You spend some time resting and Bog goes off for a quick prayer, returning around nightfall. Then you head out. You had information from the City that the Mistress of Doldrums had been abandoned over the past day and some things were moved into the warehouse, but the building is not large enough that many people could be resident there now (although you figure it has tunnels!). It is a two storey structure.

As night falls, Estali gradually goes more silent. There is a harsh stinging wind blowing southwards off of Lake Felster, carrying sharp ice crystals with it. This surely is a premonition of the hurricane. The temperature has dropped markedly, too. People have either moved their belongings into buildings or far away to potential safety, or covered them to do their best protecting them, or abandoned them to the (lack of) mercy of Valind.

You reach the warehouse along the docks and it is quiet; no guards outside. The Mistress is dark. Some ships along the dock have been freed of ice by undines or salamanders or such, by those privileged enough for that, but many icebound ships are doomed, and the Mistress surely is one such.

Investigating the ground floor, you find that tarps cover the roof, lashing it down, much as for other buildings, although it’s questionable how much it will help. The small windows are shuttered tightly and are too small for anyone to enter through anyway. On closer examination, the entrances are heavily fortified. There is a back plaza connecting to the dock whose double doors Bog tries—it’s barred, and there’s no lock. You go around and check the front door. It’s just locked, and one of Artukan’s keys that Boamund has opens it. You prepare spells, then open the door.

The inside is warm and lit by oil lamps, but also there is a soft light blue glow that is all to familiar, and it grows in intensity as two man-sized figures stride forth. They are statues (Jolanti) styled as warriors with large shields and broadswords, and made of the magical, glowing Blue Stone. The front one blasts Boamund with a beam of the blue light that emanates from its face, and he blocks with his shield but his whole left arm goes numb; paralysed. The statue pushes forward and soon bashes Boamund backwards 4 metres, opening a gap for the second to come through behind it.

You’ve surrounded the statues and a lengthy melee begins. One face-beams Bogs arm. Makheon invokes his Firespear but finds that it is useless against his foe (their Blue Stone makes them immune to all magic, it turns out!), so he switches to sword and shield. Sotiris finds that his strength-boosting iron broadsword serves him well, and Bog’s lead maul also is effective. Together, they soon batter the first statue’s head to ruin, but as it falls two more come from the inside and file outwards. You battle furiously and some of you take minor or moderate wounds from the stone swords, but you outnumber and outclass them in the melee, and soon they all lie in rubble, their blue glow faded.

But something more has been happening: a couple of crossbow bolts have whooshed out from within the warehouse, glancing off Boamund’s armour. He hurries in, soon Hasted by Sotiris’s sorcery, but he mis-judges where a battery of Disrupt spells comes from; thinking it’s upstairs; and ends up in the middle of the cargo area surrounded by four armed guards in ringmail, who have dropped their crossbows and wield glowing heavy maces and large shields! Moreover, they all sport those awful Urcheth head-tentacles and their flesh ripples like jelly, regenerating wounds. Boamund is bashed around for a while but not hurt very much, and Sotiris, Bog and Makhaon (armed with Firespear again) are rushing in aid.

Soon one guard is taken down by Sotiris’s Fire Wrack spell to his abdomen, and eventually that one dies, and Boamund goes on the offensive. Makhaon’s spear takes out the heads of two guards in two rapid, brutal blows; one man’s head turns to ash under the charring force. And the fourth one goes down under more attacks. They did not last long. There are no more threats.

You switch to searching the building. The main cargo area you begin in has with double stairs up by the back doors. Otherwise it is full of fine mundane goods, some in piles, some in amphorae/boxes: good salted fish and other quality foods, crafts, some fine art, etc. Bog soon has a wonderful time sampling the delicious goods. Artukan’s taste can’t be faulted.

