Event 10 - October 2023

#### Encounters

* Ms. Charm, a hex witch from the Fellmourn Wild(wald?wold?) Was making Bone Wights from herself and the Bone Orchard. Wights were Shame, Love/Desire, and …. Another. Not sure what happened here. Shame literally killed themself infront of us and gave us a bone that belonged to them. Loved was taught that there are different types of love I think.
	+ Can someone elaborate on this more?
* The Ebony Veil went spying for Malen, on Zivkas behalf. People have been dumping secrets into the world that Aphinae did not want known. They were clearly angry at Aphinae and talked about not having a connection with the divine anymore. A divine being murdered them with holy fire, calling them "little heretics". This being we think is a Saint, and they are named the Black Hand of Aphinae.
	+ If we could figure out who is behind this group, and make an ally out of this being that might be a GREAT idea
* The newly formed Angel of Gaen, Shieldwarden of Almeryn, came to us (Patrick). He answered a LOT of questions and has agreed to help us - see lore dump
* Avera Strom, assistant to the First Minister of Alperia Aventius Carix (DECEASED!) came to us to speak about his death. She paid Leyara to track down information regarding some stolen documents from his office and murder.
	+ Aventius was ritually murdered (ritual circle) and had his throat slit completely
	+ Some folks snuck into the First Minister's study and found him dead (!) and rifled through his desk/office looking for documents. They found letters that were signed “AD” from over the last 7 years or so that indicated working closely with someone within Alperia. We are currently working on the assumption that these letters are from Argyle Damryn to the First Minister, HOWEVER we have not confirmed this.
	+ Avera says Aventius was looking into allegations of Demonae sympathizers within the government. Last week he had gotten into a loud and potentially violent argument with the Minister of War (Konstantin Osmann). The Minister was collecting information on the sympathizers. This information was stolen and if we find them it will help lead us to who was being investigated.
	+ Avera also gave Gavin a Talon and stated that if documents were brought into town and sold that we should buy them back.
* Group traveled to Pallandine beneath the 2nd seal of the Queen and it was “unpleasant”. They collected some energy from the sentinels there and then they were able to traverse the area.
	+ Group did something very similar to a Fathom Call beneath the Pallendine seal, and they came back from this with a compulsion to provide everyone with Nature grants by moss. There is a hive mind of nature folks that surround the Queens tomb. It’s unknown if they were once followers of hers, or if they are there to keep her resting place guarded against those who want to raise her.
* The Dreadlord Seneschal stopped by for a visit with some dreadkyn goons, however all he did was talk to Gideon about an unknown topic before letting his dreadkyn loose on the town.
* Trip to Valos: Runemaster Mattias took us through the gate to Valos! There were beings from a different unknown fallen ancestry who immediately attacked us. There was another unknown corrupted creature there who was pretty strong, and it had Obsidian! It was high quality obsidian that we can forge Ebony Blades with. These beings followed us out of the gate, and Mattias had to close it so that they could not follow. I do fear that now that we have opened up this gate it is very possible that more of these creatures will come through it. HOWEVER, it depends on the level of intelligence that still remains within these corrupted ancestries: it’s doubtful that they have a runemaster as skilled as Matias but anything is possible. There are supposedly some very intelligent Chimera out there.
	+ All of the Obsidian from the Ebony Blades was from Valos, confirmed by Misha
* Caldelon Ceasefire Treaty: the Wardens of Caldelon were brought together to treatise. They were attacked in the throne room by fighters that were wearing specific colors: brown and green I think. Alexander did much of the actual talking, however Serafina wrote the majority of the Treaty. A ceasefire has been agreed upon while the investigation into the murder of the king and queen continues. The wardens will meet quarterly to discuss updates on the investigation into their deaths and status of the war. Grilick and Alexander dueled for the warden of the south(?). Alexander won and gifted his family sword and shield to the wardens of north and south. Lady Dimari (Solarin, silver half face) is warden of the south and potentially a Saint, as she healed Grilick by Grace at the end of the duel confirmed it was “by nobility” so most likely not a divine creature.
* Gnome basket
* Ritual: witnessed Talise being overtaken by the Leviathan
* Butterfly collecting
* Ore collecting for Kelor: Threads of Tapestry trait
* Something at an Apple Orchard?
* Bone Orchard?
* Zivka came into town with a painting of a tall, black tower. We received intel that the Demonae are building something, and then Matias from the Pantechnicon came to say that a giant order of wood had not arrived from Arkathea.
	+ Our belief is that they are building something, in western Arkathea / eastern Neirland Wildlands, with wood
	+ I think that all these things are connected; Mattias said that he was not getting an answer from anyone in Arkathea about what happened to their shipment, but it’s a LOT of wood, and he was able to confirm it was just never loaded onto the boat.
	+ There are a ton of Gates in Arkathea, however, we may be able to narrow down the search area and have less gates to look through (Zivka was talking to The Chancellor about options)
* Omma (O-ma) had a basket of things that she collects from the beach every day, and was giving out things to people. I have a ring, Molly has a piece, and there might be another. The item has been touched by a saint of the wayward vast
	+ Margeen confirmed that it was “zippy” or something along those lines, and that it had been touched by the wayward vast.

