Hello,
Ahappi wandered the craggy lands for a while until he came to the top of a mesa that overlooked some of the area you'd passed through in prior days. There he found a great, cracked sinkhole that reeked of filth and sulphurous fumes. He cast plenty of magics in preparation for trouble (his Abjure Breath protecting him from the stench) and inspected more closely. In the centre of the sinkhole was an opening that was plugged with this filth (dung and other refuse), surrounded by a ~10 metre square formed by a seam of raw copper, about a man's fist in thickness, that was exposed on the rocky ground's surface. Crossing the sinkhole crater to investigate it, he saw also that there was a gap in the filth around the crater, near this square, that was in the shape of that dinosaur you'd slain. Reflecting on this later, he realized it was not sleeping here but was *created* here, from the vile muck that had been collected in the sinkhole area. But he did not have time to reflect yet: a thing grew out of the sinkhole opening, forming out of the dung itself: like a snake, tentacle or pseudopod, it was over 10m long and thick and ropy, and smashed and groped at him with fury. He stabbed at it repeatedly until it fell apart, but he took some nasty injuries that nearly felled him, too. As he sat on the edge of the crater to contemplate this (and presumably heal with his Regenerate spell?), the rest of you arrived, having tracked him here.
While you discussed what had happened, Narak observed the sinkhole and her pig Glut sniffed around it. She came back to Miguel with a furious expression, hissing to him “The enemy who has done this violation must die; this I swear in the Bloody Daughter's name, to arm me for vengeance. I will cut their belly open and my pig shall feed on their innards.” By now, you all suspected the Brown Vadelis' involvement and Narak also confirmed that Earth spirits/magic here had been abused and corrupted for their purposes; the best way to end this curse must be to find those perpetrators and bring them this vengeance that Narak sought so unwaveringly now, with holy justice (albeit with a noticeable pagan slant) on her mind.
You found wheel ruts on the western side of the sinkhole that led down the mesa to the west, and into the lowlands. But Narak's pig also smelled out what must be the Vadeli's secret scent, and it headed to the east but suddenly vanished just past the edge of the mesa, on a rocky trail downwards. You opted to track the wheel ruts first and they were easy to trace to a farm run by the well-known Pithdaran named Itr. He met you with hospitality, welcoming you into his farmhouse where his family served you a decent lunch. You'd observed by then that he was more prosperous than he should be, and well guarded (but needing that here on the frontier). He sprung no trap on you nor did he poison you with the meal. But he did lie repeatedly to Boamund when pressed about the obvious fact that he had sold manure from his farm to the Vadeli, although with persistent pressure Boamund wore him down and finally he admitted to it all. He not only had been selling the dung of his horses and sheep, but also had been collecting nightsoils from his own family and outlying farms for seasons, turning a tidy profit delivering them to the Vadeli named Skrimton Nodeal. Where was this infamous man now? Well, he'd gone to the east (the sinkhole site) some days ago; confirming what you'd tracked already. Itr said he'd stop his trade with the Vadeli, but also related a disturbing fact: he's a devout Rokari (like many Pithdarans)-although this means he is also a sinner for dealing in such illicit trade. He did seem a bit repentant when you left him.
You returned to the mesa and could not track the Vadeli's trail any further. Frustrated but concerned that he'd gone roughly back in the same direction to the east as you'd come from days ago, and with Narak eager to hunt him down, you continued to the east. Not far across the badlands that same afternoon, a bizarre storm arrived over the cliffs by the Fosnoir, coming with no warning. The sky grew black and the air cold, and you rushed to find shelter but Miguel's frantic search was to no avail, and strange energies assailed you, causing your skin to ripple and peel (most of you took some damage), and frightful visions to dance before your eyes. Huge images of violet-skinned Luathans strode across the sky, with some of them pounding great iron pillars into the ground on the horizon and others casting huge shimmering purple magics that crisscrossed the sky like aurorae. It was a glimpse into the Shattering, and it frightened most of you, especially Fraud Shaven who could not shake those images from his mind even after they faded from the sky as the true night fell and you found shelter via Boamund's guidance. You camped in that shelter under a rocky overhang that formed a small cave and gave some protection from the Luathan magical hangover of the Second Age, and soon found some rest. Yet Fraud Shaven moaned through the night, tormented by nightmares of the terror that the Vadeli had wrought centuries ago. Oddly though, this trauma he felt did not invoke his Purple Sonnet curse-indeed, it suppressed it-but it also was too much for his attempts at finding the Ebon Sanctuary to overcome. Poor old Fraud.
