Last but certainly not least is SITHRAK

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YAOLNAIGH in his tomb

After the spider battles, the party continues on.  The find the traditional worker live/work spaces, and then enter a room with statues, representing the 'gods'.  Oh, I'm sorry - the 'GODS'.  It's pretty freaky and repetative - they go through a series of similar but not quite identical rooms, which is spooky and off-putting.  Finding their way free of that they start hearing chanting / singing, and come to a cavern with a statue of an old, robed/bearded man in the middle, and floating mouths/eyes/ears.  It is a fight, with biting and gaze attacks - again, the fight with organs is spooky and off-putting.  The party approaches the statue of YAOLNAIGH, who starts to change and transform - AofEk leaps forward with his Jovanspike and stabs YAOLNAIGH in the forehead.  The GOD laughs, and transforms into cockroaches and centipedes and other creepycrawlies - and again, uugh.

The party leaves, with the cultist priests bleeding from the eyes behind them.  And then back to Joven to check in with Salamancar.  There are more refugees; chit chit and helping and drinking, but mostly there's nothing new to be heard in Joven.  So the party leaves for the fourth tomb!

Some information about the Elves

From traveling and conversing with the Elves for a month or so, the following information was gathered:

• The Elf Lands, in area, are a little smaller (maybe two-thirds) than the human lands.  Maybe.  The lands are a rough circle, and it generally takes 20 days (or so) to ride a horse from one end of the Elf Lands to the other.
• However, there is a faster means of transport - each main Elf city has a device which transport between the city in question, and the Capitol.  These devices are called 'the device'.
• The Elf Capitol is called Trademeet.  Eight other cities have devices to teleport between the Capitol and that city.
• The devices have been around since the start of Elven history, which goes back 4500 years.
• The Elves originated when the gods were bored, and desired beings to dance and make their lives less tedious with love and artistic endeavors.
• The terrain of the Elflands is much less variable than the human territory - lots of plains broken up by forests, with rivers and the occasional hill.
• There are a few mines - but not as much industry as in the Empire.  Most of the ore dug is of higher quality than the human mines, but MUCH less of it is accessed.
• Elves live about twice as long as people do, with 300 being possible but quite rare.
• The Elven government is more along family/tribal lines; occasionally large groups will gather to talk about large projects (like constructing roads, or trade regulations).  There is a High Council with representatives of each family group meeting once every year, too.
• Families are organized by female lines; a male Elf will marry into a family, giving up the family of his birth.  The opposite happens, too - but rarely.  Family leadership is generally by age, ability, and will; women slightly outnumber men in government/leadership positions.
• The leader of the High Council is Glindea Au'Rean; she's held the position for 24 years.  The First is chosen by the Council when the previous first is ready to leave (or, rarely, is impeached); Glindea is a fairly popular First, though, and generally goes along with the High Council's decisions.
• Justice seems to be meted out at the individual level, when appropriate; for the most part restitution and rehabilitation is applied except for horrific crimes, or the insane.
• The elves don't breed as quickly as people; family sizes of three are uncommon, four are rare, and more than four children in a family is almost unheard of.
• If you had to guess, you'd think there were about a tenth as many elves as humans.
• Technologically they seem about as advanced as humans - their weapons are similar to human weapons, but with each element of design seems built with an eye to aesthetic appeal as much as functionality.
• The Elf Gods are as follows:
• Tir'Na Niogh; Goddess of Family, Organization, and Magic (NG)
• Allundrielle: Goddess of Nature, Moon, Poetry, Beauty, and Wine (CG)
• Zhen: God of Wisdom, Language, Mysteries, and Exposing the Unseen (LG)
• The Elves also honored JOVAN until quite recently.  Another God - KinThia Marquille - is seen as a trickster god - like Coyote in certain Native American pantheons.  Maybe KinThia might best be described as a demi-god; her alignment is CN but with good tendencies.
• The High Priest of the Elves is (was?) Gorioh Moliere; he was fairly old and feeble when the Elves you met left the Elf Lands, though.  Elven priests exist outside - or maybe parallel to - the general Elf governance.  Gorioh could cast 4th circle spells.
• The Elves don't, in general, dedicate themselves to one god or another - the priests honor and give each god their due, as appropriate.
• Elf wizardy is seen as a skill, like metallurgy or singing, which anyone with the will and time can learn (but few can master).  Magic training is informal and fairly well-distributed; sharing spells and even trading spell-books are common.  There are stories of casters who could cast 5th circle spells, but none widely known to currently exist - a few can cast 4th circle spells; almost every family has at least one person who can cast 2nd circle.

The Human Gods (revised) and the party

JOVAN was the human God.  As a monotheistic faith, JOVAN was dominant in all spheres of influence, touched everything the humans did, and granted spells to the faithful; under HIS influence the Church of JOVAN came to have great influence over the human Empire's development.  JOVAN was, in a traditional alignment scheme, NG.

JOVAN is now dead.  HE has one priest left, a scattered few relics, and some Paladins who still pay HIM some sort of regards.  In HIS wake are the new human gods:

• AELAEPHIXIA is generally represented as a tall woman wearing full armor and holding a spear.  SHE is generally associated with war, battle, the moon, courage, and strength; SHE is Lawful Evil.

• ASHELOIATAUR wears a faceless and formless-but-well-formed humanoid shape when appearing.  HE is associated with faceless masses, anonymity, magic, and the hidden/unseen.  HE is CN.

• YAOLNAIGH is a wizened old man with a beard and a smile that appears variously congenial and insane.  HE is associated with madness, mysteries, mortality, and penance; HE is CE.

• SITHRAK is a strange, somewhat bestial humanoid, with stringy patches of hair and an extra joint is HIS arms and legs.  HIS influence is that of control (especially over monsters and other humans) and slavery, trickery, and the night.  HE is NE.

Most of the worshipers of the above Gods are insane, by any regards.  It is a dark time for the human Empire!

Currently, the party casts as equivalent as 2nd level priests.  They have each chosen two domains, with the abilities of each domain and one 1st level domain spell per day; they can each cast a 1st level cleric spell and 2 0th level spells each day, too.  If anyone takes a level in any divine-casting class these spells are in addition to any of those spells; and the effective caster level for any cleric spells or abilities will be increased by two.

Freeing JOVAN also gave the party a permanent +1 to all saves as JOVAN's boon.

The spells and powers the party has do not come from any particular deity, and no powers need be invoked to use them.  Starting at 3rd circle, these and more powerful spells must come (at least in part) from a deity's beneficence.

Joven, changes in the Empire, and into another crypt

Picking up the pieces after the adventures in the tomb / attack by the cultists, the party and elves survey the scene.  The dead Elf is buried with a modicum of pomp and ritual, spells are exchanged between mages, and our merry band of adventurers decides to escort the Elves to Joven.

Everywhere the Elves go they get looks - they tower over humans, being on average seven feet tall (the commander is pushing 8 feet), and have a willowy, otherworldly look to them.  Being accompanied by some guardsmen - even such rough customers as our band of heroes - more than likely helps it from only being quizzical looks - but they're firmly in the uncanny valley for most humans, so maybe it's just seen as part of the general fuck-up-ed-ness of everything these days.

And the fuck-up-ed-ness has been ramped up recently, with the death of all the priests of Joven (well, except for a few) - the Militia is holding on, but just barely.

In Penumbria they hear of changes to the Empire - martial law has been declared as Sal tries to keep things together, and the priest in town - trained by Darbauw at the asylum - appears to think he is at least half dog.  In Applo the elves take a quick look through the tomb, and state they'd like to spend more time there, after diplomatic ties are established.  Then on to Joven!

Sal is glad, as far as he gets glad, to see the party, and had supper sent in for everyone.  Chit chat chit chat and the party finds some things out about the world - the cultists appear to be mutating into a service organization, helping to heal the sick and wounded now that the Empire has no priests of its own.  They're still attacking settlements - around all three towns the party travels into/through are refugee camps - but they seem to be targeting infrastructure, and replacing it with themselves.

AofEk learns some spells and makes some shit and generally fucks around in a lab, as mages do.  Horace gets wasted and finds trouble, as rogues do.  Cimbri, after being a horrible motivational speaker in Penumbria, tries again - but this time his message is intended to rally the homeless to join the militia, at which he is significantly more successful - overall, from his speech and actions, a good four hundred people sign up for the Empire (that's almost half as many people as serve in Joven - quite a sizable increase!)

Somewhere along the way Tara freaks out and sets fire to the Mage Academy, as well.  The party shrugs and moves on.

