Jagged Throne Events

From Jaggedthrone

At the bottom of this resource page from Democritus, there's a great calendar of the months.

Contents 1 First Chronicle 1.1 Saturnday, 6 Descending Wood 1.2 Moonday, 15 Descending Wood 1.3 Mercuryday, 17 Descending Wood 1.4 Sunday, 21 Descending Wood 1.5 Marsday, 23 Descending Wood 1.6 Mercuryday, 3 Ascending Fire 1.7 Marsday, 9 Ascending Fire 1.8 Mercuryday, 12 Ascending Fire 1.9 Moonday, 15 Ascending Fire 1.10 Venusday, 19 Ascending Fire 1.11 Moonday, 22 Ascending Fire 1.12 Venusday, 26 Ascending Fire 1.13 Marsday, 2 Resplendent Fire 1.14 Saturnday, 6 Resplendent Fire 1.15 Mercuryday, 17 Resplendent Fire 1.16 Venusday, 19 Resplendent Fire 1.17 Moonday, 16 Descending Fire 1.18 Jupiterday, 4 Ascending Earth 1.19 Venusday, 5 Ascending Earth 1.20 Saturnday, 6 Ascending Earth 2 A Rocky Matter 2.1 Venusday, 12 Resplendent Water 2.2 Moonday, 15 Resplendent Water 2.3 Mercuryday, 17 Resplendent Earth 2.4 Sunday, 21 Resplendent Earth

First Chronicle

Saturnday, 6 Descending Wood

Day of the threat. Given 1 week to respond and an ambassador to host until a decision is made.

• Demands
  • A 4-story high temple to the Immaculate Order
  • 300 men to be sent away to be trained and work with the Immaculate Order
  • Sand-Covers-Jade will have a new ruler
  • Sand-Covers-Jade will submit to the Wyld Hunt
  • 100 healthy men sent every year to Chiaroscuro as slaves
• Boy arrives from the desert, blind and nearly dead.

Two days of travel. Day of meeting the mask monster in the Valley of the Oracle.

• The monster has devastated this valley and tortured the voice of the oracle. In exchange for his mask, he will leave these people be and wait in Sand-Covers-Jade as protection from Jarryk Winterheart's army.

Day of travel with ambush from the Blue Silk Raiders. Day of travel. Day within the Border Marches where the fight for the mask is won by Kestrel. Day of fleeing with a storm closing in. First day of the storm sheltered by Eris' skills.

Moonday, 15 Descending Wood

Second day of the unnatural storm.

• Fight with the ensuing beastmen
• Exalt of Bright Ocean on the full moon
• First appearance of Veiled Daughter Descending
• Continued travel to Sand-Covers-Jade

Day of travel.

Mercuryday, 17 Descending Wood

Day of returning to Sand-Covers-Jade.

• Kestrel returned the mask to the monster who then left the city
• Meet up with Vashtari and Tall Stone
• Deal struck with the encamped army
  • Our ambassador, who was trying to poison people and almost poisoned himself while we were away, is the new ruler of Sand-Covers-Jade
  • Voss and the new ruler do not see eye-to-eye on anything.
• Decision made to take a portion of the refugees to the Valley of the Oracle as the majority of people there were slain
• Bright Ocean reveals some troubling details to her siblings regarding her exaltation

First day of the caravan to the Valley of the Oracle.

• Refugees praise and worship the exalted ones, songs are sung about them, and offerings are left for them

Two days of travel.

Sunday, 21 Descending Wood

Day of the arrival at twilight at the Valley of the Oracle.

• Meet by warrior women, as all the men were slain
• The guards recognize Bright Ocean and we obtain passage into the city
• Clean up of all the destruction has begun and a heroic statue (memorial) is in the initial stages of construction
• Keeper requests to see all those who were there on the first trip and those we trust and gives us the prophecies the Oracle has made
  • Oracle has not spoken of the mask monster
  • Strife in Sand-Covers-Jade, a political figure with a thorn in his ankle, must see peaceful resolution
    • Sent the blind boy, Wing, by escort to assist with the situation in Sand-Covers-Jade
  • Water would be Kestrel's doom (liquid)
    • Tall Stone will test all that Kestrel might drink before he does so
  • Bright Ocean would write her name in silver southeast where the sand turns to grass
    • There three stand on a journey, the leader has a feather in his hair
    • Great fire with a dreadful intelligence stands in our way
  • Someone who hates all bright life under the sun and the sky is our enemy and knows our names
    • Claw of the Grave, Death Knight, is sent to recruit to his banner
• Feast is prepared in our honour
• Lunar exalteds go hunting while the rest talk of Death Knights

Day two in the Valley of the Oracle.

• Third Jaguar trains the Oracle's troops all morning
• More information from the Keeper
  • Third Jaguar is crucial to the new honourable satrap's redemption and the satrap should not be involved with violence
• Sacrifice is to be made to the storm god for rain
• Tall Stone challenges the old woman leader of the Valley's troops
• Start travel in late afternoon so that we are traveling by night

Marsday, 23 Descending Wood

Day of sleep, then travel.

• Notice shadows traveling behind us so Bright Ocean, Kestrel, and Eris investigate
• Three war wraiths who work for Claw of the Grave follow and advise that they are just watching and will take no action unless we interfere with anyone which includes just talking

Three days of night travel.

• Begin to see perfectly good items discarded along the roadside as well as some poorly dug graves
• A settlement ahead will take an extra day of travel to go around
• After discovering that the people in the town aren't taking care of themselves and the living conditions are horrible, Vashtari cannot stand by and let it happen, but the rest see the need to keep moving to get Bright Ocean her tattoos
• Some in-fighting ensues, Veiled Daughter Descending reveals herself from beneath the destiny of Charity Grows, and Kestrel takes matters into his own hands and goes into the town, invisible, to get a truer picture of the situation - these people are killing themselves to dig a pit to the Underworld
• Decision is made to interfere in the affairs of the town, but to travel around the town first so that we can run in the right direction

Day of interference at the settlement

• Collapsing the pit by Bright Ocean and Eris happens before we rest for the day and have a few more hours of travel left
• After the collapse, an emissary of Claw of the Grave attacks

Kestrel, his father once lamented, was never overly burdened with brains. He lacked the cunning and insight of his youngest sister. He lacked the judgment and prudence of his eldest. Kestrel, his father complained, was impulsive and reckless. Those qualities served him well today.

The dead kite climbed its thermal, circling into the desert sky. Kestrel knew he could never warn the others: not in time; not on foot. Still, he ran--toward the wall so far past the carrion-glutted vultures. His feet whispered on the rooftops like the winds that caress the dunes, and the scavengers paid it no more heed. The sudden slap of leather on stone was no accident. The noise echoed like a thunderclap in that quiet city, and spun the birds into flight.

The buzzards scattered like sand in the storm, lofted by wide black wings, and Kestrel fell upon them like the jackal. At this close distance, he could see their stony gaze was fearless--though indignant at having been roused from their meals, they knew another was near. The man tried to hate them for their dispassion, and failed. His footsteps scarcely ruffled a feather as he climbed the avian staircase up--over the wall and high above the city--and pushing off with all his might, leapt higher still.

At the apex of his flight, Kestrel banished a nagging doubt that (perhaps) he had erred in his estimation. Gathering his focus and blazing like the noon-day sun, he gulped a breath of thin, dry air, and fell. He plummeted like a comet banished from the night sky, like an angel spat from heaven. The wind whipped the scarf from his head, and scoured his face with sand; it twisted his mouth, and tore tears from his eyes. Above, the vultures circled--flat silhouettes against a crystal blue sky. Above, the kite wheeled, and extending its talons, started its dive.

• Fight
• Travel for a few more hours before resting

Three days uneventful travel out of the Death Knight's territory.

Mercuryday, 3 Ascending Fire

Day of rest after entering the grass made of sand savanna of the Wyld.

• Change from traveling at night to travel during the day

Five days of uneventful travel through the Wyld with Eris' leadership.

Marsday, 9 Ascending Fire

Day of meeting the other Lunars

• After following a lanterned road east through the Wyld and being warned to not go west past our entry point, there is a crossroads with a tent and heavy smell of blood
• One Thousand Heartbeats in a Still Wood greets us with wariness and suspicion, Burning Scars cares for the ailing Avenger's Eye
• The elder Avenger's Eye will be the one to tattoo Bright Ocean once the spell upon his soul has been released
• Eris and Bright Ocean track the source of the spell by a squiggly bit of flesh

Two days travel with no sunset on the second day due to the bonfire to the east.

Mercuryday, 12 Ascending Fire

Day of the fight with the demons.

• As the approach is made, animals flee the woods, and battle preparations are made, the twin pillars of fire are no doubt that which was in the prophecy from the oracle
• A corrupted water dragon-blooded helps the fire to their demonic ends
• Veiled Daughter Descending is forgotten about in the beginning of the fight, Vashtari is badly hurt, Kestrel fights valiantly against the water dragon-blooded as does Tall Stone, all the Solar exalts fight the water dragon-blooded for fear of the prophecy made about Kestrel's death
• Both corrupted fires are killed and released of the bonds of Malfeas which in turn allowed to water dragon-blooded to regain her senses and escape the fight with her life
• The water dragon-blooded was still demon infested so Veiled Daughter Descending deftly removed the demon in her neck which was promptly squished by Bright Ocean with a large rock. She also had a demon at her command waiting nearby to protect her.

Day of water dragon-blooded waking up.

• After a night's sleep for all, we have the opportunity to speak with the girl
• She is a young albino who was very proud as most dragon-blooded and conceded that she owes Veiled Daughter Descending for saving her life
  • Her name is Pale Torrent of the Flowing Birthright
  • Her last memory was during calibration although the particulars of the events would not be divulged as it was a matter of life and death for her family
  • She did tell us that there were many present that were stronger than she and her brothers
• Travel for the rest of the day

Two days more of return travel.

Moonday, 15 Ascending Fire

Day of arrival at Avenger's Eye's tent.

• He is returned to health and takes Bright Ocean to get her tattoos

Three days more of camp while Bright Ocean receives her tattoos.

• Discussions with Pale Torrent of the Flowing Birthright provide no further information

Venusday, 19 Ascending Fire

Day of Bright Ocean's return.

