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Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 3695972" data-attributes="member: 11">Session #10 – “Drunken Chiefs & Cattle Thiefs” (part 1 of 2) (1)“We are the warriors of the Ray-Ree!  We do not fear you!”The three figures were clearly young.  Two men and one woman called out with spears over their heads.  Bleys took the lead, dropping his sword belt and his bow. Telémahkos tried to hand the watch-mage a shovel to bring with him, but typical to his manner, Bleys just ignored it, letting it fall into the dust as well.“Hail and well met!” Bleys the Aubergine called out.  “I am Bleys the Aubergine. My companions are the signers of the Charter of Schiereiland, noble adventurers who come bearing gifts for your people!”The figure in the middle came forward.  He was young man with long thick black hair dusted gray by the dry powdered ground.  He was the tallest of the three, but they were all tall and wiry, wearing thick leather bands tied around their feet and calves, and crude leather jerkins, decorated with thick and necessary stitches, and lined with tarnished metal studs.  The young woman wore a flute about her neck on a leather thong.  Her hair was dirty and braided, but her dirt streaked face seemed friendly.  The other young man was slightly shorter, but broader in the shoulders. His black hair was cut much shorter, and he wore a quiet grimace.While they clearly walked with warriors’ gaits, they seemed too young to be the ones to come out and meet strangers.“I am Marysus,” the man in the middle said, with an exaggerated smile.  He spoke common haltingly, the vowels were exaggerated and the diphthongs made into guttural noises. “We have been sent to bring you to the First Elder.  Your coming has been foretold.”“Greetings, Marysus,” Bleys nodded his head in a half-bow, and Victoria and Markos walked up to join him.“This is Trititia,” Marysus gestured to the young woman on the left. “She is the Voice of the Ray-Ree.  She is its memory and its tales.”  He then gestured to the young man on his right.  “This is Tanliss, son of Tanliss.  Son of the chieftain…”Bleys introduced himself and then Victoria and Markos as well, each of the young barbarians raising a hand to them in greeting.  Trititia sang their names back to them, her accent thickening with song.  Urged on by Telémahkos, Tymon hurried forward with a sack full of some tools and other gear.“We come with gifts for your people, and would enjoy the opportunity to present them to your chief,” Bleys explained.  “We wish to do your tribe honor and not encroach upon you in our forays into the King Stones and the Dalvan Moor.”“You coming has been foreseen,” Marysus said again. “You are to come and speak with the First Elder, and may present your gifts to him…”“We have seen that you have left your servants and the hairy-foot-child with your animals,” Trititia said. “Tanliss, son of Tanliss will go with one of you to retrieve them to the village, as the rest of you come with us.  The First Elder must speak to you of the Blood-Eye and the danger they pose.”Tanliss nodded, but he never spoke a word.  Timotheus volunteered to go back with Tanliss and get the others, while Bleys, Telémahkos, Markos, Victoria, Laarus and Tymon followed Marysus and Trititia towards the village of the Ray-Ree. The young nobles were quite right about the village seeming like it was not permanent.  The homes were shacks made of rectangular bundles of thatch tied together with thick hemp rope. There were also some larger huts that seemed to serve communal purpose, and the Ray-Ree began to come out and line up to watch the foreigners walk towards the only structure that seemed to have an actual foundation. It was immediately evident that everyone in the village was either no older than fourteen summers, or nor younger than fifty.  Marysus, Trititia and Tanliss, son of Tanliss, were clearer the oldest of the young people, but not one of them had reached eighteen. The people wore ragged clothing tied close to their bodies with spare patches of cloth. The children, their hair long, wild and dirty, had faces of unnerving solemnity, and the permanent grimaces of the old women gave the sense of lives of untold suffering and utter lack.  The old people were all shorn; some bearing scarred scalps as if the hair had been cut by force. It was strangely silent.Telémahkos smiled and waved a shovel at the crowd, hoping to elicit a reaction, but there was none to speak of, just some unintelligible muttering among the women.There were no animals around except for a wandering handful of scrawny goats, biting stubbornly at equally stubborn grass coming out in harsh shoots through the dry rocky ground.The central building had a foundation made of stones cemented together and then covered over with a dome of hide nailed to wooden frame.  