Music: End of the World as We Know It

 REM, obviously:

Good!Party: Grand Marshall Giselle

So at this point the elf Tauriel is dead, Tavros’ mother has been resurrected, and she has judged that Rona deserves to hang for crimes, and Tavros has declared himself the King in the East. Caristhium is liberated, but in bad shape. 

He still needs properly noble clothes. 

That was in July; also in July, Ruin, Geddy, Eva, and Leira go to rescue the besieged mages. 

Overall: Lamont, former Duke of Janbridge and notable bigot, is King in the North. The High Provost and Bauregard are definitely gone; Joe R Pious is probably still around up there. The True Elven army is scatter throughout Duendewood and has largely gone into hiding. The druids have also vanished into the forest – so those are two formidable forces which might be worth rallying. The centaurs have also withdrawn. 

Meanwhile, elvish revolutionaries have spilled out of the forest and taken over the northeastern cities of Sol Povos. The priests of Vecna and the dark army are just gone; this allowed commander Giles to take over Welfort, probably with an eye towards eventual rulership. Sacha is somewhere down in that area too. 

Giselle, who had commanded the northern army, took the other half ot the army away from the capital. The remaining solari forces have reinforced various local cities. Crime lords took over Brightland and imposed their own order there. Vampires still rule Flowerhedge. The mages have been rooted out of their tower at Springmage, which is now the demonic seat of power, and taken shelter in Starroads Inn. 

The Iron Company is mercenaries, so they could be brought over to our side. The same is true for the Wildlanders; they’re barbarian hordes. 

So, having discussed the disposition of all these forces, we teleport to an area outside the influence of both demons and storm. Eva then carries us the rest of the way – invisibly – to Giselle and the remains of the eastern army. They notice us anyway when we get close enough, but Geddy manages to signal that we’re friendly. 

We land, and a big man in armor comes striding over. “Who goes there?”

Geddy: “It is I, Geddy, the bringer of…” He drops invisibility. “help!”

Phaneas, captain of the White Warriors of Lakemont, introduces himself. “He calls on us to identify ourselves.”

Geddy introduces himself, then introduces Eva, who curtsies; Ruin, whose presence causes a great deal of consternation; and finally Leira, who is using his shiny armor to fix her hair. He immediately starts hitting on Leira, and he’s pretty good looking; and Geddy in turn starts turning on the charm towards Phaneas. Phaneas is… flustered. 

Apparently we’ll need to meet with Duke Dearborn as well as Grand Marshall Giselle. Geddy looks around at the cloud, pulls out the Lute of Destiny, and starts singing, and uses Mass Charm to suggest that they take us to Giselle. They sweep us up and carry us along. He dresses down the guards for being not up to the standards of the WHite Warriors. 

Lakemont is a very traditional town, with a lot of canals – think Venice. It’s very devoted to Helios, and most of the local Solari are paladins and clerics. The paladin Solari are the White Warriors of Lakemont. There are a significant number of other Solari and soldiers, and it’s all very orderly and very well-organized. Leira pulls out her Solari badge, which she wears on a headband like a very soft tiara. Geddy is one of the heroes of Fort Dedo, and Ruin is… unknown, but probably just some sort of servant. 

We reach the room with the duke, and a woman with very nice (and probably magical) equipment. 

The Duke stands up. “Geddy Lee Geddy! It is quite an honor for you to come visit us. I have heard much of your exploits…” Someone whispers in his ear and he looks around: “Really?” He looks at Leira: “My lady Solari, you are welcome here.” 

Duke: “So, we have not heard of you in many months. What has happened to you?” 

Geddy immediately dumps all of his trauma in the form of song, and of course he’s Geddy. Women weep, men faint, small children swoon. One of the court bards grabs a sword from a nearby guard and tries to throw himself on it; the guard wrestles him away from it. 

He follows it up with the Ballad of Tavros Fontaine. (Sung, I might add, to the tune of Walking in a Winter Wonderland – don’t ask.) The introduction turns into a sort of impromptu ball, followed by a banquet. 

