RttToFC/Session16

Beyond the Tomb of Five Corners - Session 16

Kuros: OK! We ended with you driving the barbarians off, with the leader knocked unconscious

Silk: (four unconscious, one dead, one wounded/dead)

Astrid: "Well--that was a little unexpected" Astrid notes, dusting herself off after the success of her last attack. "Anyone have any idea what might have brought 'That' little crisis on?"

Astrid: "Aside from standard 'Oooh! Violence!' that remains distressingly common to this day?"

Silk smiles thinly. "We can find out ... once these wake up again."

Alyssa: "True enough. This many beastmen together suggests a tribal group perhaps? I've not had many dealings with them before."

Silk examines the barbarian leader, then binds the man's hands behind his back just in case

Alyssa: "If we take them over to the trees we can tie them up and question them at our leisure... unless those who fled return with reinforcements of course."

Silk: (how close are we to lake Uddjare?)

Kuros: (Still about 5 days travel.)

Kuros: There is a shimmer in the air, a few feet away. A short man dressed in plain clothes shimmers into existence.

Kuros: "Ah, excuse me."

Silk: "Or we can ask the other side." Silk looks over at where Thelaos is treating wounded victims of the barbarians.

Astrid: "Or that strange man who just appeared out of nowhere" Astrid helpfully pointed out

Alyssa swings her staff to point at the man. "Who are you?"

Alyssa activates Spirit-Detecting Glance

SonoftheMetalFlame raises an eyebrow, not bothering with looking threatened.

Thelaos stops what he's doing and stands, facing the newcomer while wiping the blood from his hands.

Kuros: "I'm the guardian of these people. I'm afraid it was I who arranged for the storm..."

Silk: "And do you have a name, 'guardian'?"

Alyssa: "These people?" Alyssa asks, prodding one of the beastmen.

Kuros: "My name is Ranbel." He turns to Alyssa. "No, not these disgusting beastmen. The people they were slaughtering. They drove us out of our town several days ago, and have been chasing us ever since."

Silk wipes his hand of a piece of cloth. "Is that so. Were those all of them?"

Alyssa frowns. "Do you have any idea why they would do that? Chasing you for days is quite an effort."

Kuros: He shakes his head. "I really don't now. I'm terribly sorry about the storm, but I thought anyone with the power to summon...those..." -he gestures at the agatae- "could help me."

SonoftheMetalFlame grins. "And in what way can we help?"

Astrid: "You're probably right" Astrid agrees, nodding her head, then sighing. "Well, it's a diversion, but probably an important one--I can't stand the whole 'Let's murder and pillage just because we can!' routine to be totally honest"

Silk's eyes narrow. "And anyone with the power to summon such a storm could simply ask for help, couldn't he?"

Silk: "It would have been polite ..."

Astrid: She then trails off then, and glances to Silk. "That's a good point too

Kuros: "I didn't summon it myself, of course. I had to make arrangements with the local weather god."

Alyssa: "I suppose what it comes down to, Ranbel, is what you want of us - beyond driving these off. And what reasons you can provide for us to aid you."

Silk: "Direct or indirect power, the point still stands."

Silk fixes the god - for that is what he takes him to be - with an evaluating stare

Kuros: He shakes his head. "Just driving off the beastmen is quite enough!"

SonoftheMetalFlame stops smiling, his face showing a hint of disappointment.

Alyssa: "Do you mean here - or this town of yours?"

Alyssa: "Because we have our own concerns beyond dashing around the countryside."

Silk: "So, let me sum this up: You want help and your first idea is to arrange for destructive forces of nature to be brought down in our way without regard for our safety or that of anyone else in the area, hoping to - by doing so - manipulate us into doing your job for you? Do I have that right?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "My goodness," Son says, looking at Silk. "No need to castrate the poor fellow. Nobody was hurt that didn't need to be. At least, not to my knowledge."

Kuros: Ranbel looks sheepish. "Well, I was desperate."

Silk shrugs. "Just establishing the facts." He smiles sweetly. "We wouldn't want any misunderstanding to color our interactions in a negative way."

SonoftheMetalFlame: chuckles, shaking his head.

Kuros: "And since you've driven them off, we should be able to return...if you'll just dispatch this fellow here..." he glances down at the leader.

Alyssa: "I think we'll want to have a word with him first. Just to make sure he doesn't have a master somewhere that we might run into later."

Silk: "Well, since we are here, why don't you tell us a little more about this whole situation? The whys and hows and whos ..."

Kuros: The leader suddenly stirs, and begins growl softly

Silk casually reaches down and exerts measured pressure on his carotid arteries, knocking him out again - and nothing more

Silk: "Ah, no interruptions just yet."

Kuros: Ranbel looks warily at the beastman. "As I said, they just came to our village one day. Many people have been fleeing south, because of that Bull fellow."

Kuros: "We tried to trade with them, but they just attacked!"

Astrid: "That tends to happen annoyingly often these days" Astrid muttered. "Diplomacy tends to get ignored in favor of taking what they damn well please... Bah"

Thelaos: "Are there many more of them?"

Silk: "And when and where was that?"

Kuros: "They killed our livestock, and pursued us south, for days now."

Alyssa: "Was this north or south of Lake Uddjare?" Alyssa asks.

Kuros: "I haven't heard of that place, I'm afraid."

Kuros: "Really, though, I thank you for your assistance. I don' twant to kee you from your journey..."

