Session S5.O-18
1629, Fire Season, Early Truth Week
Dramatis Personae
PCs
Berra
Dormal
Maalira
Nayale
NPCs
A very young river
A very cute child
A very stupid herdsman
Andrin
Jarang
Events
The group arrived in Duck Point to be recognised, with Maalira getting mobbed by ducklings wanting sweeties. The usual crowd of money-earners tried to get cash out of the new arrivals. Berra sent Nayale off to the Humakti Temple to pay her respects, made sure everyone knew where they were meeting, started people off, and then vanished for her own reasons. Nayale bounced along to the Temple of Humakt, where she mentioned she was a follower of the High Hero Eril. This did not go down well, but Nayale didn’t notice, although she did notice she was led down a corridor of duck height, and into a low chapel. She knelt to pray1Highly successful Worship, even..
Dormal accompanied Maalira around the city, along with a crowd of fluffy children who were steering them by committee, and they therefore got a bit lost. He noticed that the Temple of Erissa, Chalana Arroy for Lunars, had not been defaced. To him, that was suspicious. Eventually he managed to extract the whereabouts of the Two Chairs inn from them, rather than letting them continue to be helpful. After fending off some teenagers who were trying to rent out the bodies of other ducks, they reached a haven of peace with hardly any children in it. Dormal prodded at Maalira’s temper until the White Lady kicked at him, connecting accidentally. Dormal went down yelping and rolled around for a while.
Meanwhile, Berra picked Nayale up from the Temple. They all settled in to the inn for the evening. Berra offered so sleep outside Maalira’s door, and Nayale immediately started planning to sleep where she could protect the wyter priest. Dormal, up in the rafters, sang himself to sleep with the obscene song that one of the juvenile pimp-ducks had been singing.
They woke early and set off, and were able to see glimpses of white from Duck Point. After working out it was Fire Season, they concluded that this could only be the chalk working. They crossed the water at Quackford, with Berra going to greet her river there, and even hugging it. They moved on towards the Yalmoring, except for Nayale, sent forward to scout, who got a bit lost, and then a lot lost. Berra and Dormal tried to explain to Maalira just how in charge she was, and that she should make a lot of decisions, as they went up towards the Yalmoring.
Meanwhile, Nayale ended up close to the Richberry, where she was fed and offered help by an adorable small child whose father was ‘a lady’, presumably a White One. She ate, went back the way she had come, and consistently failed to ask for directions in the hope that not admitting she was lost would make it true.
The remainder of the group met a very slow-of-thinking yokel who directed them to the Yalmoring and just about failed to understand he was to let Nayale know the group was here, if she passed. They went onto the clan village, which has wooden palisade with a watch-tower from which they were hailed. Maalira replied, and they were welcomed in and introduced to the chief, Andrin. He was not the sharpest spear in the stand, but was still a step up from the yokel. He told them all about the spirit without much suspicion, or even prodding. They had met the spirit, which was mostly speed, power, and the thunder of hooves, and dug it out a votive image. Ernalda had done much of the work, and the men had done a lot of digging.
The story emerged, but had some odd points of soft focus. A lowly herder heard the voice of the spirit as from afar. Hearing the message he brought the good news down to the village. There was much debating, and then others went up and heard the same good words, and it was decided… They thought that the spirit was a spirit servant of Elmal, there once having been, apparently, a great Elmali Temple here.
Dormal was immediately suspicious of Trickster magic, with the others reserving judgement but generally noting that there was a lot that was unsaid, like how the ‘much debating’ had gone. Other villages nearby had not helped, although the RIchberry had sent to ask what on Ernalda they were doing.
Nayale caught up via the very confused yokel, and ended up with a lamb to carry, after having helped to scatter a herd and not helped very much to gather it.