• Avenger's Eye, who has feathers in his hair, returns with Bright Ocean and tells us that Seal of the Unbound had the honour of tattooing her, he presents her for the first time as Bright Eyes Over Silver
• The Wardens of Gaia now go to heal the savanna
  • The damage done by the demon and they survived this time
  • They feel that the dragon-blooded were on a quest for power which is how the situation arose as the gateway is not easily opened
  • They depart on relatively friendly terms with the exception of Tall Stone who insulted them and have them make him an unfriendly promise upon meeting any of his family
• Before departing, Avenger's Eye and Eris speak privately
• Bright Eyes Over Silver now has cat eye's in all forms

Two days more of rest.

Moonday, 22 Ascending Fire

Day of travel out of the Wyld. Day of encounter with the demon riders.

• Twelve riders - men on saddled horses trying to out pace us
• Bright Eyes Over Silver goes to find out more
  • The horses who have been ridden near to death are lying down of exhaustion
  • The leader has a mask of black feathers and they all have demonic green glows from their eyes the same as Pale Torrent of the Flowing Birthright
  • She witnesses the leader saying, "To the victors" ritual speech before beheading one of the horses with an obsidian blade
  • The horses were sacrificed to us
• We engage them so that Vashtari may speak with them regarding their purpose
  • We note the demonic infestation markings on their necks
  • Vashtari learns that this demon is but one splinter of KillRex the Hive and his purpose is to be worshipped before she unwittingly calls for the destruction of one of their number
  • Veiled Daughter Descending interferes and removes the demon again which Bright Eyes Over Silver smashes with a rock
  • Fight ensues leaving four dead and we are able to save eight

Three days rest before the first of the tribesmen awake.

• They are the Night Chasers tribe who are very savage
• They will die if we just leave them in the hot desert

Venusday, 26 Ascending Fire

Two days rest to ensure safety of Night Chasers.

• They require the additional rest due their trauma from being possessed by a demon
• Pale Torrent of the Flowing Birthright departs on first day of rest, but provides Veiled Daughter Descending with a coin which will allow contact to call in the debt owed

Day of travel escort for Night Chasers.

• Eris ensures that the Night Chasers have directions enough to have them make it to familiar territory and home

Day of travel through the very hot desert with companions getting fatigued.

Marsday, 2 Resplendent Fire

Return to the settlement where the pit was being dug to the underworld.

• Guild is here rounding up people for slaves
• Guild leader has feathers and wings
• Slavers have temporary wards up to protect against ghosts
• Within group of slaves is an exceptional person who is definitely not a slave; he carries himself with confidence even in chains and he looks almost to be a tree; his chains are made of soul steel
• Kestrel attempts to negotiate with the slavers, but the deal doesn't happen

We attack the Guild.

• We knock out a fair folk dressed in silk. We first met her in our first borderlands experience where we captured the mask of the creature.
• We relased the winged guild member after he used a spell to open the soulsteel bonds on Cynis Dar, a pure Wood-aspected dragon-blooded, who pissed on some magistrate who happened to be the same one that Kestrel pissed off in the prelude
• We are going to help him complete his mission to travel to Fourteen Flame Keep
• We leave the fair folk woman alive

Three days travel to Sand Covers Jade.

Saturnday, 6 Resplendent Fire

Arrive in Sand Covers Jade.

• Veiled Daughter Descending takes trip to Yu-Shan to advise the Convention on Deathlords on the settlement where the pit was being dug
• Eris has other business to attend to for a while and is absent
• Satrap has instituted curfew
• Building supplies to build the walls have depleted those needed to build the temple, more supplies are needed
• Cerulean Caliph was angered by refugees because no offering was made to her for the additional water being used
  • Vashtari, Kestrel, Third Jaguar, and Bright Eyes Silver went to discuss the situation; Cerulean Caliph was drowning the first of three thieves
  • Two thieves were released into the desert with spear wounds from death cults
  • Thieves had invitations to the death cult party which the Exalted took
• Death cult party included 250 townsfolk and refugees including Ember Eyes, Sand Covers Jade's herbalist

Seven days of preparations for trading caravan trip to Chiarascuro.

Mercuryday, 17 Resplendent Fire

Caravan leaves Sand Covers Jade for Chiarascuro.

• Caravans are all gathered when Eris rejoins the solars and Veiled Daughter Descending joins the crew traveling with the caravan
• Caravan is carrying goods for sale to get more building supplies to finish the wall and the temple. Town merchants were persuaded to donate goods or a portion of profits to the endeavour.

Night of travel and arrival in Fourteen Flame Keep.

• Ambassador Cynis Dar, a pure Wood-aspected dragon-blooded, is with us as we travel toward Fourteen Flame Keep
  • Dawn comes over Fourteen Flame Keep in ruins
• Sellers Remorse, another trading caravan that was here first, is picking over the ruins.
  • Sellers Remorse is based out of Shimmering Sand further south
• Eris feels the Wyld within the ruined town and advises that we be cautious if we must go into the city
  • He also tells us about the hobgoblin creatures in Sand Covers Jade who are here in what's left of Fourteen Flame Keep as well
  • Eris tells us of the invisible banners that bear Spite's emblem; the creatures are of the Fair Folk Ruby Court to the south
• Eris also mentions that there is a ghost in Sand Covers Jade checking on certain people there
• Vashtari, Kestrel, and the rest of us including the Ambassador dine with the other trading caravan and make no move to encroach on their find
  • Their mission is to attempt to convince Sharp Eyes, of the Sellers Remorse caravan, of the danger from the Wyld they are in and get them to leave as soon as possible for their own safety
    • In a previous adventure, Kestrel and others rescued the daughters of Jade Falcon who is the leader of Sellers Remorse
  • Sharp Eyes, after hitting on Bright Eyes Over Silver, relates that Jade Falcon returned to Shimmering Sand to throw himself on the mercy of the magistrate
• Sellers Remorse had a few good deals just after their last meeting with Kestrel, but luck after that has been awful - nothing has gone right
  • The ruined city of 14 Flame Keep was their last option and they have found their fortune
• We are also told of a rivalry between heir twins of a lower house in the south
  • The house has raised a great army and the winner of the conflict will marry into House Cathic, the greatest house on the Blessed Isle
• In some exploration of the ruins, Eris notes that the hobgoblin creatures are still all over the place except in this one particular tomb that holds the graves of the Fourteen Flame Keep's magistrate guards
  • They all seem to have died three days prior to Spite's attack
• Ambassador Cynis Dar, upon seeing the destruction of the town and the magistrate he sought to fetch, came up with a new plan for himself and took his leave of us
• While exploring the city, Eris noted that the Wyld actually ends about 300 feet below the city which is very unusual
• We investigate a sigil in the sand that never blows away and can only be seen at twilight; it is the mark of a solar twilight caste exalted
• At midday on 18 Resplendent Fire, we return to camp about 2 hours outside Fourteen Flame Keep and finally rest

We awake in the evening and return to the twilight marker in the sand.

• At twilight, the twilight caste mark appears; with a small flare of essence and some other twilight mumbo jumbo from Vashtari, a passageway opens in the sand and leads to a tunnel
  • Kestrel and Vashtari lead us through the tunnel
  • The smell in the air is of the sea as Eris indicates
  • Eris is followed by a silver line in the roof of the passageway
• Within a chamber, there is a statue that was not standing the previous time when Vahstari and Kestrel were here to rescue the daughters of Jade Falcon; where there was rubble before, now stands a statue of bronze, whole and looking untouched by time
  • The statue is a first age artifact and it is inlaid with orichalcum that channels essence to this chamber
  • We are in a focus chamber and three dragon lines converge on this spot
  • The twilight exalt known as First Moon Rising is mentioned by the statue
    • Third Jaguar recalls this exalt from a previous life
• The statue, which speaks to us and answers many questions, leads us to the a hearthstone - a Freedom stone
• It then leads us to a lift of sorts which is a platform to the sand which should have shown us the sea
• We next journey through a corridor filled with guards and to the armoury
  • It contains bronze weapons of perfect quality
  • Third Jaguar wants to raise an army

Venusday, 19 Resplendent Fire

We return to the caravan once more to try to avoid more suspicion from the caravan guards than necessary.

• Upon returning to the caravan, the lunars take off, Eris chasing Bright Eyes Over Silver; they return six hours later
• Everyone else sleeps all day

At twilight we enter the manse again.

• This time we are met by a ball which leads us back to the focus chamber
  • A ritual is done to attune everyone but Veiled Daughter Descending to the manse
  • Veiled Daughter Descending leads them in this ritual as no others know it
• It is clear that all of the solars were once a circle and Ghostfeathers (Eris) was also a part of it
  • So those who participated are Ghostfeathers, Bright Eyes Over Silver, Vashtari, Kestrel, and Third Jaguar; once attuned, all but BEOS had visions
• The manse's name is Memory of Spring Silence

The manse actually started filling with water so we make a hasty exit.

• The rain was torrential and was set on destroying the desert and the manse
• Eris told us of the spirits dancing in the rain and seemingly making it worse
  • They were Cephsdkjfa, a form of water elemental who have dominion of turning a storm into a flood
• The storm was not being caused by those spirits, however, it was a large storm serpent air elemental - 400 feet long and was covered in both scales and feathers
  • Through some discussion with it in Old Realm, Veiled Daughter Descending discovered that it was a 1000-year-old order issued during the war that ended the First Age; an order that had supposedly been lost for that time by a Chosen of Secrets, Envy's Muse
• To allow the caravan guards and all the other exalts to escape, Veiled Daughter Descending gave the serpent two ambrosia
  • She lied to the serpent and told it the manse was hers which is why she needed it to stop
• After everyone was safe, she proceeded to deal with the serpent to stop the storm.
  • As no further bargain could be struck, Veiled Daughter Descending had to get a message to her mentor to get an order issued to stop the flooding
  • She prayed directly which worked
• The manse was damaged, but not beyond repair
• We gather up the caravan and ensure everyone is safe and make a hasty exit from the area

Twenty-four days of travel.

Moonday, 16 Descending Fire

Day of travel with an impending sand storm.

