Every story has a beginning and an ending, and sometimes it is both. It is sad that heroes are not born of peace, for if they were, there would be few places in Creation more perfect than the small stretch of seven villages known as Seven Willows.
Though much is taken, much abides, and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are—
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson, from “Ulysses”
Start Date: 5 Calibration, Realm Year 768
Neither important strategically nor in trade, the people of Seven Willows did not know the bite of war save for in stories that drifted in from the few that made the venture from the outside. They were in a land of plenty, and did not know true poverty or privation.
Not to say the villages were perfect. There was enough trouble to maintain a small volunteer militia, and enough people to birth minor clashes and crime, and just enough outsiders to make it worth while. Of course, some few outsiders were drawn by the mass numbers of ruins that dotted the landscape. But for the most part, the people of the Willows lived day by day with little to worry or fear. I would know. I saw it then. And I knew them, at least by name, before.
The last day of life as we knew it was like any other, save for a few forebodings here and there, though being Calibration, few thought much of them. One was a strange beast our young militia captain, Torves Ourna and her twin, Jiulan, caught, and after a last dinner with their parents in Vesh, they went to hunt more.
But most people went on with life as usual. Manduar Develan dragged a tired old nag to be sold, though his real prize was a stolen amulet, taken from the Kiratu family of Atia so that Develan's family may eat. He almost lost his ill-gotten gains to a less savory one of his ilk, but Develan fought them off with the unlikely assistance of the skinny nag. One Kouramis Xylanthe, Nexus-born and drawn to our corner by the ruins, excitedly studied the chambers of Nolstane on the river-island of the same name. None of us could have known what she would find. Oh that we had!
For in the morning, Xylanthe found a new chamber with unfamiliar writings. A grand hall led to a door that had not been opened in a very long time. With the excitement of the scholar, she stepped up to the door and with effort, made it open. It was told that then the apparition of a young woman with pigtails like crimson blood spun once, then out of the chamber the open doors revealed. Xylanthe stepped in with awe and fear to the rounded chamber, still whole despite the years. The center of the room was dominated by an obelisk, upon which these words were read:
“I am Meshame, head of the Senteri Circle, Favored of Endings.
I have seen what is written in the stars. And I weep.
In an Age yet to come, the Crying Death will come. It will descend upon the land Rane-tah-serat, seeking Nai-Osane and the Ties-that-bind.
It will make this land its own. It will rule these people in the service of death.
This time will be marked by five signs. Hearken ye well:
* Beasts seen neither before nor since will prowl the land Rane-tah-serat at the time of Calibration.
* The Five Dragons will face befuddlement, one appearing in another's place.
* The unborn Several Trees and their lesser brethren will weep.
* The Sun and the Moon will come together as one, and the Maidens will sing.
* A Child of the Sun will read my words, the first to disturb their sleep since the End of my Age.
I am Meshame, head of the Senteri Circle, Favored of Endings.
I have seen what is written in the stars. And I weep.”
A great grinding Xylanthe heard as the domed roof above her began to open, lights dancing around the chamber in many colors. The very stone blossomed open to the sky above Nolstane, and the lights danced into it in awesome display. At that very moment, the noonday sun was eclipsed and a great chill came upon the Willows. The five maidens, who often wander the night in along roads chaotic, stood encircling the now-hidden Sun. Xylanthe fled the chambers, passing the now gray plants, blossoms of obsidian open and dripping the red of life.
And then the dead came, not unto Nolstane, but unto the smallest of the seven, farther to the south. And unto some of the other villages as well. Sound did not carry in the new set gloom, and thus the handful of fighters the village sported remained asleep.
Kiratu Tremaen, Tremaen the Fey-Touched, rode to find his companions, the captain Ourna and her twin, newly awakened in the ruins of an old amphitheater, and thus the militia began to be roused to head toward the tiny Small.
Jiulan the Twin was sent toward his home in Vesh while the others rode on.
In the mean, Develan, out for his morning chores when the sun blackened, holed his family into their house and headed into Metaia, the Breeder's Town, to see what was happening. He found the town overrun by the shambling, rotting dead, half the town burning, and stayed to the rooftops to spy.
Xylanthe raced toward her father to find him gone, asked to go into the town of Atia to look into the matter of strange beasts in the land, so she made her way instead to Vesh, confusion and dread warring within her. Distance this day seemed little, by the grace or horror of some grand Something, and she rode quickly. In Vesh, she did not find word of her father, but Torves Jiulan instead, who was seeking his father as well. Xylanthe joined the Twin then, to ride toward his sister and the battle in the south, neither father found.
Ourna and Tremaen rode as quickly as their grand steeds could take them, gathering fighters on the way. They came upon a figure in the funerary robes of Sijan, a man neither had seen before. No time for pleasantries or questions, they rode on to collect with others at the bridge. Behind the two, unseen, the man quickened his pace, feeling the weight of an appointment drawing nigh.
From his rooftop perch in Metaia, Develan laid eyes upon a figure in dark armor, the horrific creature for all that he was a man commanding the legions of the risen dead. The figure wore a length of chain as a belt, a clawed end holding a milky blue stone that seemed to move even in the non-light of this day.