Silk nods. "I would advise you to be more polite in the future and chose your methods with more thoughtfulness. No matter how good your intentions might be."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "It was no problem. Now we just need to speak with this beastman here and then we'll be off."

Kuros: The beastman starts to stir again

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Well, what timing."

Alyssa activates Judge's Ear Technique. "Beastman, if you don't want to die I suggest not lying to us. Why were you chasing those people?"

Kuros: He growls, and struggles at his bonds. "Release me! Or my people will slaughter all of you!"

Silk pointedly turns his attention from Ranbel to the barbarian, his hands behind his back

Astrid: "Actually, I tend to differ" Astrid said, walking forward a bit. "We just smashed your last little party fairly effortlessly... In any case though--your people 'Slaughtering Us' is still highly in doubt, while you're presently in our power--I suggest a little more politeness in the future"

Silk smiles as Astrid preempts him on the point of manners

Kuros: He struggles again with his bonds, then growls. "We claim this territory as ours! They would not leave!"

Astrid: ((By the way, I'm activating Eye of the Cat right now--anything that cannot be targetted by standard Awareness, I perfectly am aware of))

Alyssa: "And how long have you claimed it?"

Silk: "Who is 'we'?" Silk/Arrad's tone is disdainful.

Kuros: He sneers back at Silk. "My tribe, the Blood Fangs! Our old lands were taken -" he sounds disgusted -" and we had to move on."

Alyssa: "So you came south. Claimed occupied lands and then ran off the occupiers? Is that how it is?"

Kuros: He growls at Alyssa. "It is our way."

Silk: "Who is it that took your lands?"

Kuros: "THe warlord...the Bull, he calls himself."

Astrid: "Figures" Astrid said, rolling her eyes. "It's still not how things work around here--you can't just 'Run somewhere else, run everyone else off their land, and then murder them all from behind as they try to flee' Really inappropriate in these parts"

Alyssa smirks. "In fairness, it was working quite well for them. Until we happened across it."

Thelaos seems unamused with the entire thing. "I suggest we leave him with the town's god."

Astrid: "Hence the 'Until we happened across it' " Astrid pointed out. "If it weren't us, it'd have been someone else--and random murder and mayhem tends to be looked down upon around these parts"

Astrid: "In fact, I think it would be appropriate to head back and try re-evicting the rest of them--there's more then enough empty land to begin with"

Silk shrugs. "Or we could support these poor people's efforts to reclaim their old lands from the Bull ..."

Astrid: "We could, but I don't really have too much sympathy for those who resort to violence first just because they had to get off their asses and move"

Astrid: "Especially when they ignored the very idea of coexistance"

Silk: "It's not so much a question of sympathy as it is of strategic convenience."

Silk: He turns to the barbarian again: "Who is your chief? Who ist your most powerful warrior, your god, your spirit-protector?"

Alyssa: "If we kick these Blood Fangs out of their current lodgings, what stops them from raiding more towns? And I don't advocate slaughtering them as a solution."

Astrid: "Point taken I guess"

Kuros: The leader growls again. "We follow Ferin, the Wolf Lord."

Alyssa: "What breed of pain in the... neck is he? God? King?"

Silk: "And where can we find him?"

Kuros: THe beastman shrugs. "He comes when he wants. I rule the people."

Silk: "And how many are of the people? Just these few you had with you?"

Kuros: He nods.

Silk sighs, disappointed.

Alyssa gives Ranbel a contemptuous look.

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Where would we find Ferin?"

Silk: "What will the remains of your warband do, now that they have lost you?"

Kuros: (OK, in the interests of time, we need to compress this a bit...are you guys going to force an agreement between the two, or what?)

Silk: (Silk is more interested in meeting that Ferin than in anything the beastmen themselves might do)

Silk: (also he'll want to know more about the forces the Bull brought to bear against them, how the war went, etc)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (Same.)

Alyssa: (offhand, forcing them to co-exist seems like the best option. clearly ranbel's people need protections and the tribe can provide that if they can be made to play nicely together)

Astrid: ((I'd probably push for some kind of agreement--or barring that, at least getting the wolf people to leave the poor people alone for a while))

Kuros: (OK, then if there are no objections, we'll say you resumed your journey, saying you forced an agreement between the beastmen and villagers?)

Silk: (maybe give him a message for that Ferin, something like 'if you want to talk, leave a message there-and-there' and then we could at some point send a demon to check out, if he did leave a message?)

Kuros: (OK.)

Kuros: Six days later, late in the morning, a huge lake appears over the horizon. It is very large, several hundred square miles, and surrounded by sparse patches of trees and grass.

Alyssa: "So this is Lake Uddjare. And surprisingly enough, I see no city."

Thelaos looks around from the air for any signs of civilization.. any old roads, landmarks, ruins..

Silk: "There we are. We should use the advantage the agatae give us to its fullest, map out landmarks and locate our competitors."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Good idea, Silk."

Silk: "Maybe one team for each task?"

Silk: "I admit I'm not much of an expert on cartography and old ruins, but if we find the camp of our rivals, well then I could perhaps gather some intelligence ..."

Astrid as The Raven, once again perched inside someone's luggage, poked it's head out for a second, glancing about the lake with a cunning eye (Eye of the Cat up again)

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I may be of more use on the cartography team."

Alyssa: "Well, since conversation is my apparent forte that suggests Silk and I go looking for any prospective enemies. And perhaps visit the nearest towns - someone there might shed light on this matter."

