ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.

[gideonpepys]

Session 45, Part One - One Does Not Simply Walk Into Methia

Some of the matters covered this week occurred before Matunaaga’s departure, simultaneous to the ‘downtime’ part of last week:

Needless to say, there are real concerns about the Dead Magic Zone and the effect it will have on each of the unit members. Leon, Gupta and Kasvarina, for example, know that their spells won’t work, although all three have some martial ability to make up for this lack. Gupta wonders about her lycanthropy. Leon thinks she’ll ‘stick in whatever form she’s in when she enters the zone. Others, such as Rumdoom and Uru, won’t be stymied too much, but need to take precautions (such as a suit of mundane armour for Rumdoom and camouflage gear for Uru (white and beige to blend with the dusty alabaster of the ruined city)). But magic items won’t work, which is a major problem – all save powerful artefacts such as the Humble Hook and the Arc of Reida itself. (This is of some consolation, as it is hoped they might be able to teleport out of Methia when the Arc activates.)

Uriel is not sure how his abilities will function in Methia, or if they will function at all. Presently, he can choose from all of the abilities his many incarnations once possessed, but must select a ‘suite’ modest enough for the human mind (albeit a transcendent one) to cope with. Will those powers become fixed on entering the zone? Or vanish altogether? One bit of bad news comes courtesy of Rumdoom, whose cult informs him of a group of eschatologists who have chosen to make their home in Methia: Most are deva who hope that the zone will prevent them from reincarnating when they die.

Quratulain is reassured by reports that eidolons, golems and undead function in the zone, although their power dwindles over time. She studies an ancient map of the city, noting that the Eglise river will be the easiest way to travel there. The city is divided into two main areas – the eastern Urbem Postularis, a rubble-strewn ruin; and the relatively pristine Holy Methia, still surrounded by an ancient wall accessible by three gates: Ostium Judicii, Ostium Pietatem, and Ostium Splendoris – the gates of judgment, piety, and splendour. Quratulain learns of keys to these gates that are still held by the clergy.

Ken Don and Aulus Atticus are too low-ranking to help here: Don tells them that the keys, if they still exist, will be held by senior ranking hierarchs. Perhaps Morgan Cippiano can assist them if they can get to the bottom of the El Primo case? On a hunch, Korrigan has asked Uru to seek out kobolds in an attempt to parley with El Extrano. Uru is successful and follows a kobold into a warehouse where he finds the kobold spymaster waiting for him! El Extrano already knows what Uru wants, but says (several times, with pointed stress) that the Beran government does not want to interfere with internal politics. Having got this message across, he wins a stealth-off with Uru. (It turns out he was standing behind Uru the whole time!)

Korrigan takes this heavy hint to Delft who is oddly exasperated by his insistence. “Why are you wasting your time on this of all things?” Korrigan reminds him exactly why and points out that it was he, Delft, who encouraged him to curry favour with the Family against Korrigan’s better judgement. (In fact it was always left to Malthusius to deal with such matters as it left a sour taste in Korrigan’s mouth.) “That’s because they looked a damn sight better than Lorcan Kell,” says Delft. Nonetheless, Delft’s behaviour raises suspicions for the first time in all their dealings. Quratulain – present at this meeting and fresh from her induction – speaks up: “My master wishes to know what you are hiding.” Delft cannot maintain his deception any longer. He is unhappy to have kept this from Korrigan and confesses that ‘El Primo’ is a front for an extra-judicial effort on the part of the RHC to stymie the Family and hamper the excessive import of dangerous, addictive substances into the city. To prevent leaks, only Delft and Alden Wondermaker were in on it – this was all a part of Delft’s solo attempt to pacify Wondermaker with concessions on issues that directly affected the underclass, as the depredations of organised crime always do. Unit B had been assigned to the case and Delft had been able to successfully misdirect them and keep them so busy with other matters that it was impossible for them to concentrate on the case. Time to come clean: El Primo is in fact a mind-controlled octopus operated by Wondermaker! Caught out and embarrassed Delft is keen to help. How about they hand ‘El Primo’ to Ludo Marcione on a platter? (“Calamari, anyone?”) Give him the arrest and do Cippiano a favour. Upright as ever, Korrigan decides against it. He had thought El Primo was just another criminal; “Keep up the pressure on Cippiano” he says, and turns down the opportunity to earn a Methia gate key.

