Chapter 1 - Dhal the King's Men
The phlegmatic freeboater (men who sail for no nation) of the Sea Sparrow, Sarecen Westmore, shows you to your berth, a sloped-roof cabin with a busted window and mildew-stained wood. You bunk with
Renfred the Lark , the wandering minstrel eager to adventure with the legendary 'Stormbreaker.' He unfurls multiple instruments, bemoaning the damage the salty air might inflict on them.
"Hoping this is to your liking, m'lord" Westmore says, almost bashfully. "Taint much in the manner of respectful berths to be found bout the Bay, Privii's heart I swear it." He makes the mark of the Fathers over his chest. "Mostly pelts you'll have for company, heading south to Nova Caryll - the Emps'll pay a pretty penny for 'em to be sure."
The Lark looks back and forth between you and the anxious captain, raises his eyes. "Sorry sirs, i'll leave you be" the Captain exits.
"Bit meek for a captain, don't you think?"
Despite the captain's words you find the ship populated with two other passengers, sell-swords by the look of them - they keep to themselves keeping you at a distance, they seem jittery, speaking in hushed whispers. The rest of the ship is just crew, only 15 - a low number for a ship of this sort but not dangerously so.
As the ship leaves the Penitent Bay and turns south along the coast you see twin vessels sailing towards the Penitent Man, flying the strange white mask of Meggido. "There's a tale there to be sure" nods the Lark "Typical sin of the ephemeral despot, a touch of the theatrical". "Oh that" the Captain remarks, lowering his spyglass "If I were a betting man I'd say Meggido has as many ships as you, begging your pardon not to insult you." He looks at the ships as they pass by. "Those are merchants, or private companies - they fly the flag of Meggido because it pleases the Lords. Oh don't look at me like that, they're lords like any other, just wearing funny masks - makes people feel like they have some real protectors."
Renfred the Lark leans forward, interested "And does our well-informed Captain have an opinion on the spirits that are said to serve the Lords"
"Oh ay, those are real - creatures of the earth, titans from the stories - who pulls the strings now that.... that is a mystery"
As the days pass the two sell-swords seem to relax, and begin to speak with the sailors - settling into a natural relationship that always exists between sailors both former and current. The Sea Sparrow ports every few days in the straggling coastal settlements that have sprung up all around the North, making small trades and taking on fresh water, but also rumors. On one such furlough you hear the two sellswords speaking with some merchants - the merchant is assuring them they heard that the Carrylean Empire has occupied Coimbra, south of Sigrun. The men seem unconvinced.
The swamp fades away but reveals a seemingly stretch of marsh, here no settlements lie. Near the edge of the marsh you see a massive crumbling stone edifice, tumbled as if knocked over by some crude giant - a sizeable expanse of exposed, muddy, land abutting the ruin, a sludgelike river flowing through its center and out to see. You think this must be the Naval Base Ruins you learned of.
"The Sinking Stone we call it, ain't safe to stay near the shore here on out till we get closer to Sigrun" says the Captain. "'The Sinking Stone', another grave to our grandeur" says the Lark.
HOW DO YOU PASS THE TIME?
- Spend time with the captain learning what he knows of local trade and rumors
- Gamble with the sellswords and hear their story
- Speak of beauty and lost things with the Lark
- Call a Jaudible
You muster up your inner storyteller and tease out details of your time in the New World to the sailors, sell-swords, and your other companions on this voyage. Within a day or two, with only the endless blue of the ocean to entertain them, the men of the ship are clamoring for the whole story. In the hands of a less capable performer these may have come off as glib exaggerations but the details flow true and you hold the crew spellbound. By the end of the second day of tales your presence oh the ship takes on a different aura, from diplomat to legend.
"See here Stormbreaker, take this" the Captain hands you the spyglass, pointing it north. In the distance the vague edges of a swamp can be seen, before it the shattered remnants of ships strung along sharp spiked reefs that intersperse the tranquil waters. "The Blood Reefs, ships that sail close are not to be seen again - beyond it the Sigrun call it the Shasiri Swamp, where the Snakemen seem to call home."
"I heard a tale of the Snakemen" the Lark says, strumming his lute "They call themselves the Yuan-Ti, and they say their cities fill the swamps. Their number one export? Tales of tragedy. Like the boy Akkad, who says the serpents held his town in thrall as they killed them, one at a time, draining the blood from their frozen bodies."
"Ay well, I know nothing of that" the captain mumbles.
The ship sails onward, the men eager to share their own tales with you. You learn that the sellswords, Jakar and Breville, are on the run from an underworld figure in Hampsterdam, named
Castor Garan . They let a girl named
Vanay Castile go free, couldn't go through with killing her - word is she actually has an artifact, an Orb of some sort that
Castor Garan is desperate to get his hands on. Figured it was time to book it.
