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

[CPaladin]

Session 102 (May 30, 2019)

11 Chund
Kit summons the village blacksmith to ask him about triangular knives.

He is a wizened, middle-aged but hard aged by life man.

Kit asks him about the blade.

“That’s a killing weapon, you’re talking about. I don’t make that. I haven’t seen a blade like that, except on one of the knightsman, since the war… There was a war that swept through north of us, a whole bunch of goblins, a whole bunch of militia, a good five years ago. And some of the young men who went north had a blade like that. I could tell you who went and came back.” He lists 4 men, none the names of either of the men in the dispute. "We don’t have a weaponsmith, but there might be one soon with all the increase in custom."

Kit asks, "Do any of the ones who went north stand out? Perhaps an outsider, or someone who has had a bad attitude since returning from the war?"

"One of them moved to town 9 years ago; he keeps to himself. No friends, no spouse, just stays in his farm with his sheep and goats. He has many fine rams. He does most of his business in the town to the east of here—Dalam Vail, a good four times the size of the village. He’s had several gals over from Dalam Vail."

Alistair wonders whether the rams might be a signifier.

Kit thanks the smith, calls back the midwife.

He’s originally from Hanal—she thinks he’s some sort of deserter. "He goes off with his goats to the east, and he comes back with—" whispered as if a scandal-- “prostitutes.

"At least one got pregnant—he hustled her out quickly when she did, 4 years ago."

He might take them further east past the town to where there are some settlements of diphs—centipede people from that strange town.

Dalam Vail has its own baron; not historically part of Lyneham.

Kit sends some of her people from the Naughty Bits, to find out what’s going on with this guy.

The morning court is fairly predictable. The two knights (technically one knight, and the wife of the other one) do homage and provide some tribute. Brionna talks shop with them. They each have a handful of men-at-arms that they can bring to a fight. They can field about a dozen men-at-arms, another two dozen militia, and then maybe a score from the village. There are maybe two or three dozen hunters and trappers that could be irregular archers. Most of them take their furs east, but more of them these days are selling them here.

They report that the baron to the east is competent enough, but he may not be happy that the trade route is reorienting itself. He has several knights in his service. He has a family, but my husband swears that there were some people from the east skulking around the edges of our farm a week ago or so. I think they were watching.

The innkeeper comes to pay his respects, with some dutifully prepared pastries.

Some of the farmers are worried; there are reports of chickens not laying as well as they should, and cows not calving properly—breech births and the like.

Kit asks if there’s a specific location for the farms.

Some of those farmers are devoted Glordiadelians and don’t associate with the Gunnoran midwives. Kit makes sure to make a show of friendship with the senior midwife, and to arrange for the priest of Glordiadel and the midwife to make a public friendship.

Both of the farms with the worst problems are quite far to the east, and very near each other.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 102, cont'd]
Dame Brionna heads out to sweep that area with one of her squads, along with young Lord Brightspan. The psion says, “I think I sense something…” hesitantly, and at about the same moment, two shafts thud into Lord Brightspan, knocking him from the horse and unconscious. The attacks came from ahead 120’, separated by about 30’. Dame Brionna charges the closer one.

The cleric neutralizes poison, because Lord Brightspan will live long enough to treat the wounds.

The psion detects thoughts—he is smote by waves of revulsion and anger and denial.

The assailant Dame Brionna is facing runs straight down her lance and spewing green powder out of his mouth at her. She rolls a 1 on her saving throw. She takes 47 points of damage.

Dame Brionna flicks him off the lance and stabs him. Her steed also kicks him. Between the two of them, they down him.

The psion gasps. “He’s just gone.”

“What about the other one?”

“That’s what I’m saying, he’s just gone. The thoughts blinked out.”

The poison has also been placed in a diluted form in the cattle trough.

Kit gets a message back through the mindlink: <<Do not drink anything that we didn’t bring with us. Check for problems of reversals of position.>>

Dame Brionna talks to the farmers about foul magic afflicting the cattle. She arranges for the midwife to come out and cure the cattle.

Grandmaster Farsensor can’t trace them, which suggests that it might be a Word of Recall. That could operate over effectively infinite range.

Grandmaster Farsensor suggests that this may be someone who knows who Kit actually is.

Dame Brionna recommends that they return to Canberry. Alistair recommends that Lady Katherine not leave her domain while it’s under attack, and refuses to leave Kit.

