Episode 19: Remember the Reshti

Gokrenxia    Prose    Tales of the Inner Council      Episode 19: Remember the Reshti

Content Warning

Contains scenes of drinking, death.

Previously, on Tales of the Inner Council

While being brutally questioned by his abductors in the seedy city of Hervakh, something both terrible and terrifying happened to dwarven mystic Tashkerr Dyber. He blacked out and was filled with strange visions of a magnificent green gemstone wrapped in emerald flames hovering high above a mountainous cavern. A power-filled woman's voice warned him to make haste in completing his journey to the Vath'azen capital city of Stoverj. Time was running out.
The vyrian bulldog of a bounty hunter Kharveg, hired to get Tashkerr safely to Stoverj, was shocked when his rescue attempt ended finding the dwarf unconscious and surrounded by the broken bodies of his captors. With a renewed sense of urgency, Kharveg booked passage for the two on the first ship headed for Stoverj for what would ideally be the last leg of their journey.

Vyrian Coastcutter Reshti, Upanje Sea

Tashkerr shuffled absently around the small cabin that had been his room for the past five days since setting sail from Hervakh in the dark of night for Vath'azen's capital city of Stoverj. For the hundredth time, he reorganized the few items the bounty hunter Kharveg had salvaged for him, trying to avoid looking out the porthole at the open sky and bobbing ocean. It should have brought him a great deal of comfort to be in such a confined space, with walls and a roof over his head, but the events of his vision in Hervakh still haunted him.
Dark circles lined his eyes from lack of sleep. Beyond his physical pain from injuries suffered at the hands of his abductors, when Tash closed his eyes he could still see the haunting green gem suspended of its own power high above the cavern depths. The light from its emerald flames still reflected off the inky river of viscous fluid that made his skin crawl. And her voice - not a single voice, but a terrifying amalgam of a thousand women that drove daggers directly into his heart and mind.
You place everything at risk! She screamed in his dreams, rousing him shaking once again, but not before his mind replayed her fearful words. They will come looking for me!
Who was the voice under the mountain? He wondered, striving to steady his hand as he poured another cup of the straw-colored boekomz spirits Kharveg had left him. Who was they? Why are they looking for her? And what does any of this have to do with me?!
While it wasn't the first time since he'd left home in the Stormbreak Mountains he found himself doubting his life choices, things in the Sanysgal city of Hervakh had left Tash feeling overwhelmed and substantially less optimistic about where things were headed. He slammed back the stiff drink, allowing its burning warmth in his throat and chest to distract his attention for a few precious moments.
He withdrew a folded parchment from his pack, one of the few things he still had from home. He traced the broken wax seal of the King of Vath'azen and opened it, carefully rereading his strange summons, by name, to the court of Vath'azen that began this whole journey; a journey which was only a few days from its completion. Tashkerr thought back, trying to recall the words of the soverika, the House Enforcer:
Elder Leonid suspects you are either a pawn or a participant in some larger scheme.
It seems the Elder was right, there. Tashkerr thought darkly, pouring another cup of the potent drink. I promised to uncover the plot against our House, he reminded himself. A memory of his grandmother's ever-disapproving tone leapt to the forefront of his mind.
What mess have you gotten yourself into this time, Tashkerr? She would always chastise - even when he endeavored to behave, but such was not his nature.
But she's right, he reflected, knocking back another swig. This is certainly a much bigger mess than I could have expected.
Rap-rap-rap came an urgent knock on the door, startling him from his sullen state.
"Vennik," called the throaty voice of Kharveg the bounty hunter. "Vennik, are you awake?"
"Coming," replied Tashkerr, answering to the name under which he'd been travelling. He stood and with the world spinning discovered very quickly he'd perhaps downed a bit much of the Ja'nakh spirits a bit too quickly.
After pausing a moment to stabilize himself, Tashkerr made his way to the door and swung it open. He must have been quite the sight, given Kharveg's grimacing face.
"You don't look well." The squat dog-man stated flatly.
"I am not sleeping much," came Tash's thick accent. "Do not worry though. I will be fine." Tash swallowed, trying to convince himself that was true. "Is something wrong?"
Kharveg pushed past Tash without a word. He spun the room's sole seat away from the small writing table attached to the cabin wall and lowered himself into it. Tash closed the door, moving to sit on the bed.
"First, a reminder," Kharveg began in his typically gruff tone. "My job ends when you step into Stoverj. Are we clear on that?"
Tash nodded.
"Good. That night in Hervakh... You mentioned you were summoned by the King of Vath'azen. Was that true?"
Tash nodded again, though more hesitantly.
"The ship picked up quite a few new passengers headed for Stoverj from the settlement where we just resupplied. There's news from the Vath capital... They say the King is dead."
Tash sat in stunned silence, mouth agape.
"Look, I don't know why that King summoned you, why that desert elf woman thought you important enough to take out a brenacyra contract ensuring you get to Stoverj, or what under the stars you did to those guards in that cell in Hervakh. Honestly," Kharveg shook his head. "I don't want to know. But from where I sit it seems like you're in the middle of something - something big and messy - and this seemed like something you’d want to know."
Tash nodded in appreciation, a distant look in his eyes. "Truly, I do not even know what..."
"...Don't. Want. To. Know." Kharveg reiterated emphatically as he stood and made his way to the door. "You have about two days until we reach Stoverj. If I were you, I'd make sure to have a plan."
Kharveg exited without waiting for a response, shutting the door behind him and leaving the confused dwarf all alone to the sounds of the vyrian coastcutter Reshti driving forward through the waves toward their destination; a destination and situation that suddenly seemed far more precarious than it had moments before.
The brenacyra's right, thought Tash. I need a plan.

