Session 6-03

1629, Earth Season, Harmony Week, Freezeday to Clayday

Dramatis Personae

Events

Berra told Maalira that she was owed a catch-up, and then came down on Xenofos, the teller of truths, to actually do it. Xenofos gave a story which centred the brave Humakti slightly more than Berra was comfortable with, and then noted how awesome Varanis and Orlanth had been.

It was Uleria’s seasonal holy week, so on Freezeday as they were waiting for Praxian-style mounts, Xenofos hosted some Ulerian worship for the locals. Varanis and Maalira watched for Telmori. The Humakti napped. Mounts arrived late in the day. Xenofos got both his war zebra and his bison. Varanis was sent a nice riding zebra, much to her dismay. She’d asked for a bison and should probably have been sent a cavalry zebra. This was, she could tell¹Special on Intrigue., a sign that someone was unhappy back in Boldhome.

On Waterday, they decided to head up to visit the Goddess of Salt and Teeth. Berra asked Kolyey to look after Maalira in Prax and then asked Maalira to look after Kolyey in Prax. Maalira was confused until Berra explained that Kolyey had never been to Prax. Berra then did a head count and asked Maalira to also look after the rest of them in Prax. Maalira could agree to that, and Kolyey settled in to protect her.

As they rode, Varanis noticed that the winds were oddly high and choppy, while Kolyey noticed that the winds were oddly high and choppy only around Varanis.²Passes on Survival.

The group were starting to climb the flank of the Goddess Hill when Maalira and Xenofos spotted some near-naked people. A group of about a dozen was in the distance, with two running towards the group. Varanis identified them as Telmori on the grounds they were almost naked. Xenofos cast Farsee to see them more clearly. He noticed that there were wolves in the woods around the Telmori. Xenofos could not see anyone familiar, and so decided, correctly, that these were not the local pack.

The two Telmori arrived, and were a bit awkward after having greeted Varanis. She spoke with them and came to realise that they were several years out of date on the events of Sartar and Dragon Pass. One of the Telmori did most of the talking – he informed her that they had killed some Impala raiders and invited her to come look. She agreed and they rode out to connect with the others. Varanis and her people avoided the fields. On noticing this, the quieter of the two Telmori left the fields, while the other just blazed a path through. Varanis spoke with the quieter one, learning that this group was passing through, potentially facing some difficulties, and it would be best to avoid certain topics, like the clash the other night and the Lunars. He was definitely not a fan of the Lunars, while the clash was probably only a problem for those who had been permanently wounded.

They managed to catch up with the pack at the site of a battle. There were some dead impalas and a couple of raiders. Varanis and Xenofos recognised them as members of Rushes to Battle’s band, though there was no sign of the Khan. Varanis congratulated them on their kill.

The Telmori chief, Araoo, approached Varanis and sniffed her. She sniffed back. Acknowledging her as a descendent of Sartar, he asked for food as payment for killing the Praxians. Varanis tried to decline.³She didn’t think the villagers would respond well. Xenofos suggested that the dead impalas should be sufficient payment, but Araoo was less than impressed. Xenofos provided news/recent history for the pack as Varanis thought. The news of the Lunar losses and Kallyr’s rise was met with mixed reactions, as the pack was split on their feelings about the Lunars. At one point, when Varanis had mentioned the Lunars,⁴Despite being warned against it, Araoo had to put down rebellious behaviour from one of his own pack members, Macha Theel. Varanis counted 12 pack members, offending Araoo, who pointed out it was 24. She covered well, saying the wolves were well hidden, and he accepted that. In the end, the Wind Lord offered four sheep and sent Xenofos and Kolyey to make the arrangements with Carasai.

The cavalry Humakti and the Scribe made good time back to Greyrock Falls. When asked what had happened, Kolyey informed Harvan, in a shout, that they had to give the Telmori four sheep for killing raiders. Xenofos explained to Carasai that Varanis’ temple would compensate them with five sheep, and Carasai agreed to the price.