They have the local priest cast speak with dead for the slain assassin.

"Who are you working for?"

"We serve the Great Light."

"What was your assignment here?"

"To silence prying eyes that otherwise might see."

"The one who got away—where did he go?"

"He was summoned to the Holy Place."

"What were you afraid that the prying eyes might see?"

"That he might see the colony."

"Where is the colony?"

"Beyond the Ark."

"What is in the colony?"

"Hundreds, soon to be thousands, who unwittingly serve the Great Light."

"What are the creatures in the colony?"

"The unwitting offspring of the Ram."

"What is the Ark?"

"The dwellings of the Eight-Armed People."

"Are the Eight-Armed People minions of the Great Light?"

"No, they care nothing for such things."

"Are there other minions of the Great Light in my domain?"

"No, one strike team was thought sufficient for a petty noble, even a prying one."

"Does the Baron of Daman Vail serve the Great Light?"

"No, his 13 children should tell you that. He does not like Lyneham, but he does not bestir himself from his offspring and wife to act against Lyneham."

After discussion, Kit asks the Emperor for support against the colony, since it’s beyond her lands and implicates the cultists. With Grandmaster Farsensor’s recommendation, since they have been building this force for a long time and defending it well, they decide to send a full field army backed by an elven man-of-war.

They suggest looking for hard to scan areas with farsensing. That means large lead deposits, but also other areas. The areas that are hardest to scan are the cities of the Eldron near Hanal—especially those that fell.

That evening, an elegantly garbed drow is brought in. He hands them a document. [Attached]

(Also, in the category of things the group didn't need to waste game time on: while Kit is busy attending to her noble duties, Alistair spends some time renewing his acquaintance with some of his “special friends” from the last time he was in Lyneham.)
[End session 102]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 103 (June 27, 2019)

12 Chund
The servitor of the Ram has disappeared untraceably. He has a whole cluster of teen children who appear to have grown up in the area—apparently wild in the forests nearby.

They send a team to search his house. A runner returns from them a few hours a later. "The building has a number of oddities in it and we found a group of moving stones in the basement. They’re pretty cleverly done, but we were able to find them anyway. They conceal a secret door."

Kit authorizes them to proceed with caution.

At this point, the Grandmaster Farsensor returns. I have been in mindmeld with several colleagues. We found the colony, but also more troublingly a smaller group, underground, not far from here—remarkably close to the village, and at least one demon. There is far too much lead to teleport there safely.

They reach out to the team psionically and have them pull back.

(Kit also plans on having mines set up – the high quantity of lead is valuable in its own right, and may mean silver or even mithril as well.)

The team brought back an idol, that looks like a humanoid ram. "When we threw holy water on it, it smoked." There was also a book. It radiates obvious chaos. A priest said, "the farmer was writing his own book—his own scriptures. I didn’t want to burn it out there for fear that it would set something off. Someone who can read it safely should do so." Also, the priest steps forward with a carefully wrapped bundle in a high-quality silk shroud. "I think it is or was a fey. It was still attached to the wall in the basement."

The door was solid stone, but on rollers. The basement had obviously been filled with food stuffs, that have since been removed.

We agree to reach out through the Sixth Daughter to contact the Drowan cities.

She is adamant that they should not be permitted to escape—the Ram is insane, and does not have sufficient respect for the Goddess or her servitors. She promises that her mother’s house troops will deal with that and will not permit such an abomination to proceed through the realms. Alistair also mentions that the Lady of Lyneham might be interested in opening trade through the Underdark tunnels if her mother is interested.

The older children are not of the Ram. He must have come to the Ram about nine years ago. Those young ones are tieflings—the offspring of succubi. They are more animalian than anything else.

Lady Katherine reaches out to the wereboar grandmother about helping the teens.

“We are somewhat aware of them. We weren’t aware they were tieflings.”

They assure her that it doesn’t mean they’re inherently evil, but in need of guidance.

Everyone ignored them because they seem unable to communicate. They sneak around the village, but they never steal anything.

Around 4 pm, the Council receives a sending: “Have identified foe. Will intercept. Want prisoners?”

They send back “Yes.”

Around dinner time, the wereboar grandmother and her daughter bustle in with 4 kids, two boys, two girls, all teens, all terrified.

Kit asks if they can understand her. The oldest nods. She tells them that she is the local Lady, that they are safe, that they will be protected, and that their father will not be able to hurt them. He communicates a little with the others, and then they all made obvious animalian submission gestures.