Something in Develan had to have this stone! He did not know that the armored man was the Deathknight Anathema known as Li Long Sying, a creature who could easily crush the marrow of the little thief's bones and turn him to dust. Whatever fear that might have been, though, was overridden by the need to have the stone, so Develan followed the armored man. Li Long Sying entered one of the huts, roughly treating his guard of the dead, and soon removed the belt.
At the bridge leading to Small, Jiulan and Xylanthe with those they gathered met up with Ourna and Tremaen and who they had. Oh, but they wished they had the expertise of the Mehtar Kotari! Of all in the Willows, only he had ever seen real war, but the twins' father was nowhere to be found. But they had no time for regrets or maybes. Ourna commanded what troops there were forward. They followed the road, and soon saw the village in the distance.
Through the gray and dust, all could see the village overrun, hear the fighting and shouting! One boy of the militia pushed forward, unmindful of the orders cried by his commander. The onlookers gasped in horror as paths opened in the cornfield that flanked them, converging toward the hasteful boy. In a blink, he was gone, into the gray corn, screams ominously cut fast. A few moments spent trying to kill the Hunters in the Corn, but they could not be seen. Hoping they were occupied with the unfortunate boy, Ourna pushed forward again, toward the rapidly falling village.
Develan, others fought and others died, crept into the hut of the Deathknight, past the risen dead, who's brains had been rotted, it seems, and laid hand upon the prize the thief sought. With the wonder of the cloudy blue stone in hand Develan heard the man in black armor returning to the room, and without much stealth, dove out the window of the little house. He heard the Deathknight find the stone missing, saw him storm out and take the head of one of the guards, and then the thief was pursued.
Running as fast as his feet could carry with the dead and their leader close behind, Develan unwittingly cornered himself into one of the livestock corrals. He would have been lost, then, Develan the Thief's story cut short right there, had not a great voice come to him. The booming voice of a god, the Unconquered Sun as he is called by some but unknown to Develan, called out, “Take these gifts I give you and use them in my name!” It was a voice that should have echoed by reason, but was heard by Develan alone.
The thief hopped up on a fence post and perched still as his pursuers stormed up in great fury. But Develan with new gifts was wrapped in a cloak of night now, and went unseen. He kept very still until the knight in black took his fury out on yet another of the risen dead and left. After a time, Develan left to head back home to his family, uncertain of what had occurred to save him.
In Small, times were indeed desperate. The militia was far outnumbered, and many of the living that fell rose quickly again to join the ranks of the other side. On the far side of the battle sat three figures, all armored with the signs of the feared Anathema on their foreheads, black auras cast about them. They were afflicted neither with worry nor with hurry.
One, tall and thin, had the very image of a dual headed cobra within the glimmering black around him. One was nearly a giant, bearing a Goremaul, with the look of a Northerner. And the last was a woman of scant few years, a pale thin beauty, but cold as a statue of ice, neither smiling nor frowning.
Ourna knew then they were no match for the forces allied against their peaceful country, but commanded the militia to fight on, to a patch of beleaguered and diminishing defenders. As they pulled the scant handful of survivors onto horses, a rider came from the Council for guidance. “Evacuate,” she told him with heavy heart. “Get everyone out!” With that, she called the retreat to her valiant fighters, most barely trained but doing what they could. Even Xylanthe was there with her horse kicking and screaming. They began to fight their way back out.
Just then, the figure Ourna and Tremaen had seen on the road was there. The stranger cast aside the Sijan robes and began to glow golden, a massive axe in hand. It cast great confusion upon those who thought they knew Anathema and evil, for he was quite unlike the dark ones they had so recently faced. The stranger waded toward the battle, telling Ourna to take her people and run. She did so, leaving the stranger alone, respecting the man's decision, no matter what he might be. Never having known his name, she knew that she would remember him for saving all their lives. She took her tiring survivors and friends and rode northward, vowing to pick up whoever they could along the way out.
Develan returned to his farm after escaping the Deathknight and minions to find it all in ruin. He searched, and searched, but could find no trace of his mother or numerous siblings. No trace that they were dead, no trace that they were living, and his heart was heavy. All he found living was the old nag he had set out to sell a day and forever before. So he took this horse and headed northward himself.
Ourna, Jiulan, Xylanthe, Tremaen, and the rest of the survivors rode on until the gray started to fade and the air warmed. Turning, they saw a great tower of bone raising near where they thought Vesh must be, must have been, and the sound of a flute carrying through the air. The sound stirred Ourna's heart to fiery passion and she turned toward the land of her birth and called out her vow. “I know you hear me! This is not over! I will return, and I will cleanse my land of you, for my people. If it takes me the rest of my days, I will!”
Only Xylanthe saw, at that moment, that despite everything, a single ray of sunlight pierced through the heavy clouds and touched her. Chosen in that moment, by something greater, though Ourna did not know it. The moment passed, and the dragging refugees went onward, as far as they could, and set up a camp.
Xylanthe decided to confess what she knew of what happened, told Ourna and Jiulan of the inscription. The last line confused her. Xylanthe did not know anything about being a child of the Sun. That she was she did not yet know. While they were discussing, for Ourna's passions would not leave the topic rest, Develan stumbled onto his camp of countrymen, and joined them at last.