Back at the site of the abortive raid, the wolves of various shapes started tucking into the carcasses. Everyone was offered meat. Maalira refused on religious grounds and brought out food from her pack. Berra happily ate raw meat. Varanis ate it rather more delicately. Berra and the one-armed wolf ate from different carcasses. While they waited, Varanis sang songs of heroic adventures, which interested the Telmori a lot.

Berra started the Storm bull funerary rites, asking for the bones of the impalas. There was some messing about with the bones, sucking of marrow and the like, but eventually there were two approximate heaps of impala bones for the dead raiders. Berra sculpted earth into mounds to sit on, with the bones arranged inside, and propped up the bodies. She began to tell stories and instruct the dead in the things they should do next. After that, she got a bit sad and asked if they could visit the other burial site nearby and maybe tell Razig Tanarau about what had happened to his sword.

The camp was full of tension that eased a bit with arrival of sheep, herded in by Kolyey, and with Xenofos as a sheepcat. Maalira looked away while the sheep were killed. The pack tucked in.

Varanis, reminded by Berra’s work, asked about the funerary rites of the Telmori. She was told they were secret, at which point she confessed to having buried some Telmori, because that was how she could give them honour. The Telmori were horrified and the more Varanis tried to explain, the worse it got. They wanted the location and nothing more from her. Eventually, she shut up on that topic and Xenofos changed the subject by mentioning making a campfire.

Berra warned against a fire as it might bring Rushes to Battle and his raiders, but Varanis and Xenofos noted that Rushes to Battle did not habitually rescue his people, so even if he was in the vicinity he was unlikely to arrive. Varanis decided on a fire anyway and asked about sharing the guard shifts. Xenofos and Maalira built a nice cooking fire. Varanis found some sticks to use as skewers, and Xenofos found some flat rocks to heat up and cook on, which impressed at least some of the Telmori. The party and the pack did their own guard shifts, which resulted in collaboration but of the sort where no one really had to acknowledge it.

At Yelmrise, as Varanis was performing her morning rituals, the Impala riders came back to pay a visit. The band included Rushes to Battle and about 30 young warriors. They did a bit of posing to try to scare people, which allowed the group to get armoured up. Varanis called out to Rushes to Battle, letting him know she recognised him. He referred to her as a protector of chaotic scum. There were some more insults and then some arrows. One pinged off Kolyey’s helmet, but the impala riders’ bows did not really reach far enough, and Berra was the only one able to return fire at that distance. Rushes to Battle signalled half of his people forward under the arrow screen, leading them. The telmori went out on the flanks to meet them, and the Storm Khan came up the middle.

Xenofos looked for some cover with his zebra, from which he could make a charge. He found a decent place in the rocky ground, and cast Speedart on a javelin, waiting for a chance to rush out and use it.

Berra quickly took stock of the situation, working out what Rushes to Battle had to be doing – a decapitation strike⁵Critical on Battle.. She used her bison for cover while rapidly calling out orders to the others. Maalira was told to hide behind Lofty. Varanis, who had stepped forward as if to challenge Rushes to Battle on her own, was yelled at to fall back beside Berra. Xenofos was just told to ‘look out’, as Berra was able to spot impalas making for him in the milling, bouncing crowd. Kolyey prepared her bow and waited for them to get in range, firing at the ones who seemed to be coming at her. That meant she had to be dismounted, but she was experienced enough to know how to be mounted cavalry again in a hurry.

Rushes to Battle, with several others, came at Berra and Varanis. The Storm Khan and three of his warriors targeted Berra, leaving two to handle the Vingan. Berra told Varanis to take one step back, and a wall of darkness came into being between them and the Praxians, causing the Praxian charge to fall a step short, and giving the foot warriors time to strike first. Four of them, including Rushes to Battle, went for the small target that looked more vulnerable but turned out to be Berra. Meanwhile Varanis had inspired herself and Dezar had cast Coordination on her. After a clash where Rushes to Battle was wounded and lost his lance⁶Fumbled attack. and another warrior’s mount was injured⁷Fumbled defence, Rushes to Battle and four of his warriors raced past and wheeled for a second attack.