Having already learned from Amielle Latimer that a large number of troops have recently begun conducting ‘manoeuvres’ in Methia, Korrigan is disappointed when his new Danoran friends – political opponents of Han Jierre – prove unwilling to assist any incursion. The risk is too great; they fear their own involvement will be revealed when (not if) the unit is caught. So Rumdoom goes to visit his friend Tilish Dredgeport for advice. Once a notorious smuggler, Dredgeport gives an awed whistle at the prospect and says that only the Dockers could pull off something like that. Fortunately, Gupta is well known among the Dockers and, despite fresh reservations about revisiting her parents’ old haunts, visits the Thinking Man Tavern and – having received yet another hero’s welcome – is ushered into the presence of Thames Grimsley. Grimsley ponders the matter and then melodramatically reveals that the unit’s old friend Sly Marbo is currently operating behind enemy lines in Danor – just as he had in the run-up to the unit’s mission on the Avery Coast Rail Line. His mission had been so successful then that despite the fact it almost cost him his life, Marbo volunteered to return and now reports to the Dockers, the RHC, and possibly the Unseen Court. While Marbo could be a slippery fish and his loyalties were never certain, if anyone could arrange to smuggle them up the busy Eglise, Marbo could.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 45, Part Two - The End of a Beautiful Friendship


On their return to Flint from Odiem, Leon and Kasvarina travelled into the bayou to the secluded cave of the Thinker, otherworldly patron to both Leon and Orum Dwist. Dwist came with them, as did his bodyguard Throgmorton, and they brought Uriel too, to keep him off the streets of Flint and out of harm’s way. To their alarm and surprise, they found the cave empty. There was no sign of it ever having been occupied: the star patterns on the walls were gone and, more worrying still, so were the four planar idols the Thinker had been ‘safeguarding’. Leon and Dwist attempted to contact the Thinker to no avail. Distraught, and exhausted from his long ordeal in the Vault of Heretics, Dwist left immediately. He and Throgmorton went to report to Sebastian Harlock of the REID. The others settled down to wait.

Uriel spent this time in almost constant meditation, trying to order the conflicting abilities and personalities of the many incarnations he had reclaimed and to puzzle out why he still could not access their memories, even though he had revisited them all. On top of all of these abilities, Uriel had begun to develop an astonishing suite of mental powers that were unique to him and were, he believed, a corollary of his slow and steady rise beyond (if not above) the level of mere humanity. When he was only Uriel – naïve, just a few years old, alienated and locked in the realm of the gith for his own safety – Uriel had come to regard this burgeoning need to grow as ‘transcendence’. The rediscovery of his past selves seemed to have hastened this process: Increasingly, he felt able to shape reality itself in a number of surprising ways, and was sure this was a sign that he would soon transcend the mortal sphere altogether. Returning to more mundane matters, Uriel also spent time preparing for Methia as best he could, choosing to focus on his martial incarnations and equip himself accordingly.

Left to their own devices, Leon and Kasvarina found themselves in a delicate position: Leon was keen to help Kasvarina deal with the mental turmoil caused by revisiting her past, but this care and closeness inevitably caused their emotional bond to deepen. Their feelings for each other were undeniable and yet they only exacerbated Kasvarina’s confusion. On the second day, she excused herself and disappeared for a while. When she returned half a day later, she showed Leon a spell she had been working on (and which she had mentioned to him a few weeks ago when they first visited this cave). She drew an oblong door in the air, and taught him the secret rune to open it. When they stepped inside, there was a bright, cold room with a table and two chairs. Kasvarina called this a Chamber of Dreams and told Leon it was her gift to him. He could augment it as he saw fit, add other chambers, create doors to other places he wanted to visit, and above all, be safe here. She then asked Leon to use his daydream spell to decorate and furnish it for her. As it was, the room very much reminded Leon of the chamber Lavanya had brought him to when she rescued him from imprisonment in Flint. He asked Kasvarina what she knew of the Lavanya, but the question confused her; she had clearly never heard that name before. So Leon dropped the subject and thoughtfully, carefully, did as he was asked, creating a beautiful, warm, relaxing space that hopefully expressed his admiration in a way that was not too forward or overt. Kasvarina smiled at what he had done and her gaze became more direct. She said she understood his reticence, but hoped he might have guessed her true intention. “I am pleased that you have behaved in such a gentlemanly fashion, but I was rather hoping for a bed.” Leon obliged, and he and Kasvarina spent the rest of their remaining time together in the Chamber of Dreams.

