General Summary
Exposition
"Solid" Eressanada Purrio sent a letter to Fortifier.
Eressanada admires Fortifier’s focus on others but is concerned that Fortifier isn’t progressing enough on the personal journey toward becoming an Alchemical Colossus.
Dreamflower had used Meditations on Rivalry last session and traced Deathrose Pot-pourri to the direction of Kamthahar.
Anavi (played by a guest player from the Palanquin circle)
Infernal who lives on a small island off the coast of The Dreaming Sea. He had been traveling with a group from Palanquin and knew Repatriator of Souls from that time.
Described as no-nonsense. “If everything is a nail, I’m the hammer for the job.”
At this point he would be on his island. He has used many Infernal charms and crafts to make it comfortable for demons and demon-blooded. He has summoned multiple demons to serve him and has amassed a small army.
Keeps All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight up all the time.
Anavi has sensed something strange shift in the dragonlines.
Review of who Repatriator of Souls is.
Used to be bound to The Lover, but has now become something of a free agent between the Black Heron and some others.
Now seeks the libration of all Abyssals from the deathlords.
Metrosexual, urbane individual.
Has gone fanatic to attack Prasad after what he sees as a betrayal by The Lover
Necromancer, Sorcerer and healer with some skill.
Associate professor of magic in Ys.
Mention of the Burning Scale
Scene: Kade is looking for Ghosts
He finds ghosts with the uniform of the store he is in.
(I honestly kind of lost track of what happened in this scene. Feel free to add more here.)
Scene: Back at the Nexus air manse where we keep Little Cloud
We have finished repairs and use the mist generator to fly out of the city cloaked in a cloud.
Seline comes with us. As we are leaving, she seems to be using the Signs of the Maidens to perform Sidereal Astrology.
Scene: On the road from Y'dana
Geography Sidenote: Y’dana is a settlement on a peninsula and island chain on the Dreaming Sea, north-northwest of Palanquin.
Rohen Velen is preparing his yeddim for travel.
A friend, sort of a wise woman, tells them about a cryptic dream that seems to foretell something.
Rohen apologies for misunderstanding the portents and the mystic acknowledges such dreams often do not make sense until the foreseen events occur.
Rohen Velen has a bodyguard named Malka Stormstep who travels with him.
Leading their caravan along the road from Y'dana to Kamthahar, capital of Prasadi Empire.
They see unusual objects speeding through the distant sky.
Scene: aboard Little Cloud
Meanwhile, the befogged Little Cloud travels rapidly toward Kamthahar.
Vingosh Silverclaws, our agent in Point Sunder, cries out that the siege from Mt. Metagalapa is breaking all of the sudden.
Anja wakes from her convalescence to ask what is going on.
Metagalapa begins flying away from Point Sunder toward Prasad.
Aboard Little Cloud, we see the flying mountain moving.
Fortifier tries to see if the old logs of the ship have anything about Metagalapa. While there is considerable history, there is nothing about the mountain.
Stelsor uses a modified version of Infallible Messenger that doesn’t need a target and permits remote viewing.
There’s a tent at the top of the mountain.
All the people on the mountain seem unconcerned by the cold and are wearing armor.
A bald muscular person seems to have a Eclipse Caste mark.
Refresher: this seems like Ar-Duke, who is possibly a surviving First Age Solar.
His armor is green-ish and might be Malfean brass.
A pretty lady near Ar-Duke.
Two other people with ancient versions of the caste marks.
Now that we have someone to message, Dreamflower sends an Infallible Messenger to the Ar-Duke
“Why have you broken the siege, friend” Stelsor’s suggestion.
“What is your interest in Tiaden Starwhisper?” Fortifier’s suggestion.
Ar-Duke’s response
"We laid siege to Point Sunder because they were Oathbreakers, we are in pursuit of these oathbreakers, this Deathrose Pot-pourri, she broke faith with us. We not not who this Tiaden is. Is he Anathema?"
Scene: On the ground, with Anavi and RoS
They witness an equatorial aurora in the sky.
Moonfoam, Anavi’s giant squid familiar, comes to hug the Infernal, seeking reassurance.
Anavi senses powerful things moving toward them. He dispatches 4 agatae demons to investigate this fast moving object.
They tell him there are two objects: something surrounded by a cloud and a flying mountain escorted by squadrons of giant birds.
Both are moving in the general route from Nexus, to Point Sunder to Anavi’s island.
They’re moving roughly 2000 miles in an hour.
Anavi suspects these objects are using the dragonlines to hasten their way. He attempts a sorcerous working to slow the mountain’s movement.
Shunts pulses of Malfean corruption and Underworld decay (from RoS’s help) down the dragonline to disrupt the essence flowing to the mountain.
Scene: Rohen some ways away from Y'dana on the mainland.
Maybe 1000 miles away, Rohen spots the mountain limned by a strange aurora.
Oddly, a small cloud is chasing it and overtaking it.
Rohen decides to circle the wagons of their caravan.
The mortals of this caravan take the opportunity to eat.
Rohen lets them rest but stays vigilant and tells Malka to stay on guard as well.
