Rosalinde had nothing and knew no one. She was free, but she was so far from home, or the memories of home. She did not even know if her family lived or not. The witch Emma-Lynne, and her friends – the sorcerer el-Ahmikz, the warrior-priestess Tiphanie, and the skald Reverence – had saved her and brought her out of bondage. The others, the guard Ricimer, the other sorcerer Jon, and the fallen vala Mathildë, had departed. The friendly farmer had put them up in his home for the night. She heard a knock and the witch entered. Continue reading “At the Farm: Rosalinde 1”
Dreamworld
This is an incomplete fragment, meant to take place before Session 23.
From the cozy security of a thick blanket and a soft bed, Emmeline gazed at the eastern window as it was flooded by the golden morning light. The room was a warm, dark color of aged wood that seemed to have been grown that way rather than chopped, hammered, and splinted together. She felt Mahryswenifahr’s presence in her royal chambers in a taller, adjacent tower and knew that if or when Em decided to rise from bed, she would spend a golden day with her. Continue reading “Dreamworld”
Multi-Session Epilogue: From Storuvan to Camaret
Overview
And so it came to pass that the party journeyed first from Storuvan, to the Temple of the Dreigeist, to the Cave of Skarrifax the White, across the broken lands to the Hattani Gates and the ruins of Vahansarti, western capital of the Last Hattani Empire and resting place of Ashurbellkara and his Horde, eventually with sorcererous help transported back to a small farm in the Periphery outside Camaret.
Places & People
Storuvan: Rift Kingdom ruled by a hereditary matriarchy descended from Haalkhan the Conquerer. A strict caste-based culture where slavery is the norm, the city controls much of the trade from the east.
Thal: Gnomish manager of the Royal Unicorn, and inn and brothel near the West Market. Works for Herzog Bojec, a minister in the city government.
General Gustave: Leader in the Storuvan Army. Backed Emmeline’s plan to make peace with the Maelith refugees.
Magus Calar Tel: Storuvan sorcerer. Willing to teach Elemix – if he would join them and take their vows.
Matildë: Former Dreigeist Vala priestess. Responsible for briefly reuniting Typhon and his sister Thora. Died in doing so but raised by her fellow priestesses, but now powerless. Joined the Eterian Sorcerer Jon in seeking a new future.
Rosalinde: Vannessi former slave and courtesan. Freed by Mathildë at the request of Emmeline. Returned with the party to the Periphery.
Desmodia: Priestess of Tyaa of a sect that is not as militant as others the party has encountered. More of a druidess. Has become a leader of the refugees from Stava, a city in Maelith.
The Temple, The Mountain, and the Broken Lands: The Temple of the Dreigest is dedicated to the unity of the two Norvick gods and the Carian mother goddess. The temple itself is ancient, and may be of pre-Hattanian construction. It is carved into a spur of the southern of the two mountains that flank the Hattani Gates. Above that spur, higher on the mountain, is a Cave occupied by a white dragon. Beyond the mountain is a dangerous and broken land filled with monsters, bandits, barbarians, and giants.
Vala Gretchen: Motherly priestess at the Temple that raised Matildë and advised the party on their journey.
Skarrifax: White dragon and scion of the ancient wyrm Vercertürix, the Cold Drake of Matignon, slayer of the dwarven hero Khord. He slew another party seeking his treasure within the last five years, including a witch dedicated to some ancient being. This party carried an old wand that along with the broken Staff of Power Elemix carried roused the spirit of Ionnis Brennus (Jon).
Krugaar: Chief of a group of Ulaanbator barbarians. Killed in battle with Typhon Né.
Ermingarde: Tyaanite Priestess first encountered in the old Dwarven mines, raised, and then sent to track and destroy the party. Defeated and left for dead on the mountainside.
Ahrien Kellanor: Ancient elf who met with Typhon Né, asked her to act quickly on the Will of Khord, and offered to help those seeking to free Thora. He is unknown to the rest of the party.
The Ruin: At the heart of a hillock in the Hattani plateau
Ashurbellkara: Ancient evil king of the Hattani – possibly undead and possessing a huge army of thousands of undead soldiers. He was undisturbed by the party and remains in the sleep of death.
Belet: His primary wife and an undead guardian of his tomb.
