Forgotten Suns: Log - Nexus
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| 21st day of Ascending Earth, RY 769 | |
| Nexus | 6 January 2004 |
Varden introduced, running into Guen and Jorias after a book-buying spree. Circle hears rumors of the "White Queen" who rescued the costal village of Lush (near Thorns) after it had been “abducted by a deathlord”. Go to bar where Trieste is supposed to be and find Sage, a geeky scholar fascinated by Anathema. He’s been waiting every day for months, so is taken to strip club. Trieste meets there and invites group to meeting with “superiors” in two days, indicating he will give word on where.
| 22nd day of Ascending Earth, RY 769 | |
| Nexus | 6 January 2004 |
Gutts trades soulsteel articulated plate and fair folk armor for suit of orichalcum articulated plate “with some additional powers” with Tepet Mason (who can’t believe his luck). Still, he has Gutts followed. Suspecting this, circle changes hotel, discovering and eluding their tails. Gutts puts on armor and passes out.
| Nexus | 14 January 2004 |
Gutts has a vision while attuning to armor. To him, it lasts nearly a week but actually took place nearly instantly. Starving, he eats a lot. Circle trains for a while, then sleeps.
| 23rd day of Ascending Earth, RY 769 | |
| Nexus | 14 January 2004 |
As entire party sleeps, a Kerin breaks in. Under cover of a Shadowy Simulacrums of Smoke spell and serious stealth charms, she steals the moonsilver box the characters were to deliver to Milo Divivovich from Gutts’ bag. She leaves a note in its place:
Honored Brethren -
I have temporarily borrowed the moonsilver box. It will be returned safely on one condition: that you allow me to accompany you when you deliver it. I seek an audience with the man to whom you intend to deliver it. If you accept this proposal, meet me at midnight tomorrow in the spire of the Silent Bell Tower in the Bastion District.
The circle spent the next day shopping (weapons and clothing), but went to the spire. The building, a First Age construction now adapted into a fine winery, had several guards, who raised an alarm when the circle walked in the front door. The circle managed to elude them and head up to the top of the spire.
| 24th day of Ascending Earth, RY 769 | |
| Nexus | 14 January 2004 |
The mysterious woman stepped from the shadows and asked for their answer. They argued, but eventually agreed, on the added condition that she disclose what the box contained. She joined them for a late dinner, introducing herself as Kerin. She reveals contents of box as a red seed, and information is exchanged between them.
| Nexus | 21 January 2004 |
After sleeping until morning, the circle awoke and, while Cruxis made an appointment to meet Milo Divivovich, the rest trained. After Cruxis returned with news of a meeting for the mid afternoon, a western woman visits, claiming to be a servant of Kerin. The slave indicated that Kerin would meet the group before the meeting. Later, an Immaculate stopped by, giving word that the meeting with Trieste would be later in the evening.
Before the meeting, a page gave the circle the message that their “carriage awaits” and they went down to meet it (Gutts racing down to see Kerin). In the carriage was the same western slave, indicating that her lady had sent her instead. Guen didn’t trust the slave (and caught slight scents of Kerin) so left the carriage. The rest continued, and Guen trailed in hawk form.
After driving and being escorted through a startling array of wealth and waiting for some time, the solars in the circle met with Divivovich. The slave girl was not allowed in while, all the while, Guen watched from outside. The meeting progressed amiably, with Gutts’ brashness surprising Divivovich into liking the group. They agreed that the circle could take the box as payment for the delivery and suggested that, for an orichalcum hearthstone amulet, the circle could perform a task for the factor. He agreed to consider this and sent them to wait downstairs.
As the left the meeting, they discovered the guards left in the anteroom unconscious and the slave girl missing. The circle was shuttled into a room down the hall as the guards mobilized. Guen continued to watch Divivovich who, after waiting a time, took the box and opened a secret entrance to a staircase leading down. Guen followed as soon as was safe. He continued slowly down the stairs, uncovering a secret door that led even further down. He eventually found a first age hallway and strode slowly down it, alert.
Meanwhile, the solars were being questioned about the girl. Gutts botched a memory roll and was convinced that Kerin’s name was Melissa, giving the guards the impression that she was a casual fling and that they thought nothing of the slave girl. The guards believed that the group had been seduced and duped, and left, re-locking the solars in the room. Shortly after, two thumps sounded from the hall and the solars decided to break out. They left into a hall filled with unconscious people. They went back into the office and found the secret passage as well. Thundering down the stairs, they met up with Guen.
While Gutts and Varden broke into a treasure room (containing records of slave and drug trades that the circle never read, minor talismans, paintings and three strong boxes containing talents of jade, talents of silver and jars of heroin), Guen led the others through a secret door. Inside was a thick (open) door into a vast vault. Within the vault was a weeping Milo Divivovich, kneeling next to a shattered glass sphere that appeared to have been filled with rose petals. The petals littered the floor, along with a corn husk. (The petals were the souls of his ancestors which Milo believed to have been “protected” from the Underworld and living in paradise. In fact, they were imprisoned within, not in paradise at all.) Four glyphs were written on the wall in blood:
The glyphs were speculated to be written in the blood of Milo’s daughter . The party ignored Milo’s pleadings to leave, and eventually finalized the trade of the amulet for a future task. Milo believes they had something to do with the slave girl and does not trust them, so agreed to the deal in order keep tabs on them, giving them a white stone which will glow when he needs them.