And on the first floor there are seven chained, blindfolded, gagged Rokari Dronari slaves from Carbo in good condition, with furs and such to keep them warm enough. They were purchased from Carbo not long ago, brought to Estali City, and have no idea where they are going or why. [Later, once they’ve gone to safety, you are handed down information from them: They have not seen anything here but have overheard people speak in Mostali (they think the crew uses it as a code?). One says they overheard that the bronze bits are parts bound for Pehraln for “the project”. The crew of the Mistress of Doldrums had been awaiting an unseasonal thaw of this part of Lake Felster and were surprised it hadn’t happened. The slaves had been here at port for a week, but were moved off the ship a day ago. ]

Next to where you entered, though, there are two heavily fortified doors to side rooms, but Artukan’s keys unlock them, too. Boamund searches them, soon guarded by Bog and joined by Sotiris, who is helping to translate Safelstran writings. And Makhaon has gone to the Sailor’s Guild to fetch guards to escort the slaves to safety, and help you as needed. One room looks to be a storage area for smaller goods and documents. There are long shelves at the back. Boamund and Bog focus on looking for secret tunnels and such but find none. Boamund does, however, spot a scroll that makes him uneasy, especially when he reads it: It is made of fresh human skin with hair and tattoos and scars and freckles and warts visible– warm to the touch– (in Seshnelan) letter dated Fireday, Disorder Week, Sea Season 1625: “Mr. Goldminder, I have enjoyed our new correspondence greatly. It is thrilling to hear of the coming of the great new visitor to our continent, whispers of whom I have heard elsewhere in my travels. Indeed, although it is but a paltry contribution, we have aided in the exchange of beings across the vast oceans to continue this new star-favoured diaspora between northern and southern lands. Our humble little island might be of little interest to those with your impressively broad agenda. Yet powers stir here that are unlike those that have been seen in the Middle World within Time. We can offer their tutelage, as their knowledge is challenged only by that of the miserly Brithini, who unlike us, do not share it. We also have a rather unique library. I have sent a trusted emissary to you. Yours sincerely and most humbly, Mr. Skrimpton Nodeal, Wonder-Loving Rainbow Chums, Island of Giraine, etc., etc.” – scroll shivers and gets goosebumps as Boamund reads it, then it blushes. Ugh. You worry that this means your island is under new threat! After searching for quite a while, the returned Makhaon finds:

1. Clay tablet with old inscription (1st Age Safelstran) that is a Nysalorian Riddle: A priestess receives a large donation from a rich merchant to build a temple. The donor is confused when the priestess doesn’t thank him and approaches the priestess about it: “This is a large sum of money, even for me. Why do you not show any thanks?” The priestess replies, “Why should I? The giver should be thankful.”
2. Scroll: Godlearner naturalist’s treatise on an extinct 2nd Age beast that was popular with hunters: “The Oecologie of the Bear-Owle”
3. Copper plate book: Simple lexicon of useful phrases in Mostali
4. Scroll: 915 ST 2nd Age Seshnelan Godlearner “The Art of Dealing With The Devil: Best Practices For Handling Business Matters With Brown Vadeli”

The other room turns out to be Artukan’s business office. There are plenty of uninteresting crates, tables, etc. A painting of Lake Felster in the springtime; rather lovely. A wall map: Genertela with major Mostali settlements marked, and trade routes to Nida emphasized, Sotiris notes. Amidst the desks, Sotiris soon finds things of plenty of interest:

1. Records of shipping business from Handra/Maniria to here; all seems mundane but The Effervescent gets plenty of mention; not Pehraln but Captain Wat Daham is named.
2. Scroll: Safelstran document of payment to Mostali of Bad Deal, Decamony of Nida for work on crafting four constructs from Blue Stone in return for “one human kilogram of shed remains of the dead earth” [snake skins, you later figure] and “one human kilometre of spun clothing of the four-blunt-toed beasts” [horse hair rope, you later figure] and “23,000 human board feet of dead bodies of the tall plants, source: Tarin Mountains” [timber, you later figure].
3. Hammered, stamped tin plate in Mostali: “Work Order Number IJK2HCHNCP. Deliver Moon Crescents. Digital shields. Ten of them, departed from the whole periodically. Or twenty if you can reach them from your height. You rarely need them once departed. The trade is beneficial for us both. Work order provided by Nidan Work Unit QIKL48QZET, Tradetalk Apellation Fracconnoddoddrikk.”
4. Smallish cylindrical tin container with a stamp of a Man rune on it. There is a tin tool clamped onto it.
5. Map with the location of Pehraln’s Warehouse marked on it.
6. A very brief letter from Captain Wat Daham of The Effervescent to Artukan: “The scholar and the boy are safely with our allies now, far from the reach of the enemy. Given the promise I’ve seen in the boy, my payment was hardly necessary, but it was generous.”
7. A finely made scroll with Artukan’s seal. You’ve not opened it.

