Session XV (RL: 5/??/03)
September 21th, 183 2C. Shortly before dawn, there is trouble on the plains west of Bairn. The farmers are asleep after the night’s events and stories as are most of the companions of the Pact of Akia. The smells of autumn are in the air. A few trees are just barely showing the first faint colors of the season. It is dark and the moon is full in the sky. Aliana and Sperin are on watch when Aliana announces that Morinskar is near. They go back to camp and wake Anastasia, trying to be quiet. Anastasia questions Aliana about what she thinks is happening and why. Sperin scouts around. Some cows have wandered into the area and they seem spooked. Anastasia speaks of having a dream. Sperin watches Aliana and believes she is a bit off. Aliana goes to sleep. Creyton stays up with Sperin for awhile. Sperin finds a recently hewn cow leg. He brings it back to camp. Nothing happens, so they awaken Thurton and Celene. Creyton goes to sleep. Celene hears the cows running in the distance. Thurton and Sperin go to check things out after hiding the cow leg. Sperin heads back to camp and tries to sleep. In the distance, Celene and Thurton witness Morinskar swoop out of the sky and consume a cow. It sends the herd fleeing. Once Morinskar is down, he flies overhead. Thurton and Celene sit near the fire and listen to the dragon’s wings beat as it passes back and forth overhead. Creyton is awakened by the noise. They talk. Thurton uses the Dragon Staff to "sense" that Morinskar is hunting for the companions. Soon all of the companions are awake. Sweta wakes up as well, but Aliana "puts her aside". The dragon gets closer and closer and soon lands with a roar next to the large elm tree. Everyone is up now save for Sweta. Morinskar gobbles a cow. Aliana and Morinskar begin to communicate, though no words are spoken. Aliana walks toward him. Thurton uses the Dragon Staff to "hear" the conversation. It seems Morinskar needs Aliana to awaken the others. Aliana agrees to go and her body collapses. Her spirit seems to rise and then Morinskar takes off, leaving a shocked party of witnesses, save for Sweta who is sound asleep. After hushed debates over what to do, Ana sends Thurton and Celene to instruct/ask the farmers to be quiet. They are in awe and shock. Jared finally comprehends enough to promise they will speak of none of this. The farmers are overwhelmed. Finally, after more debates, it is decided that they’ll go with the farmers to Bairn and hope they keep their word. Aliana is loaded into the farmer’s cart and off they go. The walk to Bairn is quiet. Everyone is clearly affected by what they witnessed. Around midday, they reach Bairn. The town is being set up for the harvest festival that night. Stands are being set up. Decorations are being put up. Thurton, Ana and Celene go to buy horses and a wagon. Sperin and Kira buy supplies. Creyton guards Aliana. They gather up their things, ensure the farmers won’t talk about anything until they are back to their farm, and head out of Bairn before the evening’s festivities get underway. They travel east along the ancient road until dark and camp. Creyton breaks out Aliana’s atlas and they debate the best way to go. They also decide on a story should they run into any trouble. Aliana is a sick friend. Watches are set and people sleep.
September 22nd. Mounting up for the day is a challenge for Celene, who manages to fall off of her horse. The covered wagon rolls steadily east in the cool day. Thurton gives riding lessons to those who need them. This leaves Kira rather sore. Sperin tries to discern the best way to have a portable fire on their flammable wagon. They pass a few farms and can see the Grey Mountains rising off to the north. As it grows dark, they set up camp. Creyton nurses Aliana. Sperin goes for a jog. Kira finishes whittling a small animal and decides to begin working on a chess set. Celene decides to name her horse Storm.
