You prepared for your quest to save the Baronet, but fractures in the family alliance quickly were evident…
Ciddar returned from his voyage with the Shadow to New Arv, where Omen warned him the “the Stonefish,” called Synyncyja, would not let him in. Waiting to see signs from the Baronet's mission to sink the Sekelchi, the Shadow had anchored off the reef to the southwest, but amidst a fog cloud something strange happened, and Ciddar's recollections were vague and confused. He and the crew returned graying and gaunt, and the Shadow looked just as weathered and sea-tossed. It turned out, as Boamund pondered the changes, that the ship had been lost in Time for 5 years, somehow without everyone starving or having stories to tell of it… they were just older, and weary from it.
Ciddar learned the unhappy news of the maimed and slain allies and was momentarily dumbstruck with grief. Captain Ahappi awoke to speak with him, having suffered from dreams of pterodactyls circling around his body on a bleak plain and awakened exclaiming “No, Sclavora, begone!” as Ciddar's knocks on his hut's door awoke him. (“Sclavora” is the Giranois name for pterosaurs)
You brought Ciddar to the Tower of Goode Menne that night, seeking the ghost of St Tutrys, but he was not there– Boamund, however, spotted a spectral boat departing your harbour– was the saint leaving now that Ciddar had returned? You were unsure, but he did not return that night or the next.
Cyroosta then gathered with the group to discuss plans she had been laying. She said you'd already begun the quest to rescue the Baronet, but in a mundane way– the recovery of the body, the undead horseman-thing who came for the survivors, the burden of carrying it back, the help from Giranois and colonists alike… this all followed a holy path, and now you just needed to steer it into a truly mythic path. Luckily Cyroosta had thought of a way: following the myths of Froalar and Xemela, especially 1 myth in which King Froalar was rescued by his household's exploits.
[Player note: See attached pdf for the complete myth that Cyroosta relates. In following a heroquest, it is wise to continually refer to what is going on in the quest vs what happens in the myth. Sometimes some interpretation and improvisation are needed, but all Malkioni fear one thing greatly in heroquesting: to play with myth and warp it to one's own desires, straying from the mythic path, is something only Godlearners did, and can only lead to terrible doom! Some of you began to suspect the Captain for being tempted by this possibility, as he was openly sceptical of Cyroosta's schemes]
You rested for a day and made preparations for your quest while the Baronet's body was taken to St Thosos by your most trusted guardsmen so Evakranem could Preserve it; the body then was returned. New recruits for the Shadow were drawn so that not all the aged, weary sailors would need to go again. Cyroosta and Boamund took some trusted subjects and soldiers aside and assigned duties for watching over the Shaven lands whilst you quested; your land would be without any of its true leaders, but this was unavoidable… Big Ron sent some extra men back to help you, and also sent a sealed letter to Baronet Mudlark explaining the urgency of your quest. A messenger from Ron reminded you not to upset the Baron's allies at any of his towns.
Cyroosta blessed a ceremonial spot of ground. She had explained to you the roles you'd play in the quest, with 7 questers (including the wheelbarrow-bound body of the Baronet, as King Froalar) as Inyana/Queen Xemela, Cyroosta/wise woman, Boamund/Sir Karskritar Firewalker, and 3 “helpers” who identified themselves during the ritual: Ahappi “the sailor, who discovers new paths;” Maugis, “the wizard;” and Ciddar “the old veteran knight”. The body was blessed and the myth recited. Some of you were familiar with aspects of it, or noticed words in Cyroosta's telling that worried you. As you left the ceremony, you could feel the lightness of body and spirit that showed the power of the mythic quest Cyroosta had invoked, and you knew that everything you did now had mythic resonance– and risks. Cyroosta had explained that in your new roles you must try to stick to the roles you play, using magics that are appropriate and not invoking powers that did not exist in pre-Time. But some you also quailed at the thought of stepping into the role of a saint, which to Malkioni was blasphemy, as it smacked of idolatry and reverence of other beings rather than Makan alone. Yet you were reminded that even King Froalar worshipped other entities, and you were not abandoning your identities to act truly as saints/gods but rather emulating them using your own talents.
