Chapter 8 - "Days of Future Past"

Riveria's History and Future, According To Alton (year 1161)

Alton, a sage who has lived for centuries and time-travelled to many more, sends a call to year 758
for help in  year 760, via Nanomi and his ill-fated ship.  When the Party finally show up, some 400
years late, Alton sits them down and over several pots of strong tea fills them in on what they have
missed.  He then asks them to go back to their own time and change it, if they can.  What follows
is a slightly-shortened version of Alton's tale.


"First and foremost, let me tell you that this is - and is not - the same world you were on when you left
Riveria.  Oh, it is the same; Skya and Terna still sail their appointed paths through the night, Westertop
is but a few inches shorter than you would have known it, and so on - but yet, it is not the same; you
have, if I am not mistaken, taken approximately 403 years to cross the strait, and the year is now 1161.
You are from...year 758 in the old dating?   Hm.  In the timeline through which I have lived, it was right
around then that the trouble began.  It was...no.  First, we need a map to make things clear.  When words
will not do, a map often will.  Could you please draw me a map of the world as you know it?"

"There.  Now, look carefully at your map, at these mountains.  You can't see it here, but those mountains
go all the way around the world at that latitude - even under the water, where the land has sunk over time.
And there's no geological or astronomical reason for them to be there.  There are there for one reason. 
Those mountains were put there by the gods, to contain the arctic ice.  And the ice was put there to hold
something else in, and I'll get to that in a moment.

"But look.  Here, and here, even on your map, the ice has retreated from the mountains.  It's melting in
your time...and, from your perspective in 758, within a few years it will all be gone.  If your seas have not
yet begun to rise, they will within months, and fast.  The sea now is some 150 feet above its level in your
time,  and it achieved that level - or close - by year 765.  You can only begin to imagine the destruction
that caused, never mind the endless storms and intolerable climatic changes that came as a result.  You
must have noticed how warm it is outside; believe me when I tell you that right now, this is the depths of
what passes for winter in these parts. But if those were the only problems, I would not have brought you
here.

"The much bigger problem - far more devastating than the simple melting of the ice - is what was released
when it melted.  And to explain that, I must first explain why the ice was put there to begin with, and so I
shall.

"Tens of thousands of years ago, a different and highly advanced civilization ruled the world, or at least
large parts of it.  These were the Khri-halai, that we now know as Hobgoblins.  They achieved things with
science and physics that we cannot duplicate today even with our much greater knowledge of magic....
But all good things, they say, must come to an end, and so it was with the Khri-halai.  Through methods
I will explain in a moment, the civilization became corrupted beyond the point of no return.  Eventually, to
a large extent it collapsed in on itself; and around the same time the Elves arose into their wondrous and
great culture whose remnants you can still see today.  But the Khri-halai did not go quietly, and great and
grievous battles were fought; all the while, the Khri-halai became more corrupt and evil.

"Eventually, the Elves and their allies nearly eliminated the Khri-halai from everywhere except the very far
north, but could not make any dent in the majestic arctic strongholds they yet maintained.  And by this
time, even the gods of both races were involved - though the Khri-halai had in large part forgotten their
gods in favour of science, their gods had not forgotten the Khri-halai and tried to help, though in this
case the worshippers proved far more resilient than the worshipped.

"Finally, the Elves had to accept the fact that they could not take the arctic.  However, their gods had
other ideas; if the arctic could not be taken, it could certainly be sealed shut - and as a side benefit, the
Elves and other races would have much more land to play on.  So Corellon raised the mountains, and
Mielikki stole much water from the seas to make ice, and so froze the Khri-halai forever, as if in stasis.
Over time, Mielikki changed her focus away from winter and ice; that place was taken by the duality of
Tipoca - now known as Tapoketa - and Banyatok, now not known at all.  And, as you see by your map,
the ice has been in retreat in your time for quite a while - a few hundred years, if I'm not mistaken - as the
watch on it has somehow failed.  That retreat may well be simply nature taking its course; this world is
not supposed to have that much arctic ice, and with nothing maintaining it, things are merely returning
to a balance.

"But just after your time - within a very few years if not less, in fact - things change dramatically.  The
retreating ice is already in your time releasing the first of the long-imprisoned Khri-halai, and as far as I
have been able to determine those first few were able to do something to quickly melt all the ice and re-
lease the rest, while putting back all that water Mielikki took from the seas.  And 15,000 years in frozen
stasis had done nothing to reduce their evil intent, and they swept down out of the arctic like a plague.
Oh, many died - and many more were mad enough after the stasis that death would have been welcome -
but the then-called kindred races all in all stood little chance of offering anything other than pockets of
significant resistance.  Some held out for decades - Waterdeep city was one such example - and in those
places the Khri-halai simply laid siege and moved on.

"However, the Khri-halai were just the beginning.  I mentioned earlier that the old Khri-halai civilization
had become corrupted.  What happened, I know now far too late, was that another race - with enormous
powers of the mind - began influencing the Khri-halai leaders, and as the Khri-halai declined this influence
increased, until by the end the Khri-halai were little more than unwitting slaves to unknown masters while
thinking they still controlled their own fates.

"The masters were - and remain - the Githi.

"Fortunately for all, the same ice that froze the Khri-halai froze the Githi as well; but when the ice melted
and the Khri-halai swarmed south the Githi remained in the north, biding their time and increasing their
numbers.  They could not exert the same influence on the Khri-halai they had before; half the Khri had
gone mad and the other half had little organized leadership, so they waited.  Then, 45 years after the Khri-
halai invaded, the Githi came south, annihilating Humans, Elves, and Khri-halai alike.  To this day, despite
the heroism of some and the sacrifice of far too many, the Githi remain rulers of most of this world.

"And, lest you think of charging into the nearest town and taking on the Githi guards, let me advise you
of the futility of such an act.  Then, if you still wish to proceed, at least my conscience will be clear.  First,
to take on one Gith is to take on every Gith.  Their mind powers allow them instant communication with
each other, to the point that the entire Githi civilization might best be considered to have a hive mind.
Second, the average Gith is much more powerful than the average Human, or Elf.  They are taught to
fight from an early age, and they are both strong and tough.  Many cast spells as well - and the spells
they use are unfamiliar to you.  And third, the average Gith is a monster in every sense of the word.  No
quarter, no parley, no decency, and the more of your blood that spills on the way to your death, the better
they like it.

"But, as you may have already suspected, despite this tale of woe I tell, I firmly believe all is not yet lost.
These events can, I think, be prevented, or at least greatly delayed.  And that, my friends, is where you
come in."

Party shocked to find Dakiell is in same cell block, but what they meet is his spirit, stolen by Azak'hri on his death and stuck here for safekeeping.

Meet Azak'hri.  She keeps Tovan and Fulvin (as Clerics to other gods, they make good bait for prisoner exchanges, etc.) and banishes the rest to Boringworld.  Tovan and Fulvin leave.

Boringworld proves to be just that.  After a week here, Party meets Baranfindel Alcarin(NrC-6/R-6), who joins.  He leads them to a large Elvish city (most of Party gain 2" height en route, from eating Entdraught), where the non-Nanomi treasury is divided and some people train (Aka. to I-9; Dan. to R-7; Hel. to F-6 and T-8).  Baranfindel throws 2 Communes during this time and figures out how to get Party (and himself) to Riveria.  After what seems to be 44 days but is in fact only 6, Party find themselves back on Riveria.