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!
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