Session 64: Doom

When last we left our heroes...

Faced with the choice of futures, Anaris began to examine the six sides of the Anvil. As before, she found that it was a cube made of black metal, as dark as jet, but studded with tracings and gemstones which seemed to shine with their own light, each face showing a fragment of some kind of star chart:

1. A starscape showing an empty and nearly starless Northern sky; this seemed to represent a timeline in which Raos and the other Northern Stars had joined Vishnarr in his rebellion.
2. A starscape showing the Southern Sky full of its missing constellations; this seemed to manifest a timeline in which Vishnarr's rebellion never happened, and the world was unmarred. This was the side which Tengelbur previously rang to transform the army of Mawish in to the Serth Hatama.
3. A starscape showing the Western sky full of stars, including additional stars and constellations not currently part of that quadrant of the sky; this seemed to point to a version of history in which Feihoth and Reinfal never left their place in the sky, and therefore the Treian peoples never came into existence.
4. The Western sky barren and empty; this seemed to show a version of history in which Feihoth and Reinfal joined Vishnarr in his rebellion.
5. The Southern sky, portrayed more or less identically to the way it shows today; this appears to be the version of history, including the marring of Quaodran, which has actually taken place.
6. The Northern sky, portrayed more or less identically to the way it is now; this side was notable, however, for having a prominently shining gem of crystal depicting the Polestar, Raos.

After much deliberation (and a long review of the mythology and legends which had shaped Amborian history) Anaris finally chose to ring the side showing the Southern Sky full of its missing constellations; after all, this had worked out very well before. Unfortunately, she did not consider the fact that this would attempt to impose a reality on the vicinity of the floating city in which Vishnarr had never fallen, and therefore the forces of darkness had never sought out the Anvil, and there was therefore no reason for Orusen to have founded the City of Tides or for the Njeitbori to exist. As a result, the city of Amukarr began to transform to stone and sink around them. 

Panicking, Anaris called upon her Dark Fate, praying to whatever dark powers in the water beneath her might hear her, and struck the anvil a second time on it's sixth face, the side portraying the shining Polestar, Raos, in the hopes that this would bring about a more favorable version of history. Instead, Anaris failed to strike well, and the anvil shattered, and Anaris and the companions found themselves falling down, down, down into darkness...

Session 63: Closing the Loop

Session 63

When last we left our heroes...

The companions awoke bound on the floor of a room which felt as though it were subtly moving beneath them, like a ship and yet somehow also very much unlike being on board a ship. They deduced -- and this was confirmed almost immediately by their hosts -- that they had been taken to one of the Njeitbori's floating cities. In fact, they had arrived at the floating city of Amukarr, having been abducted by the Sons of the Prophecy/Sons of Orusen and been taken before the leader of that order, an individual who introduced himself as the Blind Seer and claimed to be the current guardian of the Anvil of Lanenomen. As he explained it, the coming of the companions had been foretold to him by the prophecies of Orusen, but there has been much debate among his followers as to whether the companions were coming to destroy the floating cities, or to save them. Eventually, the Blind Seer struck a deal with the companions: he promised to take them to Aryanyan's father, and so the Key, if they would leave one of their company behind to become the new Seer and guardian of the Anvil. 

Tanurendal volunteered himself (arguing that he had no family or loved ones that he would be leaving behind), but Anaris -- using the fact that Tanurendal had been assigned a penance of obedience to Anaris for the duration of the journey -- forbade him, offering herself instead. Her reasoning was that, since she had already been the guardian of the Anvil in a previous life, it was most likely to accept her (the consequence of being rejected by the Anvil, mostly likely, would have been to be turned into something... unpleasant).

The Companions began to make their way across the city to reach the shrine where the "Starstone" -- the Njeitbori name for the Anvil -- was kept. Along the way, they were ambushed by Nalshbori of the Sea Scorpion and Red Vulture clans who had infiltrated the Njeitbori city and were hoping to kill the companions and take the Anvil for themselves, as part of Mawish's plan to free the hosts of Arjagbori imprisoned in the Serth Hatama. Engaging in battle with the Nalshbori, the companions managed to defeat them -- thanks in part to the cannibalistic proclivities of the Red Vulture clansmen -- and arrived at the shrine. Once there, Anaris entered the chamber on her own... only to be greeted by someone she didn't recognize, and who clearly seemed surprised to see her as well. 