Astrid: Looked confused for a moment, then looked down again, seemingly starting to notice something, but couldn't quite figure out what it actually meant

Thelaos points from the Agata's back to the eastern edge of the lake. "Looks like the remains of a road there.. it may be a good place to begin."

SonoftheMetalFlame raises an eyebrow. "I'm not very good at reading birds, but is everything alright, Astrid?"

Silk: "Let us get a bit closer, establish a base camp - or a t least a spot where we can meet up again - and then begin searching. Alyssa is right in that any settlements in the region might make for a good starting point for the reconnaissance team."

Astrid still looked confused, but poked down at the lake itself, then at the roads surrounding it--then tried to point out how the roads never actually stretched out beyond a certain distance from the lake--then poked out that the lake seemed to be entirely 'Empty' as well

Astrid at least, as much as a raven could

Silk frowns. "What are you trying to tell us?"

Alyssa shakes her head. "Let's go down so she can take a form that can speak to us."

Astrid gave an annoyed caw, then pointed down at the 'Base Camp' area that was pointed out

Kuros: Where do you land?

Alyssa: (on that road Thelaos pointed out)

Kuros: So several miles from the lake on the east side.

Kuros: The road looks used, and is crisscrossed with shallow wagon ruts. It is purely dirt, however. No stone.

Thelaos jumps off the demon as soon as it touches down, glad to be on solid ground again.

Alyssa dismounts somewhat stiffly

Silk: (any signs of settlements near the lake visible during our flight ?)

Kuros: Not on the south side...you'd have to fly to the north to check that side.

Astrid: Upon landing, Astrid quickly transformed back into her human form. "Alright--wanted to point out a couple weird things I noticed while we were up there--I couldn't really make a whole lot of sense of it though"

SonoftheMetalFlame dismounts, stroking his agata gently.

Thelaos idly looks around at the immediate area and then gives his attention to Astrid.

Alyssa: "What did you notice?"

Silk hops off the Agata, sending his gaze back and forth in evaluating the area.

Astrid: "Oh!" Right, Astrid said, seemingly hesitating for a minute. "Okay, here's the story in short--the roads seem like they're all over the place, but they don't--at any point, go anywhere 'Near' the lake"

Astrid: "That's the first thing I noticed anyway--you might have picked up the same too... Next thing though was the lake itself? Looks nice and sweet? No, it's actually totally empty--it's a giant puddle of water with nothing inside, and no way of seeing down lower then a couple dozen feet

Astrid: "Here's the big thing though--in the area around here? Traced out by the roads? No Spirits, wild animals, nothing, it's a patch of ground with 'Nothing' there"

Silk: "That seems odd indeed. One would think, that roads would lead to cities or villages at the lake shore."

Astrid: "Too much Nothing"

Silk: "What area is that exactly?" Silk takes a stick and draws the contours of the lake as seen from the air into the dust, marking their position relative to it.

Alyssa: "How do you mean 'nothing inside'?" Alyssa asks, using Spirit-Detecting Glance to verifty what Astrid is seeing.

Silk wishes he had had the time to develop his Awareness Charms further

Astrid nodded, then filled in the area she noticed that had 'Nothing' in it with scribbles on the ground tracing it out

Silk: (How big is it relative to the lake, where is it in relation to our current position?)

Kuros: (The area extends a few miles away from the edge of the lake.)

Kuros: (That is, the area where there is no wildlife or spirits.)

Thelaos: "I would guess that this lake, then, is more than just a landmark near our destination.. speaking with any settlements or gods nearby may help us understand."

Alyssa: "Some kind of illusion perhaps?"

Silk: "As might visiting that place in person."

Silk: "Maybe it is a side effect of however they managed to hide an entire city."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Hmmm. I don't think it is an illusion. If there was a powerful demon here, it might have this sort of effect."

Thelaos: "I'm not certain the city is even here.. and heading for the center of this 'dead zone' without learning more about it may not be wise."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "And the mythology of the area is that 'monsters' drag people into this lake and eat them."

Alyssa: "Well, no need to be reckless I suppose."

Astrid: "Maybe the place is inside the lake?"

Astrid: "Like, underneath it?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Agreed. Whatever would cause this, it would not be anything that we can just walk up to and strike up a friendly conversation with."

Silk: "Well, we shouldn't head for the center of the 'dead zone' so much as scout out its borders, go a hundred meters in, see and feel what it is like."

Silk: "If there is danger, we should do it together."

Silk: "But I agree, that it would be best to seek out more information first."

Silk: "Fly a circuit around the lake, see if there are more places like that, whether we can find any villagers or signs of our rivals, then return to what Thelaos has code-named the Dead Zone."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Sounds like a good plan."

Alyssa: "Alright then."

Silk: "Together or separately?"

Silk: "The latter would be faster and we mean to avoid danger anyway at this point, so that would be my suggestion."

Thelaos: "Riding in twos should suffice."

Alyssa nods. "And keep any eye out for any settlements as well."

Thelaos sighs at the prospect of getting back on the demon after so short a time and climbs back onto it.

Astrid: "Alright, who should I go with then?"

Alyssa: "I think with Thelaos and Son this time. Now that you've pointed out what to look for, I should be able to see it as well."

SonoftheMetalFlame climbs on to the agata with Thelaos.

Silk bows his head fractionally, accepting Alyssa's reasoning

Thelaos nods in agreement with Alyssa. "We will ride around the north. I suggest we all be back within two hours time."

