Sessions 56-57: Sea Leopards are Very Serious, You Will All Regret Laughing At Them

When last we left our heroes... Sneaking out of the Busty Baroness disguised as workers of that fine establishment, the companions managed to elude their pursuers, infiltrate Tengelbur's family mansion, and rescue Talarja, getting the entire guard staff (and Tengelbur) extremely high in the process. Headed back to the city, they tried to break it gently to the staff of the Busty Baroness that they would most likely be wanted for questioning (or worse) by the Governor after what they had been tricked into helping the companions do. Horrified, the chief of the wagon drivers began to shout for the authorities, which the companions took as their cue to make like a tree and leaf, heading to the docks to set off (some time after midnight) in the Venture Capitalism.

There, they met a young priestess by the name of Feiala, who for her own reasons was looking to take passage from the isle. She convinced Tengelbur and the rest to let her hitch a ride on the Venture Capitalism, and they set sale for the isle which they had originally come in search of, and which they hoped would lead them to a means of healing and redemption for Anaris, as well as possibly cluing them in to the location of the Anvil of Lanenomen and/or the so-called "Son of Midnight," the former of which they hoped would explain why the so-called "Sons of Orusen" were hunting them.

Regarding the so-called "Son of Midnight" or "Prince of Midnight," Thoranrai finally answered some of their questions, cluing them into a bit of local history: The legendary founder of civilization in the Leopard Isles, Anerkanera, slew the previous ruler of the isle, a great black panther known as the Son of Midnight. According to obscure local legends, the hame of the great beast has been preserved and passed down from father to son in a secret lineage that claims to predate the line of Sencan, and which claims rule over the Isle. In the present day, the followers of the current bearer of the cloak have formed something of a cult, to which Thoranrai once belonged, which resulted in her bearing a son to the cult's charismatic and mysterious leader. Wanting to protect her son from his influence, Thoranrai found the Scarlet Sisterhood, who agreed to keep her son safe and protected in return for Thoranrai's service as a spy.

After sailing for a little more than three days, the companions finally came within sight of the island they sought--just in time for their ship to be assailed by a number of Sea Leopards, who I swear you guys, are very very scary.

Session 55: The Busty Baroness

When last we left our heroes... It was quite a bit of work, but Reiana, Vanera, and Anaris finally managed to get in to see Mother Superior Zishunei of the Convent of the Ram of Dawn. The conversation with the Mother Superior was... less than illuminating, but she did eventually tell Anaris what she needed to know to complete her pilgrimage, and she agreed to put the Companions in touch with members of the local Resistance. They were to meet them outside the city gate the following evening. 

In the meantime, Tanurendal and Tengelbur were busy pursuing their own line of inquiry: having left the Perfumer's tent, they headed back almost immediately after deciding that they needed some kind of "knockout gas" to use on the Governor's guards. Although the Perfumer didn't have anything matching that description, they eventually paid a hefty price in silver for hallucinogenic honey from the Northern Moors. Taking the honey to the nearest local tavern with a catering service -- the aptly named "busty baroness" -- they catered a party at the Governor's mansion for that evening. 

Meeting back up with the unlikely duo inside the Busty Baroness, Reiana and Vanera were a little aghast at the plans that had been made without their input (to say nothing of consent). Thoranrai eventually suggested that the women in the party dress up as serving staff from the Busty Baroness, while the men pass themselves off as drivers and cooks. In the meantime, though, they seem to have been followed to the Busty Baroness by hooded figures--either the agents of the Governor, or possibly more of the so-called "Sons of Orusen..."

Session 54: The Prince of Midnight

 When last we left our heroes...

Unceremoniously deposited back in the port city of Dlakfi Klorpeim, the companions decided to split up to cover more ground: Tengelbur and Tanurendal would take Thoranrai to the local bazar, in the hopes of finding any of Thoranrai's old Resistance contacts, or perhaps some of the Scarlet Sisterhood, while the rest of the Company went to the Convent of the Ram of Dawn, hoping to speak directly with Mother Superior Zishunei in the hopes that she would be able to do something to help free Talarja (without the Companions having to resort to murder).

A reluctant Thoranrai led Tengelbur and Tanurendal to the tent of a Perfumer named Yalafir, where they breathed deeply of burning bowls carved of the Setelnor tree, and spoke--in a vision, or a dream, or perhaps a trance--with the enigmatic leader of the Resistance, one who calls himself "The Son of Midnight." It seems that, with the recent push of the Royalists to retake the Leopard Isles, the Son of Midnight and his followers have gone into hiding for the time being. The encounter, while not entirely helpful, did give them some clues as to Resistance activities in the Isle and a possible connection between the Son of Midnight and Thoranrai. The Son of Midnight offered to rescue Talarja if the companions could find for him the Anvil of Lanenomen, the "Starstone" as he called it, and bring it to him. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the companions made their way through the narrow streets towards the Convent of the Ram of Dawn. Along the way, they were first distracted, and then ATTACKED! by a sausage-merchant, who turned out to be one of the so-called Sons of Orusen, intent on preventing a prophecy supposedly made by Orusen from coming to pass. This prophecy apparently included the names of the companions, as well as the fact that they would undertake a journey to these isles. After defeating their attackers and interrogating one of them, the companions continued to make their way to the Convent...

