The Story

Session XI (RL: 7/27/02)

• August 12th, 183 2C. Thurton and Creyton discuss the best path over breakfast. Ana soon comes down to join them. The three of them eat and bathe. Thurton and Ana go off to find supplies and horses. Aliana, Sperin and Kira come down eventually and have eggs for breakfast. Aliana mentions that she has an aunt that lives in Bibon and she asks the innkeeper for some information. Kira, Sperin, Aliana and Creyton head off to the Bizarre of Bibon. Sperin buys some beef jerky. Aliana gets pickpocketed and chaos ensues when Kira notices. They eventually catch and question Geddes, acquiring back what was stolen after quite a bit of struggling and threatening. Geddes gets a hold of a necklace Kira wears and swallows it. They make him gag it back up. Once Geddes realizes that Kira is Guild, he chills out and starts asking her questions about it. Geddes becomes Kira's biggest fan. Sperin buys a needle and thread once they are back in the Bizarre. Creyton hangs out and people watches. Aliana, Kira and Geddes go to a doctor's office looking for hints about Ali's aunt while Sperin shops for more jerky. Sperin catches a glimpse of the men with the black studded leather armor. He gathers the others then, with Cretyon, creates a distraction while the others flee back toward the inn, Geddes leading them through the back alleys. Aliana, Creyton, Geddes, Sperin and Kira meet back at the inn. They leave a note for Thurton and Anastasia and prepare to flee. The men show up at the inn and they flee out the back. Geddes leads Sperin, Kira and Aliana down through the sewers while Creyton fends off the two men, leading them away. The group led by Geddes is soon shown the way out of the city. They decide to head south. Meanwhile, Thurton and Ana have haggled their way, after a fair price, into ownership of six horses and quite a bit of equipment for traveling. Creyton searches the city for them, being chased by the two men. Finally, Creyton finds the pair. They mount up and flee the two men, leaving the city to the north. They head east over the plains and push on until after dark, camping not far from the village of Constine. Sperin scares a poor farmer into giving the other half of the group (him, Aliana and Kira) a ride south in his cart, then talks about yams to the gentle man. They walk a bit further, then finally camp along side, but out of sight of, the road.
• August 13th. Creyton, Thurton and Anastasia travel east until they come across the ancient road. They follow that north by northeast for the afternoon until they enter the pine forests in the early evening. Kira, Sperin and Aliana sleep in later than intended because Kira slept through her watch. They walk south along the road until they spot a bridge in the distance. The mighty structure spans the Great River. There are guards posted there. Ali tries to pose as Sperin's woman, but he denies it. They exchange a few odd questions, then cross the bridge. They check out Brian Sharpe's musuem of Sharpe's Bridge. It is about the history and preservation of the bridge. It is also something of a tourist trap. Brian gives them a tour of the musuem and they decide to get a room there. That evening, they meet Julio, who gives boat tours. They negotiate for a boat ride the next morning. Sperin meditates while Ali and Kira get some supplies. They sleep in a suite with a nice view of the bridge. Thurton, Anastasia and Creyton sleep among the pines. Thurton cooks and Ana has a dream about being painted by a woman.
• August 14th. Kira, Aliana and Sperin ride with Julio in his boat, passing under the bridge, then moving along the river. The Great River flows through hilly terrain as Julio shares with them wine, cheese, and music. At dusk, they camp along the banks of the river. Julio and Kira share cigerettes. Thurton, Anastasia and Creyton travel east along the ancient road through the pine forest. As they go, Creyton tells how, a long time ago, he was stationed in this area as a Ranger. He avoids any further conversations on the topic. Ana mentions how, in her youth, her family traveled around quite a bit and, while she's never been here, all of this lately reminds her of the old days. Thurton spends a lot of time bonding with the horses, trying to communicate with them.
• August 15th. It is another day in the boat for Kira, Aliana, Sperin and Julio. Julio flirts blatantly with the women. The three passengers take turns chatting with their guide and sleeping. The hills soon become covered in trees as the Great River meanders ever on. Sperin takes a guitar lesson from Julio. Julio serves dinner on the boat and mai for dessert. People freak out and have varied visions. Kira floats away downstream to come back to her senses several hours later. Another day through the pine barrens for Thurton, Anastasia and Creyton. The weather is pleasant enough. During the afternoon, they pass their first person in two days. A merchant with a cart. He says he is heading to Bibon with some carved pine furniture. Tries to sell some to the group, but they obviously decline. Ana has another dream, which she later shares. This time she was a very old, very powerful woman. She had been sleeping for a long time when the moonlight grew so bright that it woke her up. There was a green halo around the moon.