Astrid: "Alright then!" Astrid says, hopping up onto the pointed out agata, shapeshifting back to her more compact form, and settling down there, glancing about

Alyssa: "Well, we'll probably meet somewhere to the north. So we can decide then to come back here or if somewhere else looks more promising."

Silk: "We will no doubt meet at the counterpoint."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "No doubt."

Kuros: OK, so who is going where and doing what?

Thelaos: (Thelaos, Son and Astrid are flying counterclockwise around the area)

Thelaos: (Silk and Alyssa are flying clockwise)

Thelaos: (We're all looking for any other signs of life, settlements, etc.)

Kuros: (OK.)

Kuros: You find the following: There is large road to the northeast, that leads into a mid-sized city. You can't really tell more about it unless you want to get in visible range while riding demon wasps...

Kuros: The dead zone extends for several miles out from the edge of the lake all around it.

Kuros: A road continues south, as well.

Silk: (what's the distance between lake and city?)

Kuros: 10 miles or so.

Silk: (what's the diameter of the lake?)

Kuros: It is roughly circular, and is perhaps 60 miles at the center

Alyssa: (does the road going south look heavily travelled?)

Kuros: (Not particularly. You haven't seen anyone on it since you have been here.)

Kuros: You meet!

Silk: (and lets assume we have shared the information you gave us already)

Alyssa: "What ever's down there covers a huge area."

Silk nods. "Emanating from some point near the middle of the lake."

Thelaos: "We didn't close enough to see whether that city was deserted or settled.. but either way we may find someone or something there to answer a few questions."

Silk: "No signs of activity in the immediate vicinity - seems like that city you mentioned would be our best bet to uncover more information."

Alyssa: "It's the best lead that we have so far."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Then to the city we go."

Silk: "Even from a distance there should have been smoke from cooking fires, if it is populated."

Thelaos: "I didn't see any.. we'll see when we closer, but I think we should approach on foot. If it is populated, its people may not appreciate us bringing demons into their homes."

Silk nods. "A low profile would be advisable. We want to gather intelligence, not announce our presence."

Thelaos: "Then let's not waste any more time.."

Kuros: As you approach the town, you see it has crumbling walls. There are some tendrils of smoke rising from various parts. It isn't a big city, in fact, you can see all the way across it. The road leads right through a section of crumbled wall. There are no people wandering what passes for streets, and most of the buildings appear ruined or abandoned. None are over a story tall.

Kuros: Off to one side, near the center of the town, is a large, squat building with smoke rising from it. You can smell meat cooking, and hear voices form inside.

Silk: (ruined as if by time and neglect or deliberate - recent? - damage?)

Kuros: (Neglect.)

Kuros: The building is made of dirty stone, with a roof that looks to be falling apart in places.

Alyssa: "Not much of a town," Alyssa notes quietly.

Thelaos stops as the building comes into view, "Silk.. would you take a closer look?"

Silk seems to be the least interesting member of the group walking through the city, Easily Overlooked. At Thelaos's words he cocks his head and lets Essence sharpen his senses to an impossible degree, listening to the voices inside the building.

Silk: "Eleven different voices, some living here, some merchants, passing through from the north. Seems to be an inn or waystation of sorts."

Silk: "I can increase the accuracy of that information by entering personally, if you'd like that ..."

Silk: "In any case, we should pick a cover story."

Thelaos: "If they're merchants and travelers, we may as well introduce ourselves.. but if you think it would be best to go in undetected, I have no problem with that. You have more experience in these things."

Thelaos: "We may as well stick to the truth. Scavengers looking through the area for anything of interest?"

Alyssa: "Makes sense."

Silk shakes his head. "No, you're right, a select part of the truth may serve us here. Though we should be aware, that our competitors might well hear of our presence through these people."

Thelaos: "That's possible.. but we're bound to run into them soon. We don't know how much the Tepets, The Bull, or that abyssal already know. Some of them may already be here."

Alyssa: "Sometimes the easiest way to find someone is to make them seek you."

Silk frowns. "True."

Silk: "And through Astrid's shapechanging and my Charms we'll understate our numbers and capabilities, too."

Thelaos nods, "this may be the best way to catch them off guard. Make them think they have us.."

Alyssa: "And then turn the tables on them."

Silk: "Find out what they know, use their findings to support our own. Play them against each other. And of course, in case they openly move against us surprise them with our counter-attack."

Thelaos: "As far as we know, the only ones of us any of them are certain to be aware of are Son of the Metal Flame, Alyssa.. and maybe myself."

Thelaos: "Son was contacted personally by The Bull, Alyssa by the abyssal.. and I made my presence clearly known to the Tepet soldiers."

Alyssa: "Well, I suppose that playing bait comes with the territory. Our castes are not the most subtle, it is said."

Silk: "Not so much bait as our representation."

Alyssa: "In any case. The plan sounds good. We're far enough from the lake that I might be able to speak to a spirit."

Alyssa: "Such would be most likely to remember the events of the Shogunate."

Silk: "Now?"

Alyssa: "Well let's try people first."

Silk: "Lead on then!"

Alyssa walks into the inn and looks around.

Thelaos follows directly behind her.

Kuros: THe interior is decrepit and smokey, with thick, stained timbers running across the ceiling. There is no glass in the windows, only shutters. Seated at several rickety tables 7 men and 2 women. Along the back is a low bar, with bottles on the shelves on the wall behind it. A large, portly man is pouring drink. As you enter, the conversation stops and everyone looks at you.

