darkhall-nestor
Explorer
thegreyman said:
I thought of that
its all good--------for us
Sagiro's Story Hour Returns (new thread started on 5/18/08)
I thought of that
its all good--------for us
KidCthulhu
First Post
I'm pretty sure we remembered to take him out of the bag, and this just wasn't an important enough item for Sagiro to comment on. Sorry guys, no haunted sack.
The_Warlock
Explorer
Piratecat said:
Best Windows Critical Error sound ever, by the by.
Sagiro
Rodent of Uncertain Parentage
This next installment was so long, it exceeded some kind of character limit for posting. I'm breaking it up int two parts.
Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 280a
Dreams, Deliveries, Disease and Doctrine
Dranko’s new responsibilities aside, the Company has no clear agenda for the first time in its history. With no dire threats to the Kingdom or other Spire-related outings on which to embark, they mostly hang around the Greenhouse divvying up loot, laying in supplies for a magic-item-creation bonanza, and enjoying some much-deserved R&R. Nonetheless, they are about to experience an extraordinarily eventful three-month stretch.
Lucas Blackwell does call a brief meeting of the Undermen Small Council, allowing Dranko to meet his immediate underlings. Greta Smith is an immense woman, easily 6’4” and 250 pounds, with short hair and an open smile. She does sleight-of-hand tricks with coins while others talk. Gideon Hollow is an obnoxious and arrogant halfling who shows absolutely no respect for the Oracle’s position. Aaron Martel is a hulking, brooding man who says little, and if it’s true that a life-debt to Dranko has earned his undying loyalty, there’s no evidence of that during their meeting. Octavius Hightower is not in attendance but that is not unusual.
There is little business to discuss. The day-to-day operations of the Undermen proceed quite smoothly under Lucas’s guiding hand. The only items on the agenda are a local jeweler suspected of receiving smuggled goods from Forquelle without Guild involvement, and the ongoing surveillance of an independent cat-burglar. Dranko needs to say little, letting Lucas take the lead in discussions. Flicker remains entirely silent under some dire but unspecified threat from Dranko.
After the meeting, Lucas takes Dranko on a tour of the Manse, a regular warren beneath the city of Tal Hae. There are actually two ways in: one through Quince’s tailor shop, and another through the basement of an abandoned tenement. Both are heavily guarded every hour of the day.
* *
“God damn it!” Dranko yells. He has just woken up on the morning after his council meeting to discover that the itchy mystery rash is all over his face. Flicker and Grey Wolf have it as well. Restoration and remove disease are still efficacious, but ye Gods, it’s annoying! Among the Company only Kibi seems immune (as do Snokas and Yoba), but it’s the dwarf who has one of those face-smacking moments of insight about the affliction.
“You know,” he says over breakfast, “I could just cast legend lore on one of you. A disease that can’t be cured by magic seems important enough that the spell could work.”
There’s no reason not to try it. Kibi casts his spell, and ten minutes later a brief verse comes into his head.
Each agreed, and each knew well
A bargain was made where the darkness fell
Promises broken are vile things
The Goddess heard, and woe she brings
There are groans all around the breakfast table. Shreen the Fair! The Company had sworn an oath on Dralla’s name that they would return the Crosser’s Maze to Shreen when they were done with it. The rash started to appear soon after Aravis had used the Maze to seal the rift between Abernia and Volpos at Verdshane. It appears that they are now suffering divine punishment for failing to fulfill their promise.
“I guess a visit to our old friend Shreen is in order,” says Aravis grimly. Whether or not he will (or even can) relinquish the Crosser’s Maze is not clear. Still, since the rash can be controlled by daily spells, the Company still plans to spend a few months crafting magic items before returning to Kivia and a showdown with Shreen.
* *
Four nights later, each member of the Company has an intensely vivid dream. It is the same dream for all of them, and what they dream is this:
There is only blue. Above, the sky stretches clear, and below, the ocean lies calm like a sheet of cerulean glass.
On the surface of the sea there are ships, two sets of three, facing each other across a half-mile of calm water. The three ships facing west display the holy symbol of Posada, Kivian God of the Sea. The three ships facing east fly the flags of Charagan and of Brechen.
One of the ships under Brechen’s symbol is familiar; Makel Troutman is its captain.
A whirlpool starts to form, slowly, its center exactly between the two groups of ships. Over time it expands, growing loud and vigorous and deep. The ships make no move to escape the vortex, and so inexorably they are sucked in; around and around they sweep, tilting ever more steeply as the whirlpool draws them into its heart. After a time made immeasurable by the nature of dreams the ships plummet downward and out of sight, into the depths of the Uncrossable Sea, their banners and crews lost forever, sacrifices sealing an accord between bitter Divine rivals.
The Company awakes, and they, like every citizen of Charagan and Kivia alike, understand instinctively what has changed. The Uncrossable Sea is uncrossable no more. Across both continents the implications are discussed for weeks – new possibilities opened for ship travel, trade, exploration and war. Dranko wastes little time in asking Lucas to start sending envoys via teleport to seek economic opportunity.
* *
Morningstar has been dreading the inevitable meeting with High Priestess Rhiavonne. It’s hard for her to guess what the High Priestess’s reaction will be to Morningstar’s account of the distant past – or indeed what she has already learned through communes – but the fate of the Illuminated Sisters is certainly at stake. And no matter what Rhiavonne might say, Morningstar will not abandon her calling as the Child of Light, especially with Octesian still at large. To better prepare for the confrontation with the matriarch of her church, Morningstar casts commune herself. The Avatar of Ell is with her.
Instead of opening with a question, Morningstar takes a moment to frame her inquiries.
“You warned us there was a need for some of us to withstand daylight. So far we have met the challenges before us. Politics have grown up around this issue like weeds, but the question remains: will the need for sisters who can walk strong in the daylight span for only a few years, or is this something we should institute for generations? The High Priestess fears that if we dilute our skills, and return to walking both in night and day, we will be unprepared for some great danger in the future. The Illuminated Sisters believe that your call to us was a signal that we should change our ways for more than just the immediate danger.
“Things have changed somewhat in my present and in my past. Is all that I have just spoken still the core of the issue?”
YOUR POLITICS HAVE NOT CHANGED
“The prophesies of the turtle and the great army showed me that sometimes all paths lead to some kind of danger. Is one of these ways of serving you better than the other?”
SERVE ELL WITH YOUR HEART
(Morningstar can't help grumbling a bit at this. My heart isn’t the problem; it's what my mouth may do that I'm worried about.)
“Will Ell be displeased or weakened if the Illuminated Sisters are cast out and form a separate temple?”
NO
“ If all Priestesses learn to withstand daylight, will it cause us to be unprepared for another danger in the future?”
THAT FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN
“If I ask the Illuminated Sisters to follow Rhiavonne’s demands, will we be less well prepared for future battles in the dreamscape and with Octesian – the battles that you warned me of when I fulfilled my promise for Mrs. Horn’s life?”
YES, IF THEY LISTEN
“Once Octesian is defeated is it likely that the need for a group Dreamwalkers who can withstand the daylight will be fulfilled for my generation?”
LIKELY? YES. CERTAIN? NO.
“I have no clear opinion on which practice is the best. My thought is to ask for compromise – to have some sisters in each temple serve as Daywalkers. After being accepted as priestesses and fully learning to operate at night, they would then train to withstand the day. They could work in shifts during the day so that the temple doors could remain open to callers. When not on a Daywalking shift the priestess would be awake at night with the rest of her sisters. The main body of the temple would be able to continue operating as before. The Illuminated Sisters could serve as the first Daywalkers at our various temples and train others.
