Sapphire:Sessions:20190518
At Shawna's suggestion, Jeb follows Dow Gender to see where he goes.
Only a half-mile from the ruined farm they group comes across other small homesteads. Some of the people there claim that "monsters" roam at night but they are prepared for them. However, they seem too afraid or ashamed to tell the group what their "preparation" entails. Chalker reads in their Auras a "wisp" of the Mother of Night. Chalker: "So you're leaving a tribute to the monsters? That's nothing to be ashamed of. What are you offering -- small animals? Children?" "No, no! We leave offerings and prayers to Aakbarath to endure hardship." Chalker: "You're tipping your hat to the Mother of Night. That's fine." "We don't go out at night... We put up holy symbols to Yasseph, Aakbarath, Roo, and Zeph." Shawna growls, "Charesoon is not worthy of worship." Chalker: "But Mother's children have to eat..."
Shawna crosses the farm to a very small shrine raised to Charesoon. It has been "renewed" recently. Contrary to the homesteaders' claims, there are the sacrificial remains of several chickens on the altar. Shawna prays to Yasseph/Delsa and Roo, then sets fire to the shrine. On her way back to the group, she pauses and stares hard at the liar who had claimed they did not sacrifice to the Mother of Night; the man cringes in fear.
Intrinsius suddenly peels away into the trees. Chalker calls after him "What are you doing?" then he and Shawna follow. Intrinsius describes what he had seen, a fiery bird the size of a crow, rising through the treetops. He points out some scorched tree bark and foliage left in the bird's wake, adding, "It might make a nice pet... I've heard of phoenixes." He had seen no magic on the bird, just flame. Chalker peers beneath the tree bark, wondering why it hadn't caught fire. Shawna sends up a bluejay and sees no sign of the flaming bird, then prays silently to Santash, If this was your messenger, send it back to Intrinsius.
Just before the looming thunderstorm breaks, the group pulls into a farmstead to request shelter. The homesteaders, Farmer Joe and Farmer Jane, welcome them and make room in their barns and sheds for the horses. In front of the main house are two fresh graves, and Farmer Joe stoically explains that last night his grandmother and one of his children were killed by wolves. Shawna prays to Dara, Yasseph, and Aakbarath to avenge the spilling of innocent blood by Charesoon and Assaraah.
Danel returns from tracking the beasts and says the prints are not those of wolves (but he is completely unable to describe what they might be). Farmer Joe says, "This has gone on around us, but it's the first time we've been touched." Oh, and half of their livestock is gone. Chalker notes that Joe has one of the rune disks in his wrist, but it has "shriveled." Joe readily allows the disk to be removed, which Chalker does expertly and painlessly. Joe repeats the by-now-familiar story that he had broken his wrist and it had been healed by a mage. Runes of Assaraah and Aup mark the disc but there is no magic now.
Chalker peers into the graves. The old woman was clawed to death trying to defend the child, whose throat was ripped out. Shawna cures two family members' infected wounds.
Jacob, an eighteen-year-old boy ("connected" to Agar and Cor), approaches Shawna and asks, "Are you a priest? Please ask the First Chosen to bless this land." Subtly, Shawna implies that Jacob himself is capable of praying for such blessing, though her message doesn't seem to register. Jacob repeats, "It seems 'wrong' for us to leave." Shawna points out, "Your great-grandmother and your sibling were sacrifices to that stubbornness."
Chalker: "In the last few days, have you had unusual dreams?" "They have been slightly different. The creatures are more humanlike." Chalker: "Is one of them really tall, and cloaked?" "They were surrounded by swirling darkness." Chalker: "So you couldn't see their face. Was there a sword on their back?" "Looked like a staff... though it had a crosspiece, so it was probably a sword." Chalker: "Has your whole family had the nightmares?" "At first it was only the older ones, but lately the children have had them." Chalker: "Last night I was attacked in my dreams, too." "We were weakened in our dreams, so they attacked us in our waking hours... oh, that may be the way to handle this. Thank you!"
Jeb shows up around 5pm, having managed to locate the group despite the heavy rains. He says only that Dow Gender and the other two had gone to Langdale.
Chalker brings out his dire wolf statuette, which he has named Gilligan, says the activation word "Skipper," feeds the wolf and sets it on the porch, on guard.
Shawna leads Jacob outside and tells him to pray for protection. He delivers a heartfelt, powerful prayer to Agar and Aakbarath. Shawna: "Wasn't that simple?" Slightly dazed, Jacob replies, "Yes."