Trititia slipped through the dire wolf pelt serving as a door, and a few moments later, Marysus held it open and motioned for the signers of the Charter of Schiereiland to go in.The inside of the hut was dim and cool.  There was a mix of musk and flowers in the air, and streams of light came through narrow slits cut in the hide.  The ground was covered in soft quilts.  Sitting on the floor was a man in a long gray poncho. He was very long-limbed, and had a long thick mane of white hair, streaked with black.  He had a sharp profile, and deep crags in his leathered skin.  He nodded as the party entered, gesturing them to sit on the floor before him.  The young Thrician nobles, did so, looking around to take their strange surroundings.  There was a young girl of about nine years sitting on a lone pillow.  Where her eyes should have been was just scarred over tissue, her head bobbled, following the sound of their arrival and awkward sitting.  There were four boys of about thirteen or fourteen dressed in painted hide armor, holding short spears flat against their tall shields.  They stood in pairs on either side of the mat of the First Elder, Admentus.“Welcome Sons and Daughter of Thricia,” Admentus said, his common was much better than that of the young greeters. Though it was thickly accented, he had a good grasp of vocabulary. “It gladdens our hearts that in this time of need you come to us bearing gifts, but our need is greater than mere tools can provide for. While we cannot hope to buy your aid, for the Ray-Ree buy nothing, we can give you the gift of our hospitality, and share in what many young and eager Thricians have shared in over the years in their forays to the King Stones.  It was so when I was a boy, and it was so when the First Elder of that time was a boy…”“I am Bleys Winter, called Bleys the Aubergine, watch-mage of the Academy,” said Bleys formerly.  “My companions and I thank you for your seeing us, and for your people’s hospitality.”“It is not I who saw you, but our seer,” Admentus lay a large calloused hand upon the head of the blind girl.“I am Telémahkos of <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/House+Briareus" target="_blank">House Briareus</a>, my cousin Timotheus will be joining us as well when he has helped settle the horses and the tools we have brought as a gift for your people in return for your hospitality,” Telémahkos said.“In return?  The Ray-Ree buy and sell nothing, but we appreciate your gift, and hope to make good use of them,” Admentus said.“I am Victoria Ostrander of Anhur,” the militant introduced herself, and Laarus and Markos followed suit, but the young mage went further. “Marysus made it sound as if there was something else we could do in return for your hospitality, some aid in your time of need…?”“The Ray-Ree buy nothing.  We exchange nothing.  All is freely given, or not at all… But, yes,” Admentus replied, but instead of explaining, he spoke some words in their harsh <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Language+-+Rubar" target="_blank">Rubar</a>-influenced tongue, and a young girl, much the same age as the seer, came out from a dark corner of the hut bearing a huge skin, nearly as tall as she was.  She placed a small ceramic cup in front of the First Elder, and then one in front of each of the young nobles.  She then stood by Admentus, holding out the heavy skin, and he took it and filled his cup with some thick off-white liquid.  The girl took it back and then went over and stood beside Bleys.  The watch-mage followed suit, hoping he was following the custom correctly, and then the girl took the skin and did the same with each of the others.Admentus raised the cup and waited for everyone else to mimic him, and then he drank deeply.  The others did the same hardly able to bear the sour taste of the fermented goat’s milk. Telémahkos coughed, and Markos grimaced. “As you have no doubt noticed our warriors are gone,” Admentus began.  “Our chief, Tanliss, father of Tanliss has led them all to the council of chieftains, where all the great tribes gathered to decide how to act in response to the incursions of the people who worshiped the Red God of the West.  It has been generations since such a council was called, but the hordes were gathered, and the cities of the Kingdom the Red God will suffer for the hubris of their priest-kings.”“Yes, but Trititia said something about the danger of the Blood-eye?” Markos fidgeted, restless.“Yes… The absence of our warriors leave us vulnerable to the bugbears of the Blood-eye,” Admentus replied.