Session 53: Ill-met in Caur-i-Klorpeim

When last we left our heroes... The companions examined the body of the sorcerer Tanurendal's arrow had killed: they found it covered in strange, eye-shaped scars, and the remaining Njeitbori sailors quickly became convinced that they were all cursed, under the gaze of one of the Many-eyed ones. Concerning these, Vanera recalled legends that he had encountered on the periphery of the literature he had studied: of Deep Men who sometimes encountered and worshipped many-eyed monstrosities in the depths of the Sea, and whom they worshipped in occult pacts for terrible powers. But if this was a legend to Vanera, to the Njeitbori on board it was a vivid reality, and when soon a yard arm broke off and came crashing down on Tanurendal's head, the sailors took this as proof positive that the Deep One would kill them all--starting with Tanurendal--in return for having killed his prophet. Tengelbur managed to convince his men to work, and after giving the bodies a burial at sea, the companions resumed their voyage to the Leopard Isles. When they were still a few days out, they were set upon by Nalshbori pirates, but after a harrowing chase (and the exchange of a few arrows) they managed to outrun them, arriving at last at their destination:

For first-time visitors from the North, the Feirkan Kerakamu, or Leopard Isles are a marked contrast. Where the seashore of the northern coast of the sea is dark and frequently stormy, here it is white sand beaches and clear green surf flecked with seafoam. It's notably warmer here, and you find yourself inclined to shed the outer layers and heavier seafaring gear, as the warm breezes of early summer are already blowing steadily, whereas by now the North has only just finished thawing out from the long winter. The houses are quite similar in style to those in Sencankarr--whitewashed granite walls accented with blue waterstone, but here the construction is rather more spacious and most of the living spaces are open on at least three sides to the air around them, albeit with heavy shutters which could quickly be closed in case of a storm. The population, particularly of the largest island Caur-i-Klorpeim, is markedly cosmopolitan, the port city of Dlakfi Klorpeim featuring large populations of Oornan, Aaran, and Kothorlas traders, Equisliad adventurers, and Ambori from across the three corners of the Sea of Ambori. Tropical heat, Kothorlas spices, a babel of tongues, and the shouts of longshoremen all wash over you in a disorienting wave as you step onto the pier.

The companions decided to begin with going to the ancestral home of Tengelbur and Talarja, their vacation spot in the Isles, which was located some ways out of town. Arriving there, the companions found that the new Governor--Weiksura Amlalar--had taken it as his permanent residence following the declining fortunes of Tengelbur's family and the violent suppression of recent unrest in the Leopard Isles. Surrounded by the Governor's guards, they were accosted by Thauthenai, the beautiful concubine and captain of the secret police of Governor Neratsoan, for whose murder many of the companions had already been framed. Taking them inside and treating them to a fine meal and the best vintage of the family wine, Thauthenai told the now-unarmed companions how matters stood:

After the death of Governor Neratsoan (for which the companions had been framed, though in truth he had been killed by Thauthenai), Thauthenai, as part of a deal with King Onwae, married the new appointee--Weiksura Amlalar--and ran the Northern District as the real power in the governor's mansion. Following the unrest (which the companions had partially helped to foment) in the Leopard Isles, Weiksura and Thauthenai had been sent to the Leopard Isles to crush the revolt, which she seems to have done with some aplomb. There are still dissidents, however, and Thauthenai decides that Valarja will stay with her ("for safekeeping") while the companions (most of whom are wanted for crimes and/or considered legally dead) carry out a task for her: assassinating Zishunei, Mother Superior of the Convent of the Ram of Dawn--the spirtual symbol of the rebellion, and the head of the archipelago's powerful Old Rite sect...

Vanera's letter to his mother, Spring 454

Dearest Mother,

I realize it has been over two years since I last wrote to you. That was unintentional. Due to some strange happenings, I was lost to the world for two years, parted even from me dear Talarja. I am glad to say that we are reunited once more, and we are expecting! Though it is still early on, the midwife suspects that Talarja is carrying twins. I was shocked by the news but am incredibly happy about it.

I hope you, Father, and my sisters are well. I do miss you all very much. Do write and tell me how you all are. Vitherai must be old enough now that you are thinking about her marriage.

I am sure you are wanting to know how Anaris fairs. She does not fair well. I hesitate to even burden you with this knowledge. I am very worried about her. Her looks have changed. You would not even be able to recognize her, dear Mother. I have tried talking to her, but you know how she can be. Thankfully, she has sought help and is taking action to remedy her ways. But she has been saying the strangest things, and it is about these things that I desire answers from you.

Anaris tells me that we are illegitimate, or that she is at least illegitimate. I would not believe her that either you or father would have done something so dishonorable. She says it was upon finding out that she left home. Mother, if this is true then tell me. Am I not really a son of the Kjavabo family? I think once upon a time knowing that I was not truly a son of the Kjavabo family would have ruined me, but after having parted under less than good circumstances I would not be surprised if you and Father have disinherited me and cut me off from your lives altogether, and I may have not been an excepted son all this time.

Do know that I love and miss you all. Talarja sends her love as well.

Vanera

P.S. Do not hesitate to send name suggestions. We will need two, after all. 

Session 52: Fishermen Raving

When last we left our heroes... As Anaris was getting her marching orders concerning a pilgrimage by which she might possibly lessen the stain of corruption on her soul, the rest of the party was discussing matters with Palfeinan, the scholar of Cheykor. Palfeinan had spent a good deal of time considering the fragment which Vanera had found in the Serpent Temple and translated. The fragment seemed to reference Orusen, one of the legendary forefathers of the Amborian people, but it had several features which Palfeinan found to be idiosyncratic:

• Although it mentions Orusen, it seems to reference a hitherto unattested legend (at least in the knowledge of the loremasters of Sencankarr) about him, that he received the Anvil of Lanenomen as a bride-price and sailed south to the Leopard Isles on a great floating city, similar to those which the Njeitbori use.
• Considering the stories the Companions had told him about the Anvil of Lanenomen and the strange, if still-not-understood fate of their old companion, the Njeitbori Orusen, Palfeinan has proposed the following theory: What if the song that the Swan-maiden sang to the Companions during their adventures "back in time" indicated that the soul of Orusen had been planted in the ancient tower and had grown up to become the tree that had been missing when they awoke from their long sleep, and which Anaris had prevented from being wounded by stepping in front of Mawish's spear? Although many of the connections are still unclear, Palfeinan proposes that the poetic fragment Vanera unearthed may point to Orusen's having somehow survived the Tower, and carried the Anvil of Lanenomen away to the Leopard Isles. If so, it is vital that the Companions retrieve the Anvil before someone else does.