Kuros: The portly man blinks, then says "Welcome, travelers!"

Kuros: "Fancy something to drink?" He gestures to a few stools at the bar.

Alyssa waves a hand in greeting and walks over to the bar. "What do you have for some thirsty new arrivals in town?"

Kuros: He chuckles. "WEll, lady, we ain't really been a town in some years. We're the Uddjare Crossroads. " He looks you up and down. "And I think we got some white wine down in the cellar, for a lady like you."

Kuros: He turns and yells through a doorway behind the bar. "Ey! Bridden! Get that bottle of white!"

Kuros: There's a muffled response, and the barkeeper turns back to you. "So, what brings you here? Merchants?"

Alyssa: "Scavenger Lords, they call us further south."

Alyssa: "Looking for marvels from the first age."

Kuros: A scrawny young man appears from the doorway with a dusty bottle. The barkeep takes it, and sets it on the counter.

Kuros: He produces a small, tiny sliver of blue crystal, and touches it to the bottle which promptly develops a thin coating of frost.

Kuros: "There! That should be cold enough!"

Alyssa examines the bottle curiously.

Thelaos takes a seat beside Alyssa and smiles a bit at the use of the crystal.

SonoftheMetalFlame smiles. "Fancy trick."

Thelaos: "You get travelers coming through here often?"

Kuros: "What ar eyou doing here, then? Most of the ruins are farther east."

Kuros: He nods. "Several a week, anyway. More, recently, though. What with the Bull."

Kuros: He coughs slightly and holds out his hand.

Alyssapays for the wine.

Kuros: He smiles, pockets the coins, and produces several semi-clean glasses.

Alyssa: "There's rumour of a lost city somewhere around here."

Alyssa: "I don't suppose you'd know anything about that?"

Kuros: He frowns. "Only thing we got here is the lake. You're the second person to ask about some city, though. A few weeks back, some of the Dragon-Blooded came through here, asking."

Thelaos quirks an eyebrow, "Not from the Realm..?"

Alyssa: "A few weeks ago? They must have moved fast."

Kuros: "They were only here a few hours. And no, they weren't from the REalm. Didn't say who they were with that I recall..."

Thelaos: "Hm. I see.. so I take it this place isn't exactly a first age ruin. What happened here, if you don't mind my asking?"

Kuros: "People don't want to stay here, what with the Lake. You know about it, right?"

Alyssa: "Something about monsters?"

Thelaos shakes his head and takes a sip of wine.

Kuros: "Just don't go near it after dark..."

Thelaos: "What happens then?"

Kuros: "During the day, you're ok if you don't try to go in the lake. But if you go in there at night, you won't come back."

Kuros: He shrugs. "No one knows. You just disappear."

Thelaos: "I suppose I can see why everyone left."

Alyssa: "So what happened to the Dragonblooded? Did they vanish as well?"

Silk meanwhile has set himself up with an empty mug, busy being ignored while listening to every word spoken in the room

Kuros: "They left to the south.."

SonoftheMetalFlame just idly looks around the room, not appearing to be interested in the conversation.

Alyssa: "Well, as long as they didn't find everything worth taking, not really any business of ours."

SonoftheMetalFlame moves his attention to the bartender. "Is there anyone at the crossroads that knows a bit about the local history?"

Kuros: "Only me and Bridden live here right now, and we've only been here a few years. We just took this place over when we found it."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Found it? So this whole settlement was fully abandoned?"

Kuros: He nods.

Alyssa: "You mentioned the Bull earlier. Is there any more news of him? We ran into some warbands moving south, trying to avoid him."

Kuros: "From what I've heard, he's moving south. His main army seems to be several weeks journey to the north, right now."

Alyssa: "Well that's not the best of news."

Alyssa: "Still, if he's treasure hunting, you said that there were ruins to the east, right?"

Kuros: "From what I've heard. Every so often, a Scavenger Lord like you folks comes through, and talks about them. It's a long journey, though."

Alyssa: "Probably not going to be his goal then. Shame."

Thelaos places his drink back on the counter and stands up, "Thanks for your hospitality, sir. We've got a long journey ahead of us, so we'll be on our way. From the sounds of things, we should put as much distance between us and that lake as we can before the sun sets."

Kuros: He nods. "Safe journey!"

SonoftheMetalFlame stands, stretching his arms over his head. "Before we go, though, you wouldn't mind if we had a look around the abandoned buildings here, would you?"

Kuros: "Help yourself. I"ve been through all of them, ain't nothing worth keeping."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Thank you."

SonoftheMetalFlame exits the building.

Thelaos heads outside with Son

Alyssa follows. "Talking to a spirit seems like the next sensible step," she says quietly.

Silk remains where he is sitting, his presence overlooked and forgotten. He stays a while longer after the others have left, listening to anything their hosts may speak about in their absence

Alyssa: "Somewhere secluded, like an abandoned building would probably be best."

Thelaos nods, "let's go."

SonoftheMetalFlame follows Alyssa and Thelaos, looking for a suitable building.

Kuros: There's quite a few abandoned buildings

Alyssa looks for any dematerialised spirits.

Thelaos activates spirit-detecting glance as well and keeps an eye out for any himself.

Kuros: You see an old man in ragged clothes standing behind you. He was apparently following you. (He's a spirit.)