The teens get sent off to take a bath, get new clothes (hand-me-downs, but still), and food.

They put the book in a lead coffer, contain the idol in a circle of protection against chaos, and post a continuous watch.

A pitched battle takes place at the main colony. The servants of the Ram are wiped out except for one commander, who was captured by the man-o-war. But when the voller lands to report, they drag this one figure off, in nets woven of mithril. The rest of them are dead. "There were casualties among your forces, but we were able to bombard the worst of them and one of our gray elves destroyed the worst of the demons. The net turns his magics back on him—that would otherwise impregnate any women near by. It will likely cause him a painful death over the next months." The elves leave a battlestar—a gray elf knight commander and four high elf knights to guard him.

The Canberryan commander reports that the bombardment was essential. "There were over two thousand, and some strange demon. They destroyed most by bombardment and then engaged the rest with us. The demon looks like a male marilith, which is all but unheard of—he had a circlet on his head, which indicated that he was a knight baronet of the 312th level of the Abyss. To the best of my knowledge, that level has no overlord. He was probably a mercenary, hired by the Lord of the Ram to support this."
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 103, cont'd--bonus post to make up for the lack of new Spice Lands and the War in Hanal content in the other thread]

They can compel the prisoner to answer ten questions. That will drain the psionic battery the gray elf offers us for our use.

"Who did the Ram have above you?"

"Valthalian Dor commands me, from his position hidden near the City of Enclaves."


"What was your plan?"

"Before the woman came, with her troops, we were meant to overtake this village when we were numerous enough. Most of the villagers are werecreatures. We were told that if we could forcefully breed with them we would create new, more powerful children."


"Any more accomplices still in Lyneham or Dalam Vail?"

"Why would anyone keep anyone anywhere except Lyneham? But no, we kept only the one in Lyneham. The lord of Dalam Vail turned down the offer of power and spat upon them. He tried to tell others—he sent a messenger, we killed him."


"Locations of any other colonies they know of?"

"There is a great colony to the east in the Lead Hills. There’s another great colony to the south of the holdings of the Lady Jane Peryton, near the great lead deposits. There’s another great colony deep in the southlands. The one who guards it does not know what he guards, but when we promised him a piece, he could not resist."


"What do they know of the Ram’s alliance with other demons and the like?"

"The old Queen is his ally. One or two other displaced demon lords. But his primary allies are not demons, for he seeks to become a god, as does the old Queen, in the new order to be brought in by Arthranax. He has released the scriptures to his loyalist followers, and hopes soon to reach godhood and those who will come."


"What else does he still need to do to become a god?"

"Find enough of the old blood and sacrifice them in the way that the Old Comers want, to break the bonds of demonhood and become a god and equal to them. That’s the purpose of the colonies, to sacrifice those of the old blood, especially those of the glades and the streams, the lesser ones. It will strengthen the older ones, but it will strengthen him more and make him their equal."


"Where is the Great Light’s holy site?"

"The Firstcomer who is here? Our dealings with him are minimal. We are not told those things. We know our place in the plan."


"Where would the farmer who served the Ram have fled?"

"Probably to Master Dor—that is where the stone would have taken him."


"Are there other breeding colonies in operation?"

"There were other small groups sent out, but we do not know where. Only a few of us born of the power of the Ram retain the power of the Ram. We become either officers or part of a group like this. Just as the old blood is useful, so is the blood of the were. We would have taken this village already if it hadn’t been for their lords and that damnable werebear knight."


"Do Arthranax and the Ram have any other gods as allies?"

"Not here. They wait for the ones who will come."

At the end of the interview, his head explodes.

They plan on redirecting the field army to the other colony; Grandmaster Farsensor agrees to find its exact location, and redirect the man-of-war to engage.

The next morning, they get a report. [Attached]

They all agree that they need to seriously our airship production—work with the elves, work with Hanalian refugees, send resources at the problem.

They decide that they need to support the refugees directly.

They decide they need to send adventuring groups and the like against the Ram—and maybe other targets, but only if they’re not too high risk.

They plan to talk to Princess Anastasia about her declaring herself openly, but that would require returning to Snannerkaz.