Since all ways now seemed to lead to the Leopard Isles, the companions spent the next few days rigging the Venture Capitalism for a sea voyage (which included picking up a couple of extra companions: a Well Priestess named Artana and Neras, a Njeitbori archer and sailor [played by Grace and Daniel Stephenson, respectively]. Additionally, they picked up Thoranrai, whose memories have been spotty since she was rescued from the serpent temple. She agreed to accompany the party, hoping the sea air and her old homeland (currently undergoing civil unrest which the Companions all, in their own way, helped to foment) would do her good. Talarja, Vanera's wife, also accompanied the heroes. As soon as the feast of Orusen was past, the companions began the month-long voyage which would take them to almost the very southern edge of the Amborian Sea.

About three weeks into their journey, Tengelbur found himself with a mutiny on his hands: five of his crew, Njeitbori sailors all of them, attempted to lure him up onto the deck and murder him, after one of them had captured Thoranrai, carving a series of strange, staring, blinking eyes into her skin in order to cast fell sorceries upon the crew. Thanks to the light of the Polestar which shone around Atarna, the companions were able to fight their way in a grueling hand-to-hand battle towards the bow of the ship (except for Anaris and Tanurendal, who spent most of the battle overboard), eventually killing the ritualist and his associates. Just before he died, the sorcery said, "You will not stop us. We have heard the prophecies of Orusen, and we know who you are. They will not come to pass. They will not--" and then he fell with Tanurendal's arrow in his throat. With the sorcerer dead, the eyes on Thoranrai's body faded to ugly cuts, but Tengelbur was left puzzled at this betrayal at the hands of men who had worked for him for several years.

Sessions 47-51: The Temple of the Serpents

When last we left our heroes...

Session 47: Pressing the old woman, more closely, the companions at last managed to ring the truth, or at least part of it, out of them: the old woman Yenara, and the much younger woman--scarce more than a girl--Aryanyan had been pursued by the Gaunt Men across the North for quite some time. They had knowledge of the Gaunt Men and Nalshbori who had taken over Kor-Paurja, at first ostensibly because they'd been fleeing from it. Apparently, an old beggar Yuralesh, who another company had encountered in sessions 33-34) had betrayed the village to the Nalshbori, letting them into the stockade. Later, it would be revealed that Yenara and Aryanyan were actually headed back in that direction, as there was something near the village that the old woman wanted. What was more, they revealed that they knew about the "key" that Peibo had spoken of; what was more, they knew why the Gaunt Men had been capturing young women: it seemed that some young woman or other either was the key, or at least knew the location of the key, and for that reason they were being captured. With Yenara's help, the companions attempted to sneak into the village of Kor-Paurja by a back way, hopefully liberating it, but they botched an attempt to sneak past a Nalshbori patrol and were overwhelmed, falling unconscious one by one (with Tengelbur falling last, and only after a prolonged duel with the Nalshbori commander, before which he had felled three of the enemy with his own hand). Yenara and Aryanyan had vanished into the countryside long before the battle was over. When the companions awoke, they found themselves in an ancient subterranean temple, about to be sacrificed by being burned alive in a great brass pan, while the Serpent Woman of legend officiated from her carven throne.

Session 48: Just as they were about to be sacrificed, the companions were freed by one of their Nalshbori guards, who turned out to be Peibo in disguise. Another one was revealed to be Aryanyan, who began firing arrows into the guards and gaunt men surrounding the Serpent Woman's throne, while Peibo freed the others and engaged the Gaunt Men, telling the companions to run. For the most part, the companions chose instead to stand and fight (sans their weapons), leading to Tengelbur falling unconscious again, horribly wounded as he attempted to strike down the Serpent Woman herself and was in turn overwhelmed by two Nalshbori of the Sea Scorpion clan. With a flaming sword in hand, Peibo managed to fell the Gaunt Men and lead the companions (including an unconscious Tengelbur) to an adjacent room, an armory, in which the companions barricaded themselves and tended to their wounded.

Session 49: Having found weapons and armor (including some items of ancient, even magical provenance) in the armory, the companions re-armed themselves and located a secret passageway that allowed them to slip down into the lower level of the temple. Moving through several sacristy rooms full of horrors (including a strange sacrificial knife that Anaris kept for herself, and a coffin used to drain the blood from living victims), the entered the main throne room of the temple, where they found eighteen young woman unconscious, seemingly comatose, under the effects of some spell. They were on the verge of waking these when Aryanyan and Peibo revealed that coming back to rescue the companions (who had been captive for something like two weeks or more before they were awakened for the sacrifice) had only been part of their reason for coming to the serpent temple -- they were also here to locate something, perhaps a scroll or tablet, which Yenara and Peibo believed might hold the key to finding the tomb of the Stone-king that the Serpent Lady was seeking for. The companions agreed to help find the table, then try to find some way to awaken the maidens and flee the temple.

Session 50: Fighting their way through the temple complex (in which some kind of a civil war seemed now to be raging between the Nalshbori on the one hand, and Gaunt Men and Arjagbori servants of the Serpent Woman on the other--why this was happening, the companions never learned), the companions made their way to the Serpent Woman's private quarters, where they discovered a whole cache of scrolls and tablets. Taking all of these, they fought their way back to the throne room and sought for some way to awaken the sleeping women. Thanks to Vanera's keen intuition, they realized that the sleep of the maidens was connected to the huge orbs of red amber which made up the eyes of the two stone serpents coiled around the empty throne at the far end of the room. After some unsuccessful attempts to approach and destroy them, the companions managed to pry them loose--Anaris keeping two of the orbs for herself (despite the protests of the party) and Tanurendal meanwhile secretly keeping a third, which he hid in his gear when the rest of the companions were not looking. Awakening the girls, the companions fled from the temple complex -- which, with the spell of the Stone Serpents broken, was beginning to collapse. They fought their way through the Arjagbori guarding the door, losing two or three of the young women to falling rocks in the process, but made it out with the majority of them safely to the surface world. From there, they did what they could to return the girls to their families, taking the rest (including Thoranrai from the other company) back to Cheykor.

