes is a religious festival of fasting and penance. Alistair makes a big show of public participation, and does his best to observe perfectly what he’s supposed to do. He’s probably only mediocre at it, though.

Days pass.

As Skulltane approaches, there’s an obvious tightening of security. Report frequencies increase. But the countryside has been pacified, and the day passes peacefully.

12 Ras
They go to Dame Constance’s laboratory. There’s a strange Rube Goldberg device occupying most of the laboratory, with imps feeding balls into one end.

“So. I have done research, the nature of which I will not reveal to those of weak stomach, but: Jubilex has given allegiance to Arthranax. He has always been a laughing stock in the Abyss, and he believes he can get a better deal from Arthranax. He has renounced his allegiance to the Council of Six and through them to Borsh’tro. He has given his allegiance to Arthranax willingly. However, firstly, he has gained the enmity of Zuggtmoy, the Mother of Fungus, who rules the neighboring plane of Fungi. Other than Malacat, the present Queen of the Succubi, Zuggtmoy is one of the more reasonable of the rulers of levels of the Abyss. But, allegiance to Arthranax gives him an in in the Abyss. I was able to learn that through an intermediary he has been holding negotiations with the imprisoned Queen of Chaos. Even at my age and with my experience, my stomach wasn’t strong enough to do some of the things I would have needed to find out how long. The Queen of Chaos has an advantage; she is not as foolish as Jubilex, and she knows more of Arthranax’s history. Also, the Hells and the Abyss alike are riven with rumors of divisions within the celestial realm of Sytry.”

“Are their topics or speculations about this division?”

“Yes, especially among the devils. The devils were once angels. They remember, though they have bred over time. They believe a similar split is happening to Sytry. The great lords are not happy about this. The Nine Archdevils have ruled their realms under the despotic but largely benign neglect of Lord Paranswarm for thousands of years. They do not want rivals to their power. The minions are more concerned about being forced into warfare by their masters. Dispater’s are particularly vocal, because they would take the brunt of it. But I do not think that if there is a fall, they will go to the Hells. They could continue fighting an eternal war in the heavens. Or they could claw out a different realm. Lord Glordiadel could throw out rebels. But Sytry, though similar in aspect, is much weaker. The plane would support Sytry, but the Blue Star is in open rebellion, and is a god of greater power than Sytry.

“I captured a specimen, that once served Sytry and now serves the Blue Star. It came too close to the edge of its plane while I and several devils were observing.”

Sytry would have to permit Glordiadel to act in his realm in order to allow Glordiadel to force them out.

Dame Constance suggests that Gunnora might be able to help, and Sytry might be more amenable to accept aid from her.

They also discuss the Seductress—Dame Constance knows of her as a Duchess of Hell turned major demon, but Lord Davion referred to her as a Noldar. She might well be both, and Dame Constance would be inclined to rely on the knowledge of the great elves, rather than her books. A major Noldar could become a Duchess of Hell by sheer power.

"It is unfortunate that you likely cannot convince the Bleeding Lady to take action. I would be very cautious about approaching her, even through intermediaries. She has never forgiven the death of her beloved husband at the beginning of time. She is very powerful, but also insane."

They also inquire about the disappearance of the Prince of the Twin Cities of Pain.

"He is a demigod, perhaps greater, power Noldar. His absence, at a time when Arthranax is both consuming gods and godlings, and recruiting powerful allies including from among the great Noldar, seems concerning."

Dame Constance suggests summoning the Archivist, who can be compelled to answer 19 questions. They can be compound, but they must be very carefully formulated.
[End Session 113]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 114 (July 15, 2020)

13 Ras
A major blizzard roars outside.

The Council calls for Lord Davion. He has brought a nut roll.

Alistair asks, "Are there southern continents? All the ones we know of are in the northern hemisphere."

"There are. They are not civilized. Some tribes—human, ork, some trolls, the Old Men. They were the first humans—they weren’t quite perfect. A handful of elves, but not many, and wild elves, but who counts them, anyway?

"What do you mean the Old Men weren't perfect?"

"The Old Men were the first attempts of the human gods to make humans, and they didn’t get everything right. They are sometimes very violent; some of their organs aren’t right.

"There are some somewhat civilized coastal civilizations of people who came from the North—but they want nothing to do with the North. I have been there a few times to collect animals for my menagerie."

They adopt some koalas and things from Lord Davion’s expedition to the Southern continents.

"Wait... you said the human gods made the humans. I thought the human gods arose when humans came into existence, embodying our virtues and flaws."

"The human gods do embody human virtues, but they also created humanity—it's a little complicated, I'm afraid, and I'm not a theologian."

The Council asks about the Seductress. "She was a Noldar, and then she married a Duke of Hell—married may not be right—and stayed with him until he was displaced. She killed his replacement, and then left the Hells in a huff, and became a major demon. She still retains all her powers from that as well as her blood, and is thus one of the vanishingly few demons who are psionically powerful."