After a time, they all slept, and some of the Chosen then dreamed, though none really understood what had become of them.
And thus, our time of peace ended, and the greatest story I can tell began. That which I did not see myself was told to me by those who did, and I believe them, for the evidence tells me so. An ending, and a beginning, and every word true, this I swear.
End Date: 1 Ascending Air, Realm Year 768
The opening session went pretty well. I had plenty of time to plan what I wanted to do (3.5 pages of notes). Everybody came into the game knowing ahead of time that it would probably be fairly linear, and everybody seemed to enjoy my use of music. I tried to write this adventure in a way that would cause the various scenes to flow naturally rather than me trying to railroad things into going the way I wanted.
Converted from old logs
The days began to stretch, on and on as the party of refugees left the road in an effort to shake quick pursuit. The Chosen stayed silent, still not comprehending their state, not saying a thing to one another and thinking themselves the only ones. On and on the little band plodded, the weight of creation on their shoulders. None moreso carried this weight than Ourna, it seemed. She came upon the idea of daily tasks for the poor people of the group, thinking that distraction would keep the band from despair. She knew, for she herself fought it each moment, each step, only responsibility, the fiery passion of her promise, and the closeness of the Twin and the Fey-Touched keeping her from it.
“The dew of the morning, Sunk chill on my brow—
It felt like the warning, Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken, And light is thy fame;
I hear thy name spoken, And share in it's shame.”
—-George Gordon, Lord Byron, “When we two parted”
Start Date: 4 Ascending Air, Realm Year 768
Then, the tired monotony of this newfound existence for people of peace was broken by a voice from above. It was no spirit, no lesser god that called out to the band, but a man. High up in a tree he sat, clothing like the bright plumage of a grand bird, calling for assistance in tones that spoke of some far distant land. After deciding the stranger was, in fact, no spirit, Ourna asked others to bring the poor, funny little fellow down. And thus did Albrecht Torsten find his feet on solid land once more.
Ourna and Xylanthe questioned the man as to how he found himself up in the high trees of the Eastern forests. And what a tale Albrecht spun! He laid claim to being a captain of a ship, but no kind of ship any had ever seen, for this ship rode the currents of air as others ride the water! He said there had been mutiny, and he was tossed over to fall from above into the savior branches that caught him. Ourna, like many that would hear such a thing, thought it madness, but Xylanthe wasn't so certain. Perhaps this plumaged man spoke of something of the First Age! He also claimed a nation no traveler or scholar among them had ever heard of, so none knew what to believe. Part of the truth, however, Albrecht kept hidden, and none suspected! Madness or no, the man surely needed the strength numbers would give, and he was brought into the band of refugees as one of them.
And so the little band plunged onward through the trees with their new number, and soon stopped for the night as always. Watches were set, and to the surprise of the young captain Ourna, Albrecht immediately volunteered to take the second. And after, all save a handful of remaining militia went to sleep.
At that moment, back in Rane-tah-serat, a conversation took place between Xylanthe's father, Arskelos, and the female Deathknight seen at the battle of Small, who was taking her to see the Deathlord Tears of the Bloodflower. The father felt as though the woman was known to him, but for her part she denied this.
Sometime in the night, Albrecht woke on his own. It took him not long at all to realize it was well after he should have been awakened for the watch, and he looked about. He found that the previous watch was missing! He went and woke the young captain, who drew blade and began seeking for her lost people. And then, Xylanthe woke, roused from sleep by the strange masked woman she was dreaming about. And in turn, Develan woke, and all began creeping about in the stillness of the forest floor.
For a time, no one saw a thing, save that more than first watch was missing. Then there were Eyes! Large, shimmering eyes surrounding the camp, watching with golden glow reflected by the campfire! Some up in the branches, some on the ground. Ourna went toward one on the ground while Develan shimmied with ease up one of the trees. As they approached their quarries, the great shining Eyes blinked out as if they never were. Time and time again, they chased the elusive Eyes, Ourna calling out in fearful greeting, Develan making a grab for whatever may own the Eyes.
And finally, as the Thief caught one high in the branches, others stepped out to Ourna's call. The huge Eyes were attached to sticks. Yes, small branches with stick arms and stick legs! And they carried swords of carved wood, tiny for their small hands. No one had ever seen the like!
One of the stick-people introduced himself as Arbel, and he was their leader. Arbel introduced a few of his fellows as well, but remained the speaker. Arbel explained that they had taken the people to their king, the King of the Wood, for care and healing, but they were upset that the people were burning their fellows, even if it was only their dead. Xylanthe came beside Ourna and tried to explain the human need for fire, but it only seemed to trouble the stick-people further. Therefore, Ourna stuck to the task of trying to get the people back. Develan found the ground again, struggling stick-person in hand. He set the skinny creature down and watched it.
In some sort of token, Arbel offered berries. For fear of offending the Stick-people again, Ourna ate one at the protest of Xylanthe and Albrecht. For a time, Ourna was fine and kept speaking with Arbel.
Arbel finally agreed to go speak to the King of the Wood, and the camp waited under the watchful Eyes of the Stick-people. There was nothing to be done otherwise. In the mean, Ourna discovered that the berry she had eaten made the world strange, seeing things that were not there, yet her mind remained clear otherwise.