Searching the first floor, you find: Cargo loading apparatus and more storage. One sack of shed snake skins from many large snakes. Bog likes these and takes them to the Ernalda priestesses as a gift. They return his blessed great-axe and add a Bladesharp matrix to it. There are 2 crates of more of those bronze bits, wrapped individually in patches of horsehide. You ensure those eventually get to Shrett to destroy.

You conclude your operations at the warehouse, and have plenty of guards to help carry away things of interest. Those things you want access to at the naval base are brought there. You return there and rest.

A messenger from the Archon brings a gift to Fraud: a Second Age set of bound copper plates inscribed with the fundamentals of a sorcery spell (it can teach this; 5 improvement rolls, 4 weeks and Western-Safelstran Literacy skill roll [to do]): Neutralise Poison– suppresses a single poison/venom on a target (victim or object), with a Potency equal or less than the Intensity skill. It cannot un-venom venomous creatures themselves. The poison is negated only as long as the Duration of Neutralise Poison; after then, if still a problem, the poison/venom still is active, but a Healing skill roll or other magic could still be used in the meantime or afterwards as usual. It affects targets with a SIZ up to three times the Intensity of the spell.

There is a subtext to this gift that Fraud eventually guesses at: this comes from the Archon and is about negating poison, which is symbolic of bad feelings to another, especially in a serpentine sense. It’s an apology, unspoken, but there’s no doubt about it.

The snow hurricane hits the next morning as expected, and it doesn’t disappoint in its fury. You can’t avoid hearing its howling and feel strong drafts even within the depths of the naval base. Indeed, it is said that the howls of these storms carry with them the voices of the victims of the storms, who Valind blows around like playthings.

You stay warm enough when bundled in furs, but it’s not an enjoyable 3 days of the storm, and it only abates for 2 days before it hits again. You try resting. There are breaks in the storms, then they return (more snow hurricanes, or thunder-snows, or just more mild snowstorms, and so on, for weeks throughout Dark Season. You don’t hear from others such as Black Eyes; you’re isolated and under heavy guard including Makhaon and Sotiris, at all times. Visiting healers are carefully vetted and checked.

Shrett is sent a teacher to tutor him in Beastspeech and then Firespeech, and becomes rather fluent, then switches to learning Safelstran. That uses up his 8 weeks, which is the time we’re passing while he and Fraud heal up. Boamund and Bog get the opportunity for training too (Bog is just taking 8 different skills’ worth of appropriate training; this does not incur improvement roll “debt”). Fraud has 4 free weeks still, I think, after learning the new spell? And Boamund needs to choose what to do with his time.

At last, you’re well into Storm Season of 1625, and Shrett and Fraud are fully recovered, with the blessings of the Ernaldans for becoming active again. You get a message with an invitation to meet with Alangellia at her temple. The two NPCs are included but there is a kind apology included that Bog is not invited, but will receive a gift instead in consolation. You head there under guard and see that Alangellia’s guard has been substantially improved, with ironclad Humakti added to the Babeester Gor axe-maidens. Small wonder, given the threat to her that’s now known.

Alangellia says that there has been much debate in Estali about this, but the leaders have chosen to offer you the opportunity to continue aiding them in solving the mystery of Ornovar One-Foot and the King-Who-Walks. Fraud immediately responds yes. Alangellia responds that the stakes seem high; your help will be graciously received, and you’ll have much support from the City. You agree without debate.

Also, Adessa Reed-Voice from what was Ridalstead has sent a magical saddle as a reward, or maybe as a peace offering, since you didn’t part on great terms. It is the Thane Farakt Sun-Colt’s saddle, which raises the damage bonus of a rider when fighting from horseback by 1 step. It’s lovely and quite generous of a gift! You might wonder if there was some political pressure behind this belated gift.

Alangellia explains that the missing golden Tablets you learned of from Ornovar’s tomb have now mostly been recovered, and translated and interpreted. These holy Tablets were given to Ornovar One-Foot after the battle at Hrelar Amali back in the late First Age. They had been buried with him, then taken, returned, and taken again multiple times. It now is clear that they are key to unlocking a heroquest path, which potentially can bring hippogriffs back to Estali lands!

