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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7538959" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>Session 209, Part One - Matters Amidships</strong></p><p></p><p>Leon spirited them aboard the Coaltongue, which was already partway to Ursalina. Then he became very serious and told Korrigan that he needed to depart once again. He would not be long, but there were still some matters left over from his previous absence. Korrigan had become used to Leon’s habits by now and bid him farewell. When he asked him idly where he would be going, Leon “It’s not so much somewhere, as somewhen.”</p><p></p><p>Thurgid, Rumdoom’s bagman, was sorry to have been left behind - almost distraught. The other, newer members of Rumdoom’s entourage took him to his quarters for a lie down. Brakken said he would like to get some rest too. Expending mental energy was taxing! Before he went he said he hoped he might see Feroz again in Ursalina. The unit remembered that when he had visited Flint, he had brought his dire bear companion with him, but they had not seen it during their time in Seobriga. Brakken explained that they had been separated when he was arrested and in any case, when he decided to become involved in espionage, he decided that Feroz needed somewhere else to stay. No one else could control Feroz like Brakken, so he sent him to live with his cousin Gordash in Ursalina, where dire bears were quite common, and he wouldn’t frighten anyone. Gordash was one of the Triunfo Vida, travelling minotaur bards, but he was getting too old for the road and had recently settled down.</p><p></p><p>Gupta asked Brakken what he knew of Ursalina. This (in paraphrase) is what he told her:</p><p></p><p><em>Named after its traditional bear fights, Ursaliña lies along the rocky northwestern coast of Ber, where the sea meets the Anthras Mountains. Those peaks once made it a prize domain for the dragon tyrants, and like every Beran city their influence persists in the architecture. The city rises and falls in steep terraces on four main hills, each crowned by a major civic building. Poorer neighborhoods weave through the low ‘troughs’ between hills, and imposing bridges connect the terraces in labyrinthine combinations.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Fanciful fountains thread mountain streams along the terraces and bridges, and fierce gusts of winds in the troughs kick up mist that cools the cramped streets and alleys. The hills fall sharply near the coast, where ornately-carved staircases link the harbor to the different levels of the city.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Similar areas of steep hills and valleys dot the landscape around Ursaliña, and for centuries servants of the dragon tyrants bred and domesticated megafauna in these natural paddocks. Countless caves provided lairs for the famed local dire bears, allowing the predators to hide and survive despite fervent attempts to exterminate them.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Today, two centuries since the dragon tyrants fell, Ursaliña proudly claims a two-headed dire bear as the city sigil. Many of the civic buildings have been restored to their original splendour, straddling a line between glorifying a brutal past and patriotism for what the Beran people managed to build.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The population is majority orc, with minotaurs and half-giants the next most common races.</em></p><p></p><p>Uriel dealt with Shuman Larkins. Larkins was able to confirm that high-level targets who might resist the brave new world had indeed been taken out. His team had been responsible for assassinating the Executores. Another had dealt with the clergy. As for Ursaliña, Shuman was sincerely unaware of any special Obscurati operations there, (though now he would be sure to mention the oddity to his superiors once he reached the ghost council). Korrigan wanted to know who had replaced Vicemi Terio as head of the ghost council – was it Lya Jierre? Larkins said that the ghost council needed a leader because so many of its members had become almost mindless over the centuries. But there were sufficient recent, new members (he said pointedly) to mean that replacing Terio wasn’t deemed necessary.</p><p></p><p>At the thought of returning, Larkins displayed an emotion rare for the undead – genuine fear. He said that Nicodemus was furious at their repeated setbacks, and he dreaded the mastermind’s rage for failing to thwart the party. “You don’t need to worry about that,” said Uriel, to Larkin’s astonishment. “You’ll be staying with me for the time being.” They discussed the potential risk, weighing up the ghost council’s ability to track Larkins against the power of El Extrano’s obscuring wards, and decided it was worth taking the chance just to mess with Nicodemus.