Game 98

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The rest of the party meets up with Ereb on the bridge after he hears the commotion happening at the gates. They decide to head back to the tower.

We arrive back at the aqueducts to see Brohain squaring off with the assassin among a field of white flowers.

Rowan asks her “Let’s start with your name.”

Assassin “I’m not quite sure what’s happening.”

Rowan “Ok. So you neeed a name. Let’s do… Buttercup.”

After some back and forth it is revealed that she does not know her name, why she is here, or where she came from.

…

Cormirion prince has two younger brothers. Otto doesn’t know much more than that.

**Rowan's Peer into the Past**

Later that night, Rowan attempts to tap into BC’s dream. He awakens to the sound of something on fire. All around are flames. There are galloping horses. Shouts of men. Swords ringing in the night. Several wagon carts. Within that, on the fire side are several men wearing head wraps and face coverings. He is in a desert somewhere under a starry night. There are 13-16 men all gathered around a central orc on his knees. There are gashes and cuts and he is holding his side as a spear has been shoved through his shoulder. He is holding a large great sword. There is a name that comes out as someone he knows: “Borag”.

Rowan is confused but he cant hear words. A man walks forward and sweeps his sword decapitating the orc. There is a small orc girl stabbing at one of the men. They throw her next to the man, and he sees that it is the assassin. Rowan calls to her, and the men turn around and say something to him in a language he does not understand. The men flank around him. He feels a blunt force behind his head and he is shaken out of the dream.

…

Meanwhile, Merius rifles through her pockets and finds tattoos similar to what Ereb has. Additionally, there is a note outlining the target of the hit as well. In the thieves world there are rumors of a group of assassins working with the Zentarum that come from a place where no one knows where it is. A secret order within the Zentarum. And each of them herald from a place known as the Yellow Rose monastery.

…

Rowan returns to the dream with Merius. This time, the first thing he feels is the biting cold. In front of him, 10-15 feet out there is a figure in furs. He sees BC shivering. Her teeth are chattering as she walks past, not looking at Rowan. Words start to drift towards them carrie dby the wind.

“A name is not important. Only a blade and the one that wields it.” BC repeats it.

“A blade is not important. Only the will that would wield it. I will not use many names, as my enemies are wont to find me. I am nameless.”

BC stops and collapses. His vision starts to swim and go white. Rowan grabs her and shakes her. They lift her up.

Then Merius hears on the wind “This way. This way! THIS WAY!” and he feels a pull in a direction. They walk for a while. They see something out of the corner of their vision. A dark silhouette. Very tall. Maybe 50 feet. Distantly in the snow. BC’s eyes flutter open. She sees them, and then her eyes close again. Merius has heard fables of travelers who get lost in mountain passes and sometimes see the primordial giants of Off Ketala. What they are, and what they want, people do not know. They are things of pure mythos. But the drow take them very seriously.

Merius puts the torch out in the snow and then casts invisibility on the three of them. They then also pick up the pace. There are two large almost stalagmites coming from the ground, but they are still in the open air. But tucked between them is the mouth of a cave. There is something strange about them. The voice comes to them again “Hurry. Hurry!”

As they get closer to the caves they recognize the “stalagmites” as statues of the Lost Kings, but they are completely encrusted in ice. Looking outside the giants do not appear to be following. Merius looks through his monocle at the giants. He sees an overwhelming kaleidoscope of color.

Inside they find a fire and some cookware.There is a woman there with her head down and a red hood.

**Anastra's Ruminations**

“Gentleman. Make yourself comfortable by the fire. Merius, we really must stop meeting like this.” They see Anastra sitting there.

“I must thank you for bringing her to me. Know her yet? Not yet. But do I know her in my time? Very well. Call this a bridge. Your master understood the nature of dreams. Reaching into eddies. Pools of possibility. I’m assuming you’re aware of such things. Kilei Valoran was very gifted in matters of incarnum.”

Rowan “I didn’t get a chance to know her very well. What do you call her? This one was Rashaws I believe. Though we’ve not had proper introductions as of yet. I have woven the threads to draw her close to me. All a part of my design.”

“Are you her master?”

“No. But there were complications. THe seven sisters have sepnt long watching over the kingdom of man. We’ve guided them. YOu’ve interacted with several I believe. What’s the phrase? Keep your friends close, and enemies closer still. THough my time has passed, They ever reaches its hand out. So I pluck the threads of fate and weave you all here.”

M “Tell me. How do we relate to the seven sisters. Are we friends to be kept close? OR enemies to be kept closer?”

A “Im afraid its more involved than that. If it is now, or is it then? What were friends yesterday are enemies tomorrow. Who was once perceived an enemy, are but a friend. So I ask you this now. Take her into your care. Her use to the Zentarum is over. ANd there are threads that are beyond even what I can pull.”

M “Then I suppose there is some use keeping her around.”

A “There are those that hunt me. This one’s threads are frayed. Some beyond repair. What she chooses to be, and what she is, are two things that are yet to be determined. IF there are to be more questions, let us make a compact. Three questions.”

Rowan consents to this. He feels the magics that bind them.

A “What time are you hailing from?”

R “1489.”

A “I see. So it has not happened yet. Ask me your question.”

R “Who is Rashoz?”

A “Slave. Assassin. A dreamer. Scarred. Marked. And hunting potential.” She smiles.

“Was the Prophet stopped?”

R “...”

A “Your next question?”

R “You said so it hasn't happened yet. What does that mean?”

A “The breaking Ao’s wisdom. The shattering of our world. The day the black sun rises.” She breathes in and out and then gestures to the staircase over which is an engraving of the eclipse. “For my final question. What has become of my banished protégé? My greatest work? Destiny fulfilled? Esper Karsus?”

R [Answers]

A They see her eyes go wide in shock. “*She*’s broken her bonds!?” -She starts to look around nervously. “BE quick about your question! I must leave this place... Even now *she* could be watching!”

R “Do you know where the lost city is?”

A Breathing hard “- you mean Helden? The question is not where but when? That damned fool. I told him not to go. He wouldn't listen to an old woman. You’ll find the city lost upon the 6th layer of Avernus. What was once ours is now claimed in the maw of calamity. Where Helden was, now only a void stands. The maw is a giant hole in the Auroch wastes. There was an actual city that used to be there and it was a big part of the Andalorian war.

…

Something has changed. Someone has taken note of this conversation. The vision begins to dissipate. There is a figure walking through the smoke of the cave. There are trailing robes. They are wearing a golden mask with several points.

“I see you!”

Rowan and Merius depart the dream. Outside we hear the wind begin to pick up very loudly and then cease. Merius uses the monocle to look around.
“There is a house whose people sits in darkness. Dust is their food. Cloth is their feet. They see no light they sit only in darkness. I saw the kings of the earth, their crowns put away forever.”

“There is a house whose people sits in darkness. Dust is their food. Cloth is their feet. They see no light they sit only in darkness. I saw the kings of the earth, their crowns put away forever.”

Ereb “I know those words. House Tsarin. The house that united the drow. It seems there’s more at play here in what influences our friend.”

To Do:

* \*Cormyrian report
* \*Contact Ophala?

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