A Summary of Drodrugh

Drodrugh

While not the capitol, Drodrugh has been home to the "court" of Velg for several years. There are two prominent factions: Nogrum's Horde, and the Liad, with Nogrum having a slight advantage in power, thanks to the priesthood of Traia. Nogrum himself is away at war with Rocg, and doing well judging by the spoils his armies are sending back. While he is away, the city is being ruled by General Luroz and Silok the High Priestess.

Slave Trading

Luroz oversees the policing and civil projects, primarily slave management, including the auctioning of imported slaves. Slave traders are required to show their Mark of Rights, a tattoo of a chained fist, gained by defeating a gladiator one on one. The mark is made from the blood of the gladiator, should the slaver win, and would-be slavers without one are typically sold as slaves themselves. The current slaver's mark fights feature Saurian Gladiators that have been blinded. 

The High Priestess

Silok manages the "Church" of Traia, primarily by conferring the priesthood on willing officers and sacrificing slaves and prisoners. Those who hold the priesthood of Traia are in various states of transformation, between their native race and being a form of earth elemental. The newest initiates have dry cracking skin, leaking blood particularly around the eyes and mouth. Silok herself is little more than an orcess skeleton shrouded in a form of flowing sand. Despite rumors in other nations claiming that Nogrum is Traia's Hearkener, Silok fulfills that role personally. There are rumors that she is working on restoring Traia's power to full strength, however anyone suggesting that Traia is not already the supreme goddess in the presence of a priest is purged, sometimes on the spot, and sometimes as a "volunteer".

Religion of Traia

The doctrine of Traia is straightforward: Shaefev is a liar and a thief, and all traces of him must be purged. As mortals require his influence (water) to survive, they must be purged of him. This is the only, all-important commandment.

The priests also teach those who will listen the "true" history of the gods, that Traia and Shaefev were once the perfect parents of all creation, until Shaefev stole back his heart by infidelity, destroying her at the same time. They teach that his touch ruined Zaerel their daughter, turning her against Traia, and all her children joined the conflict against her.

The Royal Family of Nylana

Jamus Nylana

Nylana's succession tradition of having the royal children compete for the right to the throne is ancient; the tradition of them murdering each other before the competition to ensure their gaining the throne is less so, with many even believing that it began with Jamus Nylana. All that's really known is that when his father Rabin Nylana decreed that the heirs should return and compete, no one returned but Jamus and frightening rumors.

Now that the world is ending, rumors are that he is hunting down his children the way he once hunted his brothers and sisters.

Children of Nylana

Jamus had two wives, an elf-woman named Nyanath, and a human woman named Lealla. Between the two of them, he had seventeen children, with all of them fifteen and older being away on their pilgrimage,

Nyanath's Children:

1. Doaval, 40
2. Jacam, 38
3. Erid, 36
4. Tamah, 33
5. Isimrell, 30
6. Aeraeth, 29
7. Hannavel, 21
8. Enylan, 16

Lealla's Children:

1. Orenna, 33
2. Arull, 33
3. Ren, 30
4. Layla, 28
5. Adelyn, (Thalia) 23?
6. Janell, 16
7. Rysh, 7
8. Sylva,7
9. Alvek, 5

Thalia--In Castle Nylana, A One-Shot

The Guard

The Guard has minimal access to the castle--they can get in no further than the castle barracks and battlements. If Thalia tries to speak with them, they will be friendly, and open to a simple persuasion attempt to help take the city back. Being either caught or revealing herself, she will be brought to General Adul Anameras. If caught, she will meet the general in the dungeon, or if she reveals herself, in the general's quarters.

The Guard has been separate from the main bulk of the castle for three years, though Adul has been in contact with Queen Nyanath (the elf queen) for most of that time. Adul does not know what has been going on there, except that Nyanath assures her they have adequate protection. The castle staff, including cooks and cleaners, has been inside the castle for as long, without any contact with anyone outside the castle itself. The estimated staff is around 40 people, and as far as Adul has been able to tell, none of them are native to Nylana, or at the very least they seem to have no family in the city.

The Castle

The castle is eerily quiet. The halls and rooms are empty, and aside from lit candles and lanterns, any signs of life are dusty, as though they were dropped months or years ago in the middle of things. The age of the abandonment varies from room to room. 

The royalty quarters are the only place of interest. There is a single maid standing outside the royal chambers, but her skin is ashen, and her hair gray, frayed, and lifeless. She attacks Thalia on sight.

The room on the right is Thalia's mother's room, Queen Lealla, the left Queen Nyanath's, and the Center King Jamus's.

In Lealla's room, her corpse lays on the bed, slightly shriveled, as if mummifying rapidly. She has been laid out peacefully, and there is a hole through her chest over her heart, about the size of a large coin. In her hands is a dagger with an inscription on the blade that reads "For Thalia". (This blade is the blade of Lealla and when held by a mortal has an incorporeal blade, and when held by a ghost or elemental, has a physical blade).