Alyssa enters one of the abandoned buildings, not letting him know that I've seen him.

Thelaos follows Alyssa's lead

Kuros: He follows along silently, observing.

Kuros: There's no spirits in this building

Alyssa waits until I'm out of sight of the street before turning to the old man. "So, is there something you wish to say to us?"

Kuros: He looks surprised, then says. "There's not much left of my city, but I like to keep an eye on what goes on it nonetheless."

SonoftheMetalFlame raises any eyebrow and looks at Alyssa. "I trust we've found a spirit?"

Alyssa nods. "So you're the city father then?"

Kuros: He nods.

Kuros: "And who are you?"

Silk: Around this time Silk leaves the inn and begins to search the others, moving silently and along paths that are difficult to observe, sneaking up on his Circlemates.

Alyssa: "Seekers after the past, as we said in there. Specifically we're looking for a city named Shebeth."

Kuros: He gives a short laugh. "Seek it in the lake, then."

Silk: At some point the others notice that Silk has joined them inside the abandoned building.

Kuros: He sounds bitter.

Thelaos: "What exactly happened here? What's in that lake?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Forgive me, spirit, but could you materialize that I may see and speak with you?"

Kuros: "May the guardian drag your corpses down to that cursed city!"

Alyssa: "Something of a sore spot for you?"

Kuros: With that, he turns and begins walking away, laughing

Alyssa: "There seems to be a rather strange lack of spirits there, which suggests there's more than merely a misplaced city involved. And besides that, what happened to your own city?"

SonoftheMetalFlame looks for the spirit.

Kuros: (You see him walking away)

Alyssa: "You will excuse me for saying it is not in the best of condition."

Kuros: He continues ignoring everyone, and disappears into another building farther down the street

Alyssa: "Rude."

SonoftheMetalFlame chases after him. "Spirit, understand us. We seek Shebeth because it cannot fall into the hands of the Bull or of an Abyssal Exalt that appears to be interested."

Silk sighs. "Not for the first time I wish I could see or at least hear these invisible spirits."

Alyssa: "You're not missing much."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "And I... I think I may have had something to do with its construction."

SonoftheMetalFlame pulls out a coin from his pocket.

Silk: "Did you catch the spirit's name?"

Silk: (let's assume Alyssa fills me in on the god's side of the conversation, ok?)

Alyssa: "We didn't talk for long."

Kuros: The spirit looks at the coin, and intense rage fills his face. "Get out of my city, destroyer! GET OUT!"

Thelaos takes a few steps toward Son and the spirit, more surprised by Son's words than the city father's.

Silk has by now followed Son out onto the street, watching and listening from afar

Alyssa: "Trouble." Alyssa moves closer, holding her staff ready to wield.

SonoftheMetalFlame stops, his expression stoic. "I want to bring an end to whatever curse this city has brought with it. I want to help you and this area become healthy again. I just need your help."

Silk: "What?"

Kuros: The spirit suddenly shimmers and disappears.

Alyssa: "Well that was abrupt."

SonoftheMetalFlame sighs. "Yes, it was."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "If I had known he would react that way, I probably would have kept my mouth shut."

Alyssa: "What did you show him?"

Thelaos: "Son.. what did you mean by what you told him? What does that coin have to do with the lake?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "The coin that I took from Silk at the manse. If I recall correctly, it came from the Dragonblooded men."

Silk: "Or the Abyssal."

Alyssa: "Hmm. Interesting that it got that sort of reaction."

SonoftheMetalFlame looks at Thelaos, his expression hard to read. "When I took the coin from Silk, I had a vision. Caran and I stood at the top of a large, gold pyramid, a marvelous city spread out before us. Caran said that 'the cleansing was complete', though I do not know what that meant."

Silk frowns. "If it is an euphemism, then it is an ominous one."

SonoftheMetalFlame holds out the coin, tracing along the edge of a worn-out shape. A pyramid.

Alyssa: "Do you remember anything else about the city?"

SonoftheMetalFlame shakes his head. "No, I do not. I was hoping this spirit might be able to help."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "And on some level, I suppose he did tell us more than we knew."

Silk: "Well, he did tell us to seek Shebeth under the lake and spoke of a guardian, if I understood Alyssa correctly. That's very useful information."

Thelaos: "I understand.. in that case, it seems our only course now is to investigate the lake itself."

Alyssa: "True. It suggests that Shebeth really is under the water somehow. And it doesn't take much to match the guardian to the monster."

Alyssa: "Is anyone good at swimming?"

Silk eyes the surroundings. "I don't sense anyone within hearing distance, but maybe we should take that discussion elsewhere anyway ..."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Yes, moving away is probably a good idea."

Silk: "Anyway, Alyssa is right, exploring under water is a problem in itself, even without that 'guardian'."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "This is a long shot, but perhaps the guardian will recognize us. Or at least me."

Silk thinks. "On that matter, it might be an important distinction whether the guardian is the one hiding the city or whether it is a separate effect."

Thelaos nods, "I can swim.. but I doubt I would make it to the bottom of a lake and back. And if anything down there means us harm, I won't be much use in a fight."

Silk: "A powerful demon, maybe one such as those Son can summon or several of them could account for the vanishings, but hiding an entire city would indicate a much greater danger."

Alyssa: "I'm half tempted to suggest draining the lake, I have no idea if that's possible in this terrain though."

Silk: "The city was once capable of flight, Kainon said. It might suffice to command it to rise from the waters."