They camped out rather than accepting a roof, meaning that they could talk quietly. Maalira’s clear preference for Praxian sleeping made this easy. The next morning they set out to talk to the chief of the Richberry, in case he had anything to say that they had to know before they talked to the Yelmalians. The road up that way was a wide, gently gradiented road bed, and from half a mile from Richberry there were even flagstones. It was a hugely expensive undertaking. The village did not match the richness of the road.
Chief Jarang welcomed them, while being climbed all over by children. Meanwhile, his heavily pregnant wife was outside ordering about stablehands and such. In his house, a hippogriff was basking by the fire, enjoying a snack. Jarang noted that the White Horse did seem to speed up horses, including his ‘horse’ the hippogriff. Jarang and his lorespeaker knew of a couple of shamans who could be talked to about the spirit, meaning that the group would not have to go find poor Minstar. The Earth Witch at Pegasus Plateau was probably the best of the bunch, as this was something that Ernaldans had helped with, and not a matter of the Air.
Session Quotes
He thinks he can keep a better control of you with me present. – Lord Raven
“Let him know that really pisses me off.” – Berra
“Oriana is being very quiet as instructed as she has a slight Lunar accent.” – Dormal
“Apparently whoever does the most impressive trick gets double sweets.” – Dormal passes Fast Talk.
“Ducklings generally display very little in the way of self-preservation.” – GM
“I was going to check if anyone was following me, but apparently I’m crap at that. I think I’m following myself.” – Berra
“The Temple is very light on… I mean, it’s a very small Temple… I mean, there are very few ducks present.” – GM
“All are welcome to Humakt’ths embrace.” – Geoffri
“I am a follower of the High Hero Eril – ” – Nayale
“Alright, can you make me an Insight Own Species at half normal?” – GM
“I’m tsorry, we have no Hero Altar here, to that particular Hero.” – Geoffri thayth nope
“I am a follower of the High Hero Eril – ” – Nayale
“Alright, can you make me an Insight Own Species at half normal?” – GM
“I’m tsorry, we have no Hero Altar here, to that particular Hero.” – Geoffri thayth nope
“Who is ‘they’?” – Dormal
ptui – about 50 ducklings
“But missis, don’t you want to go in and see the boss?” – Duckling
“Quite right. We’re going to the inn. Clever child.” – Dormal
“We… I don’t know whether you’ve met her friend. Short for a human, bit grumpy, occasionally murdery with a sword. Is a duck?” – Dormal
“You see, they go corkscrew.” – Teen pimp-duck
shinty-club song about duck sex – Teen pimp-duck
“There are words you’ll have to ask Berra about later.” – GM
“So you know you said not to fumble? Well, I got a 98.” – Maalira
“Roll damage.” – Dormal, laughing
“She does not in fact injure you.” – GM
“That’s alright, I’m going to go down like I’ve been felled by an axe.” – Dormal
“Quackston’s old marsh peculiar.” – GM
“It is very peculiar.” – Dormal
“Alcohol should only be made out of bison milk.” – Maalira
“Rhino milk. Bolo lizard milk. Don’t ask.” – Dormal
“I was just familiarising myself with the locals and their culture.” – Dormal
“And the evening, and the night, are the first day. I’m not saying I have a god complex…” – GM
“You are all wakened at…” – GM
“Duck crow.” – GM/Dormal
“The quack of dawn!” – Maalira
“It takes a while to notice, but your horse’s gait…” GM
“… is ajar.” Nayale
“Hey, river!” – Berra
“It trills at you happily.” – GM
“Awww. I give it a hug. It’ll be damp.” – Berra
“Not jealous of a river.” – Maalira
“Insert joke here about Berra getting herself wet.” – GM
“I am ASSERTIVELY making a DECISION by ASKING EVERYONE ELSE.” – muttering from Maalira
“You’re not that far away from the Shaker Temple. Not as the crone flies.” – GM
