giraine:summary-233

Summary 233: The Two Ron(nie)s (2019-12-21)

Hi,

Boamund noticed that the buzzing was intermittent and arrhythmic so he wondered what was ahead. Exploring, he saw five Giranois hunters' bodies in an advanced state of decay, with six giant bluebottle flies buzzing around them and feasting on the remnants. The flies soon decided to taste him so a battle was on! The flies turned out to be clumsy, especially when their wing was crippled and they were left crawling, but five giant horseflies soon joined the fray with the rest of the party so you were outnumbered. Bog had the bad luck of being double-teamed by some of the man-sized horseflies and one dealt him a brutal bite to the head which knocked him out. Boamund was busy burning the bodies (and some flies) with his ring-of-fire, and Miguel had one bluebottle grabbing and nibbling at him for a while until Fraud helped, but you made short work of them soon enough. It was nasty business though. You patched up Bog and he was so unwell that he declined the opportunity to eat some of the flies.

You camped and the next morning ran into a new wooden tower overlooking “the bad place”. Boamund saw the Baron's flag flying and that it was monitored by Ron's men (2 archers, mounted soldier with horse grazing nearby) so he approached and introduced himself. The soldier was a female Pithdaran named Rumayla (tall, stately, ritually scarified). She was surprised to see you of course; many assumed you dead. She urged you to visit Ron at Fort Mudlark (easy to reach by nightfall), offering to carry poor Bog on her horse with you, and Boamund agreed.

Your third night out of Good Toad Food, then, you arrived at Fort Mudlark and were met by a patrol outside the fort and rushed in to meet Baron Ron at the Baronet's manor. The fort was in its usual state of high activity; not that different from your last visit about 3 seasons ago; nor were the outlying lands. You came in to the manor to see two Baron Rons! But one had the forehead scar and the other did not! The scarless one grinned broadly: “It is time to hold a talking circle like our ancient ancestors did. Back in Pamaltela, in another age, we saved the big talk for the talking circle. Men and women alike spoke bravely and wisely there. I will speak first. I am Reginaldo, and as you can see I'm Big Ron's twin brother. I've worked behind the scenes in Oradaros for longer than you've been here, and I know most of what you've done in great service to our family. I've helped you, too. Your Elandra friends, and your trip to Handra year ago; I had a hand in arranging all that. You see, we need you. We want to work with you in new ways. Yes, against the Vadeli, against the Rokari, and with the Giranois and our other allies. But more than that. So speaks the land.”

You were speechless momentarily and Big Ron then spoke (still weary, but managing a thin smile): “Politics on the mainland have bought us time, and that saved our weakening mission here on Giraine. After King Guilmarn's failure to conquer Nolos in 1622, the Rokari Church drew the line at his renewed demands of full and unquestioning support to continue the war. Guilmarn wanted to take back or tax the Church's lands and Ecclesiarch Theoblanc the Pious formally opposed this. Theoblanc called for a Rokari conclave to discuss the issue in Leplain. We had respite thanks to that. It helped us repair and regroup. Fire Season's skirmishes this year were much less punishing then they would have been otherwise. Our resources were growing stretched thin, depleted, battered and despondent.”

Ron's smile evaporated and he rubbed his forehead scar as beads of sweat formed on it. “But we received dire news this season. First, Guilmarn and Theoblanc settled their differences. Guilmarn's Horali Paragons are now accepted to avoid iconoclasm. Supreme Watcher Theoblanc and his wizards worked out the ancient rites used to unify the Malkioni in the Second Age. With this spell, King Guilmarn summoned the wizards of Malkion to Segurane for a Seventh Malkioni Council. Theoblanc headed the proceedings and chose one thousand wizards from across the West to question about the teachings of Malkion. Those who held beliefs in Error were killed by demons. All deviations from Rokarism have now been declared heretical and the King of Seshnela has been proclaimed the One King of the West. Almost all Saints and Ascended Masters of Malkion are now anathema. Their magics may even be nullified, if Theoblanc continues to have his way; he is sending out his Monks of the Cryptic Library to confiscate, destroy or negate all unapproved sorcery in the West. King Guilmarn has pledged to unify the West and to purge it of heresy and corruption. He has begun by having Duke Mulliam of Nolos and Duke Porfain of Pasos declared deceivers and enemies of the Truth. War is coming across all of the Quinpolic League, and unlike any we've seen yet.”

This was HUGE and grim news. The world has just changed in a major way; even the nature of Sorcery is changing!