• August 16th. Slightly hung over from the night before, Kira, Aliana, and Sperin continue along in the boat. Julio sees them safely along as he plays guitar on occasion. He flirts some more. Sperin, Kira and Aliana discuss their mai induced dreams. Sperin and Julio do a bit of fishing. They spot a giant snake-like creature gliding through the water. They pass an island in the river. By afternoon, they see ancient pillars in the water and on the southern bank of the Great River. Julio anchors the ship and then sets up camp on the shore while Alians, Sperin and Kira explore the nearby ruins of the First Fort. When they get back from their explorations, Julio serves fish for dinner. After dinner, they leave Julio to watch the boat, though they take what is left of his mai with them. There, in the ruins in the night, Sperin and Aliana take the mai while Kira watches. The night is filled with shadows and both of the druggies begin to freak out while Kira tries to keep them calm. Finally, they come down and head back to camp. Kira sleeps in Julio's tent. Still more riding along the ancient road through the pines for Anastasia, Creyton and Thurton. They pass a group of 20 soldiers marching the opposite direction. The soldiers are pretty tight-lipped about their destination, but warn that things are unstable and it might not be safe out on the road. It seems the Senate is teetering on falling apart. Discussion is had about this latest news as they travel the rest of the day. Thurton continues his efforts with the horses. Creyton seems oddly bothered by the news from the troops.
• August 17th. Creyton, Thurton and Anastasia come to a fork in the road and Creyton leads them to the southeast instead of continuing east. The road winds downhill, turning south, through some pretty rough terrain. Pine trees eventually give way to mixed forest. A little bit after noon, they stop to eat on the banks of the Great River. A bridge spans the river here. Creyton explains that this is the northern fork. There is an island then another bridge to the true south bank. There is also an elvin village on the island. Ana suddenly starts acting very strange and she goes over to the Great River and starts talking to the water. She explains that she was communicating with Kira. It seems the others have arrived that day at the First Fort. They took a boat down the river. They are going to wait there for the this group to arrive. Creyton leads Thurton and Ana across the bridge and onto the island. They run across an elvin hunter who warns them of strange magics in the woods, but the language barrier halts much further understanding. Thurton communicates some with the horses, who seem fine. They reach the southern fork of the Great River as is grows dark. Camp is set up and the full moon shines down on the river. It is a beautiful place. They sit on the banks of the river and talk, staying up later than they should, because they know their friends are safe and the destination is near. Suddenly, around midnight, the moon fades away to nothing, leaving just traces, a greenish halo, of its existance. Many minutes later, the moon returns to normal. It is all a bit unsettling. Creyton says they should get some sleep so they can reach the First Fort the next day. The morning for Kira, Aliana and Sperin is spent quietly, dealing with hangovers from various highs. Naps are taken to recover. Aliana meditates and Sperin goes off to do some of his elvin katas. Kira whittles for awhile. Aliana and Kira decide to further explore the ruins, checking out various old buildings. They eventually come across Sperin and he joins them. Kira chips off a sliver of a black obelisk that now lies on its side, covered in vines. They head back to camp. Kira goes off and communicates with Anastasia, using her water vision. They share information about each other's location and where to meet. Sperin searches for a source of fresh water since the Great River is somewhat brackish. He eventually returns with some. Aliana spends the afternoon meditating. Julio and Kira go off for "guitar lessons" and are gone for while. They are waiting for their friends. Night comes people make it back to camp. Sperin spots a strange glow and wakes Aliana and Kira. They investigate, of course. They follow the strange light back to the ruins. There, they spot a strangely glowing figure moving along. They try to interact with no success. It keeps moving. They spot a couple other glowing figures moving as well. The creature passes right through some dense shrubs, nearly vanishing. The trio push after and Sperin nearly falls into a hole where it had vanished. Kira climbs down and her eyes begin to glow red. Ali and Sperin follow eventually. Aliana's stone begins to glow with a soft green light, illuminating their way as they follow where they think the creature went. They way leads down to a huge chamber under the earth. Ten of the glowing etheral creatures are gathered. They seem to perform some sort of ritual. The ten somehow become one. At the front of the room, near the altar, and eleventh one appears. The one that was ten kneels and Sperin and Kira kneel near it. Aliana moves to the front and tries to step inside the one there. Her body quivers and she is throne to the floor, every muscle aching. At Aliana's insistance, Sperin tries to kneel inside the ten who are one and he suffers much the same fate. From a hole in the ceiling through which moonlight spills, yet another figure, bathed in white, descends into the chamber. It carries a blade and lays it down on the altar. This one fades back up and vanishes again. Suddenly, the ten that became one become ten etheral figures again. Green and blue light reaches out from each of them and begins swirling around the chamber. The ground rumbles. The light gets brighter and the rumbling grows stronger. The ten vanish, as does the one figure in front. Pillars begin to crumble. Sperin races forward and grabs the sword on the altar. The three race out, but things look grim. From Aliana's stone, a sphere of green suddenly protects her and Kira from harm. A few of the pillars come down entirely. Then, everything quiets. A man rises out of the chaos. Sperin sees him. Kira hears him. They bring the confused man back to camp. They believe he is Morinskar. He confirms their beliefs by stating that is his name, but he seems very confused by everything. They talk all night. In the morning, before dawn, Julio takes his guitar and leaves them. Kira gives him a small, whittled boat as a parting gift. As the sun rises, people fall asleep.