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-====== summary 325: Dreams of the Crimson Eye () ======
+====== Summary 325: Dreams of the Crimson Eye (2023-08-25) ======
 [[giraine|Giraine]] [[summaries-2023|Summaries]]
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+Bog goes to the Night Market with Bradde (and stealthy Shrett), following cryptic symbols around that area, to an alley where some trollkin and newtling scoundrels are lounging, overlooked by the man of interest, Oba Mat, who is rather unappealing as a human but has some misshapen teeth that might be mimicking those of trolls. He is well-dressed and decorated with Darkness and Trade runes; and is a Kitori. He is also a smooth talker. They have a discussion of the local Zorak Zoran shrine, the impending Ramalian raid, business, giant insect mounts, and such, and Mat answers an oblique question from Bog about Arkati:
+In Dark Season of 1624, Duke Kimiv of the Safelster county of Naskorion (northeast of Lake Felster) was wed in a ritual that took place in utter darkness. Those few men who were invited had to crawl on their hands and knees to find their place. It is said that he married a powerful troll-wife. He has been successful in seeking alliance with the trolls of Halikiv, and recently financed the construction of Zorakarkat, a temple-fort dedicated to the Chaos-killer. The Duke is a known member of the Argan Argar Chain, and actively makes arrangements for the great insect caravans to cross between Halikiv and Guhan. That Chain did a (in)famous mass caravan from Ralios (and Guhan) to Halikiv and then (over/through the towering Rockwood mountains!) into Dragon Pass, possibly connecting to Dagori Inkarth – the event was called The Swarm, and caused much of a ruckuss around the West.
+So Mat gives a lot of information to Bog and gets a little in return, about your mission into Ralios, and Mat says Bog owes him a favour in return.
+They go on to Dark Town. Along the way, Bradde has been chatting with Bog about things, with open disdain for Giraine, their common interest in Zorak Zoran and whether (as Bradde couches in a nuanced way) that is more important than other loyalties, war, etc. Bradde says that if they want more information, the man Old Teelis in town might be helpful; or not, he’s tricky; but is hard to find although Dark Town is one of his haunts.
+They get to the shrine’s building, a squat thing in the shadows of other buildings in the residential area. A big Great Troll leans on his spiky lead maul and against the wall; it is decorated head to toes in many piercings. It is named Smudge and challenges Bog as he steps up and says he wants to go in. But Bog makes a strong case that he is a Death Lord and deserves to go, and Smudge says that either he truly is a strong one or else a good liar and either is a good enough reason to let Bog pass. As Bradde goes in, Smudge curses and says he thought Bradde dead and is disappointed to see him.
+In the shrine, a lead statue of ZZ is in the centre and piles of bones surround it, with a stone casket against the far wall. It is cold and deeply dark here. Bog calls to ZZ, declaring his deeds over past seasons with great embellishments, and feels good about it. Then the bones clatter in motion and several skeletons of humans and Uz stand up, some with weapons, and a mummy-Uz slowly climbs out of its casket, in the darkness that shifts to almost blind Bog, it says that Bog has proven himself full of hate, and he can receive power from ZZ to spread that hate and slay the living, so he may touch the statue. Bog does, is pained by a burning sensation, and the Death energy of ZZ fills him with the Sever Spirit spell he requested. He has become more fearsome indeed! Bradde, in contrast, is cowed by all that has happened here, and meekly emerges from a hiding place to pray with Bog. They leave in due time, back to the Heroes Guild, and everyone rests.