And so it was that Leon found himself in a difficult position when – after Korrigan returned from Ber, but before he came back from the Hidden Valley – Kasvarina made an astonishing proposal: Since she learned of Nicodemus’ deep treachery she had fumed and fulminated, to the extent that Leon became concerned about her state of mind. Then she began asking questions about how the group had encountered Nicodemus in the past, where and when and all the details in between. Eventually, Leon revealed the existence of the strange syringe they had found on Lya Jierre, which they felt must be involved with the summoning of Nicodemus (given accounts of his arrival on the Quital estate and his possession of disposable bodies). Kasvarina said she wanted to use this to summon Nicodemus. “I may never otherwise have the chance to confront him. I need to do this,” she pleaded. Despite his love for Kasvarina, Leon did not feel able to acquiesce himself and insisted they spoke to Korrigan when he returned. Kasvarina was unhappy about this but understood his position. “We will wait to tell him,” she agreed. “Not to ask his permission.”

There were other more pressing matters to deal with when Korrigan first returned: the sudden departure of Matunaaga whose martial skills had been key to their confidence in dealing with whatever they encountered in the Dead Magic Zone; and the problem of Korrigan’s son, Kai, and what to do with the poor little boy when the unit departed. Once again, Korrigan was forced to consider his place in the unit and weigh his duty to Risur against his duty to his son. Uru was kind enough to invite Kai to stay in his garden, but no one thought that would be a good idea. Then they ran through a list of people Kai could stay with, but none of them was powerful enough to fend off those who sought him. The problem was twofold: practically, Kai needed to be defended from abduction and in the past only Korrigan and Co. had proven themselves capable of doing so; emotionally, it was terribly unfair to leave the poor boy in the care of total strangers – once he recovered from the shock of leaving his de facto mother, brothers and sisters behind, he became extremely dependent on his father and unwilling to leave his side. (There was an intriguing corollary to this: when Kai was close to his father, Korrigan felt his connection to the planes broaden and deepen. Kai was covered in filigree markings, just like Korrigan; when they were in close proximity the faint golden glow of these markings became brighter. Korrigan was reminded of the vision he once had in the Ziggurat of Apet. In it he cradled his as-yet-unborn baby son in his arms beneath a starless sky. The world on which he stood was clearly alien, formed of dark purple rock. Then the ground beneath his feet shifted and they were now on a different alien world. This happened again, and then again, and kept on happening until vision ended and they had visited dozens of unknown planes.) After frantic talks, an audacious solution was settled upon: they would take Kai with them to Methia!

To this end, Uriel and Korrigan went to Nevard’s Henge. There they met Sana Santora, a disciple of Nevard (who also once sat on Korrigan’s political council), and Bernard of Glenwade (Korrigan’s estranged druidic friend who once accompanied them to the Dreaming but whose evident feelings for Korrigan’s wife caused a rift between them after she died. The two men embraced one another; time had done something to heal both their wounds.) With the druids’ permission, they used the Arc of Reida to relive the moment five years ago when the half-orc shaman Pazamu performed the ritual of forced faith upon the unit so that they could escort Nevard Sechim up Cauldron Hill. Using the trick he had learned during previous memory events, Uriel ‘borrowed’ the scroll, disrupting the event in the process. Once Uriel and/or Leon had learned the ritual, Korrigan could use it to link himself with Kai and thereby prevent the child from coming to harm. Of course, this solution was not free from drawbacks, the most vexing of which was the need to perform the ritual every day. However, Kasvarina would later present a solution to that problem too – once she had been granted her wish, and found herself refocused and invigorated. Which brings us back to the matter of ‘Needlewire’…

 

[RangerWickett]

Wow. Blood magic to protect the kiddo. Good on them.

 

[gideonpepys]

Wow. Blood magic to protect the kiddo. Good on them.

I thought you might be more impressed by Leon getting it on with Kasvarina!

 

[gideonpepys]

Zeitgeist Zuesdays Session 45, Part Three - Needlewire

They learned the name of this strange substance when they questioned Ob captives about its use – though they could not say what it was used for, thanks to their geas, they were able to say what it was called. But the unit already knew that it was used to summon Nicodemus and all the evidence suggested this was done through an injection.

Of foremost concern to Korrigan, when presented with the idea, was that Kasvarina might be influenced by Nicodemus. To this, she responded with clarity and certainty, “After learning what he did to Launga, nothing will ever persuade me to side with him again. Even if I come to be the person I was after five-hundred years. This changes everything.” Thus satisfied, the next question was what she hoped to achieve. Kasvarina said she wanted to clear her mind before heading to Methia, and she hoped that the opportunity to ‘holler at Nicodemus’ would prove cathartic. As Kasvarina’s state of mind and continued allegiance were paramount (and perhaps motivated by sheer curiosity) Korrigan agreed.