“Would this change weaken or displease Ell?”
NO
“Is there a chance High Priestess Rhiavonne would accept a proposal like this?”
YES
“Have the plans to bring back the Emperor been aborted for the next three months?
YES. YOU HAVE DONE WELL.
“The Company has several interests to pursue in Kivia. Will our enemies in Charagan do significant harm here if we pursue our interests in Kivia next?”
PROBABLY NOT
“You warned me that Octesian will not forget me. Would it be to our best advantage to pursue him next?”
PROBABLY NOT
“You warned me a while back that there is a great evil hidden in Kynder Hold. Does this evil still remain?”
YES
“Is it time yet for us to pursue that evil?”
YOU WOULD NOT SURVIVE
“Is Parthol Runecarver the threat in Kynder Hold?”
YES
“Are Tarsos or Meledien threats that we will need to deal with?”
YES
“Should we try to rescue Rosetta or Cencerra before returning to Kivia?”
NO
* *
A week and a half after that, while the Company eats breakfast at the Greenhouse, there is a loud knock on the front door. Eddings finds a messenger from the Ducal Palace standing outside, a rolled up carpet beneath one arm.
“Is this the residence of General Kay Windstorm and her associates?”
Eddings lets out a sigh; there has been no sign of Kay since her departure from Het Branoi.
“Yes,” he answers shortly. “Though the General is indisposed at the moment.”
“My orders stipulate that I may leave this delivery with her associates at the Greenhouse,” says the messenger. He hands over the rug, along with a note, and departs. Eddings brings the delivery inside.
Ernie nearly leaps out of his apron when he sees what has arrived.
“Burning Sky!” he exclaims. “How in Yondalla’s heaven did this find its way back here?”
The accompanying note explains:
To General Kay Windstorm and Company:
You’ll be happy to know that your carpet was a turning point in the final battles against the Delfirians. By extreme good luck, a Delfirian messenger using the carpet was shot down by a unit of Werthian archers who were stranded behind enemy lines. The messenger was carrying orders, and the Werthans smuggled these back to our command center. With knowledge of their strategies, many kingdom lives were saved in the subsequent battles. Word has reached me that the Delfirian flying rug had once belonged to you, a spoil of war from a previous battle. In gratitude for your allowance of continued deployment of the Yrimpan army, I now return this device to you.
Yours, General Largent Brown.
There is much rejoicing, especially among the Company’s halfling cooks. And, even better, it turns out that the reacquisition of Burning Sky isn’t even the coolest delivery the party gets that week. Two days later there is another knock on the Greenhouse door during lunch, which interrupts Flicker complaining that he didn’t get a key to the Undermen’s vault.
Eddings again opens the door, but isn’t sure what to make of what he sees in the street. The others come over at his request, and they behold what appears to be a hovering scarecrow with fly-wings. It’s holding a wooden box about three feet on a side. As the Company watches, a small twig emerges from the scarecrow’s head, and there are small pieces of paper affixed to the twig. It dangles the papers in front of its own eyes, seeming to stare at them for a few seconds. Then the whole thing dissolves into a pile of loose straw, the box landing with a thump in the street and the papers fluttering down after.
The papers, it turns out, have crude sketches of each of the Company on them.
Suspicion is high, and some in the Company note that the box is just the right size for a torso. Flicker makes a tasteless joke about Levec Oldbarrow. Neither the box nor its contents detect as magical. Ernie casts augury and learns that opening the box will bring “weal.”
Dranko pries open the container and discovers three things inside. One is a dark green book with a strange symbol on the cover. One is a chunk of rough white quartz about the size of a baseball. The third is an envelope with a wax seal bearing the same symbol as the book.
The inside of the crate was also lined with lead; the book and crystal now both radiate significant magic. Dranko tears open the envelope to find a letter written in a scratchy hand and an unfamiliar language. One comprehend languages later he is reading the letter to his friends.
“It seems you folks did okay, and more than okay. I’m enclosing a couple of old things from my storeroom, gifts in gratitude for freeing us multitudes from the web of Slices. Before you utter the command word for the lucent tower, stand well back, and don’t use it indoors! The commands are simple: “crystal rise,” and “crystal fall.” The book goes one page at a time, and anyone can use it. I’ve a feeling that folks in your line of work will find good uses for these things, more than an old retired wizard with his time nearly expired.
Sincerely,
Chiswick.
The book is one of “infinite” spells – Dranko flips the front cover and finds the first incantation is shout.
There is a bit of moist-eyed reminiscing about the old wizard Chiswick, encountered in the Eye of the Storm back in Het Branoi. He had been exceedingly old, and the timeless nature of the Slices had given him many extra years he had not expected to enjoy. But soon enough thought turns to the Lucent Tower, and Ernie takes the others on his newly-acquired carpet to an empty field outside the city walls.
Dranko tosses the chunk of quartz onto the ground, uttering “Crystal Rise.” It immediately starts to grow in the fashion of an expanding crystal, rising upward until, within a few seconds, it has formed into a pearlescent tower almost 30’ high and 20’ in diameter. It comes to a point at the top, just above four balconies set high up in the walls. Down at ground level a doorway appears. Dranko slowly pushes it open.
Inside the Lucent Tower it is cool. It also looks cool, an effect of the blue-white light that filters through the walls. The boots of the Company echo on the hard marble floor. The most notable feature of the Tower is its lack of features; the entire interior is one huge space. There are no stairs (or other means to reach the balconies), no furnishings, no objects at all, save for four wooden “handles” that sprout from the walls at the four compass points, about three feet off the ground. These handles don’t look entirely solid, as if they’re part substance and part illusion. Aravis reaches out and grasps one, discovering that it feels much the same – almost solid, but not quite. It doesn’t move at all.
Dranko grabs one and thinks about a chair on the floor next to him. Silently a chair appears matching the image in his mind. When he releases the handle, the chair remains. Aravis imagines a spiral marble staircase leading up to the balconies, and there it is. Both staircase and chair share the semi-physical nature of the handles, but are solid enough to bear human weight.
Ernie grabs a third handle and thinks: “fully equipped kitchen!” It appears off to the side. He realizes that his mental image of the kitchen was incomplete – it’s missing some shelves and a spice rack – but even as he realizes these things, they fill themselves in. Dranko grabs a wooden spoon and walks out of the Tower with it; it melts away to nothingness as he crosses the threshold.
He comes back in, grips a handle, and thinks: “big pile of treasure.” There it is: coins, jewels, gems, crowns, the works. He does the only sensible thing, and dives into the heap.
A bit more experimentation reveals the following:
- Semi-illusionary food can be created, and even eaten, but it vanishes from the throat when swallowed
- Only the person who activated the Lucent Tower can open and close the door
- It’s unwise to keep hold of the tower in closed form when activating it.
Dranko learns that last one by direct empirical testing, though his stellar reflexes and tumbling skills spare him any actual harm.
...to be continued
Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 280a
Dreams, Deliveries, Disease and Doctrine
Dranko’s new responsibilities aside, the Company has no clear agenda for the first time in its history. With no dire threats to the Kingdom or other Spire-related outings on which to embark, they mostly hang around the Greenhouse divvying up loot, laying in supplies for a magic-item-creation bonanza, and enjoying some much-deserved R&R. Nonetheless, they are about to experience an extraordinarily eventful three-month stretch.
