Forty-eighth Session

Forty-eighth Session

A portrait of a Jalindi

Campaign	The Primordial Campaign
Game Date	March 8th, 2022
Start Date	Afternoon, Kirkuyey 17th 261 IM
Start Location	Outside the Towers of Eriquat, Jalinbeti
Ending Date	Afternoon, Kirkuyey 18th 261 IM
Ending Location	The Chamber of the Triumvirate, Trappist Citadel, Trappist
Absentees	Rayjok Halperion (Dave)
Prev Session	Forty-seventh Session
Next Session	Forty-ninth Session

The Forty-eighth Session commenced with the party surrounded by Eriquat bloodcasters. Before them lay the shattered corpse of Shardenzar. The creatures immediately began to bubble over with blood that spewed from their bodies forming a bloody sphere enveloping everyone in the party. The damage was horrific and the rescued Jalindi dropped unconscious from the assault.

The Blood Bath

The party, drenched in blood were all stunned save Obsidian Black and the First Nightshade of Aspan. The latter exploded into action and deftly sliced two of the bloodcasters apart. Their blood splashed to the ground and evaporated within moments. Meanwhile, Obsidian Black rushed toward the corpse of Shardenzar, but not before unleashing his Draconic Aura. This left most of the bloodcasters in a state of awe as he made his move.

Obsidian whispered to the coin he had received from Shetani the Defiler, "He is prepared", and cast the coin into the air.

That very moment the bloodcasters ceased all movement as Shetani the Defiler and four Nether World materialized around the corpse of Shardenzar. Shetani laughed in delight. "You are so good to deal with," he said to Obsidian, "so quick to meet your end of the bargain. Now, what was our deal again?"

Obsidian reminded Shetani that he would gather the bloodcasters and return them to the Nether World. Agreeing that a deal was a deal, Shetani raised a crystal likeness of Shardenzar from his corpse. Then he, his trio of demon companions, a statue of Shardenzar, and the four remaining bloodcasters all faded to mist.

The Twin Towers

As the demons vanished Mira Nephilim jumped to the role of party healer and began restoring the party's health. Panamon Cree jumped to the role of the party's loot-ninja and raced to the corpse of Shardenzar, quickly yanking an amulet from the stringy twisted mess that was once Shardenzar's neck. "Seize the power," said a voice inside Panamon's head which was unmistakably the voice of Æski.

Panamon donned the amulet, and glancing toward the Towers of Eriquat could see the locations, colors, and dimensions of the various wards protecting the towers from anyone who was not of the council. Dodging moving wards, Panamon flew (levitated?) to one of the tower balconies and entered what was formerly Shardenzar's study. There he was greeted by a clay golem who informed him that the council was in session and awaiting his arrival.

The Game is All But Lost

The council chamber featured a nonagonal table with a filled chair at each edge. The spellcasters Nickar and Zoranthar sat to the left and right of an empty chair. To the left sat three Sewochi of different appearances. To the right sat three insectoid creatures of a like that Panamon Cree had never seen.

"You have changed your appearance," said one of the Sewochi, telepathically.

Panamon explained that it was his magic. "And you have changed your voice," said a different Sewochi creature.

Panamon assured him that it was strong magic. "And you have changed your mind," said the third.

"It's very strong magic," claimed Panamon as he continued the ruse without pause. "Now what of my friends here, have they brought any business to the council?"

The council explained that it appeared to them that his friends (Nickar and Zoranthar) were on a journey and not in their heads. Understanding, Panamon asked what business the council had, and the business was to console him on the loss of the game. The council assured Panamon that he was a "good player" and would be spared destruction when Otan was destroyed. They then speculated where they might headquarter the Council of Six.

Panamon Cree explained to the council that the game wasn't over yet. Then he fished for clues as to what the game was about in the first place. This inquiry led to offers of consolation mixed with laughter about the plight of humanity which was soon to be over. With the meeting concluded, the Sewochi moved off to their rooms, presumably within the towers, and the insectoid creatures simply vanished.

Upon Panamon's return, Obsidian had dumped the rest of Shardenzar's considerable loot for the party to examine and divide. Hedgewind soon teleported the party back to Jalinbeti to unwind from the day's events.

Revelations

Upon her return, Mira Nephilim was immediately gathered up by her brothers and sister for a meeting. When all together, they started to experience something very new that they had not experienced for many years; memories. Each in turn they began to recount memories of how they came to be the people who they are.

The following revelations came to light...

• All of the Qurilissi (builders) were more than 1,000 years old.
• They had all worked on behalf of the gods to create Otan, and two other major continents on this world.
• That 261 years ago, the gods "recalled" them, and lights from the sky either destroyed them or sent them back to their "afterlife".
• Spire had memories of the Kudik, the creche or "afterlife" world, from which they were all hatched, and presumably return after death.
• Mira recounted a recent visit to the Kudik, in which she saw thousands of unborn Qurilissi.
• Mira recalled the attempt by the gods to "recall" (destroy) her but she was deep underwater and protected by a giant dragon-turtle. This creature came to be her adoptive mother.
• The other builders shared similar stories. Spire was buried underground and discovered by burrowing giants. Tartilgan was frozen in a glacier and dug from the ice by the Garis. Jalindi had been magically imprisoned and was released by the Sewochi.