September 23rd. The day begins with cooking and riding lessons from Thurton to any who are interested. The riding lessons happen as they go. The cooking for breakfast and during a stop for lunch. In the late afternoon, they reach the town of Krumm and stay at Krumm’s Inn. Thurton takes Aliana upstairs and cares for her. Sperin goes for a run. There are a couple of musicians downstairs. Creyton and Anastasia decide, after eating, to take this chance to enjoy life and dance. There are drinks. Soon, Kira and Celene join in the dancing. Thurton heads out to the stable to check on the horses when he spots Sperin running quickly back toward the Inn. Sperin warns that he saw some of the black fog, like the fog from Fort Hancock, northwest of town. Anastasia decides that she, Kira and Thurton will go investigate the fog. Sperin, Creyton, and Celene are to stay at the inn and guard Aliana, who is still out. Sperin and Celene sit in the stables and talk, Sperin explaining what he understands of the Kasuud. After the others don’t return for awhile, Creyton brings Aliana down and places her in the cart, which they prepare for a quick get-away, just in case. Kira, Anastasia and Thurton, meanwhile, ride west of town until they come across the fog and, eventually, discern the source to be a small farmhouse. Thurton stays on the edge of things while Kira and Anastasia move in closer to scout the building. Anastasia uses her gifts to look inside the building and she "sees" that there is an old man inside causing the fog. While using her gift, she appears to have fainted, which causes some panic in Thurton and Kira. Kira does her best to revive her while Thurton sends Fuzz back to fetch the others. After Ana recovers and tells what she saw, they decide to storm the building. In they go! Thurton knocks out the old man easily while, with some trouble, Kira and Anastasia successfully close the portal, which causes the black fog to drift to nothingness. A search of the premises finds the dead body of an old woman and a book on a Kasuudic ritual. They drag everything outside of the house. Fuzz, meanwhile, gets back to town, but has a hard time communicating what it is he was sent to do. Creyton, Celene and Sperin decide to ride out after their friends. Eventually, everyone is gathered outside the farmhouse and the man is aroused. They learn that he is trying to bring his wife back from the dead. He pleads with them to let him complete the ritual so he can be with her again. He reveals that he acquired the book from a temple near the city of Estola. After much morale debate in her head, Anastasia decides to kill the man and then walks off. Celene steals silverware from the house while the others bury the man. They go straight through town and travel, taking no time to sleep.
September 24th. Creyton, Thurton, Anastasia, Celene, Sperin and Kira are exhausted as they go along. Aliana is still drifting in and out of consciousness in the back of the wagon. She finally takes some food. As they move, they debate going Estola to find and destroy this Kasuudic temple. Only Ana thinks it is an unwise idea, but she concedes it is something she would like to see done. It is decided they will head to Estola. They stop early to get a good night’s sleep.
September 25th. They follow the road until noon, then turn overland through the rolling hills to the southeast. The wagon has some difficulty, but they manage to make some time with Creyton scouting ahead for the best path until they find a wagon trail, which they take. During the day, Thurton continues to give riding lessons to those who would learn from him. Evening comes and they set up camp. Thurton cooks. Celene works with Anastasia, giving the older woman some tips on swordplay. Kira gives everyone a much needed lesson on the best ways to get out of the way of things that hurt. This leads to speculation that Kira could probably beat up anyone else in the Pact of Akia. It is disputed. Talk ensues and, with Sperin and Creyton actively egging them on, it is decided that Kira and Thurton will fight to see who holds the title. Bets are made. It is a close fight, but Kira ends up winning. Sperin, getting caught up in the bravado, tries to take Thurton and ends up getting knocked out for a few moments. People sit and talk. Aliana stirs a bit more, taking more food. Kira and Sperin have a footrace, which Sperin wins after Kira trips him.
September 26th. Another day of travel goes uneventfully save for some aching from bumps and bruises of the previous night’s activities. At night, things are less eventful, though the lessons continue. Soon, everyone goes to sleep. Anastasia users her Sight. Sperin, who is on watch, notes black fog drifting out of Ana’s mouth and jerks her awake. Ana reports knowing about the temple and being scared. She saw them summoning something… a kasuudic spirit of some sort.