+The next day you catch up over breakfast. You talk with the Heroes Guild about the Ramalians and broo, and learn plenty. Of the Ramalians, they have a great army that has never truly been depleted by war, as they have remained isolationists since before the Hero Wars, just committing some smaller scale battles here and there with their neighbours (especially Handra, whom they hate more than anyone!). Their warriors of “Hell Helper” (ZZ but human and as anti-troll as anything) are a fearsome army, and they have no militia, with their serfs being terribly oppressed (as are their Mraloti subjects). They have little iron and other nice things, except what they loot from shipwrecks or raiding, as they do little trade. The Axemen and Taxmen are among their nobility: an organisation who harshly enforces taxes on the King’s subjects, and who also acts as officers for the army. Then there is the Church of the Damned, a sect revering Malkion the Guilty, but Malkioni in name only as they practice terrible arts, and also revere Hastrafaj the Dessicated, a necromantic being like Ulfrathgar in your homeland area. They also conduct theistic worship of terrible gods- including Chaos gods like Tyram the Sky Terror and Urain the Bad Wind, Ikadz the torturer and more. They are cunning in battle and resourceful, and Handra should expect demons, undead, Chaos, elementals and spirits to be among their sendings. They could use flying powers to cross the waters.
+As for the New Fens broos, the heroes express frustration that they have been hard to deplete, because they mostly just find feral broo that are too easy to dispatch, and even the recently more better-equipped ones are normally little trouble at all. They have no centres of settlement left now; the heroes have destroyed what they could find. And the New Fens are vast. But the heroes keep up their hunting. They are able to fly and swim or wade, so they work well in the Fens.
+You ask of the Magicians Guild and hear that they are a mixed bunch, some of them helpful and some not so much. The main one is Master Sargbuk the Omnipotent Archmagus, sorcerer extraordinaire and reputed as the greatest defender of Handra, but also ill-reputed in that he uses “fallen magics” that the Church of Handra looks the other way about, and still considers him Devout. There is also Stormswallower the St. Magasta sorcerer of the Ludoch, and then “PVNRT” the heretical Mostali alchemist, and mad Valeki exorcist Vilkriek the Binder that traps evil spirits in his swine herd (kept in a pen out back of the Smoke House).
+You spend the day spreading out around town to gather information on the Ramalians and broo and such. Boamund talks with the army (Crusade Against Ramalia) and learns more of plans and defences. Handra aims to keep on the defensive as that is their strength, especially against an attack from the land. They have fortified what they can, with bridges as both chokepoints and vital weak points, and potential “sacrifices” to slow invasion. There is not much hope of bringing in more allies, as the war is expected sometime soon this Fire Season, and not many such allies are nearby or likely to be available in numbers. Others talk to the Priors and locals, and learn more, over the next day. There are no known Earth spirits like the Mud Hags, Shrett hears from the Lutrai and newtlings and boat-people along the shores. The main creatures of similarity are the Voughs; water/swamp hags, but they have a fierce reputation and only shamans might reach them (and few seldom try; they are not at all considered allies). Fraud goes the the Magicians Guild and has a frustrating time talking with the Archmagus, who is a bronzed naked man of perfect physique in black thong and cap; tattoed with Law, Water and Man runes; who is a simulacrum of its former master who had fled Ralios in exile. Sargbuk is only willing to talk about his role in defending the city magically; not other strategic issues which he defers to army and Priors; and even then he stonewalls much discussion, emphasizing that there is a diversity of defenders but answering Fraud’s question about whether there is much lightning magic available that no, there are not enough Storm barbarians to organise magician units with such power. Fraud asks “The Butler” gruff spirit attendant if Stormswallower is there but she is not, although she is expected to return soon. He leaves in disappointment. Shrett shops around for helpful goods and finds some practical or enjoyable things amongst the plethora of goods in Handra, but nothing like exciting magical items. Bog visits the Black Galley of Kogag,  “The Tide You Don’t See Coming Until it is too Late (TYDSCUL)”, meeting Captain Jorgoon Noragsbreath; a Dark Troll with unusually cold breath. He seems to be a ruthless, savage pirate; just here briefly for some supplies; and very uninterested in Handra’s fate. He has heard of a place nearby called Stone Dock that might have something worth taking; a treasure; and asks Bog of it but Bog has never heard of this place.