They took heavy precautions: the ‘host’ would be expendable and deserving of their fate. In the end they settled on Mayhew Fisher, Ob officer and physician in charge of the asylum in Slate where poor Chatwood had spent the last thirteen years. Despite his protestations, they took him to a cell in RHC HQ, with a transparent mirror that allowed the rest of the unit to observe the encounter, while only Leon accompanied Kasvarina inside. They strapped Fisher into a chair, fitted him with mage cuffs and (ignoring his screams) injected him with Needlewire. At once his head spiralled as if afflicted by sudden vertigo. Then it snapped to attention and blinked about it. Nicodemus was present. Kasvarina had already insisted that Leon let her do all the talking. This is how the conversation went:

Nicodemus: Well now, this is interesting. An unexpected move. It’s a pleasure to see you again, Kasvarina. Have you come to your senses at last?

Kasvarina: I wish I could kill you here and now. But even if I could I know it wouldn’t stop you. I’ll just have to settle for cursing you face-to-face.

Nicodemus: I’ll take that as a ‘no’, then. So why am I here? You’re not going to try to convince me to change my mind, are you? Remember, I’m not the one who’s had my brain stolen. (To Leon.) I don’t suppose you’ve done the decent thing and brought me a cigarette?

Kasvarina: What happened in Methia, ‘William’?

Nicodemus: Ha. ‘William’, is it? I must really be in your bad books.

Kasvarina: What happened in Methia? Tell me and you can save us all a lot of trouble.

Nicodemus: Oh, it’s no trouble, I assure you. (He produces a cigarette from somewhere and begins smoking it; if tied up, it appears in his mouth and he talks around it.) But since you ask, I died there. You lived. I’m afraid if you want the finer details you’ll need to go and find out for yourself. Although Han doesn’t think we should let you, so you’ll have to get through his army first. Why not come alone? I think you’ll find it easier. I guarantee your safety under those circumstances. I’d love to have a chance to reintroduce you to yourself and win you away from the fools you’ve taken up with, with their infantile, black-and-white vision of…

Kasvarina: (Interrupting.) Morality? Is that what you were going to say? Another speech on morality now? I know what you did, William. I know you betrayed me to Latika and Sor, and I know why you did it. I just wanted you to know before we next meet. You stole my one and only living daughter, knowing what the death of Dala had done to me, and you killed her to keep me on your side. That’s what happened, isn’t it?

Nicodemus: Hmph. I see Marshall Korrigan has done his usual, thorough hatchet job. I must admit that I’m surprised you found out about that, and I admit to being just a little embarrassed. But you have to put the whole thing in the proper perspective…

Kasvarina: ‘Perspective’? That’s all you have to say? I lost my whole family, William. First Pillai, then Dala. All I had left was Launga, and you killed her. How could you do that to someone you claimed to love?

Nicodemus: Ah. Well that’s just it. There are many kinds of love. For centuries now I have been immune to the simplest and most base variety. My love is for all mankind and I plan to do all I can to make life better for them. I did what I had to do because you were vital to our Grand Design and yet you had grown distant and unreliable. I’m sorry for what had to be done. And I’m sorry you had to find out the way you did. But it’s a measure of how highly I think of you that I still hope to win you back to our cause. I think you have the capacity to see beyond petty, temporal concerns and look at the big picture with dispassion. Not right now, perhaps, but…

Kasvarina: (Interrupting again.) William, know this: I will never again be your ally. From this point forward, I seek only to thwart you at every turn. I know I cannot kill you. But I can disrupt your plans. You know I can. I will not stand idly by and watch the vision of one so corrupt, so flawed come to fruition. It is not, nor it cannot come to good.

Nicodemus: (Growing slowly and steadily more angry and vitriolic until by the end of the speech he is shouting.) What would you know about ‘good’? Like everyone else you see right and wrong through the lens of personal interest and convenience. You think you have the right to stop my plan to better the world because you lost your daughter? Think about that – your daughter against the whole world. A world of empathy, of peace, of harmony. A world without poverty, starvation or disease. A world free of the power-hungry, the malicious and the violent. That is what I seek to create, and it is the altar on which I sacrificed my own morality long ago. Because I could see a way to do what needed to be done, and knew that it could not be done without pain. So I took that burden on myself and swore that I would not stop until my vision was complete. And so your daughter had to die. If the circumstances were the same today I would not flinch. If you seek to thwart me it is I that will kill you, along with anyone else who gets in my way. I will meet you on any battlefield you choose and though I love you dearly I will tear your soul apart to get what I want. What a disappointment you are, Kasvarina. Grow the **** up. This conversation is over.