Leira and Geddy are taken to rooms; Eva and Ruin are gone. They have both taken the opportunity to hook up while they’re out here. 

Geddy wakes up and four a.m. and shuffles off to find breakfast. He stumbles into three of the local governors, who are also elderly, and they start exchanging notes on their various aches and pains. He takes the opportunity to pump them for information about Lady Giselle. She still fights for the crown, and is loyal to the crown. She is extremely torn about having fled the capital. She is, however, very popular here; she brought the army, and the town is not only well-run by the duke, but extremely well defended. Lakemont is to some extent unaware of what’s going on elsewhere, which is as much a problem as it is a good thing. Convincing everyone to follow Tavros is going to be a bit tricky, since Giselle is going to want to be sure that the king is truly dead. 

Phaneas walks in with Eva, both of them looking a bit… ruffled. Geddy starts trying to convince Phaneas that he’s going to need to marry Eva and come up with a dowry and all like that. Phaneas turns pale and stumbles back across a chair. “I, um, I have to go check on my men.”

Eva: “Careful there. You take this too far, I’m not going to be able to get any around here.”

Leira and Ruin come wandering in, Leira staggering and clutching at her head. She’s a lightweight, and now very hung-over. 

The conversation turns to the refugee mages. There’s some sort of force field over Starroads Inn that’s preventing them from teleporting away. The mages are apparently putting up quite a fight. We’re talking about Lady Giuselle when she walks in. She spots us, and comes over to sit with us. 

Atrix the White may be leading the refugee mages. There are force fields keeping the mages in, and keeping the demons out. Lady Giselle knows nothing of the vault, but she does know Giles and they were both part of the Privy Council when the occasion called for it, but not part of the inner circle. She considers King Luc to be her king until his death is proven. 

The inn at Starroads is sort of the Buckey’s of Sol Povos. There are around a hundred mages and three hundred initiates, many of them children. 

She starts laying out her intelligence. The demons are led by three balors; they have Maralith bodyguards, and they don’t know who they report to – they report to The High One. Each baalor also has one of the rolling eyes-and-hands things, which may be responsible for the magics. There are also some large snake-warriors. There are a bunch of other demons, including some of the Retrievers. 

We meet with the Duke once he’s awake. He’s in a meeting room with a couple of his advisors. He’s a bit troubled that Tavros worships Amun, but Geddy points out that they belong to the same Covenant and have much in common. He also laments the lack of leadership in the church of Helios. We bring up Clovis Cloverfield, and Geddy manages to sell him as a new potentate. Might he be the new Avatar of Helios? We can’t be sure. 

And, of course, the death of King Luc hasn’t been established. Ruin: “And you have no idea how quickly and happily he would step aside were King Luc to reappear.”

It doesn’t seem like they believe him, but it was the right thing to say. Then the Duke asks about the Elvish land and title claims, and Tavros’ position on them. Geddy spews a huge line of bullshit that says more or less nothing; then he starts selling them on the benefits of supporting Tavros. 

He gets one of his magisters to explain about the College at Springhollow. There are eight archmagisters, one for each school of magic; of the the eight, Verhad of Many Faces was killed during the attack. The Evocation guy made it to the Starroads in made to the inn but then died. Strogan the Transmuter escaped the attack but his whereabouts are unknown. The other five are at the Starroads Inn. The Necromancy master was a big fan of Durest Inglorian, which might be a problem. Below them are the Masters. And below them a few dozen adepts. 

The magister believes that the mages inside are maintaining overlapping dimensional anchors to prevent the demons from teleporting in; the demons also have dimensional anchors preventing the mages from teleporting out. The inn has been fortified with walls of stone and iron and like that. The demons have laid webs around, encircled the place with Unholy Blights; stormclouds lurk overhead, and retrievers patrol the dead zone. The mages have covered the place in magic circles against evil, black tentacles to surround them on the ground, minor globes of invulnerability at choke poiints. 

We could possibly get inside on dragonback, and the mages inside know best what their situation actually is. That’s probably the plan. 