Lucas Blackwell does call a brief meeting of the Undermen Small Council, allowing Dranko to meet his immediate underlings. Greta Smith is an immense woman, easily 6’4” and 250 pounds, with short hair and an open smile. She does sleight-of-hand tricks with coins while others talk. Gideon Hollow is an obnoxious and arrogant halfling who shows absolutely no respect for the Oracle’s position. Aaron Martel is a hulking, brooding man who says little, and if it’s true that a life-debt to Dranko has earned his undying loyalty, there’s no evidence of that during their meeting. Octavius Hightower is not in attendance but that is not unusual.
There is little business to discuss. The day-to-day operations of the Undermen proceed quite smoothly under Lucas’s guiding hand. The only items on the agenda are a local jeweler suspected of receiving smuggled goods from Forquelle without Guild involvement, and the ongoing surveillance of an independent cat-burglar. Dranko needs to say little, letting Lucas take the lead in discussions. Flicker remains entirely silent under some dire but unspecified threat from Dranko.
After the meeting, Lucas takes Dranko on a tour of the Manse, a regular warren beneath the city of Tal Hae. There are actually two ways in: one through Quince’s tailor shop, and another through the basement of an abandoned tenement. Both are heavily guarded every hour of the day.
* *
“God damn it!” Dranko yells. He has just woken up on the morning after his council meeting to discover that the itchy mystery rash is all over his face. Flicker and Grey Wolf have it as well. Restoration and remove disease are still efficacious, but ye Gods, it’s annoying! Among the Company only Kibi seems immune (as do Snokas and Yoba), but it’s the dwarf who has one of those face-smacking moments of insight about the affliction.
“You know,” he says over breakfast, “I could just cast legend lore on one of you. A disease that can’t be cured by magic seems important enough that the spell could work.”
There’s no reason not to try it. Kibi casts his spell, and ten minutes later a brief verse comes into his head.
Each agreed, and each knew well
A bargain was made where the darkness fell
Promises broken are vile things
The Goddess heard, and woe she brings
There are groans all around the breakfast table. Shreen the Fair! The Company had sworn an oath on Dralla’s name that they would return the Crosser’s Maze to Shreen when they were done with it. The rash started to appear soon after Aravis had used the Maze to seal the rift between Abernia and Volpos at Verdshane. It appears that they are now suffering divine punishment for failing to fulfill their promise.
“I guess a visit to our old friend Shreen is in order,” says Aravis grimly. Whether or not he will (or even can) relinquish the Crosser’s Maze is not clear. Still, since the rash can be controlled by daily spells, the Company still plans to spend a few months crafting magic items before returning to Kivia and a showdown with Shreen.
* *
Four nights later, each member of the Company has an intensely vivid dream. It is the same dream for all of them, and what they dream is this:
There is only blue. Above, the sky stretches clear, and below, the ocean lies calm like a sheet of cerulean glass.
On the surface of the sea there are ships, two sets of three, facing each other across a half-mile of calm water. The three ships facing west display the holy symbol of Posada, Kivian God of the Sea. The three ships facing east fly the flags of Charagan and of Brechen.
One of the ships under Brechen’s symbol is familiar; Makel Troutman is its captain.
A whirlpool starts to form, slowly, its center exactly between the two groups of ships. Over time it expands, growing loud and vigorous and deep. The ships make no move to escape the vortex, and so inexorably they are sucked in; around and around they sweep, tilting ever more steeply as the whirlpool draws them into its heart. After a time made immeasurable by the nature of dreams the ships plummet downward and out of sight, into the depths of the Uncrossable Sea, their banners and crews lost forever, sacrifices sealing an accord between bitter Divine rivals.
The Company awakes, and they, like every citizen of Charagan and Kivia alike, understand instinctively what has changed. The Uncrossable Sea is uncrossable no more. Across both continents the implications are discussed for weeks – new possibilities opened for ship travel, trade, exploration and war. Dranko wastes little time in asking Lucas to start sending envoys via teleport to seek economic opportunity.
* *
Morningstar has been dreading the inevitable meeting with High Priestess Rhiavonne. It’s hard for her to guess what the High Priestess’s reaction will be to Morningstar’s account of the distant past – or indeed what she has already learned through communes – but the fate of the Illuminated Sisters is certainly at stake. And no matter what Rhiavonne might say, Morningstar will not abandon her calling as the Child of Light, especially with Octesian still at large. To better prepare for the confrontation with the matriarch of her church, Morningstar casts commune herself. The Avatar of Ell is with her.
Instead of opening with a question, Morningstar takes a moment to frame her inquiries.
“You warned us there was a need for some of us to withstand daylight. So far we have met the challenges before us. Politics have grown up around this issue like weeds, but the question remains: will the need for sisters who can walk strong in the daylight span for only a few years, or is this something we should institute for generations? The High Priestess fears that if we dilute our skills, and return to walking both in night and day, we will be unprepared for some great danger in the future. The Illuminated Sisters believe that your call to us was a signal that we should change our ways for more than just the immediate danger.
“Things have changed somewhat in my present and in my past. Is all that I have just spoken still the core of the issue?”
YOUR POLITICS HAVE NOT CHANGED
“The prophesies of the turtle and the great army showed me that sometimes all paths lead to some kind of danger. Is one of these ways of serving you better than the other?”
SERVE ELL WITH YOUR HEART
(Morningstar can't help grumbling a bit at this. My heart isn’t the problem; it's what my mouth may do that I'm worried about.)
“Will Ell be displeased or weakened if the Illuminated Sisters are cast out and form a separate temple?”
NO
“ If all Priestesses learn to withstand daylight, will it cause us to be unprepared for another danger in the future?”
THAT FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN
“If I ask the Illuminated Sisters to follow Rhiavonne’s demands, will we be less well prepared for future battles in the dreamscape and with Octesian – the battles that you warned me of when I fulfilled my promise for Mrs. Horn’s life?”
YES, IF THEY LISTEN
“Once Octesian is defeated is it likely that the need for a group Dreamwalkers who can withstand the daylight will be fulfilled for my generation?”
LIKELY? YES. CERTAIN? NO.
“I have no clear opinion on which practice is the best. My thought is to ask for compromise – to have some sisters in each temple serve as Daywalkers. After being accepted as priestesses and fully learning to operate at night, they would then train to withstand the day. They could work in shifts during the day so that the temple doors could remain open to callers. When not on a Daywalking shift the priestess would be awake at night with the rest of her sisters. The main body of the temple would be able to continue operating as before. The Illuminated Sisters could serve as the first Daywalkers at our various temples and train others.
“Would this change weaken or displease Ell?”
NO
“Is there a chance High Priestess Rhiavonne would accept a proposal like this?”
YES
“Have the plans to bring back the Emperor been aborted for the next three months?
YES. YOU HAVE DONE WELL.
“The Company has several interests to pursue in Kivia. Will our enemies in Charagan do significant harm here if we pursue our interests in Kivia next?”
PROBABLY NOT
“You warned me that Octesian will not forget me. Would it be to our best advantage to pursue him next?”
PROBABLY NOT
“You warned me a while back that there is a great evil hidden in Kynder Hold. Does this evil still remain?”
YES
“Is it time yet for us to pursue that evil?”