Following the release of so many of their memories, they decided that they wished to inspect Hedgewind's meme construction. They determined that all of the memes were related to humanoid life and social and political engineering. They recalled that there were "builder-related" memes that they used to create Otan when they were young.

Obsidian Black provided the group with the Boatswain's meme, which helped induce another flood of memories. The group resolved to Revisit the death machine. Find more Memes suited to their use, and finally... Find a way to locate and disable the Sewochi portals.

Panamon and the Goddess

Panamon Cree briefly entered a dream state in which he sought to clarify the command given to him by Æski. He sensed her presence again and of course, her overpowering voice nearly stopped his heart. "Seize the power!" she said again.

Panamon woke confused and called Saduakas Yermek on the communicator to ask for his interpretation of the message. After some chatter about the position that Panamon found himself in, Saduakas seemed quite certain that Panamon was now the de facto leader of the Council of Nine, and that the goddess clearly wanted him to use that power.

Inspired, Panamon went back into a dream state to contact his "friend" Zhannur Timurlan. In that dream, he revealed the existential threat to Otan, suggested a global truce and a pact to work together to save the continent from the Sewochi. Panamon provided imagery from his recent memory to add to his persuasiveness.

Timurlan answered in the dream that Panamon should return to Trappist and address him and the other Garis Triumvirs collectively at the Trappist Citadel. Still in the dream, Panamon Cree agreed.

Messages from Afar

The next morning, Mira Nephilim had an excited bird speaking to her at her window. Rubbing her eyes, she spoke to the bird who announced that her new bronze dragon friends, Suyis and Temir would like to relay a message. The bird continued to say that the dragons had uncovered an example of the treasure that she was seeking.

Meanwhile, Panamon Cree informed the Garis rebels that he would be arriving shortly in Trappist, but this time to enter the citadel as a guest of Zhannur Timurlan. As the conversation went on the rebels became happy, then concerned for the fate of Otan. They expressed more concern that perhaps Timurlan was simply setting a trap. In the end, all agreed that the meeting was a good idea.

Trappist or just a Trap

After deciding to stick together (for once), Mira Nephilim, Obsidian Black and Panamon Cree teleported under Obsidian's power to the rebel base in Trappist. From there they made a sneaky excursion to a neutral point in the Trappist streets where the boldly walked toward the Trappist Citadel.

Many Garis stopped to watch the trio in awe as the walked, having not seen a single example of a non-Garis person in the country since the outbreak of war. When they arrived at the citadel, they were greeted by Beybisilik guards who eventually conducted them to an elevator and up to the top floor of the citadel. There, they were directed to the bleacher seats overlooking the Triumvirate Chamber, where the nation's decisions were made.

The Triumvirs were speaking to one another in clipped tones about numbered and lettered directives and responding with numbered and lettered answers, which flew beyond the understanding of the hapless party. After a few minutes were spent on this banter the Triumvirs stopped and addressed the bleachers. They called for Panamon Cree to take the podium and address the Triumvirate.

Panamon Cree heeded the call, walked to the podium, and said...

Stay tuned next week for another exciting adventure of The Primordial Campaign! Will Panamon make a case? Will the be peace? Is it a trap? Does the future of Otan rest on Panamon's next words? Don't you dare miss it!

Cabinet Report

Aspanjalisi Prefecture

Aspanjalisi Prefecture cabinet

Cabinet Postion	Name	Report
Minister of Agriculture	Zhanik Zaure	Farmers have arrived in the region. Planting of very short-season legume crops is underway.
Minister of Mines	Darkhan Kasisi	Can't talk, prospecting.
Minister of Trade & Development	Zhanik Akerke	Is not a time to write reports, is a time to make money.
Minister of Magic	Saduakas Yermek	The bridge has been completed and various merchants have taken an interest in the town.
Minister of Religion	Elnara Kasietti	Can't talk, praising Woden and raising funds for a temple.
Shadow Cabinet	Aysha Uri	Wondering what needs cleaning.

Weekly Statistics

Revenue		Population		Food		Trade		Military
Income	0 GP	Immigration	0	Production	0 Osmina	Imports	0 GP	Recruitment	0
Spending	0 GP	Emmigration	0	Consumption	0 Osmina	Exports	0 GP	Losses	0
Surplus/Deficit	0 GP	Net Change	0	Surplus/Deficit	0 Osmina	Surplus/Deficit	0 GP	Change	0
Treasury	0 GP	Population	24,000	Storage	0 Osmina			Total Troops	0

• an Osmina is roughly 100kg of food.

Alerts!

New Ministers to be added!

Everything Amiss in Otan

There is a new link for this: Everything Amiss in Otan.

Player Notes

Add some notes here if I have any (important) errors or omissions.

Panamon instructed Zhanik Zaure to focus on crops that allow for maximum yields in a short season to feed the population quickly and for next season to prepare a mix of high protein crops with another half of high income-producing crops.

Panamon instructed Saduakas Yermek to focus on recruiting artificers and magic shops to open in town and promote the province as an excellent place to do business with reduced taxation for magical suppliers/creators.

Panamon asked Akerke to find some suitable to head up the docks and ports to provide shipping along the river. Perhaps he knows a boatbuilder?

Aysha to search our for any potential weak links. She may also be good in establishing a network between Aspanjalisi and Araldar. Does Dauren have any problems that need to be "handled"?

Elenara was asked if she can recommend fellow Clerics to represent the other religions (see spreadsheet).

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