RPG Campaigns

Giraine Summaries

Hiya,

Mularik reached out to Boamund with Telepathy: “Good enough. Now search out the surroundings of the temple core and secure them. We're preparing to descend.” You inspected the southwestern gateway, its waters clouded by some sickly phosphorescent pinkish haze, and Fraud headed in first. He made it through the cloud with just an odd sensation of something not quite right, then later he was drawn into the Spirit Plane by a pink sea urchin that bounced haphazardly around the sea floor, pricking at his soul with its spirit-spines; but he forced it away. Bog was still clinging to him and felt a similar uncomfortable sense; and then Boamund came through the haze and also felt this, followed by Shrett. You soon opted to just fight it out, watched from a distance by Ahappi on his mosasaur, and you gave the spirits a good walloping but Fraud was dealt a nasty spiritual blow by one, which gave him visions of becoming a bouncing pink urchin, too. It seemed that was the last of them, though.

Ahappi saw them coming with plenty of notice: from the west, out in distant ruins, six tan spotted seals with maned leonine heads came swimming up, spreading out while their tail-flukes propelled them toward him. He knew them as Agiras; lion-seals, of ancient descent from Westerners who were cursed to take this bestial form when surviving the floods of the Darkness. They were simple predators but still dangerous, being larger than a man and armed with strong jaws. However, you had time to take up a good tactical position with your backs to a temple wall, and Bog threw a Darkness spell that disoriented them once they arrived, so you slaughtered them one by one, with the Platecarpus picking off one final Agira that fled the battle.

So, finally you could inspect the temple complex. The largely intact buildings formed a set of rings around the central core with the semblance of a Sky/Fire rune, while the angular connections of the buildings and their conjoining walls gave the weird, crude impressions of a Water rune. The waters were unusually warm and full of diverse life swimming about. The glow from the temple core illuminated the whole inner complex in wavering violet shadows, giving the area the feeling of twilight on the surface world; and indeed it was twilight now above. The innermost ring around the temple core was a 2m high wall whose surfaces still remained clear of flora and fauna, revealing brightly glimmering golden Sky and silvery Water runes set into the grey stone with precious metals. Remnants of stone structures suggested that fountains once filled that ring to form a pool.

You explored the first building system north of the gateway. It was terribly damaged by one main crack running through it that had spread into many side cracks, and left the building accessible from most sides. A steady stream of large bubbles rose from the main crack. Inside, you discovered that there were many of these bubbles, starting small in size as they issued from cracks in the ground and then fusing together to form larger ones, and eventually making their way out of the exterior cracks, if they did not get trapped in the main hall or five side-chambers. Fraud popped one and it released a blue flame with a small explosion, but he swam clear of that. The chambers were too destroyed (with signs of explosions, you later noticed) to give hints of what this complex was for. Fearing the serious risk of a bubble-explosion chain reaction, you left back to the southern gateway.

A massive school of 1m-long silvery fish moved into and through the area. They were not aggressive, but temporarily swarmed you. Everyone had their visibility limited to 2m, and struggled not to become disoriented; Fraud lost his way and Bog lost grip on him as he flipped upside down, so Bog ended up back just inside the building complex. Then a host of six sleek forms rushed you quickly (speed 12!)-they were dolphins, but undead in form, with loose-hanging skin, glowing green eyes and overgrown teeth. As they came, they screamed out blasts of green heat that struck you but only injured, and Demoralized, the Platecarpus mosasaur. Bog slipped deeper into the ruin, hiding; but eventually blundered into a bubble and was badly hurt, but Shrett healed him once the battle was done. You were slightly outnumbered, with Boamund facing two ghoul-dolphins and the Platecarpus's jaws taking out one, then chased by another which it grabbed and crushed, too. Boamund used his shield's power to drive one of those it killed away from him after it gripped his weapon-arm, and faced the other. One by one you defeated your foes; they were quick and relentless but no match for your weapons and skills.