Cal asks Intrinsius to walk the perimeter with him. They share a flask and some low-voiced conversation. Cal: "Your code of honor, does it help?" Intrinsius: "I hope so." "Is it Phor?" "No, it isn't. I learned from some very devout people." "I thought that if you were a paladin, you could protect these people." "I have never been inside a church." Then Intrinsius stops and prays simply, "Please help us protect this land and these people." He feels power surge through him, rising and overspreading the area.
Intrinsius: "Chalker doesn't seem very religious." Cal: "He talks to the First Chosen all the time -- and they answer!... I once tried to attack him, but he spared me, and now I work for him. ... You're learning a new side of yourelf, same as me." "The people I was with before didn't pray."
That night, on Shawna's watch, something hits the wards like a hammer. She draws her sword, beckons to Gilligan, and goes to the northern fence to investigate. Just outside the fence stand six large wolflike creatures (not werewolves), one of which bolts away in fear. Shawna: "Who sent you?" The smallest of them replies, "We hunt the night. We find the ones that fear, but fear has left this place, so it is time for us to leave. It is our nature. Humans make the most interesting prey." Two more of the creatures depart. Shawna: "To hunt sentient beings for sport, I forbid you." The creature nods, then the three remaining creatures turn and run away in a triangular formation. Shawna wakes Intrinsius for his watch and tells him about the "wolves."
Intrinsius' watch and the remaining watches that night all pass quietly.
During the night, Chalker dreams that something like a priest of Assaraah or Charesoon attempts to push into his dreamscape but can't quite. Shawna dreams similarly about a figure in a fighter's stance, six feet tall with long, scraggly hair and darkness swirling around his face and the end of his quarterstaff. He greets her, "daughter of Delsa," and she commands, "Begone, spawn of Assaraah." As the fighter turns to leave, she swings her sword and slashes him. Intrinsius dreams that a priest is reaching for him. Finding himself fully armed and armored, Intrinsius pursues the priest beyond the perimeter. Intrinsius: "What are you doing?" "Trying to make you pay for your audacity." "Come and make me pay!" The priest twirls his staff and strikes at Intrinsus with it; Intrinsus parries barehanded, which stings. He speed-draws his katana and strikes the priest. The priest retreats a quick double-step away; in a quavering voice he says "not tonight" and flees. Intrinsius awakens; it is dawn, and he smells breakfast cooking.
Chalker: "Remember the name Intrinsius; it will be famous someday."
Two miles further north the group enters Glenarm, a small village with 75 inhabitants. As they pass through Shawna destroys icons of Charesoon; Intrinsius destroys one she missed, and gathers the splintered remnants and burns them. Chalker suddenly wants to know what right Shawna has to destroy the icons and whether she intends to repay people for damaging their property. Shawna repeats that Charesoon is unworthy of worship.
At the next small town, Tayland, a man steps forward to meet the group. "My name is Andy. I haven't seen anything like you before... We've been here six months, came here from the northwest. We heard the orcs were fleeing." Chalker sees that he has one of the wrist implants. Chalker, pointing: "That arm is infected. Doesn't it hurt?" Andy: "I broke my upper arm eight months ago." Chalker easily removes the rune disc. Andy: "Yes, we acknowledge the Mother of Night, paired with her husband, and we take great pains to praise Solash and Santash and Agar and Cor... The Mother of Night's children come from north and south, random attacks... I am the elected mayor... There's a larger town, Levin, a half-day to the north." He invites the group to his home where they meet his wife, Darlena.
Intrinsius notices at least 13 symbols of Charesoon, each paired with a symbol of Phor.
Shawna sees a crow hunkered down on a rooftop, watching Andy's house. Shawna senses a taint of Assaraah, although the crow has "spiritual camouflage." Shawna rides past out of the crow's line of sight, slips off her horse and encourages it to continue its slow trot away. Then she turns into a falcon, swoops up and over the roof and seizes the crow in her talons. The crow tenses but does not struggle. Shawna senses a prayer going up, and with her beak she breaks the crow's neck. Tearing open its body, she extracts a small stone marked with two runes meaning 'possession.'
Intrinsius feels as though a fire has ignited above the town, the same feeling he got from the fiery bird in the trees. He feels a connection to the fire but has no control over it. It turns slowly in a 9' diameter circle.