After a time, Arbel returned, now garbed in armor of bark and leaves, with word from the King. The missing people, now healed, will be returned. They were walking out of the trees as they spoke, in fact, and there was joy. Arbel, in the voice of the King, told the people that he and the Stick-people would see them to the edge of their lands on the agreement that there would be no more fires. Wanting no more trouble with these strange watchers of the woods, Ourna agreed, though knowing it would mean lean days for her and her people. And so, the camp slept again.
For days, the band of survivors of Seven Willows moved ever onward in the escort of Arbel and the Stick-people. They lived even more meagerly than before, eating only what they could find among the plants of the forest and wrapping blankets tightly around them at night. Ourna was relieved that after the first day, however, that the berry she'd taken from Arbel wore clean, and the strange sights that surrounded her vanished, and took great comfort in being with Jiulan in the night hours, for the Twins had each other, and both were glad of it. Finally, they reached the edge of the Kingdom of Sticks and bid farewell to Arbel and his kin.
Oh, but the band enjoyed the fire that night, lit after the trees of the Kingdom were long behind! Hot rabbit and quail lifted the spirits a bit, and each person left to their own thoughts. But one soon realized that some of her thoughts were not her own. Xylanthe began to hear the voice first heard in dream the night the Stick-people appeared, and found she could converse with it. The feminine voice claimed to live in a ring Xylanthe once found in a ruin. Xylanthe decided to speak with the Lady of the Ring and went a little ways from the camp to do so. She did not know that Develan was skulking around in the trees around and that Ourna had heard her speaking, to all appearances, to herself.
In her spot away from the others, Xylanthe continued to speak to the Ring Lady. All at once, to prove a point, the Ring Lady asked Xylanthe to repeat something. She did so, whispering strange words, and Xylanthe called up some emerald sphere around herself, and she began to glow with the light of the sun, mark of Twilight faint upon her brow. She did not go unseen, for the Thief saw from the trees and the Captain saw from the side.
Ourna came out in a rush and held Xylanthe at sword point. With her fire-passion, Ourna began to berate Xylanthe for consorting with the demon kind, despite the protestations of the new-minted sorcerer. Without realization, Ourna began to glow herself in the passion of her speech, but Xylanthe was quick to point it out, the faint glow of the sun and the mark of the noonday Zenith on her brow. A moment, stretched, of discomfited realization struck both, and they compared what they had been through. Yes, they had both been Chosen by the Sun!
From the trees, Develan continued to watch and listen, until the two women wondered if there were others. At some point, Xylanthe thought she had saw something about Develan, and he took his moment to drop from his perch to the middle of the conversation, and joined. The mark Xylanthe had seen upon him once was that of Night, though none knew what to call each other. At last, the three new Chosen, born of the strife of the fall of their land, stood revealed to each other, but none other.
Or was that true, for upon parting, Xylanthe found Albrecht had also heard part of the talking, but he said and revealed nothing of it. What motivated the strange man?
Develan went about his usual nightly routine.
And Ourna? That night, she wept. None thought it strange, for in all the time, the steadfast Captain had not fallen a moment to the despair that threatened to sweep them all under and drown, and most thought it was time. What was strange was the shoulder her bitter tears wetted was not the Twin's, but the Fey-Touched, who stood confused himself. Jiulan paced the camp, speaking not to his sister once in the latter hours. A talk with Xylanthe troubled him too.
And in the morning, when dawn kissed the land, Ourna railed at the sun, unheard by the rest. What she found, what Tremaen told her, was that Jiulan was gone, and by his own choice.
For Ourna had revealed herself to her Twin that night, and he rejected her.
End Date: 9 Ascending Air, Realm Year 768
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
—-Robert Frost, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”
This session was entertaining, but since the week prior was dead week (lots of papers and studying to do) I couldn't plan much detail ahead of time. As such, there wasn't a lot of complication to the story. Thankfully, the introduction of Ray's character and the last second inspiration of how Jiulan would react to his sister's Exaltation made the session more interesting than it otherwise would have been.
Converted from old logs
Synopsis: The Solars finally emerge from the wilderness and come upon a town. After settling in, they do some discreet research at the small Temple of Daana'd, on the subject of Anathema and Abyssals. They learn that Jiulan has been through the town, only a few days previously. They make an appointment to speak with the town elder. Then, the Deathknights show up at their inn.
Start Date: 13 Ascending Air
The refugees come out of the wilderness just as a thunderstorm is brewing. Through the driving rain, they spot a barn nearby. With little choice, they take shelter within for the night. The next morning, the storm has passed, and they emerge from the barn to continue their journey. They soon come to the farmhouse belonging to the barn and ask for directions. The inhabitants, seeing a large, armed party, are reluctant to speak with them.
Follwing the road, they crest a hill and discover a rather unusual town. It is built on a small lake … literally. The buildings and roads float on rafts. People are beginning to go about their usual chores, and the refugees speak to the local constabulary and ask about the town. It is called Ti'i wa'a wai. They are directed to the local temple of Daana'd and to the estate of the town elder.
