Sapphire:Sessions:20050924

Track 1 – Strike the Flame (09/24/2005 - 01/14/2006)

GM: Bobby Jones

Write-up: MaryK

[September 24, 2005]

It is Long Days 16, around 4:00 in the afternoon. Leaving behind Starsinger, Proudstar, the band of mercenaries, and dozens of dead orcs, Chalker, Rory, Runis, Jinto, and Josh ride away from the river. The sun, still fairly high in the west, plays hide-and-seek with thunderheads. The men find Aliana walking her horse near the site of their original arrival, a fair-sized depression in the ground marked by symbol-engraved stones, only a few hundred yards north of the now-ruined temple of Asseraah and Gauder.

The secret temple had been controlling and directing the movements of thousands of orc troops. Its location was unveiled by rituals performed at the temple of Santash in Caldor, and communicated to Chalker and Rory via the Sapphire Diamond, a holy artifact. Using magic to activate certain crystals taken from a hidden keep, Jinto had transported the entire group over a distance of about fifty miles to reach the arrival site, bypassing the orc armies marching on the country of Pitern. The huge temple turned out to be fairly empty, but the group had fought wolves (including two shadow wolves) and taddarita (evil, spell-casting bats) as well as orc guards and a staff-wielding priest of Asseraah while Aliana, bearing the Sapphire Diamond, slipped through a side door and made her way behind the altar. While the priest and his guards were distracted trying to fight the intruders, Aliana attacked the priest from behind, slashed his throat, and then slapped the Sapphire Diamond against the altar. The entire temple began to quake, a chasm suddenly opened up and swallowed the altar, and the group ran for safety as the temple began to collapse. Once outside, Runis caught sight of a couple of orcs fleeing toward an encampment by the river, and rallied the group to pursue them. Nearing the river, the group had joined battle against dozens of orcs that were attacking what turned out to be the famous bard Starsinger and his hired mercenaries led by a man called Proudstar. When Rory killed an orc shaman most of the other orcs fled, leaving over sixty of their dead behind them.

Jinto begins pacing back and forth between the arrival site and the temple ruins, occasionally pausing to make mystic gestures. Rory sits down on a rock and works on his map. Runis cleans his armor and sharpens his axe. Chalker says to Josh, “When you said that stopping the orcs was going to be dangerous, you understated things.” Josh reckons that the orcs are sufficiently dispersed. He brings up the subject of what to do next, again listing three options: a troublesome guild in the Coastal Kingdoms, an evil kingdom to the north, and problems in the city of Alpina. Aliana expresses the idea that Chalker will probably want to return to the Coastal Kingdoms, since that’s where he’s from, but Chalker shakes his head and says “Why would I want to go back there?” When asked, Josh says he doesn’t know the name of the evil kingdom, and has no idea as to the nature of its evil.

Aliana digs a fire pit, Rory fetches firewood, and Josh prepares supper. Chalker goes walking around the perimeter of the ruined temple. He gets a pleasant feeling, like the area has been purified. Near what used to be the main entrance he spots something lying on the ground – three small pieces of dark wood arranged in a perfect open equilateral triangle. Seeing this as a good omen, Chalker collects the three pieces. As he returns from gathering more firewood, Rory meets Aliana leading the horses to the river and asks how she is feeling. She admits being bothered by a gash on her arm, so Rory gathers herbs and prepares a poultice for her.

Later that evening as Rory gazes into the campfire, he sees images dancing in the flames. He seems to be standing on a forty-foot-tall tower overlooking a huge castle set at the junction of two rivers. A good-sized city surrounds the castle. The joined river runs southward, and Rory somehow knows that this is the same river that runs a few miles away from their current location. The castle seems to be constructed in three styles – orcish, goblinish, and human – with the orcish sections being the oldest. There is something very disturbing about the castle, though Rory can’t pinpoint what it is. His viewpoint shifts, traveling northward for what seems like hundreds of miles, alighting briefly upon another river junction marked by ruins before continuing to a large city build upon a mountainside. The image fades. Rory blinks and shakes himself, then checks his pockets. From one of them he withdraws the Sapphire Diamond, which he takes and lays next to a soundly-sleeping Runis.