Ionnis (Jon) Brennus: Ancient mage of the Order of High Sorcery. He seemed to have no knowledge of what his colleague Tuderic Draask did after Jon died. Once freed, helped the party to return to the Periphery.
A Voice from the Past
Elemix was dreaming. It was a pleasant dream. He was showing off his new tower, complete with newly buily outbuildings and the like to Baroness Rivanon and Magus Gillian – both of which were his close friends and on a first name basis. It was a good dream as each were completing with offers of power to have the right to be his wife. Others still were outside with gifts and offers. He was looking forward to Magus Oceané Calvet’s, who was next at the door. Sitting on the stairs and looking down at the two beauties, he was having a tough time choosing. “Beauty and magical power, versus beauty and temporal power? It is a hard decision to make,” a silky smooth masculine voice said in Eterian from behind him and slightly up the spiral staircase. Continue reading “A Voice from the Past”
Hope Unlooked For
As Tiffanie slept she felt a distant compulsion, a desire to leave the temple and journey into the oncoming snowstorm. Something was calling for her, something just on the edge of consciousness. She easily could resist it, should she desire to, but there was something familiar, something from before she took her vows.
Typhon grabbed her axe and quietly left the group to see where this compulsion was to take her. Before stepping out in the snowstorm, Typhon pulled the winter cloak closer around her. With eyes closed for a moment, Typhon sensed the direction she need to follow, and then walked off toward it. Continue reading “Hope Unlooked For”
A Conversation with Matilde
The evening before the party was to depart, former Vala, Matildë asked to meet Emmeliine in the warmth of the great hearth in the heart of the temple. The roaring fire illuminated the Temple triad below, where three great trees loomed large. The color of the fire danced along the stonework, made of many styles, over many years and as it seemed likely, many gods, most long forgotten. Emmeline could even see what may have been a place a dome once was placed, and now was open air with snow spiraling down to the trees and alters below. Continue reading “A Conversation with Matilde”
At the Temple of Winter, Spring and Fate
The Temple of the Three was an ancient place. Once it had been dedicated to old gods long forgotten, but in days past, the ruin was repaired by the Winter Sisters, a group of cloistered retired priestesses of the Three (the Dreigeist, Gond, Krag, and Ilmar). It was a holy place, where the Valan were selected and the Priestesses trained in the ways of the gods.
It was here that the party brought Vala Mathildë, who inspired by whim of Gond, the fate of Krag, and the rule of Ilmar, asked the Priestesses to switch her fate and that of the young Thora, sister of Typhon Ni. And so it was done, and for a short time sister and brother were reunited. Continue reading “At the Temple of Winter, Spring and Fate”
Clarity
After the bath and period of relaxation, Emmeline had rejoined the others with a smile on her face. River had thrown her a heated look and stormed away back to her room, and Emmeline was surprised. But with a little thought, she wondered if she might know what bothered River.
She couldn’t let this sit and fester, so she rose and went after the angry bard. At the room, she knocked on the door and said gently, “River, I didn’t — would never — betray your father. Can we talk?”
“Come in,” River said. After Emmeline entered she added in a calm tone, “what do you want to talk about?” Continue reading “Clarity”
A Visitor at the Bathhouse
In another life, maybe Typhon Ne would have enjoyed this place. Today, it was debauchery. Not evil, per se, but inducement to evil for certain. The fact that the ‘assistants’ were enslaved made it that much worse. So many evils, but the greater one still lay ahead. One wrong move and that could be lost. Continue reading “A Visitor at the Bathhouse”
Realm of Storuvan
Overview
Situated near the center of the Rift Lands in the wide Schöneklar Valley, Storuvan was once merely a trading town until recently. Before the Eterian conquest some 650 years before it was a free city of mixed Carian/Hattani descent. With the conquest came Eterian colonists. When Sywnna rebelled in 100 TA, Storuvan was cut off the the West from the greater Empire, slowly losing its population and trade. Only much later, during the Norvick invasions, the population swelled as Carian refugees settled the area. Today Storuvan is a blended culture, with Carian, Norvick, Eterian and some Hattani character to it. The city’s population is over 12000 people and it dominates trade from the West to the East and back. It also strategically protects the West from the Visicarian nomads and the Tirorck hordes. Continue reading “Realm of Storuvan”