Destinies start drifting
The first thing Azis noticed as he swam out of the blackness was that his head hurt…a lot. Eventually other things came to him despite his closed eyes. Murmurs of voices. The feeling of sunlight on his skin. A breeze, carrying a familiar scent.
After a few moments, he chose to re-enter the waking world.
The first thing Azis noticed as he opened his eyes was the corpse of his long-lost uncle Babzim lying next to him.
NB: The following are summary notes, which I may or may not expand to full narrative in the future. The rush of energy I had at the start of the campaign is starting to drain. That, and if I write them out completely now, what will I do for NaNoWriMo? ~ FemmeLegion
With Azis awake, it’s finally an option to use the carpet to rescue Red and get everyone down the cliff. Morgaine was apparently trying to cut Red out of her harness despite the 100-foot fall that would cause. And nobody heard Red yelling at her to stop…odd.
Malak reappears shortly thereafter. Seraph pulls Azis aside and briefs him on how the fight went after Azis fell – they freed some slaves, including Uncle Babzim who insisted on attacking Seraph so as to reclaim his lost honour. Another freed slave is a Zinyini of the Jackal tribe, whom the Tal-Madge had blamed for the theft of their women and children (including Seraph’s mother Rashell). According to “Dog”, Seraph says, it had in fact been the drow who had abducted the Tal-Madge, and Babzim had corroborated the story. The drow have been making slaves of Zinyini, Azer, Bhuka, Asherati, whatever the jackal-headed thing is, and even Valites, and feed them a strange fungal root to keep them docile and dependent. Red believes it’s the same root that Florin needed in order to activate the bucket upon filling it with water from the Oasis of Inyanna. Seraph also mentions that it seems as though Florin had traveled to the same place that he visited with Morgaine and Abbadon, and short of more dream madness only the bucket would be able to transport them there.
Azis regains his bearings and realizes they are standing at the feet of the Cliffs of Insanity, which means they are only two day’s travel from the City of the Vale. Night is falling, which normally would be the best time to travel, but out of respect for the much-weakened freed slaves accompanying them, the party instead opts to make camp and set out at dawn. The red-skinned female, who calls herself Djeti, promptly celebrates her freedom by diving into the sand as though it were a pool of water. She emerges a short distance away, giddy with joy, and continues diving for several minutes. Finally Djeti has had her fill for a while, and sheepishly asks Red if she has any spare clothes, as she has just shredded hers in the sand.
Dog approaches Red and informs her that both he and Rasko (a freed Azer) are still dependent on the fungal root, and that they will die without it, but he believes that a small dose once or twice a day will be sufficient to keep them alive. When Red speaks with Djeti and the Bhuka (Stork-with-legs-in-mud) and the jackal-headed beast that will not reveal its name, she finds that their addictions, while still present, will not kill them if not indulged. All the same, Red is glad she hoarded an entire pouch’s worth. She makes plans to show the root to any and all herbalists and apothecaries she may meet, in hopes of figuring out how to cultivate more or duplicate it some other way.
As Red builds up a small fire and cooks dinner, the party converses amongst themselves, and in the end they decide that the most immediately pressing course of action is to return to the Vale and warn people of the drow threat rather than pursuing the Oasis of Inyanna and the magic bucket Florin had apparently used. Red asks Morgaine if she thinks she’d be able to wake up now and alert her family that the party would be returning to the Vale with dire news, a dead drow for her aunt Princess Benevida to question, and a few extra people for whom to care.
As Azis paces the perimeter of the camp scouting for any obvious dangers, he passes just a little too close to Gorlon for the jackal-man’s tastes, and receives a glower. Azis takes offense, and asks who the jackal-man is. The jackal-man maintains that he will not give his name to such inferior and impure creatures. Azis takes further offense, and a swing, which misses. The two trade blows again, and Malak is readied to knock one or both of them down herself, before Gorlon is able to talk the two men out of it (mostly by commanding the jackal-man to stop). The jackal-man relents, and begins to bitterly lament that he will need to not only ritually purify himself, but castrate himself after having associated with such creatures. Gorlon attempts to get him to talk more about himself, and the jackal-man proudly identifies himself as one of the first creations of Ni’Krowd.