</p><p></p><p>Uru reported in. Or, rather, he replied to Uriel’s sending. They had jaunted out of the Anthras (as far as the eye could see) and then taken Rumdoom’s clockwork carriage to the outskirts of Ursalina. Uru could not ‘read’ the city from the outskirts and proposed to head further in. He asked for a couple of hours more and Uriel said he would get back to him then.</p><p></p><p>One of the officers aboard the Coaltongue came with word that an official channel had requested permission for Lauryn Cyneburg to come aboard. It had been granted, and she was already waiting for the king in the galley. Harkover had sent her, she said. Then she brought out a mithral lockbox of sturdy design, big enough to hold a few books. Ornate carvings depicted the fey titans of Risur: The box had belonged to the Risuri ambassador to Drakr, and technically had already been on Risuri soil since the Great Eclipse, which is how Cyneburg assumed it had been possible to teleport it ‘home’. She went on to explain that Harkover had set up a teleportation interdiction to protect the king, and this item arrived just this morning. It had been opened, checked and found to be secure. “It was sent by Vlendham Heid,” said Cyneburg. “It’s urgent enough for me to be roped in.”</p><p></p><p>The lock-box contained the following items:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A letter from Vlendam Heid begging for aid: the city of Bhad Ryzhavdut was surrounded and besieged by an apocalyptic army, led by Grandis Komanov. At her command were the gigantic, reanimated bodies of five ancient warlords.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A map of the city of Bhad Ryzhavdut and its surroundings.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A brochure for a museum exhibit and a holiday tour of the history of the Lost Riders.</li> </ul><p></p><p>A wood carving on the tower’s original drawbridge was depicted in the brochure. It showed five warriors on rampant steeds, with some sort of knot pattern in the background. Each rider’s head was turned upward as if to look at something, but that piece of the carving was rotted away.</p><p></p><p>Uriel remembered that old texts contained illuminations of that door, and the top was a serpent’s head. The same style of knot was used in depictions of the Voice of Rot in Risuri art. This would tie in with what Rumdoom’s cult had learned – that the Five Lost Riders were said to have offered souls of the defeated to their patron, known as Speaker of Snow, Heart of Black Ice, and the Warden of the Bleak Gate, who it was said had an eye torn out by an ancient hero.</p><p></p><p>This was indeed urgent – urgent enough to take precedence over their promise to Morgan Cippiano. But they would press on to Ursalina and investigate there first. It was a good job Rumdoom wasn’t on board, as it would have been hard to dissuade him from heading for Drakr immediately!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 7538959, member: 79141"] [b]Session 209, Part One - Matters Amidships[/b] Leon spirited them aboard the Coaltongue, which was already partway to Ursalina. Then he became very serious and told Korrigan that he needed to depart once again. He would not be long, but there were still some matters left over from his previous absence. Korrigan had become used to Leon’s habits by now and bid him farewell. When he asked him idly where he would be going, Leon “It’s not so much somewhere, as somewhen.” Thurgid, Rumdoom’s bagman, was sorry to have been left behind - almost distraught. The other, newer members of Rumdoom’s entourage took him to his quarters for a lie down. Brakken said he would like to get some rest too. Expending mental energy was taxing! Before he went he said he hoped he might see Feroz again in Ursalina. The unit remembered that when he had visited Flint, he had brought his dire bear companion with him, but they had not seen it during their time in Seobriga. Brakken explained that they had been separated when he was arrested and in any case, when he decided to become involved in espionage, he decided that Feroz needed somewhere else to stay. No one else could control Feroz like Brakken, so he sent him to live with his cousin Gordash in Ursalina, where dire bears were quite common, and he wouldn’t frighten anyone. Gordash was one of the Triunfo Vida, travelling minotaur bards, but he was getting too old for the road and had recently settled down. Gupta asked Brakken what he knew of Ursalina. This (in paraphrase) is what he told her: [I]Named after its traditional bear fights, Ursaliña lies along the rocky northwestern coast of Ber, where the sea meets the Anthras Mountains. Those peaks once made it a prize domain for the dragon tyrants, and like every Beran city their influence persists in the architecture. The city rises and falls in steep terraces on four main hills, each crowned by a major civic building. Poorer neighborhoods weave through the low ‘troughs’ between hills, and imposing bridges connect the terraces in labyrinthine combinations. Fanciful fountains thread mountain streams along the terraces and bridges, and fierce gusts of winds in the troughs