Nyanath's room is ransacked. There are letters everywhere, mostly discussing discoveries about the cult of Kathelia. One letter is left neatly on the nightstand, unopened, and addressed to Joehva from Jamus. It mentions discusses his fear for her, as she has already given her soul up, that he cannot save her as he is saving the rest of the family.

Jamus's room is empty. No furniture, no rugs, no carpet. A secret passage through the fireplace is wide open, and leads down steep steps to a dungeon-like place. There is a chamber at the bottom, lit by a  single torch, and the shade of Kasadek guards it.

Through the chamber, there is another outfitted as an infirmary. A girl lies in the bed, with green hair, and firm, yet supple, blue skin, similar to a ripe grape. After a moment, Thalia recognizes her as Hannavel Nylana.

As for the orb, it is a Liad seed, and thanks to the spells Kasadek placed on her, rather than a new Liad growing and feeding off her body, she will become a Liad in 1d12 (9) days.

Session 23--The Trial of the Slaver's Mark

Fixing the Rudder

After the fight with the demons, the rudder needed fixing, so the party landed the ship, fortunately right on the bank of the river in the village Largra. The chieftain required a fee of 1000 gold for the party to have their ship landed and request repairs. Thalia paid it up, and in his surprise the chieftain personally escorted them through the village to his fishermen, who (with the chieftain's prompting) charged 4500 gold for the repair. The party members were amused by the whole thing, and were quickly on their way.

On their way again, Ahnrik "remembered" (he knew the whole time, but I hadn't informed Ryan about the newly invented lore yet,) that they would need a designated slaver, someone who earned the right to sell slaves by winning an unarmed one-on-one fight to the death. After some discussion, it was decided that Amisha would play the role of lead slaver, and they would send Akari in to earn the slaver's mark.

Drodrugh

The temple is a black monolith, a long thorn that bends light around itself to appear pierce the sky, draining a power from it. Clouds for miles are drawn into it, and the sun's light is harsh and dimming at the same time near it. Statues of Traia depict her in the form of a Liad woman, crying tears of anger, and either mauling Shaefev with her wrist blades or weeping over a decayed heart in her hands.

The party flew in close, circling to get a look at the city before they landed. They saw the population was mostly a mix of orcs and liad, with an occasional slave of another race dotted in. There were also strange skeletons shrouded in sand mixed in, and orcs with dried skin, cracked and bleeding around the eyes and mouth.

Having done some reconnaissance, and seeing that the city's army was gathering and following beneath the ship, they landed in an empty slaver's field. 

General Luroz met them at the head of the army, and Amisha introduced herself as a haughty self-important slaver, requesting a slaver's trial. Luroz was unimpressed, and forced a search of the ship. After the search, he declared them as allowed to enter as slaver's but he would be taking the ship.

Amisha made a fuss about how it would take a lot of resources and expert knowledge to pilot, but Luroz just smirked and boasted of Velg's bounteous loot and enslaved researchers pouring in daily.

At Ahnrik's suggestion, Amisha tried a more humble angle of how their ship was actually rather crude and poorly made, and that they would be better off using their resources to make a better ship.

Luroz conceded that they would rather have better ships, and would allow the party to keep the vessel on the conditions that his people would have free run of the ship, and that Amisha herself competed to earn the slaver's mark, to which Amisha agreed.

The Trial of the Slaver's Mark

As soon as the deal was made, General Luroz ordered for a gladiator to be brought in, and the fight would commence immediately. This allowed Amisha about five minutes to make a plan, as her expertise is in trickery and not unarmed hand-to-hand combat.

Akari cast Quickness on her, and Ahnrik cast Conceal Arcana on all of them to allow for secret spellcasting during the fight. 

Luroz's gladiator was a grizzled seven foot tall rakashan with a Snow Tiger pattern, his fang chipped and a scar running down his neck.

Amisha struck first, subtly changing her form to have claws instead of nails and striking at him, but didn't land the hit.  Akari quickly Cursed his fighting, before he could respond, and he wasn't quite able to land a blow. Amisha struck again, and the hit was good, but he didn't even flinch at the cut on his chest. He lashed out to slash her throat and she dodged, but he followed up with a fistful of sand at her eyes, blinding her momentarily.

Angered at the trick (as it is minor sin for a priestess of Mocaeis to fall for a trick), she ground her own fistful of dirt into her eyes, screeching at him. Shaken by the ferocity of it, the Rakashan failed to dodge Amisha's following strike at his arm, which tore through the muscles and a tendon, and the pain sent him into unconsciousness.

Everyone was amazed at the victory, particularly the orcs that had bet against her with Anira, and Luroz upheld his end of the bargain, sending the Tattooist to Amisha, who got the chained fist tattooed on her lower rib.

Session 22

Loneil left to do important god things, and demons sent by Jousus attacked the ship, appearing suddenly. The party fought them off, and Loneil returned to give a gift of protection to the party after having sensed their fight.

