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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7326754" data-attributes="member: 79141">Session 38, Part Four - Meanwhile, back on dry land...Matunaaga returned to active duty after convalescing in the Hidden Valley (for fear he might be exposed to Ob assassins if left to recuperate in Flint). Korrigan gave him a letter to be read to his three-year-old son, Kai, along with some toys and other mementos.Matunaaga had expected to see his father on his return, but was surprised to find that the old gith had left the valley to meditate in the high mountains. Uriel recently told him he would not see his father again. Could that be true? He consulted his wife Ayesha, herself a skyseer. She spent an evening gazing at the stars and the next day returned to say this: While she had initially told him that he should serve Korrigan many years ago, it was not necessary for him to remain at Korrigan’s side in order to do so.  She would not be drawn further on this cryptic comment, claiming that the future was, as always, unclear.When he was well, he returned to Flint, where he found the others returned from Cherage.The rest of the unit had finally decided to travel to Alais Primos without the help of Morgan Cippiano (who in any case was honest enough to express his doubt that any amount of persuasion on his part would convince the clergy hierarchy to grant a tourist visa to Kasvarina Varal). Uriel had been unable to remotely crack the El Primo case, but he was still ruminating on the matter. Cippiano hoped that Korrigan and Co. would continue in their efforts despite his inability to assist them on this occasion.  (El Primo was, after all, a notorious criminal…)Instead, Gupta contacted a friend of her father’s: Cooran Ashmeal was a writer and philosopher who was particularly known for his incisive satire highlighting inconsistencies with the church's message. He'd been a guest of Gupta's father in the past and had applauded her skill with musical instruments. Cooran visited not long after the incident with the golem and made certain to seek her out, promising to be of assistance in any way he could.  They had kept up a correspondence in the intervening years and now Gupta asked him if he would be willing to provide a safe base of operations for their foray into the clergy capital.Cooran obliged and found the unit a secluded place to hole up if things got dicey.  It had a convenient hidden entrance into the incredible sewer system. Other than that, he felt it would be better if he kept his distance, as he was already on the watch list of the authorities.Uriel and Kasvarina doused for memories and found many.  They tried to figure out which ones would attract the least attention, and aim for those first.Alais Primos sprawls in a verdant valley along the coastline, framed by a semi-circle of cultivated hills and low mountains to the north and west. Enzyo Mons rises at the southernmost tip of this mountain range and the priests of Crisillyir make monthly treks to hurl objects of evil into the volcano’s fiery rift. Massive libraries, temples, and sepulchers fill the heart of the city, some so large they straddle the canals that carry mountain rivers between the wide-spread city neighbourhoods. The city has three harbours, each feeding into a different system of canals. Some of the most grandiose cathedrals in the world are built on gorgeous tended garden islands just off the coast. Hundreds of small chapels dot the city, and citizens are expected to visit and confess any crimes or sins at least once a week. Many of these chapels possess enchantments to compel honesty, though corrupt patriarchs and local priests with Family connections alike have been known to remove these “peacekeeping auras.”  Matunaaga in particular had to be circumspect: firearms and other items of technology seen to be related to the tieflings of Danor were illegal, subject to confiscation and fines. (Tieflings are not welcome, either, so Leon travelled in disguise, as usual.) Traditional city watchmen are reinforced by clerics capable of summoning spirits of the dead, and like every major Crisillyiri city, every church has a bell of solid gold, which can be rung in times of crisis to create a teleportation shield across the whole city.Uriel discovered a plethora of memories as he made his way around Alais Primos, particularly around the central basilica frequented by the clergy high-ups. (There were events for Uriel and Kasvarina too inside those official buildings, but they decided to return for those later.) Most of these memories were those of Tadeo, the incarnation who went on to be a powerful cardinal and was assassinated by the Vekeshi.  