You went clockwise to the next building. This building complex was remarkably intact except for a few large cracks that had spread through it. Sea life wandered about the labyrinth of halls inside. In patches where that life had not covered it, ornate designs such as frescoes of cavorting sea and sky dieties decorated the surfaces of the halls. It seemed it might have been the temple's senior cultist housing once, and you soon met one of the former inhabitants, who was detected by Bog's magic and accompanied first by a surge of warm currents and an aura of terror (which you all resisted; Shrett only just), and then by its manifestation as a mad ghost in the form of a naked Seshnelan man, his skin bubbling from being boiled alive. He was a powerful spirit, attacking with mental images of his terrible demise in his bath at the end of the Empire as well as actual heat that hurt you. Fraud soon succumbed to his attacks but he sought to waylay you all and then make you suffer his fate in boiling waters, so he switched to Ahappi. You found that your weapons did little except Boamund's ice-sword slowly whittled its strength down, and Ahappi's spear of St Buquaim, reluctantly wielded, served him well again to give it grievous wounds. However, Ahappi too suffered from its onslaught, and he only just managed to defeat it before it might have rendered him senseless, too. Bog picked up Fraud's body, which he'd protected with a Spirit Screen while Shrett stood interposed to prevent the ghost from getting Fraud. You explored the complex, finding a spherical clay contained, its lid still wax-sealed, bobbing in one room; Shrett took that for later investigation.

Ahappi had Platecarpus take Bog and Fraud on its back and keep them at a safe distance. Moving around to the northern gatehouse ruin, you confirmed what Ahappi had seen: The gatehouse and gates had utterly collapsed, leaving an open gap into the main temple area. But this gap was filled by a strange greenish wavering glow of magic, and you wisely avoided that. (it was a curse that lowered all your armour pts by 2 for a long time!)

Next clockwise, on the northeast side, was a ruined stable and storehouse with grain-tower: The building had suffered severe structural damage but was holding together, yet still groaned and periodically rained small amounts of dust-clouded water as currents buffeted it. A large doorway lay open, its double-doors long collapsed and rotted off their hinges. The grain storage silo was attached to the stable, with an ample storage chamber on the southeastern side, and a few cracked ceramic containers where foodstuffs must have once been stored. The open area of the stable/stores was cluttered with debris that shifted about in the currents. Most of you left immediately, but Shrett was very curious, and looked inside– a surging current brought debris (driftwood, etc.) into the area quickly, and he only just swam out in time to avoid getting pulverised in the jam of flotsam, which left the interior clouded and cluttered.

Then you searched three rectangular buildings clustered near the central temple ring, each with circular open doorways leading in to tall, open halls each with a statue at the far end. There were empty spaces where other decorations once must have been, hinting at looting. Offerings such as attractive corals, pearls and other precious marine items lay at the statues' feet. The statues and runes on plinths that supported them were, from north to south: Triolina, Magasta and Heler (sea/storm rain god). Ahappi made spiritual offering to Magasta and Shrett used his Triolina Tear to offer energy to her shrine, and this all felt good. Clearly the Ludoch kept this place consecrated.

On the south side, you came to a squarish amphitheatre reached by staircases from the connected building to the west, which led into tiers of stone seats overlooking the central grounds. A scattering of humanoid bones stirred gently in the ocean currents on the floor of the grounds, representing the remains of what must be over a dozen individuals. A pall of gloom hung over the amphitheatre; the waters were colder than elsewhere and the illumination darker and more oppressive. Ahappi and Boamund bravely entered the bone-strewn grounds, expecting a fight with undead, but no such foes arose. They slowly began suffering necrotic wounds, though, and received visions of the past: Here the local Godlearners did experimental rituals to demonstrate their abilities to manipulate the sea gods' power, entertaining and amazing the populace, and the curse that befell them had preserved some remains as a warning. You left.

