Fourteenth Session

Fourteenth Session

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Zhannur Timurlan, Garis Commander in Chief

Campaign	The Primordial Campaign
Game Date	Tuesday, March 4th, 2021
Start Date	Mawsim 1, 261 IM
Start Location	The Garis Trimvirate border inside the Altinqor
Ending Date	Mawsim 6, 261 IM
Ending Location	The Good Dog, Trappist, Garis Triumvirate
Prev Session	Thirteenth Session
Next Session	Fifteenth Session

The Fourteenth Session began with our heroes about to cross the border into the Garis Triumvirate. The party and the animals embarked upon a river skiff of suitable proportions to keep them afloat. The skiff itself was of an aged quality barely river-worthy... but did indeed keep afloat. The military followed in two similar vessels, and while there might have been rustling in the distance, no major encounters occurred on the way to the border. A few miles from the border the military retinue disembarked, said their goodbyes, gave the party a heartfelt cheer and headed back upriver.

Border Collies

File:GarisBorderPatrol2.jpg

The Garis Border Patrol keeping the forest safe.

The border was not marked in any way, but a few miles downriver, the party heard loud deliberate barking coming from the shore. Obsidian Black cast a Tongues spell and immediately began to recognize the barking as speech. The speaker indicated to the party that they should moor their vessel at the dock to the left bank and prepare to meet with customs. Matteo Alleman, his first time at the helm of a water craft managed a hard landing at the pier, but not so hard as to spill the passengers overboard.

Obsidian and Panamon approached the awaiting party at the landing, who appeared to be large and upright humanoids with lupine features. They asked the party. "Are any of you dead? If you're dead, we're going to make you more dead!" The magical pair assured the guards that they were in fact alive and travelling down river to the Capitol, handing them the papers created by their former Aydahar hosts.

Meanwhile, a pair of the customs inspectors went to inspect the contents of the party's boxes and chests, having the occasional laugh at the expense of Matteo Alleman, who clearly hadn't piloted a boat... or even so much as tied off a line to a pier in his life. Laughing aside, the pair reported back that there was nothing of interest in the cargo.

Alien Autopsy

Is this a friend of yours?

Once the formalities of the border check were concluded, the Captain of the border patrol asked if party had a missing friend. The Captain invited the party to their office where they exhibited a body of a diseased humanoid creature. The creature, although humanoid, was clearly not human, sporting four arms and two legs of a frog-like nature. The Captain explained that they had pulled it from the river, floating down from Aydahar.

After scouring their memories, the party indicated to the Captain that they had never seen anything like the creature. He, in turn remarked that the thing was near invincible and that they were unable to scratch its skin with any knife. Matteo Alleman offered to cut the body with his magical sword, but the Captain declined indicating that they were going to take the body to Trappist for proper investigation.

Upon this news, the party offered to deliver the the body to Trappist. Once again the Captain declined, but agreed to ride along with the party downriver. The party agreed and set up camp on the bank.

The Belly of the Whale

After a good night's sleep, the two parties headed downriver. The quiet journey only had two interruptions, the first when passing through the city of Kepler. The Border Patrol used a series of hand/tail signals to pass the river gates without having to stop (signals noted intently by Panamon Cree). The second interruption occurred when the Border Patrol fired upon something many many feet distant in the water with their unusual wands, which they referred to as "Boom sticks". The volley created a thrashing in the water too far ahead to be seen with any clarity.

By early evening the party arrived at the gates of Trappist. More hand signals from the Border Patrol and the party was within the walls of the Garis Triumvirate's capitol city. The dockyards were all to the south and the party made their way through the city to get to them. No one at the mooring point wanted anything to do with the party, until one strange dockhand finally mustered the temerity to approach the party and offer his assistance.

The dockhand, unquestioningly accepted the party's foreign currency to moor their boat, have their luggage ported to their lodgings and their frightful animals led to a nearby stable. His suggestion was The Good Dog, an inn and tavern in the business district near the city's citadel, arena, temple and market.

Your Gold is No Good Here

When they arrived at the inn, they discovered that a set of rooms was going to cost them 400 dollars for the night. The party explained that they did not have dollars, but rather gold. Some haggling later, they were let the rooms for the sum of 10 gold. They took the rooms and were soon in the tavern, drinking meat-based Jennant Tonix.

In the tavern, the party starts to get a better sense of the environment that they are in. They observe that most of the workers and patrons of the tavern are of the local Akimsilik faction, bearing vulpine features. There are other people in the tavern with lupine and hyena-like features, though these are in far fewer numbers.

Shortly into the party's first Garis mingle, the crowd starts to get restless. They start talking about how Zhannur Timurlan was giving a speech in the Trappist Coliseum. The party followed the crowd and soon found themselves in the coliseum.

The Gift of Gab

"For too long..." Zhannur Timurlan works up a crowd.

The spectacle featured a lupine character, presumably Zhannur Timurlan, alone on a stage with magically magnified projected images of himself behind him. There were many lights, both magical and non magical, setting the scene, and the speaker was somehow magically speaking very very loudly. As he spoke, which came out in a barking tone, he made such quotes as:

"For too long, we Garis have languished in the south of Otan."

"For too long, we have been denied our destiny."

"For too long, we have idly waited on our paws while this world has passed us by!"

As the party watched, the speaker brought the crowd up in levels of excitement. Bad phrases met with howls and good phrases met with excited barks and yelps. The leers the party received from the frenzied crowd, convinced them not to stay to the end and they retired back to the tavern.