+So you spend two days in exploration of Handra, and also take a foray into the edge of the New Fens, and easily slaughter some feral broo, who have no tactics to speak of and only improvised weapons and weak magic. It is indeed not remotely a challenge for you. You can see why the Heroes Guild is not making great progress against the broos. They even don’t know what Sorc looks like, or where he might be, although they think he acts from afar, not near Handra. Not for now, anyway…
+At the Blue Dock Bar one late afternoon, Fraud is approached by a curious duck (Durulz), who has a black beak with a Death Rune on it, and a 15cm tall crest of red feathers. He looks like an Orlanthi warrior, and presents himself as such, coming from the nearby village of Stone Dock, and seeking the heroes of The Vomiter! He is Marladdon Blackbeak, and you learn he is a Vingan; a worshipper of the warrior-goddess; from Sartar, having moved here 20 years ago fleeing events in Dragon Pass, with the coming of the Lunars. Anyway, he drinks deeply of red wine with Fraud and explains, in a roundabout way, that his chief Heidelvest Goodsail sends him because bad things are happening (this is very vague) and you are requested. Bog soon arrives too. Marladdon gets tipsy and stumbles over further explanation, giving Fraud the impression that he is fearful and feeling dutiful to not overstep his role as a sort of thane to his chief, who wishes to handle matters directly with you. Fraud supposes that it is worth seeing if you can get allies from this situation, so you go back to the Heroes Guild, have some brief conversation, then agree to go to Stone Dock.
+It takes an hour of boat ride with Marladdon to reach the shore to the south. The village mostly is very unimpressive; one of the smallest settlements you’ve been to. For a place 20 years old now, it has not grown much. As you approach and land, you are greeted exuberantly by the villagers and their children. The young are healthy, but the adults are slightly gaunt. For about 2 weeks, their nets have come up empty, and the village has been eating into its preparations for the winter. Worse yet, the local small game which the Dockers rely upon in times of dearth has vanished. The setting of Stone Dock Village is dominated by the Stone Dock itself. This enormous block of greyish stone is rectangular, nearly 20 meters long and four meters across. It is at least four meters thick as well based on its depth in the water. It has regular outcrops rising from it, two meters apart, to which the fishers among the Dockers tie their boats. It seems to be a natural formation, but a very well-shaped one, like it was carved. The children play happily upon the main dock, hopping off the end into the deeper waters offshore. The people are Orlanthi. Colloquially called “Dockers,” they are mostly human save for the duck Marladdon Blackbeak (who came here as a youth), and his small family. Twelve households live here, with a total population of about fifty people.
+The village proper sits about 250 meters south from the dock, on a low hill. A well at the center provides water to the village. Other low hills fill the land surrounding the village, their valleys filled with weed-choked pasture of drained Fens. The Dockers keep a small herd of ten sheep, a ram, three cows, and a grouchy old bull on the gentle northern slope. Heidelvest’s son-in-law Farmakt is in charge of watching the animals, with the help of adolescents and new adults. Two hills to the west is a small cemetery. And that is it. The chief’s longhouse is basic and you are escorted within. Heidelvest Goodsail is a muscular, grey-haired old man with clear blue eyes, and a thick beard that was black but now has greyed, with the look of a stormcloud; and he is in his sixties. He is an initiate of Orlanth Thunderous, you learn; and features tattoos of Air, Harmony and Man. He bears himself like a proper leader, and welcomes you, offering gracious Orlanthi hospitality, explaining what he has to give you as guests, and you sit down around his hearth to have fish, meat, vegetables and salt from the area. You ask why you’ve been brought here and he begins to explain.
+Luckily the main people you talk with speak Handran and Tradetalk. But many villagers and kids only speak Handran, or not even that; Sartarite only perhaps.