#### Wave Fight

* Friday: Consort mini-mods, recovered documents about each Tomb Guardian:  Dreadkin, Golem, Feral and Phantasm. There are drawings of them.
* Saturday: Dread Queen

#### Lore Dump

* Highburn (sp?) was the capital of Queen Sabilines kingdom, located in the mountains by a lake. Damryn has a city named Highburn, so I imagine that is not by coincidence.
* Ulfgar Damryn is on the most well-known Grim’s, touched on the field of sacrifice by a Demonae like many others.
* FAE BULLSHIT
	+ Two Fae Queens, Two Fae Kings: Queen Margeen (High Fae), Queen Balayna (Triton/sea), King Nergon (High Fae, tried to open gate, wave fight), and Unknown
	+ Magic on Delanahlune is called “Glamour” and there is just one kind of magic.
		- Probably more similar to Rune Magic than our own divine/arcane magic
	+ The gates exist there, and they are activated with Glamour
	+ Margeen is SUPER FUCKING ANCIENT. The “last time” she was on Almeryn, our realm and Delanahlune were almost touching, and the ancient kingdoms had not even formed yet, much less been corrupted by Demonae. She remembers the worlds splitting, and then she was unable to visit Almeryn again until the creation of the Shade. She did not know what Sumerak were when she first visited Coventry
		- Elder Fae do not exist anymore, and she is not an Elder Fae (!?)
			* Elder fae either died or "faded" away
			* There is a meadow where the strongest memories of elder fae have soaked into the stones, and with proper ritual you can witness these memories 😁
			* Conspiracy theory: the elder fae have something to do with the Demonae.
	+ She does not know if there is a Conflux there, but sounds like she’ll maybe think about it
* Stuff from the Shieldbearer of Almeryn, Angel of Gaen
	+ The “religion” and the God are seperate, and they don’t always act in the same ways. For example, the Holy Aegis is the name of the religion created by the ancestries to worship Gaen.
	+ Confirmed: There are other Angels on Almeryn right now
	+ Confirmed: there are less than 10 Demonae here currently however they can come and go (not that the Leviathan is a reliable source, but it stated that it was not able to easily traverse the various realms. To its knowledge, it was here before the Rupture, was dormant until very recently, doesn't know what awoke it. It does not know how it got to Almeryn, or how it would leave)
	+ The Demonae are taking their time this invasion and trying new tactics. During the Rupture they just seemed to be wildly causing chaos, but now it seems a slow attack. The assumption is that they have a plan.
		- The Dreadlords are an acute issue and need to be taken care of, however the Demonae are still a bigger threat overall.
	+ The Shieldbearer is here to ensure that Almeryn remains safe.
	+ Micah did not need to sacrifice themself to kill the Demaone; we were already there and it was in hand. It was his nature to make such a sacrifice. I think he saw a chance to go down with a fight and he took it.
	+ We asked him if there was a reason that other angels have not joined our fight and he simply said “Have you asked them?”
	+ The Sumerak came to Almeryn to escape Valos, which was falling to corruption. They removed the Kindra and sent them to Valos (ritual?) Valos' falling was in reference to the ancestries falling to corruption. The Angel of Victory losing a battle to a Demonae there def would have accelerated the fall of the ancestries on Valos. At the point where the Kindra were fully corrupted, they no longer were a mortal ancestry. It means that there were 5 mortal ancestries at one point on Almeryn, and only 3 on Valos.
	+ After the most recent Rupture, the Divine turned inward to re-examine… themselves? afterward. They decided to “leave” and they were concerned that travel through the barrier may weaken it. The barrier gave them time to think and for us to heal. They were always here, just took a much less active role in the world.
	+ The Divine only battles the Demonae when they interfere in Almeryn - they don’t go hunting for them and if they just stayed in the Dark Garden the divine would not fight with them.
	+ The Demonae are a threat to all of creation and therefore to the Gods. However, we don’t think that a Demonae would be able to physically battle a God.
* Misha stopped by: Gideon sent him a message and he came to us!
	+ Misha does not know why the power of 4 is important either, just that there have always been 4 mortal ancestries (we've heard this from several sources, including The Gray. We've continued to ask people we meet, but none have been able to state the significance).
	+ The Kindra were severed from their normal place in the world
	+ Misha has info on forging: There is forge that we have used that would be hot enough to make new ebony blade, it’s the one we used to fix Ivar’s sword
	+ The Demonae imprisoned him for attempting to ascend by amassing knowledge they did not want known.
	+ He knows the name of the Demonae Gideon is seeking, who we believe is the most powerful of them all.
		- The top tier of demonae: there was once strife amongst the most powerful Demonae, and they were all imprisoned by the single remaining Demonae.
	+ On Aphinae stuff: throughout time, the Chantry faiths have had the knowledge of how to shift the “vibes” (my words) of a God. The Church and their faithful may be able to sway divine agents
		- IMPORTANT: There is something ON US (a trait) that has shrouded us and Mischa is trying to figure it out. We assume it’s what Aphinae did to us.
		- What brought Aphinae’s wrath? Hubris. There were signs that the Demonae were trying to destroy Almeryn, and those wielding great power did not want to listen. With this great power may have believed they were immune. Because they weilded the power of creation, that they could not be touched. There was a great ritual, and the Sumerak brought with them from Valos a collective knowledge. The Sumerak as a whole ancestry performed the ritual to expose what the kindra had done. Aphinae was angered by this, potentially at the dangerous thing the Sumerak did and at the other mortal ancestries for their corruption.
	+ The God of Domination:
		- The seals are beginning to break but we still don’t know where they are. We don’t know exactly how they were placed.
		- The God of Mercy saw what Almeryn would be like with a God of Domination, and created an empowered prison to keep them at bay.
		- The God of Mercy used the Angel of Domination to strike the blow to kill them, and as a final act of mercy, wiped all of their memories of being an angel.
		- This being is in Arkathea; the Sovereign or whatever is in Paleokastro.
			* Ari did a scrying and asked questions bout the Sovereign (get those answers!)
				+ Q: Is The Sovereign a Saint: A: No
				+ Q: Is The Mark the Sovereign places on Rune Knights corrupted by Denomae; A: No
				+ Q: Is The Sovereign more than one person. A: No
		- It may be possible for said angel to reclaim their memories somehow. No saints of domination we know of; MIsha has no knowledge of relics.
	+ The Angel of Victory wielded a spear into their final battle
	+ There are scholars who may know more about what Glamour actually IS; it is hubris that the Fae believe Demonae can not survive on Delanahlune, just as Divine can not survive there.
	+ Creation magic was raw Power - the raw, unfiltered power of a new world. No one is known to wield creation magic anymore, though the Gods may still.
		- Later on, the Dreadqueen used “Power” as her trait to empower her court.
		- Gideon believes that she was NOT cursed by Aphinae and may not have the trait that everyone else does. This could also mean that all of the Dreadlords are this way.
* A god named Una is also a god of the Fathoms, I think before Loranin. Similar to The Prince of Crows faith to Survival coinciding with (but attributed to a different God than the Eminent Pursuits domain of survival). As I understand it, Una was more tactics oriented, no direct relation to Dreams/Dreaming
	+ The Jester was a follower of Una
* The Prince of Crows is a Saint of the Survival (not Eminent Pursuit), has been around since before Tyr fell; he and Misha had a brief aside about who was older, and it’s Misha.

