CHARACTERS:
Anan the Wanderer (StevR) - Ophirite Adventurer
Alethea (Tammy) - Saturnian Mercenary
Orabela the Silent (NPC) - Balam Tharshi Thief
21st Du'uzu, Year 506 Second Age (SA)
Stuck in the rubble, Anan the Wanderer wrenches himself free, but a rusty nail tears through his pant leg and scratches his shoes. As he moves towards the green light, the ground gives way beneath him and with a scream he plunges downwards. Grasping at straws, Anan's fall is stopped short by a bar of some material sticking out from the wall (the bar is actually a greyish black, shiny large femur or leg bone). He feels the stitches from his wound start to tear [and takes 2 more points of damage]. With the wounds re-opening, Anan looks down and sees the source of the light some 10 metres below him - a skull of some sort around 1/3 of a metre long and .15 metres high. He decides he can't take the pain in his arms and from the wounds any longer, and so drops the 10 metres or so to the surface below him [takes 1 point of damage from the fall]. He tries to get his breath back, as the dirt and the dust settles.
Before heading into (old) Cadaza proper with Orabela, Alethea grabs up her spear that she dropped earlier. Orabela leads her to the inner city, and they emerge into the Street of the Temples unscathed and without incident. The boulevard is very quiet, though there is some activity, and Alethea notices that there are more guards, both temple and city, and that they are better armed than usual. They arrive at the temple of Iemanja, and find the temple partially shrouded in twilight. The two have a short debate about the philosophy of humans and their "metal and stone" temples. Alethea's friend, Metnu Jormelif, emerges from the temple and descends the steps to greet her. The meeting of the priest and Orabela is somewhat shaky, but due to her friendship with Alethea and against her better instincts, Orabela goes into the shrine with them. In the darkness of the temple, Orabela's night vision serves her well. They arrive at an antechamber, and food and drink arrive while one of the temple priestess healers, Uwela, works on Alethea's wounds. She and Orabela decide to stay overnight in the temple.
When the dust and dirt settles, Anan can see that there are no means out of the irregularly shaped earthen pit, strewn with rubble and wood beams sticking up in places. Looking at the skull, Anan sees that the light emanates from the skull itself. He attempts to use his Sensory magic on the skull, and the next thing he knows, he's cradling the skull in his arms. He has a mental image of a massive, serpentine creature, hears or learns the name "Seporus," and learns his Fate (to die in squalor destroyed by his own grandeur in the pits of Awalawa, among the Anunnaki) [and gains 3 Fate points]. Anan instinctively drops the skull, and hears a whispery, serpentine voice say, "Thank you father" and has the thought, "Seporus? I must find out what Seporus is..." over and over again. And then the green light goes out, leaving him in darkness.
The next morning (Du'uzu 22nd), Alethea is awoken by Uwela. She is directed to the bathing room of the temple and takes the hint, and then joins Orabela for a morning meal. Metnu enters, and when she asks, he tells her that there's a way for her to pay back Iemanja for her hospitality and healing work. Once she finishes eating, Metnu, Alethea, and Orabela talk in the now deserted communal dining area. Metnu tells Alethea that he had a vision granted by the Blue Lady. North of Tharshesh is a woman who is fecund with child. The mother and child require protection from the dark forces of the Saturnian druids, but there is something far darker behind matters that is hidden from the Goddess. He tells the two women that the child's final destination is one of three locations - the land where women rule, the land where magic is but illusion, or the land where the desert tribes hold sway. He does not know which one is the child's sanctuary, but he tells Alethea that whatever she does, she must "keep the child in shadow". "And by the Goddess's oath, do not allow the child to fall into light or darkness". He also has a word for her - "Seporus" - though he knows not what the word means. With his duty done, Metnu tells Alethea that he will her to allow her to contemplate.
Anan is awoken in the pit by shafts of light striking him from above. He calls out, and hears voices say that there's someone trapped below. He hears a "snicking" sound, and then finds that a long, thick rope has been lowered down. Anan ties the rope around himself, and is slowly raised up. He sees three people, two dark-haired men in mercenary clothes [Petero and Otero] with weapons and a young women with light blonde hair and hazel eyes wearing colourful dark purple and green clothes [Jensa]. Petero introduces himself, and asks if he's all right. Anan tells him that he's glad to be free, and Petero tells him that he needs to get his re-injured wounds seen to and recommends he go to Iemanja's temple. When he asks where the temple is, Jensa's suspicions are raised. They ask what he's doing in Hodon's shoppe. Anan tells them about the Nethermen, being wounded, and so forth, but they pooh-pooh the idea of the Nethermen, and finally come to realise that he's the fool attacked by the lion in the Cadazan central marketplace [he loses 1 Renown].
Petero, Otero, and Jensa make disparaging comments about his character, and again ask Anan what he's doing in Hodon's shoppe, and where are Hodon and his apprentice, Tana? Anan says he'd been forced back into the shoppe by the attack of Mehazi. This enrages Jensa, and she uses a powerful Influence spell to get him to reveal the whole truth - and he tells her and the mercenaries *everything*! Jensa and Petero tell Anan that he *is* a fool, if he thought that he could pull one on Mehazi the Vengeful, and just how dangerous the Tartessan is. Jensa and the two brothers are disgusted by him, and Hodon's daughter tells him that by destroying her father's livelihood, he has made an enemy of her. She tells him that if their paths ever cross again, she'll make him into the doddering idiot he appears to be. Telling Petero and Otero that she feels unclean, she unslings the coiled rope that he [Anan] climbed, and drops it at his feet in disgust, before striding out of the ruined shoppe. Petero and Otero follow seconds later, with the former having considered murdering the Ophirite traveller for a moment.
This game session of Atlantis: The Second Age was once more pretty enjoyable, marred only by two things. The new fellow who was supposed to play, Peter, didn't show up as he'd informed me during the morning that he couldn't make it due to a friend from out of town coming in to Ottawa. And
spross was, as usual, indecisive about some of his actions, not communicative enough, and that sort of thing. Otherwise, the session of Atlantis went pretty well, the bait was set for the next scenario, the common thread for both characters being the word "Seporus", and a few things still to happen in Cadaza itself. But that's for next week.Can't wait to get back to Atlantis: The Second Age next weekend, and to see what the Wednesday and Friday groups will be doing this week as well. But as they say, one session at a time. :)