They talk about how we could break the usurper’s spell; Queen Malacath, the Queen of the Succubi, might be able to provide us information, because she’s one of the ancient Queen’s jailers. The Ram was also one of her jailers—it’s how he ended up getting corrupted. The other two jailers are forgotten. It was commanded by the Six. Princess Curinirim might also know.

They contact Princess Curinirim. "Even we would find it difficult to break the spell. It can be warded. But to remove it? The amount of energy she poured into it, and the number of blood sacrifices it took—it’s bound into the fabric of our reality. We are not as cruel and evil as we’re often portrayed. We’re willing to do what is necessary, but not cruel and evil about it. Over a period of years, thousands of blood sacrifices were offered to establish that identity. It was part of the reason for the blood festivals of Hanal. A sufficient number of deliberately offered innocents might weaken it or break it.

"The old Queen of Demons was the most potent illusionist to ever exist. This is a form of illusion, but it is so powerful that I do not know of a historical case where it was broken generally.

"Were the usurper to die, it would collapse, and everyone would realize they had been deceived. But while she lives, it is bound into her."

[Not quite clear to me what the flow of the next couple bits of the conversation were.]

The demons couldn’t manifest without being summoned, and that would be a risk of a new Shadowlands.

"What about Daemons?"

"She is powerful; but I cannot tell who she is. I would give myself an even chance against her. But daemons care not for this land, except if Lord Morgroth rules it. I believe she is an archdemon—I suspect a daughter of the Queen of Demons, but I cannot prove either.

"An oddity of demons—as greedy as they are, any apparent chance of seizing the Prime, seems to drive them almost all to pursuing the Prime above all else."
[End session 103]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 104 (July 16, 2019)

14 Chund
Dame Kit begins the next day by saying that she has gotten a letter from one of her agents in Masque and of information about doings in Yar and the Brownlands; there are rumors of a new Shadowland coming. [Attached] There is something coming out that is like a demon, but not acting like any demons they know of. There are more of them, they’re more powerful, and they’re more organized. In Masque, they’re debating what to do with them. The Queen-Empress has rejected using “overwhelming force” to destroy everything in Yar and the Brownlands; it’s worth looking into, because it apparently is in their capability. The Queen-Empress of Masque is sending a lot of troops to the border, but not going into the area. There are rumors that the throne-globe and King-Emperor are connected to the increasing area of corruption. The King-Emperor and the throne-globe are gone; nobody knows where he is. The leading theories are that he was taken away by some magical force, or that he made a lot of deals and they finally came due. It’s also possible he took himself away, but that’s unlikely.

They send a message asking a consultation with one of the Hastur Keepers.

A servant comes in. “M’lady… Baroness Stacy is riding in right now.”

“Very well. I’ll receive her in the hall where I hold court.”

Kit has no idea who she is.

Very shortly, a middle-aged woman who looks like she fought hard to get where he is, followed by a large man in heavy armor unstrapping enough weapons to fight a small war as he enters.

She curtsies to Kit. “Nobly born, I heard that you would be visiting your estates and I wanted to pay my respects on behalf of myself and my husband. We hope that someday you’ll be able to visit our estates.

“I had hoped that we might be able to negotiate a contract for some of the hops some of your men grow. My brewers would be relieved—otherwise, we have to bring it all the way from Enclaves, and with the refugees, that route is challenging.”

(Her lands are a day’s ride to the north; not much larger than Lyneham, grain, not much dairy, land’s too poor. Sounds like her husband is a werebear. Her heir is a niece, studying in Northern Aurelian.)

The deal is reasonable, but doesn’t actually involve much money. It’s trade in kind—hops in exchange for beer.

Kit calls in the tavern keeper to consult on the potential deal. Their beers are good; their whiskey is better, but they don’t make much of it—don’t know why. But both are better than the local supply.

“Sir Alistair” chats with the Baroness’s husband. Getting hit from the south-east by someone going after some of the few dairy farms—goblins.

There are six dozen of these petty baronies—used to be seven dozen, and it was attrition not combination.

Dame Brionna reports that she has received a report from the expeditionary force. [Attached]. Together with the elven voller, they were able to defeat the forces of the Ram. Significant casualties, but still battle-worthy. They’re north of the barrier mountains, and await further instructions.

The Imperial Council has a private discussion about what title Kit will end up with.

Kit meets again with Baroness Stacy, and suggests increasing the trade in whiskey.