The sailors tell you of Nova Caryll, of the great conquests of the Lizard Kingdom and the many converts to Valbanes - they tell you
Empress Hertegard Van Klanf has taken on the mantle of the Privii, of the Spirit of Valbanes.
In two days the ship turns back towards the coast. "The Lands of Mane the settlers named" the Captain points "Hills of ore, riverlands ripe for planting, a paradise for any nation to own. The early settlers fought the Sand Kings here, but now the Serpents plague them - of course... the Saggarans took the city so it is there problem now."
As the ship continues its journey you see the first signs of settlements, small fishing villages along the coast. In the distance you spot a towering vessel, one that once projected power throughout the Known World - a Carrylean Capital Ship. It sits in the water, sails down, unmoving. The glint of a spyglass tells you that you are being observed. The captain looks nervous "Fathers preserve us, Carryleans" Despite his fears the ship does not move to intercept and you sail onward, towards Sigrun.
You sail up a bay lined with high mountains, at the far end a citadel sits at the apex of a towering mount, its ancient walls crumbled, reinforced now with cobbled together brick and stone mortarworks. At the base of the mount a deep inlet has been developed properly with rows of lengthy docks, numerous warehouses, and a buzzing marketplace. Aside from the numerous smaller merchant vessels you see at least a dozen Saggaran Reavers, fast-moving ships you have come to know all too well.
"There she is, the Citadel. I've not been inside, but they tell me it's filled with nonsense writings - but the sigil of Mane is all about."
Renfred the Lark takes out some paper and charcoal, sketching furiously. "They should have sent a poet"
The market buzzes with your approach, it appears the arrival of a merchant is a major event. Immediately you are beset by merchants hawking all manner of wares, from the North, South, and deeper inland. Beggars approach but are rebuked by the Saggaran soldiers that ramble about the dock, aside from the few who must have made their payments for the service. The Saggarans take a quick payment but do little diligence checking the ship, more interested in a quick buck then doing the exhausting work of port security.
"Here we part then, I'll next be heading south to Nova Carryl. It's been an honor, m'lord" says the Captain. The two sellswords disembark, looking around puzzled as to what to do now, but happy to no be murdered to death on the way.
WHAT DO?
- Announce yourself and be taken POST HASTE to the Citadel
- Spend some time at the market, see what people are saying
- Sneak into the Citadel with Misty Invisibility and make yourself at home
- JAUDIBLE
"Ay, is if tales like that could e'er stay still on my tongue" the captain laughs, smacking you on the back jovially. "You'll have no shortage of captains happy to ferry you back, I'm sure - but I'll spread word around to ease your path. It was a pleasure."
The two sellswords talk it out briefly before agreeing "... but don't underestimate
Castor Garan . I'm serious here."
The markets are abuzz with excitement and you are marked quickly as a newcomer - you push aside the strange wares coming from the New World, odd goods but nothing that resembles the relics or artifacts you've encountered. You angle towards the long path leading up to the citadel, slipping by the Saggaran guards lazily keeping watch.
The walls of the mountains are carved with ancient runes, of the type you saw in
The Magi D'Invocati though they are cracked and faded, almost as if the patterns have melted down the cliffsides. The great walls prove even less of a challenge to you, though they have been propped up with brickworks they leave plentiful footholds for you to scale - finally giving you a clear view of the Citadel. It is wondrous, three times the size of the Great Archive of Mane - stretching from one mountain to the other.
SPOT - you notice at the top a strange shattered spire that looks like
The Shattered Spire , though it has clearly been picked clean.
You fade from view and head inside, the unfurled Saggran banners covering most of the complex though the sparsely positioned soldiers cover far less ground. The interior is like a tomb, massively underpopulated and underfurnished - sounds from all throughout the complex echo past your ears in a confusing and dizzying medley. Some rough inscriptions mark the hallways, graffiti like what you saw in
The Bastion .
You focus and wander the grounds, attempting to discern some of the sounds from the chaotic bedlam. Somewhere you hear screaming, defiant shouts interspersed with silence - further afield you hear the sound of training, perhaps that is the voice of Mulsimo, the warrior you once met. While wandering you suddenly freeze, feeling cold - you have entered an area that is conspiciously empty, dust still settles in the corners, and an unnatural cold fills you.
WHAT DO ?
- Find Mulsimo and have him bring to the Dhal
- Seek out the screams
- Investigate the strangely abandoned area, it seems perfectly safe
- JAUDIBLE
Carefully maintaining your stealth you check the graffiti and interesting elements of the complex with the
Black and Silver Framed Mirror , but nothing reveals itself in them. Discouraged and now clearly desperate to find something unique you stride boldly into the dust-clad deeper chambers of the Citadel.