Rested? Is this what rest feels like?

So we had a very nice, solidly low-key Thanksgiving, and I made it a point to sleep a lot, and honestly I'm feeling a lot better for it. Which is good, because I was starting to feel pretty run-down, and this week is going to be extremely busy. Plus, the more energy I have in general, the more energy I have for writing -- and the better my writing is, too. 

The boys have spent their week off doing their best to be completely nocturnal, but with any luck by the time this posts I'll have dragged them back onto a schedule. Probably. Hopefully. 

And, of course, once the first of the year rolls around I'll be eligible for retirement. I need to review the details of how that works -- it might, for example, be advantageous to hold off a bit longer, or to change jobs without "retiring" as such -- but I've signed up for an online seminar that HR is hosting that should go over that stuff. And while work has been pathetically, ridiculously, embarrassingly slow about it, they do seem to be moving forward on reclassifying my position to something that at least vaguely resembles my actual job.

I can't believe we're coming into December already; I can't believe the degree to which each of the last four years has been its own special kind of Hell. It seems like a few things, at least, are finally looking up a little, so I guess we just keep the faith and do what we have to do. Hardly a ringing endorsement, but that's the best I've got.

Ruin: Paternity, Part Four

Aesa pulled her blow and stepped back as Akkora's gruff voice cut across their bout. "Hold arms!"

Looking puzzled, Tarric turned to face the Armsmistress. "Were we..." he trailed off as Akkora shook her head and turned to Aesa. "You have a visitor."

What? Who would be coming to visit her? And why would Akkora think that a visitor was important enough to interrupt their practice? She turned, looked, and nearly dropped her sword. Anica and Werendril were over on the far side of the yards...

With Ruin standing between them. 

Aesa started towards them. Tarric said, "Oh," and followed. 

Ruin stood waiting, wariness in every line of his face and body. She smiled, and his expression softened; after a moment he offered her a smile in return. The blunted steel practice sword was still in her hand; Aesa paused and handed it off to Akkora. Then she came forward, leaving Tarric and Akkora behind. 

"So Darvinin was right," she said. "You did make it back." She glanced at the pair of swords that crossed his back, then frowned slightly. "Is that...?"

Ruin turned his head to follow her eyes, then reached back and slipped the larger two-handed scimitar over his shoulder and held it out to her. "Yes," he said. 

"Merciful Amun," she breathed. "You found Tavros." 

"More accurate to say that they found us," Ruin said, aware that Anica, Werendril, and Tarric were all staring blankly at him now. "And Tavros found a new blade, so he gifted me with this one. I think it would please him if you were to have it."

Aesa frowned, suddenly worried. "Is he...?" She reached out and took the blade. It should have felt clumsy, unwieldy, but it didn't.

"They're alive," Ruin said. "Tavros, and the sorceress Leira, and the human snake-priest Marshall Mercy. Or at least they were a few days ago. They returned to the capital, near to where they were first sent to Fanaxia. I came back out with Martini and Geddy and Eva by way of Mar Dentro, where we made our own crossing to that world."

"The capital?" asked Tarric. "That's not good. It's overrun with demons, and Amun knows what else." 

Ruin shook his head. "They'll make it," he said. 

Aesa brushed away a tear; she wasn't at all sure where that had come from. Then she frowned again. "What about your other friend? The elf in the black robes?"

Ruin squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. "Azrael. He died getting us free of the Abyss. And the last of Tavros' companions, Alexej, chose to remain behind in Fanaxia and help rebuild the Magiknights, a local order of elite protectors."

Werendril cleared his throat, then swallowed. "That sounds," he observed, "as if you've had a rough couple of years." 

"Months," Ruin corrected. "Time is different in Fanaxia." He looked at Aesa. "For me, it's been less than a season since I last saw you. But here... I've been gone for years. If I seem a bit shaken, it's only because I am."

Aesa studied him for a moment longer, then stepped forward and hugged him. "It's good to see you," she said, and then stepped back. "Are you ready to meet your children?"

