1-8 Raid on Tse's Former Villa
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Background and Summary: Clues in the documents found in
Gimlison's study and from various people in Ikon lead the Party
to a warehouse owned by Gimlison. From there, the Party finds a
tunnel that leads to the basement of a villa that Tse used to own,
and from which Gimlison stole many things a few years ago (including
Mei-Peng). They enter the villa and find what appears to have been
Mei-Peng's crypt. They also find a document from Tse detailing her
knowledge of the Cataclysm, the moons, and an alternate world -
"Broken Dafan".
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Dafan time:
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161 Maia 3 - Quintilis 5 (May 3 - July 5) |
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Real time:
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2008 October - November (sessions 91-95) |
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Starting members:
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Mei-Peng
(N4), Vishu
(Mk5), Aknot (F5), Kera
(NtC5), Riff (F5), Rehkel
(T5), X (MU5), Jett
(NtC4/F2), Atlanta (MU4),
Marek (T5), Sarah
(WrC4), Artemisia (B4) |
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(Session 91)
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| Maia 8 |
While most of the rest of the Party is training,
X, Kera, and Jett go to visit Kaija
Telva, Queen of the Konashire Elves. Kaija was an adventuring
companion of Tse, and witnessed many of the events that led up to
the Cataclysm; the Party is sure that she can shed much light upon
the subject of the Moons. Much to their surprise and annoyance, they
find that Kaija went insane a few months ago. Attendants to the queen
tell them that her mind seems to be trapped in the past and present
simultaneously. There have been a few brief moments in which she appears
lucid, and said a few things that were understandable: "What
did they do to the moon?", "Mei-Peng", "What has
Tse done?", and "Ikon's Blue Eye". |
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They learn from the attendants much of what
Kaija and Valashi had been doing in the past 250 years. Both had vanished
during the Cataclysm, along with a few companions; they all returned
independently many years later, having aged only a year or two. They
had come from a devastated alternate version of Dafan, one they named
"Broken Dafan". Their return was via an ancient tower near
Pitt Lake north of Ikon. They made subsequent voyages to Broken via
that tower; each time, the local inhabitants in that world become
more hostile to their appearance; an early outing killed Kaija's friend
Martin (another Human from pre-Cataclysm days), and the last outing
10 years ago nearly killed Kaija. They were trying to find another
way to Broken, when Valashi went missing and was presumed dead (the
Party knows she was killed in Bone Hill). |
| Maia 3-28 |
Back in Ikon, Aknot and Rehkel almost kill
some Kobolds, before finding out that they are part of the local constabulary
(a hereditary unit set up by some adventurers many years ago - see
the end of Glacial
Rift); Vishu has to bail them out. |
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Atlanta learns of a warehouse owned by Gimlison
that has something to do with a robbery from a villa once owned by
Tse and uphill from the warehouse. Several mercenaries were apparently
hired from Maeganbaldt (Gimlison's home city) shortly before the robbery
and went missing soon afterwards. Artemisia searchs for more clues
in a shrine that Tse dedicated in the great Artemis Sanctuary of South
Tor, and in the archives there. On the shrine she finds a map of Ikon
city, highlighting a point that seems to correspond with Tse's former
villa. |
| Junius 3 |
Grand opening of Marek's first restaurant,
which he has set up in Ikon. |
| Junius 4 |
Marek scouts out Gimlison's warehouse, and
finds a secret door at its back. |
| Junius 7 |
X visits a lawyer in Tualyn, who has some
connection with Tse's former villa in Ikon, hoping to buy it. She
learns that the current owner(s) is very secretive and is unlikely
to be interested in any offer. |
| Junius 10 |
X and Marek sneak into the warehouse, and
explore some hidden rooms at the back; they find some sort of large
undead, and release it upon the unsuspecting warehouse guards before
departing. |
| (S92) |
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| Junius 11 |
Atlanta, Rehkel, Jett, Riff, Sarah, and
Xanthos leave for Lüburg (via the Hestian teleport site in Grimlon),
in order to raise Mei-Peng (see end of previous adventure). |
| Junius 12 |
Artemisia and Marek revisit Tse's shrine
at South Tor. Marek finds some more clues carefully hidden in the
carved artistry: a monocle and the Greek words for "Athena"
and "Mei-Peng". They also have brought Gimlison's severed
head, and have the Artemis clerics cast Speak with Dead on
it. They learn that Gimlison stole notes and Mei-Peng (?!?) from Tse's
villa via the warehouse, but has no interest in what the Moon may
be doing. |
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Vishu and Kera are visited by a member of
the Thieves Guild (at which Marek had recently trained) and learn
that the authorities are investigating some horrific carnage at the
warehouse. Members of a rival guild, and also members of the constabulary,
had succeeded in hijacking that investigation. The visitor thinks
that that other guild is trying to hide things at the warehouse. |
| Junius 15 |
X returns with Aknot to the lawyer in Tualyn,
in order to be more persuasive. She charms him, and gets from him
a letter of introduction to the bank in Vetii (far to the east) that
handles all correspondence with the villa owner. |
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| Junius 17 |
X, Aknot, Artemisia, Kera, Vishu, and Marek
now leave for Lüburg (also via Grimlon). That night, the great
blue Moon returns to Dafan; memories are hazy afterwards, but it seems
the event lasted 20-30 minutes. |
| Junius 22 |
Mei-Peng is raised (see end of Bone
Hill 3). |
| Junius 23 |
Atlanta shows Mei-Peng all the documents
they found in Gimlison's study, and Mei-Peng squeezes a bit more meaning
out of them. Atlanta also suddenly puts together some details from
the documents with some trivia she learned while training at the Magic
Users Guild in Ikon. The spell-casting zombies in Bone Hill were pets
of Gimlison, and seem to correspond to various mages that died or
retired under somewhat unusual circumstances over the past 4 years.