“Bugbears?  Are they from Tar Fane?” Bleys asked, remembering the location from Malcolm’s map. (2)“Yes, and for near a generation now, the Ray-Ree have avoided conflict with this tribe by granting the gift of a delicious brew for their chief, who is called Bruggah,” Admentus explained. “Left to their own will, the bugbears would stream out of the hills into the moor and hunt the aurochs we depend on to total destruction.  The Ray-Ree warriors would be forced to try to stop them, but even if we prevailed, the bugbear tribe serves as an obstacle to much more dangerous groups of ogres and giants that live beyond the Tar Fane… The gift of the brew, four times a year, has placated Bruggah, and he keeps his kind at bay, losing perhaps one aurochs a year to their raids.  But now Bruggah has returned ahead of time demanding more brew.  We fear that he has been informed about the absence of our warriors, and he seeks to press his desire for the beer… He has given us three days to produce it… Though he has been known to be late…”“Who would have told him?” asked Bleys.“Hezra, called Hezra Blacktooth, witch, and lover of orcs.” The crags in the elder’s face deepened when he said the name. “She was once the student of Rudwilla of the Toadstools, witch and midwife of the Ray-Ree, but is now exiled.  Gone for years, she was recently seen in the area, and long has she held bitter resentment to her former people and to Rudwilla.  It is Rudwilla that makes the brew for Bruggah.”“So you fear this Hezra may try to interfere with the making of more brew for Bruggah?” Laarus asked.“Yes… We have no warriors to spare to watch over her as she gathers her ingredients and prepares the crucial brew, for if the bugbears do decide to attack the village, every boy, girl and old man who can raise a spear or throw a stone will have to fight,” Admentus said, solemnly.The girl was walking around and handing people the huge skin again and refill their cups.  Trititia began to sing a song in their strange tongue that obviously told a tale, perhaps of their coming, for they were sure they heard their names chanted in it.Admentus drank again.  This time Telémahkos only pretended to drink, taking the smallest sip.“We would happily gift you this aid,” Bleys said.”Yes, the goblins have long been a danger to my people, so I know that they must be handled carefully,” Telémahkos added, as the others nodded their agreement.“But why is it that your warriors have not slain this chief long ago?” Victoria asked.“Bugbears we could fight, giants we cannot hope to last against,” Admentus replied.  “And if our warriors return and find us slain by the bugbears, then Bruggah and his kind will sorely pay for their crime… Have no doubt of that, but wisdom must be exhausted before revenge is considered.” Victoria lowered her head as if in deep contemplation of alternatives.“What can you tell us about this Hezra Blacktooth?  Why was she exiled?” Bleys asked.“She dabbled in magics that the Jackal God (3) forbids,” Admentus said. “She left our lands never to return upon pain of death.  She had already been cast out of the village proper for her bearing the half-breeds.  You will want to be wary of her sons who have the blood of the boar god’s runts…” (4)“How many sons does she have?” Markos asked.“At least four, perhaps more now? She has been gone twenty years, and as far as we know she went to the orcish lands to the due west.”It was decided that the party would head out to Rudwilla’s cottage on the moors after they had partaken a meal with the tribe.  Dinner was served outside, a huge roasted aurochs which people were allowed to cut their own piece from with the knife every man, woman and child seemed to carry with them at all time.  There were boiled greens, and whole potatoes that had been shoved into the carcass that cooked as it roasted.  There was also a lot more of the fermented goat’s milk, though most of the party avoided it, Timotheus took a liking to it, comparing it to a drink made in the area of Chalkour.  The young nobles noticed that anything they left uneaten a neighboring tribesperson would just reach over and grab and eat it, without asking.  They also noticed that those sitting around Tim seemed to be eating out of his bowl a lot, and then he stood and staggered and tried to excuse himself.  Telémahkos stood as well to help his cousin, and Tymon was right there on the other side.  Telie could immediately see Tim was flush and sweating.“I don’t feel well…” Timotheus croaked.  It was <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Disease+-+The+Bog+Flu" target="_blank">bog flu</a>, or something resembling it, and the tall warrior was guided to a ‘pest shack’ where the sick and dying were brought.  