When the dwarf awakens in the morning, he greets the Diamond. “Hello, rock,” he says, and places it around his neck. He senses that the sentience within the Diamond is very low on energy. Over breakfast, Rory describes his visions and concludes, “I think we’re supposed to go north.” Chalker, Aliana, and Rory study Rory’s map. Runis goes off to the riverside to talk to Starsinger (as one bard to another). Starsinger recognizes the Sapphire Diamond and comments, “It’s a long way from home.” Runis retorts, “Maybe it is home.” Later Runis combs the temple ruins, collecting quite a bit of gold leaf as well as two small carvings, one of Gauder in jade, the other of Aaoo in a stone sometimes called ‘blue sapphire’. Aliana rides off into the woods to the north, and when she returns that evening she reports nothing but trees and a deserted orc village. Jinto spends the day doing magical calculations, and that evening tells the others he still needs several more hours to figure out how to transport them all to a site near the evil kingdom. Before turning in for the night, Runis offers to the Diamond to let it take some of his energy to speed its recovery. He gets a very good feeling from doing this.

The next day, Long Days 18, Aliana once again rides northward, this time angling eastward away from the river. Using his special sight Chalker examines the two carved figures Runis had picked up, but they appear to be merely stone. Exploring the battle site by the river, Rory picks up a buckler he thinks he can use.

The morning of Long Days 19 comes. Jinto announces that he is ready with his spell to transport the group. The others say no, not yet – Aliana hasn’t come back from her ride the day before. There is some concern that she may have met with mischance, but Chalker suspects she departed deliberately. “Why didn’t she do this yesterday?” he grumbles, and Runis answers, “Because then you’d follow her.” “Of course we’ll follow her,” returns Chalker; “That’s what we do.” Rory speaks up, “I can’t leave her out there… she saved me.” Josh is the best rider of the group, but Runis says, “She won’t come back with him.”

Chalker, who can both track and ride, sets out on her trail. He rides until midday, takes his noon meal, and contemplates. In his contemplation he decides that this search must be a group effort. Besides, he knows that Jinto has a Flying Carpet spell that can sail over these forests much faster than any horse can go. He returns to camp at dusk and describes his plan. Jinto thinks it’s doable if he can borrow the Sapphire Diamond and draw energy from whoever else goes with him, though he will still need frequent rest breaks. After much discussion, they decide Rory will go with Jinto, and Chalker, Runis, and Josh will stay at the campsite in case Aliana returns. Rory gathers up a tarp, some first-aid supplies, food, and a couple of lanterns. Chalker and Runis allow the Diamond to draw energy from them.

Jinto casts the Flying Carpet spell on the tarp, then hands Rory the Sapphire Diamond, which glows like reflected sunlight. Rory asks the stone, “Mister or Missus Rock, will you point me in the right direction?” Whether assisted by the Diamond or not, Rory does an excellent job of following Aliana’s faint trail. Several hours later, he tells Jinto that they should be very close now, and they should search on foot.

In the starlit night Aliana awakens, alerted by some noise other than normal forest sounds. Quietly shifting from the tree limb where she had been sleeping to another overlooking a game trail, she can hear two people walking through the woods. As they come into sight, she recognizes them as Rory and Jinto. They pass underneath without seeing her. Aliana calls out, “What are you doing here?” Replies Rory, “We came looking for you. We thought maybe something happened and you might be injured.” Aliana assures them she is fine and hasn’t encountered anything more dangerous than a small orc village which she easily bypassed. Seeing that both Rory and Jinto are very tired, she tells them to go to sleep and she will keep watch.

When Rory and Jinto awaken, it is a little past midday. The three of them share a meal. Leaving Jinto resting beneath a tree, Aliana leads Rory through the woods, out of earshot. After perhaps fifteen minutes, they return. Jinto looks up at Rory. “Is she coming back?” “No,” says Rory quietly. Rory insists that Aliana accept the food and supplies he has brought. Aliana watches as they spread out the tarp and Jinto casts his spell; he and Rory rise through the trees and are soon out of sight.

Rory and Jinto reach camp. An hour after sunset Jinto will cast his transportation spell, and they will arrive somewhere to the south of the castle.

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