YOU WOULD NOT SURVIVE
“Is Parthol Runecarver the threat in Kynder Hold?”
YES
“Are Tarsos or Meledien threats that we will need to deal with?”
YES
“Should we try to rescue Rosetta or Cencerra before returning to Kivia?”
NO
* *
A week and a half after that, while the Company eats breakfast at the Greenhouse, there is a loud knock on the front door. Eddings finds a messenger from the Ducal Palace standing outside, a rolled up carpet beneath one arm.
“Is this the residence of General Kay Windstorm and her associates?”
Eddings lets out a sigh; there has been no sign of Kay since her departure from Het Branoi.
“Yes,” he answers shortly. “Though the General is indisposed at the moment.”
“My orders stipulate that I may leave this delivery with her associates at the Greenhouse,” says the messenger. He hands over the rug, along with a note, and departs. Eddings brings the delivery inside.
Ernie nearly leaps out of his apron when he sees what has arrived.
“Burning Sky!” he exclaims. “How in Yondalla’s heaven did this find its way back here?”
The accompanying note explains:
To General Kay Windstorm and Company:
You’ll be happy to know that your carpet was a turning point in the final battles against the Delfirians. By extreme good luck, a Delfirian messenger using the carpet was shot down by a unit of Werthian archers who were stranded behind enemy lines. The messenger was carrying orders, and the Werthans smuggled these back to our command center. With knowledge of their strategies, many kingdom lives were saved in the subsequent battles. Word has reached me that the Delfirian flying rug had once belonged to you, a spoil of war from a previous battle. In gratitude for your allowance of continued deployment of the Yrimpan army, I now return this device to you.
Yours, General Largent Brown.
There is much rejoicing, especially among the Company’s halfling cooks. And, even better, it turns out that the reacquisition of Burning Sky isn’t even the coolest delivery the party gets that week. Two days later there is another knock on the Greenhouse door during lunch, which interrupts Flicker complaining that he didn’t get a key to the Undermen’s vault.
Eddings again opens the door, but isn’t sure what to make of what he sees in the street. The others come over at his request, and they behold what appears to be a hovering scarecrow with fly-wings. It’s holding a wooden box about three feet on a side. As the Company watches, a small twig emerges from the scarecrow’s head, and there are small pieces of paper affixed to the twig. It dangles the papers in front of its own eyes, seeming to stare at them for a few seconds. Then the whole thing dissolves into a pile of loose straw, the box landing with a thump in the street and the papers fluttering down after.
The papers, it turns out, have crude sketches of each of the Company on them.
Suspicion is high, and some in the Company note that the box is just the right size for a torso. Flicker makes a tasteless joke about Levec Oldbarrow. Neither the box nor its contents detect as magical. Ernie casts augury and learns that opening the box will bring “weal.”
Dranko pries open the container and discovers three things inside. One is a dark green book with a strange symbol on the cover. One is a chunk of rough white quartz about the size of a baseball. The third is an envelope with a wax seal bearing the same symbol as the book.
The inside of the crate was also lined with lead; the book and crystal now both radiate significant magic. Dranko tears open the envelope to find a letter written in a scratchy hand and an unfamiliar language. One comprehend languages later he is reading the letter to his friends.
“It seems you folks did okay, and more than okay. I’m enclosing a couple of old things from my storeroom, gifts in gratitude for freeing us multitudes from the web of Slices. Before you utter the command word for the lucent tower, stand well back, and don’t use it indoors! The commands are simple: “crystal rise,” and “crystal fall.” The book goes one page at a time, and anyone can use it. I’ve a feeling that folks in your line of work will find good uses for these things, more than an old retired wizard with his time nearly expired.
Sincerely,
Chiswick.
The book is one of “infinite” spells – Dranko flips the front cover and finds the first incantation is shout.
There is a bit of moist-eyed reminiscing about the old wizard Chiswick, encountered in the Eye of the Storm back in Het Branoi. He had been exceedingly old, and the timeless nature of the Slices had given him many extra years he had not expected to enjoy. But soon enough thought turns to the Lucent Tower, and Ernie takes the others on his newly-acquired carpet to an empty field outside the city walls.
Dranko tosses the chunk of quartz onto the ground, uttering “Crystal Rise.” It immediately starts to grow in the fashion of an expanding crystal, rising upward until, within a few seconds, it has formed into a pearlescent tower almost 30’ high and 20’ in diameter. It comes to a point at the top, just above four balconies set high up in the walls. Down at ground level a doorway appears. Dranko slowly pushes it open.
Inside the Lucent Tower it is cool. It also looks cool, an effect of the blue-white light that filters through the walls. The boots of the Company echo on the hard marble floor. The most notable feature of the Tower is its lack of features; the entire interior is one huge space. There are no stairs (or other means to reach the balconies), no furnishings, no objects at all, save for four wooden “handles” that sprout from the walls at the four compass points, about three feet off the ground. These handles don’t look entirely solid, as if they’re part substance and part illusion. Aravis reaches out and grasps one, discovering that it feels much the same – almost solid, but not quite. It doesn’t move at all.
Dranko grabs one and thinks about a chair on the floor next to him. Silently a chair appears matching the image in his mind. When he releases the handle, the chair remains. Aravis imagines a spiral marble staircase leading up to the balconies, and there it is. Both staircase and chair share the semi-physical nature of the handles, but are solid enough to bear human weight.
Ernie grabs a third handle and thinks: “fully equipped kitchen!” It appears off to the side. He realizes that his mental image of the kitchen was incomplete – it’s missing some shelves and a spice rack – but even as he realizes these things, they fill themselves in. Dranko grabs a wooden spoon and walks out of the Tower with it; it melts away to nothingness as he crosses the threshold.
He comes back in, grips a handle, and thinks: “big pile of treasure.” There it is: coins, jewels, gems, crowns, the works. He does the only sensible thing, and dives into the heap.
A bit more experimentation reveals the following:
- Semi-illusionary food can be created, and even eaten, but it vanishes from the throat when swallowed
- Only the person who activated the Lucent Tower can open and close the door
- It’s unwise to keep hold of the tower in closed form when activating it.
Dranko learns that last one by direct empirical testing, though his stellar reflexes and tumbling skills spare him any actual harm.
...to be continued
Last edited:
Sagiro
Rodent of Uncertain Parentage
Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 280b
Dreams, Deliveries, Disease and Doctrine
Before meeting with Rhiavonne in Kallor, Morningstar travels to Kynder Hold to see her parents. Dranko, her husband, goes with her. They arrive at dusk, hoping to catch her mother at home.
Morningstar’s mother and father – Domira and Rodvin – are delighted by the visit. Morningstar wonders how she’s going to break the news to them. What she ends up doing is babbling.
“We have some news. We didn’t think we’d be gone so long, but it turns out that we were gone longer than we though we had been, and when were there, we... we got married.”
There’s a second or two of awkward silence; Dranko leaps to fill it.
“I know it’s a little late,” he says to Rodvin, “and after the fact and all, but I would be honored if you would give me the hand of your daughter in marriage.”
As Morningstar’s father nods, bewildered, her mother blurts out: “You got married, and you didn’t invite us?”
“We’re really sorry!” says Morningstar. “It’s complicated. We weren’t technically on this plane.”
“Plane?” asks Domira.
“Of existence,” adds Dranko.
“We couldn’t get back,” says Morningstar. “There was a big enemy plot, and we had to stop them. For us, we were gone almost a year.”
