A:13 The Blessed Lands

Starring: βέλος, Kweto Lucullus, Mauritius
Guest Starring: Iskander val'Mehan, Diantha val'Emman (played by Mauritis), Jayvin De-gaul (Off doing something), Gwenevere Val'Abebi (Not played by anyone), Alun Northstag, Free Willy, Nestor Lambrinos, Evangelos, Aristides val'Emman, Lord Beric
Challenge: Nestor Lambrinos; Warlock Mummy; Tentacled Humanoid Psion (For metagamers, not an Illithid)
Location: Enpebyn (Temple of Hurrian); Blessed Lands
Date Played: 07 Dec 2009

Marketplace disturbance

While packing your gear in the small quarters, a young acolyte runs into the room. "Father Enzio summons you to the roof!" Following behind the acolyte you quickly ascend the stairs to the roof, where you see most of the clergy and your companions on the east side of the building this morning. Squinting against the sunlight, you see a crowd has gathered as a person in bandages is moving around one of the marketplaces.

Mauritius: The shambling mound of bandages was identified as a mummy. I believe that this was just a distraction from the fact that there was a charmed member of the clergy that was trying to leave with the chalice, named Nestor Lambrinos. Diantha was able to knock the man to the ground as I jumped off the building onto a moving cart below to catch up with the thief. Diantha's blow was so strong that it knocked the man out, and I secured him until the rest of the church could come and collect the man and secure the chalice.

Our attention was then turned to the mummy. He was a fearsome foe that just the sight of him was enough to freeze one in fear. His strength was great, but our numbers greatly overwhelmed him.

Kweto Lucullus Everyone wants the chalice except me. One of these days I’ll just give it overhand to someone. The mummy was frightfully killing off tradesman in the street. Everyone but me followed Mauritius poor example, I used the stairs. The mummy did not enjoy altherian fire, nor did I. I had a little accident trying to apply some flaming pitch to my weapon and scalded my arm. The mummy seemed to be trying to escape to somewhere. I wonder where mummies congregate.

Following the charmed acolyte to a construction site

Mauritius While the rest of the group and I were dealing with the mummy, the church confirmed that it's member was under a compulsion spell. We decided to release the man with a fake chalice to see who was pulling the strings.

After a good deal of travel, we came upon a being with tentacles on its face and had the ability to manifest psionic powers. Early in the fight I was compelled to leave the empire. I began walking away and eventually Alun was able to free me with the assistance of a scroll from a nearby church. When I got back to the combat, it was nearly over.

Once the final blow was struck, Belos and I were placed inside the church and had to wait out the duration of the suggestions that were planted in us. Once we recovered, we explored the lair of the creature that it tried to escape into when we first encountered it. There were many bodies with their bottom jaws ripped out and what looked like their brains extracted through the hole that was made.

Also there was a hole into a starry nightscape. It has the ability to suck whatever is in front of it into it and have it be thrown into a great abyss. We told the watch about this portal to make sure it is secure and can be studied.

Kweto Lucullus Some sort of corrupted Val was the receiver of our ruse. I was able to net it so it could not escape but its powers were formidable. I was suggested to kill Belos. About time someone took care of his friendly fire. Everyone was pretty wary of going down the tunnel after being roasted by it.

Message to the Naga King

🎲 DM Free Willy was sent with 500gp plus 100gp to deliver a formal request to the Naga King of the Ssethregore requesting access to the Wand of Rangwa. Insert message contents below:

Mauritius: I want to make sure that the message contains the following.

• Proper ss'ressen greeting
• Give a brief history of the two items—chalice and wand
• Give significance of current events
• Offer points of mutual benefit of our research
• Promise return of the item and compensation upon completion

Traveling to the Blessed Lands

Kweto Lucullus You can do a lot of things to Ansharites except use logic. Tried to help out Aristides squire. Boy is going to get himself killed following that one. The First city is starting to sound like a worse place than I thought. Diantha’s dowry is being pursued again. Lord Berric is a supporter of the Emerald Society who we promised to help for further information.

Barefoot Ansharites

Mauritius: In our travels we ran across a group of Ansharites that were on pilgrimage through the Blessed Lands on the way to the First City. Belos took the most interest with the group, him being of their belief. His dedication to the faith was brought into question for a brief amount of time, though he didn't seem to bothered by this. We traveled with them for a bit of time, sharing food and stories. We eventually took our leave, though, as they had to continue their path with endured suffering.

🎲 DM: Belos' disagreements over how to express the beliefs of Anshar is an example of how two differing philosophies are valid for the same god.

Nierite by the campfire

Mauritius: A man named Aristides val'Emman and his squire eventually came upon our encampment during the night. A devout Neirite, Diantha took a liking to his person. He told us of stories that he is trying to reclaim the Neir tower near the First City, the only tower that has yet to be reclaimed from the wilds, and she seemed very interested in this. I have a feeling that she will want to leave the group for a while to help in this quest and become closer to Neir. If she does so, I will stay by her side. As of now, we don't know the true purpose of the "Cup Bearer," so it should be OK for me to leave the group for now if it comes to it.

The First City, on it's plateau

What Lord Beric knows

Damien Thunder, King of the Battlefield and Leader of the Black Company was unstoppable in battle. He and the Black Company were integral to pushing back the demons to the North before the Wall. He never failed a mission for the first Emperor. I don't know anything about the chalice, but I do know that he was known to drink blood before every battle.

Narrah Illawarra was an Elorri planter, meaning that he planted one of their seven Trees for the seven races that they exterminated. I believe that he was the planter for the Il-haun.

Of the Wand of Rangwa, I know only that it was crafted by powerful wizards of the Ssethregore empire, prior to the first Imperium.

Damien and Narrah were two of the original founding members of the Black Company, along with two others, but I'm afraid that I don't recall their names.

Interesting that you ask about this information, as I recently found a cache of ancient books and scrolls in the wild part of the First City that had to do with the Black Company. Mostly it's supply information. You may look at them if you like.

• Paperwork contains the following of note:
  • Lots of salt.
  • Company had goldsmiths on staff

According to what I've read about the Black Company when I was studying war history, the Black Company was named so because wherever they went the sky turned into night. When asked where their next mission was, they would reply with "wherever and whenever the stars dictate"

Loot

Here is the loot broken down over the past 3 sessions. Please strike yourself when you take your share.

Notice

Critical Fumble deck will be used in the next session.

At the holiday game, it was agreed by regular Arcanis players to be more interesting than the usual fumble rules used.

To avert the very nasty ones in the deck, an action point may be spend to negate a critical fumble. (PCs have leveled up with generous action point totals.)

Mauritis is immune to critical fumbles for the next session.