That rest was short-lived anyway. Boamund was on guard when he heard something sliding over the rocks toward you, and as he awoke Ahappi he heard a voice call out for water. He stepped out of the shelter as others awoke, and his Darksight saw what he realized to be the ghost of a Pithdaran boy; less than 10 years of age; crawling across the ground with broken legs and a desperate visage, begging for water or healing. Water passed through him uselessly and healing just warmed him momentarily. He rasped frighteningly for water, causing all your hairs to stand on end, but that ghostly invocation did not harm you then. Finding kindness from some of you such as Miguel despite his aggrieved and dangerous state, he communicated more: his family had been killed at Humbertsville (thus placing his demise recently) and he'd fled the Rokari slaughter for some days until he fell from a high place and broke his legs, then died of thirst in the wilderness. So now his troubled spirit wandered in search of an end to his suffering, driven mad by his experiences. He finally asked for Miguel to help him find vengeance against the leader of the soldiers that killed his people: he described a tall, pale man with weathered skin and a grey beard, wearing a tall metal, conical helm with a Law rune on it-clearly some Zzaburi but not one you knew of. Narak would have nothing to do with this spirit, seeing no help she could give, and the rest of you lost interest (Fraud slept his tortured sleep through it all), but Miguel tended to the ghost until dawn broke and it vanished. He was left tired but with an added purpose…
The next day, the tenth day of your whole journey around Giraine, you left the high ground of the Badlands and crossed into scrubbier plains/hills. On the edge of this terrain, though, Boamund saw some old ruins with carved faces of Old Seshnegi visible on their ancient stones. It was a field that once held some building, long since collapsed into rubble and whose purpose was lost to the ages, but Boamund and Ahappi walked into this field of stones as they felt magical energy pricking at them, and that energy grew to conjure visions of old Godlearner sorcerors roaming this place. The energy forced itself into their minds and tugged at their spirits but they contained it so it did not suck their souls into this vacuum of the Second Age's devastation. Nonetheless, the powerful magical forces here took from them and gave to them: both lost 1 POW permanently and Ahappi gained a Slumber spell, whereas Boamund gained the formula for the Privacy spell. Godlearner magics did not seem like something you wanted to dare playing with more in this place, so you left.
Seeing no clearer destination to head for, Boamund said you must at last investigate The Library (“The High Necromancer's Library”), whose Maggotwood was not far away across the rugged plains of northern middle-Giraine. Narak was unsettled, the Perfecti named Skallia was in terrible shape and wondering out loud if she should just set off on her own now, and both Miguel and Fraud Shaven had seen much better days, needing rest or other treatment. So you were not in great shape to head to the most terrible place you knew of on Giraine, but Boamund's mind was set on it and curiously no one voiced strong opposition. So off you went…
TO REVISIT: need to check PC's magic pts and healing (you recovered POW/3 MPs during that 1 night of rest, except for Fraud and Miguel who just got 1 MP back).
SPELL INFO FOR AHAPPI AND BOAMUND: (as with any spell, you can forget these with 1 week of meditation if you want to) Privacy Resist (Willpower) Used by clever sorcerers to make plans and arrange deals in plain sight of others, this spell pulls the sorcerer and his targets out of time and space for a split-second to have a conversation or ponder a situation. The targets of the spell must be all within range of the caster (touch/use Shaping to add Range). The caster can transport one additional person to himself for every 10% of his Sorcery (Invocation) skill but must use Shaping as usual to add Targets. All participants in the spell are shifted to a neutral fold in space/time that looks like a white, featureless room (i.e. a Stasis sorcery node). The targets remain in the room for the Duration of the spell, where they can talk and interact freely with one another - save for any physical contact. When the spell expires all targets are placed back where they were at the time of casting and only a single second (i.e. Combat action) of real time has passed. Unwilling participants may resist the spell. This spell is Forbidden to all normal Malkioni as it is clearly a Godlearner spell and may have unintended consequences-such as drawing the attention of the Gift Carriers of the Sending Gods!
Slumber: see p.51 Magic of Glorantha book (I don't have it handy)-if cast in combat/on wary unwilling victim need Heroic victory [2 levels; e.g. Fail vs. Critical] vs them.
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