He shows them an image of her. It would allow them to trace to where she is, in her palace. "If there’s a cold forge and you can provide helpers, I can forge something that would be a strong but temporary protection. It might withstand attacks for ten or twenty attacks."

They send someone to investigate whether they have a cold forge among the Noldar relics in the palace. He would need at least two mildly psionic assistants. One being a psychokinetic would be helpful, plus a handful of strong workers.

"You say that she is powerful psionically. How powerful?"

"The Seductress is a Paragon coercer, but that understates her power. I am myself a psychokinetic Paragon, but I could not possibly stand against her. The Bleeding Lady could be protected by her insanity; Goldorim would be protected by his evil; the master of the Aufaulgautharim could, but he would not—he is withdrawn. Princess Curinirim and the Prince of the Aufaulgautharim might be able to defeat her, but at peril of their lives, especially Princess Curinirim. The Overqueen could defeat her and live, but she does not leave the Steading of the Elvish Lords."

"Would the Eldar facing her restart the ancient war?"

"No. She is a renegade, in the truest sense—if she approached one of her cousins, it would cause them to destroy her, even at the cost of their own House. If the Eldar were to move against her, it would not be moving against one of her blood. The Queen of Singing Leaves might be convinced to move, but she would not be a match for her. Also, her magic grows stronger as you approach her; even a great elf might forget who she truly is as they approached her.

"I would note, that according to things I have heard from daemons, there is great resentment among the hordes of the Abyss, but her power is too great to overcome."

"What about within the Hells?"

"Her Duke of Hell has probably arisen again, but would he be an enemy or an ally? I do not know. I am not an expert in the Hells."

Lord Davion also mentions that there are some demon lords that have even turned to benevolence.

By the end of the conversation about the Seductress, Kit and Dame Brionna have completely forgotten about the southern continents. Alistair has not, but he is of course unaware that Kit and Dame Brionna would not remember the conversation.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 114, cont'd]
Several hours later, the people from the Ministry of the Mind report that they did find a cold forge, way back behind the nethermost wine and root cellars. We ask that they search the whole palace, with wizards and clerics. There is also a matrix screen, with a full array, clearly of ancient elven make and complete. It was a communication array, but is currently completely unpowered. The runes on it are Eldron runes.

They travel down to look at it. There are doors even beyond it, but pretty far in the back, there’s a room with stuff that we assume is the cold forge, and off to one side a screen made out of sandstone with crystals in it.

“That we never be severed from the lords of crystal.”

They speculate that this may be an actual Eldron matrix, possibly linked to the Crystal City Eldron.

It’s distinctly connected to west and north, and asleep.

Lord Davion and Grandmaster Farsensor both confirm it as an Eldron communication matrix.

They shouldn’t be able to manifest here, because “this is the most heavily warded place I’ve seen outside Krashmere.”

Kit salutes the matrix, and a very severely dressed elf in robes woven entirely of psionic crystal appears in a three-dimensional image. “I greet you in the name of the Royal House of Canberry.”

“Canberry? I don’t think I recall a Canberry, but … ah you are from the old communication chamber. I heard that she passed to the North.”

“Can you tell us about her?”

“Her commitment was to the elements of the water and of the air. She built a simple dwelling, near the mountains but to the south. A few dozen rooms, and a small keep above, that was her only building, but she warded them well. She never departed her Eldron capacity in any way. We are saddened that she has departed. She was called Windwhisper. She was well allied with the fey, but she would not commit in the war. It was not for her and not for us, the kinslaying. She put wards of every sort. There was one who would have disturbed her work, who sought her attention in every way. She warded against him, psionically, magically, binding herself to the land through the fey alliance. And are the gifts still there?”

“What gifts?”

“There are crystal golems set to protect her. We are pleased. Her gifts to us still stand as well.

“We are the lords of Crystal. We would not divide ourselves in the great war, but we would also not follow our fathers in the path of our projects. We still tend to our people, and we can when we choose still leave our cities. Our cities still stand proud and beautiful and complete. The Eldron could not complete their projects, but we have completed our cities. With time, most of us grew tired of this realm and passed to the West. Those of us who remain attempt to protect our people from the evil to the North; many of our people are among the small folk.”

They talk about what’s going on in Hanal.

“You may stage any troops you need through our cities. We also have large food supplies that could help. Our reserves are enormous. Also, we must unlimber the vollers. They have not flown since the Second Age.”

They explain the situation with the alliance with Paranswarm. They agree that “the Ruby City will be opened to them and to you, and we will prepare our voller loads. Our vollers are well armed and we do not fear humans.”

He imparts the knowledge of how to activate the matrix and awaken it.

(She also had a defensive matrix; we resolve to find it.)

They ask after the one who was pursuing her.

"He was a primal incubus, connected to some demon lord."