Moves on to the third tomb - up north, near the border between Atlea and Zendea.  Again, a group of pilgrims guards the entrance to this tomb - a hole in the ground, this time - but the leader of the group greets the party by saying "Asheloiataur's blessing upon you".  Which really is kind of a strange thing to say to our group - but whatevs, they think, as they grimly enter the tomb.  Shit's pretty fucked up, after all, and maybe this too is part of the fuckupedness of the world.

The party descends, finds corridors, and has a fight with some spiders - some big and nasty beasts!  The battle is pitched and furious, but the party emerges victorious, and....

The curtain falls, for now.  What will happen next!

The book that James found

It's a 15-page document, so instead of posting the text here, I've posted it to my Google drive.  Here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcO1adBwigq3YCdzCNuB2fOzP35sRY1ziJHfbuSJIb0/edit?usp=sharing

Good luck!  Info on the Elflands to follow in the next couple of days.

This portion of the adventure is brought to you by the letter J

Because J is for James - the last priest of the Dead God Joven.

The party rides to Penumbria, having a conversation with General Joachim.  More is told than asked, but the General seems happy with the results of the conversation - play the mage guild off against the Senate, induct the mages into the Militia, and go searching for people living outside of the Empire.

The third one doesn't seem like the highest priority for Joachim, but the other two ideas seem pretty good to him.

Next to Penumbria - as quick as possible, where Salamancar is found passed out at a table, drunk.  His assistant Fred seems fine with them reviving Sal; the bartender Tony is wary, but ultimately strongly in favor of the plan, telling Cimbri that the other drunks in the bar are Sal's assistants, that Sal will need as Regent, and that he's Sal's secretary.  Tony would follow Salamancar "to the ends of the earth, and back, if needed," which seems like an unusual thing for a secretary to the head of the thieve's guild to say.

The party rides, as quickly as possible, away from Penumbria towards Joven, with two carts full of drunks and their gear, the 'bartender' Tony driving the first cart, and a Militiawoman named Sara to drive the second cart.

Salamancar wakes up on the road the next morning, a bit confused at being in a cart, and resistant to the idea of assuming his duties as Regent.  But here is reason (1) why J-is-for-James is the sponsor of this episode:

"AofEk.  AofEk.  Do you want to do this, or should I?"

"Go ahead, James," the mage replies.

James Morrigan looks Salamancar, the Regent of the Empire, in the eyes, and asks, "What oath did you swear?"

Salamancar, hungover and belligerent, pretends to not understand this question.

"You have duties.  Was your oath to Joven, or to the Empire?", James asks again.

Salamancar's face shows several different emotions: rage, despair, sorrow, and acceptance, all within the space of several seconds.  Then, nodding, he appears to sober up, and expresses to the party his resolve, "I have a hole inside of me, where my god is dead, but I swore an oath to the Empire and I am ready to perform my duties."

After that it's a bit tense, actually, and harsh words are said between Sal and AofEk, but by the end of the day Salamancar and his assistants, the last Paladins of the Empire, agree to take up their mantles, and perform their duties, even though they all feel an emptiness where their god used to live inside of them.

AofEk is surprised to see Sal heal himself from his hangover, and a conversation is had about spells, spellcasting, duties, oaths, and honor.  That afternoon they part ways - Sal and the Paladins (and Tony) head to Joven to try and keep the Empire together, and Sara drives the party back to the Black Swamp.

The last thing Sal commands the party to do is "Keep on stirring shit up,"  which makes the party a little tense, because the command was to do what they've been doing, but it's hard to take commands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder

So on to Coriander!  Coriander is burned to the ground!  That's not really unexpected.

The party searches for an afternoon, finding a few burnt bodies but nothing much of interest; the mages' hut in the swamp is not burnt down, but looks deserted.  Heading further into the swamp towards the pull our heroes feel they see a small palisade in the distance, where they want to go, manned by...

Well, maybe 'manned' is not quite the appropriate word.  Imagine a person, stretched and elongated by about a foot-and-a-half, and you'll have a good sense of these... beings?  People?

Elves.  Let us call them by the word that the world will come to refer to these - yes, people - as.  Elves!

There is a moment of greetings, which is significantly less tense than some first-encounter-moments our heroes have experienced, where the Elves realize that the party is who they've been waiting for, and are not crazy cultists intent on only murder, and the party realizes that elves are pretty rad.  Only one elf speaks Human, granted to him in a vision - a priest of Tir'Na'Nagosh (whose demesne is farmers, hunters, parks, the wilderness, and beauty).  Introductions all around!

The Elves guard an entrance to a set of corridors, where there is a door that the elves cannot approach (they are filled with dread/despair/fear/horror/disgust when they get within ten feet of it) - the kind of door with runes and wards that our heroes have encountered before.  Turin - the Elf priest - and the party share stories and fables, and AofEk and Wu'ur (an Elf mage) share spells - smiles and good feelings all around.  Then a quick rest to re-memorize spells, while Cimbri and Fallia N'ir (the Elf Commander) spar; and into the passage they go.

Unfortunately, the Elves are still unable to approach the door even after it is opened and the wards removed; this causes AofEk no end of consternation.  Turin is consulted, who reveals that there will be 'fire and blood' when the party proceeds inward; the Elves tell the party that they will watch the palisades, and keep everyone safe:  "We have your back," Turin says.  AofEk warns the Elf that our heroes go to kill a god, the god of the Elves, which is an unusual thing to say to a priest, but here is reason (2) why J-Is-for-James-the-last-priest-of-the-Dead-God-Joven is today's sponsor:

"Turin.  It will be strange and life-changing.  But remember that it is an adding, not a subtracting.  New doors opening does not mean old doors close."

And with that, the party descends!

This crypt is much shorter and less walk-for-a-mile-through-underground-corridors than some of the crypts; the party soon comes to a 4-way intersection.  To the left is a warded door; ahead is a set of ancient living-and-working spaces; to the right is a warded door, which pulls the party.

Opening the left door - not the one that draws our heroes - we find a room forty feet wide, several hundred feet long, with two 'rivers' of smoky steam travelling lengthwise down the chamber.  It's a very odd effect; Cimbri finds the columns to be hot and wet, and the end to be solid but with a different feel than stone.  AofEk casts a spell - and at that, demons appear!

On the one side, a 10-foot tall, white skinned man-shaped but featureless figure wearing a... well, a suit of armor made of bottles, is the only way to describe it.  On the other side five blob-shaped-men figures emerge.

It's not a very tense fight; of course our heroes finish the demons handily.  James summons fire elementals to guard the flank from the smaller creatures while Cimbri and Horace finish the bottle-armor thing.  AofEk asks James about his summons, and lack of secret-door finding spells; James says that he's different than he used to be.

And then to the chamber that draws our lads.  Opening the warded door, at the ready, we see...

What looks to be a stage, with concentric circular rows of seats descending, like an operating theatre; our heroes enter at the top.  Down in the 'stage' part of the room is a study or a den; a fireplace, bookshelves on the walls, and a figure, seated in the middle on a fancy chair, 'reading' a book in 'his' hand.  The figure appears unfinished, an amorphous man-shaped figure, but in an instant the party realizes that the formlessness is created by intricate, precise form.

The figure looks up at our heroes, closes 'her' book quickly, and, snapping 'its' fingers vanishes.

Oh.  Once more the party has been in the presence of a god.

James clutches his head and sinks to the floor, moaning, and everyone feels a stronger connection to the realm of Gods.  AofEk grabs the book the figure held and then casts his run-fast spell, and he and Cimbri race for the surface, where they find a battle just finished; one elf lies dead, the rest are mostly injured but mostly alive, and Turin quivers groaning on the ground.  AofEk and Cimbri, with the help of AofEk's raven, take off after the retreating cultists (who attacked the compound); slaying several and generally mopping up.

Horace searches the chamber while James recovers; the room, on further inspection, is shoddy and fake;  the bookshelves are painted wood, the fire is colored paper over a natural air vent, the chair is plywood and balsa.

When James recovers, he asks, "Horace - am I okay?  How's my hair?"  And while the last might seem an odd question, given the nature of the cultists (identifiable by their odd and oddly similar haircuts) an appropriate question.  Horace is worried - in a variety of ways, one might suppose, but helps James to his feet; James grabs a book out of the bookshelf - yes, a real book out of the fake bookshelf - and the two return to the compound.

The book the figure held, which AofEk grabbed, was 112 pages, all filled with the same word, over and over:

ASHELOIATAUR.

((The contents of the book James grabbed, and some notes about the Elf lands, will follow in the next posts.))

Exciting times!

