vorropohaiah
First Post
It is 1523 AB
“It was perhaps through dreams of riches or dominance that three such disparate characters joined up in what some might call a foolish venture, were it not for the relative successes they have had so far.
Beginning in the state capital of Pegan, a walled city whose coffers have grown hefty by the ever-hungry need for trade: from the east in, Tanass and Daath; the west, in Alron and Dakhra; and the south, in Apinar and Nekharaal. Though a hub of trade, recently caravans moving north to south have been attacked and left fully-laden, only their guards and merchants taken, seemingly without trace…
The scholar and Firmamental adept Vincent De Morfrezi believes he has made an important discovery related to an ancient artefact known as the Staff of Baphomet. He is intrigued as to what secrets the staff may contain, though he is incapable of searching for them alone.
Vincent seeks the help of a person (calling him a friend may be too much. Indeed, calling him a friend may also be too much) who once helped him out of a tight spot and holds a debt over him. The person is Namtar Scheal, a depraved information monger who agrees to fund a possible expedition to search for the staff. But they are in need of capital. The deserted caravans, many of which are rumoured to still be filled with raw iron ore from the north would help pay any start-up costs.
Meanwhile, over 150-miles to the east, the Bakhran states are growing strong following their reunification under the banner of the Lord Potentate Khagan in 1518 AB (5-years ago). Bakhran armies have been moving slowly west, subjugating hinterland settlements in their greed for expansion. The only place left to turn is west – the region of Six Cities, of which Pegan is one.
From this war-thirsty land flees a man disgraced, Genera Raegon. Yearning for revenge over those who have wronged him, he is seeking shelter before amassing his allies. Through contacts he is shown to Namtar and, together with Vincent, the three and their followers decide to investigate the caravan attacks.
They meet with the merchant prince Oni, who hires their services alongside those of another party, led by the tracker Ander. They move north-west, following the road to the mines of Sulta, and discover a series of caravans though can glean little insight into the cause to their disappearance. On one caravan they find the blood-daubed sign of a local mystery cult thought to be enamoured with Arakhamé the Blood Moon.
Farther north the group splits up in two and one group comes across a small group of bandits that’s easily dispatched with, alongside the tracker Ander. When the groups join up again and Ander’s companions find his dead body they are attacked and left for dead. One of the bandits encountered is tortured and reveals the existence of an unknown open-caste mine, beyond the Grey Peaks and west of the Wastes of Ereth, that is being operated by the Cult of the Red Moon. It is heavily guarded.
In Pegan, Namtar organises a deal with Oni, who will organise a small force – a squadron of private guards provided by himself and his allies as well as a smaller group of the famed White League mercenaries. They march north and under the leadership of Raegon, Namtar and Dargeth plan an attack on the mine.
Though their plan of catching the mine’s guards by surprise fail their expertise ensures that the defending forces are easily dispatched with. Following a few moments of tense rifle-fire between forces, Raegon and his men cut a fantastically bloody path through dozens of men whilst Vincent calls upon the Firmament from his vantage point above an ancient hewn temple in the mountain-side to fool the defenders into thinking the White Legion numbers are far greater than they truly were. The illusion confuses the defenders. The acrobatic duo of Eleonora and Nimh make short work of any fools who try to oppose them in close combat, while Dargeth’s pistols easily dispatch anyone who gets within range.
As the regiments loose cohesion and become bogged down above the open-caste mine, a pair of figures silently emerges from the temple. One is a halfblood, hulking and tough. The other is a strange figure, clad in what appears to be armour so rusted and corroded it appears more like plates of scabs that anything else. With them appear a group of cultists who attack the remaining forces in the rear.
Though the battle is lost for the cultists by then. Their guards mostly dead and the brutish halfblood cut down through no small effort by the dagger-skills of Eleonora, the scab-armoured individual disappears inside a building, leaving only a pool of blood behind.
The efficient White League and the remnants of Oni’s militia are rounding up what remains of the defending forces as you stand over the body of the steaming halfblood.
Behind you, carved from the living rock of the cliff-face, leading back up to the pass you came from is an ancient temple. It is of an earthen-coloured granite and is composed of two 50-ft tall pylon-like pillars flanking a much smaller doorway. In each of the pylons stands a carved humanoid statue, though any details they once possessed are long-since gone.
The temple is directly facing the open-caste mine, itself unimpressive, with a few tiers, each adorned with dozens of ladders and pulley systems. To the right of the mine are two large buildings, solidly though quickly constructed from limestone bricks. The scab-adorned figure disappeared inside one, which appears to be a storage house of sorts. The other, which you have not yet entered is far larger.
A third and final building stands over 200-feet from the face of the temple. Behind this structure is an open-topped ambulant, its caterpillar-tracks sunken in the sand. Behind it are two flat-deck trailers. It is surprising to see an ambulant in such a place. Uncommon at best, they are normally the domain of far more powerful military of private powers to the north.
It is getting dark now, and the Blood Moon, only two days from being full, is close to rising, bringing back memories of what the prisoner tortured by Namtar revealed before being slain – the a ritual was to take place in this place in two nights. Hopefully such plans have been thwarted.”
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