It seemed you'd explored the temple complex enough now. The temple core was a domed, squat tower ruin with a circular opening atop it, and five arched doorways plus a huge gap on the northeastern side opening into its central chamber. The top and side openings emitted streams of bubbles and the dull purplish glow visible from around the complex, and the waters were substantially more warm here but not uncomfortably so. Mularik contacted Boamund again: “Very well. We are coming. Remain outside the temple core and retreat if anything emerges.” Nothing did emerge, and soon a large glistening bubble containing Mularik and twelve of his best people including Sir Narib descended from the east, magics flickering to life on them. The bubble glided into the ruined opening, with Sir Narib motioning from his rearguard position for you to follow in, so you did. Mularik noticed Fraud's body and frowned, saying that he could aid you as there was no sense in you entering the Sky realm in such a decrepit state. Ahappi didn't take him up on that, feeling the disdainful tension from the sorcerer, and instead drew on his mosasaur's energy; but Fraud and Shrett and Bog gladly accepted the transfer of mana from Mularik, who had ample reserves. Mularik casually directed one of his Zzaburi to heal those of you with noticeable wounds, and turned away with disinterest. Soon you were more recovered, and the group looked on at the temple core.

The central chamber was awash in the glow and now uncomfortable in its heat. Both were now visible to emanate from a stone ring at the centre, where the water bubbled with energy and heat coming from a pool of effervescent violet fluid that seemed contained within the ring construction. Golden statues of six tall, gracile, strange winged and finned beings formed a circle around the pool, given a feeling of subtle motion by the wavering light.

A calm voice spoke out now from the back of the chamber in Seaspeech,<BR>“Meat in the waters,<BR>Tastes so sweet,<BR>All of the daughters,<BR>Love such a treat.<BR>Come into my pool,<BR>Worry not a bit,<BR>Plotters and marauders,<BR>Can boil on a spit.”

The voice was revealed to come from a sinister, crouching giant feminine form that appears from the glowing waters, her greenish-purplish skin sending off visible waves of heat. At her full height she must be three metres tall, with wiry strength to match, and her jaws are as ferocious as a shark's. She eventually introduced herself as the sea nymph daughter of Caelaca: Miss Simmerstew, a hellwater-hag. Mularik turned back to Ahappi and spoke aloud in Seshnegi, “Your skills are needed again. Convince this being that we intend no harm and I will conduct a ritual that takes us away from here in short order.”

Ahappi explained a bit of your quest and she asked who he was, which seemed to comfort her, although she showed open suspicion of the “iron men” of Mularik. He then entered into a lengthy bargaining and arguing phase with her, interrogated for his motives and then Mularik's, which he recited word for word. She started becoming more convinced but asked for a meaningful gift, of which Ahappi said he could not donate flesh to eat but he gave her an amulet of Triolina's blood-crystal, which she received with much gratitude, and the deal seemed nearly done; Ahappi reasoned that she was afraid of you all, too, seeing that she was disadvantaged and maybe unable to stop such a powerful band. But she pressed for more reassurance about Mularik's band, and told some interesting information: Caelaca is not a daughter of Lorion and Oxbow, as Mularik said was thought, but of Tanian-perhaps she even was used by the Godlearners to summon Tanian! She is a fire-water spirit, a granddaughter of Lorion and Boveluru the goddess of Celestial Waters; and connected to the Inner Dragon who breathed fire into her. Ahappi was now very confused and rightly so. She was more convinced about Mularik once he gave straight answers that he did not seek to change or otherwise affect Caelaca, or try to access Tanian's power, but just to enter the Sky-realm on Caelaca's golden river which would open this night. Miss Simmerstew relented, sullenly stepping back, watching and hissing angrily.

Mularik's justification was that he, with his Wolf Pirate band, emulated the Waertag the Reaver aspect of this quest as they believed the Boat Planet's return would be a good thing (for them— but also others around the world). The Boat Planet's disappearance should end; it was right for Zzabur to do it, Mularik had said, as this stopped the Godlearners, but that was the past. In the Hero Wars, there was need for change.

But Ahappi still marvelled at this information on Caelaca's draconic nature: she must be mystically illuminated, gaining ways to use Fire (heat) in the Water. Was this true of Tanian, too? He had been summoned by the Godlearners through repeated summonings of ancestors used to summon ancestors, which was not only Godlearnery meddlings but maybe also mystical?