“I love the idea of more trade in whiskey, but we’ve avoided making more whiskey, because beyond a few barrels for home and a few for here, they need to be shipped either north to Enclaves, or south through Gates, or northwest to Hanal—and I wouldn’t want to ship anything to Hanal currently.”

Kit suggests that now trade with Canberry is more of an opportunity, which surprises Baroness Stacy. The Baroness is surprised, but very interested.

They send the main body of troops to deal with the other Ram colony in the Lead Hills, while the auxiliaries stay in Lyneham and begin constructing mines, improving roads, etc.
[session 104, cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 105 (November 26, 2019)

Chund 16ish
Dame Brionna has received a message [attached] from Humbert, Archbishop of Enclaves, who is well-meaning but very formal. The initial scout report says that they were heading directly east in the main tunnel that travels underneath the ocean to Khamista. The abominations, about 20 in number, are being chased by a task force trying to deal with them.

The morning that they’re going to leave, the group is split up into a couple different tasks.

Dame Brionna is overseeing preparations to depart.

Kit is having a last meeting with the person who has been running things in her absence, who she is now making the seneschal. Probably in the great hall. Alistair is there with her.

There are 3 strike teams, and 25 total guards with us. One group is with Dame Brionna, one in the servant’s halls near the great hall, and one in the tower.

One of the guards, Fred, asks Dame Brionna: “Dame, what’s that?” And coming out of the woods and approaching the castle at top speed is a teen-age man, bleeding from his chest, but running as fast as he can.

“Gotta warn the lady. They came up out of nowhere—I think they got my pa, but I had to warn the lady.”

Dame Brionna warns Kit.

Fred staggers back, with two barbed crossbow bolts in his chest. He collapses, as the flesh around the second wound begins to change and dissolve.

About 20 figures are charging at Dame Brionna and her group, running hell bent for leather. The local archers fire regular arrows, to no apparent effect. Eight of the charging group appear to be human, but their flesh is translucent, and they are stripped to the waste and have visible organs—their hearts are wreathed in blue flame. Three are small illithid-like creatures, with crossbows, but they have dull gray skin. The final figure looks similar, but is like 6 and a half feet tall but with four foot tentacles, robes, and floating. The rest are apparently normal humans, behind the rest.

Dame Brionna hears in the coldest tone of voice, “Reach the Dame, corrupt the spawn, we can still win.”

Kit and Alistair flee towards the basement.

The Grandmaster Farsensor apports to join Dame Brionna. “I will engage the leader.” He draws a laen sword.

The same cold voice rings out, oozing through the consciousness—not psionic, but not physical. “Ignore the abominable. Attack the keep. Reach the dame.”

The lead creature draws a staff that Dame Brionna can’t focus her attention on and begins to fight the Eldar.

Dame Brionna launches an attack on the lesser ones. She impales one with her lance. Its flesh almost recoils from the elven blade of the lance, but it also focuses its attention on her.

The psion does his best to engage them. From the battlements, two fireballs crash in as the mages in the other teams attack. They do some damage, but less than expected.

The leader reaches out with the weird staff, which sometimes looks like a curl of smoke, and an ooze of weird black energy wraps around the Farsensor. He takes damage, but avoids the worst of it. The Farsensor attacks four times, hitting twice, and pours psionic energy into the laen sword which glows and turns it into damage.

Two more fireballs crash in; they take less damage then you would expect, but still some, and one of the humans collapses.

Dame Brionna crits, and dismembers the creature which hisses and crumbles. As soon as it strikes the ground, the grass whithers. But it’s clearly dead.

The remaining illithid-like creatures shove through to the door and push directly against it. The doors boom and groan, but they stand.

The great one darts his four tentacles towards the chest of the Farsensor. He manages to dodge aside from two, but the other two tentacles penetrate.

Grandmaster Farsensor cleaves off most of its left arm, and the staff falls to the ground. There is a searing shriek and a 30’ circle of grass dies. He also stabs it twice more.

To Dame Brionna’s right, there are a group of regular humans milling about. To her left, there are the two remaining tentacled creatures, and the rest of the translucent humans.

The door begins to whither and break apart.

The greater one strikes the Grandmaster with a third tentacle. The Grandmaster pumps all of his remaining 340 power points into the creature as he stabs it three times. It glows, and collapses in on itself, leaving only the tentacles left, which slowly collapse as well.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 105, cont'd]

Dame Brionna fells another of the lesser ones as well. The remaining small one hisses, “keep her from me,” and touches the door again. The door whithers and collapses from its hinges, falling to the ground. It starts to pass through. The translucent humans split up. Two engage Dame Brionna, two throw blasts of blue fire at the parapets where the mages are, and the other four form a tight formation around the creature.