Liad--Race

Liad—The Lost Race

Little is currently known about the Liad, but those who work with them (Orcs and slaves mostly,) have heard them refer to themselves as the Lost People, and speak of their desires to take back the 'wet' or 'lit' world.

Retractable Blades

The Liad have two blade-like bones that they can retract and conceal into their wrists. These deal Str+d6 damage.

Natural Venom

Liad's wrist-blades are lubricated by a toxic oil produced by glands in the wrist pouch, causing victims to make a vigor roll or be paralyzed for 2d6 rounds. If the vigor roll is a critical failure, they roll on the injury table for a permanent wound (reversible by a successful Greater Healing spell, if otherwise unwounded at the time the spell is cast).

Lost Race/Enemy Race

Since the dawn of mortality, the Liad have lived hunted and alone in the Woaden world of Traia. Even with Traia's help, most can barely speak the languages of the Sky-lit lands. During the War of Traia, Liad suffer a -6 to charisma due to language barriers and being the enemies of literally everyone. After the war ends, they have a -2 due to their being the "Evil Race".

Session 21

 The Temple of the God of Life

The final morning of travel to the temple, Amisha hears a sharp cry of pain from her pocket, and a light from her coin is missing. The face of Mocaeis grimaces, and tells her that one of her fellow priests has perished at the hands of the Liad, and she must hurry. It does not respond to anything she says, and soon the god's face returns to its typical ear-to-ear grin.

Cult of Kathelia

The cult of Kathelia are here before the party. At the entrance to the temple there are two (hidden) Khazoks, which attack when the party closes in. Once the fight begins, assassins leave stealth to join the fight. The entrance to the temple is in a wild, once-maintained garden. Near the main doors is a pit, with the carcass of a dog hung over it. The temple is built from a strange calming yellow sandstone that doesn't match any of the nearby geology.

Khazoks

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6(A), Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6 

Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d6, Stealth d10 

Pace: 6

Parry: 5

Toughness: 7 (2)

Treasure: Meager, per every 5 khazoks

Special Abilities: 

Armor +2 Rocky shell 

Bite: Str+d6

Camouflage: While not moving, khazoks resemble small boulders. Characters actively searching for danger suffer –4 to their Notice rolls. Khazoks which aren’t detected strike with surprise, getting the Drop on their unsuspecting foes.

Assassin 

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d6 

Skills: Climbing d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Notice d8, Stealth d8, Shooting d6, Streetwise d6, Throwing d6 

Pace: 6

Parry: 6

Toughness: 6 (1) 

Various Edges: Alertness, First Strike, Thief 

Treasure: Meager 

Gear: Leather armor (+1), short sword (Str+d6), throwing knives (Range: 3/6/12, Damage: Str+d4)

Special Abilities: 

Poison: The quickest way to kill someone is with poison. A typical poison requires a Vigor roll at –2 or take an automatic wound.

Inside the temple are various monsters, cultists, and traps.

Items to be discovered:

• Any NON-story altering rando loot
• Journal of a cultist (Annaya Lest)
• Explains what they're up to, in some small detail: "The would-be saviors of the gods are supposed to be arriving sometime this week, Holvalda says Kathelia told him herself; though I have my doubts, it is also written in Volume 24583 of Our Lady's Visions. While I couldn't bear the consequences I would face if it should happen, I still almost wish us to lose, just to see them wipe that superior look off his pointy face. Perhaps if I were to kill him in the fight, no one would notice it was me and not self-fancied heroes who did it... In any event, I'm glad I got to create the Khazoks. As hard as it was to kill the poor puppy, it was such a thrill to finally get to use my bone flute!"
• Reveals that the cult uses bone flutes and the blood of animal or intelligent beings to infuse power into something else--the air for visions, though it is limited to events connected to the blood of the sacrifice; inanimate objects to enchant or animate; people to enhance. The cult initially gained power and influence due to its ability to grant actual knowledge and inherent power to its members.
• The Hearkener's Prophecy
• A book written by the Hearkener of the God of Life, whose name was Vovaenis, which contains the history of Vovaenzol, and thus the history of the creation of the world and of mortal kind. Reading this enlightens Loneil, and he gains a higher level of knowledge of everything from it. Importantly to the party, it ends with the Prophecy, a clear statement of what needs to be done: "I shall build the Godly Tomb, though my God is not dead, but lost, and send them by this word to that Godly Tomb, where they shall restore him. I fear for the survival of the world; if their enemies should prevail at that day, and Traia lose either her power or destroy Shaefev's divinity, then the world, even the universe may fall from their discord—yet Traia's own limited power prevents my writing here the full solution. But as Vovaenis wishes, if they can bring their master to that Godly Tomb, and call him forth by his True Name, he will be restored."

The cultists' primary objective is to retrieve the Eye of Issald, and will make called shots for the eye as often as possible. Each cultist wants the honor of retrieving it themselves.