This Miss Simmerstew was interesting: while Caelaca seemed a calm, benevolent mistress of Sky and Water powers (for now!?), her daughter presented a bitter, suspicious, dangerous aspect more reminiscent of the Underworld than Sky realm, and had said something to Ahappi about her guardians, which might have been those undead dolphins who had used hellish heat-powers like hers.

Sir Narib said to you, “We wait now; but remain vigilant.” Mularik and two Zzaburi assistants; all still within the hovering bubble; prepared the ritual while you stood watch. A golden tripod was assembled and a bowl placed into it, and Mularik telekinetically moved some of the pool's fluid into the bowl while the Zzaburi, standing around it with Mularik, chanted Arkati formulae and waved mystic sigils, tracing runes in the air within the bubble that flitted around to infuse the bowl.

A light projected from above through the dome's circular opening onto the pool, which calmed its bubbling. You all glimpsed a golden walled fortress on a plain, with a bright pool in the fortress's centre that forms a star which, with the surrounding golden riches, sent the light downward. It was an awesome sight! Fraud sat in wonder, beholding this in contemplation.

Mularik and his Zzaburi intensified their chanting and gesticulating. One Zzaburi deftly reversed his grey robes inside-out to reveal a dark inner lining like the night sky speckled with golden stars, and intoned the names of Xentha and Stella Draconis (Sky Dragon). The Arkat runes in their foreheads radiated energy, shifting colours across a rainbow spectrum to settle on matching the golden light. Mularik's eye emitted a second light, bright blue.

Mularik recited a myth (so you all now know two: here, the origin myth and Boat Planet/Sky Realm connection; earlier, the broader story of Waertag the Reaver's exploits): “Hear the story of Waertag's Reaving of the Stars. Everlasting night came to the world in the Ice Age and brave Waertag looked up at the wealth of the haughty sky people and sneered, for they suffered less in their sturdy fortresses while the Middle World was overrun with hordes of Krjalki races. Clever Waertag knew a way to reach them, though-he sailed his War Boat to a friendly daughter born of sea and sky and bargained with her to sail up her river of gold to the heavens. There, he confronted many challenges that tested his reason and tempted him towards Error. Some of the riches he did not plunder because that would turn too many foes against him too soon. He bade his time. But others sought to defend their bounty. The General of Heaven sent his golden horde and Waertag met them in martial combat, besting them with skill and strategy and speed. Then came the war god of the Red Planet, armed with fire and mace. Waertag was wily and got another, foolish god to intercede and fight the war god while he sailed away. Waertag and his crew's ship was swelling with plunder now, and this caught jealous eyes. He was not alone in raiding the Sky realm-his longtime foe, Bon Jalos the Pirate King, had found a way there and ambushed Waertag on the Sky river, causing much harm, but Waertag drove him off to fight again another day. These victories brought so much violence to the Sky that wicked Chaos, too, seeped in, and Waertag struggled to deal with that evil. As he sailed his ship back toward the edge of the Sky dome to leave, he saw a strange thing: a huge dragon lay dying. Would he investigate and perhaps learn its wisdom or renew his bonds with their kind, or would he be prudent and depart? The tales vary but one thing is sure: Waertag returned victorious laden with gold and his crew were forever grateful, calling him Waertag the Reaver. In turn, Waertag the Reaver was forever grateful to the daughter of Sky and Sea for her aid in securing this voyage.”

Miss Simmerstew hissed and sputtered, “Some of that myth is true, but some is lies. Waertag the Reaver wasn't always a friend to us, either. He was a greedy bastard. Begone with you!” She was tiring of all this, and unnerved.