Alistair has a conversation with the spirit of the land—reached through the stream bed of a stream that cuts through the cellar to allow a secure source of water. She agrees to strengthen the barricade and to arrange for it to contact Alistair’s orichalcum ring as they try to pass through the wall.

Dame Brionna charges after the tentacled creature and would have hit it, except that one of the translucent humans interposed itself, got impaled, and the blue flame ran up the lance towards her. She feels a tingling, oozing sensation, and her devanic blessing activates and rejects the attempt to possess her. It explodes, and she takes 25 points of damage on a failed save.

The wizard guard blasts one of the remaining one with a scorching ray, blowing up its head.

At a dead run, the tentacled creature (now empowered with two additional spirits) having unerringly run to the stairs, runs down the stair, runs to the wall, and the spirit of the land intercepts its touch with the orichalcum ring. There is a massive explosion. The barricade dissolves into a powder, as does the tentacled one. The two remaining humanoids get struck by spraying salt, which causes them to dissolve into blue flame.

Grandmaster Farsensor and Dame Brionna finish off the two fighting her. The last two were brought down by archers.

They gather up and imprison the normal humans.

They thank the spirit of the land for her assistance. She asks Lady Katharine to establish a bawdy house in the town, which Lady Katharine agrees to.

The normal humans are confused, and starving. They’re from Hanal—they were called to the keep by the vad—they name him—and they don’t remember anything else from after that. The vad was “feeling badly”—likely corrupted or replaced. Lady Katharine asks Princess Anastasia about the vad. The vad was a loyalist. That means that Snatterkaz has a potential traitor in the midst of his followers. He’s either replaced with an exact double, or being controlled—if they indicated he was dead, they wouldn’t allow anyone from his lands to be misused. The fake vad will know what happened here immediately.

These were commons—farmers. It would not be safe for them to return, so Kit decides to resettle them here.

Kit’s people are delighted to see her when she reassures them that they’re fine.

Lord Silverleaves comments, "Depending on how you view their hierarchy, that was either the greatest of the lesser beings or the least of the greater—probably the greatest of the lesser. They’re called herders. They have powers of transportation, transmutation, and mental control. Those translucent people were cultists of the Blue Flame itself, and through his power, they have joined openly with the creatures coming through.

"The reason for the lesser humans, however, was that the Blue Stars will wear out their hosts. By making them ready, the cultist’s consciousness will move through, along with the fragment of the Blue Star itself. They can potentially gain skills from their new hosts."

Lady Katharine finds a job for the surviving son.

They take the voller back uneventfully.
[End Session 105]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 106 (December 19, 2019)

[Around this time, Alistair sent a missive out to all of his imperial vassals. The Council worked on several drafts. I've attached the version sent out to this post.]
22 Chund
A particularly baroque Noldar ship—apparently made out of black crystal, likely laen—is floating across the land, dispersing gold dust as it goes.

It docks at the palace voller tower. Usually, the Noldar don’t actually dock, but hover above and take flitters down. A very small party descends.

Alistair and Dame Brionna meet them at the base of the tower.

Leading the way, a shadowelf officer comes first—likely her general. A couple of drow in black laen armor follow, and then Lady Amerie Aufaulgautharim, and two handmaidens carrying parasols for her. “On behalf of the Host of Gasping Dust and our princess, we greet you.”

Alistair welcomes them.

“We are pleased and honored to be with you. We were hopeful that we would be able to be with you through the festival and salute the moons with you.

“Were you aware that there were a small group of some sort of demons on your east border? If you were, we hope that you will not take great offense that we bombarded them as we passed.”

The demons were something of the four parts of a goat.

They are possessed. The Council confirm that the "demons" are of the Blue Flame. They tell Lady Amerie that these aren’t truly demons—the Noldar used the term more broadly than humans would.

“I knew that I did not trust that upstart, but I did not recognize its taint. My husband would be most wroth with me if he were still alive. I should inform him—all the planes should be aware of this. Have you prepared the Moon Chambers? Tonight is the most auspicious night to speak to the other planes of this.”

The Council begins scurrying about to prepare the Moon Chamber. The princess sends down a scholar shadowelf lady who informs us that she is happy to help in any preparations.