“Time moved differently there,” says Dranko.
“You were off on another world, fighting evil,” says Domira. “I at least understand that much.”
“It was very dangerous,” says Morningstar. “And we weren’t sure about the whole ‘getting back’ thing, so we decided to get married, in case... you know....”
“In case something bad happened,” says Domira.
“And by ‘something bad,’ you mean ‘get killed,’ adds Dranko helpfully.
“But you didn’t,” says Domira, and, having finally accepted her daughter’s reasoning, she breaks into a grin. “And here you are. Congratulations! And don’t you worry – we’ll have another marriage ceremony now that you’re back, for your friends and family who might have missed the first one.”
Morningstar smiles back, but she can’t keep the worry off of her face. Her meeting with Rhiavonne is fast approaching. Domira notices immediately.
“I’d expect you to be happier,” she says. “Something else is bothering you, isn’t it.”
“She’s going to be talking to the High Priestess in Kallor,” says Dranko.
“The High Priestess Rhiavonne?” says Domira, surprised. “Well, dear, you are strong in the faith of Ell.”
“More than you know,” says Dranko. “But she and Rhiavonne are sometimes at loggerheads. They might have an... argument.”
“Rhiavonne decided to disband the Illuminated Sisters while I was gone,” says Morningstar.
“Yes, I heard,” says Domira. “I wondered about that. But we’re having a wedding ceremony, whatever Rhiavonne says to you.”
She smiles encouragingly at Morningstar, who can’t help but smile back.
“I’m honored to be a part of your family,” says Dranko.
“I’m sure that the church... appreciates you, for all that you’ve done,” says Domira. Then, speaking more to Dranko and Rodvin, she says with clear pride in her voice, “I know that my daughter can do things many other sisters cannot, a sure sign of Ell’s favor. It’s time they understood just what she does for them, how important she is to them.”
“Thank you,” says Morningstar, grateful. “I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about all this.”
“I’m still not sure how I feel,” says Domira. “I’ve never quite understood this whole ‘Illuminated Sisters’ business you’re involved in. But Ell is Ell, and if people want to serve Her, they will, and if she wants to bless them, She will. If your faith is strong, and your works are good, I don’t think Ell will mind the rest.”
“I wish more priests of Delioch were like this,” Dranko mutters under his breath.
“I did a commune,” says Morningstar, “and She didn’t seem to mind.”
Domira can’t help but laugh. “Do you see how she tosses that off?” she says to her husband. “’Oh, yes, the other day, when I was talking with Ell...’”
“She chats with angels,” confirms Dranko. Morningstar turns red.
“What did She say?” asks Domira. “Did She say ‘hi?’”
“She said I did a good job,” says Morningstar.
“See?” says Domira. “You can say about me, ‘oh, I’m just your mom,’ but you can’t say that about Ell. If She thinks you’re doing a good job, I daresay you are.”
“I didn’t seek the Illuminated Sisters out, they came to me,” says Morningstar.
“But they needed you,” says Domira. “They needed you to teach them.”
“Yes, for a task that’s not yet over,” says Morningstar. “So we can’t let them be disbanded.”
“So you just tell Rhiavonne that.”
“That’s what I’ll do.” There is now more resolve than doubt in Morningstar’s voice. “And I’ll ask that there be Daywalkers, just as there are Dreamwalkers, who will be able to withstand the light.”
Morningstar goes to church with her mother while Dranko stays behind to swap stories with Rodvin. After services Morningstar seeks out her old combat trainer, Clariel. They talk for a while, and then Clariel offers to spar, to see how Morningstar has progressed. She is astounded at her pupil’s martial prowess.
“How did you learn so many fighting techniques?” she asks.
“Mostly from having them used on me,” says Morningstar modestly.
“I’d love to learn more,” says Clariel. “How long will you be back in Kynder Hold?”
“I have to leave in just a few minutes,” says Morningstar.
“Off on another adventure?”
“Of a sort.”
* *
Morningstar’s meeting with the High Priestess Rhiavonne is at 1:00 A.M. As has been the case in previous meetings, the old priestess is standing with her back to the door, staring out a large window into the blackness of Kallor. She turns as Morningstar enters her office, looking older than Morningstar recalls, and more tired. But despite the extra lines in her weathered face, and shoulders that seem more stooped, the High Priestess still radiates an unmistakable piety and power. Her expression is unreadable.
“Please, sit down.” She motions Morningstar toward a chair. “You wished to have an audience. Here we are. Would you like to speak first?”
Morningstar clears her throat. “Do you know what happened? Where I was?”
“I’ve heard things,” admits Rhiavonne. “That you’ve traveled to the past.”
“That is true,” says Morningstar. “But not initially.”
While Rhiavonne listens with unwavering attention, Morningstar briefs her on her recent adventures, starting with the Sharshun plot to change history. She talks of the Emperor, and how he had never been banished. Unlike Lucas, the old priestess actually seems to understand the contortions of time involved.
Morningstar goes on to explain Het Branoi as plainly as she can, and how, with the Eyes of Moirel, they went back in time to preserve history.
“I presume that the very fact of our current discussion means you succeeded in going back in time, and preventing history from being rewritten after all,” says Rhiavonne, nodding. “And then you managed to come back to our own time. It sounds like you have had quite the adventure... and the details help explain some... odd... answers to commune questions posed by some of our sisters.
“And now you’re back.”
“Yes,” says Morningstar. She ventures a smile. “To be a thorn in your side once more.”
Rhiavonne looks up at her, a glint in her eyes. “I think the days of you being a thorn in my side are just about over.”
Morningstar cannot hide her dismay. She braces for excommunication.
“Don’t look so dour,” says Rhiavonne, seeing Morningstar’s crestfallen look. “I don’t mean what you think I do. Let me explain.
“There is a rule about being High Priestess of Ell, a rule with which you are unfamiliar. You know that Ell greatly values our independence, our freedom to make our own decisions. When one is the High Priestess of Ell, one may make only questioning assay into the mind of the Goddess, only one commune in her natural life. I had never used mine. I always intended to cast it at the end, to pose questions about my successor, to make sure things would be in good hands when I was gone. I won’t be able to do that now, because when I heard that you were back, and considering some of the details that had reached my ears, I knew I had to have answers. I had reached a more important fork in the road. So I asked questions of Ell. Do you want to know what she said?”
Morningstar nods.
“I have a clear memory of my discussion with Ell. I’m not going to share all of my questions; some of them were personal, and don’t involve you. Here are the rest.
I asked that if I allow Daywalking to become prevalent in the church, will that lead to the eventual failure of the church as predicted in the allegory I shared with you in this very room. The answer was: Only without eternal vigilance.
I asked if I should elevate you to a position of higher authority within the church. She said: She will find your own place.
I asked if she would be angry if I upheld the excommunication of the Illuminated Sisters, and let them find their own way in Her eyes. She said No. They would still serve Her.
I asked if she would be angry if I altered the policies of the church sanctioning all sisters to walk freely beneath the sun. She said: Less angry than disappointed.
I asked if you really did speak to her in the past. You know what she said.
I asked if her desires for the church had changed since she spoke with you. She said that her desire for a strong church has never changed. I’m not sure quite what to make of that answer. I have a feeling there’s as much in what she didn’t say, as in what she did.
I asked if you are acting for the betterment of the church, more so than for your own personal gain. The answer was Yes, she is as faithful as you.