(His host sags, limp and then begins slow slowly regain consciousness.)

In the moments following this encounter, Uriel turned to the others and said, “Did you notice he said ‘what I want’? It’s all about him, no matter what else he says.”

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 45, Part Four - Causus Belli 2

While they were in Slate, Korrigan made sure to visit Ottavia Sacerdote. With Gupta as intermediary, using Danoran sign, Korrigan expressed sincere regret about Ottavia’s ordeal in the vault over the last three years. He also said that he was grateful to her for introducing him to Millerism and that it had really changed his life. He hoped they could both find a common ground. Then he told her much of what he had learned about the Ob and about Nicodemus over the course of his struggle against them and expressed his hope that this information might demonstrate that the Obscurati was not the right path to realise her hopes for the change in the world. While he understood her disillusionment with the corruption of the clergy, the Ob itself was utterly corrupt, and did not offer meaningful change. Korrigan expressed the hope that Ottavia might reconsider her relationship with the Obscurati and join those who have revoked their allegiance to Ob and stood up against it, adding that he himself was thinking and acting as much as he could to make the world a better place, but in a very different way to the Obscurati. Ottavia remained still throughout their meeting. Her only response when Korrigan finished was to thank him for his visit and thank him once again for freeing her from the vault. For now, she added, all she sought to do was rest and recover. Korrigan promised they would talk again when he returned from his next mission (and wondered when would be the best time to reveal Nicodemus’ true identity).

Following her encounter with Nicodemus, Kasvarina appeared renewed. A weight had gone from her shoulders. During the next few days, she made a point of speaking with each member of the unit in turn. She offered advice to Rumdoom and Uru on the Icy End of the World Grenades they were working on – asking if they were just having fun, or if they really wanted them to work – in which case, why not involve someone with arcane know-how? They agreed to let her take a look at the project if there was time. She spoke to Gupta about her heritage and told her that her mother’s rabana (which she wore at her waist and used as a focus only for docker’s jank) was a much more powerful item than she realised and could be utilized more broadly. Gupta thanked Kasvarina for this, and for helping her resurrect Helandra. Kasvarina also talked with Uriel, and thanked him for his sagacity with regard to the Arc; he in turn thanked her for accompanying him on his journey. And she offered an apology to Quratulain for what at happened in the vault. Quratulain said, “We both have bigger fish to fry. You lost your whole family. What are you after? Forgiveness?” Kasvarina took this in her stride and let the matter rest. Finally she spoke to Korrigan. Their conversation was a long one, and would no doubt continue on their journey to Methia, but foremost in Kasvarina’s mind was a solution to the problem of protecting Kai. She knew a ritual – a challenging, draining ritual – which could be used to make the bonds of forced faith permanent (until broken by dispel magic or similar). It would require Korrigan to sacrifice some of his own life-force, in the same way Gupta had to bring Helandra back to life.

But first, Korrigan needed to attend the hastily rescheduled meeting of his old political council. Conscious that his previous efforts had relied too much on his personal involvement (and so came to nothing when he was forced to hide), what Korrigan proposed was a ‘political party’: a group of like-minded individuals who would work together for a common cause. His premise was that the times were changing, and that society and governance had to change with them: “The only way to ensure stability and prosperity of the city or nation is to make sure that all of its people are represented, heard and taken care of. Therefore I propose all likeminded people unite in a formal political force to advance the agenda of change. The party should be open to all classes of society on equal terms. The agenda would include regular popular elections of mayors and the governor of Flint, as well as social guarantees and protections for the lower classes. It would also push for accessible education. I want to stress that this political movement is not anti-progress. On the contrary, it is aimed at bringing social progress up to speed with the technological progress and reconciling it with the old traditions so as to allow both old and new to blend rather than come to conflict.” Korrigan had prepared a manifesto with Kieran Sentacore's help, which he presented and distributed at the meeting. If accepted by the newly established party it, he planned to print it and distribute it throughout Flint. He encouraged those present to invite their friends to join and before the closure of the meeting insisted that they draft a plan of action for the immediate future and schedule regular meetings even in absence of Korrigan. Such was his drive, personal involvement and reputation, it did not require impassioned speeches or soaring rhetoric to win the group over. His manifesto was thoughtful and impressive and the group left in some excitement to prepare for their next steps.