Mularik ignored her, maybe in a trance, turning to the pool which was now brightly lit from above. Visions of figures appeared around the pool-you all could see glimmering winged and finned phantasmal beings. Some were recognizable as merfolk-type (demi?)gods. Mularik, however, was gesturing and whispering to the centre of the pool, his attention drawn there as if he was in conversation with an invisible entity. (this continued for some time; you watched, waiting)

Mularik turned back to you, his iron eye now glowing golden. “Heroquesters joined on the path sailed first by Waertag the Reaver, you are present before us. This is the place to SEE. This is your chance to SEE. SEE, now, with the Rune Quest Sight. Be bold and look into the Light if you wish to journey onwards and SEE.” Fraud soon wondered about that Rune Quest Sight statement: that's an infamous Godlearner power! And his iron eye must be a Godlearner device. Hmm. But he is definitely an Arkati… and seems interested in dragons too?

A cone of light projected more strongly from his eye, bathing you all; Miss Simmerstew quailed backwards, cursing. You saw very clearly now into the Sorcery World of runes and formulae, then through it into the God World where there was a great gilded hall that filled you with peace and stillness. You were all reminded of your happiest and most innocent moments in life, mostly from childhood. Time spiralled backwards replaying these events as if set in this hall.

             Bog saw a shadow of his mother and it was mostly a good feeling, but he was otherwise blinded and scared. Shrett remembered his mother, too, feeling his love for family. Fraud remembered happy times loving Inyana. Boamund remembered how he became Illuminated. Ahappi recollected fishing from a pier, learning then that his cruel father had died to Pellinoresbane and so he now was the eldest in charge, his destiny open to him.

[Passions could shift here post-hoc]

Then you heard Mularik's voice again, “Swim forwards into the Light. Fear it not. She has opened her river to us.” (you did so, beginning to ascend slowly; all your magics dissolved in the light, but you were fine)

Mularik called out loudly– “Conjunction has occurred-Caelaca's Sky ancestry is dominant over Water now, so the path flows upwards. We proceed into the Erkonus cluster amidst the golden fields of that alien world. In the fortress of the star people we will behave lawfully lest we upset them; they are not our foes but that does not make them forgiving allies either. And we should be mindful that we are not just in a fort, or at a star that is a sky-lake-both are the goddess Caelaca herself. We must heed Arkat's precept, “No questing without respect and humility.””

Bog drank deeply of the golden waters as you rose, so deeply in fact that he inhaled it despite the discomfort it caused him, and it gave him a new talent for this quest: he could safely breathe the Sky-waters with no threat of drowning! [Critical rolls at key moments, or very smart uses of Luck points might have epic effects on this quest]

You heard musical sounds swelling like choral song and horns blowing. You felt yourselves moving. You tasted warm, pure water sweeter than any wine, knowing it to be the waters of Heaven. And your eyes entirely filled with gentle golden light which brought such a sense of joy that you would cry if you could. Then… you were elsewhere! The God World, where you tread the real world of myth-and that myth could be changed permanently!

Arkat:<BR>Only one star was visible at the Dawn; the rest became prominent at the beginning of the Second Age as the Hero Arkat prepared it to be the site of his retirement. Three bright stars, including one that blinks regularly, are visible around the primary; several dim ones nearby are often claimed as the hero???s as well. This is still considered to be the home of the First Age Hero by most Genertelans; AKA the ???Dove(s)???.

Sky Dome Movement<BR>The Sky Dome moves in a clockwise direction when viewed from above. If you lie on your back and look upwards at the Sky Dome, the stars appear to be rotating counterclockwise from north to the east, from east around the south, and so on. If you watch any single star for the whole night it would appear to move around the sky in a counterclockwise direction.

As seen from below<BR>The dome rotates about its axis, marked by the Pole Star, completing slightly more than a full counterclockwise rotation across the span of a night and a day. From the same viewpoint, the dome makes one complete counterclockwise rotation in the course of the year. As a result, planets rise in different constellations during the course of the year; for example, Lightfore first rises in Youth, then through the Fields, on to the Forest, to the other Fields, across the River, and then makes the long trek through the Desert. Each night at sunset, the stars are slightly counterclockwise from where they were the previous night.

Friday: Heroquest big time! -John

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