Session 51: Back in Chekor, Vanera found his worst fears unfounded: Talarja had waited patiently for him, and had kept herself busy learning the work of an amber-cutter in the meanwhile. After a joyful reunion with friends and loved ones, the companions took a long-needed and well-earned rest, taking their seasonal undertakings:

• Tanurendal integrated the red amber into his moorland bow, augmenting its power in combat--but has begun to suffer from evil dreams as a result.
• Vanera spent his downtime trying to decode the tablets taken from the Serpent Woman's lair. In addition to a map which he believes will allow him to safely navigate the Serth Hatama and find the Tomb of the Stone-king, he also found a strange inscription on an ancient clay table, now mostly broken.*
• Tengelbur spent his seasonal undertaking tending to his shipping business, which unfortunately seems to have lost a bit of money in his absence.
• Reiana searched for answers regarding the Nalshbori incursions on the West side of the Cheyth, and managed to locate their landing spot -- as well as the information that in the following season (Spring 454), the river would be too flooded to cross at that point, meaning that Nalshbori would be totally cut off from escape or reinforcements and as such could probably be dispatched with a small force.
• Anaris' fate has taken the strangest turn, as a number of her deeds together with the corrupted items she had accumulated in the Serpent Temple had... changed her for the worst. In addition to random fits of animalistic behavior, in which she would throw off her clothes and eat grass like an ox, her weight increased by some 300% as she became more and more anti-social, passing the time by hunting down deserts from the River Legions and turning them in for bounty.

As winter came to its end and Spring began to thaw the North, the companions staged an intervention for Anaris and Tanurendal, confronting them both (but especially Anaris) about the choices which had led to their corruption. Finally humbled and scared of what was happening to her, Anaris went (and/or was taken by Tengelbur) to see the Well Priestess, who (after Anaris handed over the Red Amber and the evil sacrificial knife that she had kept) assigned her a pilgrimage to a small unknown isle in the Leopard Archipelago. There, the Priestess told her, if her repentance was genuine, she might find healing. The rest of the companions, meanwhile, argued with Tanurendal about his bow while Vanera debated whether or not he should go off adventuring again -- his wife, as he had recently learned, was pregnant with twins...

* THE INSCRIPTION WHICH VANERA DECIPHERED:

Orusena, first of fathers,

Out of bloodshed, out of warfare,

First of fathers brought an anvil,

Brought a bride-price for his daughter,

Brought a gift of Lanenomen

When the tides of blood were flowing

Over Northlands, when the thunder

Fled from heavy stroke of hammer.

Orusena brought the anvil,

Brought the bride-price, fleeing danger,

Then he took a mighty forest,

Built a city on the waters.

That fair town upon the waters

Orusena sailed to islands

Fleeing battle on the Moorlands.

To the Isles he brought the anvil.

Sessions 45-46: Death in Darkness, and the Sleepers Return

When last we left our heroes... The companions bravely engaged the four Gaunt Men in battle deep beneath the earth. Already wounded and weary from their encounter with the Arjagbori at the entrance, and with Feiala missing a weapon, they were in no shape for this battle, and the Gaunt Men quickly made short work of them. The last thing any of the heroes heard was: "Take the women... Kill the men." And then darkness fell.

---

[We fast-forwarded in time just a few months to the return of the Sleepers, who had reawakened in their own time back in Session 34. Session 46 marks the beginning of a new ruleset, as we begin to play a modified version of the CLASH system ported for Amboria.]

When last we left our heroes... After awakening, the heroes had headed south to to Kor-Gilin, where they found food and some small solace in the wayside inn there. In the nearly empty common room, they were accosted by a stranger who identified himself at first only as "a Wanderer," and then later as one "Peibo," and informed the Company that they had been gone for seven seasons. In their absence, Sir Ralus had been captured and rescued, war had crossed the river, and one of the Border Forts had fallen and been recaptured. During the distraction caused by this, the Nalshbori seemed to have gotten some kind of a beachhead on the western shore (though no-one had found it as yet), and the area had become increasingly dangerous due to Nalshbori raids.

After the heroes told their own story, Peibo explained that about two weeks ago, Cheykor had lost all contact with the village of Kor-Paurja. This, coupled with the rumors of Gaunt men in the area, warrants investigation. The Gaunt Men, according to Peibo, are looking for a "key" -- an item, or possibly a person -- that will open one of the lost Tombs of the Stone Kings. To prove his credentials, Peibo explained that they all had a mutual friend in Norkur the Scribe, who had sent the party back to the Marches of the Cheyth to investigate the activities of the Scarlet Sisterhood and the Gaunt Men. Norkur does not trust the Scarlet Sisterhood, but it seems that they recently lost a party of their own adventurers (see the previous session) who had been sent to the area around Kor-Paurja, and those people need to be found.

Reluctantly, the Company agree to go to Kor-Paurja before returning home to Cheykor (where Vanera has a wife waiting, and Tengelbur has a business he's worried about). The race is on: find the "key" before the Gaunt Men, or the Scarlet Sisterhood does, and prevent either of them from opening the the tomb of the Stone-king. Since Peibo was headed to Cheykor to follow up on some other leads based on the story the companions had told him about their friend Orusen, he offered to take messages on their behalf back to Cheykor, telling their loved ones and business associates that they yet lived.

The company traveled 5 days up the road towards Kor-Paurja before they were ambushed by a small band of Nalshbori--an ambush which, thanks to Tengelbur's watchfulness, they were prepared for. Though Anaris was gravely injured in the resulting fight, the Company cut all seven of the Nalshbori warriors down, and rescued their two prisoners: a young girl of twenty-five or so, and an old woman. The old woman claimed that they had been captured by Nalshbori on their way to Cheykor -- but Vanera intuited that there was much that the old woman was not telling them...

The Last Words of Klorpeim

By Hope and PJ

---

The surgeon had done all he could for Klorpeim. When asked about Klorpeim’s chances for survival, he did not need to say anything. His look told everything.

In a moment of consciousness, Klorpeim, weak from loss of blood, looked about him as best he could from the cot where he lay. 

“Amsotha,” he said feebly. “Amsotha.”