As night falls, Malak approaches Dog, asking him if he prays. He snorts and asks “to what?” Malak is unaware that he is a former Ahmari, having died many years before that fateful altercation, so she is surprised by this absence of faith from a Zinyini. Dog says that while it’s obvious that Malak has met at least one of the gods in person, and while he genuinely means no disrespect to her having faith, he would dare (for example) Azis to climb the smoldering staircase up to the City of the Gods and meet T’Cidien and come away still feeling that the gods were worthy of adoration. Malak clarifies with Dog that he’s okay with her believing, but that he feels her faith is misguided, and wanders off very concerned for his sake. And very glad she’d just gotten back from another tryst with Einac – being around only one Zinyini who wasn’t sexually taboo to her had been rather frustrating, and now it turns out Dog would not be interested without a whole lot of philosophical work on her part.
Abbadon regretfully informs Malak that he won’t be able to help too much on watch, having promised to help Red bundle up the dead drow body, and feeling responsible for fellow Azer Rasko. Rasko is in particularly bad shape due to hard abusive life as a drow slave and his addiction to the fungal root. He finally wrangles Rosko to bed and camps next to him, trying to sleep on his other side so his unscarred ear is to the sky and not the ground.
Gorlon is awakened promptly at dawn by the jackal-man kicking him in the side. Azis once again begins patrolling the camp’s edge looking for potential trouble and the best route to the city, and once again is glowered at by the jackal-man. Azis asks if the jackal-man is going to throw another punch, and the jackal-man says that he cannot unless Gorlon commands it, as per the terms of the life-debt. Gorlon tries to insist that he did not want the life-debt and he would gladly free the jackal-man to return to his home and people, but the jackal-man simply shakes his head and declares that the idea of life-debt is something beyond the understanding of anyone else present. Along the way, he refers to the Zinyini pantheon as inferior gods, which prompts Azis to lunge at him again.
Seraph does the best he can to construct an elevated bier for uncle Babzim, in accordance with Zinyini death traditions. He wonders how far away it would be to reach Grandfather Hakim and inform him of the drow danger, and through both logic and mystic gift divines that they’re about a month away at normal pace, and three weeks away at a strenuous pace. Abandoning that plan, Seraph mumbles a prayer that the birds take Babzim’s soul to the City of the Gods, then walks away without looking back.
Blessedly, the morning’s travel passes without excitement. Red surprises the Zinyini men by marking their midday camping spot with a urine still. Seraph asks Red where she learned that, since that knowledge is traditionally only passed down among Zinyini men. After a meandering tale, Red eventually answers that someone not of the Vale or Zinyini taught her during a henching run in a completely different desert.
Djeti, still in very high spirits to be back out in the sand, starts singing. Azis shushes her because he knows from experience that anti-Valite Zinyini think nothing of striking at and raiding any group they think too weak to defend themselves, even this close to the City. Gorlon leans over and tells her that he would be very happy to trade songs with her once they were safe inside the city.
Morgaine reappears during the midday rest. She says that Benevida will gladly attempt to question the dead drow, that plans are being made to accommodate additional guests, and (she looks sheepishly at the ground as she says) Seraph is to accompany her to a royal ball to be held an evening or two after everyone is expected to return to the castle.
Travel through the late afternoon and evening passes uneventfully, except for a brief tussle between Abbadon and Red over Rasko. Red knows that his mind is nearly gone and he’s prone to wandering off and making noise, and she wants to put him on a leash of some sort. Abbadon insists that Rasko will never be chained again, and much like the night before spends a lot of his effort keeping him corralled and quiet.
