RPG Campaigns

Giraine Summaries

A busy session last night, settling back in at Aria's Well!

Miguel had some chats with his father, asking for no more secrecy, but only got so far, as his father claimed secrecy shielded his family from harm all these years. But he did not deny that the Inquisition had something to do with his hip injury. Danilo did not know what had happened to him after his lion-form exploits (of which he said very little) except that the beast inside had diminished, or was slumbering. He confessed he did not know how he felt about that, except that it meant his days of excitement were over, he thought, and now it was Miguel's turn, here on on Giraine, to struggle for the family's sake as best he could. Miguel took up this challenge himself already, with gusto.

Summer had come and it was a scorcher of a Fire Season right away, but you weathered the harsh heat and all your recent travels, stresses and commitments well; none felt too overburdened to cope. Yet…

Boamund and Maugis fielded queries from the workers of Aria's Well- these Dronari were concerned and confused about Miguel's family, the Penjang and all. The Dronari seemed to listen more to Boamund, as a Talari lord, than to Maugis, but both mens' words had effects. However, the town seemed split in its views on recent events: a third did not trust the Baronet and his fellows, a third were not sure, and a third were dedicated supporters. These Dronari were getting uppity with all their new-found freedoms on Giraine, and while there seemed no threat of armed uprising there was some delicate diplomacy left to be done…

Boamund spent time training militia, Maugis giving sermons and ceremonies, and Miguel returned to his post at the well, plus also spent some time off in the swamps with the Mraloti, who were unconcerned about the lion-thing uprising whereas many of the Dronari wanted little to do with Miguel or were at least unsure of him. Cyroosta and the Baronet had been off busy with wedding preparations and lordly politiciking around the island, most of the time these ~2 weeks since your return.

Even Ahappi knew that it was a good time to spend time with his men, especially as the townsfolk would have nothing to do with them, terrified as they were of the Captain. He felt the absence of his first mate Ciddar, and decided to hold a competition amongst his men for the post of probationary first mate. He designed a series of challenges of skill, cunning and courage- knot-tying (Jim managed to tie himself up!), climbing the rigging (Bobard barely won) and boating around the harbour (Curly won), wrestling (Jim won), a navigation quiz (Curly won), a swimming race vs. some placid sharks and each other (Bobard focused on killing one shark with his axe, Curly handily sped to shore). Just when it seemed that Bobard would be victor, the Captain declared a speaking contest to convince the crew of who was best first mate, and after the three contestants figured out that they should convince the crew and not each other, the argument went back and forth until Jim won them over with a message of unity, over Bobard's bloody promises of violent glory and Curly's fair-weather support of Bobard. So Jim was declared first mate of the Shadow for now!

Cyroosta scolded you for being away so much (although she was off doing her diplomatic efforts a lot) and the Baronet concurred–it was time to focus on the settlement and on the marriage. Each of you were reminded to find a role to play in the wedding and do it right. Gifts, speeches, displays, etc- these all were proper parts of the new Pithdaran-Giranois ceremony that Cyroosta was cooking up.

The dead were restless and the oceans were unsettled. Ahappi called up the magic fish Omen at the shoreline to ask about the proliferation of unhappy dead and strange time-slips (which the St Thosos sea-priest Thabit said were happening all around the island, with some sort of mobile, concentrated source). Omen said he knew that the presence in the seas was corrupting time because it was ripped out of the past- the Shattering had submerged some things and this evil was one of them, but it was free and nothing in the sea could remember what it was because its past was transposed to the present or something crazy like that– anyway, it was bad, very bad. Ahappi offered to be the hero to confront this evil, and asked Omen to speak to the sea-beings about this. Omen replied that Ahappi probably would inevitably face this evil himself anyway, and might even be the one who awakened it, but the right thing to do was for Omen to speak of this to the Ouori, who were “in charge” around these seas, so he would.

Maugis had heard of a reclusive farmer named Duqlairre, a Seshnelan from Big Ron's demesne originally, who was acting strange after uncovering some special artifact in his hut. Investigating with Miguel, he saw the man running away from his hut and chased him down- Miguel outran him, tried speaking to him but Duqlairre was clearly mad, and protective of whatever he had to a paranoid extreme. Finally, Maugis cast a holdfast on the man's boots, which he soon slithered out of, and then palsied his leg, and the Zzaburi's words slowly calmed Duqlairre enough for there to be some more sane conversation.