Then, as you boarded the Shadow to sail to New Arv and begin your journey into myth, the Captain whispered to his ancient ship and caressed it… onlooking questers saw the sinister vessel's prow writhe and emanate dark threads of magic that wreathed Ahappi. He stepped away from his union and his eyes had turned black as night, with stars bedecking them– The Sailor now truly could navigate special paths…
Just before dawn, you piloted the Shadow out of the Night Channel and skirted the Arvonesse reefs toward the northeast. Omen appeared by the ship and warned you that the Stonefish was near. Ahappi, feeling invigorated by the quest, tossed his crutches aside and dove into the ocean. He swam down into the sun-dappled shadows of the reefs and spotted a banded sea snake slipping out of hiding, darting toward him with venomous jaws agape. He spoke to it, but it was either nonsapient or had a deathwish and would not relent. Its jaws latched harmlessly onto his pegleg and it released in serpentine surprise, then the Captain's harpoon brought death to it. Moments later, Ahappi felt a presence behind him and turned to see the reef had come alive: The Stonefish was there, huge and round and pinkish-brown, with giant jaws that could easily suck a man inside. With a booming, coldly inhuman voice it inquired of him why he came here, and acknowledged that it tasted powerful magic on him so it would parley. The Captain looked into its beady eyes and gave it his All-Seeing Sea spell, and it granted him passage across the reefs, inviting him to return and speak again– had he piqued its curiosity or merely its hunger?
Back on the Shadow, Ahappi saw that a horde of purplish jellyfish had risen to the surface of the sea, forming a river-like path that threaded through treacherous rocks, reefs, sand bars and currents that would otherwise be a terrible test of any sailor's skills– and indeed here and there you saw evidence of many wrecks here. But soon you were anchored off the New Arv harbour, where some of your eyes turned to a spot that the Sekelchi used to be anchored…
You were whisked to confer with Captain Gulos; the local Baronet again being nowhere to be seen (at sea, you guessed). In a stone chamber in his house, a round table and chairs had been hastily set for you and servants were rushing about to bring food and drink as the sly Captain Gulos greeted you with visible surprise and even more evident curiosity. He threw many questions at you and also gave you interesting information about how the Ouori (not you) were suspected of sinking the Sekelchi and how he planned revenge. But Ahappi soon cooled off the man's enthusiasm for nuggets of knowledge with his starry-eyed dark gaze. Uncharacteristically flustered, the “Scoundrel of Leplain” hastily ushered you out and you were on your way out of town and into the Big Gunge swamps.
The swamps were full of Sea Season's usual long stretches of mudflats and waterways, but your zeal for the quest sustained you and no one lagged behind- even the very silent Inyana did not falter, despite helping to push/pull the wheelbarrow through. At one point you met with a monstrous spine-backed toad that loomed out of the mud, belching foetid, rancid stench onto the choking Boamund and Ahappi– had it eaten an undead thing? It showed no hunger for you, so you passed it.
At Fort Mudlark, again you were rushed by the guards to meet with the local leader, here Baronet Mudlark, and he was full of things to say-some of them mad, some of them wise and inquisitive, and some of them either good humour or dejected desperation (was his offer to give his lordship to Ciddar genuine? His request to join your quest, however, seemed more serious, and he hinted at sad reasons to visit the land of the dead). He simply repeated the Baron's admonition to not upset his strange allies- asking that you politely urge Sir Ethilrist there to contact him if you met that fabled lord. Learning that your quest involved Xemela, he urged you to leave Sister Kirrek in his hospital alone, and he hasted you to the hut to begin your quest as nightfall approached. Maugis dd not even get an opportunity to speak with his wizard, Wendel.
As you came to the hut with the gateway to the Underworld, Boamund noted something tugging at his belt-pouch and spun around to spot the dark shape of the same speedy thing that had stolen the Baronet's secret statuette last year. It ran off and you did not pursue- it had been trying to take the thing that Vowka had given Boamund to throw into the hut, so it was probably very good that it had failed! Cyroosta made her final incantations (one of you noticed that she was mentioning “two sons” in them… uh oh, she did seem to intend to do something about Lynistor!). Then the door swung open, unleashing no blast of cold, burning helldark but just a slowly spreading, chilly shadow that embraced you… Boamund turned, as did the rest of you (no one knew that the Captain peeked and saw something demonic afoot), and threw Vowka's thing inside, pausing to take not five but six deep breaths “just to be sure”. Dusk passed as you stepped in after it. There were things lurking in the shadows to the sides of the passage down through a dark stairway and tunnels; things with blazing red eyes; but those eyes did not study you and you did not stare their way, either- Cyroosta urged you to hurry in. Now Inyana pushed the cart with her dead husband in, down the stairs with soft bumps,and you were in the Underworld.
It wasn't long past the steps and glowing eyes that you found your first challenge in the darkness. Out of the tenebrous depths a black shape appeared, blocking your path. It was a horse, but of a demonic kind– barbed tail, hooves with claws, sharp teeth, glowing red eyes and a shape more lupine than equine. Its hooves scratched the cold stone floor with menace, unleashing bonechilling shrieks as they grated on the hard surface… This was one of Sir Ethilrist's demon-horses, the Diokos they were called, and you had to pass it in some way that would not strain the alliance with Big Ron.
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