Gorlon speaks with Djeti along the way, reminding her that she, too, is free – the party did not liberate her from the Drow just so they could keep her for themselves. She replies that she understand this, but she has also heard them discussing a possible need to visit the Oasis of Inyanna, and she has been there. She feels somewhat obligated to remain with the party until they visit, because she is quite confident they will require her help to get there since it’s under the sand. This floors Gorlon for a moment, since he had been raised to consider it simply a child’s tale – and Djeti takes advantage of his silence to explain that the oasis is a sort of chamber formed by walls of water flowing down through the sand, but it is most definitely underground.
As Azis scouts ahead, he crests a dune and notices a tent city sprawled in a crescent around the entrance to the “Endless Tunnel” leading to the City of the Vale. He remembers tales of this city as being inhabited by Zinyini who have “sold out” to the Valites to such degree that they even abandon their nomadic lifestyle. His disgust turns to impotent rage as he notices three of the white-clad Amazon Knights riding perimeter patrol. He turns back and tells the others, and insists that under no circumstances are they entering the city with a flying carpet visible.
Abbadon volunteers to try and leverage some of his status with Prince Lewis to get some pack animals to carry the gear they’d been carrying on the carpet up until now, and perhaps some other supplies. He takes Rasko and strides up to the (normal, non-Amazon) guards at the front of the city and introduces himself, asking for medical attention for Rasko and permission to speak with the captain of the guard because he has other requests as well. One of the guards obligingly leads Rasko off to what passes for a hospital in the tent city. The captain of the guard arrives quickly and tells Abbadon that the Empress herself had told him of the party’s imminent arrival, that he was to indulge all reasonable requests Abbadon might have, and that a barracks tent had been cleared out to accommodate everyone for the evening. Abbadon requests some horses and pack animals along with food, water, and a few medical supplies for immediate care before everyone makes the final press for the city.
Azis has rolled up the carpet and slung it on his back under his robes, and he helps load the packs onto dray beasts. As the sun sinks below the dunes, the party enters the tent city and are shown to the barracks tent. The jackal-man warns Gorlon that he will not be able to kill everyone in the city if it turned out to be a trap, and that Gorlon will need to run if violence erupts. Gorlon, convinced it’s not an issue but not wanting to offend the already touchy jackal-man, simply agrees to the plan.
Along the way, Malak’s attention is drawn to several divine sigils posted outside other tents. The guards escorting them explain to her that the tents are temples to different Zinyini gods. She marvels that each god/dess would have his/her own temple – she had been trained to priestess for any and all of them depending on the faithful’s need – and she feels the call of her old life tugging at her heart. After everyone is settled in, she checks with both Seraph and Azis to confirm that they feel they can guard themselves without her, and that they don’t “need” her for “anything else”, then slips out to the temple to Einac. The clergy are honored to have a Spirit Warrior as a priestess, and Malak spends the entire night there, reveling in her old calling.
Red leaves small offerings in each temple’s basket in keeping with a henchman’s tradition of thanking any deities native to the region in which she’s adventuring, then searches the city for an herbalist or apothecary. She finds a couple of them, and they are all utterly fascinated by the fungal root she shows them. None have ever seen anything even remotely like it before, and would have no idea how to cultivate it.
Azis is still slightly confused by the idea of sleeping at night rather than traveling, but his temporal disorientation from several days underground (and his lingering injury) means he’s not inclined to argue. They stand watch out of force of habit, but by this point Azis and Seraph are both becoming resigned to the notion that the Valite Royalty have too much invested in Seraph to allow any harm to befall him or his companions.
Malak returns in the morning, an emotional glow matching her body’s luminescence. The guards bring an amazing amount of breakfast, Abbadon dons every stitch of clothing he has in anticipation of the “cold” of the City, and the party is off to the Endless Tunnel. Thankfully it is not actually endless, but with the number of curves and switchbacks deliberately included in the tunnel’s construction, what would take two hours to walk in a straight line instead takes eight. The tunnel is smooth save for a pair of wheel ruts in the floor and another worn indentation in the stone along the left-hand wall. There are a few torches, though Malak obviates the need for too much light. Occasionally the party passes by some enterprising vendors who have set up carts in a few of the tunnel’s wider curves, selling fruit and beverages.
