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.