(They have Kit’s scribe check on her background. She bore live twins. They have since died, it's believe—it is wise not to mention the House Goldorim near her.)

They all make their way back to the palace. She engages in ordinary largesse—silver, given by her handmaidens, so nothing we need to worry about.

She notes the runes on the palace as we enter. She recommends that Canberry charge the palace runes—they have been tested no less than three times.

"We are leaving behind a terrible legacy. We should never have bred the number of uruk-hai and orog kind as we did. You will contend with them for 10,000 years after we have gone.

"There are other types of demons. Each scheming and wanting. And your race is a bright source of energy for them. We are older and tasteless—and we fight more than you do."

“We were recently discussing the strange obsession of demons with the prime. Do you know why?”

“Yes. The demon planes, though they are infinite, have only one type of energy. They are limited. Here, all the energies of this universe are mixed together. And thus to possess the Prime would possess all of the powers. They would not turn it into one of their planes—but to torture it and drink its power and create infinite monsters. Even in the Shadowlands, they preserve the nature of the Prime to a limited degree. But the Six Lords of the Abyss—they may have some other scheme. They are mad, and more powerful than most demons—though not truly gods, no more so than I am, less even—their books talk of transforming the Prime into their own Prime, making themselves into the only gods.

"Lolth is brilliant, but the Queen of Chaos is not. She is powerful, and cunning, but her plans do not have enough depth to succeed."

A messenger slips up to Dame Brionna—"at your convenience, Lady Constance would like you to join her at the cathedral."

Lady Constance and Bishop Waters meet Dame Brionna in the undercroft of the cathedral. There are two pit fiends present as well. “Two of them are more powerful—they could have killed most of the guard. They came here willingly. They did not expect me.

“These three carry minor pieces of the Blue Star. These two, however…

“They still think that they may escape. Look at this scarification, how the body begins to become translucent. That makes them able to become more powerful. These also contain substantial magical energy of the Blue Star.

"They are mobile—that’s why I’m allowing only the pit fiends to touch them. There’s nothing there to possess. I don’t believe that anyone other than these two carry them deliberately—the others can be exorcised. These two offered themselves willingly—their mortal spirits are bound to the creature. With these two—I have sworn an oath to uphold the ethos of this kingdom. But if I were not, I’d have them put to death."

They thought that he was a minion of Sytry. The Council concludes that they can’t have them executed, because they became corrupted voluntarily but without intending to serve a proscribed god.

Lady Constance suggests that a Master Coercer might be able to separate them. Grandmaster Farsensor tells the Council that he doesn’t think any elven grandmasters would be willing to come, but a few young masters—around 1000 years old or so, mere teen-agers.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 106, cont'd]
The Noldar's general talks with Dame Brionna about vollers and strategy. He offers to have some drow craftsmen come to Canberry to make new black boxes. Black boxes should never fail, but Hanalian ones do. Some slaves escaped from the Aufaulgautharim about a millennium ago—they had worked on the voller construction, so we had a little more concern about their escape. The black boxes in the Hanalian vollers are in a sealed chamber directly behind the foremast. They get a few drowan craftsmen to make new black boxes.

"As you know, I bear a message from my uncle. I feel that I should deliver that message before."

They discuss the young Noldar. They talk about him growing up; they’re resigned to the fact that he will leave them. And they know that their house will be the next to go.

"Given that you have accepted a member of our house into your fosterage, and given that he has taken seriously to his oaths to your house, and given that we know that he is happy and will leave the faith but not go to the Enemy, he wishes to bestow an honorific upon you—protector of the heritage." This cube of eog symbolizes the blessing and honorific, never conferred on a human. It is also a psionic battery (300 pt.). It has the seal of the House of Aufaulgautharim on one side of it.

"Lady Aufaulgautharim, in order to achieve a victory against the greatest enemy, we must locate additional Eldron. Do you know where any might be found?"

"Forgehome—deep beneath the barrens, just near the city of Bianca in the domain of the White Witch—there’s an Eldron below Forgehome. He is somewhat mobile, but he would have to stop working on his project. There are enough gears and interlocking gears in Forgehome to drag the planet itself. And they all run off the great volcano. They never finish what they start. And they leave it lying about the place. Is there a reason they never finish? You may find this foolish coming from me. But they have no sense of time. If they lose themselves completely in the project, they become part of the earth.