Hippogriffs, Alangellia explains, can serve as spiritual liaisons between Earth and Sky and guide the Winds. These magnificent creatures are thought to have disappeared during the First Age but have recently returned to some isolated areas (mountains and their edges; so very few of them near Galanini civilization at all). Already this year, the theists of Ralios fortunate enough to live near hippogriff lands have seen the difference the hippogriffs’ presence makes as Valind’s fury abates sometimes, and the fertile more southern winds raise better crops, in those few areas that have hippogriffs again. But the hippogriffs remain aloof from them, even in such cases. This can change!

Alangellia tells you a myth that you do not know; but a well known one for Galanini- “The Unarming of King Hippogriff” (dating from the Enerali ancestors, and pertaining to the Greater Darkness). See attached document. [as players and characters, this will raise some eyebrows!!!!]

She also tells you of a Galana/Galanin [these genders are combined in their faith] myth. This comes directly from the Tablets of Ornovar. it is an Enerali heroquest, conducted by Ornovar in the 1st Age. This one is a puzzle. It’s a lost myth (even its name is unknown), and the 17 original tablets told it in full, but only 15 Tablets have been recovered and it is thought that the final 2 are entirely lost. Furthermore, the order of the tablets in terms of the mythical story is lost. This confusion is not just mundane but magical—the myth is so lost that the Galanini’s religious power to divine its order from the Tablets is futile. They have, however, managed to match up the Wizard-Sages of Sentanos’s written notes about these tablets to each individual tablet. Maybe that will give clues, but it’s obvious that they struggled. See attached document. The myth is not a standalone tale devoid of context—it seems to be a parallel to “The Unarming of King Hippogriff” myth, or intersecting it in a novel way. Ornovar probably was using this tale in an attempt to interact with the “Unarming” myth.

Something stopped the ability of the Enerali and their Galanini descendants to quest for hippogriffs, early in the First Age’s Gbaji wars. This is a great mystery. What is now recovered knowledge is that toward the end of the Gbaji Wars, having turned to aid Arkat’s side, an Enerali war leader now known as Ornovar One-Foot consecrated the peytral (chestplate) of the original Horse, King-Who-Walks, to his chieftainess. Its safekeeping was handed down to the Ernalda cult at Estali City’s temple. The peytral is inlaid with three emeralds known to have been Ernalda’s own, from the time of her handmaidenship to Ehilm. This is a prized treasure of the Temple of the Great Green Lady. Alangellia shows it to you; it’s truly awe-inspiring, this relic of Ernalda and an Enerali Hero.

Now it is clear that Ornovar One-Foot had also gained the chamfron of this Godtime horse’s armour for his own horse’s usage, and had at one point possessed the 17 gold tablets, but this knowledge had been lost; and with it, his role in heroquesting too. He seems to have had some success trying to reverse whatever happened earlier in the First Age (which ended the ability to quest for hippogriffs), but not complete success. The rightful place of the chamfron atop the horse’s skull in Ornovar’s skull makes his heroquest possible; it needs to remain there, keeping his spirit at rest.

A key mystery has been unravelled: Ornovar’s quest was successful enough that unique beasts came to him—the fiery horse-monsters you fought, whose spirits could possess normal horses, were called Hebdainchels and were basically hippogriffs without wings, but imbued with special fire-powers.

The peytral and 17 golden tablets are needed to help open a path to the Godtime, and Estali now has all of these—back in the horse riders’ possession for the first time since the First Age ended. Alangellia has been granted authority to oversee the conduct of a new heroquest, with the goal of returning hippogriffs to Estali. This is a very big deal!

Bog cannot go; he is not suited. Mythically, Zorak Zoran is a foe of King Hippogriff; no question about that [see the Unarming myth attached…]. But he is given a very fine gift as consolation: a Xiola Umbar holy relic of a lead-beaded braid of Xiola Umbar, which holds the Healing Trance spell (can be renewed at a Zorak Zoran shrine with 1 MP donation). You are handed this to bring back to him. He is very pleased with that!