+For nearly two weeks, Heidelvest has had strange dreams; and he knows they do not come from Orlanth. They focus on three images: the black abyss of the ocean deeps, scale-covered merfolk swimming with fish on their spears, and a crimson eye. Each time
+the eye gazes upon him, Heidelvest feels uncontrollable terror, and wakes in a cold sweat. After the staring eye returned for three nights, he concluded that they were a significant threat, and sent Marladdon to Handra in search of you once the excitement of your return was heard of at Stone Dock. The dreams have continued in the passing weeks, and the chief thinks that the eye is that of The Vomiter, returning to doom this area again, and your coming is sure sign of this. Just then, to everyone’s surprise, Ahappi appears in the doorway, saying that he too has had similar dreams. With initial query of who this frightening being is, the chief is convinced it is Ahappi again, and he joins you. Coming to Handra, he had a dream in waves of images that washed across his mind. A black-lipped mouth that snarls. A toothy beak and crimson eye. A bowl full of blood, tipped over and turning the water red. The eye seems to be the same thing in both persons’ dreams, and it is not human or Vivamort-like, and Ahappi does not think it looked like The Vomiter’s.
+Heidelvest has concluded that the dreams are being sent by the village’s wyter, Stone Dock. She has not done so for many years; the last time was a week before their old well went dry. Although Heidelvest has attempted to commune with her, he has been unable to interpret Stone Dock’s emotions beyond “trouble comes from the ocean.” Consequently, the elder sent his son-in-law Farmakt searching for the shaman Just Tului. Stone Dock, he says when you ask about the settlement, was uncovered when the migrants arrived 20 years ago, as a storm ahead of them swept the shore bare and exposed the beach and Dock. The first years were very hard, as the refugees struggled to learn their new land. They didn’t know how to hunt the Fens, they no longer had herds of their own, and they didn’t know how to build ships big enough to survive the sea. They got into conflict with the locals of the New Fens, who were upset to have strangers in their territory who drained their swamps. Worst of all, they upset the spirit of the Stone Dock by tying boats to it. Life got better about fifteen years ago, when the shaman Just Tului (who is of the Fens folk) visited at the behest of Stone Dock. She taught Heidelvest and the other Dockers the appropriate rites to placate the Dock, and she smoothed over relations with the local clan whose lands they had unwittingly settled upon. Since then the lives of the Dockers has continued to be difficult, but no longer miserable. They infrequently visit Handra for worship, but mostly keep to themselves on their edge of the coast. They like their freedom. The chief turns discussion around to reward and promises you each a sheep and five clacks, what Stone Dock can humbly give, for your help. You say such payment is not needed; you seek friendship; and he replies that you already have it, but maybe he can find more of something to offer. He knows of no Uz pirates and gives a vague reply about treasure to Bog.
+You are invited to bed down for the night, and the chief suggests you join a fishing boat at dawn; although you could just await Just Tului. Shrett and Ahappi say they will go; the others will stay (Bog and Boamund have little interest in taking another trip with Ahappi into the seas!). You have no dreams of note, but the chief is heard moaning in fear.
+That morning, two of you leave with the Dockers Dinkar and Broheort. They go an hour offshort to the northeast and pitch their nets, then relax into idle talking and daydreaming, with some interest in Shrett who converses with them. During the first pull of the net, Dinkar and Broheort pull six fish into the boat, and express their exasperation; this is how it has been for two weeks and the village is starving as a result. Meanwhile, Ahappi is underwater with his mosasaur, and spots dark figures in the distance, moving around, and maybe humanoid but surely larger than the fish here. He thinks they might be mermen, but perhaps not Ludoch. He suspects, though, that the things are driving away the fish. He tells the others this and they ask what to do. He calls a shark and octopus, and isn’t sure what happened with the former but a medium-sized octopus does get caught in the next net casting, and this pleases the fishers, as it is a rare treat for the chief to enjoy. With their fright evident in reaction to the suspected mermen, you go back to Stone Dock, returning early and almost empty-handed.