• A public, realm built and maintained, shelter is within sight so we make our way there
• Others have already arrived and the room has mostly been taken
  • There are men in shiny armour that seem to have been here a while
  • Blue Lotus and alcohol smell is on the soldiers
  • They are deserters so we should be prepared for a fight tonight
• Bright Eyes and Ghostfeathers move back to the caravan to avoid being noticed
• The purser (woman) watches Veiled Daughter Descending specifically and whispers to commander every now and then - she is a sidereal
• The commander approaches Vashtari and asks for payment
  • Negotiations don't go well - men with spears surround caravan, Vashtari refuses to bring out the goods, the commander threatens death upon the group, Vashtari becomes a bonfire and 20 psychotic armed men try to attack her but fail; VDD attacks the purser who had not been there for 10 minutes through a twist of fate (Haywain resplendent destiny) and isn't there when she's looks around the camp
• The deserters were all dispatched except one who Bright Eyes Over Silver could not find in the storm or after.
• The storm lasted only hours
  • The peasants and merchants slipped out of the shelter through the back to avoid the Anathema
• Veiled Daughter Descending reprimands Vashtari for appearing as Anathema in front of realm citizens - they will spread rumors and it will take a long time for those rumours to die and she mustn't do it again

Sixteen days of travel to Chiarascuro.

Jupiterday, 4 Ascending Earth

Day of arrival in Chiarascuro.

• There are all sorts of wonders the residents of Sand-Covers-Jade have never seen - blue skies and blue water, umbrellas being carried by passers-by, ivy free-growing on everything, the air smells different
• Eris reads some claw marks left on a tree and says he must depart to deal with something hoping that he has taught Bright Eyes enough
  • He disappears into a bush and a hawk emerges and flies southeast; Bright Eyes Over Silver follows him into the same bush and a second hawk appears
• We passed through some farmland that was a new and amazing site for the Delzhani
• Some soldiers pass us by and they are looking for people, but we do not fit the description
  • The locals consider our group to be country bumpkins and stifle laughs at our expense
• BEOS returns to us without Eris and says only that she could not catch him
• Third Jaguar and his guard camp outside the city to avoid the fee for bringing weapons into the city
• We are advised that there is a 10% tax on all trade that happens within the city which is payable upon our exit
• A darker man with tattered nomadic clothes falls into stride with Kestrel; introduces himself as Ten Scars and proceeds to give us an introduction to Chiarascuro
  • The glass buildings are ruins, don't go to the Plaza, and here is where you can set up tents
  • Vashtari deals with The Mountain for two weeks rent of land for us to set up tents - 70 quails
• Ten Scars tells us a tale
  • He searched for a treasure for a lady who could possibly exalt to a dragon-blooded (outcast). She was western Dalzhani with copper skin and dark eyes. She had the ability to make people forget what she'd stolen from them. He searched for many, many years. She was with another man when he returned with the tiara of power (taken from a manse). She stabbed him 9 times and left him for dead. He was saved from death by slavers. Then someone killed his jailer and opened his cell and he was free. The rest of the story was for another time.
• Vashtari and Veiled Daughter Descending settle in for the night while Kestrel (thieve's guild) and Bright Eyes Over Silver (flies around the city and finds that she is in Tamuz's territory) slip out

Venusday, 5 Ascending Earth

Bright Eyes Over Silver came home to the smell of blood and a corpse.

• It was the deserter who ran out into the desert storm, crucified in the back of one of our wagons
  • It was possessed by Claw of the Grave and told us that we missed one
  • He told us to go to the lost city and find Last Words to finish our conversation
  • Veiled Daughter Descending has the corpse bury itself in the earth after Vashtari is done speaking with it
• Ten Scars shows up for breakfast with us and shows us around the city more
  • Grandmother Bright lives in the intact glass building which is a remnant of the First Age
  • Hakeem is a guard who doesn't like Ten Scars
• Ten Scars will introduce us to 'the guy', Asahad, who we need to meet to get a good or better deal
• The market size and grandeur stun Kestrel and Bright Eyes Over Silver
• Asahad's chamber has no realm decor
  • He is clearly an exceptional person (likely exalted)
  • Through subtle persuasion techniques, he got a lot of trade plans out of Kestrel and Bright Eyes Over Silver
  • He requests that we not sell weapons to either side of the war that House Cathic has perpetuated
  • He also requests that we take someone out of the city for him, return his foster daughter
• After we leave Asahad's hospitality, Veiled Daughter Descending gets cranky with Kestrel and Bright Eyes Over Silver
  • She tells them that they were dumb and they better improve their not-saying-anything skills
• Veiled Daughter Descending says that she has been "letting them do stuff" to which Bright Eyes Over Silver responds with heading toward the Old City to talk to Last Words, Claw of the Grave's emissary.
  • Vashtari tells Veiled Daughter Descending that she shouldn't have said what she did before following Bright Eyes Over Silver
  • Kestrel follows after both of them
  • Vashtari convinces Bright Eyes Over Silver not to speak to Last Words in the Old City and Kestrel goes off on his own
• Everyone returns to the wagons - first Veiled Daughter Descending, then Vashtari and Bright Eyes Over Silver, then Kestrel late in the night

Saturnday, 6 Ascending Earth

We wake up to Ten Scars telling filthy stories to the labourers.

• When we appear from our tents, he tells us that he has been talking to people to sell our goods
  • He spoke to his brother First Scar even though they don't get along well
  • He spoke with an employee of Hierarch Isfar who works for the TriKahn
  • And lastly he spoke to the captain of a ship, Mane of Seafoam
  • Their status in the war was unknown by Ten Scars so he told us that they were all not involved
• In a continuation from yesterday's story, Ten Scars went to a fortune teller who told him that he would have a dark death.
  • He had a meeting with The Mountain and learned much. Listening at a door, he heard two voices. One was like a snake and it said where his lover might have gone - a tomb in the desert for a treasure that the scarlet empress would envy. Three years in the desert killed all who followed him and he stepped into a trap. He went abroad during calibration and a man stepped out of the desert. Ten Scars thought it was a djinn - fire, wind, treachery, and whimsy who let Ten Scars go to bait another. Ten Scars carried gold, gems and treasure for the djinn whose magic kept Ten Scars alive for 20 days. He carried on one more day and found shade and impossible coolness in a rock. Then a voice, along with obvious madness, came. It negotiated the huge armour that Ten Scars carried for food, water, a horse, and coins. the very kind giant with impossibly blue eyes appeared to complete the trade and at that moment, the djinn attacked. Ten Scars fled on the horse which is another story for another time.

After breakfast, we decide to see First Scar.

• We are met by a man at the camp entrance outside the city - they are the Guardians of the East
  • After a warning about acting like Ten Scars, we proceed to the large red tent to have an audience with First Scar
  • Third Jaguar chatted with a soldier on the walk who insulted Third Jaguar who in turn, beats up the soldier
  • First Scar watched the exchange and disciplines the soldier for the insult to his guest
  • The soldier is sentenced to 5 days without food and water in the stocks in the desert
• The meeting with First Scar is fruitful.
  • He respects the TriKahn a great deal as he seems to be good at everything
  • He immediately recognizes the perfect quality of the sample dagger
  • He offers a meeting with a scholar for 10 swords which Kestrel haggles over and a gift for a gift is exchanged - the friendship of the scholar for the dagger (Wise Choice advised that this was the best option)
    • The scholar is the third tower of dawn in the shattered quarter, we were given a dagger in a scabbard that hadn't been drawn in 5 years, and the scholar would recognize it and know us as friends

We return to our camp in the mid-afternoon.

• We head off to the scholar despite Bright Eyes Over Silver's protestations to speak with the other traders that Ten Scars spoke with on our behalf. In the Shattered Quarter, ruins of the First Age have been cleaned up, but the drug dealers and prostitutes are obvious. The slaving trade incenses Vashtari and she convinces a slaver to set the slaves free and contemplate his life. She provides money to the slaves and tries to communicate to them that they are free. Two of our guards escort them back to our camp.

~~We continue onto the scholar, but there is another stop along the way. A woman is fleeing from a fortune teller's tent with the name of Helen of the Wooden Eye. She had described Bright Eyes Over Silver to the young girl - she sat upright from a sound sleep to do so. We all follow the young girl to her mistress' tent. The very old woman has a wooden eye with a sprout. She also knows Bright Eyes Over Silver's name and tells us that she sees things in her sleep. Helen reads Bright Eyes Over Silver's palms and mumbles some simple divination spells. Fate says that she was destined to marry rich, but a blade came into that - something to do with her father. Marriage may yet happen for her, but it is not written. There was an important moment with a gardener recently. Great fortune (money) is to come to her very soon. There was a dream in which Bright Eyes Over Silver is searching for someone, one whom many seek. Many rivers flowed from this man. A river delta turned to the sea, then to fields, then to cities. A man placed a branch in the river which is very powerful. Bright Eyes Over Silver met the man but wasn't ready to listen. Bright Eyes Over Silver thought the branch was too small and went to another river and placed a piller there. The dead fish skeletons rose up from the sea to create an island of carnage. She went to a garden of glass and he planted a silver seed. Her tears from what you had done helped the tree grow and the first harvest shall happen. The garden of glass had answers that seemed good. This is not set in stone. We discreetly leave money and go. ~~We finally arrive at the tower. There is one guard who tries to get a bribe from us, but lets us up without payment. There is a contraption on the fourth floor and a ghost appears. It threatens us with Claw of Grave's prisoner's knowledge. We meet the young man in the tower who looks about 20 years old and has a patchy beard. He heard a shriek of what he thought was a spirit departing to the labrynth. In the wheel of karma, there is a labrynth where unpeakable things dwell between the first level and the void. The young man was a prisoner of the Fair Folk and he learned something that hurt them. Iron drawn from teh bones of the earth unworked by fire, air, and water. Iron unworked from teh Blessed Isle is worse than poison for them. We were offered a chance to test it. We get plans to help protect Sand-Covers-Jade from the Fair Folk, but we'll need to find masons and engineers to build it. He's been in the tower for 7 years hiding from Fair Folk in the city. He is of the order of the Heptagram. For money, he advises the Guild on the slave trade. ~~We return to the caravan camp. Kestrel and Bright Eyes Over Silver both slip out to give the man in the stocks water.

~7 Ascending Earth ~~Bright Eyes Over Silver sees 10 Scars being bullied toward the family camp. She rushes back to wake and warn Vashtari about the impending scene. ~~Hierarch Isfar's men are harrassing 10 Scars towards camp. Upon arrival they demand an explanation why we spoke to a barbarian outside the city first aobut our goods. Fade out...