Andy leaves to retrieve something. Chalker studies Darlena's aura: "In transition," formerly in darkness but trying to be better; potential Magery 4; tainted by demons in the past. He comments, "You're trying to kick the demon habit, huh?" "Yes," she whispers; "I chose my new path long before I met Andy. ... Andy pushed me to come here. Zeph willing, I will get through this and have a child." Chalker: "You have the potential to be very, very scary." Darlena: "Someone gave me a second chance, and I took it." Chalker: "I am concerned." Darlena: "I pray to Cor and Mensep. You might be the answer to my prayers -- deliverance from the Mother of Night and the darkness creeping across the land." Chalker: "One is fury and light; the other is a disgusting paladin." Darlena: "I destroyed my grimoire. I pray to Cor to restore my knowledge."
Shawna sees a flaming bird diving at Intrinsius, who awaits it, praying, "Phor, let this not be a mistake." Realizing that the bird means to hit him, Intrinsius casts Extinguish Fire on it, then easily captures it in his bare hands. The bird struggles.
Andy returns with a map of Levin. Chalker: "So, being attacked, instead of fleeing south you go north." Andy: "Well, it's ours, it's abandoned." Chalker: "If I decided to take this town and say 'it's mine'?" Andy offers no answer. Chalker: "Thanks for the map. I'll gather my people. You have a lovely wife, and she will keep you safe. She's going to be a good person."
Intrinsius says to the bird, "Stop struggling, Flamie." Shawna: "It's a crow such as they keep at temples of Assaraah in the Troubled Lands. But priests of Assaraah don't work with fire. Therefore, someone is riding it." Intrinsius: "They must be really small." Shawna casts Seeker and Trace, locking onto a male human several miles to the north. Chalker comes up and Shawna and Intrinsius give him the short version. His Penetrating Vision shows nothing strange. All he gets from the mage's aura is that he is greedy. Intrinsius breaks the bird's neck (which hurts the mage).
The group continues past other settlements. Along the way Shawna destroys six more shrines to Charesoon.
They arrive in Levin at sundown. The town, surrounded with a wooden wall, is about the size of Falconhurst. A man with a crossbow charges the group 3 coppers to enter. Chalker throws the coins at him, saying "I think you lie."
Shawna tracks the mage to the Tattered Statue, said to be the second-best tavern in town (#2 of 2). The proprietor is named Donovan. Before Shawna can cross the room, Chalker grabs her by the elbow. He beckons to Donovan, motions to him to put out his hand, drops two silvers into his palm, closes his fingers over the coins. Donovan gets the message and goes back behind the bar.
Intrinsius gets a table where he can see the door. Scanning the tavern, he counts 18 patrons, two serving women, and the bartender. Two of the men standing at the bar are fighter types with their weapons hidden. Seated at another table are some merchants, the first he's seen since leaving Falconhurst; their guards stand nearby. Intrinsius nudges Alastor and gestures to Danel, then gets up and heads for the door that Shawna and Chalker just entered.
Shawna and Chalker walk quietly down a lantern-lit corridor. Shawna pauses in front of a closed door and Chalker peers through it. Inside the room are four men. Mage: around 30 years old, wearing a large ring on each hand and a bone amulet around his neck; has a wand down his back under his shirt; a dagger on each hip; a map on the table in front of him. Priest: robed priest of Assaraah, wearing an amulet; 4 iron rings, engraved with holy symbols, on each hand; dagger on right hip; a wand that looks like a willow branch; seated across from Mage. F1 and F2: fighter types. Chalker locks onto the priest's dagger. Intrinsius joins them.
Chalker opens the door and steps in. Shawna rushes in and strikes the priest on the back of his head, just as Intrinsius says loudly "You were looking for me?".
Chalker tries to punch Mage in the head, but he dodges. Intrinsius attacks Mage barehanded, barely missing. Shawna strikes at Priest who utters a prayer and blocks her sword as he stands up. Mage fast-draws his wand and taps Intrinsius, whose left arm goes numb. F1 takes three steps, drawing his sword. F2 steps toward Chalker, fast-draws his sword, and swings wildly.
Chalker fast-draws his sword. Intrinsius hits Mage. Chalker pulls Priest's knife and stabs Mage in the middle of his chest. Shawna, with a prayer to Delsa, swings at Priest's neck, inflicting a severe wound; Priest falls unconscious. F1 swings at Intrinsius but merely scrapes the leather on his arm. F2 thrusts at Chalker's vitals, but Chalker parries easily.