At the temple, they meet the lone Immaculate Monk who maintains it. He tells them something of the history of the town, which was founded several decades before by immigrants from the Far West, which explains the unusual architecture and the predominance of blue hair and eye colors. They learn some of the Immaculate lore concerning the Solar Anathema. They leave the children and militia at the temple, and proceed to the elder's estate to speak about their people.
At the estate, they are told by the guards that they will have to make an appointment, because the elder is very busy. The earliest available time is the following day.
Frustrated, they decide to go back to the temple and take their charges to a local Inn, as they do not desire to remain closer to the Immaculate than strictly necessary, lest he discover what they are. Having obtained rooms at the Inn, they send Don Jurdat (the ex-merchant refugee) to purchase supplies and a cart. Ourna and Xylanthe discover that the town has western customs … specifically, communal bath houses.
Later, Develan is attempting to add to his coin by plying his usual trade. Just as he nearly has a merchant's fat purse in his grasp, his hand is restrained, allowing the oblivious merchant to escape. Develan looks up to see who is holding him back … and up … and up. A rather large man, red of hair, in disturbingly familiar black armor is looking down at him disapprovingly. He is carrying a frighteningly massive black hammer. The man tsks and shakes his head, and scolds Develan, telling him that that isn't right. Admonishing him to behave himself, the man turns and departs, the merchant now long since gone.
Meanwhile, everyone is gathering back at the inn for the evening meal. After drinking for awhile, Tremaen gets completely sloshed on something that tastes like it could strip paint. Ourna is unaffected by her alcohol, and she carries him up to his room. Xylanthe and Ourna are upstairs, Albrecht is downstairs with the militia. Two men come in … both are dressed in black armor. One is the man who met Develan on the street earlier; he proceeds to prop his hammer up against the wall as he takes a seat at a table. The other man fits the description of the Deathknight that Develan encountered in Metaia. Albrecht shrugs, not having been made privy to this information.
Up in the rooms, Xylanthe converses for a bit with the entity in her ring. The woman informs her that using her powers is flashy and likely to give away what she is. Ourna decides to come downstairs, and discovers the new visitors sitting in the dining area, within feet of the room holding the refugee children. She attempts to feign ignorance and proceeds directly out the door to retrieve Develan from down the street, telling him that she needs him to watch through the window in case she needs him to burst in to their rescue. She goes back inside and upstairs to warn Xylanthe. The two Deathknights appear completely oblivious to her, and the green-haired one actually flirts with the barmaid.
One of the PCs goes and convinces the innkeep to close the common area early. He reluctantly agrees. The Deathknights decide to leave, still paying no attention to the Solars whatsoever. Meanwhile, Develan has spotted a shadow flitting silently from roof to roof across the street, so he isn't paying attention until he hears the door start to open. The Deathknights move to turn in the direction Develan was watching through the window from, but he is faster … he hopes. He quickly ducks around the corner into an alley and climbs up the wall of the inn to avoid being seen if they should chance to look down the alley.
The Deathknights march right past the alley and apparently don't even notice him. He slowly climbs up to get a better look, when a dagger suddenly embeds itself in the wall right above him. It is an unusual dagger, entirely black. No further daggers follow it, so Develan pockets it and takes to the roofs to follow the deathknights. However, he soon discovers that they have already eluded him.
As the session ends, the characters hole up in the inn and pray that the Deathknights don't return.
End Date: 13 Ascending Air
I am happy with how this session turned out, given that (once again, this time due to finals) I was unable to plan much of anything. The players seemed to like the uniqueness of the town floating on the lake (complete with a basis in its history). I also derived a great deal of enjoyment from the fact that my Deathknight NPCs were intimidating by their mere presence, rather than by doing anything overtly threatening. This was also the first session after I got sound working on my laptop, so people seemed to enjoy the use of sound effects (until it started getting silly. Must curb that habit, and be careful to not accidentally play turkey gobbles by moving the mouse pointer to the wrong place.)
Ourna, Develan, and a young Lunar named Tonanti Amon recieve a vision of their former lives.
Date: The Gods' War
“Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.”
- Edgar Allan Poe, A Dream Within A Dream
Ourna, Develan, and a young Lunar named Tonanti Amon have a dream of the past, a vision from the dawn of the First Age granted by the Unconquered Sun. Therein, they experience events drawn from the memories of the lives of the First Age Exalted, Rozacia, the Rose Queen, Zenith commander of an entire dragon of Realm soldiers, and her fellow Celestials: Sethos the Night Caste, his apprentice Aniam, and Satu-nem Amu the No Moon Lunar.
On Rozacia's command platform, a one mile diameter floating crystalline city, the Celestials are having a grand ball, both in celebration of a recent victory in the war with the Primordials, and to welcome an emmissary from Autochthonia. The ballroom's crystal walls reveal the lightning from the storm outside being refracted into myriad rainbows, mimicing the colorful costumes of the guests.
A strange flying craft resembling a mechanical insect approaches the city and docks in a hangar. An assistant informs Rozacia that the ambassadors have arrived. A group of strange people are then escorted into the ballroom. They look strangely artifical, with a variety of unusual mechanisms attached to their bodies. With a deep but hollowly echoing voice, one of the males introduces himself as Rabur-D, Orichalcum caste leader of this Alchemical circle.