A death and the aftermath

The party descends into the crypt, along a path strewn with the dead and the dead-undead, through open secret doors and hidden panels, passing through an open door with runes and wards (In this crypt (asleep/dead/alive) Johrven lies dreaming.  Long may he (live/rest)), and finally seeing the last three of the mercenaries and thieves from the lava tubes, past another runed and warded door (Pass through to (ruin/change/rebuild) the world.  A (chained/dead/sleeping) god is nigh), picking a lock.  The party is furious that the other people who felt the same call as they heeded the call as well, but manage to put their differences behind them enough to let the two thieves and the mercenary enter the next chamber first - where they walk into the open arms of some gnarled and desiccated walking corpses.

It is a deadly fight!  The barbarian almost dies!  Horace almost dies!  It is very exciting!  But, the party prevails, and sets off to explore.  First to a room with four doors, which seem to correspond to the four elements of the room where Aelaephixia was found.  Next to a set of chambers that appear to have once been living and working quarters.  Finally a smallish room, with a lower ceiling than the rest, and a man, crucified and vivisected, and apparently still alive

Uh oh.

James and AofEk rush over and begin pulling the large spikes holding the man's wrists and ankles to the wall, as well as the smaller spikes keeping his skin peeled back from his abdomen and chest.  "Who was first?" asks the somehow still-alive figure.  The party tries to answer with their own questions, but the god is insistent:  WHO WAS FIRST?  "Aelaephixia," he is told, at which he moans, and says, "Oh - it is war, then."

There is a shuddery moment of doubt and pain and fear, and then Johrven/Joven (for that is who dies here, today - God is Dead) looks at each person and says, "They are coming.  Do not trust them.  Do not...."  And dies, in James' arms.

There is a stunned moment, but then Joven begins to leave, shrinking as if getting farther away.  James plucks out his eye as he disappears, until all that is left of the Dead God is his eye, which James hands to AofEk.  "I am connected to that," James says, "But I do not care to carry it."  AofEk is intrigued and you can almost feel the schemes and plans - but no, that is merely the ground trembling, as if mourning the passing of God.

The trembles and shakings get worse, and the party starts to leave down the long corridor - but with a vicious rumble the hall collapses.  Heading back to the room with elemental doors, the party considers their options - until Horace, putting his head into the room of Air, gets gathered into a whirling vortex and lifted bodily upwards.  James follows, and there's a tense moment where both AofEk and Cimbri want to go last - but both eventually leave the tomb of the Dead God Joven.

Emerging from... somewhere... the party arrives near a fountain which burbles a few blocks from the Temple - and as the party lands, the watch the ground open and the main Temple collapse down into the earth.

The city of Joven begins to burn.

Uh oh.

Three more people were present when Aelaephixia re-entered the world, who for a variety of reasons were unable to enter the Tomb of the Dead God; Kylie and Francis are missing from Emperor Milosh's house, and Angus is found dead in his cell, his eyes torn out of his head and held in his hands.

Next stop is the Asylum, where after a slightly tense moment the party re-meets Father Darbouw.   It's nice to know powerful people - like, for instance, the last two priests in the world, potentially.  Darbouw is surprisingly lucid, and asks for assistance in the asylum - they would like some food, and guards.  The party agrees and sets off to find some high-ranking militia person.

At this point, Cimbri and Horace both leave to rescue people and their things from burning buildings; Cimbri officially, with a Major to help him move quickly from victim to victim; Horace stealthily, with an eye towards plunder.  Both make the city more better than worse, however.  James leaves on his own mysterious mission.  AofEk commands that the sinkhole which swallowed the Temple be guarded and a perimter set up; once he sees that such a thing is being done, he returns to Milosh's house, where the rest of the party eventually finds their way.

While settling down for a meal, however, a private in the Militia rides up, exhorting the party to come to the Senate hall, where the Emperor has been slain.

Uh-oh.

The party finds the Emperor surrounded by the bodies of a dozen or so cultists, guards in a panic, and pandemonium.  They enter the Senate hall, where AofEk speaks to the Senators, calming them (somewhat) and causing some spirited debate.  They are tasked with returning to Penumbria to retrieve the Regent, so that he may return to Joven and restore order to the Empire.

Riding out of town that night, General Joachim Chatelain rides for the first hour or so, gleaning what information he can from the party that might help him guide his wounded city through the next month or so, and offering to answer any questions the party might have.

With heavy hearts and weary bodies, the party makes haste for Penumbria.

The aftermath, and making an arrest

The party, a bit stunned, decides to investigate the remaining doors in the tomb complex, finding some magical items of wonderment, two chained and animated skeletons, a suite of abandoned rooms, most likely living quarters, and an enormous room, with odd purple lighting, covered in fungus, and an odd compost heap (a giant one, too - complete with entire logs) in the middle of the room.

Our intrepid band wants nothing to do with this, shutting, locking, and arcane-locking the door on their way out.  Then back upstairs, where the survivors were all also touched by Aelaephixia in the same ways as our party...  Both Kyrie and the captured priest are catatonic, and will not emerge from whatever dark place their thoughts have run to for the rest of our adventure.

It is discovered that everyone in the complex - not just those in the room with Aelaephixia - have been given a connection to the goddess, all in the same way.

Conversations are had, trust is hesitantly given, and plans are made.  First our noble heroes journey farther inside the mountain to see the lake of fire, which is beautiful and majestic - the cave is enormous, the actual lake is majestic, with the occasional bubble of lava bursting into the chamber, and hypnotic heat ripples wave through the room, and what seem like motes of burning ash turn into hand-sized dragonfly-looking 'creatures' that appear to be made of raw lava.  One approaches the party, appearing to study them, before rejoining it's fellows in a dance over the magma.

The party is initially dismayed that they are unable to approach closer than 25 feet or so to the lava.  But, of course, they find a way to urinate in the lava lake, using the barbarian's rage and the wizard's prestidigitation spell.  Because there's majestic beauty of nature, and then there's adventurers and their ways.

Back to the complex to gather their forces, our party and mercenaries and etc head back out into the world.  As they emerge from the caverns, they start feeling a... compulsion, or an... itch - something, drawing them to four other places in the world, places like this one, tombs or resting places for other gods:

 - West of Spoek, near the border between Atlea and Zendar
 - Outside of Coriander in the Black Swamp
 - down between the Empress and Basalt in Vallea
 - In the city of Joven

It is weird, and a bit off-putting, and our band looks at each other, bonding over their shared horror.  Over the next couple of days the Mercenary captain wakes up and goes through some awesome WTF moments, then he and Cimbri declare their mutual beef which they will put off until they reach Joven.  The theives also wish to head to Joven, not seeing Lucius, their contact in Bai.

So onward to Bai!  Our merry band heads to Lucius Johniah's office, there to gather information regarding the men who were guarding Aelaephixia's tomb.  Lucius appears to be agreeable, but points out that he is the executor of the contract, and as stated the mercenaries, since they did not complete their terms of service, were not eligable for full pay or bonuses.  This annoys our band, who, in an escalating series of gambits:

  - Order Lucius to provide money for the mercenaries
  - Order Lucius to violate the terms of the contract
  - Order Lucius to provide any and all documents regarding the mercenaries, which he does
  - Become angered when other documents relating to the financial arrangements (but not directly to the mercenaries) are not forthcoming
  - Arrest Lucius under suspicion of blasphemy and sedition
  - Refuse to provide Lucius with his attorney during questioning
  - Go through Lucius' safe, reading sealed documents
  - Bind, gag, and hood Lucius and drag him outside to the tard-cart

All in all, it's business as usual for our band.

As they leave the city, the party is met by Brett Aingtar, the Captain of the Bai Guard, and asked to come back to the Militia House for a conversation; he reveals that Lucius is the subject of an ongoing, careful, and very legal investigation, so his arrest might not be what's best for all concerned.  Revealing their connection to the Emperor and that Lucius might know about the Great Evil Things in the world does not seem to sway him; revealing that 'someone' went through his safe, and that in the course of investigating that break-in many papers might be found and read, does.  Brett provides the party three carts pulled by three fast teams of horses - and on to Joven!

At this point, to recap, we have AofEk, Cimbri, and Horace, plus Durim (still incapacitated from delicious grapes).  Additionally, the four militia men picked up in Amber are along for what is turning out to be quite a more exciting adventure than was originally planned.  Along with them are James, a priest who is struggling (and mostly succeeding) to make sense and process what has happened, another priest of Joven (Kylie) who is horribly burnt and catatonic, and another priest (Francis DeTone) - also catatonic.  The mercenary captain (Angus) and his three mercs are along - Angus bides his time before he can fight Cimbri, and the three mercenaries are fairly puzzled but generally happy with the course of events. The two thieves Joline and Chet also tag along to Joven - they were headed there anyway.  Finally, the prisoner Lucius Johniah accompanies with poor grace our noble band.

