Arcadayn Journal, Session #41

[Previous Session]

20 Leaffall: Al-Zaki and Ruqayyah walked northwest of Berigissel, to the edge of the delta swamp. They found an abandoned hut as a rendezvous point, then Al-Zaki changed to dragon form and hunted for a few hours, while Ruqayyah practiced her magic. Al-Zaki brought her back some pieces of a crocodile he had killed. (On this journey, whenever they were not traveling or resting, they were usually trying to teach each other new spells. Ruqayyah also persuaded Al-Zaki to teach her a little bit of his language, but they did not have time for much progress.)

Once night came, they flew away from the swamp, towards the Sandmarch, with Ruqayyah (as a caracal) ridign in the improvised sling. They reached the edge of the desert by dawn, and slept through the day under cover of a Mystic Mist spell.

21 Leaffall: Al-Zaki pushed a little harder than the night before, and reached the Highmarch cliffs near the Lark Tribe's lands.

22 Leaffall: They headed due south towards the oasis at Tel Rebinat. Over halfway through the night, they saw lizard men in the distance. Al-Zaki landed to discuss what to do about them--they might have news of the Cat Tribe's movements. The two travelers decided that they should hail the lizard men, but with Al-Zaki in human form to preserve his true identity. Ruqayyah greeted them, and asked if the Cat were still at the oasis. The lizard men asked questions to verify her tribal affiliation, then told her that only a few Cat were at the oasis; most were in hiding. Some Duz might still me there; the lizard men had never heard of the humans removing all of their shamans from that place. Ruqayyah and Al-Zaki decided to go there first to see who was in the town, then look for the others. They thanked the lizard men, Al-Zaki gave them some baubles, and they took their leave.

23 Leaffall: They continued on foot, both still in human form, and reached Tel Rebinat a couple hours after dawn. They saw very few people moving about the town. As they approached, a group of guards met them. One of them recognized Ruqayyah by her cat-like features, so the guards' leader told her where to find the Duz Murshid, who would want to see her immediately. Ruqayyah thanked them, but felt incredibly embarrassed at her "nakedness," because she was still going without her veils.

She remained very self-conscious as she found her way to Murshid's residence in the Duz quarter. This Duz was a older, stooped man with a stern-looking, ugly face. He was accompanied by Afla, who Ruqayyah recognized by her voice. Murshid asked what brought her back to the tribe. Ruqayyah explained that Krithian clerics were trying to repair a corrupted artifact that she had helped find. She had been able to help supply energy to their rituals, and wanted to bring Duz to help them. She felt that this would help the Cat Tribe because 1) delaying the restoration would give Shulkor's followers more time to locate the item, 2) Rashira is a manifestation of Jin-Mubik, and acknowledging this link might allow alliances that would stave off Krithian incursions, and 3) too much isolation may be harmful to the Cat.

Murshid pondered this, then decided that the Umar must hear this for herself. He asked who Ruqayyah's companion was; she explained that he was from a people south of Krith's borders. Afla was assigned to show them the way to the Umar's camp.

After Ruqayyah and Al-Zaki had rested, Afla helped them prepare for that night's camel ride. During those preparations, and during the ride itself, Afla spent much time talking with Ruqayyah. She was curious about the progress of the younger woman's studies. Afla explained that her own special duty to the tribe was to locate potential Duz and send them to receive proper training. She knew few spells, specializing in one or two to let her discern magical gifts. (Her best spell is Aura. She also demonstrated the Duz [dance-mage] way of casting Detect Magic, which proved very enlightening to Ruqayyah.) Ruqayyah was also very interested in hearing about her travels--Afla regularly traveled further from the tribe's lands than most Duz, and that seeing someone with that level of freedom comforted Ruqayyah greatly. She explained that she was reluctant to be tied to one place, and that being outside the tribe had helped her gain greater control over some of her problems.

They reached the camp a little while before sunrise, and were given a place to rest while Afla spoke to the Umar. She returned a short while later to say that Umar Ganirit would see them around dusk that evening.