Chalker jerks the knife in Mage's chest to the left, causing serious internal damage. Intrinsius punches F1 in the throat. Shawna jumps up on the table and slashes F2. She senses a prayer being emitted from Priest's amulet. Mage heals half his wounds; this stops his bleeding, but there's still a knife embedded in his chest. F2 tries to attack Chalker and collapses. F1 strikes Intrinsius a minor blow. From the tavern come the sounds of steel clashing and voices shouting.
Shawna grabs Priest's amulet and yanks it off; Priest collapses and the prayer (for restoration/extreme healing) dissipates. Intrinsius tries to knee F1 in the groin, but F1 dodges. Chalker crushes the back of Mage's head with Dink-Dink, and Mage slumps. F1 swings at Intrinsius, inflicting another very minor wound.
Shawna swings at F1, who parries. Chalker pulls the knife out of Mage and stabs F1 critically. Intrinsius finishes off F1 with a spinning heel kick to the throat.
Shawna heads back into the tavern just as the fight ends. Using poisoned daggers, Alastor had killed the two fighters who were standing at the bar; he himself is unscathed. The bartender is polishing the bar. Shawna drops the amulet, utters a prayer, and stomps on it repeatedly until it breaks into pieces.
Intrinsius, finding that Mage still has a pulse, performs First Aid. He realizes that Mage will die unless someone casts healing spells on him. He searches Mage and takes some spell components, two fine knives, two magic rings (one of them set with a powerstone), and a purse containing 3g 4s. The symbol on the bone amulet looks familiar, harkening back to his martial arts training. F1 has 1g 2s and F2 has 2g 3s. Intrinsius collects all their weapons. After about a minute, Intrinsius gets the feeling back in his arm.
From Priest, Chalker takes the four iron rings. He yanks the knife out of F2 and wipes it off. Inside a pouch are 6g 3s and something identifying Priest as "Be," one of Huber's minions.
Not surprisingly, when Chalker re-enters the tavern, he finds that most of the patrons have departed. He calls out to the last four who are headed out the door, "Can I buy you a drink?" When they keep walking, he adds, "Tell everyone I'm buying a round for the house!" At that, two of the patrons return. Chalker hands Donovan 1g 2s, telling him, "Everyone who comes in during the next five minutes gets a free ale." During that time, ten people come in to claim free drinks.
Chalker asks Shawna, "Are you hungry?" She responds with an emphatic "Yes!" and seats herself.
Chalker returns to the back room, where he finishes off Mage with a couple of quick taps to the skull. Intrinsius holds up the bone amulet, saying "It tingles." Chalker recognizes the markings from years-ago diplomatic missions as obscure runic magic from somewhere in the far eastern Calventine Empire. He can see that the amulet was carved from a single large bone and that it has a "weird" interior structure. Chalker: "I've seen it before, but I don't remember much about it."
Chalker arranges for discreet disposal of the four corpses in the back room and the two in the tavern.
Shawna senses "emissaries" of Assaraah, Aaoo, Aup, Aakbarath, Gauder, Mensep, and Damarot. There is "disquiet" around the temple of Assaraah, and in the shadow of that temple is "something big for Charesoon."
Intrinsius shows Shawna the bone amulet. After searching her memory, she says it's from a set used by a very obscure nomadic tribe last seen 500 years ago. They used a 24-rune alphabet and some sort of "psychic component" to produce magical effects.
In from the kitchen walks Jax. He flips coins to each of the serving girls as he strides right up to their table. "May I sit down?" Shawna, glaring: "No." Jax thanks the group for their efforts, saying "Mother has been rude to father... You have a long way to go... I offer my assistance at twilight or dawn."
Chalker wants to know, "How does First Chosen plus Second Chosen equal Third Chosen?" Jax: "It's a matter of power, hierarchy, rank..." Chalker: "Then you should be one-and-a-half." Jax: "I'm flattered." He claims that the gist of MoN's plan is to concentrate lands dedicated to herself and Assaraah into an empire to challenge the Calventine Empire. Shawna growls, "Charesoon thinks herself a First Chosen." Chalker: "Has she always been the Mother of Night?" Jax: "Yes." Chalker: "Do temples or shrines add to a god's power?" Jax: "Yes." Shawna mutters, "There are more gods protecting Chalker than there are stars in the sky."
Since Jax has overstayed his welcome (so far as she's concerned), Shawna gets up to leave. Jax wishes her "good luck."