Four in particular died in a supposed dual with rival mages from Tualyn;
however, those 4 plus the one casualty from Tualyn were actually members
of a secretive order of some sort, an order that dated back centuries,
and may have had something to do with Tse or Valashi. And those 5
mages died shortly before the robbery at Tse's former villa. |
| Junius 26 |
En route to Lüburg, the rest of the
Party pays a visit to the banker in Vetii. They learn very little. |
| Junius 28 |
The Party regroups in Lüburg. |
| (S93) |
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| (inter-calendar 1) |
Marek sets up another restaurant. |
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Mei-Peng learns that she has inherited membership
privileges at the Mages Guild of Lüburg and Funen. Long ago,
her mother Tse had good relations with the guild (see Brunland
adventure), and earned an honourary membership. Thus Mei-Peng learns
that there exists a teleport route from Lüburg directly to Ikon
(no more walking via Grimlon required). |
| Quintilis 1 |
Mei-Peng, Jett, Vishu, Riff, and Marek go
to Ikon. They talk with clerics at the Athena temple, but learn little
new. Having been previously counselled to go to the Kyffhäuser
tower, but now finding many things out about Gimlison's warehouse
and Tse's former villa, they decide to ask the clerics for Athena's
guidance. They are told to deal with the villa first, then the tower. |
| Quintilis 2 (Summer Solstice) |
Rest of the Party arrives in Ikon. Riff
and Sarah celebrate midsummer. |
| Quintilis 3 |
Atlanta finds the Thieves Guild contact,
and arranges for a diversion to occur elsewhere in Ikon when the Party
enters the warehouse. Atlanta takes part in that diversion: Atlanta
leaves the Party. |
| Quintilis 4 |
At mid-day, the Party storms through the
front door of the warehouse. 4 "workers" are found; all
prove to be skilled with weapons or spells, and are defeated. One
is taken captive and interrogated, revealing only limited information:
Grindelvaldt, cleric to Laverna (Goddess of Thieves). |
| (S94) |
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Enter secret rooms behind warehouse, with
Grindelvaldt leading. New traps have been set since Marek and X snuck
down here; Grindelvaldt killed by a powerful Glyph of Warding.
Meet and destroy the same large undead that Marek and X saw before
(an Ogre Ghoul with surgically enhanced digging paws). |
| Quinitilis 5 |
Follow rough tunnel (presumably dug by the Ogre Ghoul) and find
it leads to a well-made crypt-like chamber, with an empty lidless
coffin and an inscription on the wall (in Chinese):
Here lies my dear Mei-Peng resting, for
That is not dead which can eternally lie
And with strange aeons even death may die.
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In an adjoining study, two pillars turn
into Stone Giants; battle begins but stops when they recognise and
greet Mei-Peng. In their limited fashion, the Giants (Igram and Rofnor)
explain that Tse set them here as guardians against any that might
disturb Mei-Peng's sleep; some time ago, invaders broke through the
wall and stole Mei-Peng's body and killed their brother Rogex; they
are happy to see Mei-Peng awake now; more than that, their limited
intellect does not know. |
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Exploring further, the Party finds that
they are indeed in the basement of the villa that used to belong to
Tse. There are signs that a small number of staff live in the villa
(and tend to the courtyard crops), but otherwise it is empty of nearly
all furnishings. Sure that there must be something of use, they search
every room; they eventually determine that there is a hollow space
in the wall beside the grand staircase in the entry. Unable to find
the way in, Marek brings Rofnor the Stone Giant up and asks him to
investigate the wall; Rofnor quickly finds that there is indeed space
behind the wall by casually creating a large hole in it. |
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They find a narrow passageway in the wall,
leading to a tiny room under the stairs with several key holes. A
voice (that of Tse) challenges the intruders; when Mei-Peng announces
that it is she, a key floats to her. After much debate about the potential
dangers of using the key, Mei-Peng puts it in the hole that seems
the best fit, and finds a small cubby hole containing papers and a
pouch of gems. |
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The papers (see below) summarise Tse's musings
on the Cataclysm, the moons, and the "Broken Dafan" world.