When all outstanding matters were settled to the unit’s satisfaction, they headed for the docks to liaise with Captain Smith. Their ship was being loaded with supplies, and would set sail the following day to bring the unit as close to Danor as they dared. Phantom steeds would bring them to Sly Marbo’s boat, which would then set sail up the Eglise. Kai was excited to see the ships. Gith vessels, though elegant and fast, were far smaller: these were truly huge. He ran ahead excitedly when Korrigan pointed out the Impossible.

Kai wasn’t far from the wharf when the ship exploded. The blast threw Kai onto his back. Korrigan ran forward, with a hand on his defender sword. Kai was unharmed, miraculously so, although stevedores who had been standing close by him were badly burned. Korrigan’s sword also told him that, somewhere on board, Rutger Smith was fighting for his life, and several crew members had lost theirs.

The Impossible was listing, flames roaring throughout all decks. An enormous hole had been blown in the hull and, as the others ran forward to help, they saw the incongruous site of a stunned Kieran Sentacore sat in the midst of the flames and destruction, looking out of a charred mess where his berth had once been, magical quill in hand. Only the fact that he had been writing had saved him from the explosion. An inferno now raged all around him, consuming every deck.

When the initial chaos was over – when all those who could be rescued had been rescued, and the blaze had eventually been contained – Uriel clambered on board the fatally wounded, waterlogged ship to find out what had happened: The blast had come from barrels loaded on board by stevedores, some of whom had died in the blast. There was very little evidence as to precisely who had committed this wicked deed. Eleven people had died, seven more were badly injured, and the Impossible was damaged beyond repair.

Later that day, Korrigan received a sending from Sovereign Han Jierre. It said simply:

“For Lya.”

 

[hirou]

Aaaand I misclicked and now is laughing at the bombing instead of giving XP. Awkward

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 46, Part One - Misdirection

Delft strongly advised the team not to linger in Flint. They had originally intended to stay just a few days before heading for Methia. But Quratulain’s vetting process, Matunaaga’s departure, Kai’s arrival, Korrigan’s political activity and the Needlewire episode had all conspired to slow them down. Ten days later, and their enemies had reached them while they stood still. Delft was also concerned that this attack was being taken as an ‘extreme provocation’ in Slate, and that if they lingered any longer they would be swept up in other events.

He told them he had never been happy with the idea that they might sail toward Danor on the Impossible, and always thought to suggest that they remain in Flint while their ship sailed north, and teleport onto it at the last minute, so that the window for scrying was limited (as they could not be scried from the Dead Magic Zone; nor could anyone). The difficulty here was that teleportation was not easy right now. Leon – whose mastery of translocation magic had outstripped even Lauren Cyneburg’s – felt that he might be able to make a long jump if he used a ritual (instead of the instant spell he now favoured), but the logistics for that option were complex.

Delft then told them he had had other RHC ships equipped with the same experimental teleportation circle as the Impossible. One, the Khalundurrin, was currently in Flint; the Roscommon was in port in Shale. They decided to head east on the Khalundurrin right away, sending the Roscommon towards Danor. When the Roscommon was close to its rendezvous point with Sly Marbo, just outside the Dead Magic Zone, they would teleport aboard and hopefully avoid detection. (Uru - hidden and immune to divination - travelled on the Roscommon with a sending stone, just in case.)

Last thing they heard before they set off was that Rutger Smith’s condition was critical but stable. They also heard a rumour that the King was planning to strike back at the Danorans and could only hope that didn’t make their journey up the Eglise more difficult.

Two days into their journey east, they made the jump to the Roscommon, and just a few hours later they made a rendezvous with a third ship, but Marbo was not on board. The crew had been paid to transport them, no questions asked, to the coast of Danor, just to the east of the Eglise River where – in the dead of night – the group was loaded into two longboats and rowed out to meet Le Caraquon, a river-going supply vessel, where Sly Marbo finally met them in person. They had not seen Marbo in many years. Back then he had helped them track down Uriel. Before that he had been recruited to help them in their mission along the Avery Coast rail line, and – as a captive of Bree Kaldeckis – was the only one of them to witness the full meeting between Luc and Lya in the terminal in Vendricce. Sly was a hardbitten fey – his true from that of a talking hare. Here in the ‘DMZ’, he looked like a weathered, buck-toothed human sailor.