May 31 ~7 Ascending Earth Fade in... ~~Vashtari claims superstitious augury as the reason why we spoke to the barbarians first. ~~Negotiations for the weapons ensue, with the Tri-Kahn's men being very determined that they will get the perfect weapons. ~~Kestrel takes over negotiations, insults the hierarch and gets into a duel which he loses in the first hit. ~~We have seven days to respond to the hierarch's offer which is quite firm and Kestrel retreats to his tent. ~~10 Scars approaches Kestrel's tent. Petal, Thorn and Stem are three very trustworthy soothsayers in a glass tower in the old city. They would be able to advise of the best option, but of 10 Scars they only asked simple things he had to offer such as a drop of blood, a tantalizing story, and a a golden hair of a young woman passing by. It was all he had to offer. VDD warned Vashtari about what they might know WE have to offer. ~~Third Jaguar goes to the watering holes to look for rumours about the morning's events, information about why the hierarch is so keen on getting these weapons and spreading his own rumours. ~~VDD spends the morning watching over Kestrel and tending his wounds while tries his best to ignore and displease Veiled Daughter Descending. ~~Vashtari questions BEOS before she leaves camp to check out the recommended soothsayers about their price. ~~BEOS finds the tower of Petal, Thorn, and Stem. She must go in to discuss the price as the guard has no answer for her. The guard is actually growing from the earth. She notes that the heart of the old city is where all of the dead ~~Vashtari barters passage for the rescued slaves by boat to a place closer to their home.

Celestial lion is waiting for me - Braxis is his name and he works for Bureau of Destiny. He is here about the dig site. The Green Lady charged him to find me. The Celestial lions were sent to watch the dig site. One of the death lord's greatest servants, The Flay Knight, caught them in snares. The Walker of Darkness knows that it was sidereals intervention that caused the disruption. Grandmother Bright has offered her hospitality. My mentor is politically discomfitted due to his intervention in the flooding. The Bronze Faction has closed ranks on this one and calling the order valid. Braksus will be at the Celestial Gate for three days. ~I sell out Sidar Synus who was a prisoner there. He was under the influence of the Death Knights - once free, he must have told people near and far of the death lords plans and what he went through. I also mention the Fair Folk which were involved in slaving in the area.

~~Supper that night we discussed the days events. Third Jaguar relates that Kestrel's actions earned us a good reputation with the lower classes. And one of the twins will be sending a delegate to try to procur the weapons for themselves. The slaves have passage closer to home. ~~BEOS flies out over the ocean and sees an airship flying south. ~~BEOS checks on the guy in the stocks again.

~8 Ascending Earth ~~TJ wakes Kestrel up early with a scorpian in his bed for training. ~~Delegate from such and such ~~A sloppy ambassador from such and such, invites Vashtari to a drinking contest with Major Seafoam. ~~The ambassador of house such and such (same as the satrap) comes to camp. We are invited to a celebration of an anniversary (a scroll is taken) in the new quarter. ~~All but elite guards are attending the drinking contest where Vashtari will pit herself against 6 xp earned

June 7 ~MOSF enters like an eighties rocker with a F/X budget ~We all go to the watering hole for the drinking contest with Mane of Sea Foam ~Tj gets into a "fight" with some strong man of Mane of Sea Foam's ~~Wins easily and buys the man two drinks ~~Mane of Sea Foam's business isn't strictly above board ~GF walks into the bar straight at Kestrel says "Eris said..., you will need help leaving the city, and you will buy me drinks until I can't walk" and also says, "Nice hawk." Kestrel points him toward the bar. ~Vashtari starts her drinking contest ~~Vashtari has herbal remedy to help as well as charm to help her be eloquent and gracious throughout the evening ~~She passes out after 7 or 8 shots in a row. VDD is there to catch her and escort her from the establishment and takes her back to camp. She is honoured for getting so far before passing out ~Kestrel talks business with Mane of Sea Foam, promises a fair price plus commission without selling them to any here in the south and east ~Kestrel "sells" the hawk form of BEOS ~~MOSF tells Kestrel of the theft of the dowry of Isfar's daughter who was to be married to the Tri-Kahn's third nephew, a scholar in the old quarter ~~MOSF also tells Kestrel that Jarek Winterheart is the son of a god, tribesmen of the north, queen, father is a god ~TJ sticks around and shows off more of his prowess and bests the entire place, eventually entering into a drinking contest with MOSF - MOSF wins again, but clears TJ's head ~~MOSF shows his cast mark (water dragon-blooded) and calls himself a god which started GF on a rant ~hawk is taken to the end of the dock with MOSF where he blows a bone whistle ~~woman instantly appears next to him, he asks if the 'witch' saw what she needed to see, she says yes, and asks the same question in return. He says it was none of her business and she best go before he remembers what he's dealing with. She said that payment would be on the boat when he returned and that he has not been forgotten ~~MOSF says to the bird, "This is what happens with you run afoul the Bodhisattva of dark water, he's not free and sets the bird free ~TJ asks GF where he was, GF responds, "Out." ~~TJ tells GF about where he was questing for the Unconquered Sun and GF talks GF and BEOS chat and BEOS stays out all night

9 Ascending Earth ~TJ informs us that a hooligan was apprehended and dealt with ~TJ also informs Vashtari that MOSF is a water-aspected dragon-blooded ~~he didn't cheat with Vashtari, but he did with TJ ~Kestrel is making Vashtari's hangover worse with loud noises and punctuated sentences ~10 Scars is there for ~MOSF shows up ~~advises Vashtari that he wants to take the weapons to the Coral Archepeligo where there is no realm or gods, they need weapons to fight to keep their freedom ~BEOS tells us MOSF is in the pay of the Abyssals ~We discuss possible trade options without GF there ~~While there are many strong feelings expressed, Vashtari chooses to sell the weapons to all three interested parties

June 21 10 Ascending Earth ~Kestrel meticulously prepares a feast for Mane of Sea Foam

Kestrel wears an uncharacteristic expression. Vashtari has seen him lose arguments before--many arguments, many losses--and she is well familiar with his reaction. Fist, rage: expressed outward at the foe who bested him; expressed inward at the talents that proved insufficient, at the skills that failed him. Next, desperation: the frenzied search for another tack--another line of reasoning; an avenue overlooked; an alleyway not fully explored. Lastly, petulance--the self-indulgent sulk of the expectant child denied. But expression that Kestrel wears now is foreign even to his sister.

"Very well," he sighs, and casts his gaze about the crude circle of tents. "Then if we must treat with this man who proclaims himself a god, we should prepare a fitting reception."

With these words, he turns on his heel and strides briskly through the marketplace. His barked commands ring off the stone walls. The caravan's servants mask their shock, and leap to their feet to effect his will. Before long, the caravan is deserted save by the company and their soldiers. Seeing no other servants about, Kestrel walks to the largest tent, and prepares it to receive nobility. He moves surely, drawing, no doubt, on lessons painfully learned in boyhood.

When he is finished, a collection of cushions buffer each side of a low, broad table. On each cushion, delicate stitchery picks out scenes of Delzahni legend, accompanied by choice lines of traditional poetry. Smooth silk, traded from faraway lands, surrounds fine down, contributed by the fowl of Sand-Covers-Jade. A guest need only enter the tent through its central flap to sit in luxury. To the left, behind the table, he will face his adversary; to the right, he will find his reward.

Kestrel has laden a high table with samples of the weapons stolen from the underground manse. A collection of daggers laid point-to-point describe a perfect half-circle of bronze. A spray of arrows, fletched in feathes of green and gold, explodes from the ground like some alien plant. Javelins, spears, and other polearms stand beside the table like guards at attention. A long sabre slashes across the closest edge of the table; a short sword stabs downward to meet it. The arrangement comprises samples of every common weapon carried by the caravan--surely sufficient to satisfy questions of quality.

Beside this high table stands one of the heavy clay statues carried from Sand-Covers-Jade. It depicts an old woman standing in the traditional gesture of welcome: arms extended, palms up. Atop her arms, Kestrel has laid a polished bronze tray. In the centre of the tray lies a bowl inlade with coarse chunks of green jade. Within the bowl lies a white glass decanter. To one side of the bowl stand hammered metal goblets; on the other, delicate porcelain plates. Blood-From-Stone swore that these goods brought him luck--it is Kestrel's fervent hope that they grant the same luck this day.

One by one, the servants return. In most cases, our fellow merchants saw fit to extend credit to a caravan rumoured rich. Where suspicion triumphed over good will, the servants were forced to pay in silver and jade. The common pool, available for such purchases, is much depleted by this meeting. Kestrel lines the bowl with ice, into which he gently lies the decanter, filled to its brim with rich red wine. Atop the plates, he arranges a selection of dried and candied fruits.

Looking about the tent, Kestrel let his gaze wander from the cushions to the slowly melting ice to the high table and back again. He seems well satisfied with his work--at least, as satisfied as such a man can derive from honest work. Still, those that know him well recognize a note of disquiet in the twist of his features, and in the stiffness of his stance.