Rabur-D identifies his companions: The stately, robed figure whose skin is outlined in fine tracery is the advisor, Kaddon. The sleek silver-tinged female is Bisruki, the Lieutenant. The stocky woman with faintly translucent skin is Zama-ub, and the onyx-skinned, watchful woman is Jebela. After formal introductions are made, Rozacia and her seconds retire to a private chamber with the Alchemicals to discuss their purpose.
As it turns out, the Alchemicals have come bearing gifts and a warning. Their warning is of the approach of the Iron City of Dis, last of the major Primordials still active in the war, from the land of Rane-tah-serat in the southwest.
Their gift is of a new set of Warstriders for Rozacia and her lieutenants: Golden Nova, Devil Shadow, and Behemoth Hunter. Two of these Warstriders were equiped with devices known as Anima Lenses, which channeled the pilot's anima into a weapon or defense system. Golden Nova had Supernova, an omnidirectional disintegration weapon. Devil Shadow had the Cloak of Shadows, which rendered the strider invisible. Behemoth Hunter had a Proteus Device in place of the Anima Lens, which allowed the warstrider to assume the forms of its pilot. It also had a miniature drone called a Homonculus.
After delivering their warning and their gift, the Alchemicals depart, as the enemy is moving on their own locations as well. Rozacia and her army make preparations for the coming battle.
Eventually, Dis is dimly visible in the rain-mist, a giant floating citadel of iron marked with glowing runes of power. Then the enemy combatants become visible, marching out of the mist beneath their patron: A group of champions dressed in enormous, emerald armor, and a horde of lesser minions. The six champions are: Hebis (a knight with a bulbous head and glowing red eye slits), Karia the four-armed giant, Shaddon and Shammur (the twins), Tchori (an emerald, four-winged dragon), and Sin.
Battle is joined in the shadow of the Solar platform and Dis. One by one the champions fall to the Celestials, while the lesser minions are held at bay by Rozacia's army of dragon-blooded. Several of the minions are nuked by Rozacia's Supernova, while Satu-nem seems content to lay into them, and Sethos is fond of sneak attacks. Eventually, the Champions lie defeated, and Dis begins falling to the earth on the heads of the combatants. Rozacia escaped only because Satu-nem Amu used his strider to bodily pick up hers and fly out from under the Primordial. Sethos escaped using a Shadow-walking charm to transport himself underneath the Solar platform. Most of both armies are crushed when Dis hits the ground, and the shockwave knocks the Solar platform out of the sky as well (and, fortunately for Sethos, back).
As the rain clears the dust away, the now-flickering runes of Dis become visible … … and then a man standing just in front of the Primordial's gates, surrounded by a huge billowing green anima banner-like aura, quite unlike a Wood Aspect's. He starts walking directly towards them, past fallen soldiers and minions alike … who then begin whimpering and staring blindly without so much as glance on his part. As he gets close to the Solars, he stops, and they can see large eyes — not in his aura so much as through it, as if it is a filter that shows the eyes of Dis himself.
The Celestial Exalted thus face a new enemy: Sidon, the Green Bulwark, Fetich to the Iron City. This battle is much tougher, but even Sidon cannot stand before them for long due to his weakened state from the loss of his Champions. Sidon falls, tears in his eyes, but his green “anima” remains in place, Eyes of Dis and all. Dis deigns to speak to the Exalted directly, yielding to them as he begins to shift his nature. The Unconquered Sun and Luna put in an appearance and sentence the new Primordial to exile and imprisonment, sworn on his name, Malfeas, never to enter Creation again. The Solar Exalted are placed in charge of Creation, with the Lunars as their seconds.
As the dream begins to fade, Rozacia looks at the ruins of her platform (which is to be left as a memorial). Ourna wakes up with its name on her lips: Nathir
Date: The Dawn of the First Age
This session was more or less a total failure, although the concept was interesting to me at least. A lot of that was due to lack of proper planning on my part (ugh, this is becoming a theme. This time, christmas intervened, and I was sick most of the week.) A lot of the remainder was due to the nature of the session and the fact that I didn't tell most of the players what I was doing ahead of time (overestimating people's openness to my experiments YET AGAIN). The game was divided pretty much into two halves: a roleplaying half, and then the big epic battle half. In the roleplaying segment, people didn't have a strong enough sense of their First Age lives to play them on the fly, and my “not-entirely-temporally-consistent dream/vision” premise merely made the problem worse. I also didn't have enough of a plot or a sense of the NPCs worked out for the roleplaying segment for anyone to grab onto. After I sensed this was going nowhere, I decided to cut it short. That made the entire game seem to be about combat, which didn't make Jenna any happier.
In the combat half, nobody was really familiar with what their characters could do, and the enemy was not as interesting as it should have been. (Also, I've condensed a battle that should by all rights have been the subject of an entire story arc, if not a campaign, into the space of a single session. This means the enemies were massively underpowered for what they are, which means they're a bit anticlimactic.) Jenna and Chris didn't seem to enjoy the session at all. Probably the only reason Randy was OK with it is because he actually came to the house while I was planning and got to write a lot of his First Age character himself.
