RPG Campaigns

Giraine Summaries

Salutations,

You have time to come up with a plan for facing Kaldar and Sinjota, while watching other bands take their attempts. Ahappi tells tall tales of dragons, aided by Shrett releasing the magic-crystal visions of the Sea Dragon and Sky Dragon. He starts very well, piquing Sinjota's interest with his introduction as she looks slaveringly at him with hunger, then he stumbles through the second act and she loses interest, swiping at him with a hissing snake-talon but he parries and then tries, and gracefully succeeds, to placate her and end the tale-his success brought by Shrett invoking his power of peaceful resolutions to bless Ahappi's words. She sits and listens, then tells him once he finishes that she hadn't heard a tale that fine since Issaries the Guide passed by; and that the door is open and they may leave. By then, Fraud, Boamund and Bog have soundly defeated Kaldar-Bog rushes in and hits the demon's heavily scaled midriff to no effect, then Kaldar's mace tosses him five metres back, crippled in the leg. But Boamund comes in with his jubillant demon-killing sword and hacks away at Kaldar's belly, Fraud (using extra Scorpion Arms) does the same and opens a good wound there (but Kaldar's demonic nature keeps him standing as his intestines poke out), and then Boamund deals a powerful blow that spills Kaldar's guts, and he falls to his knees then over backwards. Yet his wounds are healing, even as his guts turn into serpents and crawl about, and Bog uses his Demon-Biting to eat them while the others hew away at the body to keep it down. And then you exit the gate! Well played. [It was supposed to be hard, but far from impossible if you had a good plan, which you did; your numbers were supposed to work in your favour here]

Soon all bands of heroes have passed, or failed. Some have run screaming off into the darkness in terror. Fraud does an excellent job patching Bog up and Shrett heals the remaining leg wound, so all is well again. The Boat Planet awaits past the gates, ropes and ramps ready for heroes to come back aboard, and soon the ship is underway again. The leaden doors of Kaldar's Gate slam shut behind it and the sound of locks and bolts pierces the blackness. You row and sing onwards; some taking wounds (Ahappi, IIRC).

The River Styx narrows so that the Boat Planet barely squeezes through; one could even possibly leap ashore on either side, where the Path of Silence and its endless parade of dead souls shuffles along close to the riverbank. You gain a clear view of the procession of the recent dead; the ghosts of the dead and gone. You see brides, unwed youths, and old men who had suffered much. There are girls with their tender hearts freshly scarred by sorrow. You see great armies of battle dead, stabbed by bronze spears; men of war still wrapped in bloody armour. Many of them bear familiar trappings of the Quinpolic League and Seshnela, but there are fresh souls from foreign wars, too. Some are kings and thanes borne by noble steeds, others are naked or wear mere scraps of cloth. Some are mere skeletons, flesh burned or blasted away by magic; other are fully intact; all bear the markings of their Life and Death. Trolls, broo, beast men, and every other mortal race join the Dead. All are united in death and silence, for none speak or quarrel. For now, that strife has ended for them. You watch in awe, reverence and in Fraud's case some familiarity.

From the darkness around the deck parts a shadowy cloaked figure, whose concealed skeletal face seems Uz (but almost faceless) to Uz, Waertagi to Waertagi, human to humans, etc.

             TO AHAPPI: It draws close, and Ahappi addresses it with reverence, sure that it is Jeset, and it whispers "Yes, common blood flows between me and thee. Waertag had the blood of Triolina in him, and was full of life and motion. He chose many mates to couple with and share these essences. My mother was Sapana the Robber, and her dark waters flow in all of us. Like the Reaver, you have cut yourself off from that Life, but you come from a long line of it, lives of ancestors that you cannot deny. And then you have lived multiple lives. The Helldragon breathed new life into you, and that breath bade you to right wrongs. Whereas Waertag the Reaver seeks life from death in here, you must find its dead reflection that must remain dead, and your power of Death should aid that. All aspects of your being agree that this aid is Right. That grim shadow of life lies very deep in the realms of the dead; beyond even my reach. Your ancestors' sacrifices have gifted you with help against it, although they also bring a burden that will cause you distress, in ending a long cycle of life and death. Your trident weapon is now blessed with the Three Tines of Death, to render the undead dead again for this quest [Serious wounds to undead locations require resistance or cripple them].  Yet I must give you a second burden, the curse of Valkata. She thirsts to corrupt your demonic blood, and when she scents it, her twisted wiles will be arduous to resist [1 grade harder Willpower/Endurance rolls vs. Chaos demons on quest]."