~Vashtari sits and offers her best hospitality to Mane of Sea Foam. ~~Veiled Daughter Descending, Ghostfeathers, and Bright Eyes Over Silver attend, but only Kestrel serves. ~~Kestrel is a perfect host and both Vashtari and Mane of Sea Foam want for nothing. ~Kestrel assassinates Mane of Sea Foam at the perfect moment of not being watched. ~~Ghostfeathers is outside eyeing the carrion birds who are infested with other dead souls. ~~Bright Eyes Over Silver and Veiled Daughter Descending watch helplessly as Mane of Sea Foam's life is extinguished in a mere moment. ~~Vashtari is taken by a chosen of the Maiden of Battle and upon inspection, so was Third Jaguar ~Veiled Daughter Descending ensures that Mane of Sea Foam, while in league with the Abyssal exalts, returns to the natural cycle and cannot be caught in the underworld

~The aftermath was a blur to those left behind although the following details are remembered. ~~Kestrel calls for the Hierarch as Mane of Sea Foam has been murdered. ~~Grandmother Bright, older woman with a barbed dagger at her hip, appears almost instantly and she is angry with Kestrel She lambasts Kestrel for his actions although she is calmed some by the news that Mane of Sea Foam was doing business with the deathknights In her generous leniency, she puts a gaes on Kestrel to complete a quest for her. The mission is to go to Nexus and recover an individual she can't reach. All the details of this person are given directly to Kestrel through mental means from Grandmother Bright. Grandmother Bright also reprimands Veiled Daughter Descending for not controlling her charges better. She tells those present to listen to their advisor more. ~~One of the feathered creatures that was watching us and was noticed on one of the rooftops descends to great Kestrel. It is the blue-feathered Fair Folk that we set free when we rescued the slaves from the city in the desert where the pit was being dug. He was waiting for a spectacle to present Kestrel with a weapon. His debt to Kestrel is now paid. ~~Hierarch Isfar shows up third and Kestrel convinces him that an unknown archer was the assassin. He accepts Isfar's deal for allowing the death of Mane of Sea Foam in the caravan's hospitality Reparations in the form of 2 chests of silver (on loan from Isfar) to be paid to the crew of Mane of Sea Foam's ship. Sale of half the perfect weapons will be with Hierarch Isfar. We will retrieve his daughter's stolen dowry which we already know has been taken beneath the city. ~~Bright Eyes Over Silver leads a procession through the city to Mane of Sea Foam's ship to deliver the chests. She gives the gold to Mane of Sea Foam's wife who was not his wife from the night at the watering hole.

Bitch of a Deathknight who restored Mane of Sea Foam's dead wife to life for his services now tells her of those who killed her husband and that he has returned to the circle. The deathknight rewards the wife's anger by turning her and the whole crew into the living dead - they set sail and ravage the seas.

~~Ghostfeathers and Veiled Daughter Descending try to convince Kestrel of the consequences of his actions. During this discussion, Veiled Daughter Descending receives an order from the Bureau of Destiny. She describes it to all present.

Mission is just that the Zenith for the circle must be found or the circle's bright destiny will not be fulfilled. ~Since Vashtari hasn't returned, Kestrel and Veiled Daughter Descending, as Charity, prepare to attend Cathak Telens' manor for hospitality and schmoozing for the good of Sand-Covers-Jade.

7 xp

July 5 6 xp

10 Ascending Earth still ~Kestrel and Charity are greeted at the Manor of the Seventh Day Victory by Neemon Uulon. The Uulon family is the highest family in the Great Realm. ~~Kestrel relays the morning's unfortunate event of Mane of Sea Foam being murdered while in our hospitality. ~~There is a reading of the 25th scroll found in realm year 113 by the Wood Dragon. It talks about the 1001 stations of enlightenment, especially about how there must be conflict on the path to enlightenment. Sounds somewhat like instructions on war tactics. Cathak Telens translates for us into Flame Tongue. ~~After about an hour of the reading, Vashtari and Third Jaguar are escorted to the table by Neemon as well. Bright Eyes Over Silver accompanies them in hawk form. ~~The hawk stares daggers at Kestrel. ~~The reading continues for another two hours. (If your character was present and awake for the whole two hours, you may use this as 2 days of training toward a lvl of Lore: Immaculate Order or lvl of War) ~Cathak asks how he can help us ~Vashtari mentions supplies for the building of a wall around Sand-Covers-Jade ~~Works with Cathak's plans to disrupt the building of a new manor in Chiarascuro ~~He is pandering to the Trikahn ~~We will buy these building supplies ~News of Sand-Covers-Jade is relayed to Cathak ~~The death cult called Path of the Undaunted Survivor has fealty to Claw of the Grave ~~Piero is working with the town elders ~~Elder Voss has taken interest in the Immaculate Order ~We are to carry a message from Cathak to Piero in Sand-Covers-Jade ~~Uulon produces a bird to take with us as well as a small bit of seed and water for the journey

~Kestrel goes off to provide water to the man in the stocks ~~He is followed by a hawk who is Bright Eyes Over Silver ~~Ghostfeathers also follows and explains his objections to Kestrel's action

~Vashtari, Third Jaguar, and Veiled Daughter Descending have a heated conversation in the absence of the others ~~Veiled Daughter Descending relays the events of the afternoon to the other two as they were off battling with Paragon of the Red Treaty ~~Third Jaguar puts Veiled Daughter Descending "in her place" and Vashtari must ask Veiled Daughter Descending to stay with the group

~The night brings sleep to those who choose it.

11 Ascending Earth ~Vashtari and Ghostfeathers discuss the details of transportation of the building goods home. ~Vashtari gives Kestrel a tongue-lashing for his deed. ~The day is spent making deals for supplies and generally trying to pretend Kestrel's deed didn't happen. ~Veiled Daughter Descending discusses the issues with the circle that was brought forward by Braxis. ~~Discuss possible solutions for each issue. Using Synus Dar as a scapegoat was so widely rejected that Veiled Daughter Descending couldn't say enough times that she would explore other options. ~It is decided that the dowry rescue will happen the next day.

July 19 ~daring dowry retrieval by Third Jaguar, Kestrel and Bright Eyes Over Silver

The other Exalts start to gather themselves together outside the tents. Their packs are ready for a trip into a part of the city the common folk avoid but into which they must venture in search of stolen dowry. The sun is climbing into the sky, its light casts slowly shortening shadows where interrupted by the buildings. At this early hour they are pleasantly cool. Ghostfeathers stands in one of these shadows as he surveys his companions, frustrated. His patience is worn thin from a morning conversation that looped itself far too many times.

A sound catches his ear and his gaze is pulled outside their caravan to where songbirds cavort. He notices immediately that they appear to be following a cart of breads and pastries as a baker transports his wares. Ghostfeathers smiles to himself as the enterprising birds swoop down to feast on the crumbs left in the cart's wake. The five birds are making out like thieves when a sixth decides to join in the fun. This one, however, takes the thievery to another level as, filled with impatience, it dives for a pastry still on the cart. Alas, its target is too big for it to fly with conveniently and it certainly isn't fast enough to escape the baker's notice. As the baker comes out of his walking daze he curses the birds surrounding the fallen pastry and drives a kick at them. The original five flutter harmlessly out of the way but the latecomer is caught up in the flaky dough and syrupy fruit and can't escape. Five birds sense an end to their filching in the hypervigilant looks from the baker and go off to find other tidbits. The baker continues on his wares safe.

Ghostfeathers stands up and walks over to Vashtari. With a sigh he says, "I've seen the omens this morning and this expedition will suffer if I go with you. I'll take care of a few other things and meet up with you after." He smiles, "You folks aren't hard to track down." Not caring to explain further, despite the confused looks on a few faces, he drops his pack beside the tent and purposefully weaves his way into the city, ignoring those behind him.

Vashtari echoes Ghostfeathers' sigh and looks around. Only Veiled Daughter Descending is waiting patiently to leave. Vashtari had heard Third Jaguar at dawn, as usual, rousing his guards and setting the schedule for the day, and expects him to join the group momentarily. Her sister, on the other hand, is nowhere to be found and her brother seems set to sleep right through the scheduled time of departure. With another exasperated sigh, she pulls aside the flap of Kestrel's small tent and strides over to the blanket-covered lump on his bedroll. Despite her impatience, Vashtari is not rough when she shakes Kestrel's foot and so she is startled by the muffled shriek of pain that results instead of the sleepy protest that she expected.

Instead of Kestrel, Bright Eyes is the one trying to blink in the light although she can only open one eye. The other is swollen shut, and the bruising covers half her face. She's obviously been cleaned up and tended to since being injured but her recent drastic haircut is still matted down with blood, and from what Vashtari can see, Bright Eyes' whole body looks like she's been dragged behind a horse over a lava field. The worst is in her right shoulder, where the edges of a deep puncture wound show unnaturally blueish white against her dark skin, and her left arm is roughly splinted. Despite the mess, Bright Eyes tries to grin when she sees Vashtari.

"We got it," she croaks. "From the Deathknight. An' the dragon. An' I foun' my old blade. At th' top of th' glass tree. In th' silv'r." Her eyes flutter closed again as her voice becomes more slurred, but the grin remains on her cracked and swollen lips.

The flap of the tent is torn aside, spilling light into the dim tent. Kestrel crouches low in the doorway, and glares fiercely at the figure that hovers over his sister. He blinks, and the shadow resolves itself into Vashtari. He pauses a moment longer, then stands and lets the tension drain from his shoulders.

"I only left for a moment," Kestrel says quietly. He brushes lightly past one sister, and kneels before the other. "She's badly hurt," he adds lamely. He squeezes water from a skin onto a fresh rag, and rinses the blood from Bright Eyes' face. "I don't know if it does any good," he continues, avoiding the questions that he knows must follow. "But it seems to give her relief."

"Charity! Come here quickly!" Vashatri shouts over her shoulder, and then her eyes narrow as she looks at Kestrel again. "What did you do?" she snaps, each word an accusation. Kestrel turns to regard her. His eyes are imploring.

"We ventured from the tent long before dawn. We intended to seek the Hierarch's treasure, and return triumphant. But no stories worth its telling is ever so straight-forward. We crept into the darkness of the Old City, and neither vulture nor eagle saw us go. The fog masked our passage, and silenced our footsteps. Above us loomed ruined towers and glass splinters, glinting in the dimness and shaming us with their shattered majesty. When we came upon a ruined keep, only the glint of moonlight alerted us to the ambush.

"Three men had stood watch, all armed, all aware of some imminent threat. Three men, all dead. Some creature had arrived before us--just before us. Impossibly, Bright Eyes had scented it. For my part, I was unaware. Unaware of the beast that walked among us -- some creature with great wide claws and sharp white teeth. The men too were unaware -- unaware until it surged upon them. It slew them. It savaged them. Their throats were wet with gore, and their hearts' blood stained the ground beneath their feet. The sand was damp and black in the moonlight. It smelled of metal.

"A fourth man lay within a clumsy cache. The beast had spared him to deliver a message: he pointed to the distance, where a glass tree shimmered silver-blue against the moon. To that glass tree, we went. It towered among the buildings. I don't recall having seen it before, nor have I heard tales of such a thing. Perhaps it stood for that night only, propelled upwards by the beast-king's will. Atop that tree, nestled in its crown, we found a small pool that glistened silver in the moonlight. Two arms reached from that pool--reached upward like a drowning victim for aid. Our sister took those arms, and was armed: a triple-bladed dagger that fit her hand as though tailored to her grip."