kick up mist that cools the cramped streets and alleys. The hills fall sharply near the coast, where ornately-carved staircases link the harbor to the different levels of the city. Similar areas of steep hills and valleys dot the landscape around Ursaliña, and for centuries servants of the dragon tyrants bred and domesticated megafauna in these natural paddocks. Countless caves provided lairs for the famed local dire bears, allowing the predators to hide and survive despite fervent attempts to exterminate them. Today, two centuries since the dragon tyrants fell, Ursaliña proudly claims a two-headed dire bear as the city sigil. Many of the civic buildings have been restored to their original splendour, straddling a line between glorifying a brutal past and patriotism for what the Beran people managed to build. The population is majority orc, with minotaurs and half-giants the next most common races.[/I] Uriel dealt with Shuman Larkins. Larkins was able to confirm that high-level targets who might resist the brave new world had indeed been taken out. His team had been responsible for assassinating the Executores. Another had dealt with the clergy. As for Ursaliña, Shuman was sincerely unaware of any special Obscurati operations there, (though now he would be sure to mention the oddity to his superiors once he reached the ghost council). Korrigan wanted to know who had replaced Vicemi Terio as head of the ghost council – was it Lya Jierre? Larkins said that the ghost council needed a leader because so many of its members had become almost mindless over the centuries. But there were sufficient recent, new members (he said pointedly) to mean that replacing Terio wasn’t deemed necessary. At the thought of returning, Larkins displayed an emotion rare for the undead – genuine fear. He said that Nicodemus was furious at their repeated setbacks, and he dreaded the mastermind’s rage for failing to thwart the party. “You don’t need to worry about that,” said Uriel, to Larkin’s astonishment. “You’ll be staying with me for the time being.” They discussed the potential risk, weighing up the ghost council’s ability to track Larkins against the power of El Extrano’s obscuring wards, and decided it was worth taking the chance just to mess with Nicodemus. Uru reported in. Or, rather, he replied to Uriel’s sending. They had jaunted out of the Anthras (as far as the eye could see) and then taken Rumdoom’s clockwork carriage to the outskirts of Ursalina. Uru could not ‘read’ the city from the outskirts and proposed to head further in. He asked for a couple of hours more and Uriel said he would get back to him then. One of the officers aboard the Coaltongue came with word that an official channel had requested permission for Lauryn Cyneburg to come aboard. It had been granted, and she was already waiting for the king in the galley. Harkover had sent her, she said. Then she brought out a mithral lockbox of sturdy design, big enough to hold a few books. Ornate carvings depicted the fey titans of Risur: The box had belonged to the Risuri ambassador to Drakr, and technically had already been on Risuri soil since the Great Eclipse, which is how Cyneburg assumed it had been possible to teleport it ‘home’. She went on to explain that Harkover had set up a teleportation interdiction to protect the king, and this item arrived just this morning. It had been opened, checked and found to be secure. “It was sent by Vlendham Heid,” said Cyneburg. “It’s urgent enough for me to be roped in.” The lock-box contained the following items: [LIST] [*]A letter from Vlendam Heid begging for aid: the city of Bhad Ryzhavdut was surrounded and besieged by an apocalyptic army, led by Grandis Komanov. At her command were the gigantic, reanimated bodies of five ancient warlords. [*]A map of the city of Bhad Ryzhavdut and its surroundings. [*]A brochure for a museum exhibit and a holiday tour of the history of the Lost Riders. [/LIST] A wood carving on the tower’s original drawbridge was depicted in the brochure. It showed five warriors on rampant steeds, with some sort of knot pattern in the background. Each rider’s head was turned upward as if to look at something, but that piece of the carving was rotted away. Uriel remembered that old texts contained illuminations of that door, and the top was a serpent’s head. The same style of knot was used in depictions of the Voice of Rot in Risuri art. This would tie in with what Rumdoom’s cult had learned – that the Five Lost Riders were said to have offered souls of the defeated to their patron, known as Speaker of Snow, Heart of Black Ice, and the Warden of the Bleak Gate, who it was said had an eye torn out by an ancient hero. This was indeed urgent – urgent enough to take precedence over their promise to Morgan Cippiano. But they would press on to Ursalina and investigate there first. It was a good job Rumdoom wasn’t on board, as it would have been hard to dissuade him from heading for Drakr immediately! [/QUOTE]
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