Then there's the matter of disparate tastes on the part of my players. The one person (Ray) that probably would have appreciated the massive warstrider battle was not present (which I knew beforehand, but still it shows how wrong my thinking was). Jenna apparently hates the very concept of Warstriders, and on top of that, is bored with combat in general. Chris is, I think, indifferent to warstriders. Randy seemed to like them well enough, but I also know he's seen Escaflowne. Jenna thinks I need to streamline the combat system more, while Chris is not happy with the fact that I'm changing the system at all (I've been making tweaks to the ability list).
Ah well.
Converted from older logs.
The Circle decides to leave Ti'i wa'a wai after their recent brush with the Night-forged Deathknights.
Start Date: 14 Ascending Air
The morning reveals that the innkeeps daughter, who was flirting with one of the Abyssals, is missing. A short while later, she turns up, pale from apparent blood loss in spite of a lack of wounds, disheveled, and feverish. Meanwhile, a young man in robes carrying a staff enters the inn, and is quickly revealed to be a Lunar Exalt who has been tracking the Solars since they left Seven Willows. In the woods several miles away from town, the Circle is set upon by the Sorceror Li Long Sying.
End Date: 14 Ascending Air
GM Post-mortem: This session went pretty well in spite of the fact that I was so put out by session 4 that I was completely unable to plan anything ahead of time.
Converted from old logs.
After defending themselves against Li's probing attack, the refugees enter a small range of mountains.
Start Date: 20 Ascending Air (except for travel time at start)
Several slow days of travel later, after the group has bedded down for the night and the Exalted are furtively talking to one another, Develan realizes that the pull that he has been feeling is drawing him toward something close at hand. He goes off to explore. When he doesn't come back, the others begin searching for him, but the trail is hard to follow. Develan has, meanwhile, found and begun to explore a strangely familiar Manse. Xylanthe's ring also leads her to the Manse, and she discovers the truth about her former life and the relationship between herself, Develan, and the girl in the Ring. Meanwhile, Albrecht and Tremaen get the feeling that something in the darkness is watching them…
End Date: 21 Ascending Air
Once again I was unable to plan (I'm beginning to wonder why I''m bothering to mention it). But this time it was because school started on Wednesday. Yet again, in spite of my total lack of plot, everyone seemed to enjoy the game. I had fun throwing a curve ball at Develan.
I probably could have been a lot smoother about how I drew Xylanthe toward the Manse, however.
Converted from old logs.
The Circle discovers the chain that Develan stole from the Deathknight Li Long Sying in session 1, as said artifact makes a bid for freedom.
Start Date: 22 Ascending Air
With such a potent artifact lying around, no wonder the Deathknights have been able to track them. They decide, since they can be tracked anyway, they might as well use the road. As they emerge from the forest, they spot an unusual vehicle rising from the forest on the far side of the river … a Haslanti Airboat!
End Date: 24 Ascending Air
GM Post-mortem: No comment.
Two weeks of relative quiet and weary travel come to a close as the Circle approaches within a hundred miles of their destination. A storm is building up just as the group spies the small village of Hallia in the distance.
Start Date: 9 Resplendent Air
They pick up the pace to get there for shelter, only to discover that Hallia is a ghost-town. Taking shelter from the storm in the vilalge Inn, they bed down for the night and set up watches. Xylanthe practices more of her magic. The dreary weather and eerie quiet gets to each of those on watch, making their moods dark and their thoughts brooding. In the morning, as they prepare to move on a scream breaks the quiet. One of the children, feverish and delerious like the innkeep's daughter in Ti'i wa'a wai, has also been stabbed. The group soon discovers an enemy in their midst.
End Date: 10 Resplendent Air
I think I'm finally beginning to get back in my groove after session 4. This session was the first that I've had time to really plan what I wanted to do ahead of time. I've known all along that a member of the Night-forged had joined the refugees back in session 1, which was hinted at in session 3 (with the knives). With Develan's revelation of the chain in the previous session, it was time for him to make his move.
Converted from old logs.
The Circle discovers that the Hallian villagers trail leads to a small Shadowland nearby. This Shadowland, Ravens Jetty, turns out to be ruled by the Deathlord Ebony Wave's Kiss, who invites them to it's keep in the heart of the grey swamp to speak with it on matters of mutual interest.
Start Date: 10 Resplendent Air
The Circle accepts the invitation, since the Deathlord sent an envoy to seal an oath of hospitality. Although the Circle is very uncomfortable and leery of the Deathlord, it treats them well and seems to be behaving itself. Information is exchanged over a banquet. The Circle discovers more about the function of the Ties that Bind and the goals of Tears of the Bloodflower, and the danger that lies ahead of them. An informal agreement is made, but the Circle refuses to make an oath.
End Date: 10 Resplendent Air
I was pleased with this session. I got to play more with the Deathlords and the Shadowlands, and the news about Tears being tied to the Primordial Umbra (and his goal) seemed to have an impact on Randy's Lunar character in particular (and the others, as well), and I KNEW the news about Jiulan would affect Ourna. It was an entirely social session, as well.
Converted from old log.
Tonanti is gone scouting for the Wyld Hunt. Meanwhile, the Circle beds down for the night, Develan on first watch, Ourna on second, and Albrecht on third. Meanwhile, Xylanthe attempts her first demon summoning in preparation for possible encounter with the Wyld Hunt. She returns to camp after midnight and is so tired that she proceeds to sleep without even eating dinner.