“After about two hours of riding, Nayale, you realise the rest of them have gone quiet.” – GM
does not ask for directions – Nayale
“bleysrex: “”I rolled a 14 on Survival… and a 99 on Track.” – Nayale falls over laughing
“Oh man. There better not be crocodiles in the river. I’m trying to be brave about crocodiles…” – Nayale
“Delecti has an undead killer whale.” – Berra
still does not ask for directions – Nayale
“I couldn’t say.” – yokel
“Who could say?” – Dormal
“Maybe the priests of Elmal.” – yokel
“Where are they?” – Dormal
“Up yonder.” – yokel
“I’m a connoisseur of yonder. Which yonder?” – Dormal
“We’re not attacking! Can we come in?” – Maalira
“Nayale has gotten thoroughly lost. If she fails to find the turn this time, she’ll head for the big white horse.” – Nayale
“It’s a one-horse town! Ha!” Berra
“No, there are two horses now.” GM
“Where are we?” – Maalira
“Yalmoring.” – Dormal
“Yalmoring.” – Berra
“I’ll have someone take your horses and your… riding cow.” – Andrin
“Household Management rolls please?” – GM
“Amazingly a pass. I’m going to tick that.” – Dormal
“This is even more squalid than normal for Sartar.” – GM
“Not unless the spirit wants her company.” – Andrin
“You got a spirit?” – Berra
“Elmal of the Latter Day Horses.” – Varanis
“If they offer us a copy of the book of Elmormon, don’t take it).” – Maalira
“I thought that said Elmoron.” – Nayale
“It almost did, I mistyped it TWICE.” – Maalira
“As you know, Ernalda married the loyal thane.” – Andrin
“Oh, I haven’t heard of that much. I’m from the Colymar, see?” – Berra
“Oh well, if you haven’t heard…” – Andrin”
“Do tell.” – Berra
“Was any of this great word spoken with a sthlight listhp.” – Dormal
“Did any of the other villages send people to help? Did they also follow the word?” – Dormal
“We did get a message from the Richberry. They asked what on earth we were doing.” – GM
“If you’re not called Nayale, I have to assassinate you.” – yokel
“If you are not Nayale, I have to assassinate you.” – yokel
“Apparently sheep are not horses, and do not respond well to you neighing from in front of them.” – Berra
“Unless it wasn’t her, whereupon I had to sass her…” – yokel
“You get the impression that the shadowcat may have been the brains of the operation.” – GM
“Apparently their champion’s often bare.” – Berra
pause
laugh – people in Locaem campaign who met the man who wrestled a bear
“So, if I stab someone in a Harmony Rune that’s not harmonious, right?” – Berra
“Nayale, it’s just as well you scouted this way yesterday.” – GM
“The path up to Richberry is a wide, gently gradiented road bed. It’s still coarse stuff, no flagstones, but it’s proper road.” – GM
“Well, I guess they’re not called Richberry for no reason.” – Dormal
“Quite a contrast from just down the road, isn’t it?” – Maalira
waves – Berra
“Actually, I’ve got to do both hands. I’ve got two swords.” – Berra
“Berra. Jarang?” – Maalira
stares – Berra
“OH. RIGHT! No, it’s a common name.” – Berra
“My father, bless his seat in Hell, was called Jarang.” – Berra
“Oh yes. There’s a lot of it about.” – Maalira
“Did you say four guests, or more guests?” – Methenya, wife of Jarang
“Well, what brings you to this humble village?” – Jarang
“We’ve got some questions.” – Maalira
“About the horse…” – Maalira
“Are we talking the White Horse?” – Jarang
“Yeah, that one.” – Maalira
“Seems to speed up horses.” – Jarang
“My bison noticed.” – Maalira
“Including Dawnsquark.” – Jarang
“That’s my horse.” – Jarang points to hippogriff.
“That’s an even stranger-looking zebra.” – Maalira
“The technical term for what happens outside of my clan is ‘none of my business’.” – Jarang
“At any point did anyone talk to the Sun County people?” – Dormal
“I mean, that would be none of my business, but from what I hear, no.” – Jarang
- 1Highly successful Worship, even.