Almost immediately the distant echoes of conversation dim, and the hall enlarges into a series of spiraling chambers, curving about to several smaller rooms, long abandoned, about a main hall with several entrances, sitting like a spider at the base of this odd web. At the far end of the hall a great black door rests, slightly ajar, from which the chill emanates. Writing lines the walls, most too small and covered by dust and debris to read but across the top lined with numerous runes it reads 'Along the Path, our Garden Green'.
Intrigued you step forward, seeing a few scattered objects that may be relics of interest in the far corner. Suddenly as you approach the middle of the chamber the entire place rumbles, from thin air emerges a tremendous form. A Guardian, but not like those you encountered ruined in ancient places - terrifying, humming with energy, a Guardian like you saw in the Time Loop, it's eyes a glow with deadly energy.
UH OH WHAT DO?
- To the strange Door, it can't possibly fit inside
- Grab a relic and MR. T step right the fuck out of here
- Boldly state "klaatu barada nikto"
- 23, Red, 24 Blue, HUTT
Into the door he flung himself as the Guardian flashed fully into reality. It's eyes raged with flame but the door held firm, leaving only a trail of ash echoing the passage of Joey the Sorcadin. As he flew down the stairs he found himself in a series of strange crypts decorated with dripping runes and half-formed arches of fading stone, it resembled the strange area under the Penitent Man where the shades of the Gardeners were battled.
The entire crypt shook as he passed, brushing aside cobwebs and blazing light into the recessed corners of the many tombs contained within. The chaos above continued, the Guardian seemingly remaining behind and causing great consternation amongst the Saggarans above. There were dozens, no... hundreds of tombs stretching far beneath the ground. Marks of the Gardener, the twinned flames in the brush, were abundant, but it appears that further the symbols changed, becoming something you had not seen prior.
WHAT DO?
- Head further in, to the ancient tombs, were shadows linger and flames dance in the dark with foul intent
- The sounds above grow louder, perhaps I should just grab something and make haste to an exit
- There, down a particularly winding corridor, the symbol of Mane atop an ivory tomb, perhaps I should examine it
- Right Shoulder - X AUDIBLE
You run, dodging past falling debris - screams start to trickle in from the cracks forming in the ancient ceiling. Dust chokes you as you run past row after row of statues, cracked with age but still recognizable, you notice Ilya, the woman from the time loop as well as the strange arrogant Magi working in the laboratory.
You leap past a falling segment of the floor, it crumbles into an abnormal darkness below. Immediately you are assaulted by the sensation of the red-eyed horrors that have plagued you since you arrived in the New World.
One voice rises above the rest, a foul whisper that rasps in your mind, scratching at your sense of self:
"Lost one, child of ash
you have brought death with you
lay your loved to cinder
as the dreamers wake"
You stagger against the weight of the crushing cacophony but (DEX) make it to the edge of the tomb, the twin statues at either end depict glorious angelic forms, arced over the entryway as if to ward intruders. For a moment they seem to glow, but you feel the danger pass as warmth passes through you. Taking a moment to breath while the walls tremble yet again you scan the room for what may be of interest.
A massive ivory sepulcher sits in the center of this chamber, a plinth inset with crystal, gold and platinum sits at the base - it reads "Anaise, Kindred's Aegis." Oddly enough, two roses sit before the plinth in perfect condition, you can smell them even at this distance. Beyond the sepulcher two statues, one a weeping depiction of a young woman holding a child, the other the same woman, older, her back and legs set against a carving of a marble door, its dimensions odd, warped, as if receding into the stone beyond, shapes etched above and beyond it. A metal iron slat is inset at one end of the room, oddly smooth except for two distinct grooves, and at the other end a Guardian stands, in its outstretched hands an VHS orb.
The walls are crumbling, this place may soon be lost to the oblivion of the earth.
OMG WHAT DO?
You roll forward towards the Roses, pulling them from the base of the Plinth - your hand tingles with warmth as it touches them, you feel a vigor spread through your body and a sense of peace. As you vault over the Sepulchre towards the carving of the door you send out your mage hand to grab the VHS orb, but unfortunately it is stuck firm to the closed hand of the statue. As the room shakes to ruin you desperately attempt to make sense of the situation, but to no avail - despite your best attempts nothing happens. A stray stone bonks you good and you look up to see your impending death, desperately you Misty Step upward - appearing on top of a collapsing archway. Several soldiers shout, point at you, as you dexterously descend atop the collapsing structure and leap into the shadows of a neighboring portion of the complex.
"Anoint yourself in the light of the twinned sun..."
Safe again you tuck
Requiem, the Twinned Rose away, but the sounds of footsteps are coming closer. You turn to appreciate the ruin you have wrought upon the mountainside in tolkinesque fashion, but now you have a decision to make.