Morgaine reappears to say that accommodations have already been secured at the nicer of three inns just on the other end of the tunnel, since it would be another four hours’ walk to the castle from there. The Zinyini would have been up for the walk even though it would be deepest night when they arrived, but they had to consider the freed slaves who still accompanied them (Red, being the one with the stash of fungal root, had insisted that Rasko be allowed to continue traveling with them rather than remaining in the tent city for additional treatment).
The party arrives at the inn. Gorlon and Djeti promptly set to exchanging songs. Red contributes a few as well, but they are of less interest to Gorlon because he cares also about the people and history behind the songs themselves, which Red cannot always supply. Malak looks up, and nudges Azis and Seraph to join her in the inn’s courtyard, which boasts a view of the smoking staircase that leads to the City of the Gods – as the moon rises, it’s also possible to pick out the switchbacks carved into the volcano which belches forth the staircase. All devout Zinyini are encouraged to make the journey at least once in their lives, so Malak feels the need to point out how close they are, as a possible “up side” to everything they’ve suffered so far.
Azis, giving no sign whether he’s inspired or even interested by the sight, unfurls his prayer mat and begins his evening devotionals. Seraph also runs through some kata, though his do not have the spiritual significance of his brother’s. Malak flops onto the grass on her back, staring at the cloud above her, and knowing what lies beyond.
Azis is suddenly aware of someone immediately behind him. Startled, and furious at being startled, he whirls around to punch whomever it is. His fist collides with stone, and the eldritch-looking Valite woman standing before him merely smirks. In a low voice, she introduces herself as Princess Benevida, and mentions that she has come to collect the dead drow body from him. Azis immediately informs her that he has nothing to do with that damnable thing, that Abbadon and Red were bundling it up, and they’re inside. Benevida thanks him and goes inside. Azis makes sure nobody else is looking when he shakes out his hand and allows himself to feel his pain.
Benevida strolls into the inn where the others are singing (save for Abbadon, who is drinking heavily to make up lost time). She touches Abbadon with a very cold finger and asks where the drow body is. Abbadon looks to Red, who produces it. Benevida lifts her other hand, and black shadowy shapes coalesce and levitate the body out a window and away toward the castle. She then bids everyone goodnight and takes her leave.
The rest of the night also passes uneventfully, and since the jackal-man once again insists on rousing Gorlon at dawn, they make an early start and reach the castle as the sun reaches its peak. The jackal-man once again informs Gorlon that he might be unable to kill everyone if the need arises, and Gorlon once again wonders if it had been truly worth it to rescue him.
The party are shown to the same rooms as before, and the guests to their own quarters (save for the jackal-man since he refuses to stop shadowing Gorlon). A runner is sent almost immediately to Gorlon and Abbadon – in light of the dire news Morgaine hinted at earlier, Prince Lewis has chosen to come to the castle as well and would speak with the Azer. They are escorted to Princess Chance’s and Silas’s room, and the jackal-man stoically bears the intense heat which makes Abbadon very happy after the miserable trek through the cool shady Vale. Gorlon and Abbadon tell of their discoveries underground – though they both independently decide to forgo mentioning Abbadon’s strange journey to another world, opting instead to focus on the drow threat and mention how the drow are quite happy to make slaves of anybody, and have even been powerful enough to capture Valites, making them a threat to all peoples of the Vale. Prince Lewis nods grimly. Abbadon asks when the Azer will march against the Drow, and Prince Lewis shakes his head. He says that yes, the Azer will march, but he needs Abbadon and especially Gorlon for something even more important. Prince Lewis sees the need for a strong, united force against the drow, and he feels the Zinyini are not only particularly vulnerable, but a potential threat due to their fractious tribal nature – he fears the drow could easily set the Zinyini against each other (nobody in the room knows that it has already happened) or against any forces mustering against the drow. He wants for Gorlon and Abbadon to continue traveling with Seraph, and for them to try to make contact with as many Zinyini tribes – especially the zealously anti-Valite tribes such as Seraph’s and Azis’s – as possible. Gorlon is simultaneously honored and intimidated to be trusted with such a task, but says that he is uncertain how to demonstrate the Azer’s good faith to a naturally suspicious people. Prince Lewis smiles and wrangles a very large parcel from beside his chair. Gorlon unwraps it and sees three sets of the Azer-forged white armor worn by the Amazon Knights of the Vale – armor that is rumored to be absolutely unbreakable, though perhaps unfortunately shaped for a woman’s figure. Prince Lewis expresses confidence that a rare treasure such as this ought to give the Zinyini tribes some idea of how seriously the Azer want an alliance.