Kestrel sighs. "I wish you could see it. Or rather, I wish I could show it to you. But it is hers, not mine, and that sight will have to wait. It is worth the wait. The sight of that weapon awoke something deep within us. Memories long suppressed came surging upward like a sand worm in search of prey. I saw the First Age through strange, familiar eyes; in her eyes, I saw the same thing reflected. We have forgotten so much, Vashtari – so much worth remembering. We will remember again.

"From atop the tree, we watched the corpse wagons winding through the streets of Chiaroscuro. They were easy to mark. The fog parted and swirled in their wake, like the sea after sailing ships. One after another, they converged on the charnel house. We followed like jackals -- sometimes creeping, sometimes running. We passed unseen past guards and gates, and found what we sought: an old tunnel leading deep into the earth. The scent of death and dust almost choked me -- I can only imagine how Bright Eyes must have suffered."

A faint voice comes from the cot. "Pocket. Worse," Bright Eyes whispers, and a giggle turns into a wet, racking cough. Kestrel stops wringing bloody water from the cloth, and holds Bright Eyes' head up until the spasm passes.

"Stop it," he says, half exasperated, half amused. "Keep quiet and rest." Kestrel reapplies the cloth, his eyes never leaving Bright Ocean's face, and resumes his tale.

"We turned back. We had found the entrance, but dared go no further. We had already learned so much--and there was more yet to learn. The bandit who lived owed his life to Bright Ocean's skill with medicine. He now owed us information. Who did they lay for in wait? Who had charged them with this task? What creature had killed his companions? Of what significance was the ruined keep where they lay in wait? All these questions, he could answer--if he survived. So we turned back to collect the bandit and bring him to our camp.

"Where we had left the bandit, we were surprised by Third Jaguar. He accompanied us to return the bandit to the camp, and then back to the mortuary. We hid Third Jaguar within a shroud, and he rode a corpse wagon into the building. Bright Eyes and I met him within. With him by our side, we dared deeper than we would previously have imagined. Deep underground, we encountered a... man like us. His name is Third Shadow. He called himself Ghost-blooded, and proved himself able to commune with the dead: to speak with them, and to give them peace and rest. He saved our lives, Vashtari.

"For as we ventured deeper, we encountered Last Words -- the minion of Claw of the Grave. She struck at Third Jaguar from the dark, and could have felled him. And though both Bright Eyes and I tried to engage her, she was far too quick. She fled on sure feet down darkened corridors and through walls. She raised the dead to fight us, and when that failed, called forth first a golem forged of corpses, then the animated bones of an ancient dragon. It was that dragon that felled Bright Eyes. It caught her in its teeth, and shook her like a dog shakes a rat. It was only due to Third Shadow's quick thinking that we survived at all."

Kestrel shakes his head. "But that's inadequate. You should have seen her, Vashtari. She was magnificent." A note of wonder and pride enters his voice: "Our sister moved like light on metal. She ran like the hawk flies. Her blows fell like the heavy raindrops of the summer storm." He becomes suddenly sour and somber: "I could not keep up. She cornered the death-knight again and again, and drove it before her like a hound chasing a rabbit. Time and time again, she forced her foe to flee. But she could not fight a dragon."

Kestrel pauses in his ministrations. "There's another thing. Last Words has a caste mark. Like mine, Vashtari." His hands tremble slightly. "I'm afraid of what that might mean."

August 2 12 Ascending Earth

A Rocky Matter

September

• Decide to go rescue the Celestial Lions being held captive at the site where cultists of the Deathknights are trying to create a shadowland. Find the place, find some of the lions in a cage on top of a huge pillar, the Flayed Knight is guarding them. Awesome fight; the Flayed Knight gets a tower pulled down on top of him but all we find is his armor. We free the lions (five remaining?) find the entrance to a Death Knight manse nearby. Kestrel has been acting very oddly (limit break) so he strides in without hesitation. Crazy spooky place, heavy on the morbid decor. In a dining room, we meet "Majesty in Exile" and "The Knight of Steel and Shadow" who have been trapped there for a while but are not Deathknights, and seem oddly ambivalent about escaping.
• Kestrel gets it in his head that Last Words is around, goes chasing off after her. BEoS and GF follow. Those three end up outside someplace far away, and are greeted by Claw of the Grave. He has a brief conversation with Kestrel, who seems quite taken with him, and CotG gives Kestrel a soulsteel token for when Kestrel wants to continue the conversation. GF has had enough, scoops up Kestrel and BEoS (who the sight of CotG affected like a club to the head) and flies back into the Abyssal manse.
• The others end up trapped in a hall of mirrors and have to break them to get out. One (?) of the lions falls into a chasm. Everyone ends up at the centre of the Manse, where hearthstones are made. The Flayed Knight reappears because we aren't in Creation, and gets beat down again. We decide we have to destroy the manse, and GF makes an incredibly amazing effort and puts together a ritual that does so.
• The manse and reality start collapsing. We find ourselves back in Creation... somewhere. Majesty in Exile and the Knight admit that they are ghosts, and leave.

October 11 7 Descending Earth

-TJ and V are missing -move to the oasis, BEOS reads the runes left by passing tribes, the water is safe to drink as it protected by a water spirit who just needs a poem to appease it -VDD recites the poem and everyone drinks -GF goes scouting for a couple hours in the hot sun - spots a column of carrion birds circling around a Delzhani wagon -GF returns and lets us know that we should go to this spot, K is upset and says that he knew we should have left right away and that he would have seen this column as we headed east -7 hours of travel to reach the wagon, the scene must have been here for at least a day -the whole scene is decorated with arrows from the rear, the wounds are infested with an unnatural gruesomeness -GF takes flight again and sees that the wall extends windingly to the NE; with AESS up, there is nothing to be seen; he returns every so often to check to see if we are ready to go -2 days ago is when the attack happend and the arrow is coated ina sort of slime - recognize it as saliva from a desert lizard that was tempered with essence to make it more virulent -K finds a man alive - he was recently enslaved, lash marks that are three days old, in manacles for about a week that ended 3 days ago, hasn't had proper nutrition for more than a week and fed exclusively meat for a long time before that -VDD spends two hours tending to the injured man to stabilize his condition; BEOS builds a carrier for the man -BEOS and K build a pyre for the dead - from their veils, these men were merchants, all from the same tribe, two were more heavily armoured and equipped and four had the old manacle marks, all had weapons\\ -GF doesn't return while the pyre is going and spots a patrol of two men on well-kept delzhani; AESS shows that both horses have been imbued with the essence of fire and the men appear to be men, but their swords have been blessed with earth and their spears with fire; both have been marked by a sorceror's mark which they likely do not know about; they are dressed are unusually dress for delzhan; very formal instead of relaxed riding; also have bows fitted with an unusal mechanism (allows firing multiple arrows at once); GF also smells the virulent salve that was used on the arrows at the caravan site; given their patrol methods, they seem to be a border patrol -VDD takes the injured man away from the pyre to keep him safer; BEOS and K stay behind to watch for anyone coming and two fire spirits showed up and had a 'baby' in the fire -GF returns to the caravan and all three join VDD with the injured man for a night of rest

8 Descending Earth

-Touch of Morning was Claw of the Graves previous name -Claw of the Grave spoke to K in the manse; gave him a token to resume the conversation , but we cannot find the soulsteel coin/centipede

-man wakes; we do not work for the Storm, a god who has enslaved 7 tribes; calls himself Shelter From the Coming Storm; men from the Flint Knife tribe have sorcery given to him and Storm calls allies from the sand; rebels call him the Storm; has disciples who are the strongest and most beautiful of them, they struggle going into the tent and preach his name coming out; he and his friends were caught on a trade mission; two of the Flint tribe helped them escape, but it didn't help when the riders came for them; many people there who shouldn't be there, they don't want protection or walls -he advises that we travel swiftly away from where we found him as the Storm's minions are not mercifully -ash children are a good omen

-3 days travel pass

11 Descending Earth -Early morning watch, K hears a throaty roar -two poles flying blue silk are thrust in front of Kestrel who yells, "RAIDERS!!" -the Fair Folk women (Lady of the Stag) who blew a kiss at TJ walks through the poles followed by beastmen -she says that she owes Kestrel a boon for sparing her life and says she notices that we are home and heading into a warzone -the Ruby Court is her neighbour -SCJ stands at the vanguard of a war brewing between a solar exalt, lunars trying to clean up, and a god amassing forces to combat the underworld trying to break through

7 days of travel through the Blue Silk Holds of the deep wyld, we emerge through a portal closer to SCJ, the Lady is socially attacking the lunars for the whole time -day 5, Lord Disinheritance shows up on the border of her lands; he wants the story of one who travels with us and is threatening to breach the border between the two lands; Kestrel has to be told to stay back by GF, VDD and the lady at the same time; the Lady agreed to allow the Lord to make a request of Kestrel who GF tried to force him to shut up and move away from the Lord; K listens and tells the Lord that we all have elsewhere to be, but says that the Lord may seek him out later much to GF's dismay; the Lord mentioned that the Lady should have checked under our skins better

18 Descending Earth morning we appear in familiar sands alongside the ruins of attacked caravan -we move along as quickly as our passenger will allow, GF shaking with rage, K -GF flies off to scout immediately even though BEOS and K know where we are -a short distance from Fourteen Flame Keep is where we come out

6 xp

next game-oct 25

October 25

Discussion regarding PC vs. PC conflict. Resolution: speak with player beforehand

19 Descending Earth Continue traveling to SCJ

BEOS tells V about the token being missing

Travel home - rumours heard about Virani who are master artisans - they have been taken into

Greated by the sound of bells (new to SCJ) and throngs of adoring fans - Mother Righteousness and Father Blade

- a man in a large hat with a huge jewel set in, wearing white robes and a ticking clock around his neck comes up; he has heard of the destruction of our home and has offered to rebuild for Vashtari and her family; Kestrel cannot keep his eyes from the large jewel
- at sunrise, the builder will return

Home is how we left it. We look for TJ and the source of the bells. No one has seen TJ. We see a series of organized looking tents. A small bell-tower has been set up in the middle of these tents outside the walls. Long robes and very clean and very organized.