##### Hirlath Dreaming Hour:

* Leyara & Pim: discovered that The Grey, head of house fucking kraken, is a saint(?) of Aphinae (info that we should keep to the covenant)
* Silla: something about the angel of murder

#### Important NPC Notes

* New: Father Dalwyn (Jake, Sumerak, yellow tunic, red hood): priest of Avinyar, working on creating lanterns with the exalted forge to ward off… Demonae? Chimera?
* Queen Margeen (michelle, varying ancestries):  need to find out the NPC that Brandon plays for her, he’s definitely also Fae and I think he’s important.
* The Black Hand of Aphinae: Saint with blackened hands (Caitlin)
* Lady Dimari, warden of the South (Amanda, Solarin)
* Misha: confirmed that his name was Enderak before he ascended
* Prince of Crows (Patrick)
* Talise has been corrupted by the Leviathan by using her Wrath
* King of Herons?

#### Questions to ask and Goals we have

* How can we travel through the Sphere of Creation? (Note from Ari - it's my understanding The Shade connects Almeryn to Delanahlune. Have been trying to definitively confirm The Shade does not connect to Valos, but as of yet, no one is aware The Shade connectors there. As noted elsewhere, Gates can be opened between Valos and Almeryn, As far as I'm aware, Mattias is the only one capable of opening these currently, and not with confidence).
* Is it potentially uncomfortable for Demonae to exist here?