"One of them became a force of wind. North of dragon’s home, north of the amusingly named Estates of Lady Jane Peryton. There is a place where the wind always blows, and there are voices in the wind. He forgot, and passed away into wind while still working on his project. His servants still work on it, and I’d be cautious about going there—I’d be cautious—he believed he could combine the bloodlines of all of the dragons, he could create the most perfect of all beings. I’ve heard that there are still caches of fertilized eggs in his caves."

Things start getting out of hand. She’s talking to Kit, and getting upset about children again. They distract her. "If you remember that your people are not pawns, then you will get more value out of them."

They discuss the mess in Hanal and Canberry's lack of direct action.

"The Temple of Paranswarm must commit the five Holy Field Armies. And yet… given where their Holy See is, they cannot, because of the proximity of the Sytryite armies.

"The Patriarch of Sytry is not corrupted. But some of his Council may be. If we could eliminate their threat, the Temple of Paranswarm might deploy its army to win in Hanal. They will otherwise take too long to win—long enough to allow the usurper to do terrible things."

They have a ceremony in the Moon Chambers. The young Noldar lord is formally the preceptor, though she’s mostly doing all the energy. Waves of energy from the light of the moon flow over us, even out of the dome of energy. At last they walk the opposite ways around the circle and the dome vanishes.

They thank the young Noldar for his assistance.

“We could not have done that without the moons. But the word has been sent, your majesty.

"A quick lesson on politics: Aufaulgautharim, Curinirim, and Goldorim are the oldest of the seven houses. Aufaulgautharim will pass first, then Curinirim, and last like a cancer Goldorim will pass. Moriquendarim are the most numerous, though weakest by far on a personal basis. They are sticklers for protocol. Princess Curinirim is probably fourth ranked among all the Noldar, but is least interested in the Noldar’s regular goals. So she maintains her palace here, so she does not have to be the City of Pain. Have you wondered why we named our cities such terrible things and why they are all necropolis? I have. But though she does not formally rule the Moriquendarim here, none of them would dare betray her. She betrothed to a Moriquendarim."

They discuss trying to get Sytry to launch a Shadowlands crusade.
[End session 106]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 107 (March 19, 2020)

23 Chund
Lady Aufaulgautharim departed on the following morning.

Dame Brionna rushes in in the morning, asking for a private meeting with Alistair and Kit in the inner council chamber.

Dame Brionna reports that she had a conversation with the Princess Aufaulgautharim’s military advisor. He summoned three drow master crafters who can make black boxes and teach others. He also gave Dame Brionna a personal gift, a white lean ring that can store divine magic and improves wisdom. She offers it to Alistair, who is dismissive about the idea of wearing it personally and encourages Dame Brionna to keep it. They plan on putting the Drow master crafters in a basement of the palace assuming that’s acceptable to the crafters.

They ask Kit’s scribe to research House Ashberry’s ancient genealogy—wondering if there is a connection to the ancient Moriquendarim who established the palace. Will get an answer in 6 weeks.

They make a plan to try to convince the Temple of Sytry to join the Church of Glordiadel in a crusade against the Shadowlands. We have 3 parts to their argument:

1. The Shadowlands are an abomination and should be brought back into the light and purified.
2. They need to eliminate the Shadowlands before the Hastur pass, because the barriers will fall when they do, so there is some urgency.
3. Paranswarm is making inroads into the Shadowlands, with Caldefor being restored, and while that’s better than the Shadowlands, they would much rather see those lands restored to the Light.

They reach out diplomatically, starting through the Church Militant of the Church of Glordiadel. (They don’t mention that their primary reason for this is to shift Sytryite military away from Khamista,)

Kit gets a message from the Eyes in the Western Duchies [attached]; the glittering black ship, turned northwest at Canberry's border, and went very fast—maidens in silver armor, tossed gold dust and silver over the edge of the ship—it then fired rays of light into the ground. It disappeared into a purple cloud. The baron has taken his knights over the border to find out what they shot at, and none of them have returned yet. The banner was like this that it flew.

They call for an expert on elven heraldry. "That was the symbol of one of the group of Eldron that split apart. It was retained as the personal banner of a Princess of the Aufaulgautharim. She never flew them, but she retained them. There’s some legend about it…" They send the expert on elven heraldry to research it—he says he’ll get in a few hours.

[cont'd]