24 Leaffall: After a long rest, they made themselves presentable for the meeting. Ruqayyah asked Afla about whether to wear her veils to see the Umar. She tried to explain her promise to Darra, and claimed that going without them was helping her to get used to her bizarre appearance. Afla felt that this would justify her continuing to go without them. Ganirit's familiar Razil came to fetch them just before sundown. He led to the Umar's pavilion, where Ganirit and three other Duz awaited them. One of these was Qutaibah, Ruqayyah's teacher; the others were Raym, a healer, and Yildirim, one of the Umar's deputies. Ganirit stood to welcome and embrace Ruqayyah, then asked her to sit and explain her mission. Ruqayyah described the discovery of the Asanos, its origin and corruption, and its vile effects on dreams. She fears that Shulkor's followers will come seeking it, spreading their harm far and wide. The Asanos interferes with the Krithian clerics' sacred magic, but Ruqayyah was able to contribute to their first attempt at healing it, and she thinks the Cat Duz can help them. She repeated her hope that working with the Krithians would build ties that would protect the tribe from Imperial expansion. The Umar agreed that this seemed a worthy cause, but the tribe could not spare many resources now, while the conflict between the Horse and Camel Tribes still threatened the Cat. She explained that the Horse have been moving near the Highmarch cliffs, but that the Cat and Lark Tribes and the lizard man tribes working together had been able to discourage most incursions onto the plateau. Ganirit would perform a divination to determine the best course of action. She invited Ruqayyah to watch. While she began her preparations, and Razil called in several (normal) caracals, Qutaibah explained the basic concepts of galactomancy to his student. The Umar filled a large shallow bowl with milk, then spoke and petted each caracal in turn before letting them drink. As they lapped the milk, she circled them, studying the cats and the bowl. After the cats had sated themselves and began to clean themselves, Ganirit studied the patterns left in the remaining milk. When she came out of her trance, she pronounced that she would send a token delegation to Berigissel: Ruqayyah, who brought the request; Afla, who knows much about the Krithians; Murshid, who knew much about spirits; and Qutaibah, who had a diverse knowledge of magic, including how to break hexes. (Yildirim would relieve Murshid from his current duties at Tel Rebinat.) Ganirit then dismissed the others so she could talk with Ruqayyah alone. She wanted to know what Ruqayyah had learned since the last time they had spoken. With Laylah's help, Ruqayyah now had some control over her madness. She had also seen true good and true evil for the first time. She was still having trouble balancing her duties to the tribe with her desire to see the world--she was unsure how to perform her duty while so far away from the tribe. She had also been exposed to many alien religions, and found the differences between priests and mages confusing. Her contact with the divine, through Laylah's bond to Rashira, was very strange and wonderful and frightening. But she has learned that she was the way that Jin-Mubik wanted her to be--most of the time. Ganirit was well pleased with her progress in understanding herself and her goddess. Ruqayyah expressed her frustration at her inability to protect herself and her friends with her current spell repertoire. She has been trying to learn new spells, and has seen more of what is possible with magic, but it goes slowly without a teacher of her own tradition. However, being outside the tribe has given her new challenges, and thus more motivation to learn. She was unsure what to try to learn next. The Umar offered to demonstrate a minor protective spell for her in the morning, which her mnemonic gifts would allow her to practice until she mastered it. Qutaibah, Afla and Murshid could also attempt to teach her on the journey to Berigissel, and for whatever period of time she felt she needed to stay there.

25 Leaffall: The Umar demonstrated the Shield spell for Ruqayyah. The Duz made their preparations for the journey.

26 Leaffall: Just before the Duz party left, Ganirit presented Ruqayyah with a scroll that described a handful of spells that she thought it may be useful for Ruqayyah to learn (including Shield).

25 Leaffall: Ruqayyah persuaded Al-Zaki to accompany her back to Berigissel, to continue her attempts to teach him healing magic. (This would also allow him to compare notes with Qutaibah about their respective experiences in teaching her.)

26-28 Leaffall: The Duz party set out on the "Safemarch," leaving their own lands, climbing down the Highmarch cliffs, passing through Hanitan, and reaching the edge of the desert.

During this journey, the Duz tried to teach Ruqayyah soem new spells. She successfully learned Detect Magic by the time they reached Berigissel, and had started to understand a few others.

For one spell, Death Vision, Murshid had to use her as the subject in order to demonstrate it properly. The had a vision of Ormenlind with his hands around her throat, his horse nowhere to be seen, and herself on her knees before him. Seeing him without the horse disturbed her more than did his choking her (as he had done that already, in an earlier dream).

29 Leaffall: They passed through Tel Yuli, stopping long enough to make arrangements with Kalon, proprietor of the "Wine of the Sun," for forwarding future messages from Ruqayyah to the Cat Tribe. They then continued to Quikara, where Afla acquired boats for their passage down the Yangar.

30 Leaffall (Full Moon)-2 Browning: They traveled downstream to the vineyard where Ruqayyah had left her friends. The Asanos had been moved to a new location, so a message was sent to her friends, and the clerics, about her arrival with the Duz.

20-21 Leaffall: Darra spent much time with Pelmark, as both set themselves to guard the Asanos. She asked him about ghosts and exorcisms. He explained the basic concepts, but was reluctant to go into details because she was not a cleric--and he did not know her religious affiliation. After obtaining his word to keep her secret, she divulged that she was priest of Kuldor. This revelation surprised him, and touched his sense of irony--his own god, Doshonor, was a god of law, and Kuldor's servants usually worked outside that law. However, he trusted her not to act in way that would force him to expose her secret. When Darra stated that she had a new quest that required her to learn about spirits and exorcisms (keeping the details to herself), Pelmark mentioned that Mistress Roassa Dagni (a priestess of Tovanira who would soon arrive from Theronton) was a spirit empath, faith-healer and exorcist. However, explaining Darra's need to Dagni--especially with the Asanos being their first priority--would pose too great a threat to her secret, so he preferred to teach her himself. He began these lessons, and procured a text for her to borrow while she was here in Berigissel.

22 Leaffall: Mistress Roassa Dagni and Master Volan arrived in Berigissel.

circa 25 Leaffall: The Asanos was left at the vineyard for about a week, guarded by Corben's company and the women who found it, with occasional relief provided by the temple. It was then moved to a new location in order to keep it more secure and for the clerics to begin analyzing its problems.

30 Leaffall (Full Moon): Darra informed Laylah and Pelmark that she would be spending the night somewhere northwest of the city, rather than asking Laylah to invoke another magical lullabye. She had been studying the town and its vicinity during the past two weeks, and hoped to find her way back with minimal difficulty after her full-moon run.

[Next Session] [not yet available!]

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This page last revised 5/10/2001. | Copyright 2001 Timothy E. Emrick. | time@sluggy.net