* * * * *

He knew what he was supposed to do. Under normal circumstances, tradition dictated Tash present himself to his Housemates upon arrival in a new city. This situation though, felt anything but normal. He was uncertain who could be trusted and needed to assume everyone could be working against him and his clan. The primary person he was to meet – the King of Vath'azen – was dead.
Or perhaps this is what it's like to be a negotiator in the real world, he chuckled.
Without a clear path forward and lacking additional information around what might be happening, Tash considered this perhaps one of the most appropriate reasons ever to call upon his Wayfinding magics. In fact, honing his ability to marshall those magicks was specifically why he'd apprenticed under Master Saldre for nearly twice as long as typical. After what happened in Hervakh though, he was terrified of losing control again. He needed a clear head and spent most of the next day sobering up.

Disclaimer

What follows is an Ironsworn RPG solo session. My notes will generally be captured in the form of: Character Initials: action

six-sider/ten-sider/ten-sider-result(Strong, Weak, Miss)

Effect

Actual Play

TD: Face Danger (+shadow)

Offscreen

Order of Salijrana

7/3/4-S+1M

The Order is lagging in tracking what happened in Hervakh.

TD: Chart a course (Hervakh>Stoverj)

9/1/8-S+1M

Ship?

Kynekin: 13/80-Y

Vyrian? - 65/70-Y

Ship name: Reshti (Quiet)

Situation: Mourn Land TD: Sojourn

Recover +1

7/7/8-M-1Sp

Pay the Price

TD: Suffer Stress

8/8/10-M-2M

Boekomz:

"Trade water"

