G01 — Session 11

1626, Earth Season

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Season, Week, Day
Earth Season

Events

A couple of days after the battle, the Feathered Horse Queen’s army was at Alda Chur. The Lunars had fled North on finding the city’s gates closed against them. A gathering of tribal chiefs took place in the palace to discuss their next move. All the clans of the Alda Chur region were represented, but the tribes of Alone – Tres, Amad and Bachad, were missing. There was also no sign of Queen Leika or the Sartarites.

The Feathered Horse Queen shared news that Leika had departed to take Kallyr’s body for burial. A messenger sent from Boldhome had returned and the Sartarite army departed shortly after. Herengvot gave a flowery speech about Kallyr’s return from death, though it was clear the situation displeased him. He had his green glass wand hanging from his belt.

Herengvot advised there was a new chieftain in Alone, but he did not know who. As if on cue, a horn sounded, the doors of the hall burst open and a man riding a large white buffalo entered. Argrath greeted the assembly and thanked them for driving the Lunars from his ancestral home. The other leaders accepted him into their council without challenge.

The chiefs decided to send scouts after the retreating Lunars and that messengers should be sent to Boldhome and Leika. When the discussion came around to the Colymar, eyes turned to the only Colymar in the room, who happened to come equipped with a scribe and a handy Humakti bodyguard.

The party were despatched to bear a message to Queen Leika in Clearwine. Of all the roads they could have chosen, the intrepid band decided to brazenly take the Boldhome route, swinging by Blue Tree Tula on the way.

They found Blue Tree abuzz with wild rumours concerning Leika, Kallyr and Dragon Newts, who had been oddly active. One group of dragon newts had even stopped to talk to humans. Rumours from Boldhome suggested that Leika and Kallyr had fallen out.

The party stayed a couple of nights in Blue Tree and Serala, Ivalla and Finarvi visited the Wyter. Ivalla asked it if the dragon newt activity was a problem for her people, and the Wyter replied that the dragon newts looked to the problem, but that nothing in the Blue Tree lands concerned them.

In Boldhome, Jorrim hastily took advantage of his ageing news from the Front and Alda Chur and spread the tale that Serala had called the charge that won the Battle of the Queens. He also spread the song of Arim at the Ford.

Arim headed to the Humakti temple, where people were tiptoeing around the not-quite-High Sword and calling him Eril. Gossip in the temple had it that Eril left the battle before Kallyr fell, supposedly on a private mission. And that Leika and the FHQ won the battle. Nobody knew what the mission was, except it involved a Heroquest. Nobody knew where D’Val was either, but it was rumoured he was also on a special mission.

The Grazelanders visited Rondrick’s, only to be told that their friends had left town hastily some time ago. They headed to the Grazelander embassy and touched base with the Master of Herds, who gave Serala a name to look up if she was interested in establishing breeding stock – Henderost had set up a breeding program in Colymar lands, near Apple Lane.

Ivalla headed to the Colymar embassy, which was deserted and boarded up. She picked up an escort of two large Humakti lads from the Royal escort in the process, who followed her around town ‘for her own safety’.

Comparing rumours, they establish that a heroband affiliated with Leika and maybe Kallyr had been told to leave town quickly and had headed to Nochet in a hurry. One was large, riding a bison and took lots of beer.

Serala sought an audience with Eril as the last she had seen, he’d been riding hell-for-leather back to Boldhome where their friends had been involved in a Heroquest to find out what he’d stolen. Eril met with her and assured her that all matters resolved satisfactorily and Sartar would triumph. He gifted her an ornate lance.

The party continued to Wilmskirk without incident and on to Clearwine. Coming through the mountain pass, Finarvi spotted what was most definitely a dragon flying in the clouds. It swooped down into the valley out of sight. Arim pursued it at a determined trot, and when the others caught up they saw the silver dragon lifting from a burning steading with two people in its talons.

It started to rain, and by the time the group had reached the steading, the fire had been doused. The steading was small – a longhouse, animal pen and a singed barn with a partially collapsed roof.

The barn contained a deceased ox under the fallen roof, plus two dead cows and a nasty odour like swamp gas. In the longhouse, two people were unconscious and three more in a panic. Smelling the gas on them, Finarvi ordered the unconscious farmers carried outside and helped to heal them. The survivors told them the dragon had smashed the barn, eaten half their cattle and asked them to carry word to the Queen.

The Grazelanders rode at speed to Clearwine while Arim guarded the steading in case the dragon reappeared. They returned with a detachment of warriors and healers, who took care of the farmers and escorted the group to an audience with Leika at Clearwine fort, where a Shaker priestess hailed them as ‘the dragonslayers’ who had been prophesied.

Dragon notwithstanding, Jorrim managed to persuade Leika to hear news of Alda Chur, the Lunar army and the Trolls first, and then let Serala do the actual telling. Arim added that Argrath now led the Alone clans, which came as news to Leika. Jorrim added that Argrath had formed a town ring in Alone and no-one had made a fuss about it.

Leika agreed to consider sending messages to Alda Chur, Herengvot and maybe Argrath, and neatly brought the meeting back on track by introducing the Shaker priestess.

The priestess told them the prophecy had been given to her by Dragon Newts, who had come to the Shaker temple warning that a dragon would come seeking flesh, and heroes would come with news of its first attack and bring them its head. This was not a true dragon, but the semblance of one, she said, and the Dragon Newts insisted it must die.

She instructed them to fight with cunning, not force. She told of three legendary heroes who had fought dragons using magical shield, helmet, armour and spear, but after the heroes died the dragon-killing weapons disappeared, buried with their ashes. She proposed a spot of grave-robbing, to everyone’s discomfort.

On hearing that these great heroes were sworn dragon-hunters and might aid them if properly beseeched, Arim decided this was the more honourable approach and pledged to fight the dragon. The others agreed to support him in this endeavour.

Afterwards, they were treated to a fine meal and given beds, and they all dreamed the same strange dream, of standing on a hilltop in front of a town while the masses bowed down in worship to them. The archaic weapons and dress in the dream led them to believe it was a very long time ago.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, they set off to desecrate some graves.