RPG Campaigns

Giraine Summaries

Hi,

The guards of Korrin Bastion raised a hue and cry and one cast a Light spell over the sinkhole as others milled about with torches and shouted orders. You inspected the dead Krarshti assassin, finding numerous jars of poisons and an odd necklace with crossed bone fragments inscribed with Disorder runes at each corner. Disorder, for a Chaos cultist? Odd match. (Disorder was one of the first foes of Chaos; e.g. Zorak Zoran)

Guards brought a ladder to help you out and a Rumino adopted a different tone than before, now concerned and angry rather than just stolidly professional. Assuring you that justice would be done, he set off to find if there was a Zzaburi or other who could help Fraud, and if this assassin or his connections might be identified, having you escorted into the Horali barracks of the fort’s 2nd storey for greater safety. Tremors and floor collapses had happened of late, so there was good cause to worry that the Krarshti might return. Rumino returned with news that there was a place to the southeast, the Shrine of the Shrivers of Errors, where an unusual Zzaburi might be able to help; and that this assassin was only vaguely known but was associated with Dionora Threethumbs (who had been in company of Brown Vadeli, too), and that Dionora’s market stall and her girls had all quietly been packed up in the tumult of the storm and she’d vanished, leaving the throat-slit corpse of Maevra behind in a shadowed corner of the fort. You rested until dawn, with Fraud barely coming back to consciousness in a mad, idiotic state, and Ahappi+Miguel took a rowboat to the Shadow. In their crossing of the mouth of the Strait, a seagull landed on the boat’s prow and cawed out in Seaspeech “The waters shall rise again!”. Ahappi spoke to it about Magasta and it flew off squawking in seeming terror. The rower remarked that such things happened around here, attributing the speaking gulls to the “seagull hermit” you’d heard of before, who lived in caves above the Delvers Depths. Amur healed Miguel’s leg back at the Shadow and was warned of the Krarshti but felt that the rough surf out in the open seas might be too much despite the safety there, so the Shadow remained ashore.

You then regrouped and set off for the Shrine. It was only 2 hours away through increasingly dense jungle and rough paths, with the stink of rotting plants increasing as you went deeper. The Shrine was an old octagonal structure of pale grey stone, embossed with many Law and Mastery runes and old carvings of Malkioni nature. It was surrounded by a wood and had steps leading up to a platform where multiple doors led inside. Boamund’s keen eyes, as ever, caught sight of two guards in Seshnelan soldier gear with lion-skins draped around their shoulders—Horali of a Lion Order. They then saw him and went inside, not responding much as you hailed them. You soon followed them into the central octagonal chapel which sported numerous large and small altars to Malkioni saints/Ascended Masters, quite a few of them unfamiliar. Indeed the style of the shrine was foreign to you, and soon you met the chief Zzaburi Bajer Horngard who cast some light on this. He, like others here, were Hrestoli; not Rokari or Ship of Life Church adherents, but northerners. This in itself was not so extraordinary but was notable. Bajer was a short, muscular, shorn of hair, wearing a heavy bronze chain links of Mastery runes that caused him to stoop—later in your stay he was happy to explain that he revered St Avalor of the Red Sword- patron of lost causes and fanatics. A kind, warm, open man, to those whom would later listen he told that he believed in the legend of Alikandra Lat but had never seen her spirit; so was trying to do good so that she appeared. Bajer once was a Dronari smith, then a Horali soldier, and now served the shrine as main Wizard, in penitence for poor crafting and laziness early in life, he confessed. He certainly seemed devoted and energetic now.

Bajer gave you a tour of the Shrine as he led you to the pond where the other resident Zzaburi Wizard tended to be. It was a well-kept, amply provisioned shrine with library, crafting workshop, penitents and Zzaburis’ quarters, and kitchen. Notable for a home of Zzaburi, it was low to the ground (one storey), not a tower; fitting its role to ground people in the humbler ways of the Invisible God. At the pond, which was thronging with wildlife, you met the second Wizard, Bavari Sinisere. He was an androgynous figure of uncertain age, in fine black silk robes and black hair slicked back, with a short greasy white beard that looked fake. He said little about himself and his odd accent was impossible to place but he later said he was a Wizard of Saint Goery; a saint involved with conjurations and essences and especially exorcisms. He was polite enough but with an underlying smugness. Bavari would help Fraud, regardless, welcoming the big challenge to confront a Krarshtide, but asked for a favour since he could see you were heroes and said he had a feeling you might be able to help—there was a spirit of a heroine Alikandra Lat that sometimes manifested to visitors to her Cenotaph behind the main shrine. Perhaps you might see if she would speak to you, he wondered. You agreed. Miguel had heard old tales of her, how in the Second Age she roamed the West purging it of demons and other terrors, before disappearing mysteriously.