"The Ram, perhaps?"

"The Ram was the incubus. He sought her, he pursued her, he found some fool to instantiate himself on this realm, but he could not have her."

They ask if he would be willing to provide a blessing for them. He agrees, but says his wife should do this.

A few hours later, a voller arrives at the fastest speed we have ever seen. It’s made of crystal, but ridiculously baroquely ornate. She is attended mostly by halflings, but a few gnomes. She is dressed entirely in woven crystal that glitters like rubies.

They discuss the shrinking population of the Crystal Cities. "I have argued that the crystals themselves are not conducive to fertility."

They discuss the idea of bringing priests of Gunnora.

Alistair also discusses bringing them in when the Eldron finish their project, and they agree.

She assumes that Caitlyn will not survive because of the twins, but we assure her that she will. She approaches the Empress Caitlyn, and lays hands on her belly, and the air crackles with energy. “I have endowed them as best as I can.” She also blesses Kit’s child, and senses that it is aware, and then opens additional psionic paths.

"Upon the rising of the Silver Moon, join us at the City of Ruby to meet with the Council. You will be safe there. All twelve of us will be there. We were over 200 at the time of the Kinslaying, but now we are twelve. We shall have special lembas prepared and the finest of dishes."

She offers us the blessing of the brothers, that the one who Creates grants long lives and the one who Destroys offers a quick passage through death into the next cycle beyond.

The voller departs with a great deal of light and color and showers of candies, and then when it’s over the walls, it flies away at flank speed. Each of the 200 candies grants a +1 Intelligence modifier to any child who eats it.

Kit executes the pattern to wake up the matrix.

An enormously cheery voice cries out, “It’s good to be alive! Oh, look at this, it’s a human."

They ask the matrix whether it knows where the defense matrix is.

“The defense matrix is in the defense chamber of course. You don’t know where that is? Oh… but the traps. It has many defenses. First I’m going to show you where it is, but we won’t open the door until the traps have been dealt with. It shows a map, with a secret corridor on it. You must go through the secret corridor, but don’t open the door. If you open the door, it incinerates everything in 120 feet. There also is or was a great energy gout inside the room that you must disarm, or it will irradiate everything in the room every 22 seconds. Once you have those disarmed, you can activate the defense matrix… maybe.

"It will reenergize all the runes in the palace, as well as setting up a defensive screen. It will take more energy to recharge, though. It will take a shielded grandmaster—should be a human. Once they survive the backlash, you’ll be able to talk to it. Farsensing would be best, they have the best chance of surviving."

They ask the matrix to scan Southern Drucien for things that it knows that are important that have been abandoned or forgotten.

They also ask it to contact the Hastur. It does so, just to open communication and let them know that Canberry has a communications matrix.

It explains that we’ll need a Keeper for the defense matrix. A Keeper needs to be very carefully trained and psionically active, but not necessarily strong.

There are war matrices in the Crystal Cities; one in the Lands of Lady Jane Peryton; several in the defensive line of the Hastur; a handful in the Noldar necropolises; and at least two among the Eldar, though none in their areas nearby. None of the ones on Drucien are currently operated. Each would need a full Circle to operate.
[End session 114]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 115 (July 29, 2020)

Ras 14
Lord Davion brings us a record of the Southern continent from the Archives. [Attached] Dame Brionna and Kit don’t know what this is about, because they can't remember the previous conversation. Alistair tests this on the grandson of the Emperor of Tarsh, who immediately forgets it. The wards don’t trigger at all.

Divine magic would be affected by the wards, but the direct action of a deity might not, Bishop Waters says. We call together Bishop Waters, Lord Davion, Grandmaster Farsensor, the Minister of the Mind, the Minister of Magic, and the Empress Caitlyn.

There are two Southern continents. Both are known to the elder elves. The further one is mostly uninhabitable, too far south, but the other has substantial woods and jungles. There are many early creations there—old humans, some of Morgroth’s early failed creations, and other such things. It might have been done to protect the creatures. Many of them are not successful, including several early takes on humanity. The map is from 2340 in the 3rd Age, some 4000 years ago. If the colony survives, it might be very difficult. The great elven gods could cause this effect, as presumably could Glordiadel and Paranswarm, and Berta likely could have before her destruction.

Grandmaster Farsensor expresses that he finds it difficult to focus his vision there.

Lord Davion expresses concern that the great enemy could get a foothold there and no one would know that he were there.

Empress Caitlyn is well aware of Beldron. There are valuable plants and animals there, alchemical matters, and so forth. The royal families of all the Southern Kingdoms knew of Beldron and traded with it regularly. There was a shipment of herbs three days before the intaking.

There was a viceroy in Beldron, more of a punishment than a reward, but still, it remained ruled by the Kingdom of the Isles. No one looked forward to an assignment to Beldron. We are unsure whether Beldron would be able to maintain its security without the Kingdom of the Isles.

