(Sea Season 1613 - Fire Season 1614)
It was almost exactly a Gloranthan year ago that the uprising known as Starbrow's Rebellion was finally put down through the negotiation of Redbird's Treaty. At that time, the party consisted of Aransar McGae (Steve), Eric Fitzarnal (Steve), Gringle (Ant) and Hallarax (Jamie). These four young Orlanthi were fresh from the siege of Jonstown, where they had been stripped of their metal armour by the besieging Lunars and forced to quit their homelands for a year under the terms of the armistice. These four warriors headed east to the city of New Pavis in search of their respective fortunes. They took working passage, as guardsmen, with a wagon train of traders who were also headed to the city, but Gagarthi raiders from the Wastes, ambushing from the skies under the cover of a mighty sandstorm, waylaid the caravan and all but destroyed it. The party were beset by whirlvishes and barely survived and thus it was that they arrived in New Pavis, disheveled, destitute and weary.
Making their home at the Pavis Geo's Inn, it was not long before they fell foul of the law, as they were goaded and attacked by one of the many street gangs of Pavis. Imprisoned at first, their punishment was given as service to the Seven Mothers temple, which sent them on a mission into the Troll Stronglands in the Rubble to recover a healing artifact. They entered through the Garden, escorted by Aldryami bribed by the Lunars. They managed to bribe their way across the Troll Bridge after discovering that the Troll guards at the crossing were of a clan, the Afengeng, who were fiercely opposed to the clan that held the artifact. They successfully scouted and assaulted the ruined villa that the Trolls had occupied. After successfully completing this mission, they sought other challenging adventure. Hallarax joined the cult of Storm Bull, and Eric joined Humakt. At this time the party was joined by one of their compatriots who had been with them at the siege of Jonstown - one Ketil (Kit). Ketil had joined the cult of Pavis and was working as a city guard.
Through the cult of Humakt, and some inside information from Eric, the group secured employment as horse/campsite guards for a party of Humakti going into the rubble to fight the local Zorak Zoran Chieftain. These Humakti had come all the way from Heortland on this quest, and Eric tracked them to the site of their final stand, and watched as they fought undead, Trolls and Troll kin and finally the Death Lords of Zorak Zoran until all were dead after a fight that lasted hours. Mystified and awed by this ritual self sacrifice, Eric led the party down to the site of the battle the next morning. Seeing a party of Ogres scavenging the battlefield, it was deemed proper to return the personal effects of the fallen Humakti to the temple, rather than see them in the hands of such creatures. Three lead torches that burned with unnaturally bright flame marked out the ritual battlefield, and it quickly emerged that nothing, even burial in the earth could extinguish them. Along with other Troll booty, these torches were kept by the party and returned to the city.
Investigation at the Lhankor Mhy temple showed that these artifacts were known simply as the Torches of Ever-Burning, and the fire was in fact the very blood of the god Yelmalio himself, kept by Zorak Zoran after he had ambushed the Son of Yelm and stolen his fire powers. Looking for buyers for these fabulous items brought the party to the attention of the mysterious Pamaltelan trader, Amur-an-Zed, who bore a small fortune in pearls and wore the outlandish clothes of a sailor. He alluded to an employer who had sent him to Pavis to acquire several items, including these legendary torches. Ketil had donated one torch to the Pavis temple, but Amur simply bought it back from the temple on the condition that he would never allow it to fall into the hands of Trolls.
The party was commissioned by Amur to procure a large batch of the wood of the Giantboot trees that grew only at the foot of the Nine Good Giant Mountains, north of the city near to Shadows Dance. They hired some woodcutters and wagoneers, and it was here that they were joined by Callum Blax (Paul), one of the woodcutters.
Heading north, they came to the aid of some Carmanian settlers from the Lunar Empire. Their stead was under attack from an unusual gang of Broos, none of who had any of the more common goat-like characteristics of Broos as a whole. Their leader was a toad-like individual who escaped in a series of mighty bounds. The fight was a brutal one, and at the end of it the party was reduced by two, as Hallarax had lost a leg, and needed a week to have it magically grown back by the grateful homesteaders. Ketil stayed with him, and the remainder of the party headed north.