Vashtari goes to learning hour and learns about all the hours for the Virangi. As well, the Virangi way of life is thought to be nigh impossible to those not born into it. Vashtari accepts dinner with the sorceror, Stormcrow, and it ends up going VERY well.

BEOS spends the day in bed to try to heal. Kestrel watches over her and plays cards.

We decide to leave the day after tomorrow.

VDD spends the day checking on things with Vashtari and checking on some things of her own. She spends the rest of the day in prayer.

20 Descending Earth BEOS spends another day resting. Vashtari does some trade brokering for items in Nexus.

We decide to start toward Chiarascuro the next day - 21 Descending Earth

6 xp

32 days travel to Chiarascuro

25 Ascending Air

Festivals of autumn are completing in Chiarascuro.

Elsbeths' Luck The Terror III Siaka Bait Windward II Sunken Goat overland travel airship Yu-Shan not going

gets us there alive minimize importance speed cost

WISE CHOICE: Siaka Bait, Captain Morick Kale

Barbarian seeking travel - Vashtari and myself. The captain is a discerning fellow who isn't willing to take on passengers without knowing the answer to a few questions. The weird monkey in the corner will scream if a lie is told. How many passengeres? 5 Anything illegal? No Wheher any of us were wanted in Nexus or other port cities? Not to my knowledge Will we bring the stench of Anathema on board? Question evasion. Vashtari walks out and VDD answers the question saying that Vashtari had some trouble with Anathema and her family and she isn't sure whether she is one or not. The captain accepts this answer but will tack on a premium.

VDD goes off ship to get Vashtari to haggle over price.

Leaving 26 Ascending Air - midnight

Kestrel goes into town to kill the day as we are camping outside the city. BEOS follows in bird form.

Kestrel does something bad with the assassins.

9 uneventful days of sailing

7 Resplendent Air One of the gods that had been bribed by the purser did not get paid enough because a storm started to bounce the ship about. All the passengers went to the midship where our hammocks were located to ride out the storm. A few hours later, we noticed that BEOS hadn't come back from the hold so we all went to investigate.

In the hold, we wound our way around crates to the aft where there was a small table. It had a small leather pouch turned inside out and all the contents laid out on the table. It was BEOS' talisman pouch which none of us had seen the contents of prior. We did notice that there were chew marks - like mandibles - on the inside of the pouch like something had been trying to get out. The soulsteel token had marked BEOS.

VDD noticed fresh blood under an overturned chair which she recognized the scent of as belonging to BEOS. GF noticed the blood and that there were bits of BEOS' hair in between the bits of wood as she had been dragged out of the hold. The things that had dragged her had used charms to move through the crates instead of manuvering around them. And then they moved themselves and BEOS through the aft wall of the ship's hold into the open sea.

GF went after them and saw an incredibly huge creature with so many tentacles he couldn't count. It smelled of 1000 dead men. Then one of the tentacles grabbed BEOS' floating body and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

GF came back and shared what he had seen. VDD started making plans about how we could rescue BEOS. She could become invulnerable to water, but Kestrel and Vashtari could not. Kestrel climbed onto a ballista shot and had Vashtari pull the release. GF dove into the water after him. VDD apologized to Vashtari for leaving her there, but she had to go. She dove into the water and swam.

Kestrel was on the castle wall. GF and VDD were almost side by side in the water swimming to save both Kestrel and BEOS.

November 15

7 Resplendent Air cont'd

Fight continues, we win and get BEOS back. VDD unconscious.

Kestrel and GF have a heated discussion - then BEOS & GF go to talk and Kestrel & Vashtari talk. GF comes up behind Kestrel and apologizes to Kestrel's amazement.

8 Resplendent Air

Vashtari finally goes to speak to Captain Kale. He asks a favour for the trouble of carrying Anathema aboard his ship. Captain Kale gives us the lie detecting monkey as a sort of pager to call in the favour. The monkey with goat horns and creepily yellow eyes talks but doesn't like to speak our language. Captain Kale also warns us to stick together as he doesn't want his men getting hurt.

Ghostfeathers isn't going to leave the boat, but Eris will. Ghostfeathers' is wanted dead in Nexus. It's been a lot of years since he fled the city with his life. It was family trouble that led to the situation. He's going to look into the previously signed death order. He was charged with treason, but he can't rightly remember why. Nexus is a dangerous city and we have to watch our back. He's a fugitive from the council and we are harbouring him which will put us also on the death order list. His family was hung outside their home by mercenaries on the council's orders.

Kestrel tries to draw a picture of the fugitive from Grandmother Bright. They determine that they need to find an artist within Nexus to draw.

5 days travel

13 Resplendent Air

The purser pays off the Thorns mercenaries with finger bones for safe passage through their seas.

14 Resplendent Air

VDD wakes up. Both Kestrel and BEOS thank her for saving BEOS.

16 Resplendent Air

We pass a realm ship and fly a white flag with a blue rose. It means that the ship sails under a guild house which allows us to pass unsearched by the realm.

22 Resplendent Air

We arrive at the entrance to the Yellow River.

Lookshy is a city of First Age wonders which continues to defy the realm - home of the 7th Legion.

23 Resplendent Air

The hills fall away into lowlands. The salt flooded flats are the bright parts of an almost dead land. Shacks and rice farms dot that landscape.

27 Resplendent Air

We pass the outer way markers of Nexus - stones with the sigil of the council. The dogmas are the laws, all are punishable by death or exile. And it is usually death at the hand of the emissary.

A half day later, we arrive at our destination. Nexus is unclean and a city of destitute people.

6 xp

Dec 20 2 Descending Air

BEOS continues following the woman's scent through a very strange labrynth where she couldn't remember her previous few steps ever. She only gets through by following the scent. She finds herself at another trap door and when trying to force it open, she hears something slide on top and figures it'll break if she keeps going. In turning back, she gets confused about how to get back, but remembers to follow her own scent back along the trail. She doesn't exit into the shop, but into a park instead and finds her way back to the coffee shop where Kestrel and GF and the demon monkey are waiting.

Information from the Mask & Mittens -20 pages of catalogue of crimes against gods that are attributed to the Ocelot - usually desecration or violation of minor gods' schtick. Stolen items were actually valuable. Grandmother Bright is not on the list. -2 pages of catalogue of bounty hunters and other searchers who have tried to find him. Invariably, the investigators go missing. -List of possible backers of the Ocelot - The Guild, outcast dragon-blooded, criminal organizations native to the east that we haven't really heard of. -List of known associates - Ben Admar (sorceror and Pell's father), fences, a few other sorcerors outside Nexus.

BEOS suggests that we should go to the place on the up-world as she made a note of where she was below the trap door with exalted GPS. We arrived at The Trove (another Secrets Sidereal exalted College) which is a shop full of home trinkets and baubles.

Conversation about "resplendent destinies" is on hold as all try to reconcile their memories of Charity with their knowledge of Veiled Daughter Descending.

We enter the very crowded shop where we find no trinkets of value. We are about to just speak to the shop owners, but Kestrel finally comes out with his misgivings about delivering the Ocelot to Grandmother Bright. He has come to admire the Ocelot's deeds against the gods.

Vashtari waits for a lull in the service to speak the shop owner. She gains his trust through telling him that Pell is in danger. He already knew and confirmed the danger. Pell was going to her aunt's - The Honest Kiln - a pottery shop in Firewander.

We arrive to find the shop in ruins. No piece of pottery is intact and neither is the building for the most part. Pell is upstairs beside the body of her aunt who looks to have been beaten by thugs. We agree to help Pell's family get out and split up to get them out of the city. We meet at the East gate with everyone. In return, Pell will tell us of the Ocelot's hiding spots.

She's actually coming with us to find him. Pell will slit the man's throat. Hooded figure wrapped in bandages gives the Ocelot his orders - what to steal, what to destroy. Pell found out about his other girls - discovered one and cut her lips. Then he started killing her family - on her mother's family.

Huge room piled with his rewards and filled with his thugs. There are traps and secret ways that she knows a lot of because of his trust in her. She will keep her father busy by countering his sorcery with her own. Her father discarded his family a long time ago. Ollie is still under her skin. Vashtari convinces Pell to not take out her anger on her ex-lover's paramours.

We go out immediately.

There are some stairs leading down behind a statue by the council building. It's filthy and disgusting as it floods from time to time. The filth down here isn't just in the dirt, but also the people. We finally come to gleaming green eyes in the dark - those of Ki'rix the Hive possessions.

The demon-possessed scolds the demon-monkey for following such pathetic company to which he responds with poo flinging. BEOS shifts and activates all charms so she glows with pale moonlight. She speeds after the demon-possessed who has run down the hall, catches him as he tries to slip through a crevice in the wall, and drags him back to the group to get permission before killing him and the demon within him.

After going through some more tunnels, we come to an Old Realm sigil covered door which Pell does a ritual to open. Upon opening, GF heard swords being drawn so we prepared for battle. No demon-possessed were in this room - just 6 archers and 6 thugs with swords. VDD tried to take down the archers, but not kill them which was not the way that BEOS was dealing with the situation. The essence from VDD's last blow turned back in on her and did 2 aggravated damage.

GF notices that the room we are in is an artifact that will cause our own essence to turn against us if we try to use it which I verify. Pell tries another ritual to find a way out which puts her unconscious and kills her demon. The demon's death scream causes visions for VDD and Kestrel.

6 xp

January 3

2 Desc. Air - middle of the night

VDD, Vashtari and Kestrel all find themselves unconscious for about a minute while they see their own deaths. They seem as though they are having a bad nightmare.

While Bright Eyes Over Silver tends to her siblings, Ghostfeathers inspects the door and the lock inside. It seems like a single piece of jade with no seam. He can't discern a way through, but does notice a small ironwork grate.