The other settlers from the north were mostly pirates who settled there. Over a few generations, they would go native and become part of the continent, with no affection or contact with the north. Unlike Beldron, they would not have been followers of Berta.

Grandmaster Farsensor uses Dame Brionna’s blood to scry, and recognizes the city, which remains intact, patrolled by guards in the armor and livery of the Kingdom of the Isles.

There is a temple near the palace. It looks to be a temple of Berta, and remains fully operational. It looks just like we would expect a functioning temple of Berta to look—no signs of demon worship, although there are surely hidden cults, because Bertan lands always had demons among them.

In the palace, Dame Brionna recognizes Lord Uastros from her childhood—presumably the viceroy. He was a good warrior, a competent administrator, and loyal. He must have offended the old king somehow.

Grandmaster Farsensor guides a bird in to examine the documents that Lord Uastros is looking at.

(Grandmaster Farsensor also says that the fact that he can scry at all suggests a weak deity’s intervention—consistent with Berta and then Arthranax taking over after he consumed her.)

Lord Uastros is preparing a long account of taxes with a message to the king. He also reports that the barbarians to the west are becoming more aggressive and threatening the city—the implication is that he needs some reinforcements. He’s quite concerned about the lack of contact for three years, and that none of his messengers return. They’re clearly being intercepted, but if they headed to the old capital, they’d get wiped out anyway—the old capital is occupied by demons and demonspawn and is terribly dangerous.

The barbarians to the west start about 35 miles away. They are bizarre humans, not shaped normally but with heads in their bellies, one giant foot coming from their heads, and so forth. They have leather tents, longhouses, and a variety of other things. They have a group of other people who look like them tied up in the middle, and there is a person haranguing them. We can’t make out what he’s saying—it’s cacophonous noise—but he has carvings in his flesh that make us uncomfortable to look at, and he continues yelling at them, while they do not respond at all. And he suddenly leaps forward and strikes through one of them with a bronze sword and kills her. The others don’t respond or say anything.

“Does anyone recognize the carvings in his flesh?”

Lord Davion says, “That is of the Abomination.”

Kit identifies it as a curse. It looks like he willingly accepted a curse onto himself in exchange for something.

The bird also approaches what looks to have been an old temple of Berta, but it has been struck down, trashed, and there is also a dead dog-headed person, wearing skin robes and a holy symbol of Berta.

There is no obvious military area, no clear leader other than Arthranax leader.

Finally, one of the strange humans eats the bird whole.

There were several weak psionic presences in the city.

By the end of the investigation, they’re quite confident that this was an effect of Berta, taken over by Arthranax, and used to both take the Southern Kingdoms and advancing that plot while also.

The Minister of the Mind is able to remember this and then remembers that he has seen books about the southern continents—we ask for copies of them. The Minister of Magic totally fails to understand this all.

They also discuss Keepers—it requires taking on a completely monastic lifestyle, with no personal connections.

They plan with Empress Caitlyn, and she arranges to send a ship to reach out to Beldron. They arrange to send a party of about six PC types—an ambitious archdeacon interested in taking a flier on becoming Bishop of Beldron, a wizard, a psion, some other supporters.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 115, cont'd]
We meet with Lady Constance to inquire of the Archivist of Hell, a Duke of Hell, though he rarely remembers that. She smashes a fantastically valuable ruby, and burns it in a vessel.

About the Seductress (renegade of House Goldorim)
"Is the Usurper and pretender to the Throne of Hanal the Seductress?"

"It certainly is. It’s been terribly disturbing to watch."

"Who was or were her infernal paramours, and what is their current status?"

"Her paramour in Hell was Amenendiel. He is utterly destroyed. He does not even rise as larva. It’s very disturbing. She tricked him into accompanying her into the Abyss, where the Abyssal lord that she took as her paramour destroyed him. But that was before her son was born."

"Who is the son of the Seductress, any other children of hers, and what is their status?"

"Archduke Valek, commander of 30 legions in Dispater’s cult. She thought that betraying her husband to her lover and raising their son as a demon would be sufficient to turn him against the hells, but he fled back to the hells as soon as his wings were strong enough. He hates his mother, but what is he to do?"

"Does the Seductress have any major enemies who would be motivated to seek to defeat her?"

"Well, Valek would seek to defeat her, but he cannot enter the Prime with his legions, and alone he would be no match for even one of the elder elves with us. Malacat hates her, but she is not a warrior queen. You might be able to manipulate Dispater into action, but I’m not certain Dispater could even defeat her. He does appreciate Valek’s loyal servitude, which might motivate him to take some action if he could be convinced."

"Does the Seductress know that she’s allied with Arthranax, the One Other, and if so, why is she willing to work with him?"