Silk: "IF we could reach it ..."

Silk: "Or even find it."

Thelaos: "We *could* wait for nightfall and approach the water. At least we will learn what comes out of it."

Silk: "Perhaps not the water just yet, but experiment with the dead zone. What happens to us, if we're *just* inside it at nightfall."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "I think that may be best. We should certainly be able to defend ourselves, and I fear that we do not have days to spend trying to figure out an alternative."

Alyssa: "It's got possibilities."

Thelaos: "We're in agreement, then."

Silk nods.

Thelaos: "If there is nothing left but to prepare for nightfall.."

Silk: "Let's set up camp outside the zone, then enter it shortly before nightfall. If nothing happens, we can proceed deeper."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Agreed."

Thelaos takes a seat on a nearby rock and draws his frost-covered sword, shards of ice falling to the ground as it breaks free of the sheath. He begins sharpening it with a wetstone.

SonoftheMetalFlame: (( Fast-forward to night! :D ))

Kuros: It is now night!

Silk has spent the time consolidating everything they have learned about the lake into a rudimentary map of the lake. And the usual obsessive checking of his weapons, of course.

Kuros: It is now dark, and there is not sound inside the dead zone. No animals, not even the sound of rustling leaves.

Kuros: Are you just standing around, or do you go farther in?

Silk: (if nothing happens after half an hour or so, we'll go deeper, I'd say. repear until something happens ;) )

Kuros: A few hours after dark, you have made it to the shore of the lake, then.

Kuros: The waters are perfectly calm, like flat black glass.

Kuros: An area a few yards out from the shore begins to bubble, and the water begins to bulge upward.

Silk: "Ok, we wanted something to happen and something is happening ..."

SonoftheMetalFlame smiles at Silk's words.

Silk draws his knives behind his back

Thelaos brings his daiklave to the ready and takes a step back from the edge of the water.

Thelaos: "Let's see what this lake has been hiding.."

Kuros: WIth a splash, a figure rises from the water, and floats gently above the surface, which has returned to stillness. The figure is perhaps 4 feet tall, and wrapped in a tattered, black robe. It is very gaunt, and a hood is pulled over its face. A dim, greenish light emerges from beneath the hood.

Kuros: It begins to float toward the shore slowly. An echoing voice emerges from it, as if two beings are speaking slightly out of sync.

Kuros: "I see Miklos...and I see Qua-koran...and Shadow...but where are the others?"

Thelaos looks at Son of the Metal Flame.

Kuros: The voices are hoarse, and thready, a voice of an old woman.

SonoftheMetalFlame shakes his head. "One has been taken by unknown men to the Underworld. I do not know of any others."

Kuros: "And you have new companions. Ones not known to me."

Alyssa: "The 'Mistress of Pacts Sealed in Blood might be the fifth," Alyssa notes distastefully.

Kuros: "You told me you would return." She floats a bit closer, and from underneath her robes she pulles a long, thin staff made of black material topped with a dull, green gem.

Kuros: "And what to do when you did."

Kuros: (Join battle!)

Kuros: (We'll say Astrid is...uh...scouting...something)

Silk takes a step back and waits to see what this mysterious entity will do

Kuros: The figure drifts toward silk, eerily silent. The staff blurs forward in three quick strikes, the gem flashing with each blow. (21, 19, and 18 dice.)

Silk dances between the strikes with uncanny grace, his figures never taking him closer than a few centimeters to the staff (SSE x3)

Silk: Finishing with a deep bow Silk throws his arms out to both sides, the knives flashing. Around him the silence of the night is broken by the rustling of leaves, the whistle of a sudden gust of wind and shadows like locusts swarming around him, obscuring his figure. When the illusory insects disperse he is gone.

Thelaos sees the old woman attack Silk and him vanish in the blink of an eye, but does not hesitate to move in and test her defenses with a quick strike from the daiklave.

Kuros: She effortlessly knocks the daiklave away in a shower of green sparks.

Kuros: The figure floats toward Thelaos, spinning the staff in a series of strikes at the head.

Thelaos is unmoved, stopping the blows in flashes of essence and green sparks. His caste mark begins to glow faintly on his forehead.

SonoftheMetalFlame sinks into his usual stance, one leg forward and the other back, crouched, his body facing toward the woman sideways. His breathing slows... (Aim, acting tick 7)

Alyssa circles the woman, forcing her to split her attention and looking for a point of weakness. (Aim)

Thelaos does not see Silk, but knows he is somewhere close by.

Thelaos: "Silk.. I'll draw her attention for you."

SonoftheMetalFlame steps forward slightly on his forward foot, then suddenly leaps forward from it in two strides. His legs kick him off the ground and into a spin, arms held in to increase his momentum. He lands near the demon on the toes of one foot and he releases his momentum, pirouetting low on the ground as his claws catch at her form.

Kuros: The figure floats upward, but your claws catch and tear at her shriveled legs.

Kuros: The figure lets out a harsh screech, and green fire erupts from the furrows you tear in her legs. (3 HL)

Kuros: The figure lashes out at Son, the gem on her staff erupting into green fire that courses down over the length of it

SonoftheMetalFlame: (Ess 6 breaks through ISC, Twilight Anima negates damage)

Alyssa rakes the tip of her staff through the lake water suddenly, hurling a flurry of water droplets at the guardian to distract her from the true attack as she pivoted her hands at one end of the staff to bring the other, still dripping, end down upon with the inevitability of falling timber. "Defiance of the Small Gods," she announced, her caste mark blazing. White vines of essence reached out to pin the figure for the attack to hit.