BEOS and GF reach the grate and manage to remove it while balancing on piled up beds to reach teh 30 ft. ceiling. GF turns into a ground squirrel to run up

"Serpent drinking fine wine. I assure you my friend that the cage will hold them for as long as we need. Nothing to worry about from these ogres." -sorceror

"Nothing to worry about? a practiced voice, smooth r's, smooth s's, If I'm not mistaken these are anathema. What are we to do with them, sorceror?" -Ocelot

"The cage will hold them for quite some time. We will have time to leave." -sorceror

"I will not be driven from my home by these abominations. Can you not prepare a spell that will flow the river through here to drown them? Prepare a spell that will allow me to speak with them, sorceror." -Ocelot

Ocelot's image appears in the middle of the room. He walks over to Pell and VDD interposes herself before he can get there. The Ocelot is speaking in every language at once. Veiled Daughter Descending responds in Old Realm. He admits that he's an idiot when it comes to the working of the jade prison and that he is a mere mortal. Albeit a mortal who has bested us - anathema.

He offers us service to him as our only option out of the cage alive.

Conversation between the Ocelot and Ben Admar, the sorceror - sorceror to research oath, blackmailing sorceror bad blood.

January 17

The Ocelot had left the party in the jade cage to consider his offer. Vashtari had been unconscious but awakened with knowledge of how the prison lock worked. It was only supposed to open when judgment had been passed, but she and Kestrel figured out how to open it anyway. We left, dropped Pell off at the Mask and Mittens and headed quickly in the pre-dawn light to the library where we knew the Ocelot was. We caught him in an unused attic of dusty records and subdued him easily. VDD kept him stupefied with opium while BEoS and V paid off the debt to the Guild (BEoS had driven away a river dragon that had escaped captivity and was attacking the docks and the Guild claimed she owed them for it) and got passage out on the next tide.

The morning after leaving Nexus, Kestrel is sitting at the bow of the boat, brooding. Bright Eyes goes forwards to join him, and they have a prolonged conversation. If anyone watches or cares, the conversation appears to get very heated, but ends with the siblings embracing. They return together to the small cabin.

Bright Eyes waits until everyone is present. “I… I have something to tell you all,” she says tentatively. “I was just talking with Kestrel, and he made me realize… I should have told you this ages ago, but I just… I just didn’t know how you… I didn’t know what you would say. I was afraid that you’d…” She takes a deep breath and lets it out in a rush.

“You know when we were in that Deathknight manse in the desert, and then Kestrel and Ghostfeathers and I left the manse, and were in that other place somehow, and we saw To… we saw Claw of the Grave on the tower? He… he… was a Solar, once. I remembered him, when I saw him. His name was Touch of Morning. He was… we were…” BEoS stops abruptly and a wave of deep red heat rushes up her face. She glances quickly at Ghostfeathers and then stares fixedly again at the floor. Still blushing furiously, she continues.

“I kept that token,” she says in a rush, “That little soulsteel centipede thing, I kept it and I hid it, because I wanted something of his and I thought you wouldn’t let me keep it. That fight, and Veiled Daughter getting so hurt, it’s all my fault and I was stupid for getting kidnapped like that. It was all my fault, and I’m really sorry.” And she gives a deep sigh, as if finally putting down something heavy.

sailing, Kestrel confrontation on the full moon, removing the Ocelot's spells, war breaks out.

February 8, 2008

17 Descending Air - Night As Veiled Daughter Descending arrives on the Abyssal ship and blows away all the extras. The square-off with the Abyssal begins. He calls us all "lackeys of Claw of the Grave." Kestrel gets badly hurt. BEoS kills "Sorrow's Song", the enslaved undead whale that was supporting the Deathknight's ship and the Deathknight is pulled back out of this world somehow.

The crew give us tribute - everything from their pockets.

GF still has nocturnal schedule.

20 Descending Air Vashtari speaks with VDD about Kestrel's and GF's odd behaviour. Then she speaks with BEOS about the situation.

More discussion about the tribute. Vashtari speaks to the captain.

26 Descending Air Vashtari has overheard the crew dropping the word "Anathema" and we have a discussion about what to do about that. VDD suggests that Vashtari speak to the captain about the behaviour of his crew.

VDD and BEOS had a heated argument about the danger involved in the delivery to Grandmother Bright.

VDD apologizes to BEOS and explains that she only wants to realize the danger she puts others, like Vashtari, in.

Vashtari speaks to the captain who calls the solars Lawgivers which changes the discussion from what she was expecting.

27 Descending Air Three men are tied to the main mast.

28 Descending Chiarascuro's green glass towers appear in the distance.

1 Ascending Water We arrive in Chiarascuro. ~GF and Vashtari arrange for horses. Vashtari questions GF on the weirdness between GF and Kestrel. ~BEOS, Kestrel, and VDD delivery the Ocelot to Grandmother Bright. ~~We walk through a glass archway in the ~~3 gifts: use of the gate which Veiled Daughter Descending requested; a warning about the imposed famine on Chiarascuro; a gift of flight for Kestrel

The four get going on their journey. ~Kestrel is in a funk which BEOS tries to get him out of through talking constantly.

First evening camp, GF goes for supper and when he comes back, he doesn't change all the way back to human. He keeps his human body and his wings and owl eyes and is very happy with his new ability.

~40 days journey. ~~Sometime just before bed, GF asks Kestrel to go for a walk to talk about what's going on. BEOS tries to eavesdrop, but is caught by GF. ~~There is a stop at the manse to drop off the wings to ensure that they are not taken or stolen by anyone.

VDD to YU-SHAN - Find out the future. Find something for Kestrel to get his memories back. Find something for BEOS.

Venusday, 12 Resplendent Water

Day of return to Sand Covers Jade.

• Veiled Daughter Descending is waiting just outside the gate.
  • Bright Eyes Over Silver
• Third Jaguar went to head off a heard of golden lions that were setting fire and destroying everything in their path and had been warned by the oracle

Day of discovery of Fair Folk attack.

• Preet is the deceased's wife while the deceased is Red Hands
• At lunch, we find that Ghostfeathers has found the magical black cloth that is actually blue silk - wrapped under the white burial cloth of Red Hands
• Ghostfeathers is searching the city for two days (13 & 14), but finds no more black cloth

Evening of 14 Resplendent Water, Vashtari and Kestrel go to supper with Satrap Piero.

• Both of the twins were admitted to House Cathic recently
  • The offer was made disingenuously; the challenge was set to see if they were wise enough to put their differences aside
  • They eventually were when the undead armies attacked which prompted the offer to join House Cathic
• Charity goes to speak with Elder Voss about the wrapping of Red Hands, but finds no one home and nothing to suggest that anyone will be back
  • She returns to the family home to find Ghostfeathers
  • Veiled Daughter Descending relates the information that Elder Voss is missing as is Cleverwing
  • Ghostfeathers goes to the grand-niece's family as a cat while Charity brings up conversation of Voss to see what has happened
  • The mother of the bride admits that Voss left the day we arrived, "He said something about repairing the wedge between Tall Stone and himself. He took Cleverwing and headed toward the Verangi city states where Tall Stone has taken up rulership."

The day before the wedding, Bright Eyes Over Silver returns home.

• At the breakfast table, we discuss the previous happenings with Bright Eyes Over Silver
  • She takes some time to investigate the city herself for any more suspicious black cloth
  • No decision is made yet as to where to travel next as we will wait until the wedding is done and the wall is finished
• Vashtari talks to Storm Crow about more measures of defense against a possible Fair Folk attack
• Vashtari and Bright Eyes Over Silver spend the night partying with the bride
• Kestrel gets a full night's sleep
• Veiled Daughter Descending watches the stars all night for an omen which doesn't disappoint

Moonday, 15 Resplendent Water

The morning of the wedding just as the final stars disappear, Veiled Daughter Descending sees two manticores pulling a wagon with mishapen rock.

"As the last stars fade into twilight and your vision begins to swim, you feel your vision drawn away, outside the gates of the village, to where a wagon drawn forth by a pair of manticore, unloads its cargo of misshapen stone."

• She wakes all the others in a panic with Fair Folk outside the city
• Bright Eyes Over Silver flies out of the city to take a look
• Kestrel races to the weapon smith to retrieve his new iron spear and waits only moments for the smithy to lash it together before racing to the southern gate and leaps over in invisibilty and grace to confront the shimmering illusion on the sand outside the city
  • The Fair Folk stare right at him and make a show of offering him, a noble of the city, the gift for the marrying couple
  • He hedges until he sees Vashtari coming from the city and says good-bye
• Veiled Daughter Descending watches from the gate of the city
• Vashtari wakes Storm Crow and gets his attention by turning into a bonfire of sunlight
  • She tells him to get himself to the southern gate to help defend the city
  • Vashtari gets to the southern gate and upon hearing the Fair Folk speak their offer of the 1000 vacant slaves
  • She spends appropriate essence to remain a bonfire of sunlight and accepts the gift after some internal torment

The one thousand shells of human life are set up in tents outside the city.

• Vashtari seeks out the Cerulean Caliph to ask about the cost for the additional water
  • Either tithe for each additional mouth to keep watered or help her get a promotion
  • She seeks out Veiled Daughter Descending for help which she offers freely, if only to tithe for the next few months in order to get time to see if these people could be healed

The celebrations of the day go off without a hitch (well, except the expected one).

• The couple get married
• The wall is completed with fireworks
  • The hobgoblins that Ghostfeathers told us about shrieked, appeared and died once they were cut off from their source of life
• Piero unveils his gift to the city - a machine made by the mountain people that communicates with all others like it - the Coral Archipelago, the Blessed Isle, Gem, the northern one was destroyed when its city was burned
  • The exalts leave the presentation as it sets in a little bit of disbelief and alarm at the gift
• No one gets much sleep again as the partying goes on all night long
  • The decision is made not to leave just yet as most of us are sleepy
• Vashtari makes sure that the one thousand are taken care of before we leave

Mercuryday, 17 Resplendent Earth

Leave Sand Covers Jade in search of Third Jaguar.

• Two days of travel later, a campfire is seen in the distance beside a Delzhan tent and horse
• As we get closer, it is not a campfire but seems to be more like a smith's forge - just embers
  • Closer yet, it is molten lion corpse
  • We see that there are bones and heads strewn about - those of a dozen lions, golden burning lions
• Third Jaguar offers us food since we've traveled so far
  • We tell him of the Fair Folk and the gift to the city which he finds useful; and everything else
  • He's just waiting for them to cool off so that he can take them back to Sand Covers Jade
• We take a meal with him and tell him everything that's happened since we last left him

Two days travel back to Sand Covers Jade.

Sunday, 21 Resplendent Earth

Prepare to go south to find Voss and Tallstone.