I asked of the same could be said of Amber. The answer was No. For her, Power and Piety are of equal weight.
When I asked if I should remove her from power, even if I did continue to sanction the Illuminated Sisters to operate in daylight, she said: She has great potential.
I asked: You chose Morningstar for the task of defeating Naradawk’s dream-soldiers. Must she continue her vigilance regardless of my choices? The answer was: It would be prudent.
I asked if there were still enemy agents of the Black Circle within the church of Ell, here in Kallor. No, not in Kallor.
Elsewhere then? The answer was yes.”
Rhiavonne finishes her recitation. She looks thoughtful. She looks at Morningstar.
“What do you propose?” she asks.
“I know that my task is not done, that Octesian is still out there,” says Morningstar. “I have asked Ell: when Octesian is defeated, will the need for dreamwalkers trained in the light during my generation be fulfilled. The answer was: Likely? Yes. Certain? No.
“So, my thought is, I would like to create a group of Daywalkers, just as there are Dreamwalkers now. They would be of limited number, but they could withstand the daylight when needed.”
“A new order,” murmurs Rhiavonne.
“ I would propose that they would not stay in the daylight all the time,” continues Morningstar, “but would work there in shifts. I would also propose that the Illuminated Sisters be the first group of Daywalkers, and have them spread throughout the various temples of Charagan. This would help all sisters see who they are, and what they do.
“I do not agree with all the tenets of the Illuminated Sisters, and never have. But I think we need to be able to withstand all threats, and I think that’s particularly important now that Posada’s Boundary is down. Dralla is an extremely powerful force in Kivia; people have good reason to fear the night there.”
Rhiavonne fixes Morningstar with a steely gaze.
“I will tell you, Morningstar of Ell, Child of Light, that I will follow your suggestion, given what I now know. There will be a new order of Sisters, and they shall be called Daywalkers, and they will train beneath the sun.
“But I ask this of you in return: that you take the time, when you have it, to write your memoirs of your time in the past. I want the words you spoke to Ell, and that she spoke to you, written as holy text and added to the canon. I want you to write, in whatever manner you see fit, a work that will become required reading for all novices, that they will remember why we have Daywalkers, why they are the exception, and what role they will serve, and the dangers of following that path too far. ‘Eternal Vigilance,’ Ell advised. I deem the way to make that happen is to be sure none stay with the Church of Ell without hearing those words for themselves. Will you do this?”
“Of course,” says Morningstar.
“Then it shall be done. And Amber will accept it, since she will not like the alternative. I will invent a position for her that will be to her liking. And then this chapter of division within the church will come to a close. There will be grumbling, and a backlash, but if we manage things correctly that will subside, and we will be stronger for it.”
Rhiavonne’s eyes flash a dark fire.
“And when this Octesian comes back, you will throw him down.”
A bell rings out in the church, and Rhiavonne’s ardor subsides. Again she looks tired, old. “Would you care to join me for prayers?”
“I would like nothing better,” says Morningstar.
“Then let us retire.”
* *
More weeks pass, bringing more changes, and a tying up of loose ends. With much regret Yoba finally takes her leave of the Company, needing to return to her home of Evergreen. Her duties as Commander of the Southern Border will wait no longer. Ernie casts the plane shift himself, accompanying her and staying a few days longer than is strictly necessary. They depart with promises of many sendings and visits whenever possible.
When he returns, he takes upon himself the unpleasant task of flying to Kay’s family farm. He tells her parents and brothers of her great bravery and her role in saving the world from disaster. As for where she is now?
“She stayed behind to continue the fight,” he says carefully. “She’s still alive, but may not be back for quite some time.”
Her family seems to understand at least that much, and Ernie is disinclined to try explaining parallel dimensions.
Soon after, the Company loses the last of its temporary members. Snokas approaches Morningstar one day, looking sheepish.
“I uh... now, don’t take this the wrong way. It’s been an honor serving you, and I don’t regret a second of it. But... uh... well, I want to learn more. I’ve learned a lot traveling with you, and I appreciate it. Ell wanted me to protect you, and I have.”
He looks especially embarrassed as he adds: “I want to spend a while in the library.”
Dranko snorts.
“Hey, shut up!” snaps Snokas. “I’ve been working on my reading skills, and I want to read more about Ell. They have a really good library here in Tal Hae, so I figured I’d spend a few months educating myself.”
He looks nervously at Morningstar. “Do you think it’ll be all right, given that I’m a... you know, a guy?”
Morningstar laughs. “I’m sure it’s okay.”
“It means I won’t have your back for a while,” says Snokas.
“Go,” says Morningstar. “I think you’re going where you’re being called, and that’s very important.”
“Yeah,” says Snokas. “Thanks.”
* *
At the same time the Company is crafting magic items, they also get around to setting aside piles of treasure for those who helped them defeat the Cleaners in Het Branoi. Through a series of sendings and plane shifts, they make good on their promises to reward Ox, Kiro and Cashbox Jack from the Eye of the Storm.
They also take some time to write out full reports of their recent adventure, for delivery to the Spire. Ozilinsh still marvels at the account and is a stickler for detail. He also fills the Company in on what’s happened in their absence. Royce, Glade and Wellington had cleaned out another Black Circle bestiary that had become Unmasked, just before the party’s return. The brother-sister team of Jerzembeck and Junaya, together with their adventuring group, have been tracking down and eliminating enemies who fled the Battle of Verdshane. There has been no sign of Cencerra or Rosetta, nor of Tor or Meledien. No progress has been made in discovering the murderers of Grawly and Thewana. And neither hide nor hair nor simulacrum has been seen of Parthol Runecarver.
The rash – or Curse of Dralla – grows steadily worse over time. Each week it afflicts more and more of the Company, and it covers more of their bodies. More troubling, it starts to cause ability score loss – charisma and constitution are both affected. Still, since a daily battery of restorations can keep the effects at bay, the Company guts it out and finishes their full slate of item crafting.
* *
At last the day comes when all the loose ends have been tied up, and the Company decides it’s time to make the journey to Kivia. Dranko makes sure to tell Lucas where he’s going.
“And now that Posada’s Boundary is no more,” says Lucas, “you’ll be able to make regular reports.”
“As long as they’re twenty-five words or less,” says Dranko.
“Excellent,” says Lucas. “Though, regrettably, it means you’ll be unable to grace your communiqués with your usual colorful lingo.”
“Actually, it’ll be Morningstar sending the sendings.”
Lucas grins. “This is getting better all the time.”
“I like him,” says Grey Wolf.
With that taken care of, the wizards prepare to teleport to Djaw. Next up: a reckoning with Shreen the Fair.
...to be continued...
Dreams, Deliveries, Disease and Doctrine
Before meeting with Rhiavonne in Kallor, Morningstar travels to Kynder Hold to see her parents. Dranko, her husband, goes with her. They arrive at dusk, hoping to catch her mother at home.
Morningstar’s mother and father – Domira and Rodvin – are delighted by the visit. Morningstar wonders how she’s going to break the news to them. What she ends up doing is babbling.
“We have some news. We didn’t think we’d be gone so long, but it turns out that we were gone longer than we though we had been, and when were there, we... we got married.”
There’s a second or two of awkward silence; Dranko leaps to fill it.
“I know it’s a little late,” he says to Rodvin, “and after the fact and all, but I would be honored if you would give me the hand of your daughter in marriage.”