But there were two others here as well: an energetic, ‘youthful’ incarnation, and a more humble one, who wore heavy robes. Following the trail of the latter brought Uriel to a more important event: the death of the incarnation named Tadeas, who (he later learned) was a healer and lived from 17-100 AOV – making him the second-longest-lived of his past lives after Malthusius. The event took place in a modern home. They called at night, greased a few palms, cast some illusions, and wiped a few minds, departing quickly after the event played out:Tadaes was on his death-bed, an unusual place to find a deva. The cause was evident: his face was a mess of boils and pustules; he was riddled with some sort of pox. At his bedside sat a perplexed clergy hierarch who asked, “Of course I am grateful to be healed. But why did you choose to take the disease upon yourself?” Tadeas replied that this was the only way and that he – as a deva – would at least live again. He had spent his whole, long life keeping his distance from the clergy, he said - distrusting its core ethics and Byzantine power structure. “But you,” he says to the hierarch, “proved to be different. I witnessed your generosity to the poor, your personal humility and saw someone who might change the Church for the better. All I ask is that you find my reincarnation, lead me into the faith as you know it and prove my faith in you is not misplaced.” Those were his last words. Uriel left the event in a cold sweat, breathing hard and felt unwell for the next couple of days. He wondered how such a saintly man could have led to the power-hungry cardinal.There were memories to be found just inside the city, near the old walls, but this area was busy and they were likely to attract attention, so they decided to handle them last. Both Uriel and Kasvarina were drawn to an area beyond the city walls – fields and farms now. Both of them knew all too well what had happened there five hundred years ago and approached the area with trepidation. Again, they went at night to avoid onlookers. A fat lot of good that did them:Kasvarina was drawn to a hill that overlooked the farmlands, giving a a breath-taking view of the city’s edge and the crops, which were harvested over a month ago.  Desperation and grief swept over her as the memory event began.  But when the Lost Arc activated, its effect swept out for nearly a half-mile, far wider than ever before. It summoned daylight, that would be visible for miles around and its edges crackled with unstable power.  Within that area farmlands changed into the wreckage of a great battlefield, covered with discarded shields, broken siege weapons, and weatherworn battlements. Six bonfires guttered in a ring around the hill, and beyond lay thousands of corpses, all of them women.Uriel gave a cry as, with a lurch, he was swept away, to take part in a simultaneous event at the very edge of Kasvarina’s.Kasvarina fell to her knees and cradled one woman whose body had been charred beyond recognition. Around the unit stood half an army of eladrin, only the men surviving. At the distant edge of the manifested past, the Alais Primos itself changed. Shattered stone keeps rose from the empty crops and beyond them a great translucent golden dome shielded the city, shining where sigils of celestial script caught the light of the sunrise, summoned by the Arc. The sound of bells tolled constantly from within, and with them triumphant cheers of the humans, proclaiming their victory:In the air above the battlefield, a shadow made of ash and soot hung in the air. The wind quickly dispersed it, but for a moment it resembled the shape of a six-armed woman, a hundred feet high. Gupta realised that each of the nearby bonfires was in fact a fallen, flaming sword.Kasvarina must have arrived here just moments after the death of Srasma!The memory event ended as suddenly as it began, plunging them into darkness.  Kasvarina continued to sob and Leon knelt and put a reassuring arm around her. “I don’t know who that was, but I knew her,” she said of the charred corpse she had cradled.Lights flickered on in nearby buildings and Matunaaga pointed to the gates of Alais Primos from whence a brigade of cavalry now charged forth to investigate. Time they were leaving! Leon helped Kasvarina to her feet and opened up a wormhole as far away as he could see in the direction Uriel had gone. Korrigan urged them to make haste: his defender blade told him Uriel was badly injured.The deva was on his feet when they arrived, but nursing several wounds – wounds that killed his original form five-hundred years ago:He found himself in the robes of an acolyte, surrounded by vengeful eladrin men who cut him to pieces at once. He had no idea how he came to be stood there – a lone human in the midst of the Elfaivaren army.  But he knew he had returned a few days later in Alais Primos.Even as they stood there, eager to be away lest the cavalry locate them, the Lost Arc unveiled yet another event to Uriel:Some years later, he had returned to this very location, in the fit, poised form of his first reincarnation who was by now (judging by the manner of his dress and the way he held himself) a clergy godhand.  He was in the company of a familiar smoking man, with salt-and-pepper hair, who said, “You were born in Methia. But you died here.”“I remember,” said Babatunde.  “I remember it all.”“Good. Good. Now will you come with me?”“Where to?”“It doesn’t have a name yet.  We’re going to build a new nation. Start small.”  He smiles.  “I think we might call it ‘Pala’. …”End of Session</blockquote>

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