The party is met on the outskirts of Joven by Major Rex Tomboulien, accompanied by a couple of lawyers, 10 militia members, and another 10 or so men-at-arms.  A tense moment is had until the party identifies themselves as the Emperor's men, so Rex accompanies them to Milosh's house.  Milosh and Lucius are apparently old friends, unfortunately, but Emperor Milosh congratulates the party on performing their duties (stir shit up, and get a feel for what's going on in the Empire).  James is a bit star-struck to be in the presence of such an August person as the Emperor, and tells him in a rush the heart of what has happened so far.  Milosh invites James to stay in his guest house (with the catatonic priests) before meeting with the high priest, and invites the party back for breakfast - he'll talk to Lucius and smooth everything over with his friend that night.

As they leave Milosh's house, the party realizes that the pull they feel in Joven is coming from one of the graveyards in the city - and as they approach, that they're drawn towards one of the mausoleums in the back of the graveyard.  They go up to the door of the structure and see a chain and an unlocked lock, and the gate swinging open, and remember that there are at least 9 other people in town who also felt the pull....

Exciting times, again!

A Surprising Development

From the factories of Amber into the Volcanic Mountains, our intrepid band presses on.  Durim once again gets into the grapes, much to his woe and dismay, but the group is enlarged with 4 men-at-arms, as well as the priests Kylie VanDerWolfe and James Morrigan.  After almost three weeks of travelling through the mountains the party arrives at a set of lava tunnels - the location of another crypt like the one outside Applo, according to Tara's research.  The lava tube itself is enormous - easily 50 feet wide and almost as tall.  Several hundred feet in - thank goodness for everburning torches! - a stream trickles down the tube and out a small passage; following the stream for another half a mile the party comes to a carved tunnel in the side of the tube where the stream flows from.  Walking down the tunnel the party comes to a door, behind which is...

Several men, playing cards at a table.  They are as surprised to see the party as the party is to see them; friends are called, and a somewhat tense conversation is had, where the party reveals themselves as militia, and the men say they are in a philosophical retreat.  It seems a bit fishy in retrospect, doesn't it?  But at the time, it made some good sense, and the party was allowed to search the caves for any secret tombs, with the cave-dwellers' blessings...  at least, until a strange wall was found, with an unusual, magicked region about the size of a doorway.

"You cannot go in there", says the party's guide as he casts a spell, "We serve a higher power than you know."  AOfEk casts a spell, as does the man guiding the party around; Horace sees this as an opportunity to strike from behind at one of the sneaky guards, putting her down.  And combat is afoot!

Which, of course, our bold adventurers handily won.  The mage lay dead, as did one of the mercenary guards; the other three mercenaries, the head mercenary, two sneaky 'scouts' and the enemy priest (who invoked Ixia in his spells!) lay unconscious, or surrendered.  The three mercenaries are quite cooperative, saying what they know about the men who hired them, what the contract was for and how much it paid, and some small information about the people they shared the caves with.

The priest is awakened and questioned, and is not very forthcoming with information:  "We guard an ancient secret which must not be disturbed."  If anything, however, his words make the party even more interested in disturbing ancient secrets, and disturb them they do.  Behind the strange spot in the wall is a statue of a woman in full armor with a spear - the same kind of statue as was in the tomb outside of Applo.  A secret opening in the floor leads to a ladder down, with a strange, ancient complex of rotten and musty odors.  Many corridors are followed and doors are opened - two with wards.  The outside one reads "This is the (bedroom / resting chamber / crypt) of Aelaephixia.  Let (men / creatures) war no longer."  Some interesting and non-rotten items are found - a strange light suit of armor, a handful of gems, and a bundle of arrows - as well as a second warded door, again with runes.

Behind this door is a large chamber - over 100 feet in both directions.  In each corner of the room a pool is set into the floor - one with a roaring fire, another with a stationary dust-devil, a third with loamy compost, and the fourth a pool of serene water.  In the middle of the chamber are daises - each about eight inches high, with the middle platform a good four feet from the floor level.  On the middle platform stands another marble statue of the woman with a spear.

The woman.... changes, somehow, and becomes instead of a statue, something... alive.  Her eyes open and stare at the party, looking through them and inside their souls, smiling as she asks:

IS IT TIME?

The party is rather taken aback at this, but AOfEk has the presence to say, "Who are you?"

I AM AELAEPHIXIA, AND I... OH.  OH, I SEE.

She pauses, and again looks through the party and into the beyond.

THIS IS... FUNNY.  YOU ARE MINE (looking at the Barbarian) AND YOU, IN YOUR WAY (looking at the mage) ARE MINE, BUT YOU (looking at the rogue), WELL - AND OH!  OH, I SEE.  YES (looking at the two priests as she starts to smile.)

She smiles a horrifically and awe-producing smile at each of the party in turn, then says:

YES.  I SEE.  YOU ARE MINE, LITTLE ONES.  GO AND SPREAD THE WORD OF AELAEPHIXIA

And she vanishes from the chamber as if she were never there.  The party, stunned almost beyond belief, realizes they have been touched by a god, and have gained some abilities of the priesthood.

James sits down, stunned, and Kylie races to the middle of the platform, screaming, "NO!  NO!  NO!" at the top of her lungs, smashing her mace hard on the stones.  The rest of the party reels, watching her, as she leaps down and races into the pit of fire, burning herself quite badly.  Were it not for the quick thinking of AOfEk - who grabs the fire-proofing help from the barbarian and pulls Kylie from the fire, screaming for James to heal her - she would be lost. As it is she will have scars and burnt skin, perhaps mirroring the turmoil she feels within.

The curtains close on this act of our drama with our adventurers reeling and confused about what just happened, and how to feel about freeing a goddess and being chosen as the first members of her congregation.

Empire Provence Maps

Map of the world

Making Friends on the job

As Durim recovers from his intestinal discomfort - the grapes are all eaten - the party arrives at the Tomb outside of Applo.  Justian spends several hours investigating, retracing the party's steps.  The guards out front are tasked with building a gate, which will make their jobs easier; they readily agree.

Then - off to Joven!  Milosh asks the party to visit the province capitols and get a sense for what's going on, and (if possible) track down any weird stuff or cultist activity.  The party feels this is a bit too stringent a task but agrees, reluctantly, to do as their Emperor orders.  Horace insists that his underworld contact report unusual activity to the Emperor, and Cimbri and AOfEk have a conversation with High Priest Carlton on the nature of priest spells (and how they are similar and different to/from arcane spells).  Tara shows AOfEk her investigations into the tomb at Applo, and how she has found evidence of another crypt to the far east.  Justian is left to his research, and the party is off to Amber, the capital of Vallea.

Amber is a mining and metalworking town, and a green haze hangs over the dry, dusty city as they approach.  Our band heads to the worst bar they can find, in the middle of the smelting district, where Cimbri shows off his ability to withstand fire.  The priest assigned to the smelting district is being derelect in her duties, and has not been healing the injured smelter workers; Cimbri gives one with a severe burn on his hand a healing potion, and hears the tales of woe about Kylie Rodin, the priest in question.  The party also hears of two cultist attacks nearby - a grain mill several hours outside of town, and a bar and brothel in the warehouse district.

Kylie is defensive and dismissive when the party approaches her; the mayor of Amber (Paige Ovitt) is more polite, but also dismissive.  Peter Wakely, the Colonel of the Militia in Amber, is much more forthcoming, and is entirely on board with the party's task, offering whatever help they need in their investigations.  Joel Northern, the foreman of the Union Carbide smelter in town, is questioned, and, while pleasant and helpful, has no information or help to give.  Investigating the bar reveals the word "SHELOI" written, in blood, under several bottles of spirits in a back corner of the bar.  Uh-oh!

On their way to see Jarred Treen - the priest of Amber - Cimbri stops in at the Artificer's Guild to enchant his sword.  Jarred, though defensive, is understanding of the party's goal, and though he doesn't understand the nature of the problem in the world, is willing to help.  Some of the aid he provides is Kylie Rodin, who is ordered to accompany the party to the Crypt several days ride to the northeast.

As Cimbri waits for his sword to be enchanted, the party questions the patrons who were at the bar during the attacks; no new information is gathered, and the people there seemed more freaked out than anything.  The priest watching the interviews, however, is led to the realization that 'detect evil' might be useful to help ferret out cultists, and promises to disseminate the information.

