Azimuth 2 - Session 32 - To Paint a Phoenix
General Summary
14 Adroth
New Keeleon
To create a decoy art piece, Chaka set himself to work at Argilla’s home in the Highland Hills. The piece would need to be finished and submitted to the Watermill Gallery by midday on 16 Adroth. The rest of the group set themselves to tasks and errands around New Keeleon and were ready to assist Chaka in any way they could. Around town, they heard the news callers of the city making announcements. One indicated, “Execution of rebel member cancelled.” Another said, “Upcoming art show at Watermill Gallery; rare art piece to be put on display.”GERTRUDE
Gertrude spoke with city merchants about their relationships with the Tarterian Traders. Many were fine with older arrangements with the guild under Nabat before eight months ago. Recently though, under Sir Talmid, they were reneging on agreements, calling in debts, and putting stronger pressure on them. She felt there was a disconnect between the guild’s leadership and their operations in recent months. Gertrude received a pair of Sending spells from Bishop Rannyl Grimsunder in Endor, the First Mountain. He said, “I’ve checked the Zenethia scriptures. You mentioned residuum and genasi. There was once a genasi seeking residuum in the wake of the Great War. It’s said he came to battle with the Champion Rita deep in the Iron Range. No records of them afterwards, though I’ll keep searching, Gertrude.” Gertrude asked Rannyl about the genasi and the Prophets of Regression. She mentioned Red Lake and the beginning of darkness. Rannyl replied, “Scriptures say that that prophet that fought Rita pressed her hard in battle. The scriptures here say he’s immortal, I’m sure that’s hyperbole. Rita buried him in the rock the same way that the Champions eventually buried Esturk.”ROMSCA
Romsca rented a forge and hired a skilled worker to assist her. During the first day, she constructed the beginnings of a folded-steel blade. At the end of the day, she sent Sending spells to Hceehc of the Golden Fur. She said, “Hceehc. Debrief. Two spells. Initial integration difficult. One year establishing, one year learning languages. Tutor reassigned, followed to Tarteria. Mastered blacksmithing and jewel crafting. Hope groundwork… Conflict here. Compelled to help. Allies, community threatened. Danger imminent, possibly globally. Will return if I survive. All for the sake of Golden Fur.” Hceehc replied, frustrated, “Your words are efficient but difficult. This magic is frustrating for such sporadic talk, Romsca. When will you be back to speak words with me, Far-Wanderer? Trades and languages of dwarf-folk are good if they can be taught to our future litters. I don’t care about battles in Tarteria, Far-Wanderer. Connections to dwarf-folk in the mountains can’t be made across the ocean.”MORTIMR
Captain Ruslan approached Mortimr and began to thank him again for saving him, but Mortimr interrupted him. Ruslan said he hadn’t experienced what he’d expected to, and he asked about the flower scents and the pink wheat he had seen after his death. Mortimr said to not think about it and gave him a cigarette. Ruslan had overheard Mortimr wanting to try tailing Sir Talmid, and he offered to help. They set out into the city but couldn’t locate him. Merchants were complaining about not being able to conduct their business with the Commandment of Sky Guildhall, and it appeared it was shut down or closed in some way.Demitri
Demitri visited the Equus Orphanage. Demitri warned Zofi to be safe, as things were starting to happen in the city. Zofi told him to be safe as well, and she asked for his help at the orphanage. Zofi and the orphans were crafting makeshift costumes of the Dragons out of cloth and paper mâché in preparation for the upcoming Champion's Conquest holiday. Leena was there, too, wearing a costume of Morounin, The Learned-Lady.Ilmendwyth
Ilmendwyth tried to spread the word about Chaka’s faux art piece in the upcoming showing. While spreading these messages in the Mud Ward south of the city, he noticed he was being followed. Ducking into an alley, Ilmendwyth confront the figure. It was Rudok, who had been sent by the "Birdkeeper" to seek him out. Rudok gave Ilmendwyth a small satchel, similar to the one he’d seen at Lothered's Lighthouse. Inside was a dried and shredded panacea leaf. The freshness of the leaf surprised Ilmendwyth, but he didn’t speak on it. Rudok had just completed a delivery to New Keeleon and was looking to make extra coin. He presented a wanted poster for Arwin, and Rudok asked if Ilmendwyth had seen him. Ilmendwyth asked who put a bounty on Arwin, and Rudok said it was the Commandment of Sky Guildhall. Ilmendwyth told him the guildhall were seemingly the ones behind the events he was looking into, calling them “a bunch of jackasses.” He told Rudok to not pursue Arwin, and he quickly explained their situation. He asked if Rudok could tell the guildhall he was following leads on Arwin that led out of New Keeleon. Rudok pulled out an additional wanted poster for Mortimr, and Ilmendwyth said to avoid that one, too. Rudok then said he’d just head back to Kievs then. Before leaving, he helped Ilmendwyth to spread more messaging around town, while pointing out hotspots for The Rabble.Romulus
Lord Lortuk contacted Romulus about the samples given to him. He didn’t find any divine connections in the samples and felt the grey oozes from Porgorag were simply caused by the corruption that had spread there. He wasn’t confident those oozes were evidence that oozes and demons were working together intentionally. However, Lortuk said the samples from the ankhegs were too short-lived. A sample from something older, that had lived with the corruption longer, like the ankheg queen, would help determine if there was any intent or drive from the spreading corruption or if it was just a side effect of the blocking of Chedae’s light.ARWIN
Lortuk also sought out Arwin. He was working with Gralphank to expedite Arwin’s bow, and it would be done by the morning of 16 Adroth. He also had tried to push for the meeting between Arwin and the Commandment of Sky. However, the guildhall had seemingly shut down, and he was unsuccessful in the attempt. He suggested they find a different way inside.CHAKA
Chaka spent the day working with Al’phonas to craft the decoy art piece. Before the first brushstroke, he prayed to Barduumus, The Battlelord, saying, “May you guide my hand and allow my art to honor and do justice to my people.” Chaka’s focus was split between the scene, the effect of Chaka’s magics, and the Great Phoenix itself. Though he was off to a rough start, the rest of the group aided him through the day.- Gertrude cast a light spell to illuminate the room to whatever style and color Chaka needed. She also cast Guidance on him to aid.