As the Azer rise to take their bows and their leave, Princess Chance mentions the court ball later that evening and invites them both. Prince Lewis asks if Gorlon still has his lute, and when Gorlon sheepishly admits that he used it underground to attack a cockroach since it was the closest thing to hand, the prince smiles and promises a replacement within hours, since he would like Gorlon to consider performing at the soiree.
Red, after stashing her personal effects in her room, immediately sets off looking for Adam. She encounters him walking down the hall with Empress Carawynne, insisting to her that there is NO arranged marriage planned, and… Red leaves him to business, opting instead to visit the quartermaster and account for all the gear the Valites had supplied her with for the trip, then maybe try to find the castle’s apothecaries or herbalists and see if they know anything about this drow root, and perhaps a means to cure addiction to it.
Seraph and Azis and Malak are just settling in when there is a knock at the door. Azis tenses, and Malak insists on being the one to get the door. It is a young page guiding Princess Brandy, who wishes to speak with them. The page offers the princess’s arm to Malak, who nervously guides her into the room and into a chair. Princess Brandy mentions the court ball later that evening, and expresses particular wish for Seraph to attend, though of course Azis and Malak are also invited. Seraph tells her that Morgaine had already mentioned the event, though she hadn’t seemed happy about it, and promises that he will be there. Malak decides not to mention that her promise to Einac means she would be going even if she wasn’t invited. After a bit of agonizing, Azis decides that this opportunity for him to come face-to-face with his gods will be worth the inevitably required bathing and perfumery, not to mention all the effort it will take afterward to re-mask his scent. Brandy smiles, thanks them, and promises to have suitable clothing sent to their quarters before dinner. She then raises her arm, and Malak again nervously leads her out the door to the waiting page.
After accounting for all gear returned or consumed, and being met once again with utter confusion and fascination by the castle’s herbalists with regard to the drow fungal root, Red decides it’s time to divide up the spoils of their adventure. She first visits the Azer’s room to find Gorlon has not yet returned, having felt the need to look in on Djeti and Stork and Dog after speaking with Prince Lewis. Abbadon, having been wholly unconcerned with such a primitive notion as “loot splitting”, insists that he trusts her to divide things fairly and she can go bother the Zinyini. For their part, the Zinyini have no use for any of the strange or exotic items which fascinate Red so (though Seraph and Malak each lay claim to one of the pendants that purportedly allowed the Crucians to see in the dark – Azis does not trust them). Malak voices concern that while perhaps one or two gems from their share might be useful to keep for bartering in the future, the Valites think very little of the Zinyini and might accuse them of theft if they themselves attempted to convert too many of them into more practical goods. Red nods understandingly, mentions that she will happily spend their loot for them if they’ll just tell her what they want and need, and takes her leave. Seraph silently ponders the potential irony of buying goods from pro-Valite Zinyini to be brought “home” to his anti-Valite tribe.
After making sure everything is squared away, Red returns to her room. Adam is there, the two of them snog for a little while, then Adam tells her about the court ball that will be held that evening, and asks her to join him. Red isn’t sure she can say yes strongly enough, and becomes even less sure when Adam says that they then need to go shopping so he can buy her a suitable dress and shoes.