Ruin shook his head. "Of course not," he said. "But... I want to, anyway."

Aesa smiled as a profound sense of relief flowed through her. "Then you'd better come with me."

Ruin: Paternity, Part Three

The practice yard was much as he remembered it: an open square at the center of the temple, statues of titans at each corner. There were racks for practice weapons and training armor along the far wall, protected beneath a sloped roof of clay tiles, and a row of archery targets set up off to his left. Aesa was out on the sand, sparring with an armored human who just about had to be Tavros' friend Tarric. She'd gotten better, he saw; she'd also switched from a regular scimitar to the two-handed version that he and Tavros both favored. 

Tarric fought with longsword and shield; Ruin didn't remember him well, and wondered if Tarric remembered him at all. They'd only met in passing. 

Two years. Two and a half years. He shook his head. It had been a matter of weeks for him, and clearly a lot had happened in his absence. No wonder Aesa was so much better; she'd had plenty of time to practice. And to have my child, apparently. 

He didn't know how he felt about that. The passage of time had created a gulf between them, one he hadn't expected. And, of course, he'd gone off and left them with his children... and so Werendril had stepped in for him. Paladins, he thought. He still didn't know how that had happened. Not that he was at all surprised that Werendril would do it; it was just that he couldn't imagine how his near-brother had gotten dragged into this at all.

It was still early afternoon, bright and warm but not overly hot; a good time to practice, and the paladins, at least, were taking full advantage of it. As he watched, Akkora the half-orc armsmistress released her hold on a dwarf's arm, which she'd trapped between her legs and locked against her chest to immobilize him. She sat up as he rolled away, shaking his head. "And that," she told him, "is why you should never assume that someone isn't a threat just because they've been disarmed." 

"We're going to learn that, right?" asked the dwarf, shaking his head and rolling his shoulder. 

"Yes," she assured him, and then glanced over to where Ruin stood with Anica and Werendril... and stopped. A moment later she stood and crossed to them. She stopped in front of Ruin and leaned down, studying him. "You've come back," she said. "You heard?"

"That I had children here?" he asked. "Yes. I came as soon as I learned of it."

"You are my friend," she said firmly, "and I'm glad you came." She broke into a grin.

"It's good to find you here," Ruin said. Not least because you haven't hit me yet. He glanced at Aesa, and Akkora followed his gaze. 

"A moment," she said, and then she was striding across the yard.

Tavros: Aftershocks

"Tavros?" asked Aesa gently.

There was a balcony high on the western wall of the citadel that was the Temple of Amun -- not a large balcony, but large enough to hold a wide wooden bench, and placed so that it overlooked Caristhium itself and offered a brilliant view of the sunset. Tavros was seated on one side of the bench, his battered sword leaning against it in easy reach, a bottle in his right hand. He didn't glance back, but he lifted the bottle and used it to motion her forward. 

The setting sun had turned the clouds into a painter's pallet, and nobody else was around. Aesa came forward and matched him, taking a seat on the far side of the bench and placing her new falchion -- his former weapon -- so that it leaned against the outside arm of the bench. "Are you all right?" she asked quietly. 

Tavros shrugged and took a long drink from the bottle. He hesitated, then took another drink, and finally said: "I don't know. I think so. But this..." he waved his free arm around vaguely, "...is a lot to take in."

"How so?" asked Aesa. She thought she could guess, but maybe Tavros needed someone to talk to about it. He and Ruin seemed to be friends, which had come as a profound relief to her, but Ruin was busy coming to terms with being the parent of two young children; his mind was elsewhere. And Martini, Marshall, Ruin, and Leira all had their own concerns as well. 

"My mother is dead," said Tavros. "Start with that. Even if we can bring her back, it's a shock. I never imagined her being... mortal. And Ruin told me something of what happened between him, and you, and Anica... but learning that you both had his children was nearly as big a shock for me as it was for him -- or for you, I've little doubt."

"It was certainly something," Aesa said, glancing sardonically up at the sky. "But go on." 

