Orhan 1 Day 51 TE 6062

More shopping.

Imre and Oathar commission a set of cloaks. We want defenses.

After some discussion, we decide our next mission should be head to Votania and try to contact the Storm wizard now that we have our cloaks.

After pouring over the maps, we decide to eshew all the usual means of transport and just teleport down there. (A couple of hops from Santa Vallandra.)

Orhan 1 Day 52 TE 6062

Santa Vallandra seems to be boom town these days. They've expanded outside the town, er now city walls.

We start considering the construction of an actual castle... on the hill.

Kyrik think we should concentrate on a sewer system first.

Oathar think a castle will cost 10s of thousands of gold.

Orhan 1 Day 53 TE 6062

We teleport to the beach of Votania. There is a ship anchored off shore. Hmm, last time there was the brotherhood of the holy word. Standard cargo ship with a crew of 75. Oathar thinks the ship is about 1/3 full. There are tracks all over the beach and dingy's for getting to the ship. We follow the tracks to a camp.

The symbol of the Brotherhood of the Holy Word flies above the word.

We talk to them and drop Father Arthis' name from last time. They say the dig is going well. Brother Mack is in charge now, as the father was sent off. They think the are almost done with the lower city and are thinking about moving up fairly soon. The things they find go into their own archives for the moment, not yet ready for duplication for the other temples of Valris. Kyrik chats the buy up some more.

They show off a couple of the artifacts they've found. He pulls out a jagged section of a broken laen lens.

We talk tot he guy for a while and then take our leave and head up... Oathar switches to the ring of his order.

We pass around the brotherhood as best as we can and get up to the secret chamber on the fourth tier. We stick our rings into the sphere and it glows. It says in old emer,

"Station Activated;;;Status: Minimal;;;Command?"

We ask it to "Display all active stations.." and it gives us a map with the locations of our items as well as a couple of extra dots. Kyrik memorizes it. We ask it to locate the Storm Wizard and it says the Storm Wizard is unlocatable. Then we ask it to contact the Storm Wizard and it beeps for a while and finally says Storm Wizard contacted.

After it stops beeping we say hello and there's the sound of a whistling wind. Oathar says we seek and audience with the storm wizard. A voice says, "Identify yourselves." We do so using our true names and our orders. The voice responds "It is time await my herald." Oathar says "Be warned there are others on the island." The voice says, "No matter, look to the darkening sky."

We deactivate the terminal "Station deactivate" and head outside.

Kyrik notices an invisible guy in the corner. Haeraan whips him but he evades the grapple. Oathar casts invisible sight and see that the guy appears to be a warrior monk of the Brotherhood of the Holy Word. Kyrik disarms him. Sadly, he isn't armed. The follow up heat crit singes him a little. He pulls out a small metal box and says "Hubda, hubda! Hubda!"

Oathar puts him to sleep, Haeraan bops him, but then we hear a transporter effect and he vanishes.

A bunch of brothers are heading up with diggers and the like. Clouds come from the sky and a flying unicorn riding figure rides up to us. He's a elf, heavily armored. He says in a hollow voice: "Do you have means?" We agree we have means to fly. He says follow. We turn invisible and flying and follow. We head into the cloud bank. Oathar covers their retreat with fog.

We fly up to the castle.

He leads us to the courtyard of the flying castle and we land. There are four symbols on shields on each wall the symbols of the empire. Unicorn, Wyvern, Hawk, and Lion.

The figure with the hollow voice says "Come with me."

We follow into the castle. It is eerily deserted. The halls are all empty of people. Finally we arrive at a room in which there is a large transparent crystal sphere. Oathar identifies it as one of the four Master Orbs of the Ilarsiri. Stepping around it is an older gentleman with black hair going grey on the sides. He's quite tall. Kyrik thinks he's fairly Aldari. Dressed in robes. We think he looks like Christopher Lee. He says, in old Emer. "Ah, I see the time has come." He gestures to an adjacent room and asks us to sit. We sit around an oaken table.

"The prophesied time nears. How fares the new capital?" We ask if he means Ardania, and he says, "What that den of evil?" We tell him we did not receive the full prophesy and do not understand it's full implications. "It is said the true hiers of the orders will lead the way. When the new capital is founded it will be time for the emporer to return." We ask if it said where the new capital will be. He says he has seen our city and it is a good first start. When he sees that Haeraan doesn't speak, he says perhaps all of the pieces are not yet in place. He asks after the imperial army and says that our companies might make a good imperial guard. He asks after the palace and says, indeed, the pieces are not yet in place.

With the pieces not yet in place, it is not yet time for the emporer to emerge. But soon."

He asks about threats to the empire, and we tell him about the Brotherhood of the Holy Word. We tell him about Ardania and thier order of the flaming sword and he says that the false orders are indeed a concern. We tell him that our orders are still corrupted. We got our lenses from the ancient subways system. When he hears that Kyrik got his lens from a wish he is angered and says "Fool! Give it to me now!" We give it to him."

When the orders were corrupted, the order of the white flame recalled all of the lenses in order to enhance them. In reality they were enchanted to use to spy on the weilders. Everything we have done in the last year and a have has been known by our enemies the Jerak Ahrenreth (order of the secret circle). We are lucky that that group is fragmented and divisive and that our other associate sits on their council. We ask if Voorig Kye cares about the return of the empire, but he does not. He has larger concerns. The new Ardanian emporer works for the secret circle. This pretender emporer is but a pawn and the circle rules Ardania. Ardania has a few 10,000 high quality troops. Lankonok has a couple hundred thousand ill-trained ill-equipped troops.

We ask if there is any aid we might find. The prophesy speaks only of one group, but there are perhaps things. He takes us to the hidden vaults. "I believe you will need funds." Oathar losses it right there. He pulls open the doors and Oathar hears chiors of angels in the background.

He gives us funds for the restoration of the empire:

25,000 gold, to be used to rebuild the empire, or at least the capital. Then he gives Oathar a ledger book. "This will help." +25 to accounting and business management. He also gives Oathar a bag of holding (200 pounds of stuff). He hands Kyrik a bridle. "A mount awaits you." To Haeraan he gives the Helm of Leadership. To Imre he gives a set of scrolls and a ring. So that you may aid our troops in the time of battle. The scrolls are plans to a floating tower. "When you are ready and you have the materials, read the scroll."

Oathar tries to ask about recruiting new members of the orders, but he says that we would need to recruit decendants of the old orders. The current "members" bearing swords in Ardania for instance are not true members.

When the lenses were corrupted, the orders of the mask suspected something and that is why they disappeared.

We ask about other enemies... "There are enemies all around, but you will deal with them in time."

"Would you like to see the Emporer? Come."

We go up to the top of a tower, and at the top of the tower is a bed surrounded by a glass case. In it is a young man surrounded in a bluish glow, asleep.

We ask him who Luarto Shang is. He says he was and always has been Ondoval.

He assures us that the brotherhood of the holy word can do nothing to the station we used to contact him.

Hence forward, that year and a half shall be known as the time of woe. Woe... Woe.

Some corrupt members of the Order of the Eye exist in Selkai. He assures us the corrupted orders are all totally evil. Evil, evil, evil.