Start Date: 10 Resplendent Air
Morning finds Xylanthe, Ourna, Tremaen, and Albrecht tied up and recovering from being drugged. Develan and the refugees are nowhere to be seen. A quick study of the marks on the ground reveals that a fifth person was with the tied-up group, but this person neither walked nor was dragged away. The group hears some noises off in the brush, which they quickly determine to be coming from men walking around in armor. Having untied themselves, they debate pretending to be tied up still, but decide quickly that this is unwise. Albrecht points out that Develan did not leave by the obvious route, and the group proceeds into the trees to follow his trail, leaving the armored men hopefully behind.
Meanwhile, Develan has been feigning unconsciousness while a female voice tells him that his group was betrayed by the people it was escorting. He continues the game, in spite of the fact that the owner is clearly not fooled by his charade. He knows that he is tied up. He can see through the eyes of his familiar that they were tied up, and can also see the band of men approaching their position: Dragon-blooded.
He is finally unable to resist opening his eyes after she starts flirtatiously running her fingers along his arm. Revealed before him hanging upside down is an attractive young woman with black hair and eyes and very little in the way of clothing. She asks him if she should let him go to his friends, or if she should keep him there to “play” with. After they bandy words and she continues to hit on him, he eventually has had enough and makes an attempt to loosen his bonds. This is so wildly successful that it takes him a second to realize that they were the only thing holding him up in the tree, and he begins to fall. He grabs a branch and in one motion flips around to come back at the girl with a kick, but she evades him, laughing. She seems amused when she says that since he clearly doesn't want to dally with her, she'll let him go. After all, they'll meet again. She vanishes before his eyes.
Develan and the rest of the Solars meet up in the trees shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, by this point, the Wood Aspect has determined that they took to the trees, and proceeds to follow (which Develan sees through the eyes of Mabuz-Amul, just seconds before he loses contact in a white flash). Develan decides to backtrack to the camp and see what happened to his invisible companion, while the rest of the group attempts to sneak away in the brush. When Develan reaches his vantage point above the camp, the only Dragon-blood there is the Air Aspect. Develan attempts to knock the man out with his knife, but succeeds only in revealing his presence.
Albrecht is unsuccessful in his attempts to be quiet, and he quickly spots a distortion in the landscape, as if the trees and plants were simply moving out of the way of something.
End Date: 10 Resplendent Air
Develan has snuck off from the rest of the group and doubled back to see what has happened to Mabuz-Amul. Spying an Air Aspect there, he decided to toss a knife at him. A short battle ensues. Develan is doing well, until his opponent is taken out from arrows launched behind Develan.
Start Date: 10 Resplendent Air
Develan whirls around … just in time to receieve a hammer blow to the face, knocking him out of the tree. Before he loses consciousness, he sees that his assailants are none other than the Night-forged.
All of them.
He doesn't feel himself hit the ground. Meanwhile, during the battle with the Fire and Wood Aspect Soldiers, Albrecht reveals himself to be a Dawn Caste Solar Exalt to help Tonanti and Xylanthe.
Later, Tonanti finds Develan badly wounded, but alive. The only thing Develan remembers is a male voice saying “kill him”. There is no trace of his attackers, only the dead Dragon-blood. Develan has his hearthstone, but the artifact that it was set in is missing. The Night-forged have reclaimed their stolen chain. There is also a note wishing him luck … written with a phrasing that indicates the author is from Seven Willows? Hmm…
End Date: 10 Resplendent Air
Heh heh heh. Chris set himself up perfectly for getting ambushed by the Deathknights.
Converted from old logs.
While Xylanthe and Albrecht are researching and getting a boat in the village of Creus, Develan, Tremaen, and Tonanti are reunited with Ourna.
Start Date: 16 Resplendent Air
Develan and Tonanti share a disturbing dream about the dead moon, Umbra.
The next day, Develan has an encounter with something lurking in the shadows that leaves him a message apparently as a challenge, and then discovers that the ancient reliquary that the town keeps in a nearby temple has been stolen.
End Date: 17 Resplendent Air
The players pretty much ignored the plot that I had vaguely planned for them, so I winged something based on Tonanti's hearthstone.
Converted from old log.
After arriving in Nathir, the group is reunited with a lost comrade and seeks out Albrecht's lost Air Boat.
Start Date: 18 Resplendent Air
In the process, Albrecht discovers that his traitorous first mate, Greuber, is more than he seems.
Meanwhile, in the underworld, the first of Umbra's bindings is broken.
End Date: 18 Resplendent Air
It figures that as soon as I have time to actually plan out what I wanted to do for a session and get myself in the mood for the night's roleplaying, the game gets started two hours late. Ah well. It seemed to turn out OK anyway.
This session marks the end of Act I.
Converted from old log.
The Obsidian Requiem Logs have now (finally) been converted to the weblog.
In the process a few glitches were discovered in the recently posted chronology (such as an entire missing session, conflicting information on in-world dates, etc).
All of that should be fixed in the new logs, the chronology post was altered to suit, and a little more detail was added to the summaries here and there. The new logs are split into Act I and Act II categories (see the sidebar to the right) to cut the category archive's file size down a bit and make them easier to read.