It turned out to be a Njeitbori; not just any Njeitbori, but the Njeitbori: Orusen, the one-time companion of Tengelbur and now also the legendary founder of the Njeitbori civilization. Apparently, after his "death" at the hands of the Grey King, his soul was imprisoned within a beech nut, which was brought -- via the agency of the Swan-maiden, whose relationship with the normal flow of time seems tricky at best -- to be planted in Tengelbur's tower back during the First Days. The Tree which grew was wounded by Mawish, preventing Orusen from breaking free; however, when Anaris sacrificed herself and Tengelbur rang the Anvil to transform Mawish's hordes into the stone trees of the Serth Hatama, the time loop was broken and Orusen was freed, awakening in time to take the Anvil and travel with it to the shores of the Sea. Since the Njeitbori -- his people -- did not exist at that particular point in history, he used the power of the Anvil to build a floating city, taking it out to live the only life he had ever known, and follow the tides and the great whales, keeping the Anvil safe from any of the servants of evil who might seek it. In this way, Orusen (who was later conflated in the historical record with the much more important Orusen the Serpent-slayer) became the mythical founder of his own race, and the Njeitbori managed to keep the Anvil hidden all throughout the Dark Times which followed. Orusen left certain "prophecies" -- actually the records of the doings of himself and his companions -- which would guide the Njeitbori during the time when the servants of evil once again began to seek after the Anvil. These prophecies (which Orusen now "completed" by getting the details from Anaris of what had happened since the Tower) had guided the Seers, the guardians of the Anvil, and had also fueled the aggression of some of the more misguided Sons of Orusen, who saw the coming of the companions as the end of Njeitbori civilization. 

With the loop now closed and his role completed, Orusen (who had been speaking to Anaris from the other side of Time via the Anvil) vanished, and Anaris was left to make a choice: She must ring one side of the Anvil, which would determine which version of history should manifest itself now, determining the fate and future of both the Anvil and the Njeitbori people. If she chose wrong, it could spell the end of Njeitbori civilization...

Session 61-62: On Danger Tides

Session 61

When last we left our heroes...

After Vanera spoke with the messenger, he came back inside, clearly deeply disturbed by what had happened. Sharing his plight with his companions, and with Peibo and Aryanyan, a plan began to take shape: Peibo volunteered to head South and West to Sencankarr, and there to use the network of royalist spies which Norkur had been slowly putting into place in the capitol to find and rescue Vanera's family. Aryanyan, for her part, would accompany the companions in hopes of finding the Key. 

After making these and other arrangements, the Venture Capitalism was fitted out and the companions set sail Southward over the Sea in the Summer of the year, searching for Amukarr, the City of Tides, the semi-legendary capital of the Njeitbori peoples. The first week or so of their journey was uneventful, but during the second week they were waylaid by Sea Wraiths...

Session 62

The companions managed to fight off the Sea Wraiths, aided greatly by the efforts of the Well Priestess Feiala who had accompanied them. But these eldritch creatures were not the worst threat that the companions would face on their voyage, as it happened: just a couple of days later, they found themselves caught in a violent storm. The Venture Capitalism was torn in half by a huge wave, and the companions found themselves floundering amid the storm before they were dragged, one by one, by cold hands into the dark depths of the sunless sea.

Session 60: Family Ties

When last we left our heroes...

We began our session with Feiala (Janelle/Photini) and Tengelbur (Ben) taking their Seasonal Undertakings, since they had missed the previous season:

• Tengelbur raised funding from among his friend to finance a voyage of the Venture Capitalism, which yielded a very decent return on investment for the whole company.
• Feiala attempted to spend her downtime studying poetry, but honestly found it very tedious.