TD: Gather information

4/9/5-M-1Sp

TD: Endure stress

6/5/7-W-1M+1Sp

As dawn broke somewhere far behind the Reshti, Tash settled on the lone chair now seated in the center of his cabin. With his eyes closed, the bobbing and swaying of the ship was far more noticeable. Heart racing with anxiety, he forced long, slow breaths through his nose and into the back of his throat, expanding his senses to feel the flow of magical energy around him.
He'd assumed it would feel similar to the physical sea over which he'd been travelling the past week – expansive, limitless power stretching to the horizon, untouched, deep and moving – yet was surprised to find nothing of the sort. The moment he opened his mind the magic here felt – wrong – was the best word he could think of to describe it. It had an oily feel that made his skin crawl and sent shivers down his spine.
As though it was almost recoiling from his attempt to control it, the magic displaced, rushing away from him. Then, without warning it shifted back toward him like an angry wave rushing to push him away. It crashed into him with such a nauseating force he fell from the chair, slamming into the floor and vomiting.
Pinpoints of magical light glowing greenish-yellow manifested in the air. Like a swarm of stinging insects, they swirled around him in a frenzy. The week-old cut on his head - suffered at the hands of his captors in Hervakh - broke open, immediately starting to bleed. His cracked ribs began to throb as though they were being squeezed by unseen hands.
Instinct and fear took hold as it became clear he was under assault by the very magic he had sought to control. Tash pressed back in his mind, stitching together the limited threads of magic he could seize into a weak tapestry of defense. The swarm of energy rammed into his wards over and over, sending sparks of mystical energy flaring through the room. With nothing but sheer willpower, his defenses held.
Gathering his wits about him, Tash leaned into his skills. They had trained for this - for magic to go awry - but no amount of training could have ever prepared him for the real thing. He strained against the pain in his chest as his heart raced, adrenaline pumping. Something dripped down the side of his face, but whether it was sweat or blood, he couldn't tell.
He pushed himself up from the floor, splitting his attention and stretching out with his mind to gather additional threads of power. Extending his arms into the air as though grasping a small sphere, a shimmering orb formed above him, trapping a small portion of the errant magic swarm, which shifted from its greenish-yellow to a bright blue and melded with the sphere, increasing Tash's pool of available power. The remainder scattered and again began to hurl itself into his wards, forcing his focus back to his defenses.
Tash pushed outward in a wave that extended all directions, pinning the sparks against the floor, walls, and ceiling of his room like splattered paint. For the moment, he held the upper hand. Or at least he thought he did, until the sparks shifted from yellow-green to orange-red. Increasing in temperature, smoke began to fill the room and wood smoldered as they began to burn through the bounds of his room. His straw bedding and dry blanket were among the first things to catch fire.
This is bad! He panicked. Redirecting the bit of power he had, Tash reached out toward the porthole, channeled his mind out into the grand Upanje Sea, and yanked backwards. A geyser of water burst through the small circular opening to coat Tash, his bedding, and everything else in the room, extinguishing the flames.
The swarm of mystical energy shifted back to its yellowish-green. As if they were somehow attracted to one another, the points of light pulled away from the walls, floor, and ceiling, floating through the air toward one another. They shifted and took shape, creating the outlined form of a robed figure with a hooded cowl. A pair of glowing yellow eyes emanated from the depths of the hood. A long, curved beak like that of the bird people known as the Shar'elum was the only other discernible feature.
A male voice echoed in Tash's mind. "I assumed it would only be a matter of time before the famed magicks of the Istoyaver graced our fine city. Thank you for not disappointing, Master Dyber."
"Who are you?" Tash called out, the wound on his head throbbing. "What do you want?"
"Soon enough," the figure responded, voice brimming with confidence. "For now, I want you to stay right... where... you... are... We'll be along shortly." Tash felt the build-up of power, crossing his forearms before him in an X. Dark laughter was punctuated by a powerful explosion of light that blew Tash backwards into the wall of the cabin. As he slumped to the floor, he was met with silence.
Silence, and stillness. But it was a kind of silence that set every fiber of his being on edge in alarm.
The coastcutter Reshti bobbed up and down on the waters of the Upanje Sea, slapping the waves as the wind carried her toward their destination. Tash waited, yet no further threat appeared. Warily, he lowered his defenses.
He reached for his forehead, pulling away far more blood than he would have liked. Medicine, he thought. I need to stop the bleeding.

Actual Play

TD: Secure an Advantage +wits

First Impressions +1

5/5/8-M-Pay the Price

Oracle: Guard Wound Scene Challenge

Magic unhinged (formidable)

Progress: 0/10

Threat: 0/10

Clock: 0/4

TD: Face Danger +heart

Form a shield

9/1/8-S

Progress: 1/10

TD: Face Danger +heart

Defend rapid assault

8/5/6-S

Progress: 2/10

TD: Secure Advantage (+wits)