"Oh, she most definitely knows who he is. She is willing to work with him, because she believes that she can handle him as she has Amenendiel and her paramour in the Abyss, and that together, if they play their cards right, they can wind up ruling these planes. He is not as greedy for life force as the other eldritch. But that would require her to destroy both Eiru and Morgroth, Glordiadel and Paranswarm, and all the hordes of hell; I find this tremendously unlikely, but she could create a lot of problems for you folk. She is correct that he is less greedy for life force."

"What is her plan, and what portions of it has she accomplished?"

"Her plan is his plan. They have formed a web of alliances, most of whom they are using, both on the mortal planes and the supernal planes, and they are acting now. They are greatly discomfited by not having won the battle in the Spicelands. They have been misleading She of the Bone and the One Beside into thinking they are loyal to the triads plan. They are not. They want you to seal them out, so they are not forced to move on from this plane—without those two, there is enough life force to sustain them indefinitely."

"Who are her major subordinates?"

"Remaining ones? The Lord of Rams. It took sleeping with him a few times, but the One Other is not jealous. Oh, and they’ve produced a small group of demonspawn that you may want to hunt out at some point. He cannot help himself. The Abomination of Shurr was her subordinate more than his, but has been eliminated. There are still a handful of his major nobles that answer to her. She has an alliance, both consider an alliance of convenience, with the Queen of Chaos. And the last of her major supernal subordinates is her former demon lover, Remriel, and they’ve drawn Jubilex in as well—but to call Jubilex a subordinate? I cannot do it."

"What is Remriel’s status in the Abyss and portfolio?"

"He is lord of the 540th plane; his power on the prime is over water and believable lies. There are all sorts of powers in the Abyss that lie routinely, but he is all about believable lies."

"What are her weaknesses?"

"Arrogance. It seems to go with the territory of anything that’s touched by the eldritch. But arrogance can be exploited, ask any lord of Hell."

"What personal defenses does she have?"

"She is incredibly diverse for one of the eldritch. An incredibly powerful psionicist. She also has powers from her role as a paramour of the eldritch. From her time in the Hells, her skin cannot be pierced by anything that is not holy; from her time in the Abyss, her skin cannot be pierced by any weapon that is not lawful. Oh, and her spell resistance—the great elves could get through it, but most humans could not. Oh, and she is a fairly powerful spellcaster. That’s about it. Oh, and her armor. The armor she took with her from Krashmere is Laen, still, which makes it dashedly harder to use orichalcum against her. It would affect her—she is tied in enough to Arthranax that some of the Eldritch weaknesses have rubbed off on her, but the laen makes it almost impossible to reach her."

Strategic questions about Hanal
"If the Church of Paranswarm deploys additional field armies, and the Crystal Cities provide support and a staging area, will the forces opposed to the Usurper of Hanal be able to prevail?"

"Firstly, define prevail."

"The range from deposing the Usurper on the one side to holding a meaningful portion of Hanal from her military control."

"The Field Armies of Paranswarm cannot depose her. They can hold enough territory within Hanal to keep her from achieving her goals within Hanal. If the Council of the Crystal Cities could be convinced to engage directly—not merely providing support and staging, but taking the field—that could be sufficient to depose her and eliminate her, but I find that extremely unlikely."

"What if any major strategic assets or plans does the Usurper have that have not yet been revealed?"

"Another entire army. Deep in the Underdark, in the southwest. She’s holding those in reserve. That is a major intelligence get."

"What is her plan in Hanal and what does she hope to accomplish there?"

"If she can hold it long enough, she is drawing the life from the soil itself. She is attempting to power, through the blood of her own people, additional forces for herself and Arthranax. She will let loyal covates and people in those lands to starve to death, with their life energy being drawn off to power her spiritual entities. Hanal was primed for this because of the blood fete; Hanal and Tarsh are the only lands with the blood fete, and Tarsh was too organized. She hopes to power herself and Arthranax to or above the power of Glordiadel and Paranswarm. Had Arthranax gotten all of the energy of Berta, he would not need this. But he did not get all of Berta’s energies. But they plan for redundancies. Remember that he does not use the same creatures as his 'friends,' and even I do not know them all."

Questions about other big mysteries?
"Where and in what status is the Prince of the Cities of Pain and is his disappearance connected to the machinations of Arthranax?"

"Yes. He has been taken captive and moved off the Prime Plane where he always resided. It’s a problem for the living gods of Morgroth. They are often embodied and thus vulnerable for things like this. But on a positive note, Arthranax is finding it harder to absorb the power of a demigod of Morgroth."

"Besides Berta, the Blue Star, and the attack in progress on Sytry and the Prince of the Cities of Pain, what are the other demigod or greater beings, if any, in the Aphonion sheaf of planes that Arthranax has consumed or is currently attacking?"

