Session 66: Before the Black Tide

 When last we left our heroes… Sighting the Njeitbori war fleet, the companions sailed westward for several tense days, seemingly outpacing it (other than possibly being passed by dark shapes in the night) before finally arriving at Koruximei, the harbor town which controlled entry to the Royal Forest. There, they found the harbor bristling with gawkers, as everyone had come out to see the Njeitbori -- not expecting any kind of danger at this juncture, and curious about the return of the Njeitbori after they had been totally absent for more than a year. 

The companions tried unsuccessfully to warn people on the pier before deciding to spend twenty minutes or so loading up on as much junk food as possible. It was while they were doing this that they were pulled aside from Thoranrai, now a Scarlet Sister who (like everyone else, it seems) has no memory of them. She had been sent to find them by Norkur the Scribe, but took them first to meet her mistress, the Scarlet Sister and Well Woman Faljanrai (with whom the party had once hijacked a treasury ship). Faljanrai had no memory of the party but was much more knowledgeable than Thoranrai (who was somewhat flustered from Tengelbur’s alternate attempts to flirt with her, neg her, and reveal intimate details about her backstory). 

Faljanrai interrogated the companions closely about the Anvil of Lanenomen (the shards of which they are beginning to believe are embedded in their flesh), before agreeing that Thoranrai should take the companions to meet with Norkur the Scribe, the only man (according to Faljanrai) who actually understands anything about what is going on. As the companions attempted to leave the town, the Njeitbori vanguard emerged from the water and began their attack on the city. The companions were cut off at the north gate of the harbor town by a squad of Njeitbori spearmen, whom they managed to successfully bribe by giving away Tengelbur’s silver hand. That done, they galloped up the road towards Sencankarr…

Session 65: Forgotten

When last we left our heroes… As the anvil shattered, the companions awoke on floating driftwood. They had all of their possessions -- weapons included -- and also sharp pains in various areas of their bodies. After examining themselves, they found that each of them had a chunk of black glass or obsidian embedded in their bodies: Tengelbur in his right (good) arm, Reiana in her chest, Tanurendal in his left thigh, and Vanera right smack-dab in the middle of his forehead. They began using their ropes and the driftwood to put a raft together, but were attacked almost immediately by vicious and unusually aggressive harkel. They fought them off for a few rounds before they were rescued by a merchant sloop, who fended off the harkel and picked the companions up. The sloop turned out to belong to Onerama the Bald, bound for Sencankarr, and captained by Yuralesh (whom they had known as a blacksmith and the husband of Vitherai the Amber Cutter). Yuralesh had no memory of the companions, and apparently the timeline itself has somewhat changed in the time (about a year) that they have been absent:

• Onerama the Bald is now the default ruler of the northern province. Some people believe that a civil war is in the offing; the only thing keeping this from happening is Sir Ralus, who is no Onwaeist, but also will not fight in a civil war against his own people. He still commands the border forts against the ever-present Nalshbori threat.
• Talarja is still alive, and has two young children. She is a wealthy widow in Cheykor, and is the focus of Onerama’s amorous attention. She had been married not to Vanera, but to Neras Garini.
• All of the Njeitbori completely cut off ties with the rest of the Ambori about a year ago. Nobody knows why; any attempts to find their floating cities or meet them along the usual trade routes have ended with the ships who attempted it going missing. Onwae is clearly occupied with other things and has not done anything about it.

As they continue to sale west towards Sencankarr, they sight a massive black fleet without sails headed for the Holy City -- the Njeitbori have returned.