Looking over in Klorpeim's direction, Amsotha pushes himself up and limps over to Klorpeim's bed. He collapses to his knees and puts a hand on Klorpeim's shoulder.

"With you still holding on to life, it seems that we were successful in our endeavor," he says with a weak smile on his face. Realizing Klorpeim's wound, Amsotha mourns, "I was not wanting to have to pay for it with my best friend's life though."

“It seems a fitting payment. I was the one to convince them to leave the fort to go after Onerama, so I must pay with my life to get it back. But I am willing to make it if it means the overwhelming tide of the Nalshbori are held back, if not just a little longer.” Here Klorpeim paused as he struggled to catch his next breath.

"Fitting Payment?", Amsotha answered quizzingly,"My friend, for all we could have known, Onerama could have attacked us while the Nalshbori lay siege to the Fort. Don't blame yourself for today. Your actions kept the Nalshbori from taking the fort. I regret not being able to take any of the archers down." Amsotha picks Klorpeim up, trying to get him in a more comfortable position. And watching as Klorpeim's soaked bandage tried to stop the bleeding.

“I am...I am sorry about your sister.” Klorpeim said once he had regained his breath. “I know you will find her.”

Amsotha sighs, "Sister missing, best friend slipping into the afterlife, this world is a cruel place," coughing up blood he continues, "I am not positive either one of us will make it to tomorrow." Amsotha chuckles a little and asks, "Tell me my friend, is there anything you want sent back to the family?"

Klorpeim could not help a half smile. He found Amsotha’s bedside manner lacking somehow. “You may send all my things to them. I will not need them beyond the Final Night where mortals may not look.”

Laughing enough to cough again, Amsotha replies with a fool's smile, "Well, we prefer to send you clothed. Nonetheless I shall see to it that  your dagger is sent  back, and if you so wish, the sword by which a thousand Nalshbori fell. If it so happens that death does not favor me, I will take it to your family myself."

Klorpeim grasped Amsotha’s hand in his. “My time grows near that Death shall come and make the Sign of Death. You are a good friend. In parting from you, I part from a brother.”

With the other Amsotha holds his friend’s head, “May you find your way to the gates where all will be judged, May Nankienala find favor in you, may He take in account your bravery that turned the tide on this day, and when your name is spoken let it bring fear in the hearts of Nalshbori. Let evil remember that on this day, it found an adversary worthy of fear!!” Unable to hold the tears back Amsotha gives his last goodbye to Klorpiem.

And with that, Klorpeim breathed his last breath.

Far beyond the Northern lands, across the Plain of Ice,

Where the wintry air chokes out the sun and all is cold and white,

Across that plain he wandered and came to earth no more.

But the stories say he came at last to another sunlit shore.

And taking there a coracle, he rowed across the gulf

And passed beyond the Final Night where mortals may not look.

Sessions 43-44: Shadows of the Past

When last we left our heroes...

The companions made their way North to the village of Kor-Paurja, a copper mining village about a week north of Cheykor. Along the way, they managed to run into almost every conceivable hazard:

• Amsotha, the party's scout, fell down an abandoned well and was stuck there for several hours until the rest of the Company eventually found him.
• Feiala, the party's Guide, nearly led them into a dangerous landslide before realizing her mistake.
• Artana found what looked like a good, safe place to rest--but it turned out to be the hideout of some army deserters and highwaymen, who ambushed the party while they slept. Fortunately, Thoranrai noticed their danger and awoke the party in time. 

Just after the latter episode, Feiala noticed what appeared to be strange animal tracks--great cloven hoofs--which, however, vanished in the sunlight. Thinking back, she recalled the story that had begun to circulate a year or two ago of a party who had been ambushed by the Arjagbori (the Horned Things) of legend, on their way to Ralakarr from Sencankarr. All trace--including the bodies and even the tracks--of the Arjagbori were said to vanish with the rising of the sun, though most considered these fanciful details to be mere superstitious rumors, like the rest of the story.

Finally making it to the village, they were able to find the beggar Yuralesh, who was known to have a local reputation as a swindler and was even rumored to be working in concert with a group of local highwaymen and deserters in the area--probably the same ones the Company had encountered and killed a few days earlier. In any case, Yuralesh promised he could show the Companions the "old mine" where the girls were being taken, in exchange for half of the treasure they retrieved (Artana clarified that this would only be half of her own cut) from the mine. Asking around, the Companions learned that the hills north of town had been believed by the locals for several generations back to have been haunted, and there were stories of those who became lost in the hills after dark being kidnapped, eaten alive, or witnessing strange and gruesome sacrificial rituals--like seeing a headless figure stirring a great brass cauldron full of limbs. 

A few hours before sundown, the Company met Yuralesh on the north side of town, and followed him into the hills. Some time later--just as the red sunset in the West was giving way to an eerie twilight--he brought them to a crack in the side of an ancient mount which appeared at sundown and which seemed to widen as it grew darker. This, Yuralesh told them, was where the girls had been taken. The Companions lit torches and proceeded inside, only to be attacked by two Arjagbori--in fact, the very Horned Things of legend--who were guarding the entrance. The heroes triumphed narrowly, with both Thoranrai and Amsotha having taken the brunt of the fighting, the latter bleeding heavily due to a wound inflicted by one of the deadly scythes wielded by the horned monsters. Moving forward, they followed a long, snaking tunnel, adorned on either side by bas reliefs which portrayed Amborian history--or rather, an alternate version of it. It showed, for instance, the feud that broke out between the Treianraal and the Sothbori at the wedding of Lanenomen and Alyeitalya, as actually having been between the Treianraal and the Serpent-folk, the latter of whom it portrayed as the rightful natives of the lands around the Sea, driven off and oppressed by the coming of the folk of Starland. At the end of the tunnel they entered an antechamber, guarded by two enormous serpents of stone, who watched them motionlessly with huge eyes of glowing gems. Feiala tried to destroy the eye of one of the stone guardians, but only shattered her longsword in the process. Moving past the guardians--a task which daunted more than one member of the party--they pushed on through carven bronze doors and came at last to the great, central hall of what they had now realized must be an underground palace or temple complex.