With small apologies, he conducted them below decks to their repurposed quarters, where they were told to remain for the duration of their journey (three or four days at most). If the ship was intercepted or searched they were shown compartments in which to hide themselves. The area was cramped and the group struggled to keep their spirits up. Korrigan came up with a schedule of activities to keep Kai occupied, introduced him to each of the team, and told him stories about their adventures. Kai was a little bit afraid of everyone except Gupta and learned not to ask Uriel questions, because the answers went on for a very long time and he couldn’t understand them.

Korrigan took this opportunity to talk with Kasvarina. He spoke of their travels together and how he thought they demonstrated that redemption was possible for anyone. Reviewing what they had learned, he stressed Nicodemus’ manipulative tactics and said that he had used Kasvarina. Even though she would be a powerful weapon in the struggle to come, Korrigan emphasised that she was free to choose her own path. He would not stoop to Ob tactics. (Many Ob operatives did not know who they worked for or thought they were working towards different goals.) Then he cautioned his team against ‘executing’ Ob officers, using Kasvarina’s redemption as an example.

“Who says she has redeemed herself?” asked Quratulain. “Who says she is forgiven?”

Uriel spoke up in Kasvarina’s defence: she had seen the error of her ways and changed as a result; although that didn’t wipe her old actions clean, it should afford her the opportunity to make up for them.

“I can see I am going to have it very easy in this group,” said Quratulain.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 45, Part Two - Methia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPKVUaoJ6gM&index=11&list=PL21C5247EC7743947

Three uncomfortable but uneventful days passed. News reached them through Marbo of a military counterstrike against disputed territory on the Avery Coast. Risuri soldiers, Drakren riflemen and Beran bear cavalry had used the rail line against the arrogant Danorans, striking a blow against military installations on the Danoran side of the Malice Lands. It was unclear if there had been a declaration of war prior to the strike. Checks on the river were redoubled, but Marbo handled everything and the ship was never fully searched.

The absolute dead magic zone took its toll: Korrigan’s schism-wrought limbs were wracked with aches as the elemental energies that course through them dissipated; Uru felt heavier and more visible; Uriel discovered that he could no longer access the abilities of his former lives, except those he had chosen before coming here; Gupta nicked her thumb and discovered that her regenerative powers did not function.

One night, Marbo followed one of his crewmates off the boat. Citing a sudden shortage of funds, he had withheld their wages a few days back, concerned that one of them was on the take; the guilty party was the only crewmember who did not come to him cap in hand for special treatment. Halfway up the river, the docker went ashore and visited a new-fangled ‘Longwire Station’. (‘Longwires’ were the latest in communication technology, substituting for sending magic in Danor.) Sly caught the man trying to pass details of their mission to his superiors. He killed the traitor and the hapless wire operator, just in case. Uru was able to range out of their hiding place and, following along, witnessed Marbo’s devotion to the cause. They spoke, and Sly confessed that he was itching to get involved in whatever the unit was up to, beyond just dropping them in Methia. Uru broached this with Korrigan, who cross-examined Marbo and then gave him permission to join them. Marbo’s combination of skills would be invaluable.

This much became clear when they finally docked in Methia. Dressed in a low-ranking Danoran military uniform, Marbo went to talk with the gate guards while Uru scouted for a way in. Uru saw that the porteurs’ submersible was already docked here. The legend ‘Sovereign’s Knife’ had been crudely painted over with a new name, Lya’s Lament.

At the only open gate leading from the docks, Marbo encouraged the disaffected guards to complain about their posting. It was especially bad since War Minister Duffet arrived, they said. Fat old windbag Marshal Beujeu was – beneath his bluster – here for an easy life. But Eloise Duffet was a martinet, and rabidly anti-Risur. (The unit remembered her from the Peace Talks, harping on about Aodhan bombing an orphanage. Korrigan had dismissed this as Danoran propaganda until Duchess Ethelyn confirmed it!) “Though maybe since this attack down south she has a point. Still, they’re not going to sail all the way up here to pay a visit to the Lance are they?” The guards said that the island where the Lance of Triegenes stood was now heavily fortified, and unauthorised ships would be blown out of the water. They gestured to the Lya’s Lament and said that the porteurs were a mean-looking bunch, and many of them had been assigned to defence of the island.