- The time for diplomacy has ended, let's go hunt for some prisoners while the chaos still envelops the citadel
- Come out with your hands up and ask to see the Dhal
- Invispoof and book it to the docks, time to find a ship and go home mission accomplished?
- It's AUDIBLE TIME
The smell of charred flesh lingers as you slip away from the massacre of the guards you just committed. As you quickly wind your way back towards the main chambers of the massive Sigrun citadel you reflect upon the casual mass murder you instigated without being threatened in any way... "Am I the bad guy?" you pause to wonder "CERTAINLY NOT" the voice that has always propelled you forward responds. Regardless you slip past the numerous guards, dodging the scent hounds who are momentarily confused by the smell of roasted meat behind you, and arrive back at the long rune marked corridor through which you entered.
Pausing to remember the sounds you once heard you make the bold assumption that the screams you heard may be in the dungeons. As you move in that direction your sorcerous/spiderman instincts kick in, there is a Wizard here, powerful, not a dilettante like you, and he/she is seeking you. Knowing your time is limited you make haste, your invisibility spell flickering off and on as you dart from shadow to shadow. You reach a gated corridor, but the guards look to have left it open in there haste. Beyond it a stretch of sconce-clad windowless halls. A dull moan reaches your ears from the eastern corridor, where your Arcana informs you some powerful wards are in place, while to the west you think you see a larger group cell in the distance.
TICK TOCK MOTHER FUCKER
- Towards the warded room and the strange moans - I just can't resist a mystery
- A larger cell, better chance of finding someone I'm looking for
- I CANT DIE IN A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE I FIND THAT WIZARD AND STAB HIM WITH THE SHEARS DIVINE
- Jaudible or "I use mage hand to free the group of prisoners and loot the treasury and steal the dhal's artifact while I walk over to the warded cell"
You tear yourself away from the mystery, one hand dangling in the wind towards it as you launch yourself towards the larger sell leaving behind a Wile E Coyote esque smoke cloud staring longingly at the magic cell filled with artifacts and relics. You reach the cell, a gravelly voice saying "What's the racket, karma biting yer kind in the ass?" You see a cell filled with poorly fed prisoners, most of them clad in tattered clothes and sickly. You quickly identify yourself and ask for the missing people. The largest of the men moves forward, a woman with stiff, cold eyes standing beside him.
"The Governor? No, he escaped - with Dane, Freya and Bors... north around the mountains, hoping to make it east across the plains. I am
Domitus Vaci and this is
Fabia Ludus , we have been held here since the Saggarans came."
You feel a crushing pressure reaching into your skull, the magic of the wizard, cruel and plot-pushing-forwardingly powerful. You desperately MAGE HAND the keys from a foot away and awkwardly MAGE HAND mangle them into the lock. Everyone taps their feet impatiently as you twist and turn it MAGE HANDEDLY. BOOM its open. The sound of footsteps behind you, the pressure of the wizard in your head.... RUH ROH?
I WOULD NOT DO THAT GUARDIAN
- Fight your way out you have a badass Praetor with you now and a half-starved girl
- Infinite sorcerer points mass invisibility and sneak out
- BRAVELY make a distraction luring the guards away allowing the prisoners to escape on their own
- Put the man into the pan
The prisoners follow your lead, taking a quick route out of the Complex trying desperately to avoid the pirates hunting you.
Fabia Ludus raises her eyebrows when you make the sign of the Roi, and nods slightly, cracked lips smiling hopefully. You evade several groups, emerging close to the base of the mighty walls of the Citadel. An explosion sounds next to you, and leap to the side as rocks plummet.
You find yourself separated from the group, with
Fabia Ludus and three of the prisoners on your side and
Domitus Vaci and the rest on the other, you hear the voice of
Slobac Vettes on the other end. "There, catch them fast", the surge of arcane magic is quicky flowing behind them.
UH OH SPAGHETTI-O
- Leave no man behind! HURRAH!
- Better not to expose yourself, make a stealthy escape with Fabia Ludus and the remaining prisoners
- This is all getting to be a bit too much, just grab Fabia Ludus and vanish into the sunset
- HAIL MARY
"Au Revoir
Domitus Vaci "
Joey the Sorcadin the cries upon the mountainside as he takes the remaining prisoners and
Fabia Ludus to the city, slipping in and out of the crowds as they make their escape.
The Captain of the Sea Sparrow, Saracen Westmore, is just getting back on to his ship to leave for his next destination as you come barrelling towards him -
Fabia Ludus , the prisoners, and your two sellsword friends in tow.
"SAILS DOWN" the Captain shouts, no stranger to quick getaways. With a gasp you run aboard the vessel, ducking behind the gangplank and staying out of sight. In time the great city of Sigrun recedes.
Ain't diplomacy grand?
THE END
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