"He has consumed a few demon lords, but nothing major. If he can complete his consumption of the Prince of the Cities of Pain, the Lord of the Fields of the Dead, and especially if she can accomplish her goals as well, that would take him up to greater god status, more powerful even than your god Glordiadel or my god Paranswarm. That would still leave the elven gods as greater powers, and to fight a war with them when you are not on their level—iffy, I would think."

"Who are the currently unknown-to-us powerful mortal families or temporal or religious powers that have been corrupted or replaced by the minions of Arthranax?"

"I don’t know that I would consider them major on the surface, but they have coopted the Cult of Guanadar in the Underdark, because Guanadar is just an aspect of Jubilex. In the Underdark that is sufficient to threaten some of the non-matriarchal and non-cadet drow cities. One of the lords under the Baron of Augart, but only one." [Augart is reclusive, near the South Kingdoms; excellent ports, strong ships, adequate troops; part of Southern Drucien but not incorporated into the Empire; Paranswarmian]

"Where is Quinliart Moriquendarim, also called Lord Raf, and what’s he up to?"

"He has other names as well, you know. He has been a very busy boy for a long time. Up until 103 years ago, he was a loyal slaver and minion of the House of Moriquendarim and the Prince of the Cities of Pain and all of that, ran Zorplona-Moriquendarim like a clock, and then he overreached. You ever wonder why I’m an Archivist? Because nobody kills the Archivists. But then he overreached, decided they weren’t wealthy enough, but if they could take the Crystal Cities he would dominate the Noldar. So he attacked the Ruby City. It was not a success. His army was destroyed, one of his companions was slaughtered, and he retreated as a broken elf back to Enclaves. He thought his gods had failed him, and sought another. And he became a mole. And when he left, he took all the wealth that they had gathered for a hundred years, and now he and his forces, except his aide, Lord Alvinus, they are now in the Kingdom of the Isles, with his cousin, the Lord of the Seventh House. His cousin is not corrupted, but will not betray him, or his wealth. But he is truly despicable, even beyond the standards of Hell. He captured the elite of his own blood, and used them as sacrifices to the Abomination. He is beneath contempt of the Hells."

"As you know, we have a plan in motion with the old Globe of the Emperor of Masque. How can we ensure that our team arrives when the Globe is not phased out?"

"That concerns us all. The easiest way is to scry the area regularly, but you should keep the method of scrying concealed. Once it appears, you will have either 3, 7, or 9 days. If you see it appear, you will know the minimum amount of time. You could also get a bound devil of information to inform when it arrives."

"What is the Lord of the Ram up to and plotting?"

"Causing impregnations as rapidly as he can in small villages in northern Hanal which are being blasted almost as fast as they’re impregnated by Eldar and Noldar vollers."

"What do the Sytrian apostates who have turned to Arthranax as the Blue Sun intend next?"

"They’re waiting for transport. They will be moved far to the South. To an area I find disturbing to consider, to be hidden until they’re needed for their next strike.

"I believe that that is your nineteen questions. A pleasure. A free piece of advice: if he is forced to target another for consumption, it would be Borsh’tro. Borsh’tro is weakened, but he commands hordes of the Abyss. He is weakened, having been reduced to a greater demon lord from a god. My lord has sent a missive to warn him, but he may be too arrogant to listen.

"He’s been concealing it from everyone, but that happened on the Day of the Dead without anyone realizing it when the Age shifted."

* * *
They ask the Sixth Daughter about the Southern Continents. There are tunnels that go all the way to the poles, but she knows of no exits on any continent other than the ice covered one at the pole. She can remember the continents, but thinks they are of no interest if there are no connections to the Underdark—it seems to have a different effect on her.
[End Session 115]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 116 (August 12, 2020)
Ras 15

Dame Brionna shares a report about an elven scout voller. [Attached] There was a surge of energy when they passed over the capital of Hanal, and they were fired upon by a more substantial ground attack than they have experienced before.

There is now an energy dome in place over the capital, and refugees fleeing with descriptions of dreadful events taking place in the capital. Refugees are coming here by voller.

Kit passes this on to Princess Anastasia.

Kit reports that she has a full list of the body parts—where everyone is. [Attached] That points to where we need replacements, including toes that are missing their legs; there are a lot of eyes that need redistribution.

Kit plans on: filling in ankles and toes that are missing; promoting some naughty bits to bosoms, increasing numbers of naughty bits; setting the eyes in the Barony of Augurt on finding the traitor in their nobility; building a network out in Enclaves and surrounding realms (e.g. Escilias); building up the halo (adding “rays”, moving some existing agents over to this; recruiting elderly devout women laity); getting more eyes in general.

In Masque: infiltrating the various orders would be really useful, but is challenging; almost all of the network is maskless, which makes them very hard to infiltrate the orders. Vulture, Spider, Pig should be easy to infiltrate. Wolf, Bear, and Horse are almost impossible to get into; Mantis is completely impossible.

They look over the price list. [Attached] The primary action items are promoting the use of maple syrup and promoting sugar and spice plantations in the Southlands, and seeing whether sugar and spices can be produced in the Southern Continent.