There, arranged in a semi-circle around the base of a throne, were some two-dozen or so girls, all of them young, all of them arrayed in white, all of them laid out upon slabs of stone. A strange, twisted figure of a woman with serpentine eyes and a red amber crown upon her head, stood over them, seemingly drawing something from them, when the Companions entered. Pointing to them and uttering a word of command, the Serpent-woman sent forth four of her Gaunt Men to oppose the Companions, while she herself fled the scene...

Session 42: Little Girl Lost

When last we left our heroes...

We began with a funeral for Klorpeim, who had died during the desperate (and, thanks to him, successful) attempt to retake Leil Yalir. Feiala, the party's Well Woman, presided over the funeral, after which a local bard sang the "Ballad of Klorpeim."

When this was over, the Company undertook various fellowship phase undertakings for the end of Winter 452. Among these, the most noteworthy was Amsotha, who visited Sencankarr to deliver word to Klorpeim's family of Klorpeim's death. While there, he visited one of the city's countless shrines, and spoke with a Well Woman, who revealed to him a vision of his missing sister: she was lying on a slab, somewhere underground, surrounded by many other maidens similarly disposed, all dressed in white. The Well Woman saw pain, terror, and evil in her vision -- but what it meant she could not say.

In the Spring of the following year, Thoranrai received a summons by the Scarlet Sisterhood to bring the Company to the house of a Njeitbori merchant-woman by the name of Artana [Hope's new character following the death of Klorpeim], who lived in Cheykor. The Company, now including Artana, was commissioned by Talarja (a Scarlet Sisterhood Priestess the Players have encountered before now) to investigate the disappearance of an acolyte of their order, which coincides with the disappearance of several other young women in the area around the Cheyth (especially those travelling along the old King's Road). According to Talarja, the disappearance have been traced to the village of Kor-Paurja, a mining village some miles north of Cheykor. The Sisterhood has already spoken to a half-mad beggar there, one Yuralesh, who claims that they were taken into an old, abandoned mine somewhere in the hills...

Session 41: The Retaking of Leil Yalir

When last we left our heroes...

Realizing (after a prolonged exchange with Onerama the Bald) that they had probably been misled, the Company decided to look for Captain Landras, who they found already marching back to Leil Yalir. It seems that during their absence, with the fort only held by a small garrison, that a force of some 300 Nalshbori had crossed the river and taken it by storm. One of the survivors had made it to Captain Landras to alert him, and now his cohort was speeding back to try and retake his fortress before the passages of the Cheyth were completely lost, and before more Nalshbori could arrive to more thoroughly reinforce Leil Yalir.

The Company went on ahead to scout out the situation, and based on what they could see, guessed that some 200 Nalshbori were currently holding Leil Yalir against them (in fact, this was a pretty close guess: it was 150). As Captain Landras's forces arrived, they decided on a plan: Captain Landras would attempt an assault to probe the Nalshbori defenses and, if possible, to take the gate. If that failed, the Company would attempt to steal into the fort under cover of darkness and open the gate to the attackers.

During the first assault (which did not at all go well for the attackers, who were repulsed with heavy losses), the Company noticed a boat gliding down the river with more reinforcements for the fortress. Taking a small squad of men, they opposed its landing, inflicting heavy casualties on these new-arrived Nalshbori before driving them off.

During the second hour of the battle, during which most of the Companions had decided to rest due to the heavy injuries they had received driving off the Nalshbori reinforcements, the attackers trying to man the battering ram found themselves pinned by archer fire from a tower, one of the outworks on the northern side of the Fort. Gathering a small knot of men about him, Klorpeim seized a scaling ladder and charged up the tower under a hail of arrow fire. Only Klorpeim and two of his men made it to the top, where they cut down archers until only four remained. But Klorpeim at last fell wounded to a knife which pierced his mail. Inspired by his example, Feiala and Thoranrai charged up the tower, cutting down the remaining archers and seizing the tower for Captain Landras's men. This proved to be the turning point of the battle, and the Fourth Cohort of the Cheyth Legion retook Leil Yalir in the third hour of the assault, at the setting of the sun. Klorpeim, alas, died of his wounds.

In the aftermath of the battle, the remaining companions found that Telini had completely disappeared, meaning she had either lied to them and then skipped town, or told the truth and then been "made to disappear" by Onerma, or someone working for him. In any case it was clear enough that someone had manipulated the Companions, and they are keen to figure out who.

The Ballad of Klorpeim

Session 40 - Insurrection

When last we left our heroes...

Arriving at the borders of Onerama the Bald's vast estates, with 450 Legionnaires at their back and Captain Landras who, thanks to the companions egging him on, was now spoiling for a fight, the Company found that Onerama had had at least a few minutes of advanced warning, and that his militia had assembled and blocked the passage of the road into Onerama's farmstead. A series of tense negotiations began as both sides seemed intractable regarding their demands:

The Company and Captain Landras: that Onerama should immediately stand down, allow himself to be arrested, and stand trial for his crimes.

Onerama and his militia: that the army withdraw immediately from his lands; barring that, that emissaries be sent unarmed beyond the barricade to parlay.

Eventually, the Companions managed to arrange a conversation with Onerama himself. After accusing him of being involved with the Cult of the Bloody Vulture--a charge he flatly denied--they were invited to bring anyone they liked (up to twelve men, who could retain their weapons) and spend as much time as they liked searching Onerama's farm for any evidence of necromancy. Onerama, in any case, positively refused to do two things: either to surrender unconditionally to the army that has just shown up at his doorstep, or to attack the numerically superior (4 to 1) force under the command of Captain Landras. "If Amborian blood is to be shed this day, it will be on your hands--not on mine."

Seeing no other choice than to take Onerama up on his offer, the companions chose 7 of Captain Landras's personal guard and began the search of the property. In the meantime, Captain Landras better positioned himself for overunning Onerama's makeshift barricade should the Companions find something incriminating.