Having already checked the unmanned gates, and finding them impassable from this side, Uru slipped through the open gate while Sly distracted the guards. Then Uru opened the furthest gate from the inside and radioed the others to tell them what he’d done. They slipped ashore and passed unseen into Holy Methia, while Marbo bluffed his way in.

Having got a good clear distance away from view, Kasvarina donned the Arc. She sensed a memory event above the Lance - about five-hundred feet above the present-day ruin, to be precise. Uriel, meanwhile, sensed an event deeper into the city.

Sly asked what their extraction plan was. The response – a fatalistic shrug – was of some concern to him, and it was decided that they should check their theory that the activation of the Arc would make teleportation possible by heading for Uriel’s memory event first. (Uru suggested they pull the whole Lance out of the memory event while they were up there, but Uriel did not think that would work.)

Kasvarina interrupted them with a hush. She gestured for them to listen. They heard nothing at first until she nodded at each beat and gradually became aware of distant, rhythmic, subsonic thuds – very much like colossal footfalls. They decided to get moving and quickly followed Uriel to witness an event in which his original, human incarnation was brought with other children to enter a seminary and be trained as a priest. This simple event had the surprising effect of making Uriel feel very much more connected to his previous incarnations. For the first time he ‘recognised’ the unit and to their surprise said, “Oh, hello my friends. It is good to see you at long last.” He suddenly sounded like Malthusius again! But, no, his memories had not entirely returned and now the Arc was pointing him towards the Lance of Triegenes too!

 

[gideonpepys]

DM's Note -SPOILERS FOR ANY OF MY PLAYERS READING THIS!

Before I add the third and final installment of Session 46, I thought I'd add a quick cautionary note for other DMs (and make up for an omission into the bargain):

Last week, when it became apparent that a major memory event lay above the ruin of the Lance, Sly Marbo raised an important point: "What happens to us when the event fails?"

The initial response of a 'fatalistic shrug' from the other PCs was DM-speak for the players being stumped by this question. This came about because they all knew that in-character they would have a problem with heading up there without an escape route planned, but as players they had accepted the unspoken contract that whatever happened they would almost certainly survive unscathed. Marbo's question burst this bubble and they had no rational response.

In fact, coming here, into militarised Methia, without magic to escape is a pretty stupid idea in the first place, without adding the requirement that they climb up a 1500ft non-existent tower, given how frail they already know memory events can be.

When put on the spot they feebly rationalised this decision by hoping - fingers crossed - that this memeory event would be a robust one, like the one on Odiem. But that was just one out of over two dozen events they've witnessed! I am not criticising them for this. I am grateful that my players jumped through hoops to keep the game going:

The bit I alluded to, but forgot to resolve in the above report was that, when Uriel witnessed his 'founding event' (being brought to Methia as a child), Leon tested his magical abilities and found that they worked. Leon just so happens to have a 3e-style insta-teleport (not a 4e ritual) - although he couldn't test that for obvious reasons. This test gave the group a relatively sound rationale on which to proceed.

But if your group doesn't have such magic - or a PC in the group with other memories to explore (thereby testing the theory that a memory event that predates the Great Malice will restore magical abilities) - what then? Of course your group might play nice (like mine probably would have done) and proceed with fingers and toes crossed. But what if they don't?

It's an easy point to miss because, as a DM who's read the adventure, you know they'll be just fine. But they don't. This reminds me of an issue raised in another campaign journal (apololgies, but I forget whose) when it was pointed out that in adventure #13, the version of the party who returns to Lanjyr (when the destruction of Av splits them in two) has no reason or impetus to proceed to the finale because they don't know the other group exists. Given that their quest to the Gyre was sold to them on the basis that it is the only way they can win this is a pretty big issue (if the group thinks it through, that is).

Of course, now that I'm aware of that potential problem, I will be able to deal with it well in advance. But in this case (returning to adventure #8), I had to think fast and hope the players accepted my hasty reassurances. But the opportunity to do so (to repeat - a memory event to test the theory and a PC capable of teleporting) may not exist in your campaign.

Which brings me to another concern of mine for adventure #9: What if the party, having surrendered to The Voice of Rot and returned from the Dreaming, decides to travel straight to Flint instead of Slate? (They don't know the King is about to be assassinated, so why rush to the Palace instead of tackling Stanfield?) I guess the simplest answer is: the King dies without their help.

What a shame to miss out on a whole Act of the adventure because they made a perfectly reasonable jugement call!

Perhaps I'm missing something?