---
The Council sends a message to their ambassador to Augurt to warn the Baron’s younger brother that they have a traitor (quietly) and to encourage Augurt to join the Empire (overtly)

Alistair calls for the Ambassador from Mandrath.

They discuss the apostate Sytry armies on the island off the coast.

The fleet of Mandrath has been recalled; they should be able to contain the army against naval crossing, unless they bring in a separate warfleet to challenge the navy.

The imperial council receives permission to deploy “special assets” to help contain them. (They’re hiring submersibles from Masque.)
-----

We ask Mistress Burleytoes (the Gunnoran midwife/high priest) and the Mistress of the Bedchamber to attend upon us.

The cover story is that they’re consulting with them about the imperial pregnancies. Mistress Burleytoes insists on fully examining everyone.

Mistress Burleytoes agrees to speak to Gunnora about assisting Sytry in expelling Arthranax, in his guise as the Blue Star, from Sytry’s heaven.

They also discuss the slaughter in Hanal’s capital; she says that that means that they’ve begun the transposition. On their homeworld, when this happened, it would take months or even years. "Transposition elevates a single figure. It has never happened here, and the sacrifices here are weaker and they are less tied to this world, even with Arthranax. If they are only using humans, it will take years, and they cannot use drow blood. Half-elves, fey, light elves, Noldar would do—but that would be beyond them to capture. It will transpose her into the equivalent of She of the Bones, but now bound to Arthranax. The one thing that could accelerate it—to the category of months not years—would be a powerful elven ally. The transposition will make her a lesser goddess, but it will bind her to him in the way that the One Beside is bound to the Goddess of the Pale Bone. They tried to create a mate fro him in our world, but it failed. For what it’s worth—I think they’ll have more problems than they think.

"Also, if they’re trying this now rather than waiting, he believes his time is limited. He will probably remain a power, but if he is cast out of Sytry’s heaven, he will become one more gibbering demon—a little more powerful perhaps because he’s a god, but it will limit him."

They move on to discussing the problem of nobles who want to father children and especially sons. She suggests that some of the fey lords, who are almost gods, might be good choice. The Horned Lord is a god associated with deer, and fecundity. There is also a grain lord—less direct, but could make plants that encourage.

She suggests that they get an introduction to the Horned Lord through the Tor; he’s not hesitant to speak to mortals.

“Just do be careful, my lord. You must be clear to him that you’re not personally looking for increased virility.”

Kit emphasizes the importance of making sure that this doesn’t cause confusion with the Ram, or people continuing to venerate the Ram but pretending that it’s the Horned Lord.

They also ask about the parentage of the children of Glordiadel, or of the Weeping Woman. They arrived after the birth of Glordiadel’s children. But she does know that the Weeping Woman is not in fact the child of Paranswarm, but is the daughter of the Creator. Paranswarm has never been willing to refute her claim to be his daughter, but that is known by the hierarchs of several major temples. She came into being almost immediately after Paranswarm, but as a deliberate act of creation, not as a by-blow. Like all of the Creator’s children, she had no mother but was directly created from his essence. She is the weakest and youngest of the elven pantheon. Glordiadel’s children are his own—presumably there must be a mother, but perhaps not.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 116, cont'd]
They call for Bishop Waters.

They discuss the problem with nobles having problems fathering sons. They ask about the idea of promoting a society of the Horned Lord. A little veneration, but without actually worshipping him, and while remaining publicly Glordiadelian, would be tolerated.

He mentions that there are a smattering of other secret orders, so it wouldn’t be much worse than that.

"There are various secret orders of alchemists; there are secret societies that are from the Archduchy, plus new ones come up from the Southlands (without their religion, but they are keeping their societies); some craft orders, and the Lumbermen, who would be a problem if they actually did anything, but they’re infiltrated and harmless now. The alchemical orders are amazing—they can’t do anything, have no real alchemists among them, but they learn their little scripts and do their things. But the groups in Paranswarm end up doing dreadful things. A century or two ago, there was a fear that the alchemical orders would turn to demonism. But it never did, and over time it became accepted."

"Are there any saints that could be used to promote childbirth?"

"There are a couple of saints that relate to the home, or children, or fertility—but none of virility. Some of motherhood, but even there, it’s mostly after the children are born."

"We were also wondering who the mother of Glordiadel's children is. We assume they must have one?"

"The canon of the church says that the children of Glordiadel emerged from the essence of the god. A mother would imply a coequal or such, and there is none such in the doctrine. But it does seem strange, does it not? There is an old tradition in the faith that the children were born from the universe itself. But there is no theology behind it—it’s simply a tradition."

Bishop Waters asks to call for a true Doctor of Theology with deeper understanding to speak to them.

Alistair and Kit go to talk to the Tor, figuring this isn't really Dame Brionna's sort of conversation.