And then - the party rides off, into the mountains, in search of crypts.  Exciting times!

The Cabin In The Woods - a translated book

(This book is bound in some sort of skin stretched and riveted over what feels like a thick sheet of hard metal.  The pages are an unknown material.  The title is printed on the front cover, and repeated (with the byline) on the first front page.)

The Cabin in the Woods

Volume II

As Told By Mogen Son of Molag

Late one night a few seasons ago, a soldier was returning home after several bloody battles. He decided he would save some gold and decided to cross the pine forest on foot.

The first day of his journey was rather uneventful, the soldier stuck to the main path and kept a brisk pace. When it started getting dark he setup his bedroll, built a small fire and cooked up some rabbit he had caught. "A fine day indeed" he thought to himself as he fell asleep.

Partway through the evening the soldier was woken up by soft sobbing in the distance. He grabbed his sword assuming it to be a bandit trick, but pretended to sleep so he could get the jump on them. After a few minutes the sobbing started moving away from his camp until he could no longer hear it. For the rest of the night slept with one eye open.

Day two the soldier awoke from what rotten sleep he could catch and started off through the forest at a quicker pace, intending to put distance between himself and whatever he had heard last night. As the day went on it began to rain heavy so the soldier built himself a little shelter for the evening so he could remain dry while he slept.

It took him a little longer to fall asleep with thoughts of the previous night fresh in his mind but he eventually slept.

This time he awoke to sobbing that sounded like it was right outside his shelter. The soldier grabbed his sword and crawled out of the shelter. In front of the fire he saw the back of a ghostly woman sobbing into her hands.

The soldier mustered his courage and asked her what was wrong.  He received no answer.

He began to slowly approach but before he could reach her she turned and screamed at him. The ghostly woman raised an axe and began to run at the soldier, disappearing before she made contact.

The soldier took off into the night with just his sword in hand. He ran until the first light of dawn where he started down the road again, as fast as he could move.

The third day was bright and sunny, but the soldier, rattled and sleepless, didn't even notice. He moved as fast as he could trying to get through the forest before nightfall.

As darkness began to fall he saw a cabin just off the road and thought to himself it would be a good place to hunker down for the night. After arriving at the cabin he spent some time blocking the doors and windows, nothing would get in.

Despite his preparations, he could not sleep. He sat in what used to be the cabin's bedroom staring at the barricaded door shaking. Eventually he could keep his eyes open no longer and fell asleep.

This time he awoke to laughing on the other side of the barricaded door. It sounded like the woman from before, but he refused to believe it was her.

The soldier burst through the barricaded door into the main room to find the ghostly woman from the night before staring at the ground laughing hysterically with axe in hand.

He began to relentlessly attack the ghostly woman but he could feel his strikes were less effective. As the last of his energy faded he uttered a quick prayer to Johrevn, which drew a scream from her and she exploded, disappearing.

The ordeal was over, the ghost was gone.

The soldier slept well that night and the next day made excellent distance through the woods. As the sun began to set he came out on the other side of the forest and looked back, remembering the days before.

As he turned and started walking away from the woods he could swear he heard the sobbing again.

On Aelaephixes - a translated book

On Aelaephixes

(This book is bound in ancient brittle leather that somehow is not cracked.  The pages are skin of some sort, stiff with age but sturdy.  There are four parts to the book. A short first section, with each of the following lines to one page, and a blank page between each section, follows.)

Let this tome be forgotten forever.

Let it be struck from the rolls of history.

Let it never be spoken of by man or mer.

Let its very name be lost to the ages.

Ye who read here, know:

This book was written at great price.

Honor those who perished in its compliation

Close it now, and leave them to their rest.

Or if you must read on, know this

Aelaephixes

Will find you

Will bless you with (trauma / torture / struggles)

Aelaephixes requires only your honor

Only your death

Only your Worship

(The next section of the book is much longer.  Each line is repeated in what appears to be different hands at the top of the left page and bottom of the right.  On each page is an illustration; an abstract figure on the left, and a faded sketch which could, you suppose, represent the scenario described on each page.  Where there are breaks below are two pages with an asterisk as the only writing – a large asterisk, covering most of the page.)

A spirit of the wilds, mercurial in form, sister to gazelles.

A practitioner of law, with her several secretaries.

The seventh wife of a tyrant king, carrying his chief huntsman's child.

The death of the primary heir of a local noblewoman.

A wandering spirit, visible at will, an inflamer of human passions.

A band of goat herders, armed, outraged by an injustice visited upon their clan.

A happy girl, promised in marriage to a gentleman, naive to the danger he represents.

The deathbed curse of a betrayed queen.

A war-sorceress, slender but commanding, with golden hair.

An altar to devils of the waste, stinking with gore.

The human servant of a mighty and unspeakable demiurge.

A great army's marching orders, passwords, and signals, and the unfortunate aide who lost them.

A small room under the foundation, its doorway bricked shut, the prison of a dreadful and malicious spirit.

An ancient stone way marker, indicating an overgrown road, and the ghost of a man buried there.

A market on the crossroads, full of sound and color.

An unsavory treasure-seeker, with an honest map.

The capture of a bandit carrying ancient treasures looted from a previously unknown tomb.

A fishing village with an inn of good quality.

A noble house's signatory ring, left behind in a street brawl.

A practitioner of law, with her several secretaries.

A corrupt guard, turning a blind eye to the illegal businesses that have paid him off.

(The third section of the book contains what appears to be several pages of fictional constellations and anatomical diagrams.  None of the star maps match any part of the sky; none of the animals or structures dissected match creatures in the world.)

(The final section of the book is in a different style from the rest – perhaps a different language all together.  It is the final two pages of the book.)

Look upon the face of Aelaephixes and wonder.

Raise your arms that Aelaephixes may look on them and bestow a blessing.

Know that battle is a blessing.

Know that death is an eventuality.

Know that you are dust in the eyes of Aelaephixes.

Long is the arm of Aelaephixes, and swift is the blade.

Deep is the cut, and subtle is the poison.

Worship, o faithful. Pray your death is short.

Worship, o faithful. Pray your death is quiet.

Worship, o faithful. Worship the glory that is Aelaephixes.

Even more exciting times in York

As Durim begins to feel queasy, our band of valiant adventurers questions the apprentice.  He leads our band, reluctantly, to the shack where he and his master lived, and shows them the precious spellbooks therein.  Huzzah!  But as they leave the swamp and investigate Coriander further, a grizzled old citizen of the Empire approaches the party, and warns them: "You best not stick around here - those men have kin, and they'll come looking for you, now.  Those men there were more swamp than man, and this town's just gonna get more so, over time."  Introducing himself as Garn Pettigrew, he tells the party the rest of his family set off for Penumbria, but he was too stubborn and attached to his land to leave.  Realizing that Garn meant his message as advice, and not a threat - and that they'd likely looted the village of its valuables - the party heads off East, out of town.

A day or so outside of town the party is met by a sky-clad woman flanked by two giant alligators; intrigued, the party starts a conversation with Caratra Millner, who brings a message and asks a favor of our intrepid band.  "I speak for the land," she says, "And the land is troubled.  You are not priests - but you know priests, yes?  We would meet with your priests, if they can discuss, and not dismiss..."  This is almost more than AOfEk can stand, and he angrily questions her ability to 'speak for the land', her need to meet with priests, and whether she truly wishes to help, or just to talk and converse without acting.  She leaves non-plussed, but the party agrees to pass a message along to Tomas - Caratra the Druid says that Tomas will be visited by a raven to arrange a meeting.

Heading to Penumbria the party leaves their prisoner with Tomas, and reports both what they have found in Coriander (the crucified priest, the attack, and the words of Garn) and their meeting with Caratra.  Tomas is disturbed and puzzled, but agrees to a meeting with the druids.

Two days from Tounder the party meets three of the people from Loxley's compound - fleeing the blood and screams of a cultist's attack.  They say that cultists attacked in the night, setting barns on fire and killing everyone they saw - the three were lucky to escape alive.  Investigating, the party finds the compound burned to the ground, with several bodies - mostly burnt, but some identifiable as cultists, sure enough.  Two small bodies - children or midgets - were also found.  The three panicked former soldiers decide to stay and bury their friends.  Durim continues to eat the delicious grapes, even though they cause him so much discomfort he needs to ride on the tart.  I mean, the cart.

The party then continues south to Tounder, and a meeting with Captain Georges.  It goes poorly, and little is resolved.  On to the temple, where Justian is told of his new orders - give up the post to Tounder, and come investigate the demon SHELOI.  Simon reluctantly assumes the mantle of leadership, and Justian - laughing ruefully when told that he was chosen, according to the Emporer, because he was expendable - packs his meager belongings and saddles up with the party.