A Debate Ensues

In the tavern, the party waited patiently to overhear as much of the post-speech conversation as possible. The debates were heated, with the vulpine Garis debating both sides of Zhannur Timurlan's speech. Some agreed that he was right about the Garis languishing. Many countered that there was never a good reason for war. As the debate lingered, one point the party missed because of their early departure was that Zhannur Timurlan had promised to bring back memories from before the Great Erasure.

An anonymous vulpine face in the crowd dropped a calling card in front of Obsidian Black. The man explained that if he "Didn't like what he was hearing, then be at that address in two days," and immediately left.

We Need a Bigger Boat

Seized with the desire to get back to Ortalyk, Greef Roake headed down to the dock section armed with the latest in Garis language technology vis a Tongues spell from Obsidian Black. While most were not willing to talk to a barbarian, let alone trade with one, Greef eventually hounded a shipper willing to bargain. It became quickly evident to Greef Roake that no one was terribly interested in travelling to the east, though passage to the west, while infrequent, was not unusual.

Eventually Greef Roake was able to badger a local shipper into agreeing to send the party and their gear to Kala Astanals for a fee of 1200 barbarian pieces gold. A 600 gold piece deposit was taken and the shipper in exchange for a promise that a boat would be ready in four days time.

DM Note: The Garis Triumvirate is basically the North Korea of Otan.  Shipping is monitored and people who operate ships are watched more closely than the regular citizenry.  If I have not conveyed this through regular gameplay, that is on me, but I'm posting it here for the record.

Fenris, Our Lord and Savior

Meanwhile, Panamon Cree decided to investigate the local temple, a Wodenist affair called the Sanctum of Fenris. Within the sanctum he learned that the members of the clergy that he overheard seemed to be very much on the side of Zhannur Timurlan's rampage, showing excitement that the leader might bring about Ragnarok. Panamon Cree further learned, via detect magic, that there was a familiar magical aura in the building which may have come from one of the Memes of Aspan.

Character is What We Are Just After Lunch

Following up on the lead from after the rally, the party headed to the address on the card Obsidian Black received at The Good Dog two days earlier. Upon reaching the door, the person within opened a slot, recognized the party and let them in. Seated around a large table the "rebel" Akimsilik explained his nation's political woes.

The tale ended with a plea for help. Certain influential clergy, politicians and administrators in the Akimsilik Region were waxing toward war. The plucky rebel went on to list names of these influencers on a blackboard. If they were to influence enough of the Akimsilik, the Triumvirate of Garis might be swayed to vote in favor of a war... one that would likely put every country and citizen in Otan in the thrall of the Garis; at least those not killed in open warfare. The rebel pleaded that if they could somehow stop the influencers from influencing, through whatever means, that war could be averted.

Upon hearing the plea, Greef Roake exploded at the rebels, calling them all stupid and their plan shitty. He explained that bringing foreigners into their local politics would create a premise for war that would outweigh all other premises for war. The visibly crestfallen rebel got defensive, invited Greef Roake to go fuck himself and ushered the party out of their dwelling, all while explaining that he was not an expert at rebelling, but just a banker and assured them he would continue to try and stop the war.

The Paper Trail

Tumar Asylkhan in his vestry.

With news that there might be something fishy about the Sanctum of Fenris, the party went to investigate. Greef Roake was met with much deference, while the rest of the party was more or less ignored and free to wander about the sanctum. Greef was soon granted an audience with Tumar Asylkhan, the High Priest of the Trappist Sanctum of Fenris. Tumar and Greef exchanged pleasantries, discussed recent raisings of undead, unusually high quality boat building in Kapteyn and finally talk of magic circles.

Greef Roake was easily able to perceive that Tumar Asylkhan had lied on a couple of points, while a couple of others had made him nervous, Greef having possessed knowledge related to the Memes of Aspan that perhaps very few people should know. Tumar Asylkhan left Greef with the parting thoughts related to "sacrifice", perhaps in deference to Tiw and Fenris but more likely in the manipulations of the Memes. To Greef Roake, this sounded sinister.

Night Vision

As the party left the Sanctum, Panamon Cree lingered to follow Tumar Asylkhan, who also parted immediately after the meeting to the Trappist Citadel followed by two acolytes. Panamon Cree detected magic on the citadel experiencing a magical glow he did not think possible. He hurried back to the Sanctum taking the form of the High Priest and immediately made for the priest's vestry. Rifling though the vestry he indeed discovered notes about an incantation for powering and invoking the Meme On War. Panamon made a copy of the notes and left the vestry desk in as much the same condition as he found it.

I Know a Guy Who Knows a Guy

Before turning in for the night, Panamon Cree found his way back to the rebel base. He was once again allowed entry and engaged in conversation with the "lead" rebel. He apologized for the reaction of his party, but explained they were not assassins. The rebel explained in turn that he did not want to assassinate anyone if they need not be assassinated, but rather that they be dissuaded from making a hero of Zhannur Timurlan or promoting the very idea of war.

Panamon Cree explained that he was sympathetic to the cause and would try and convince his party to act against at least one of those actors trying to foment war. Panamon asked if the rebel could arrange for a teleportation spell to take his party away from Trappist once they did what they could do. The rebel leader replied, "I know a guy, who knows a guy." Both parties agreed to contact the other when they had commitments from their teams and Panamon returned to his hotel.

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