Collect power

I know things +1

8/4/7-S+3M+1 next

TD: Face Danger +wits

Contain the assault

I know things +1

10/9/10-W

Progress: 3/10

Clock: 1/4

TD: Face Danger +wits

Battle the swarm

I know things +1

7/4/7-W

TD: Burn momentum

10/4/7-S

Progress: 4/10

TD: Face Danger +wits

Defend the swarm

I know things +1

5/2/10-W

Progress: 5/10

Clock: 2/4

TD: Repeat

6/3/5-S

Progress: 6/10

TD: Repeat

6/3/7-W

Progress: 7/10

Clock: 3/4

TD: Repeat

5/9/9-Crit!-M

Progress: 9/10

Clock: 4/4

TD: Pay the Price

66: Vehicle suffers damage

TD: Finish the Scene

9/9/10-M

Dire turn of events

TD: Pay the Price

Collateral Damage

TD: Reveal the plot against House Dyber

Progress: 3/10

Still somewhat dizzy – though uncertain whether that was from the spirits he'd drank, the open wound on his head, or the mystical confrontation he'd just faced – Tash struggled to focus. The Reshti's sick bay was through the galley, at the stern of the ship. He staggered down the hallway outside his room, leaning on the walls to stay aright.
As he approached galley door, the hackles on his neck began to rise.
The galley's never this quiet.
Even though he hadn't been on the Reshti long, it hadn't mattered what time of day he'd been through. Getting ready for their shift, finishing their shift, fixing food, eating food, playing games of chance; The galley always had people in it. Hand shaking, the door creaked and groaned, breaking the silence as he slowly pushed if open.
"By the stars," he uttered in shock as he took in the scene of bodies slumped over where they sat. Here, three men lay face down over their playing cards. There, the ship's cook - what was his name? - lying on the hardwood planks while the black cauldron of water sizzled and hissed as it boiled over.
No blood, Tash rationalized. A sleeping spell. Has to be. The room swooned as he tried to cross to the nearest crew member. A young human boy lay sprawled upon the deck, his wooden bowl of broth overturned nearby.
Walking back to the table, reasoned Tash, trying not to look at the others lying in their food. He knelt, placing his hand on the boy's chest. He... He's not breathing. He's... He's dead.
Tash scanned the room full of bodies as the realization set in. All of these men... were dead.
"Kharveg!" Tashkerr yelled. Pushing through the dizziness, he sprinted back down the narrow passageway to the bounty hunter's quarters.
Bang-bang-bang. He pounded on the door, tears welling in his eyes.
"Kharveg?! Answer me!"
Yet there was no answer. He's somewhere else on the ship, Tash told himself.
With a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach he turned the salt-kissed, green-tinged door handle leading to the bounty-hunter's quarter's and pushed open the door.
No!
There lying on the floor, the body of the Kharveg the bounty hunter, who had rescued him in the city of Hervakh, lay still. The dog-man's eyes stared coldly at the planks in the ceiling, all signs of life long gone. Tash rushed to Kharveg's side, falling to his knees, hoping this body was somehow different, but alas, the spark of life was gone.
Ever-so-gently and with great solemness, Tash ran his fingers over the bounty-hunter's short-furred, wrinkled forehead, forcing his eyes to close. He spoke aloud in the language of Kungaroun the only words he knew. Goodbye, Kharveg of the Brenacyra. May your life and your stories be etched on the hearts of those whose paths you've shared.
Tash stood slowly, backing from the room, and shutting the door softly. A sense of dread began to form in the back of his mind.
Is there anyone left to pilot the ship?
He rushed down the long hall and up the wooden stairwell. Bursting through the door onto the deck of the Reshti, his worst fears manifest as he surveyed the scene.
All of them. They're all... dead.
We'll be along shortly, the cloaked figure's voice replayed in his mind.
"I can't stay here!" Tash exclaimed in dwarven. "They're coming for me! Think, Tashkerr. Okay." He forced himself to breath. "One," he counted on his stubby dwarven fingers. "I can't steer the ship on my own. Two, the captain said we're a day out from Stoverj. We can't be that far. Three," he closed his eyes, lifting his face to the sun. "I need to go West. West and North. The books in the library said the sun sets in the West, so I need to go..." He turned, facing what he could only hope would be land. "That way."
Taking a deep breath, he hurried back to his cabin. Staring longingly at his Deepwatch armor for several long moments, he decided it was more of a drowning hazard that he was willing to risk. Instead, he grabbed only his backpack and war hammer and rushed back to the galley, where he filled the backpack with food supplies.
Flinging three crew members of the Reshti from their ever-sleep to the floor, Tash flipped one of the sturdy galley tables. Plates clattered and food scattered across the deck as he ruthlessly hammered on the table's legs, until all that was left was the tabletop.
Dragging the heavy tabletop up the stairs was far more difficult than he expected, both by weight and width. Yet somehow the fear of being apprehended by the cloaked figure served ample motivation to make it happen.

Actual Play

TD: Secure an Advantage

Learned +1

5/4/8-W+2M

TD: Secure an Advantage

Learned +1

4/5/10-M

TD: Burn momentum

7/5/10-W+2M

Hours had passed since Tashkerr's encounter with the dark magic. He knew time was of the essence.  Standing at the bow of the Reshti, he tried desperately to wrap his mind around the fallen crew chaotically strewn across the main deck of the ship.  In any other setting, they might look peaceful, sleeping even.  A pang of regret stabbed his heart.
"I'm sorry I brought this fate upon you."
Tashkerr heaved his makeshift table-raft over the side of the Reshti.  It splashed into the Upanje Sea and unceremoniously butted up against the hull repeatedly.  Grabbing one of the ship's oars, he climbed onto the railing and with a final look back over the fallen, leapt into the choppy seas.
One way or another, he was getting to Stoverj.

To Be Continued...

Actual Play TD: Fulfill your vow

10/5/6-S

Quests: +2 ticks

Vow: Journey to Stoverj

Progress: 10/10