Hi again,
Sea Season of the Year 1622 passed onwards, as Cyroosta deduced the basic functions of the Godlearner alchemist's potions and that cursed ruin lay buried and watched over by your guards and peasants. Meanwhile strange occurrences had been continuing, since late last year- were they connected to this place?
Sailors around Giraine had noticed odd things happening… with time, of all things. Now, time in Glorantha is not something to be trifled with. Arachne Solara, the great goddess and time-spider, spun a web that ensnared chaos/the devil at the Dawn (before year 0), and since that Great Compromise in which Time began (spawned as her child when she devoured the devil, some say) and the gods stepped away from direct interference on Glorantha, Time has been inviolate. But these sailors' rumours, which you and the Shadow's crew also experienced once last year, are that sometimes time stops, or slows down, or reverses, or does other crazy things, and only seemingly around Giraine. This cannot be good. And it has been bad for trade, during this crucial season of seafaring and hence trade.
Furthermore, on land, the peasants continue to occasionally see little angry/ugly “mud men” wandering in/near your lands. You may have spotted one, or something else, when you went to the Brown Vadeli shack to try to find them, as Inyana was complaining to her love of her infertility, stricken on her by the Vadeli “healer”, Iirkon Backdoor, apparently. You tried to track down her or the others. But Skrimton Nodeal had vanished into the wilderness or something; not having been seen in town or near the manor for some days. Likewise, the foul, misshapen Vadeli named Zridge the Tart had been in town only seldom, being reported to have hired many different vessels of late to take him on short, mysterious voyages.
You did manage to track Iirkon to the Sottogh clan grounds of the Vadeli. You went there and had some tense standoffs and negotiating with scouts of those xenophobic people, as well as a strange encounter with a semi-talking toad that strode clumsily on a pair of reed stilts, and acted as a messenger for Ilk the Elder. They sent you away, claiming to want nothing to do with you.
But all was not so ill. The Captain had a dream of a nymph, and Maugis began to be seen as a trustworthy spiritual guide by some of the local peasants, who explained to him their plight and the divisiveness on Giraine that hurt them more than anyone else. They clearly want peace; not war, adventures or politics. Perhaps the Giranois did, too, as they'd been quiet and keeping to themselves in their lands, especially now that winter had ended and the settled, more fertile coasts of Giraine were less attractive to them.
Captain Ahappi had been patrolling the Giraine waters (with no strange broken-time events as of yet!), trying to find prey to satisfy his Magastan geas, but to no avail– until a messenger from the Baron found him at St Thosos and told him of a foreign ship that would be slipping into New Arvonesse's port in a week, and which contained a cargo that the Baron did not want to arrive on Giraine. After some pressuring for more information, he reluctantly divulged that the cargo was Rokari in nature and that the Captain would not want it on the island either; but he'd have to meet the Baron's contact in Humbertsville for more specific intelligence. The Shadow was sent with Ciddar to the east coast near New Arv to watch for the strange ship, a junk out of Kralorela, and Ahappi joined the Baronet and cohort to head overland to Humbertsville, paying “routine” calls at the local villages on the way (i.e. checking up on the locals for the Baron).
And off you went! Oyesteria Major was peaceful again, and showing signs of wealth. Their erstwhile leader, Embulian the Clean, explained it was from bits of cleansed iron left over from their cursed batches. Later, he explained a strange dream he'd had, of playing in a pile of leaves like a child, and the strange phrase: “Psychetheca Everlasting”. You guessed that it might relate to that horrid library place you'd explored seasons ago, and it didn't take any effort to convince Embulian that it was no place he'd like. Still, he wondered why the dream was not scary for him, if it was such a bad place.
Toadhaven was again an awkward visit with the portly, devious Baronet Dupres. He gave the Baronet a bit of honey as an advance on their trade deal, and showed off a “riding mantis” that troll friends (boat-Uz of Kogag, the sailor troll cult; merchants) had given him. He explained he was considering raising other giant arthropods, since he'd had luck with normal bees and had good troll contacts. This all seemed very odd to you, and you were rather glad to leave this uncharismatic Baronet behind.
At Humbertsville you immediately ran into signs of trouble: the local guards were trying to gently, but with much frustration, remove peasants who'd been camping out in the central village plaza all day, self-flagellating or in dazes of religious (and soon, you figured out, drugged) fervour. The guards explained it was the (World of) Losers movement; an extreme Rokari heresy that tried to suffer as much as possible to reach Solace faster. They did not know what to do, but you figured that the source of the drugs was the solution, and the young, inexperienced Baronet Humbert invited you to help find that if you could; he chatted with Boamund and the Baronet then they retired.
A new inn had sprung up in Humbertsville in recent seasons; indeed the only inn: the Tumbledown Inn, a reconstructed old tower on the edge of town, with a precarious spiral staircase leading to multiple small, cramped floors. The enterprising, surprisingly effective owner was a Pithdaran woman, Wamni Smallboon, and how she'd built and run this place so well remained a mystery. Maugis spoke to her about the drugged peasants and she recommended he speak to a local healer, Old-Jin Sixtines, who'd be around after closing time. Maugis decided to wait for him, and struck up conversations with the locals (who were no Loser cultists; at least the town still had some sensible folk left).
Ahappi had been waiting and drinking in a foul mood, disappointed to not be at sea and flummoxed by the Baron's machinations on this mission. Then the Baron's man showed up: the sinister maybe-Pithdaran named Aym Alamyn, who you'd sought at Fort Mudlark last year. Aym quietly explained the mission, revealing that he must get on board the ship, called the Sekelchi, and you must sink it while he performs some other mission. He warned Ahappi of the Captain, “Mister Home,” who was a member of the Order of the Wavering Heavenly Cobra and a sorceror of ill repute. He also revealed, under some duress, that the cargo was Golden Poppy, a drug headed for the Evracian monks.
Now things began to fit together- someone in New Arvonesse was dealing with this Sekelchi crew as a middleperson for the monks, who drugged up the peasant folk and had seen a tidy profit lately from it. Aym expected the ship, as it usually did, to slink into the deep New Arv harbour at night and unload by dawn, so you needed to sneak aboard that night and do your best. There was a crew of two dozen or less crew to deal with; a mangy group of thugs; so it was not a simple task, but you'd have surprise and cover of darkness.
But there was a choice, Aym said, showing signs of wanting to perhaps deviate from the Baron's plan: you might seek to find out with Aym who in New Arv was dealing with these smugglers. Was it Captain Gulos, or some of his men? The local Baronet did not seem the type. But it was a village of blackguards and ruffians, you all knew, so anyone could be suspect. Or, you could simply slip in, sink the ship and get out, as the Baron wanted. With his mood little improved, the Captain mulled this over as Maugis came over to chat… Maugis's blood ran cold with this Aym character. He oozed menace. New Arvonesse was but a day trip away, and it was not looking pleasant however you approached this messed-up mission.
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