The party eventually cut down enough wood to satisfy their contract, but before they left they were confronted by a group of Aldryami. They were led by an ancient and faltering Elf who questioned the group about their attitudes toward the trees they had just felled, and then returned back to the forest, having left the party unharmed. His companion, however, a large and aggressive Aldryami, larger even than a man, called Waroak swore revenge upon the group for their transgression.
The party returned to New Pavis upon their newly built Giantboot raft, and discovered that Hallarax and Ketil had been forced to flee the city when Hallarax naively and foolishly told the Storm Bull temple of his acceptance of Lunar sorcery to heal his leg. He was excommunicated and given until sundown to leave New Pavis, and Ketil went with him. The party has not heard from either since.
At Pavis, Amur hired two Zola Fel boat people, one Voraiig and a young woman, Sethra to sail the raft down to Corflu. Amur said he would meet them there and that they would have rooms in the Corflu Trade Alliance house. Aransar had made contact with the outlawed cult of Orlanth in New Pavis, and Krogar Wolfhelm, a Wind Lord, had instructed him that if he wanted initiation, he could achieve it by returning to Pavis by the High Holy Day of Orlanth to perform a service for Krogar.
On the way downriver they were waylaid by Sun Dome Templars who were acting upon a divination that a particular problem could only be solved by a group of Lightbringers. The raft was impounded whilst the party went to investigate the destruction of a Sun Dome plantation at Rabbit Hat Farm. This charge was grudgingly accepted, and once there they discovered an extensive Krarsht temple under the farm. It was occupied by a Dragonsnail, several Krarshtkids and a Lip (Acolyte) of Krarsht. Aransar suffered at the hands of Krarshti magic, an experience that left him with an enduring hatred of this twisted and evil cult. Although the destruction of the farm was clearly instigated by, or at the behest of the Krarsht temple, no evidence was discovered of any particular reason for this, and the sight of Nomad animals impregnated by Broos, not to mention a Jack o’ Bear disguised as a scarecrow made the situation more confusing.
In gratitude for the cleansing of the stead, the Yelmalians offered Aransar the lordship over Rabbit Hat Farm, subject to certain conditions, as is the way of the Sun Domers, but Aransar piously refused, stating his loyalty to Orlanth.
The journey downriver was interrupted by Trachodons in the marshes and by a quick stop off at the site of Ronegarth, a fort being built at the confluence of the Vilinar river and the Zola Fe!. Daine, the lieutenant of Duke Raus of Rone offered to purchase the Giantboot wood that the party was transporting for the construction work on the fort, but the party refused. Impressed with their integrity, Daine offered them employment at the beginning of the following year as mercenaries for the Duke who would be taking up residence at the fort and would be beginning to wage a campaign to bring law and civilisation to his new domain. The party decided to look Daine up in Pavis after their next job was finished.
Eventually, the raft arrived in Corflu, and the characters left it to the river-folk to dismantle whilst they looked for Amur. They got their first glimpse of the only seagoing vessel in port, just in time to see figures on board cutting down the vessel's mast and letting it crash into the sea. Strange things were afoot in Corflu. The air was wet and salty, and an enduring drizzle began to taste of salt. Amur was friendly but refused to give away much detail apart from explaining that the vessel, The Churner was the ship of his master, and that this mysterious individual's name was Barran.
At this time, Aransar was approached by the local Lunar officer who asked if he was interested in a small job, checking out a report from some river folk about a large statue near the ruins of Feroda that had been uncovered by a recent storm. He went with Voraiig to the site of this statue and located a huge, demonic one eyed stone head emerging from the sand. Discovering that they were not alone in the ruins and that some scorpion-men were in thevicinity, Aransar and Voraiig headed back to Corflu only to be attacked by both crocodiles and a strange creature with only one eye, one arm and one leg but brandishing a multitude of weapons. Slaying this creature and stealing its hoard, they returned to Corflu only to see that the strange phenomena was unnaturally localised in a large ring shape surrounding the town.