Kuros: The figure raises the blazing staff, attempting to knock your blow away, but fails.

Kuros: THe figure hisses as you crack her on the head. (1 HL)

Kuros: She turns toward Alyssa, hissing strange, twisting words, and slams a quick series of blows at Alyssa.

Kuros: 10 extra, 7 extra

Alyssa: (Iron Skin Concentration, diff 6)

Alyssa: (channel conviction: I don't wanna die! ?)

Kuros: You negate one blow...

Kuros: But the other slams into your head. (3 HL)

Kuros: The figure platns her staff in front of her, green fire erupts from it, illuminating the darkend forest with a sickening green radiance

Kuros: She begins to chant in a strange tongue...

ExBot: Kuros rolled 9 dice and achieved 2 successes. [ 9 3 4 1 2 5 2 8 5 ]

Kuros: (Does that beat anyone's MDDV?)

Silk: (nah)

Alyssa: (hardly)

Kuros: (That's a useless ability. Hm. Moving on.)

Thelaos has been stepping around to the demon's side, his castemark slowly growing stronger and brighter as he focuses his next attack. In a glorious flash of essence, his anima flares into its full form - a great stag with a shimmering golden mane and burning antlers. As the battlefield is fully illuminated, his eyes flash with the light of Sol Invictus and the First Blade of the Rising Sun is driven unerringly toward its mark.

Kuros: The figure screams as your daiklave pierces her, and golden-green fire erupts from her mouth. (8 HL Agg)

Silk: As Thelaos comes at the creature Silk is suddenly exactly behind her, one knife aimed at the back of her neck, the other angling toward where a human would has her kidneys. Then with a vicious twist he kicks of her back to fly in a high arc backwards, seemingly dissolving into a flock of birds in midair as he once more hides from sight.

Silk: (damage rolls turn up no successes, grrr!)

SonoftheMetalFlame sinks back down into his stance...

Kuros: The figure holds her staff above her head, and screams arcane words. Tiny balls of green fire coalesce and dance around her, then burst out in all directions from you with a horrific screaing.

Kuros: (Undodgeable. Need PDV higher than 10 to parry them. Anyone?)

Alyssa's anima blazes with the intensity of the sun as she scatters the green fire away from herself.

Silk: Silk is the night, everywhere and nowhere at once. And even this demon can't attack the darkness.

Kuros: Thelaos and Son both take 1 HL

Silk: A diminutive shadowy figure appears sitting on Son's shoulder, whispering into his ear: "Do you desire to see this one extinguished forever or merely dead?"

SonoftheMetalFlame whispers, "Merely dead."

Silk: "Understood," the figure hisses and disappears back into the darkness from which it materialized.

Kuros: The figure then rushes toward Thelaos, her blazing staff arcing toward him (14 HL bashing)

Kuros: (Thelaos is unconscious, now)

Alyssa jumps in front of the figure, standing over Thelaos and bringing up her staff in a rising strike with both hands. Golden light blazes around her, white vines coiling in all directions, carving a path through the green light for the staff to strike through.

Kuros: The figure screams again, as pieces of her robe are town away, revealing a withered, ancient husk with dull, grey skin. (4 HL Agg)

Kuros: With a final moan, she collapses to the ground, the green fire flickering and dying.

Alyssa: "Well that went smoothly."

SonoftheMetalFlame sighs, standing upright. "Yes, smoothly."

Silk materializes standing above her, his knife at what passes for her throat

Silk: "So, dead, not extinguished you said?"

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "I would like to be able to summon her again when the time is right."

Kuros: Thelaos manages to regain consciousness!

Silk nods. "But for the moment we forcefully dismiss her?"

SonoftheMetalFlame nods.

Silk pushes the knife down with finality, ending the demon's presence in Creation

Kuros: The demon's form wavers and disappears.

Thelaos coughs up some blood, and aside from lightly bringing one hand up to his broken ribs, does not move much.

Alyssa: "Fight's over Thelaos."

Thelaos: "You destroyed her. Any idea who she was..?"

Silk cleans off his blades and lets them disappear again.

Silk: "The guardian, I presume."

Alyssa: "I suspect she was sent as a guard by a previous incarnation of our Circle."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Boszorkany. No doubt my previous incarnation - Miklos - summoned her."

Silk: "That seems likely. Of course, if that means the city is now unguarded, we will have to move quickly - once you are recovered enough."

Silk frowns. "If it was me who had taken those hits, I would be dead, no doubt."

Thelaos shakes his head, "that will take days, Silk. Leave me here if you must."

Silk: "Can you not heal yourself like you did with those Dragonblooded?"

Silk: (how high are people's animas?)

Alyssa: (way past 16)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (Mine is just at 9)

Silk: "Our first priority now is to hide our Animas, though."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I don't think there's any risk of being discovered out here."

Alyssa: "We can probably rest here while our animas fade. It's unlikely the locals will come out to investigate during the night."

Silk frowns, then nods. "We still should move out of the dead zone. We don't know for certain whether that was the only guardian."

Kuros: (You guys want to end here?)

Kuros: 9xp!

Kuros: On the next episode...what dark secrets will they uncover beneath Lake Uddjare? DUN DUNDUN!

Alyssa: when's the next game

Kuros: Next Friday

Kuros: Gonna shoot for 2pm