Tavros shrugged and took another long drink. "I'm not the only one in mourning," he said. "Ruin's mother, Martini's brother... I knew him. I didn't entirely trust him, but I liked him." Something sharp and metallic flashed past his head, and Aesa flinched away; but Tavros didn't react. "Sol Povos is overrun with demons, and flooded with the same sort of perpetual storm that plagued Fanaxia, and I might be the sole heir to its throne... if we can somehow defeat this werebear barbarian that Vigo tells me occupies it now, possibly along with her allies the necromancer and the vampiric sorcerer. And Vigo and Dante are here... those are two worlds I never expected to collide." 

He paused, took another pull from the bottle. "Should I keep going?"

"I think," said Aesa, "that you should hand me that bottle." 

He shrugged and passed it over, and she poured a bit down her throat before passing it back. The stuff was like liquid fire -- gnomish whiskey, she thought. It was a good flavor, but Tavros was drinking it like it was water. But then, Tavros was half-dragon. I'll know he's had too much when the stuff makes him breathe fire instead of ice. "Yes," she said, and wiped her lips. "I think you should keep going."

"As you wish," he said, and paused. "The Silver Fox, an outlaw famous for rescuing elves from under the noses of the King's Archons, turns out to be one of Geddy's former companions from Fort Dedo, an elvish scout named Vendril from a border clan loyal to the throne. But, of course, he vanished before we reached Caristhium, possibly because he knows Vigo and Dante are here and he doesn't want to talk to them. Or possibly because he has other business elsewhere." He took a long drink, then added: "Geddy is suddenly elderly, and Eva -- who was described to me as a little girl -- is full grown."

Aesa nodded sympathetically. 

"And you," he said, turning his head to look at her and offering the bottle again, "are now a battle priest -- in part, I'm told, because of Ruin." 

Aesa nodded. "I don't think he was any less surprised than you are, for all that he made the suggestion."

"Anyway..." said Tavros, and then trailed off. After a moment he asked, "Shouldn't you be looking after Rose?" 

Aesa watched the sunset. "She'll be fine," she said. "Ruin has her."

"Does he?" asked Tavros, and found that he was oddly satisfied by this turn of events. "Good."

"...And we both thought I should come and check on you."

She watched Tavros' eyes flutter closed at that, but couldn't read the emotion behind the gesture. "Yes, well..." he made a vague gesture with the bottle in his hand. "It's been a lot."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Aesa asked. 

Tavros tilted his head, watching the sunset thoughtfully. "Become the King in the East," he said. "I hate it, I don't want the title or the throne, and I'm desperately afraid that if we do somehow pull this off I'll bugger the politics of it seven ways from swordspoint... but there's nobody else, and no other way to restore order. We do what we can with what we have, and hold to the faith that it's all for the best."

"Yes." Aesa nodded encouragingly. "You want some advice?" 

"I am prepared," said Tavros, with a sort of half-drunk gravitas, "to listen to anything you have to offer."

"Sleep it off," Aesa said. "Sleep as long as you need. Not so much for the whiskey, as for everything else. Then go back to the chapel, and spend a while in prayer and contemplation. Center yourself. Then visit the Chapel of All, and offer your prayers to Demeter as well."

Tavros nodded slowly. "That... that is well-taken."

Aesa smiled. "And more than anything else, don't forget that you have friends and allies, people who care about you. You, Tavros -- not the throne, not the kingdom, not some role you might be forced to play or some power and wealth you might inherit. We might not be able to help you against the Solari Hunters, but there are things we can do. And Vigo isn't the only schemer here: the Abbess is sharp and subtle, and doubtless a great deal more principled. Let her counsel you as well."

Tavros nodded and rose from the bench, collecting his sword and buckling it onto his belt. The sun was almost down, the bottle almost empty, and he felt drained of emotion... but in a good way. Yes. Time to settle in, and begin again. "You've grown," he told Aesa. "As a woman, and as a cleric. It's good to see it."