The Tor holds an instant feast in their honor.

Alistair and Kit ask after the Horned Lord.

“He’s a fine fellow, well-met, a pretty good hunter, and excellent in bed.”

He immediately starts speaking in fey. There is a flash of greenlight, and a completely naked figure, very attractive, with a stag’s head, appears.

He agrees to establish lodges, which will offer him the fruits of the hunt in honor of him, and he will give them blessings.

They set up Lucas, Alistair’s old "sporting" buddy, as the grand huntmaster of the lodge, and set up a set of oaths to keep them loyal to the Empire, that nobles in the lodges can’t father bastards until they’ve sired an heir, etc., and to hate the Ram and his followers (with some probably taking on the role of hunting followers of the Ram).

A magical tree with a lodge inside it forms outside the walls of the city.
[End Session 116]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 117 (Aug. 26, 2020)

Three uneventful days pass.

21 Ras
They review the family tree and discuss it with the court archivist. The Duchy of Canberry was founded 990 years ago by Duke Andor. They presume Duchess Lesse, his wife, was fey. That was 20 generations ago, so the generations are roughly twice as long as human average.

The women of the Ashberry family remain fertile much longer than normal; the onset of fertility is also early.

Lesse was found under a mushroom tree. She was a powerful mage, and Duke Andor fell in love with her immediately. She was said to be very pale. That’s consistent with Sidhe.

The special relationship with the fey dates to the founding of the duchy, according to the archivist.

We ask about the succession of Archduke Staven. He had three older siblings who were poisoned. Shortly after Staven’s marriage, his older siblings and their spouses all unfortunately died. That was about 500 years ago.

"There was a major famine through a lot of this section of Drucien because of the bombardments by Region 6 of the Argoni. They softened us up for a few hundred years before taking a significant number of slaves. And of course there was also the struggle within the Church. That was the time of the Three Patriarchs."

This was also at roughly the same time as the arrival of the church of Sytry and the church of Gunnora.

They ask whether Life sided with one of the anti-patriarchs; the archivist doesn’t know, but agrees to find out.

Alistair's grandmother’s heirs were born of her third husband, of the Forsythe family; she did have children with both of the first two husbands, but they were never viewed as suitable. His uncles were not very bright. She excluded them from the succession by fiat. Evan’s son, who is no longer in good health, had a reputation for the second sight. They ask that all of the descendants of Evan’s son be tracked down and brought back into the fold. The archivist agrees to follow after it.

Matilda Ashberry was Alistair's grandmother’s first cousin; she married into a Khamista royal family and then assumed power.

Archduchess Visaiss was psionically powerful; unusually so for a human. Around the end of her reign, Region 6 began to raid for slaves significantly. She reached past grandmaster—possibly paragon—in Creation, and grandmaster in redaction.

There are rumors that Visaiss did not have any of her father’s features. The Archivist believes that she was a throwback, not illegitimate. There are three reasons for his belief. First, the Tor recognizes her, and the Tor only recognizes based on their bloodline. That’s the strongest evidence. Second, they have Aimee’s papers—there’s nothing that suggests anything untoward. Third, Aimee was profoundly devout, and would likely have viewed an affair as impossible to imagine.

"I also know that she found it very difficult to conceive. We speculate that she prayed for intervention, or perhaps that she also had fey or elven blood."

The Balliers were a powerful shipping family from the now-lost Eastern Trade Cities on Khamista. Alistair's great-grandfather likely viewed that as a means to gain access to ports and power on the seas. But Gertrude passed in childbirth, and her husband never remarried. (They note this as weird; but it could be reflective of less-than-fully human heritage, since the great elves die in childbirth frequently.)

There is an extremely peculiar pattern: as best as can be told, every succession in the entire history of the house is parent to child, with the royal line never failing and passing to a cousin. There has also never been a civil war in Canberry. The nearest was with Brightspan, it could have developed much worse than it did. In almost 1000 years, only close to one civil war.

The only other example that’s even comparable is the Grand Duchy of Ergmoth, which has had 1500 years of unbroken succession—although even that was a little irregular in the last generation, when the old Grand Duke died under strange circumstances just after his children were born, with the Grand Duchess ruling in his stead.

Tudras, Staven’s younger brother, was sent off as an adventurer, and then disappeared. His sister-in-law even gifted him a drop of life.

They call for a master alchemist to check Alistair’s blood to make sure.

Bishop Waters does some divinations. Tudras was a powerful warrior, a successful merchant on Khamista. He had many children with many women—three wives, at least six other paramours who had children, including some elven descendants. It’s consistent with the Forsythe family actually being a cadet branch of Ashberry—Tudras changed his name repeatedly. He ultimately died at sea fighting pirates—they couldn’t defeat him, so they sank his ship (and his treasure, but that was just a regular merchant treasure).
[cont'd]