The companions searched for nearly four hours until they found a secret chamber underneath the floor of one of the three large dining halls in Onerama's sprawling mansion. Here, they found not evidence of the Cult, but military-grade weapons and armor which had been forged and laid in reserve. They immediately sent two of the guards who had come with them back to Captain Landras to tell him what they had found. Onerama did not seem upset when they found it -- in fact he seemed quite pleased.

"Well well well, it took you long enough," he said. "I thought you'd never find it. Have a seat. Something to drink, perhaps? I have a spirit which has been aging the last three years. A delight for the palette, I assure you. As perhaps you'll see now, I am not a cultist--nothing of the kind, in fact. As for these weapons, this armor... Well. That is what I would like to talk to you about. I take it, based on your activities (especially you, Thoranrai--I know all about your history, including the child) that you are no great lovers of 'King' Onwae and the current regime? I thought not. You see, I've become increasingly aware that sooner or later those of us who live in the North will have to choose--as indeed will those of the Red Isle, and the Leopard Isles, where the rumor is they are already plotting an insurrection--to choose between freedom and slavery. It's for this I've been preparing, and for this that I've been trying to get Sir Ralus to meet with me. If I can convince him, then perhaps we can save the North before it's too late. The Cheybori must look out for themselves."

"Convince him of what?" the Companions asked.

"Why to be king, of course. King in the North. The North needs a strong leader, someone everyone respects and trust. That's Sir Ralus or it's nobody, and you five, well... you're his friends. So here's what I'm suggesting: he'll need a bankroll, and grassroots support. All of that, I can offer. All he needs to do is what he's really been doing for years now: lead us."

It was at this point--as the Companions were struggling at how to respond to this offer--that one of the guards they had sent out ran back in, breathless. "They're gone--Captain Landras, the cohort--all gone!"

Sessions 38-39: The Siege of the River Forts

With Mawish on his way, and surrounded by thousands of their enemies, the companions had to think quickly. Thanks to a distraction by Thoranrai (which involved burning the Nalshbori camp's three-armed augur alive in his tent), the companions managed to break Sir Ralus and a few other prisoners away--including Klorpeim [played by Hope] and Amsotha [played by PJ], two soldiers who had been captured by Nalshbori during the course of their duties around the River Forts. Fleeing the camp, the Company opted to take the more direct--and more hazardous--route west through the Serth Hatama, as a result of which they managed to avoid most of the pursuing Nalshbori forces until nearly in sight of Hural Yalir, when they were set upon the Icebound--legendary frozen warriors rasied by Orkon's sorcery. Despite the fact that they were alone, hungry, and mostly unarmed, the Companions managed to defeat the Icebound (Sir Ralus snapping a couple of necks with his bare hands), entering the fort immediately afterwards where Feiala's (who had been wounded in the encounter and was in grave condition) were tended by the fort's leeches.

This ended the Fall of 452. During the fellowship phase of that year, the companions undertook various undertakings as they rested in the vicinity of Cheykor.

---

The Winter of 452 began with unseasonable war on the marches.

It is the 14th of Harkel, when Amborian children ought to still be sleeping off the their meal from the 10-day harvest festival with which this month began. But things have gone otherwise along the marches of the Cheyth: Nalshbori have poured out via the old King's Road from Gashund-i-Yalir, laying siege to the two eastern border forts of Hural Yalir (in the North) and Galal-i-Yalir (in the South). The forts are holding out for now, bolstered as they are by supplies and reinforcements fed to them via the river, but nobody is sure how long this will last. Come Spring, reinforcements will almost certainly come from the Red Isle, if not overland, but in the meantime the situation is bleak--as is the mood in Cheykor. With most of the men of the village mustered into militia and women, children, and old men removed to smaller villages in the hills, Cheykor is quiet and morose. Only a few elders and opportunists have stuck it out, the latter hoping to somehow profit by their proximity to the war. Onerama the Bald has opened up his vast estate, some six miles to the north, to whatever refugees should choose to look for shelter, food, and work there. There are even rumors that he has been mustering his own force of armed men, who can move into action should the Nalshbori win the crossings...

The adventure began with the companions being called before the village elders of Cheykor:
Kaneral, Inyanyer, and Falaru - Village elders. During the day they can typically be found in the town square in good weather, or in the Cracked Beaker in bad weather.

• Kaneral: Late middle-aged, has a stump for a left leg. Quite happy to tell you all about how he lost his leg fighting one of the great Tusked Beasts of the Cheyth Wood.
• Inyanyer: Old and toothless, has a keen and penetrating glance. Longs for the days when he was a famous hunter and warrior.
• Falaru: Younger than her two fellow elders, Falaru is rumored to be gifted with the second sight. Her husband and children were lost during a Nalshbori sortie some thirty years ago.

The elders introduce the Companions to Telini, the red-haired fletcher and go-between for Onerama the Bald who many of the companions had met previously. She was battered and bruised, and her story was one of ill news:

• She told how she was summoned to Onerama's chambers. She thought nothing of this--as someone who works for him, she reports to him frequently. When she entered, she found him and three or four of his closest foremen standing around a ritual circle. It had apparently become time for Telini to be inducted into the worship of Tauran-Tauror, the Red Vulture. Telini fled (though not before she was struck across the face and also managed to grab the small vulture idol the cultists were using) and headed for Cheykor.

The elders laid out the situation for the companions: Onerama has a small army gathered at his estate, not to mention hundreds of refugees. If he is in fact a servant of the Vulture Cult whose presence in the area was revealed during the previous year, he could take one of the border forts, or even Cheykor itself, by storm. The elders need someone to go to Leil Yalir and warn Captain Landras of the threat. He has enough men that they should be able to deal with Onerama. The situation is doubly delicate, since Leil Yalir is also vital for resupplying Hural Yalir across the water, which is currently under siege.

The companions traveled to Leil Yalir and, after a bit of discussion with Captain Landras, managed to convince him of the reality of the threat. Leaving a small force to man the fortress until he returns, Captain Landras mustered his company, and with the companions began the short march to Onerama's farm.