As Morningstar’s father nods, bewildered, her mother blurts out: “You got married, and you didn’t invite us?”
“We’re really sorry!” says Morningstar. “It’s complicated. We weren’t technically on this plane.”
“Plane?” asks Domira.
“Of existence,” adds Dranko.
“We couldn’t get back,” says Morningstar. “There was a big enemy plot, and we had to stop them. For us, we were gone almost a year.”
“Time moved differently there,” says Dranko.
“You were off on another world, fighting evil,” says Domira. “I at least understand that much.”
“It was very dangerous,” says Morningstar. “And we weren’t sure about the whole ‘getting back’ thing, so we decided to get married, in case... you know....”
“In case something bad happened,” says Domira.
“And by ‘something bad,’ you mean ‘get killed,’ adds Dranko helpfully.
“But you didn’t,” says Domira, and, having finally accepted her daughter’s reasoning, she breaks into a grin. “And here you are. Congratulations! And don’t you worry – we’ll have another marriage ceremony now that you’re back, for your friends and family who might have missed the first one.”
Morningstar smiles back, but she can’t keep the worry off of her face. Her meeting with Rhiavonne is fast approaching. Domira notices immediately.
“I’d expect you to be happier,” she says. “Something else is bothering you, isn’t it.”
“She’s going to be talking to the High Priestess in Kallor,” says Dranko.
“The High Priestess Rhiavonne?” says Domira, surprised. “Well, dear, you are strong in the faith of Ell.”
“More than you know,” says Dranko. “But she and Rhiavonne are sometimes at loggerheads. They might have an... argument.”
“Rhiavonne decided to disband the Illuminated Sisters while I was gone,” says Morningstar.
“Yes, I heard,” says Domira. “I wondered about that. But we’re having a wedding ceremony, whatever Rhiavonne says to you.”
She smiles encouragingly at Morningstar, who can’t help but smile back.
“I’m honored to be a part of your family,” says Dranko.
“I’m sure that the church... appreciates you, for all that you’ve done,” says Domira. Then, speaking more to Dranko and Rodvin, she says with clear pride in her voice, “I know that my daughter can do things many other sisters cannot, a sure sign of Ell’s favor. It’s time they understood just what she does for them, how important she is to them.”
“Thank you,” says Morningstar, grateful. “I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about all this.”
“I’m still not sure how I feel,” says Domira. “I’ve never quite understood this whole ‘Illuminated Sisters’ business you’re involved in. But Ell is Ell, and if people want to serve Her, they will, and if she wants to bless them, She will. If your faith is strong, and your works are good, I don’t think Ell will mind the rest.”
“I wish more priests of Delioch were like this,” Dranko mutters under his breath.
“I did a commune,” says Morningstar, “and She didn’t seem to mind.”
Domira can’t help but laugh. “Do you see how she tosses that off?” she says to her husband. “’Oh, yes, the other day, when I was talking with Ell...’”
“She chats with angels,” confirms Dranko. Morningstar turns red.
“What did She say?” asks Domira. “Did She say ‘hi?’”
“She said I did a good job,” says Morningstar.
“See?” says Domira. “You can say about me, ‘oh, I’m just your mom,’ but you can’t say that about Ell. If She thinks you’re doing a good job, I daresay you are.”
“I didn’t seek the Illuminated Sisters out, they came to me,” says Morningstar.
“But they needed you,” says Domira. “They needed you to teach them.”
“Yes, for a task that’s not yet over,” says Morningstar. “So we can’t let them be disbanded.”
“So you just tell Rhiavonne that.”
“That’s what I’ll do.” There is now more resolve than doubt in Morningstar’s voice. “And I’ll ask that there be Daywalkers, just as there are Dreamwalkers, who will be able to withstand the light.”
Morningstar goes to church with her mother while Dranko stays behind to swap stories with Rodvin. After services Morningstar seeks out her old combat trainer, Clariel. They talk for a while, and then Clariel offers to spar, to see how Morningstar has progressed. She is astounded at her pupil’s martial prowess.
“How did you learn so many fighting techniques?” she asks.
“Mostly from having them used on me,” says Morningstar modestly.
“I’d love to learn more,” says Clariel. “How long will you be back in Kynder Hold?”
“I have to leave in just a few minutes,” says Morningstar.
“Off on another adventure?”
“Of a sort.”
* *
Morningstar’s meeting with the High Priestess Rhiavonne is at 1:00 A.M. As has been the case in previous meetings, the old priestess is standing with her back to the door, staring out a large window into the blackness of Kallor. She turns as Morningstar enters her office, looking older than Morningstar recalls, and more tired. But despite the extra lines in her weathered face, and shoulders that seem more stooped, the High Priestess still radiates an unmistakable piety and power. Her expression is unreadable.
“Please, sit down.” She motions Morningstar toward a chair. “You wished to have an audience. Here we are. Would you like to speak first?”
Morningstar clears her throat. “Do you know what happened? Where I was?”
“I’ve heard things,” admits Rhiavonne. “That you’ve traveled to the past.”
“That is true,” says Morningstar. “But not initially.”
While Rhiavonne listens with unwavering attention, Morningstar briefs her on her recent adventures, starting with the Sharshun plot to change history. She talks of the Emperor, and how he had never been banished. Unlike Lucas, the old priestess actually seems to understand the contortions of time involved.
Morningstar goes on to explain Het Branoi as plainly as she can, and how, with the Eyes of Moirel, they went back in time to preserve history.
“I presume that the very fact of our current discussion means you succeeded in going back in time, and preventing history from being rewritten after all,” says Rhiavonne, nodding. “And then you managed to come back to our own time. It sounds like you have had quite the adventure... and the details help explain some... odd... answers to commune questions posed by some of our sisters.
“And now you’re back.”
“Yes,” says Morningstar. She ventures a smile. “To be a thorn in your side once more.”
Rhiavonne looks up at her, a glint in her eyes. “I think the days of you being a thorn in my side are just about over.”
Morningstar cannot hide her dismay. She braces for excommunication.
“Don’t look so dour,” says Rhiavonne, seeing Morningstar’s crestfallen look. “I don’t mean what you think I do. Let me explain.
“There is a rule about being High Priestess of Ell, a rule with which you are unfamiliar. You know that Ell greatly values our independence, our freedom to make our own decisions. When one is the High Priestess of Ell, one may make only questioning assay into the mind of the Goddess, only one commune in her natural life. I had never used mine. I always intended to cast it at the end, to pose questions about my successor, to make sure things would be in good hands when I was gone. I won’t be able to do that now, because when I heard that you were back, and considering some of the details that had reached my ears, I knew I had to have answers. I had reached a more important fork in the road. So I asked questions of Ell. Do you want to know what she said?”
Morningstar nods.
“I have a clear memory of my discussion with Ell. I’m not going to share all of my questions; some of them were personal, and don’t involve you. Here are the rest.
I asked that if I allow Daywalking to become prevalent in the church, will that lead to the eventual failure of the church as predicted in the allegory I shared with you in this very room. The answer was: Only without eternal vigilance.
I asked if I should elevate you to a position of higher authority within the church. She said: She will find your own place.
I asked if she would be angry if I upheld the excommunication of the Illuminated Sisters, and let them find their own way in Her eyes. She said No. They would still serve Her.
I asked if she would be angry if I altered the policies of the church sanctioning all sisters to walk freely beneath the sun. She said: Less angry than disappointed.