"Do you know," she asked, "that this bench is where I first met you and Ruin both? It's a good place. Almost sacred, for me."

"It is a good place," said Tavros. "Good night."

"Good night," returned Aesa. 

She watched the last sliver of sun slip below the horizon, and the clouds darken into reds and purples. 

Behind her, a deep, gravelly voice grumbled: "I didn't vanish. Your Tavros just hasn't realized that I'm still around."

Aesa started. Then, without turning, she asked: "Vendril?"

A moment later the legendary elf was sitting beside her on the bench. "It's good to meet you," he said.

Good!Party: Retaking Caristhium

This session was played in a campsite by a lake, so I didn't take notes the way I usually do. Some of you may be relieved by that, since it means that this will be a rather abbreviated account of the session. Sorry and/or you're welcome, as you prefer.

We're back to splitting the party as needed, though this is a bit awkward without Azrael to provide some of the teleportation spells we're going to need. Still, Leira can teleport groups of us, and Eva can carry people around at a fairly frightening rate of speed, and Ruin can make decent time just using repeated Dimension Door effects. We can't be everywhere at once, but we can be very mobile. 

For our first actions, Tavros (half-dragon paladin), Martini (Grey Elf assassin), and Marshall (Human Cleric) decide to try to liberate the city of Caristhium from the elvish radicals. This will take some of the pressure off the Temple of Amun; possibly get Tavros' mother - - Amelia Fountain -- resurrected, which would place a powerful mage on our side; and give us the beginnings of a base of operations. It also gives us a chance to start putting the word out...

...About Tavros. 

Tavros, you see, is the last surviving Fontaine, and as such the likeliest heir to the throne of Sol Povos -- if enough of Sol Povos remains to salvage. Tavros is, of course, perfectly appalled by the prospect... but he's willing to take up the crown and the scepter if there's nobody else (and apparently there isn't). 

There are three lords remaining in Caristhium, one of whom is currently under siege by the forces of the radical elves. Their commander is both meticulous and ambitious, so our best bet is to move quickly and take him down before he has a chance to figure out how to take us down. 

Marshall goes to talk to one lord, who was apparently a minor lord whose family was raised to the nobility only a few generations back. They are willing to help, and would support a Fontaine heir, but in return they would like to see their station raised further and their holdings increased. Marshall intimates that this would certainly be possible. 

Martini slips past the besieging forces and visits the second lord. He maintains that it was his loyalty to the Fontaines that brought him to be under siege; more than anything, he needs the siege broken or -- at the very least -- some way to get supplies into his household so that they can maintain their defenses. Martini has foreseen part of this, and has brought one of our bags of holding so that she can distribute fresh food and rations. This has made her startlingly popular. She can't end the siege herself, of course, but she promises that the elvish radical leader will fall shortly. He promises to await the outcome.

Tavros goes to speak with the third noble house in person. It's patriarch is an older man, said to have been closely involved in the local government before the city fell. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes clear that he's already cut a deal with the elvish radical, and in any case the price of his loyalty is to have other to noble houses destroyed. Tavros tries to explain that if the House will support him as he retakes Sol Povos, there would be rewards available well beyond the scope of local politics in Caristhium... but the patriarch refuses to hear it, and in any case it looks like his die is damned well cast already. Tavros extracts himself (without violence) and heads back to the temple. 

The next morning, Tavros returns to Caristhium and challenges the radical elf leader to a duel. The fellow flees, but one of his lieutenants sets fires across the city. Tavros, enraged, refuses to kill her and has her taken prisoner; Martini and Ruin can talk to her later. (He has not really focused on the part where Martini's idea of "talking to her" involves torture.) 

Unfortunately, we're quickly able to determine that the tarred head on the spike above the gates does not belong to his mother. Which means locating the elf -- which we do -- defeating him -- which we also do -- and reclaiming the body of Amelia Fontaine. There's going to be some cleanup, but the occupiers are now thoroughly disrupted and Tavros has taken his first steps towards assuming the mantle of the King in the East. 

He still flinches whenever someone calls him Highness, though.