Session 67: Prophecies and Prophets

 When last we left our heroes... Riding hard to the north, the companions reached the gate of Sencankarr where -- with a little bit of luck and little bit of Reiana's "rugged charm" -- they managed to convince the captain of the guard who was currently on duty to shut the gates and sound the alarm, probably saving the city from sudden assault. The guard captain was loathe to allow them to pass on to the house of Norkur without first interrogating them about why they knew the things that they knew, but they convinced him to do so after swearing on their honor that they would not leave the city without checking in with him first.

Heading to Norkur's private lodgings further up the Hill, they met with the Scribe who -- although he did not remember them -- seemed to have foreseen their coming. As he explained it, the "stream" or "river" of Time had been interrupted, like a current caught in a backwater of a river. This was due -- as Anaris eventually revealed -- the striking of the Anvil of Lanenomen such that it shattered at the same moment that she called upon dark forces to aid her. The black stone shards the companions have lodged in the various parts of their body are the fragments of the Anvil itself, and Norkur speculates that there is one more -- most likely lodged in the body of the Blind Seer, the man with whom Anaris was supposed to change places.

Norkur revealed to the companions that he believes an ancient and obscure prophecy from the text known as the Ascent of Orusen has to do with them and their present predicament. The text is in equal measure clear and obscure about what must happen next: the companions must travel to the East, via the Red Isle, in order to find an ancient artifact known as the Egg of Wisdom. According to the prophecy, the Egg of Wisdom itself will hold the secret necessary both to restore the flow of time to its proper order, as well as rescue the lost prince. 

The companions spent some time arguing about various things -- who was to blame, their objectives, their route, whether they should stop by the homes of their family members to learn whether alternate versions of themselves existed in this timeline, and whether they could abandon the promise they made to the captain of the guard -- when they were interrupted by palace guards. News of their coming had evidently reached the palace, and they had been summoned to Onwae's court.

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.

 

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.