Your quest will be to enter the Godtime in the roles following The Unarming of King Hippogriff myth (the complete, well-known myth) and try to follow that, while using the 15 fragments of Ornovar’s quest to try to retrace his steps and see where he went wrong, and try to make things mythically right again. For Arkati, this is a very good thing. Repairing broken heroquests is sacred to them. Yet this will need delicate handling. Missteps could be devastating. “No heroquesting without respect”, the main Arkati mantra, must apply. For Sotiris and Makhaon, this heroquest is an enormously big deal. It is vastly holy and they feel that this is a pivotal stage in their lives. They would do anything for it to succeed. For all of you, the prominent mention of one Chaos foe will be strong motivation…

You will need to choose who you quest as, and fully take on the identities of; #1-3 are necessary roles:

1. Dayzilthar the Star-Captain [needs to have Fire rune association; potential leader of the quest]—both myths mention him, so this is a key link
2. Galanin/Galana [needs to have Fire rune association; potential leader of the quest]—his/her presence in both myths is implied and certainly mythically appropriate.
3. Sunflower “God Who Looks Up” (plant being with Fire rune connections; but any species can play its role)— Ornovar’s myth mentions this godling
4. Galanin’s “gear” (both a person and an object, as the quest requires)

• Hoplite panoply
• Shield
• Spear
• Winged sandals

1. Companions of the questers

• Gardener (Sunflower’s friend)
• Dazilthar’s thane
• Galanin’s companions (any broad identities that would be appropriate)

This is a deep God Plane quest; similar to the Boat Planet quest in that you are trying to “permanently” alter mythic reality, for all Estali County peoples of Galanini faith. You will truly adopt form of heroes/gods and will only be present in divine form; not carrying anything such as your weapons and armour with you, or magical things and such. You will need to rely on what you know and your talents, and try to use them in the context of your mythic roles.

You have a week to prepare now, and the Estali are preparing rituals that will aid your journey.

-Shrett declines the offer to participate in the heroquest. He is concerned that he might end up having a conflict of interest via his Valind connection. Alangellia respects his choice and honours his honesty.

-Indeed, you all might have feelings about the current situation. You’ve gone back and forth helping the City/Galanini/Alangellia, then the animal people/Black Eyes, acting as a sort of double agent. How comfortable are you about that in terms of your exertion of your free will?

-The storm does destroy the Mistress of Doldrums. The warehouse gets a thorough search and no hidden tunnels etc. are found. Artukan has no heirs—you’d killed his (semi-innocent) wife Sarynna Ruhl. So, much of his property goes to his Guild, and some of it is liquidated by Estali City, and some important goods are distributed amongst the needy to help them through the storms. His other properties in/very near to Estali City are searched and no more incriminating things are found. Messages are sent around his “territory” with warnings of his guilt and suggesting investigations. The same goes for Pehraln, of whom nothing more is heard in this time.

-No more assassinations happen. There’s no hint of Krarsht activity, and the tunnel below Artukan’s mansion proves to be hopelessly collapsed; indeed, the Earth elemental-thing that you used the password on is not seen again.

-(Storm Season) Fraud and Shrett’s recovery ends during a vicious ice-hurricane that sweeps in over the lake, with violent whirlwind spirits unique to Lake Felster, called Ice-Spouts. You visit with Alangellia just after this. Another, milder one hits the following week, but there is a break forecast during the planned time of the heroquest. Another storm is due thereafter. It has been a rough start to Storm Season.

-You heard news from far-off lands northwest along the lake, that Chaos creatures had been coming out of Tinaros County and plaguing the surrounding lands. Not big nasty ones; “just” broo and scorpion men and other typical foes. This breaks a trend for multiple seasons of there being silence within/near Tinaros. You’d heard back 2-3 seasons ago that Argin Terror had performed a great ritual that Tapped all Chaotic beings within Tinaros; his county across Lake Felster. Tinaros was completely free of Chaos, it was said. But rulers like the Archon worry at what this epic event is building towards. Surely something most dire! And now something is building up again…

Since Shrett isn’t going on the quest, he is offered the gift of a Storm Bull runelord teaching him (with usual cost of 5 improvement rolls and 4 weeks) a spell shared with Valind cultists, the miracle Face Chaos: Face Chaos Cost 1, Duration (Minutes), Rank Initiate, Resist (Willpower) When cast upon the recipient, that person stands their ground and fights any chaotic foe they face, even if ordinarily they would have run. If desired the spell may be resisted, but might lead to future accusations of cowardliness. This spell does not render the recipient immune to the effects of such spells as Demoralize or Panic, though they still will not flee.

There’s still the problem that a Valind priest/shrine doesn’t exist (as far as is known) in Estali City, but Shrett is recommended to visit cities west/north of Estali, as such things might exist there.

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