Eventually leaving Milo, Gutts insisted on breaking into the remaining doors. He found a room full of skulls (also hiding some first age artifacts which the circle did not find). The other two rooms were filled with gold, sculpture and treasure, but were guarded by traps. One put Gutts and Guen to sleep. The other shocked Varden with electricity. The circle left all of the treasure, more curious than greedy, and carried out their sleeping companions through the other end of the hall, which led into an apartment of Milo’s. They did not notice, but a woman (a mistress) slept in the bed of the room they exited. The managed to get out, though Cruxis had to go out a different way (meeting the woman, Shaylai, in the process).
The circle made their way to the park surrounding the Tomb of Singing Blades, where they met Trieste on schedule. He brought them to a nearby house and sat them down. Then the lights went out.
| Nexus | 28 January 2004 |
After a falling sensation, the lights faded in on a different scene. In place of the table was a large sundial, with Trieste and five robed figures seated around it. In fact, this was all happening in the groups heads, as the sundial is an artifact for meeting in a dream like space. The group was Sundial, and they pitched to the circle their vision that the world was doomed to either endless war, domination by the abyssals or renewed rule by the solars (their preference). They want to be on the winning side. They believe using the blade known as Soul Mirror as a bargaining chip may allow them to manipulate one or more deathlords (or, at least, aim them in a specific direction). They claimed to know where the blade is, in Rathess, and want the circle to get it.
In return, the circle asked for:
- (Guen) Help in reverting Regret of the Sun.
- (Varden & Guen) Training in Immaculate martial arts.
- (Jorias) An undisclosed favor (help repairing manse)
- (Cruxis) Descrete armor and three virgin daughters to bear his children.
- (Gutts) Wealth
At no time did the party ask the names of Sundial, nor did they verify anything about who they were or what they might be. The party agreed to look for the sword and Sundial suggested that this was just the beginning and indicted that Trieste would deliver preparation materials like maps and so on the next morning.
Returning to the hotel, the circle found Jaguan in their room. After greetings, he exchanged Guen’s sorcery book for a suit of moonsilver reinforced breastplate. He also delivered a message, given to him by a no moon who owed a favor to a spirit:
Honored Exalts,
At the recommendation of the huraka Morakkan (with the permission of his master Red Stalking Bear, Master of the South Wind), your presence is requested at the spire of Fakharu, Censor of the Celestial Bureaucracy, Dragon of Water, for an urgent matter of mutual interest. At your request, the bearer of this missive, Mikani, Messenger to the Spirit of the River of Tears, stands at your disposal to convey your exalted personages to the nearest seashore where a ship will greet you at the sunset of your arrival and bear you safely to your destination.
In discussing what to do, the circle (well, mostly Gutts) decided to return to Milo’s place to steal the treasures seen before. After a great deal of argument, the party agreed, sending Cruxis ahead to “distract” the mistress and allow them to enter the vault through the secret back entrance. In spite of a number of botched stealth rolls by the armor intensive Gutts, they made it into the vault undetected.
Having noticed the broken locks Gutts left previously, Milo had posted around thirty guards in the vault hallway. He then locked himself in the vault and killed himself in grief. The guards, not knowing this, remained at post and tried to drive off the circle. After a slight bit of slaughter from Gutts and some sorcery from Jaguan, the guards fell and the looting began.
Jaguan became obsessed with the documents in one of the vaults. Guen became obsessed with the skull room and became convinced that Milo needed to be killed. After breaking into the vault room and finding Milo dead, the circle left the vault, though Cruxis (who came down from his “duties”) incinerated the skulls.
| 25th day of Ascending Earth, RY 769 | |
| Nexus | 11 February 2004 |
Gutts, Guen and Jorias trained all night long. By morning Jaguan woke up and watched. Gutts decides to give a talent of silver to each of the servants he bought to take care of his elephant. Jorias suggested another talent of jade may make a good gift for Fakharu.
While Guen and Jaguan visited Mikani, Cruxis and Gutts deposited the rest of the loot from Milo’s house in a Nexus bank (19 talents of jade, 18 talents of silver, 21 talismans). He chose a talisman for everyone on the party, including Jaguan:
- Cruxis: walkaway
- Guen: talisman against disease
- Gutts: talisman against disease
- Jaguan: good luck charm
- Jorias: ward vs. demons
- Varden: walkaway
Upon reuniting, Jorias announced that he would be staying with Jaguan for the time being, surprising everyone (especially Jaguan). Hinting that Jaguan would be teaching him sorcery, he said he would go to the libraries in Sijan to seek answers to the the circle's questions.
After splitting the water used to contact the manse (which the group finally remembered to actually do), the group parted, with Guen, Gutts, Varden and Cruxis going with Mikani.
Pleased to see them, Mikani showed them her “new toy”, a necklace that created a sphere that allowed Mikani to take the group underwater downriver at incredible speed, reaching the coast by sundown. From there, Fakharu’s ship picked them up and they slept.