On the road the party is attacked by cultists!  The party has some little difficulty, but with Father Justian's help the enemies are all dispatched.  One of the cultists cast divine spells, but invoked an entity named IX (or maybe IXIA). and not Joven.

Uh-oh.  That is some strange, bad shit.

Back to Penumbria and a brief hello to Tomas, and then to Applo, where Justian wants to see the tomb where this all might have begun....

The Emperor and Exciting Times

Our party of heroes meets with Tara, the head of the academy, Carlston the High Priest, and Emporer Milosh; a conversation is had regarding the future of the Empire.  The party is invited to dinner at the Emporer's house that evening - very little else of import is discussed.

The party is nervous as they approach the Emporer's house, expecting a palace, but his house is humble and Milosh cooks a delightful pasta dish with a salad from his garden, putting our band of adventurers more at ease.  After dinner, over drinks, an offer is made: the Emporer wants the party to work directly for him, gathering information and stirring up trouble.  The party accepts, and gets a raise both in pay grade and in rank (lieutenants!)

Their first mission is back to York, revisiting several places they've been before; first to Applo, to escort Tara to the tomb; next to Penumbria to meet with Tomas and Salamancar (who, it turns out, is the Regent, the second in line for the throne).  These go about as well as could be expected.  It surprises the party that most of the people they ask are more concerned about father Dumbrow being mentally ill and still able to cast spells; the priests say this is more concerning than the murdering 'cultists'.

On the road to Coriander and the Black Swamp, the party sees the priest sent to replace father Dumbrow crucified by the side of the road.  Prepared for the worst, that's exactly what they find - an ambush by townsfolk!  It's a pitched, heated battle, with a mage and his apprentice backed by several swamp folk...

Until AOfEk uses a wand of fireballs - which might be better called a wand of sort-shit-out.  Shit, as you might imagine, gets well-sorted; the party takes the mage's apprentice prisoner - he is the only survivor.  As the curtain closes briefly, we see Durim the ranger finding a large sack of delicious grapes.

On the dead, the city of Joven, and Powerful People

Our chapter today begins in Penumbria, as our heroes regroup, gather their courage, and set off once again to Applo and the crypt there.  They are accompanied by father Darbauw, who seems a bit off but is in fairly good spirits.  Some of the local militia members guard the cave and watch the party's horses and cart while our bold protagonists re-enter the tomb.  Father Darbauw inspects the statues, and then casts a spell, determining that the ceiling would collapse if the room with statues was further excavated.

Heading down into a pit found under one of the sarcophagi, our band enters a room of the dead; four desiccated corpses stand atop low daises, while many skeletons line the walls, seated and chained to the walls by their wrists, ankles, and necks.  Spooky!  Even spookier is when the party opens a door out of the chamber, and the corpses move to attack, while the skeletons animate and begin chattering and pulling at their chains.  The undead pose no threat to our party, however, and are given their final rest with ease.  The first door opened leads to a collapsed chamber; a door across from this opens into a room for carving statues, with a work area, sets of stone carving tools, and several very large blocks of stone.  Behind one block is an access panel, hidden by the block and the dust of ages; inside the chamber the party finds strange gold 'coins', a handful of gems and pieces of jewelry, and a magic dagger and magic ring.  Also leading out of the chamber is a short passage that ends in a well, which goes down another 100 feet or so.

After requisitioning a rope (and taking delivery of a coffin to hold a still-chattering skeleton) the party descends down even further into the earth, where they find a door, warded and with strange runes.  AofEk determines that some of the runes are a magic ward, keeping something on the other side of the door from escaping, and others in a strange script, saying roughly "This door is (anti-sacred) (un-consecrated) to/from SHELOI.  Long may he (die)(rot)(dream nightmares).  The party retreats to regroup, make plans, and re-memorize spells; the next day, the barbarian opens the door, with a rush of ancient, stale air as the tomb is breached, and tosses in a torch.

And combat is begun!  Two articulated brass statues move to attack, while a pair of small brass spheres rolls towards our heroes!  Battle is joined and hard-pressed, but the party carries the day, smashing and putting the metal constructs to a final rest.  Another stone door lies on the other side of the chamber which the barbarian opens handily, entering into another room of statues.  The first is a naked man, wiry, bald, and bearded, with unusually long arms and legs - the man has a normal-sized torso, but stands over 7 feet tall.  The second is an androgynous, gender-less figure, wearing a kimono which falls open to show a sexless and rounded figure, and a fox mask.  The third is a kneeling, wizened old man, with a horn emerging from the top of his head, curving back around to point at his shoulders.  The fourth at first appears unfinished, an amorphous man-shaped figure, but on closer inspection the formlessness is created by intricate, precise carving.  Also in the middle of the room is a glass case, which Horace detraps and opens, containing a magic helmet, magic sword, magic wand, and three gemstones.

Father Darbauw spends a fair amount of time inspecting and investigating the statues; when asked about them, he calls them bad, and says that they're not lonely, they're SHELOI - then passes out.  As the party leaves the complex they manage to capture one of the still-chattering skeletons, placing it in a coffin and sealing the skeleton in with chains.

And then off to Joven - the capital of the Empire!  On the way the party is attacked by a rogue bugbear which mauls Horace somewhat badly, and Father Darbauw remains catatonic for the two week trip, but other than that the journey is uneventful.  Our merry band heads toward the Temple, towering over the other buildings in the city, where they are introduced to High Priest Carlston.  The High Priest is a bit overwhelmed at the party's discoveries, and is most troubled that Father Darbauw was able to cast spells while being mentally ill. AofEk's raven, sent to the academy to find mages, returns with Tara Sorjen, the head of the Academy and closest thing the world has to an arch-mage.  Powerful people!  A quick conversation is had about the tomb, the murders, and Father Darbauw; the High Priest says that SHELOI is the name of a demon.  The High Priest leaves with the Father to attempt healing, and Tara invites our heroes back to the academy.  On the way she suggests that the party leave town right then and now, that the High Priest was a political game-player who would more than likely throw them under a bus to gain power, and introduces them to the person in her secret jail, with a haircut like the other murderers the party met several weeks ago outside of Tounder.  He is obviously ill, gripping the bars and grinning maniacally until the party says the magic word 'SHELOI', which focuses his attention.  A conversation is had with a fair amount of misunderstanding on both sides, and an invitation is made to the party to meet SHELOI, a month away in a far mountain range.

Tara is puzzled, intrigued, and disturbed by this interaction, but repeats her suggestion that the party flees, stating that there are worse things than death, and giving an example of her secret prison.  But when asked if she could arrange a meeting with the Emporer she agrees, saying that might be a better way to resolve things; the party is left with books, a nice meal, and a pipe full of pipeweed while she leaves to arrange a meeting.  Exciting times are afoot!

Something seems to be going a bit wrong

After returning to town, the Barbarian eats too many grapes and is incapacitated with food posioning for several weeks.  "Why do I keep eating this delicious grapes!", he complains, as he continues to stuff large juicy green grapes in his fabulous maw.

The rest of our heroes, meanwhile, head toward's Loxley's nut farm to have a conversation about books and libraries.  And what a conversation is had!  The philosophy of libertarianism, of library science and stewardship, and of the proper place for veterans in the Empire are dicussed.

Loxley and his friends run a nut farm (with cattle) a day or so outside of Tounder; a somewhat anarchic commune, where a little over 200 books are stewarded, and rare/interesting books are archived.  Aovek discovers a book that's magical - and upon inquiring  about it's nature, is told by Loxley that it is Cursed (and the title of the book: "On Curses" - bears this out).  Aovek and Loxely debate whether a locked case is enough to keep the world safe from this book - the conversation ends with Aovek leaving with the book, and Loxley requesting that the book stay on Loxley's nut farm.  But Aovek is fast - faster than a horse, for several minutes at a time, magically - and escapes the farm.

Durim, Horace, and Loxley then talk about their mutual friend Aovek - all are somewhat taken aback by the mage's actions, but agree to try to resolve the situation peacefully.  Horace and Durim head back to Tounder and speak with Simon (who fractured his collarbone falling drunkenly down the stairs); Simon is concerned for Justian and his grief and asks for guidance.  The party picks up a letter in the morning, and sets off back to York.