Written late in her life, some 220 years ago, Tse declared that the
great Blue moon was never real, but was an illusionary side effect
of the artificial moons build by the Hobgoblin millennia ago to keep
out the invading Kotjai (Githi). When the artificial moons were destroyed,
Dafan was wracked with earthquakes and volcanic activity, and the
passage of time became inconsistent. Most creatures were saved from
this and removed to an alternate world -- the "Dafan" on
which everyone is living now. And in this world, what appears to have
been build by the Hobgoblins of old as defenses against the Kotjai
are a number of immense towers. Tse visited one tower - likely the
one through which Kaija and Valashi travelled. She knew of two more
towers, one likely being the Kyffhäuser Tower which the Party
learned about while in Brunland. |
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| Training |
none. |
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Reflections
by Xeng Tso Tse on the Cataclysm |
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(Written for Mei Peng in year 190 [Ikon.Chronology],
approximately 220 years ago) |
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When the Cataclysm hit, Dafan suffered
massive earthquakes and subsequent disasters (tsunami, vulcanism,
and such), as well as a serious time perturbation. The Hobgoblin's
mechanism to protect us from the Githi (or Kotjai, as the Hobgoblins
called them) had snapped. The illusion of a big blue moon – in reality,
just Dafan itself as if a reflection – ended, and with it the 60 day
"month": the artificial moons were destroyed, and ceased
being visible even by telescope a few years later; thus the 2 real
moons that we see now were all that was left to be seen, with their
real 18 and 27-day orbits. |
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Most creatures on Dafan were saved from
this catastrophy, and removed to an alternate world of some sort.
That is the world that we are in - this is not the “real” Dafan of
before the Cataclysm. That broken world still exists, also missing
the old blue moon. A fraction of its population stayed – why and how,
I don't know. I suspect some divine powers had a hand; but I cannot
believe that it was as simple as some have suggested, that it was
punishment for bad living. For it is quite obvious that many Evil
beings were saved, and many Good ones remained – my old friend Kaija
Telva being an example of the latter. For some, my feeling is that
they remained to serve some Good purpose for the others trapped there.
I have asked the priestesses of Athena to ask their Lady, but they
report that She has nothing to say about this; personally, I doubt
that very much; likely Her answer is too cryptic or too frightening
to reveal. |
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This alternate world in which we now
exist has always existed. Its past seems to be identical to that of
the broken world; but of course it cannot be identical, as there clearly
are 2 sets of differences: the moons are different (with all that
entails, from calendars to tides to artwork) and whatever defences
exist against the Githi. For while the old Dafan we think of as being
in our past had artificial moons, this new Dafan has its own immense
structures built by the ancient Hobgoblins: the Towers. |
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I don't know how many Towers exist, but
I suspect there must be at least a dozen. I know of one near Pitt
Lake, one in or just south of Noranglia, and one in Glantri; more
must certainly exist elsewhere in the world. They operate jointly
as some sort of network. Given the attention to detail and failsafes
that I saw for the artificial moons, I suspect that there is much
redundancy in this system of Towers. The fact that there have not
been Githi attacks in this world in the past 40 years is hopefully
a sign that the Towers are still working as intended. Or dare we presume
that the Githi threat is actually over? |
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I have discretely examined the Tower
near Pitt Lake, if nothing else to satisfy my curiosity. (I know 'Sheh
has likewise been examining the one in Glantri.) It is immense, and
it is ancient. The locals have no idea of its significance, but shun
it instinctively. There is no indication of any Hobgoblins activity
- as with the artificial moons, I suspect these artifacts are entirely
automated. There has also been no indication of any other sort of
activity at the Tower, which is good. For I am sure that some beings
will want to tinker with them; and that cannot but be risky for us
all. I have half-expected a visit from my old “friend” Ell Kara, as
this seems to be her concern – but she has not come. Strangely enough,
her presence would be reassuring. As compensation, I have arranged
for some trustworthy locals (relatives of Florelli and Arlan, actually)
to keep a discrete eye on the Tower and alert me to any unusual visitors.
No news has been good news, for many years now. |
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The question has of course crossed my
mind – can the old Dafan be revived? Can we get our old Moon back,
even if it is an illusion? My friend Klymene at the Artemis Sanctuary
certainly pines for the old Moon. At a guess, this would involve replacing
the Towers with the artificial Moons; and how could we do that? And
any attempt to tinker with the Towers could be catastrophic without
the artificial Moons in place first; so I am reluctant to explore
this idea very far. |
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Surviving members:
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Mei-Peng (N4), Vishu
(Mk5), Aknot (F5), Kera
(NtC5), Riff (F5), Rehkel
(T5), X (MU5), Jett
(NtC4/F2), Atlanta (MU4),
Marek (T5), Sarah
(WrC4), Artemisia (B4) |
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New members:
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none |
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Casualties:
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none |
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Retirees:
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Atlanta |
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Continuing party:
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Mei-Peng, Vishu, Aknot, Kera, Riff, Rehkel, X, Jett, Marek, Sarah,
Artemisia
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