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Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)
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<blockquote data-quote="CPaladin" data-source="post: 8653119" data-attributes="member: 7030144"><p>[Session 115, cont'd]</p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>About the Seductress (renegade of House Goldorim)</p><p>"Is the Usurper and pretender to the Throne of Hanal the Seductress?"</p><p></p><p>"It certainly is. It’s been terribly disturbing to watch."</p><p></p><p>"Who was or were her infernal paramours, and what is their current status?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"Who is the son of the Seductress, any other children of hers, and what is their status?"</p><p></p><p>"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?"</p><p></p><p>"Does the Seductress have any major enemies who would be motivated to seek to defeat her?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"Does the Seductress know that she’s allied with Arthranax, the One Other, and if so, why is she willing to work with him?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"What is her plan, and what portions of it has she accomplished?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"Who are her major subordinates?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"What is Remriel’s status in the Abyss and portfolio?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"What are her weaknesses?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"What personal defenses does she have?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>Strategic questions about Hanal</p><p>"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?"</p><p></p><p>"Firstly, define prevail."</p><p></p><p>"The range from deposing the Usurper on the one side to holding a meaningful portion of Hanal from her military control."</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"What if any major strategic assets or plans does the Usurper have that have not yet been revealed?"</p><p></p><p>"Another entire army. Deep in the Underdark, in the southwest. She’s holding those in reserve. That is a major intelligence get."</p><p></p><p>"What is her plan in Hanal and what does she hope to accomplish there?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>Questions about other big mysteries?</p><p>"Where and in what status is the Prince of the Cities of Pain and is his disappearance connected to the machinations of Arthranax?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"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?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"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?"</p><p></p><p>"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]</p><p></p><p>"Where is Quinliart Moriquendarim, also called Lord Raf, and what’s he up to?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"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?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"What is the Lord of the Ram up to and plotting?"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>"What do the Sytrian apostates who have turned to Arthranax as the Blue Sun intend next?"</p><p></p><p>"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.</p><p></p><p>"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.</p><p></p><p>"He’s been concealing it from everyone, but that happened on the Day of the Dead without anyone realizing it when the Age shifted."</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p>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.</p><p>[End Session 115]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CPaladin, post: 8653119, member: 7030144"] [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] [/QUOTE]
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Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)
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