September 27th. Once everyone is awake, Anastasia tells more details about the evil temple she saw in her dream. She saw a child being sacrificed and other things wicked. With Kira, Anastasia contacts the old man from the island. They share information with him. People pack up and start travelling for the day. Celene and Storm just seem to have not been getting along well at all. As they go, they debate what to do about this temple, what steps to take. In the afternoon, they spot the corpse of a Ranger. He looks to have been shot by crossbow bolts and dead for a couple of days. At camp a couple hours later, they decide there will be no fire.
September 28th. Rise and go early. In the late morning, they spot a column of heavy cavalry riding south and, eventually, an army. The army is flying flags of the Imperial Senate; the Empire of Threforfar. Other riders come out and take the group as willing prisoners into camp. They are held captive for a bit, then visited by Mr. Smith. They speak to him and he promises to get them an audience with Senator Evan King. They are also interrogated by Colonel Ceague. Finally, they are alone with Senator King. Evan tries to learn more about the group and what happened back in Flagaton Pol, but he gets nothing in the way of a direct answer from them. He is frustrated with them, especially Celene, but agrees to have them freed in the morning if that is what they must do. Once the companions are alone, they discuss to whom they should reveal what to. Kira mentions that she hears the gears of a skyship nearby. Maybe in one of the other tents. They sleep on cots.
September 29th. As the army mobilizes for battle, the companions ride out with their wagon, heading east up a rise. There, they can see the two armies moving toward each other. Overhead, a skyship, similar to the Redwing, can be seen engaging two Isoc ships in aerial combat even at the battle is joined below. They witness the beginning of the Battle of Estola, between the Imperial Army and the Kingdom of Isoc. The Imperial Skyship can be seen crashing off into the woods to the south. Soon, they are out of sight of the battle and in the woods west of Estola. The woods look familiar to Anastasia. They follow a few roads and search until they find what Anastasia believes is the temple compound. They hide the wagons and horses a mile away, everything carefully concealed by Creyton, then wait until dark. Once night has settled upon the world, the assault on the temple begins. It is a gated mansion and grounds. Kira takes out the initial guards without a struggle. Once the wall is breached, it is an armed, mad rush into the building and the main temple. Anastasia knows exactly where they need to go and they surprise the congregation in the middle of a ritual. Much blood is spilled. Creyton snipers the main priest before he can do anything. Kira, Celene and Sperin kill many worshippers, who are panicked and fleeing for their lives. Thurton struggles to bring plant life into the building. A kid is rescued from being killed. Unseen things seem to hover around, but after a slash of Cold Fury through the air, seem to stop… or vanish… or something. Anastasia and Kira close the portal. Others chase down the fleeing worshippers while, using plants, Thurton collapses the building in on itself. They hunt down a few more pilgrims, deciding to err on the side of slaughtering innocents rather than risk someone with Kasuudic knowledge get away. The group then flees. They gather Aliana and the cart and move away. In the dark, they spot the wreckage of the fallen skyship. Both crew members are dead. The ship is called the Bluewing. Thurton fiddles with the ship a bit, but people go to sleep.
September 30th. They are in the forest with the ship, that still seems to be in working order. Most want to leave the ship behind and continue on, but Thurton argues how much time it would save if they could figure out how to use it. Anastasia decides to give Thurton three days. If he can figure it out in that much time, they’ll use it. If not, they continue without the skyship. The day is spent resting for most while Thurton looks carefully over the ship, figuring out how it works. A few experiments end in minor damage, but nothing critical. Kira contacts the old man, updating him with the group’s actions to date.
October 1st. Sperin goes into Estola. He spends the day shopping for supplies and visiting a few old areas from his childhood. Thurton is entirely immersed in attempting to learn how to fly the Bluewing. Aliana stirs again, seeming to gain a bit more strength each day. The others relax and recover.
October 2nd. One of the things Sperin picked up in town was a birthday cake. Thurton’s birthday is celebrated a couple of days late. Thurton takes the ship for its first real test drive. He manages to pass Creyton’s and Anastasia’s driving test, successfully taking the shipship in a circle and landing back in the same spot. In the morning, Anastasia will be faced with a difficult decision. To continue on foot and with wagons, or to risk the faster method of travel… flying.