The Shrine was another octagonal structure, domed and open to the air. Its interior walls held old paintings of the life of Alikandra Lat, featuring her battles against all manner of foes of Malkioni but especially demons and Chaos. Miguel spotted the end of her tale featuring her coming to the shine staggering, trailing blood and with an empty scabbard where her famed glowing sword should be. As you entered, approaching her carved sarcophagus, frigid winds whipped through the shrine and shadows grew. The wraith of Alikandra Lat manifested! She was a tall, skeletal, broad-shouldered warrioress with long straight black hair and a crooked, twice-broken nose, bearing old armour with heraldry of three tigers bowing before a great oliphaunt rampant, and an empty sword scabbard at her side. “Three come to my cenotaph not in atonement, and lacking a fourth of their number who has bravely fallen. They have the look of heroes upon them but we shall see if they still have Malkion’s favour!” She attacked, clawing at Miguel with spectral hands and ripping into his belly, and she was a terrible opponent with strong spectral armour. But she held back a bit, too, you realized on later reflection; and once Ahappi had dealt her a very grievous wound with his trident, rending open her ribcage, she backed off, telling her tragic tale:

“Favoured indeed. Favoured indeed. Put your weapons down. You will need them no longer here. Now listen, heroes. Hear of my errors. I travelled far and wide in the West an age ago, ranging from my home in Loskalm, earning my fame as a Woman-of-All, and as a slayer of demons. I earned the loyalty of my magic blade Taanashayara the Smiter of Demons, and many foes did we send back to the Hells and the Void together. But my pride grew despite my Joy of the Heart, and it drew the attention of darker forces. A demon of Chaos, seeing its opportunity, wormed its way into my life. It was because of my first great error, the forbidden love of my fellow Woman-of-All Niisma. The succubus Bahariel saw this weakness and engineered ways to influence Niisma to cause me to doubt her and our relationship. I became obsessed, worsened by Niisma’s lack of memory or knowledge of what Bahariel had done. And my obsession spiralled me into jealousy, then rage. One terrible night I struck Nissma down in cold blood with Taanashayara. I had fallen from Joy of the Heart and fled in disgrace, to come here, followed by Bahariel. As my final, third great error, I took my own life with Taanashayara in this spot.“ Sad it was, but as you asked if she might be saved somehow she explained more:

“What comes next will be hard to understand. I have remained here in shriving of my errors, and will forever be so. Taanashayara has abandoned me, and rightly so. And Bahariel remains, again rightly so. At night one might find her at the statue of the Divine Judge. But there is a solution, for which mayhaps heroes such as you might find. If Bahariel might be convinced, through any peaceful means, to aid at least one of the sad penitents here, aiding them to find some salvation to their errors, she may depart freely and one great error of this Shrine thereby resolved. There will be a cost in suffering; a demonic succubus such as her will never simply aid in a purely good outcome; but the greater good may be achieved. From these horrors, boons may come as Chaos recedes from the land.” This didn’t sound good! But you talked to Boamund, suggesting he’d be ideal to talk to Bahariel and try to convince the demon to do some good.

You returned to Bavari and he was pleased to hear that Alikandra had manifested, but surprised she came as a wraith, as her prior manifestations had been more benevolent or simple (sometimes just telekinesis or vague feelings and emanations). He did a quick protective circle spell around Fraud and invoked the blessings of St Goery to aid him in exorcising the Krarshtide, then touched three fingers to Fraud’s forehead. He visibly struggled for some time, crying out challenges and exertion, then foul vapours emitted from around Fraud, killing the grass inside the circle, and Bavari proudly declared victory. Fraud slowly stirred more, his senses coming back, but he was forever changed: somewhat drained of his stronger feelings of love and hate, and even some memories of family and foes. The Krarshtide had already fed on those.

You rested while awaiting nightfall and the coming of Bahariel to the statue of the Divine Judge in the miniature shrine outside. Miguel had a good look at that statue and saw it was not just a weird cyclops-like face, but rather with that central eye bearing an Arkat rune within a circle; and two normal eyes that had faded/been defaced. Fraud startled when seeing it—this was Arkat the Deceiver, which some would say was Nysalor or Gbaji; agent of Chaos! So the presence of the succubus here made sense. Meanwhile, Ahappi and Boamund studied in the library, finding old documents that included a mention of “The Serpent of Tibol-Korrin” and a Second Age simple map of the area showing a river where the Strait now was, and pictures of snakes around it; and that the “progression of the elements” that the sea dragon had swum runes of were not about elemental origins, but mythic advantages of one over the next (see pic attached, which I’d meant to find). Pondering this, he wondered— those jade forts were square like Earth runes (as are the current above-water forts) and jade is an Earth rune kind of stone (green like many snakes!); and the island featured flying wyverns and weird seagulls and frequent storms; and certainly there was no lack of water (including a sea dragon!). Hmm.

Over the day, you also met two of the three current penitents. They were: i. Lord Adalric Brauwald of Bormandy, Seshnela- A middle-aged man, nicely clothed and well-groomed brown hair and beard, but with a nervous, manic look to him. A Rokari but had left his petty lordship under Count Hedenveld, abandoning his duties and questioning his faith. Boamund got him talking and learned that he’d been forced out by his tyrannical mother because he favoured the love of a Nolosian servant girl. Then Adalric had enough of the prying. ii. Veless Bright- An ageing silver-haired, sharp-featured Nolosian, always frowning and muttering. A Horali who served Nolos in many wars up until recently, when she gave poor advice in battle and this error led to more and more of them (a descent into madness?); she was tight-lipped saying little more to Boamund. Boamund tried getting Bajer to tell more about these penitents but he’d have none of that; it was their private matter. The third one was Narual Rainfletcher, former minstrel of Tiskos in Ralios; but he was reclusive, staying in his chamber. You let him be. Bajer had a good look at Fraud’s Jade serpent bracelet and explained its powers: if worn, can invoke and take 1 HP to that arm (it bites you) and get +4 STR for 4 minutes (1 action to invoke).

Night approached. It was time to confront Bahariel; a succubus so devious she’d brought low one of the great heroines of the West. Could you outsmart her or strike a bargain with Chaos? This was a challenge new to you. Swords and magic would not influence this demon, you’d been warned. It was a time for careful wordplay. Friday, then! -John

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