After seasonal undertakings, we resumed our narrative, with Peibo and Aryanyan catching the heroes up on what the two of them have been up to since last they met:

• Aryanyan (as previously revealed) is the daughter of Oratsos the Traitor, the steward of Prince Galal who is believed to have betrayed his master into the hands of the forces of the Black Hills some thirty years ago. It turns out that Oratsos is descended from one of the lone servants who returned with Prince Sanur from the Black Hills during the First Eon. It was he who assisted in the burial of the other two sons of Nanalon, and who helped to seal the tomb of the Stone-kings in which they were buried. According to a curious textual variant of the lay of the Sons of Nanalon, unearthed in Sencankarr by one of Norkur's apprentices, this tomb also contained the Serpent Crown; it is believed that this powerful artifact is the reason the Serpent Lady is so eager to locate the tomb in question. 
• According to Norkur and Peibo's research, Oratsos was bought over or won over by Onwae, Prince Galal's younger brother, who offered him (in concert with the dark powers of the Black Hills) the location of the Tomb of the Stone-king in return for his betrayal. Onwae promptly betrayed Oratsos, trying to seize him and the seal. The Tomb can only be opened by one of the bloodline of those who sealed it (meaning either Oratsos or Aryanyan, at this point) using the Seal with which it was sealed. 
• All of this explains why the Gaunt Men were searching for Aryanyan, and it means that there are at least two enemy factions who are seeking a way to open the Tomb and may or may not be working together: The Serpent Woman, and the spies and servants of King Onwae. Additionally, it seems that Mawish and the legions of the Black Hills are seeking the Anvil of Lanenomen, hoping to use its power to unleash the countless Arjagbori imprisoned in the trees of the Serth Hatama, bringing a new age of darkness upon the North.
• According to what Peibo has been able to ascertain, Oratsos escaped capture by the king's men and fled south and eastward over the sea. He believes that Oratsos is now hiding within one of the great floating cities of the Njeitbori. For his part, Peibo quietly hopes that the Tomb of the Stone-kings will hold the answer to finding and freeing Galal as well.
• The two threads of the heroes' quests are, seemingly, coming together: a journey to the floating city of the Njeitbori will be necessary to find Oratsos (who hopefully still has the Seal) and also to find and decide what is to be done about the Anvil of Lanenomen, which they now believe may be the Starstone at the city's heart.

As all of this was being discussed, Vanera received a letter which he believed to be from his mother, an answer to recent correspondence. Opening it, he found not a letter from his mother, but rather a threat: follow the messenger bearing this letter outside at once, and do as he tells you, or your mother and the rest of your family will die. Following the messenger outside, Vanera was informed by the messenger (an agent of Baron Kjavista, King Onwae's Grand Vizier) that he was expected to, when the company finds the Seal, deliver it to Sencankarr--any other outcome being guaranteed to result in the death of Vanera's family, not to mention his wife and unborn children.

Sessions 58-59: Familiar Faces

Performing the Ritual of the Cleansing of the Water, the Companions were able to heal Anaris' corruption. Tengelbur requested a magical weapon to replace the one he had sacrificed to come to the Island; the Hermitess told him to go down to the edge of the Sea to wait and see what it brought him.

Following the completion of their quest on the Island, the Companions returned without incident to Cheykor, where they took their seasonal undertakings for the Summer of 454:

• Anaris funded an expedition into the Serth Hatama to search for amber; her new employees drank off all of her funds and then skipped town.
• Vanera expanded his home and founded a scriptorium, recruiting 4 scholars to come and work for him.
• Tanurendal went hunting for the horned beasts and found nothing--which wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to him, all things considered.
• Reiana bought a home and transformed it into a hostelry, name still pending.

FALL 454

In the Fall of 454, the companions were hanging out in Reiana's new tavern when in walked two familiar figures: Peibo, the warrior with the flaming sword who had rescued the companions from the Serpent Temple earlier that year, and Aryanyan, the young girl who had been with him. 

"Good, you're all here," Peibo said. "We need to talk."