Meanwhile, Aovek spends a cold and hungry night alone, meeting his companions on the road the next evening.  The next day, his magics reveal that the book curses whover opens it

On returning to Penumbria, our heroes have a conversation with Father Tomas about the events in Tounder; Tomas seems quite at a loss to make sense of what happened, but with the party's information begins to make some decisions and start to sort shit out.  Tomas has three more tasks for the party:

• Return to the tomb in Applo, where a trap door was found in the floor underneath one of the coffins.  The party was asked for specifically - none of the other townsfolk are willing to enter this tunnel.
• Head the other direction to a city called Coriander, outside of the Black Swamp, where reports are that the priest (father Darbouw) has gone a bit mad.
• Deliver the cursed book to the High Priest in Joven - the curse is more powerful than father Tomas is able to dispel, plus (Secret Mission)

The band also checks in with Salamancar, who has some money for them, and more tasks - take a pouch of alchemical reagents to an alchemist named Loiwgha in the town of Vincent, also near the Black Swamp, and get from her several pounds of 'medicine' she has for Salamancar.  The party is also asked to check up on Loiwgha and assess what she's up to.

Our band of adventurers heads first to Vincent, where a straight-forward exchange happens, a well-equipped alchemical lab is viewed, and a somewhat surprising piece of information learned (Salamancar was at one point in the priesthood).  Loiwgha is able to brew arcane potions, but makes the bulk of her money from selling love potions to teenagers.

Next the party rides to Coriander, a town not very welcoming of strangers.  Our band sleeps on the porch of Chester, the town militia man, who seems more engaged with drinking all day than with upholding the law.  At dawn father Darbouw strolls down the street, wearing a 'costume' of roughly skinned and stitched pelts, singing in the dawn; when asked about himself muttered about being alone, which put the party on alert.  Father Darbouw invites  them to hear his sermon to the cypress trees; the sermon is as follows:

     "Alone, alone, alone - all is alone"

With different pacing and intonation, but the same words, for 10 minutes.  After a name Darbouw wakes up ready for coffee; Horace offers to make the pot of coffee for the priest, where he slips Father Darbouw a mickey.  The band loads the priest onto the back of the pack horse, and head back to Penumbria,

From there it's back to Applo, and then with the cursed book and their tongues in their mouths, or heroes ride back to Aplo for more investigations of the tomb.

  Our intrepid band, tired from the road, returns to York and reports to Father Tomas.  He accepts their report with a surprisingly small number of questions, and has a new task - travel south to the city of Tounder (2 weeks ride by horse) and check with the priest Justian there, who Tomas has not had any communication with for the last six months.  Tomas has heard from the leader of the town (Rene Georges, a militia Captain) that Justian is fine, but is concerned with the lack of messages.  The party is paid and given horses, and off they travel....

... but not before checking with Salamancar, and getting paid from him.  Salamancar wants them to investigate a man named Loxley, who is running some sort of scam.  50 gold to find out information; if the party can get Salamancar his propers from Loxley, they'll receive a third of whatever deal they can cut.

  So, off to Tounder!  Following the river Tound, the party hears wolves in the distance, but finds their trip mostly uneventful.  They ride to the Militia headquarters and stable their horses, then head to the church.  They are greeted by the acolyte, who asks the party why they have come; upon seeing the party's badges he vanishes into the back.  After 15 minutes our group gets antsy and follows, only to find the acolyte is (a) not a he, but a she, which they know after (b) searching her body, because (c) she has hung herself from the rafters and broken her neck, and left a note saying (d) "I have always loved you".  Father Justian is summoned, and both disturbed and saddened by Jo's death - Jo was orphaned on the church steps 17 years ago and taken in by Father J.

  Further investigations by the party reveals several things.  One, Simon (the assistant priest) was freaked out by Jo, refusing to eat food 'he' prepared because he worried she'd poison him.  Two, Jo had parallel scars on her wrists from cutting herself, which the party finds on investigating her body during the ritual preparation process before burial.  Three, Father Justian seemed both oblivious to Jo's 'infatuation' with him and her cutting, which seems suspicious, especially with his somewhat low affect after her death.  And four, the missing correspondence between Justian and Tomas was found, hidden under the floor in Jo's room, starting with a letter from Tomas asking if Justian wanted to be re-assigned or given a new apprentice or other changes to his being the Father of Tounder.  On the backs of the letters were charcoal sketches (and rather good ones) of the church, activities in the church, and Father Justian.  Most were straight-forward, but two stand out - the first one (by dates) had a nude sketch of Justian, with a box drawn around his head and jagged, thick lines surrounding that; the other, a letter written by Justian asking Tomas for help with a monster attack, was similar, but the box was scribbled over, and the words "He Is Not Alone" written next to it.

  The party is a bit disturbed by this, but proceeds with their investigation, asking some hard questions on both Father Justian and the apprentice Simon.  They also speak with Rene Georges, the leader of the Militia (and head of the town), who gives them some more information - Jo was, from a very young age, seen as rather a bad seed, glaring angrily at everyone except Justian; and Father J had a girlfriend, a rancher named Margaret who lived several hours outside of town.  The 'Monster Attack' Justian asked for help with was most likely wolves, attacking Margaret's cattle; Captain Georges said she'd investigated the attack and that Justian's letter was more because who was asking, then what had happened.

  The party heads to Margaret's ranch the next day; AofEk's raven reports seeing crows and buzzards and other carrion birds ahead, near the ranch house.  Uh-oh!  The party enters the property through a gate and tethers their horses - as they get close to the house they see two bodies lying on the path.  Double Uh-Oh!  And for the triple, as the back door is opened (by the ranger, sneaking in the back with the rogue) a Dire Weasel gallops down the stairs to attack!  Joined by her mate the battle is on - but our brave band of adventurers vanquishes their foes handily.

  This next part should be avoided by those with weak stomachs, or the sensitive among our audience.  The ranch house contains a scene of horror upstairs - a man, seventy years old, lies with daggers in each of his eyes; a middle-aged woman next to him has her face burnt to the bone, most likely with boiling oil or grease; a third person, a young woman, lies face up, her hands gripping the dagger which pierces her heart.  Besides three corpses, the walls and floors are soaked with blood - someone has flung blood around everywhere in a scene both macabre and horrific.

  Two more bodies are found in the ranch house - all four bodies found outside have been drained entirely of blood - and other than that, our quick search comes up empty.  A closer and more careful search discovers several more things:

• There are four healing potions, and a little over 100 gold to be found
• A trail is found for three people walking towards the house, and only one person leaving
• A blood trail leads out of the house and up into one of the haylofts
• This house, like the temple to Joven, has several jars of yummy pickled fish

Following the blood trail into the barn, an unconscious man is found, with few identifying marks, wounded and close to death.  As the party goes to get their horses, stunned by the carnage, they see Father Justian ride up, seeking comfort from his lover after the death of his adopted daughter/acolyte.  He is - well, 'disturbed' seems too mild a word, but is willing to wait outside while the party continues their investigations of the scene.  The prisoner is brought to Justian, who casts healing - the prisoner is clearly insane, however, reveling in his deeds in a manner most vile, and repeating the phrase "None of us are alone" (or variations) in response to several questions.  The party, acting in their capacity as militia members, executes the prisoner handily.

  The tracks leading too the ranch, eventually, are impossible to follow, but a decent guess is that the attackers walked overland from Tounder (instead of following the road).  The tracks leading away enter a stream and are then unfollowable.  Father Justian, having the worst week of his life, takes the body of his lover back to town as the party digs graves for the rest.

  What will happen next to our heroes?  As we leave them, we hear a snippet of conversation - Loxley, a former militia member, is known to buy books.  On to a new Mystery!

Interlude - rethinking life as an NPC

We see a medium shot of the interior of a tavern - heavy and dark wooden beams, fire in the corner fireplace, long bar, twelve or so tables with, perhaps, ten patrons.  A woman wearing a shirt of chainmail over simple but clean clothes sits nursing a mug of ale.  She's got short brown hair, and stares intently into her beer, her thoughts deep and intense; she is 25 years old, and we will refer to her as Josie because that's her name.  We see a man dressed similarly enter and approach - very short black hair, starting to go bald in the front; he enters and heads directly for the table where she sits.  He's 35 years old, and though his name is not Frank, we'll refer to him as that because that's what everyone else calls him, so he might as well start to feel that his name is Frank.

F: Hey Josie - copper for your thoughts.

J (looking up): Oh - hey Frank.  Thanks for stopping by.  (She motions to the bartender, pointing to Frank).

F (sitting): You been distracted all day.  Thinking about the boss?

J: Yeah.  Well, sort of.  Thinking about those guys, really.

F: I want to know what they asked him to do, you know?  Should we worry?  We gonna start being smugglers now?