There the elder women of the tribe would care for him as the rest of the party used the remaining light of the day to get to Rudwilla’s in the swamp. The time limit of Bruggah’s return made waiting for their companion impossible. (5)Marysus and an unnamed boy of about twelve summers were to guide the signers of <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Charter+of+Schiereiland" target="_blank">the Charter of Schiereiland</a> to a place where they could then easily explain to Falco and Kermit how to arrive at Rudwilla’s cottage.  The barbarians were uneasy around Kermit, and never addressed him directly.  For his own part, Kermit Buckleburr wore a smug expression as if this treatment was all that could be expected from big folk.“Marysus will point out to you the Mounds of the Ray-Ree as a feature you can look for in the land should you get turned around,” Admentus said.“Yes, those Mounds are on our map,” Bleys said, his eyes lighting up.“They are resting place of our chieftains, great warriors and sages,” Admentus explained. “It is watched over by Brother Cineas who was but a novice when he let with his master Oneidas to the great council of monks abroad…” (6)“A monk of Anubis?” Laarus asked.“Yes… His patron is the Jackal God, as are all the guardians of the tombs of people honored by the gods,” Admentus replied. “Do not be so surprised that he has gone to your decadent world and chosen to come back… I too spent time in your lands when I was young, aiding a scholar at your <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/University+of+Thricia" target="_blank">University in Moon City</a>, and seeking adventure in your lands, even as you do in ours… I was at the university during the coming of the Anarcanaloth!” (7)Admentus coughed and sputtered, and the party politely smiled and gave him some respectful silence, unsure how to respond to this pronouncement, and then went to ready their horses for the journey to the moors.As they marched across the increasingly muddy ground towards the moors, a lone low cloud momentarily abated the heat of Ra’s Glory.  Marysus pointed out an area to their right where they noticed some kind of narrow stream surrounding an area of tall earthen mounds.  The Mounds of the Ray-Ree.“When we are done with this gift for the Ray-Ree we should go an visit the monk,” Laarus of Ra suggested.“Yes, he may have a unique outlook on the area that it would profit us to know,” Bleys the Aubergine agreed.  “If the ‘Devoured Town’ (8) on the map Malcolm provided us  has to do with undead, as I suspect, then this Brother Cineas would be just the one to talk to.”Not too long after, Marysus pointed out the edge of the moorlands, a ridge where poplars shaded a drop off.  Just beyond was a line of tall blue elms, and beyond that in the middle of pond fed by five tiny streams they would find Rudwilla’s cottage.   Marysus was careful to draw a line of landscape features from the edge of the moors towards the Ray-Ree camp.  Some of the horses were reticent to enter the deepening water beyond the ridge, shaking their heads and blowing air hard out of their nostrils. Progress was slow, as Falco tried to pick a route along relatively dry land and still keep to the barbarian’s instructions.  Duckhunter was playfully leaping from root structure to root structure, Kermit holding tightly to his saddle horn. Eventually they came to the island and saw it dominated by a dome-like stone structure built low to the ground.  There was a small pen, perhaps for goats, that stood open and empty. The water was deepest here as they approached, and they got off their horses to climb up onto the island.A narrow stream of smoke was emerging from a chimney atop the round structure, and they noted the door to the front hall, which stuck out of the front of the structure, was ajar.  As Falco and Kermit remained behind with the horses, Victoria slowly made her way around the right side of the cottage, while Dunlevey and Bleys made their way around the right, backed up at some distance by Telémahkos and Tymon.  Laarus made his way to the door and called in.  There was no response.Telémahkos looked within a little fenced in garden, and noticed all the vegetables had been violently ripped up and the plants stomped down.“Someone was here and they weren’t happy…” he whispered up to the watch-mage.Victoria heard a sound like ‘Kuh-Ziizap!’ as she crept around the cottage, and there she saw the low wall of well with an askew wooden cover.  Hovering over it were two bizarre creatures.  They were balls of fur about a foot in diameter, with large bug eyes, tiny curved horns and a long bald tail that sizzled with lightning.  