The other party members had all, along with the rest of the populace, been suffering from unpleasant water-related dreams, and events reached a strange peak when a ghostly merman appeared to swim lazily through the very air of the town investigating passers-by. The very next morning all in Corflu awoke to a truly horrific sight. Coiled around the town, its giant girth towering above them on all sides was a gigantic Moray eel - its body rose thirty metres from the water, and the local Zola Fel priest estimated its length at nearly three keymiles. Its very breathing caused large waves to batter the wharves and jetties of the port. Connecting the strange events to the arrival of The Churner, and knowing that the party was in Barran's employ, the Lunar authorities sought to arrest the group along with Amur and the as-yet-unseen Barran. He finally emerged from his ship and told the awaiting Lunars that he had a plan for defeating the monster, and would merely require the assistance of a few strong-hearted individuals, already in his employ. The party was joined by a reluctant squad of Lunar marines, and went aboard The Churner to hear the one-eyed sea-captain's plan. It seemed that Barran knew much more than he was prepared to tell anyone, since his plan was simply to, "Hang on, we're going in".
The ship was promptly swallowed whole by the Eel, and Barran revealed the nature of the beast - it was a mythical creature of the God of the Sea, Magasta, known as the Father of Monsters, and it's name was 'The Vomiter'. It travelled the oceans of Glorantha swallowing sea-creatures, which fought with each other in the multiple bellies of the vomiter, with the strongest gaining unique powers and emerging back into the sea from the very innards of the creature as a more powerful incarnation. Barran assured everyone that he could kill the Vomiter by touching fire to its heart, making apparent his need for the Torches of Ever Burning. However, the heart lay near the wall of the fifth stomach, and in between were the various creatures that the Vomiter had swallowed awaiting to fight to the death anything that arrived. Barran told the gathered warriors that he needed his magic powers at the end, and that if he could be protected up until that point, then his plan would work. The party fought with a multitude of plesiosaurs, a giant octopus, undead mermen and a giant serpent, but they got to the final stomach. In the exact moment that Barran touched fire to the monster's heart, he was engulfed in a shimmering light and promptly disappeared, but his ship, and the party were swept on a convulsive tide out of the creature and into the wide ocean. Whilst they were in the belly of the eel, it had apparently headed out to sea, and the party was all separated, left clinging to the flotsam and jetsam that the Vomiter had spewed out.
They were all found, one at a time, by a Kralorelan trading vessel and deposited at the city of Refuge in God Forgot, but left this strange, dying backwater as swiftly as they could without taking in the unique local atmosphere. They were able to take passage back to Corflu, and once there discovered their payment. Amur seemed unconcerned about the fate of his master and said that he was certain that Barran would find him again when he needed to, and that Barran had left the party the entire contents pf The Churner's hold - a fortune in exotic trade goods. Rather than attempt to transport the cargo back up the river of Cradles to Pav,s, they sold it to the local Etyries merchant in return for a promissory note that could be redeemed at the Pavis Trade temple.
They returned to Pavis to spend their newfound wealth, which they generously shared equally with Voraiig and Sethra who also' survived the ordeal. It emerged that Sethra was the daughter of one of the local underworld figures who looked after the interests of the Riverfolk, and he was mightily grateful to see his daughter returned in one piece. The party, now numbering merely three (Aransar, Eric and Callum) now went to make contact with Krogar Wolfhelm, who outlined his plans to the party. It emerged that the Pavis Air temple was run by a Storm Voice named Faltikus the Good who was deemed far too friendly to the Lunars for the liking of the majority of the local Orlanthi. In fact Governor Soreel himself had given him the position. There was a 'true' Storm Voice who operated secretly out of the Rubble, by the name of Orvost Tintalker. Orvost had fled when the Lunars had arrived, taking with him all of the ancient and official regalia necessary to become the true High Storm Voice in Pavis. Orvost had the regalia, but Faltikus had the temple. The local Orlanthi had hatched a plan to embarrass the Lunars very publicly. All that the party were required to do w9s to turn up at the High Holy Day blessing and at the signal from Krogar, prevent anyone gaining entry to the Air Temple.