Malka tells Rohen that this flying mountain must be Metagalapa which has been raiding other places and most recently was sieging Point Sunder.
Blue light on the side of Malka’s head. Malka seems to understand it as a danger sensing ability or object.
Scene: Back aboard Little Cloud in pursuit of Metagalapa
We discuss our approach and decide to have Dreamflower (being a Solar herself) contact this Ar-Duke again to tell him we are also tracking Deathrose Pot-Pourri and could join forces for the moment.
Ar-Duke responds: “First Spark of Forgefire? Is that you? Why are you doing in this bird of Yu-Shan?”
This thoroughly confuses Dreamflower.
Ar-Duke says he would recognize this Exaltation anywhere.
Out-of-Character: Ar-Duke Pritchard is loosely based on Jean-Luc Picard.
Ar-Duke accepts our cooperation and asks us to match speed with the mountain.
RoS and Stelsor coordinate to pick up RoS and Anavi when we travel over the island.
When Stelsor meets his cousin in person for the first time in so long, Stelsor is so excited he greets RoS as “Jaroosh” (the living name RoS had to discard when becoming an Abyssal). *invisible point of Abyssal limit*
We give the newcomers an introduction and tour of the ship.
Anavi is shocked by the sheer amounts of Magical Materials built into this First Age vehicle.
There’s a dedication plate on the main deck, emblazoned by Queen Merala, holder of the mandate of heaven.
Stelsor provides Anavi and RoS with a copy of the ship’s log and RoS thanks Stelsor for sending the printing press some time ago.
Scene: Rohen’s caravan as the mountain and ship pass by above
Now that the objects are closer, Rohen and Malka can see that the Little Cloud contains a shining ship, seemingly built of valuable magical materials.
They imagine what they could do with that wealth.
Rohen and Malka consider if they should try to signal these objects, but decide to wait and see.
Scene: Little Cloud docks/lands with Metagalapa
Dreamflower (with Chalai the tea-cat) is chosen to lead those who disembark.
We leave Seline and Minx behind on the boat. (Bringing a Sidereal to meet a First Age Solar might not go over well.)
We meet what seems like 4 Solars on this mountain.
They’re all wearing tricorne hats.
They seem strangely unsurprised by Fortifier’s metallic appearance.
The Ar-Duke seems upset. He points to the caravan below and declares they aren't showing the proper respect.
Ar-Duke introduces the other Solars.
Vexillan Cavillo
Nemo Trieste
Ar-Duke is extremely concerned with punishing “oathbreakers”
Ar-Duke asks Dreamflower what happened to Bronze Harrier
This name triggers an Essence Dream (flashback to a past incarnation) of 3 generals in the palace of Queen Merala during the Divine Revolution.
Ar-Duke Pritchard was there, with hair back then, wearing the same Soulsteel and Malfean brass armor.
Also there are the August General of the East and the Great General of the West, who had together held off the Raksha from aiding the Primordials or insurging to take advantage of the fray.
First Spark of Forgefire had been assigned to the legions to design artifacts and maintain the warstriders, flying fortresses and the like.
Of these 5 solars, only 3 were willing to talk to one another.
Ar-Duke Pritchard held no respect for the other generals, despite their transcendent skills and legendary victories.
Bronze Harrier seems to have been First Spark of Forgefire’s Lunar bond-mate. Currently incarnated as Tidetamer.
Ar-Duke explains that Deathrose Pot-Pourri was once a high-ranking Solar.
Mystical senses
Fortifier uses Celestial Overseer Concordat toward the caravan and detects there is a Solar and Exigent below.
Somewhere in the heart of the mountain is an enormous Essence engine.
Hidden all across the mountain, magical symbols are embedded all across the mountain’s surface, even its underside.
Though Metagalapa supposedly didn’t start floating until the Great Contagion, it seems plain that someone with First Age skill and power wanted this mountain to fly.
We can detect a geomantic pressure, like a miasmic headwind, coming from Anavi’s island.
Stelsor asks Ar-Duke about a more permanent alliance between Metagalapa and Nexus.
Ar-Duke does not recognize or refuses recognize Nexus. Stelsor explains it is built atop the city of Hollow.
Ar-Duke’s opinion of Hollow is no better.
Ar-Duke names the price of mending fences with Nexus/Hollow is 1000 casks of Nexus wine and a promise to oppose Deathrose Pop-pourri.
We reason that we could benefit from the supplies of the caravan and assemble a party to go negotiate with them.
Scene: Parley on the ground with the caravan.
Fortifier, RoS, Stelsor and Dreamflower fly down on the Metagalapan hawks, which are roughly the size of fighter jets.
Interestingly, neither Ar-Duke nor any of his other Solar went with us.
Fortifier steps forward to introduce them. He explains we are a mixture of Nexans and Metagalapans who are chasing a common enemy and will need supplies.
Fortifier is forthright and friendly, as usual, but seems nearly oblivious to the threat posed by the magical flying mountain casting a literal shadow over these dealings.
RoS introduces his spooky self and offers his services as a barber and a surgeon.
The others introduce themselves and we pause the story here.
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