I asked if you really did speak to her in the past. You know what she said.
I asked if her desires for the church had changed since she spoke with you. She said that her desire for a strong church has never changed. I’m not sure quite what to make of that answer. I have a feeling there’s as much in what she didn’t say, as in what she did.
I asked if you are acting for the betterment of the church, more so than for your own personal gain. The answer was Yes, she is as faithful as you.
I asked of the same could be said of Amber. The answer was No. For her, Power and Piety are of equal weight.
When I asked if I should remove her from power, even if I did continue to sanction the Illuminated Sisters to operate in daylight, she said: She has great potential.
I asked: You chose Morningstar for the task of defeating Naradawk’s dream-soldiers. Must she continue her vigilance regardless of my choices? The answer was: It would be prudent.
I asked if there were still enemy agents of the Black Circle within the church of Ell, here in Kallor. No, not in Kallor.
Elsewhere then? The answer was yes.”
Rhiavonne finishes her recitation. She looks thoughtful. She looks at Morningstar.
“What do you propose?” she asks.
“I know that my task is not done, that Octesian is still out there,” says Morningstar. “I have asked Ell: when Octesian is defeated, will the need for dreamwalkers trained in the light during my generation be fulfilled. The answer was: Likely? Yes. Certain? No.
“So, my thought is, I would like to create a group of Daywalkers, just as there are Dreamwalkers now. They would be of limited number, but they could withstand the daylight when needed.”
“A new order,” murmurs Rhiavonne.
“ I would propose that they would not stay in the daylight all the time,” continues Morningstar, “but would work there in shifts. I would also propose that the Illuminated Sisters be the first group of Daywalkers, and have them spread throughout the various temples of Charagan. This would help all sisters see who they are, and what they do.
“I do not agree with all the tenets of the Illuminated Sisters, and never have. But I think we need to be able to withstand all threats, and I think that’s particularly important now that Posada’s Boundary is down. Dralla is an extremely powerful force in Kivia; people have good reason to fear the night there.”
Rhiavonne fixes Morningstar with a steely gaze.
“I will tell you, Morningstar of Ell, Child of Light, that I will follow your suggestion, given what I now know. There will be a new order of Sisters, and they shall be called Daywalkers, and they will train beneath the sun.
“But I ask this of you in return: that you take the time, when you have it, to write your memoirs of your time in the past. I want the words you spoke to Ell, and that she spoke to you, written as holy text and added to the canon. I want you to write, in whatever manner you see fit, a work that will become required reading for all novices, that they will remember why we have Daywalkers, why they are the exception, and what role they will serve, and the dangers of following that path too far. ‘Eternal Vigilance,’ Ell advised. I deem the way to make that happen is to be sure none stay with the Church of Ell without hearing those words for themselves. Will you do this?”
“Of course,” says Morningstar.
“Then it shall be done. And Amber will accept it, since she will not like the alternative. I will invent a position for her that will be to her liking. And then this chapter of division within the church will come to a close. There will be grumbling, and a backlash, but if we manage things correctly that will subside, and we will be stronger for it.”
Rhiavonne’s eyes flash a dark fire.
“And when this Octesian comes back, you will throw him down.”
A bell rings out in the church, and Rhiavonne’s ardor subsides. Again she looks tired, old. “Would you care to join me for prayers?”
“I would like nothing better,” says Morningstar.
“Then let us retire.”
* *
More weeks pass, bringing more changes, and a tying up of loose ends. With much regret Yoba finally takes her leave of the Company, needing to return to her home of Evergreen. Her duties as Commander of the Southern Border will wait no longer. Ernie casts the plane shift himself, accompanying her and staying a few days longer than is strictly necessary. They depart with promises of many sendings and visits whenever possible.
When he returns, he takes upon himself the unpleasant task of flying to Kay’s family farm. He tells her parents and brothers of her great bravery and her role in saving the world from disaster. As for where she is now?
“She stayed behind to continue the fight,” he says carefully. “She’s still alive, but may not be back for quite some time.”
Her family seems to understand at least that much, and Ernie is disinclined to try explaining parallel dimensions.
Soon after, the Company loses the last of its temporary members. Snokas approaches Morningstar one day, looking sheepish.
“I uh... now, don’t take this the wrong way. It’s been an honor serving you, and I don’t regret a second of it. But... uh... well, I want to learn more. I’ve learned a lot traveling with you, and I appreciate it. Ell wanted me to protect you, and I have.”
He looks especially embarrassed as he adds: “I want to spend a while in the library.”
Dranko snorts.
“Hey, shut up!” snaps Snokas. “I’ve been working on my reading skills, and I want to read more about Ell. They have a really good library here in Tal Hae, so I figured I’d spend a few months educating myself.”
He looks nervously at Morningstar. “Do you think it’ll be all right, given that I’m a... you know, a guy?”
Morningstar laughs. “I’m sure it’s okay.”
“It means I won’t have your back for a while,” says Snokas.
“Go,” says Morningstar. “I think you’re going where you’re being called, and that’s very important.”
“Yeah,” says Snokas. “Thanks.”
* *
At the same time the Company is crafting magic items, they also get around to setting aside piles of treasure for those who helped them defeat the Cleaners in Het Branoi. Through a series of sendings and plane shifts, they make good on their promises to reward Ox, Kiro and Cashbox Jack from the Eye of the Storm.
They also take some time to write out full reports of their recent adventure, for delivery to the Spire. Ozilinsh still marvels at the account and is a stickler for detail. He also fills the Company in on what’s happened in their absence. Royce, Glade and Wellington had cleaned out another Black Circle bestiary that had become Unmasked, just before the party’s return. The brother-sister team of Jerzembeck and Junaya, together with their adventuring group, have been tracking down and eliminating enemies who fled the Battle of Verdshane. There has been no sign of Cencerra or Rosetta, nor of Tor or Meledien. No progress has been made in discovering the murderers of Grawly and Thewana. And neither hide nor hair nor simulacrum has been seen of Parthol Runecarver.
The rash – or Curse of Dralla – grows steadily worse over time. Each week it afflicts more and more of the Company, and it covers more of their bodies. More troubling, it starts to cause ability score loss – charisma and constitution are both affected. Still, since a daily battery of restorations can keep the effects at bay, the Company guts it out and finishes their full slate of item crafting.
* *
At last the day comes when all the loose ends have been tied up, and the Company decides it’s time to make the journey to Kivia. Dranko makes sure to tell Lucas where he’s going.
“And now that Posada’s Boundary is no more,” says Lucas, “you’ll be able to make regular reports.”
“As long as they’re twenty-five words or less,” says Dranko.
“Excellent,” says Lucas. “Though, regrettably, it means you’ll be unable to grace your communiqués with your usual colorful lingo.”
“Actually, it’ll be Morningstar sending the sendings.”
Lucas grins. “This is getting better all the time.”
“I like him,” says Grey Wolf.
With that taken care of, the wizards prepare to teleport to Djaw. Next up: a reckoning with Shreen the Fair.
...to be continued...
energy_One
First Post
el-remmen said:Can someone remind who/what "Octesian" is?
I have no recollection.
Reading this update made me wish there was an Abernathy's Company wiki. . .
But great stuff as usual, I like how the PCs have an effect of the world's organizations.
I hearby challenge you, el-remmen, to create an Abernathy's Company wiki.
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