They flicked their tails against the cover and arcs of energy made the wood smoke.  (9)“What in the Hells?!?” Dunlevey cried out as he came around the cottage from the other side.  The creatures began to bob through the air in his direction.  There was a hiss in the air as an arrow from Bleys’ bow made the lead creature spin for a moment, a jet of blood arcing to the ground.  It snapped its tail angrily and continued towards Dunlevey, opening a here-to-fore unseen fanged mouth.  He swung his great sword, slamming it away with the hilt as it tried to bite down on his neck.  Markos hurried forward letting a bolt fly from his <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Gnomish+Repeating+Crossbow" target="_blank">gnomish repeating crossbow</a> as the creature was pushed way, but it fell short.The creature dove at Dunlevey again, and the bushy-haired fighter was forced to yank it off, dropping his greatsword to one hand.  The second one bit down as well, and he could not keep it off, feeling it begin to suck the blood from his body.  He cried out, and Bleys the Aubergine was beside him, chopping at the creature with his sabre, still holding his bow in the other hand.  Laarus charged from the front of the cottage, slamming the first of the creatures with his flail before it could attack Dunlevey again.  There was a revolting crunch and the thing fell to the ground.There was a tearing sound as Dunlevey began to grow in size with arcane words from Markos, and the creature was forced to bite down to keep its grip.  Dunlevey’s body jerked as the thing whipped him with its lightning tail, and blue lights sparked up and down.  Bleys dropped his weapons and grabbed the thing in his hands, as Dunlevey grabbed at it instinctually.  Together they were able to rip the thing free, blood pouring down the hireling’s arm.Victoria charged forward in the same moment, but the creature bobbed awkwardly out of the way of the spear thrust, but as it now turned to flee, she thrust forward again, and jerked it off its trajectory, trailing blood.  A crossbow bolt from Tymon finished it before it could get much further.“What in the Hells were those things?” Dunlevey asked again.  Bleys walked over to the corpse of one and examined it by sabre-point, while Markos walked over to the well.“You say they were hovering over this well?” he asked, as he lifted the cover.  The sun-drenched young sea-mage looked down and was startled to see the frightened eyes of a girl of about ten summers looking up at him.  She was clutching desperately to the rock wall, her bare feet on the earthen lip of the well.…to be continued…---------------------------------------Notes:(1) Session #10 was played on June 10th, 2007.(2) See the <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Map+-+Moor-Tomb+Map" target="_blank">Moor-Tomb Map</a>.(3) <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/The+Jackal+God" target="_blank">The Jackal God</a> is the form of <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Anubis" target="_blank">Anubis</a> when considered a part of <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Beast+Gods" target="_blank">the Beast Gods</a>.(4) <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Ashronk" target="_blank">The Boar God</a> is another name for <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Ashronk" target="_blank">Ashronk</a>, God of Orcs.  It is his guise as one of <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Beast+Gods" target="_blank">the Beast Gods</a>.(5) Timotheus’ player was unable to attend Session #10 and so his character contracted <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Disease+-+The+Bog+Flu" target="_blank">Bog Flu</a>(6) In <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/564+H.E." target="_blank">564 H.E.</a> all <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Monks+of+Anubis" target="_blank">monks of Anubis</a> were summoned to a convocation in the <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Equin+Isles" target="_blank">Equin Isles</a>.(7) I really expected the players to be intrigued by this, or at the very least ask what an “anarcanaloth” might be… But nope!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> (8) Again, see the <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Map+-+Moor-Tomb+Map" target="_blank">Moor-Tomb Map</a>(9) ‘<a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Volts" target="_blank">Volts</a>’ are another creature towards  my goal of including versions of as many 1E Fiend Folio creatures as I can.</blockquote>

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