Three of the Impala riders went after Xenofos, who was separated from the others due to his positioning for a charge. He threw a javelin, but missed and was charged. The scribe defended himself and his mount well, but one of the raiders managed a blow against the zebra’s head. They came around for a second attack and while his other javelin once again missed, Xenofos managed to impale one of the raiders on his sword, killing the man instantly. Unfortunately, the sword remained in the dead man’s chest as he fell from his impala. The second attacker broke the point of his spear on Xenofos’ shield, but the third landed a blow on the zebra, which fell. While Xenofos landed on his feet, he was weaponless and his second javelin missed, leaving him facing two mounted warriors with spears. They invited him to surrender. He did not.

Meanwhile, a group of three seemed to be charging at Kolyey, but Maalira realised that she was the real target and shouted about it. As the White Lady predicted, the impalas riding at Kolyey split around her and headed straight for Maalira and her bison. Desperately, Maalira cast Sleep on one, causing him to fall from his mount. The other two carried on, whilst Kolyey turned her mount and followed them. One of the raiders grabbed Lofty’s reins and tried to run off with the bison. Maalira knocked the other out with a second Sleep spell as he leapt at her, but he fell on her, pinning her beneath his weight.

Berra remained facing the rider with the injured mount and proceeded to cut him to pieces, while Varanis cast Fireblade. Taking stock of their situation and seeing the trouble that Maalira, Xenofos, and Varanis faced as the primary targets of this attack, Varanis had to make some difficult choices. She decided to trust Xenofos to handle himself, despite him having lost his weapons and told the Humakti at her back that Maalira needed saving. Berra charged towards Maalira, leaving Varanis with five Praxian raiders, including the Storm Khan.⁸After rolling 01 on Love Maalira. Fortunately for Varanis, two of them pursued Berra.

Kolyey attacked the raider with Lofty, who dropped the reins to escape her blow. The bison stopped moving. The Humakti delivered a crippling blow with her lance and the warrior fled, dragging her lance away as it remained embedded in his arm. When Berra reached Maalira, she cut up the warrior on top of the healer to rescue her.⁹Oh dear. He was under Maalira’s protection, even though she was under his sleeping body.

Having refused to surrender by virtue of remaining silent, Xenofos protected himself from multiple spear attacks using his shield. He might have been able to continue this line of defense, but things happened across the fray, rendering it unnecessary…

All around them, the Telmori had been picking off the flanks of the raiding charge and chasing the second wave, killing them with brutal efficiency. Rushes to Battle’s band was being torn apart.¹⁰In the colloquial sense, and the literal sense, of the word.

Rushes to Battle threw himself at Varanis with two daggers and flecks of spittle and foam, having lost his primary weapon in the previous clash. Orlanth was with her and she was able to parry his blows and dodge the attacks of his companions. She hit Rushes to Battle, but he didn’t notice.¹¹Definitely Berserked Having “rescued” Maalira, Berra bloodied the raiders who chased her, then ran back towards the Vingan, taunting them to keep them following her. Before they could arrive, Varanis decapitated the Storm Khan.¹²I am imagining her standing over his corpse, blood sprayed everywhere, and Orlanth causing her hair to blow in the wind. I’m also glad I don’t actually visualise. – V. Fireblade cauterises. – GM Berra yelled something nobody else understood¹³YOUR LEADER IS DEAD, YOU ARE BEATEN in Praxian, and the remaining raiders fled, leaving the party and the Telmori pack victorious.

• 1
  Special on Intrigue.
• 2
  Passes on Survival.
• 3
  She didn’t think the villagers would respond well.
• 4
  Despite being warned against it
• 5
  Critical on Battle.
• 6
  Fumbled attack.
• 7
  Fumbled defence
• 8
  After rolling 01 on Love Maalira.
• 9
  Oh dear. He was under Maalira’s protection, even though she was under his sleeping body.
• 10
  In the colloquial sense, and the literal sense, of the word.
• 11
  Definitely Berserked
• 12
  I am imagining her standing over his corpse, blood sprayed everywhere, and Orlanth causing her hair to blow in the wind. I’m also glad I don’t actually visualise. – V. Fireblade cauterises. – GM
• 13
  YOUR LEADER IS DEAD, YOU ARE BEATEN