The farmer relented at last, after much argument, and allowed Maugis to extract the thing out of his rear end. It was a crystalline turd; a magical Vadeli artifact; which the farmer had taken out of the Vadelis' hovel, not his own. Duqlairre had been lonely and desperate and sought something to turn his life around, and this seemed to do it for him, bringing him vivid erotic dreams and “singing” to him while it stayed lodged within his body. Maugis took the thing away, disgusted by its evil nature and seeing this as a challenge to his status as a proper Zzaburi to keep it out of the hands of trouble. He (and Miguel, who caught a glimpse of it and then fashioned a fine leather pouch to hold it in) resisted its malevolent pull to investigate the pleasures it could bring its “owner.” It was clear to Maugis that this thing was not only evil but very powerful, as Vadeli “gifts” sometimes turned out to be, and that there was no easy way to destroy or weaken it, or shield others from its power except to keep it himself. And so he did. These events in the fields on the edge of Aria's Well were kept quiet, and Duqlairre promised to pray with Maugis now and then, now seeking salvation to shrive him of his sins so he might one day find Solace. But Duqlairre had suffered deeply from his experience, and Maugis was imbued with new purpose (and soon fully healed from his bad head wound), while Miguel was glad it was all over, his head and conscience were clear, and he could return to his family.

As the wedding drew very near, one day that the Baronet and Cyroosta were gone, six men came hiking into town and found Boamund, who they'd heard of and sought, in place of Lord Shaven “the New Froalar”, whom they most wanted to see, having heard tales of him. These rough-and-tumble Seshnelan Horali (men-of-all) immediately left you all feeling unsettled and distrustful- they seemed more like routed deserters or brigands than honourable Horali. They treated Dronari almost like slaves and had only superficial regard for higher castes, but their leader Orsattus the Unscathed spoke well of their earnest intent to serve a lord again after leaving their home in far-off Dangim province. With some pressure applied, they vaguely described how they got onto St Thosos, involving a landfall at Squid Point (a treacherous landing that only the desperate or mad would try) rather than St Thosos's safe port, and then a long hike across the farms and wilds to get here. They had clearly avoided Big Ron and St Thosos and asked Boamund to keep their presence here out of the Baron's attention, which he said he would do but their leader did not seem to believe it. There was an evident mutual understanding that you did not trust them and they did not trust you, but they still wanted to be here and perhaps, if there was merit to their cause, it would be more evident on Baronet Shaven's return.

The Seshnelans told of the war that had come to Nolos and Seshnela, in which they'd heard that the king's city of Rinalket (i.e. its Baron) led an attack vs. Boneros of Nolos, a key river city in the northern reaches of the mainland. They attacked via land and river rafts, and the fighting was intense for many days, with terrible losses and corpses choking the river, but King Guilmarn's men were driven back upriver across the border– Nolos had once more defended itself, if at a bitter cost. Orsattus's men did not seem enarmoured of war, to say the least, but took to their task of helping to train the local miltia with some dedication after a good meal and night's rest. They pledged themselves to Boamund's service until the Baronet returned. Maugis led them in morning prayers and spotted bright green snake tattoos on their right forearms, which they kept hidden under chainmail sleeves. Between that and their uncomfortable attitude toward some of the prayers (they were non-Rokari, to be sure), and some odd words they worked into their prayers, Maugis deduced that these new soldiers were Henotheists (like Ahappi and some of his men), who worshipped Makan but also other god(s), and those others must be old Seshnelan spirits like Froalar or Seshna Likita or such… This is interesting! Such old cults are rare at best, so these men must have more of a story behind them- and it's no surprise they ended up on Giraine, which is gaining fame for Baron Ronalio's liberal stances on religion and society.

Some days later, as Orsattus's men continued to train (and treat harshly; building no good rapport with the workers) the Dronari militia, word came that hunters in the swamps had spotted a strange giant bird with red neck-sacks, which was acting threateningly, stalking the perimeter of your lands. You reasoned that these new Horali recruits might prove themselves with this beast, so some of you went to track it down with the six soldiers. Ahappi joined you, telling that the creature must be a Bloodbird or Savanger, which he'd seen before on this island. If it was alone, it was an easy task to dispatch it, but these blood-sucking horrors (bringing back memories of giant mosquitoes on a far-off island!) often flocked, and in groups they were a serious threat. Was there just one lone bird or were more nearby or coming? And come to think of it, why were there these vicious bloodbirds here on Giraine? Ahappi and others wondered if there was some association with the Red Vadeli, infamous for their obsession with blood.

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