Paraphrasing the ensuing conversation: Reginaldo had been coming w/his Stygian smugglers (Elandra etc.) to smuggle goods into the mainland across the Fosnoir for years now, and most importantly now to help the war. “Resources are my game, yet that's just part of the bigger game that the Dark Duke and other leaders play. Seshnela doesn't know something I do. Ralios is joining the war against Seshnela. The Arkati rise again, with five long-prophecized incarnations of Arkat manifesting. My contacts in Ralios now heroquest for great Arkati relics. Maybe they even find God-Cleaver the Unbreakable Sword of Arkat. They will begin to strike Seshnela soon. We'll join them from here. You already have, right?”

Where do you come in, then? Ronalio and Reginaldo want to support you. They are heroes of Giraine, and the alliance against the Rokari must be strong. How can the twins support you, they asked? You explained what you'd seen in GTF, and they showed much interest in the Arkati and trolls. Reginaldo welcomed Bog warmly and repeated several times how he saw trolls as honourable allies. Bog was treated well, re-equipped with armour as were the rest of you (Miguel went off on a “shopping spree” at the armoury). Bog asked about Bradde Mukkh and you were reminded that he'd moved to New Arv from Handra recently to join up with Syrr Kogag (another Arkati, Boamund spat). Bradde was a good Elandran, Reginaldo said, and had been called here by “Reggie's” own initiative; he'd help Bog if you found him.

The bad news was that the Brown Vadeli and Ciddar had left the island on a Vadeli ship some time ago. No one knew where they were, or Ahappi (but the Shadow was around Oradaros with Amur). Ron suggested that you needed Ahappi again to aid you; the saints' weapons were analogues of the Arkati weapons now broadly being heroquested for, so the twins agreed it would be good to get them all together. But the twins also said that the colonists needed allies ASAP as the Seshnelan invasion was soon to escalate, they thought.

Asked of the thieving goblin at the fort, Ron explained it was an unfortunate side effect of opening a Hell-portal here to bring some of Sir Ethilrist's mercenaries here. The latter had proven very useful against Rokari, and less so against the Giranois once they had found a magic to scare or elude horses, but the demon-horses of Ethilrist came with some other bad side-effects, Ron acknowledged, such as a hearty appetite for flesh that sometimes was not just of foes… You wondered what price Giraine was paying for its settlement.

Bog was healed by a kindly Xemela nun whose practices reminded him somewhat of Xiola Umbar, although the nun also kept a wary distance. Soon you had all rested and re-equipped and so were good to leave: to visit Jett and then leave the island to seek Ahappi, Ciddar and the Vadeli, and who knows what else. Ron wrote a formal letter to help you get through New Arv to the port, but warned you not to tarry as you were still not very welcome there.

You visited Cjed's family cave and found Micaela and Baelulam there, with Apatune the witch still visiting in hiding from the Rokari and others. Bog had an interesting chat with Baelulam in which she touched him and “Crooked Duzuddurr” the Nyctalops dark spirit connected with him to explain itself and that it knew she was meant for great things (touched by Elandra) but she had not yet found her calling. Indeed, Miguel was struggling with this as Micaela had now bonded with the older, troubled girl and taken to fun, risky activities like hunting pterodactyls with the bow Miguel just gave her; and lots of back-talk to her brother. It seemed maybe she was better off here than with him, for a longer term. You hiked to Jett's camp and found it easily enough with directions to the new spot. The camp was heavily depleted and haggard, showing the cost of its frontline efforts. Jzhurte and his monk captive/pet had moved elsewhere to hunt the undead nearer to the Library and no one knew of their latest activities. Jett welcomed you with excitement and relayed that Vran the Conjurer's tower in the Bad Place had three glowing eyes, of the Demon of the Book of Eyes, appear over it and he realized this now showed that Vran had allied with Umbrodriith the foul necromancer-spirit (from near Toadhaven). So somehow Vran was the enemy now and must be gotten rid of; there were disappearances around his lands that Jett knew now were blameable on him. Jett said that the Sottogh have acted unusually, conducting raids on colonists and Seshnelans alike, which have turned the area around their lands to lawlessness and disorder. Something must be done- it is only increasing instability. But you replied that the Sottogh seemed like a lost cause of sorts; not a task for now. He relented. But he said that the colonists desperately needed help now; something needed to change the status quo in a big way and soon. Maybe you could help? You said you'd try once you'd taken a sea voyage for a bit.

Jett related a prophecy from far-off lands, often repeated around the world in these Hero Wars: “Hark! The White Bear approaches! The old kings return; The Great Winter comes too And the Dragons rise again. The White Bear brings war and destruction: Emperor and Dragon Lord, Kitchen-boy and Poetess, All shall clash; the world shall be riven.” —-Hmm sounds busy. Most of that didn't sound like it related to the West, but Jett was pondering it.