The party retired to their rooms and awoke the next day to virtual panic on the streets of Pavis as a very distinct red glow appeared on the western horizon. Many feared that it was the Crimson Bat itself, but it turned out to be a Lunar moon boat which landed on top of the Pavis temple and disembarked an entire company of Lunar magicians and a squad of elite Lunar wyvern riders. The Orlanthi rebels were alarmed, but less so when the Magicians left south on sables for some unknown purpose.
The big day arrived, and when the party went to the service to receive the blessing of Orlanth, Krogar secretly cast protective magic on them. Just as the magic was wearing off and everyone was becoming extremely nervous, a large sylph began to materialise in the middle of the open-air temple. With a flash, Orvost Tintalker teleported into the temple and unceremoniously toppled Faltikus into the congregation. Orvost, in full regalia, began to recite the ceremony that would invest him as High Storm Voice of Pavis. Very quickly, the party moved, along with other Orlanthi insurgents amongst the congregation, to secure the doors, which already had Lunar mercenaries banging at them. People started to flee through the main doors to the temple, and Eric saw his chance and escaped. When the Lunars tried to break through the doors that Aransar and Callum were guarding, they were thwarted by Callum's judicious use of the repair spell. Krogar had stood by, forced to remain neutral in order to maintain his status in Pavis, but once Orvost had completed the ritual and leapt atop the sylph, making good his escape over the walls and into The Rubble, he ordered the defenders to make good their own getaway. Eric was outside the temple and able to witness the aerial battle between Orvost and a Seven Mothers Rune Lord atop a wyvern, which Orvost won by killing the wyvern, though not the rider with a lightning bolt.
Unfortunately both Aransar and Callum were captured, along with a number of rebel Orlanthi. Most of the Orlanthi were nailed up to the Death Rune, but more by luck than judgement, both Aransar and Callum were amongst the few who received the mercy of the Governor, who remained content to simply flog them to the point of death.
They managed to meet back up with Eric, and discovered that Krogar was under house arrest, but still able to communicate through the use of his allied spirit, bound into an alynx. He needed Aransar to make contact with Orvost in the Rubble. The party set out to meet a Lhankor Mhy sage called Ronar, entering the Rubble through the tunnel under Gimpy's Tavern. Once there they set out for the secret Orlanth temple in the Rubble. When they got there, Orvost thanked them for their part in the proceedings, and both Aransar and Callum swore the oaths of initiation into the cult of Orlanth, blessed by none other than the High Storm Voice himself. However, the Lunars had learned the location of Orvost's hideout, and sent out their elite wyvern riders, who proceeded to attack the temple. Orvost charged the party with recovering the regalia from its hiding place in the Rubble, and taking it to another Orlanthi reqel who was waiting for it at the Pairing Stone. They made their escape under a blanket of protective mist, conjured by Orvost. Fleeing through the Rubble, they overcame attacks by Wyvern riders and ghouls before finally escaping Pavis.
When they arrived at the Pairing Stone, they found a large group of Orlanthi under the leadership of a Garrath Sharpsword, who was a Wind Lord who hung out at the Humakt temple in New Pavis, teaching the sword. He took an oath of allegiance from Callum and Aransar, and became their Wind Lord. He said a time would come when he would call upon them, but for now to return to an anonymous existence in the area.
Returning to Pavis, the three took service with Duke Raus of Rone, and entered the ranks of his newly formed mercenary zebra cavalry. They were outfitted in uniform arms and armour and the troop was trained for the entire duration of Sea Season in the skills that the Duke and Daine deemed vital to their new role. During this time, they learned that the company of Lunar magicians had ridden to Corflu and performed a magical ritual that had animated the ' partial remains of a giant statue that they had recovered from the ruins of Feroda. Apparently this golem now stood astride a part of the Zola Fel Delta as a guardian of the port of Corflu. Finally, as Fire Season takes hold of the Wastelands, the Duke and his entourage head out of the gates of the city of New Pavis and begin their journey southward, across The Long Dry to their new home ...