Session 37 - Gashund-i-Yalir

"Run."

The company did as Varsuja instructed, dragging away the wounded body of Thorinta--though not before Feala nimbly managed to snatch the coral necklace from around Varsuja's neck. Fleeing into the Serth Hatama, the strange tower and their companion, Varsuja, were soon lost to sight -- not even the stone roof of the tower now visible among the trees. 

That night, Thorinta died of his wounds, and the Company buried him beside one of the many blighted green pools which are found amid the Withered Wood. This pool Feala cleansed during the ceremony, and with it the spiritual toll of the Company's journey began to lighten perceptibly. Moving deeper into the Withered Wood, the Company came at last again upon the main thoroughfare of the old northern road, and with it, the recent tracks of Nalshbori companies and wagons.

It wasn't long before the Company encountered one such company. Fortunately, they'd managed to disguise themselves as Nalshbori before they fell in with a roving band of Sea Scorpion raiders, just come from an expedition to the outlands. Since the Company did not have a disguise for Oratsos (but DID have a necklace), they had decided to pass him off first as a rogue Nalshbori prisoner, and later as a normal Amborian prisoner. He was still passing for the former when the Sea Scorpions offered to take him off the Company's hands. Thoranrai managed to talk them down, and the Sea Scorpions were on the verge of moving on when a taunt from Thoranrai resulted in an outburst by one of the Nalshbori warriors. In a flurry of blades and hooked spears, Thoranrai took him down, though a second squabble over the dead warrior's weapons and armor almost resulted in a much larger, much deadlier confrontation.

Thoranrai backed away, and the Company were allowed to press on to Gashund-i-Yalir.

As the treeline breaks on either side of you, the sprawling encampment of Gashund-i-Yalir stretches out before you in every direction. Built, destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed again over the centuries, Gashund-i-Yalir has been the property of Amborian kings and Nalshbori warlords, and is currently the main Nalshbori outpost West of the Wanle Cheyth. There are ruins all around, most of them now repurposed to support the city of hide tents. The sound--the noise--the smells--all of it is somehow familiar, and yet repulsive -- a grim parody of the great cities of the Ambori. 

The Company managed to infiltrate the camp with only minor difficulty (and by subjecting Oratsos to a fair amount of abuse), and were directed to the Slave Pen, into which Oratsos was cast--meeting Sir Ralus and some two or three dozen other prisoners in the process. At that moment a general murmur began to spread throughout the camp: "Mawish. Mawish is coming."

Session 36 - The Half-Ruin House

When last we left our heroes…

The party had been traveling through the forest on their mission, when the party scout, Feala, spotted a tower off to the side of the path they were following. Upon closer examination, the tower looked as though it had been recently patched together where it had begun to crumble. Varsuja, the sneakiest of the group, creep closer to the tower to get a better look and see if it were occupied. Determining that it was safe, she retuned to the party and they all advanced to enter. But before entering, Varsuja stopped them and reminded them of the Well Priestess words, “Do not trust everything you see in the wood. You would not be the first to be led astray there.”

Upon entering, the party was met by the sight of a banqueting hall, the table full of all sorts of fine foods and drink, and the walls adorned with suits of armor. They decided that the hall held some type of enchantment and that eating the food would not be the wisest course of action. Looking around the hall, they noticed three doors. From behind one of the doors, Thoranrai could hear the sounds of laughter and music. But when she opened the door the sound of merriment ceased, and her eyes were met with the sight of twelve stone figures, both men and women, sitting around a banqueting table in various stages of a meal. 

Thorinta took it upon himself to open one of the doors from which he could hear hushed whispers coming from. Upon trying the handle, he found it locked, and the voices ceased. He then took a sword from the wall and tried to use it to pry open the door. He was unsuccessful, and his hand started to calcify, making it impossible to release his grip on the sword.

Varsuja opened the last door and found herself drenched in saltwater from a wave that came crashing into her. The door led out to a beach which she stepped out onto only after having a rope tied around her waist, the other end tied to Thoranrai, who was to pull her back in the event that something should go wrong. Once out on the beach, Varsuja could see a distant city with great ships, their sails black as night, headed towards the city. She was unsure if the Nalshbori ships were headed there to attack the city, or where returning home. It was at that moment that she had Thoranrai pull her back in, the ominous cries of a vulture causing her some uneasiness. 

Feala told the party that they needed to leave right away, and she and Thorinta started heading for the door. But Varsuja took it into her head that she should leave something on the beach so that they could find it later should they come across it, and then they would know where to find the doorway into the tower. She suggested they leave a tent peg, but Thoranrai thought that silly, and thought that they should leave something heavier that would not get buried in the sand and be lost forever. After some argument, Thoranrai took her brother and they both headed to the banquet room with the stone statues to acquire one to be left on the beach. 

Meanwhile, outside the tower, Thorinta and Feala found themselves face to face with a figure on a horse. His skin was white, and his lips as red as blood. He proclaimed himself as the guardian of the tower, and challenged the trespassers, declaring that the only way to leave the tower and break the curse would be to defeat him in combat. Thus, Thorinta engaged the knight in combat.

Back in the tower, Thoranrai and Oratsos laid their hands on one of the statues and found that their hands became stuck to it and were slowly turning to stone. Varsuja offered to solve the problem with a swift cut of her sword, but they declined her help. Varsuja then finished tying her tent peg with her ribbon and drove it into the beach. A cry for help from Feala brought Varsuja to the aid of her companions outside the tower, and she picked up the cursed sword that lay in the hands of the wounded Thorinta, using it to fight the knight. With the help of Feala, Varsuja managed to cut off the hands of the knight before driving her sword through him.

Thoranrai and Oratsos meanwhile had sung a sacred song, and as they did so, the statue that they were stuck to began to come to life and turned her head to look at them. Their hands now free, the woman turned back to stone. They joined the others outside the tower where they found Thorinta wounded and bleeding from a lance through the chest, and Varsuja with sword in hand. Her face turned deathly white, and her lips as red as blood. She turned to them and said, “Run.”

[This AP courtesy Hope]