+Meanwhile, Farvast and Just Tului return. The wild shaman, a middle-aged short woman with pure black hair, is covered in black tattoos of strange animals. The tattoos are different each time you look. A spiritual snake hangs around her shoulders. She goes to talk with the chief and you wait. She leaves and goes walking slowly around the village, staring at the well, at the walls of the houses, and at the ground and such. Occasionally she speaks, never directed at you (but infrequently in the direction of a villager—by accident). The chief calls you into his house and says that she interrogating Heidelvest about his dreams, and plans to enter the Spirit World and speak directly with Stone Dock afterward, but first is doing her routine check of the village, with extra vigilance. Just Tului initially assumed that the villagers have insulted their wyter, and that she must once again create Harmony from Disorder. However, Heidelvest’s account added to what you told him has disabused her of that notion. Soon enough the village directs its interest to the Dock, where the others return with the fishers, and concern grows why the fishers have returned so early. You come together and exchange information. Ahappi tells the chief of the possible mermen and he replies that he has no experience dealing with such things, so asks for his counsel. Ahappi says that something must be done and talking with the Stone Dock is a good start. You await Just Tului’s finish. Shrett tries to get information from the local kids but only scares them away from the Dock.
+Ahappi, though, looking around the Dock, keenly spots a submerged, half-buried skull. He digs it out and it is fresh enough, about a meter long, with an odd toothy beak; like some beast but unlike a squid or similar. He thinks it over and realises it is a legendary monster: a Quacken! These are ancient spawn of Magasta and some Earth goddess; long forgotten. They thus are of Water and Earth.  They are like giant ducks with terrible beaks and stout legs, so they can walk on land, but otherwise have the form of a giant squid. This one is only a juvenile. The largest, pre-Time ones that still live, can reach the size of ships. Quackens are omnivorous, have valuable body parts, and males periodically go through an aggressive “stupmi” (Ludoch for drunk) phase. Quackens are rare, only found along some remote Genertelan coasts. He figures that this dead juvenile is key to the mystery, and an adult may come. He gives everyone news of this, and the chief’s concern elevates greatly but he expresses comfort in knowing that as you dealt with the Vomiter, you can even deal with a ship-sized Quacken.
+Now Just Tului returns to the longhouse and delivers her news to the chief, and you are there to hear it; Shrett has brought the skull inside. Just Tului explains that she saw a number of unusual—and probably hostile—spirits lurking around the village. In particular, she saw one
+with four fat fins sulking at the bottom of the Dockers’ well. She informs everyone that now she will enter the Spirit World to greet Stone Dock, and converse with her. She invites you to either take hazia (presenting a pouch of it) and go with her, or stay put and guard her body and everyone. Ahappi, Boamund and Shrett go; the others do not. Just Tului gathers some seaweed from the beach, and seats herself upon the Stone Dock, along with those coming along. She drapes the seaweed over each participant’s hair, and sings a wordless melody while you smoke; the Captain digging out his sea-pipe. As you do so, you feel a thrumming drumbeat beneath your body—Stone Dock’s response to the shaman’s song.
+The Middle World dissipates. Those left behind see a shining yellow snake crawl from below Just Tului’s leather wrap, becoming more material-like than before, and curl up on her lap. Its eyes are teal, and stare at you. Fraud takes his mask off and stares back. You know this to be her guardian spirit or fetch. In the Spirit World, Just Tului takes the form of a large orange serpent, which radiates a feeling of worry. Below the discorporate people is a large female face, with seaweed hair and indigo skin. Nothing like you’ve seen before; and huge. This is Stone Dock. Just Tului greets her, and encourages you to do so as well using Spiritspeech. You respond that you do not know this, and she says to try, but you are unable to articulate anything more than emanating your feelings. You have adopted spirit-forms (and feelings): the Captain as a tentacled black sea dragon (cautious), Boamund as a scorpion with a tattooed pincer (impressed), Shrett as a large shadowy frog (protective). As Just Tului embarks on a long conversation in Spiritspeech, Ahappi wanders around and almost gets completely lost in the Spirit World, struggling back and feeling weakened. The other two are happy that they chose to stay put. This is a very dangerous place for non-spirit-talkers.
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