J (shrugging, sipping her beer): Do you... Frank, do you have a... a plan?

(The bartender comes over and hands Frank a mug of what's probably beer.  Frank takes a sip and smiles): Ah, that's a good pour, Tonio.  Thanks.  (The bartender grins and tilts his head, then retreats back to the bar)

F (looking puzzled at Josie): A plan?  You mean... for the boss and what happened?

J (shaking her head): Naw, for - for life, I guess.

F: I dunno - keep my kids fed, I guess - buy the wife a new kitchen?  I don't know what you mean.

J: Yeah, I guess I don't either.  How long you been working for Abe now, you figure?

F (looking puzzled in a different way): almost 20 years - right after school.  Same as you - you know that.  What's going on, Josie?

J (sighing and looking back into her beer): Those guys - they didn't have a plan.  You know?  That was obvious - they barged in, Abe starts shouting, we call for the guards, he gets dragged off.  Didn't seem like the most thought-out of kidnappings, or robberies, or whatever it was, you know?  But then he comes back the next day with that shiner, won't talk about it, tells us that Nothing Happened in that way - business as usual.

F (nodding): Yeah, okay - it was fucked up, but not, like, dragons setting you on fire fucked up, right?

J: That's the thing - they just DID stuff.  They didn't have a plan - they bust in and make things happen.  What have you made happen, Frank?  You know?

F: Well, I guess now that I own the house from the bank I'm looking pretty set up there, and most of the kids are mostly pretty good...

J (laughing): all right, fair enough.  Raising kids - yeah, that's making stuff happen, sure.  What have I made happen?  I have a job, and I own part of this bar, and I'm saving up to buy my partners out - but, working in a warehouse?  Owning a bar?  Ffffuuuuuuucck.

(Josie slumps in her chair and sighs again, then sits up, resolved, and gulps half her mug in one quaff)

J: So I'm gonna go.  I'm gonna tell Abe I quit and I'm gonna go - somewhere.  I heard a guy in here the other day talking about how they found pyramids in the deep desert.  Pyramids!  You know what a pyramid is, Frank?

F (frowning and shaking his head)

J: Well neither do I - some kind of big building?  But - fuck it.  I took my money out of the bank and I'm gonna go on adventures.  I'm gonna see the fucking world, you know?  I wanna be like THOSE guys.  No plan other than see what kind of cool shit there is.

F: So - you gonna be a burglar, beat people up for money?

J (laughing): no no - nothing like that - I'm gonna go to Joven, and I'm gonna talk to my uncle, and then I'm gonna go to the frontier.  I wanna see some pyramids, you know?

F (nodding slowly): yeah, okay - I get it.  I'm gonna miss working with you, Jo, but I get it.

J (finishing the rest of her beer and calling to the bartender with two raised fingers): finish your drink, Frank.  I'm giving you my share in this bar.  Buy Sandra that kitchen.

F (blinking and looking wide-eyed at Josie): what?

J (laughing): finish your drink so you can toast me and my adventures, guy.  Now, when I come back to town, you gotta put me up on your couch - but yeah, I already got the papers written up.  We'll have a drink and you'll get the bar and then in the morning - FFFFFT! - I'm outta here. (Gesturing and making a half-whistle sound for emphasis)

F (finishing his beer in three gulps, smiling after the last one): well, okay, Josie.  Thanks - you didn't have to do that, you know.  I appreciate it.

J (laughing and nodding): Joven's dreams, but now that I'm saying it - it feels good, you know?  Like I want to go RIGHT NOW instead of waiting until tomorrow morning.  This feels right.  Hey - you wanna pay me back - you have another kid, you name her Josie, hey?

(The bartender comes over with two mugs, setting one down in front of each of them.  Frank and Josie tap mugs)

F: Well, to adventure, then!

J: To adventure!

We pan back from the friends, sharing a beer, thinking about adventures.

((OOC Background info about the world))

((See the comments for the world's background info, so as not to interrupt the narrative flow))

Our tale of adventure begins in Spring, when tales of adventure are best hatched.  Our band is summoned to the offices of Tomas Iglesias Del Sul Montoyan, the High Priest of York and Penumbria, and made an offer.  "Go investigate a stream in Applo", Tomas tells them, "That recently began running dark and sulfurous."  If the investigations go well, the party will be entered into the Militia, with all rights and privileges of citizenship which come with successful service; Tomas wants people to act as investigators and spies.

The party is also asked to gather dirt on Salamancar, a local shady businessman with whom the party is each in debt to, in their own particular ways.  This makes the four quite nervous.

Salamancar also gains an audience with the party, and expressed glee at the thought of being able to have a business relationship with members of the Militia.  He tells them to investigate the warehouse of an Abe Govainna; he mentions in passing that if Abe were to be scared or intimidated into business with Salamancar, or if the contents of Abe's warehouse were to meet some unfortunate end, then Salamancar would see to getting the persons responsible a reward.

After fretful discussions the party tells Tomas of their meeting, but not the details, and expresses concern at their role, caught in the middle.  Tomas encourages them to work as his investigators anyway; there is much anxiety but they leave with full coin purses to the town of Applo.

In Applo they meet with mayor Tiff Udelbroht, who tells them the details of the stream; it used to be pure and good water from a spring, but a month ago started running brown, with a stench of sulfur.  The cave where the stream originates lies 4 hours outside of town, so in the morning our intrepid band heads out For Adventure!

They find the cave source of the stream has been caved in, and the water now emerges from a long-hidden corridor, carved into the rock.  Heading down a hallway they find several collapsed side passages, and two rooms, filled with coffins, sarcophagi, and mummified corpses to be the source of the pollution.  Heading further into the complex they are confronted with strange aberrant monsters; a suffocating sheet, four aggressive beetles, and a small howling creature whose howl sang a song of deep sorrow, and which exploded into rubble when struck by the ranger's arrow.

The room with these creatures had two frescoes on opposite walls - each, on walls 200 feet long, showing a scene with a castle on a hill, flowing down into fields and farmlands, and finally forested area, filled with people at work.  The people seemed, on further investigations, to have three basic body shapes: short and squat, tall and skinny, or in the middle.  The scene on one wall was of the day; on the other, a night time scene, where the people all seemed monstrous and bestial.

Four caryatid columns held up the ceiling, and four statues laid in alcoves in the walls; the columns carved from white marble with pink veins were of women, struggling under the weight of the roof; the statues were of a faceless man holding short swords, a woman in armor with a spear, a wizened old man in a fur cloak, and a short naked goblin-like creature, with non-human musculature.

One more room existed in the complex; mostly caved in, the room still contained a side table with an expensive tea service, and a fancy leather-bound book, containing an illegible cipher.  Mysteries abound!

The party reported their findings to the Mayor, and then to Reverend Mariah Joneston, who were both as puzzled as our group at what was discovered.  The Reverend promised to investigate further, and the party took their leave....


.... Only to return and inquire about Abe's warehouse.  They entered and went in to his office, where GoodTimes started going through a stack of invoiced, angering Abe.  Tempers flared, weapons were drawn, and our band of heroes were able to knock Abe unconscious and escape the town, carrying the Warehouse owner's body with them.

Upon awakening, and after further discussion, Abe decided to work more closely with Salamancar, in an attempt to gather information on Sal's shady dealings, and perhaps build a legal case against Salamancar.

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Ah - welcome!  Set yourselves down and hear a tale of adventure.  Let's meet our dramatis personae first:

AofEk started his education in the Monastery, learning to be a priest in the church, but became disillusioned and left, to enter the Academy and learn magery.  Moving rapidly through the levels at the Academy, he graduated at the tender age of 19, an iconoclast, angry with the world, and deep in debt to various unsavory underworld characters, as well as drinking buddies with

Horace (or Good Times to his 'friends') is maybe around 30, but years of drinking and other questionably legal substance have left him a bit addled.  He's a quick hand in your purse or wallet, prefers the knife-in-the-back style of combat to a more dangerous style, and is also in debt to various unsavory underworld characters.  One of his suppliers of hallucinogenic plants is

Cimbri, who is a 6-and-a-half-foot-tall bronzed Adonis of a man.  Tanned, chiseled, and wild, this former tribesman now wanders Penumbria, living wild and hunting pelts and rare herbs to sell in the city to York.  Occasionally he finds work as a merchant's guard, along with

Durim, a Scout and tracker.  Discharged from the Militia, Durim finds work as a guide, guard or escort around the province of Penumbria.  A marksman of the finest caliber, he is, like the rest of our party, in trouble with a certain businessman in the city of York, Penumbria's capital.