             TO BOG: It glides to him and whispers a song of Kogag's Black Fleet "Uz sail Black Galleys on the oceans, in all the waters of Komor, Someday there will come our sisters, Black Fleet from under oceans' floor." Then whispers, "Know this song and sing it to a Kogag you know. And know this myth of my son Kogag. When the Butcher Sun invaded Wonderhome, many Uz joined Kogag's fleet and sailed Adzurana the First Hell, seeking to escape to Komor even as Komosha boiled the waters of Ivinareshesh the Black Ocean. Many Uz perished on the journey from the terrors of the river, and they both fought and bargained with the Waertagi that they met along the way. Kogag's Black Fleet follows the Boat Planet through the Underworld, to return again and join Sapana the Robber for a new Battle of Robber's Rain against Chaos. Of Kogag's last Lost Black Fleet, the ship named Dredge after mine remains deep past the Third Hell of the Outer Womb or Waiting Ground. Dredge is trapped in the Fifth Hell; the Burning Prison or Bright Hell; crewed by Uz heroes, dead Uz spirit Uztagor, and monsters, and you need find it, little one. You shall have a special task if you live to see that." [this is all Uz jargon and mythology that Bog would understand well]

             TO THE OTHERS: It grins a toothy smile at them, and they see its gaunt face and sharp teeth, and a beetle or worm where its tongue should be, and it makes them shiver, but everyone gets the impression that it conveys no malevolence; and then realize it is Jeset the Ferryman/Ferry-Uz, Psychopomp of the Dead. It fades as quickly as it appeared.

The ship continues. Suddenly the silence is broken by the din of crashing metal on metal, intensifying as the War Boat rows onwards through another tall gorge, losing sight of the Path of Silence above for now. You enter the River of Swords, where the only sound is the horrible clashing of arms of thousands of weapons of every kind and metal. There is no water now, only a sea of armaments. Periodically severed arms, legs, torsos, and heads bob to the surface on the violent currents. The War Boat clatters and scrapes noisily through the River of Swords, weapons of all types hewing at its sides and oars mostly to little effect. Yet as the ship proceeds further upriver, the metal currents intensify, and waves of armaments splash down onto the deck, mercilessly hacking and thrusting away at anything near them. The danger is only momentary but serious; none are spared. It's a short, nasty little fight. Ahappi breaks the battle axe that attacks him and goes to help Bog, who is outclassed by a skilled mace, and wounded. Boamund also faces an axe and soon destroys it; Shrett fights a halberd and Fraud a greatsword, but the fight is over within seconds, as it is across the ship-remaining weapons surge back into the River (you leave none able to).

The River of Swords continues through its craggy chasm. Above it now, a tremendous bridge made of millions of bones; the Perjurers' Bridge; spans the great chasm. A quiet queue of doleful dead is visible crossing the bridge on their lengthy Path of Silence. The giant skeletal form of Janak the Gatekeeper stands over the bridge at midspan, holding a long bone stick, with which he knocks all perjurers, taboo-violators, those who violate hospitality and oath-breakers off into the suffering below, where the River of Swords churns them in torment. All aboard see the imminent hazard as the War Boat approaches. It is inevitable that some victims of Janak will fall onto the ship once it goes under the Perjurer's Bridge. People prepare themselves. Ahappi watches out; Fraud and Shrett link shields near the ship's side, Boamund parries and Bog does too. In the end, everyone is fine, defending themselves well against the rain of doomed corpses. The bodies don't need cleanup; they crawl, whimpering in pain, into the River for more suffering.

As the War Boat passes underneath the bridge, two things happen and one is a surprise to many. First, some screaming perjurers plummet down near those aboard, crashing to a messy death onto them or the decks. Second, the Boat Planet does not escape the implacable gaze of Janak. With only a devilish glance and with effortless swiftness he sweeps his tremendous stick of bone downwards to the decks, precisely targeting some on board. That includes you; for a wide variety of reasons, he has judged you all, except Bog, to be in Error. He takes some great swipes-some manage to avoid his giant pole, but Ahappi is picked up and dumped into the River. Janak then swipes so poorly at one person that his stick goes wide and avoids the rest. But Ahappi remains in much peril as weapons of the River hack at him. He pulls himself to the top of the metal currents and, amazingly (very well-timed critical Swim roll!), swims his way heroically to the side of the War Boat to grab a rope, just before weapons pile onto him for an assault.

The terrors of the Bridge are behind you now, but there is a lingering feeling of insecurity. Everyone left alive on the Boat Planet feels a tug from the procession of the Path of Silence, where so many dead stride across the bridge on their final journeys. The tension of the Path of Silence gnaws at the essence of life, which is not supposed to be here. Your bodies survived passage under the bridge, but your souls are being ripped at. You each struggle with this inner tension you own ways; most either gaining better resolve with their passions at stake, or losing some of those. Fraud didn't fare so well, maybe because of his death-sword, or because he'd been dead here before, but now he is cursed by the Path of Silence, ever plagued by ineffective Life-magics: Healing spells of any sort will do -1 HP healing until he gains or severs a Life/Death rune (which is hard to do; usually needing a heroquest but something Arkat might be able to manage!).

Shrett chose to make his Conceal permanent; same as Bog. Boamund chose to make his Scorpion Arms permanent. To maintain balance and parity w/the Conceal spell, the limitation is that you must pray to a live scorpion (needing to have one present; captive would in theory be fine; just a normal not giant one will do) for 1d8 full consecutive days to regain the spell (i.e. you cannot keep reusing it). There are scorpions native to Giraine; not very common but they exist.

What's next? We shall see… On Friday! -John

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