- Romsca cast Heat Metal on her shield to make it glow the colors of molten metal, to inspire the colors of the Great Phoenix.
- Demitri purchased many art supplies, paints, and brushes, and gave them all to Chaka.
- Mortimr asked Ruslan to run out and purchase coffee, and he returned with imported Endorian coffee.
THE NIGHT
While resting with the rest of the group, Romsca took out the stack of notebooks she carried. She asked a favor of the group and wanted to be clear about her goals. The Tribe of the Golden Fur was beginning to run out of supplies, and instead of taking what their people need, Hceehc was seeking to integrate Gohled Teente into the surrounding lands. Romsca was gathering knowledge to make that possible, but she was taking longer than she had hoped. If she were to die, she asked someone take her books back to Gohled Teente. Ilmendwyth asked when she had planned to return. She felt she hadn’t learned enough to return and made excuses to stay, though she admitted she had learned more than she often admitted to herself. Ilmendwyth asked how her people would react to an outsider approaching them. Romsca said that Petra D'Silva had helped them originally settle in the Gorl Forest, though their culture clashed with the cities and settlements nearby. Ilmendwyth felt he may not be allowed to do so, but said he’d deliver her books. Gertrude said she would as well. The group bunked down to sleep. In his dreams, Chaka saw the clay shard from the Augurs before he was again set among the Infinite Battlefield. Surrounded by battles, the same human figure in strange, old armor recognized Chaka and attacked him. Chaka reacted quickly. He grabbed his warhammer without hesitation and thought to himself that maybe there were sometimes that a weapon was required. He rushed into melee and they traded heavy blows. At the end, Chaka scattered the man into the ground with a blow to his head, and the energy of Dynamia seemed to fill him. The dream faded and Chaka returned to slumber.15 ADROTH
GERTRUDE
The next day, Gertrude received additional Sending spells from Rannyl. He said, “The Morounin Archive gave something, an old book found by the Heroes above the Zarik Vljouma mended over the years. Nothing about the residuum ring, but there was something about the Severance. It says… The script is off… A mechanism of some kind that fuels the tear… ‘Four siphons and four keys, the elements shall now prevent the divine’.” Gertrude thanked him and asked him to continue searching, knowing that ancient lore was very hard to find. She asked, “Please research siphons and keys in regards to the Great Beasts and elemental founts. Artists of ancient great beast masterpieces.” The bishop replied, “Confirmed, Gertrude, I’ll try. Quote; ‘Great Beasts forged to quell the elements shall now be the guardians of the Severance’.” With the information that Rannyl was relaying, Gertrude could tell he seemed confused, as if this was all new information to him as well.MORTIMR AND DEMITRI
Mortimr and Demitri searched through Argilla’s copies of The Manual of Monsters. They looked for information on the Elemental Planes, genasi, and residuum. Though they found similar threads alluding to a missing fourth volume, their search could only just get underway in the time they had. Meanwhile, Mortimr’s mind was distracted by thoughts of his brother as the muffling of his feelings was momentarily lessened.ROMSCA AND GERTRUDE
Over the course of the day, Romsca continued her smithing work. She finished several weapons, including a sword, hand axe, and a flind-flail. Afterwards, Rosmca spoke with Gertrude. She had questions about faith and wondered what it was like to be integrated into a faithful order. Gertrude had heard Chedae as a young child and been a cleric for many years. Gertrude said she had the benefit of being from Clan Oathenhammer and her father witnessing her connection to her Dragon. There was no doubt in what she had experienced, and it set her on a path to the faith. Romsca said her experience had been changing in recent days. From healing Naran and Zofi, Morounin had felt closer, almost over her shoulder. Gertrude said perhaps she was guiding her along. Gertrude said, “Fate has placed you on this path. Trust in the goddess you devoted your life to to lead the way. Four years for a god is nothing. The divine is a scary thing, but embrace it. She is with you. […] Don’t question the will of the gods. She chose you, accept it. You’ll go insane if you try to think about it too much, lass. Just go with the flow!” Gertrude said any self-doubt Rosmca felt was only within herself. Romsca could tell that Gertrude spoke with experience and wisdom from a long life in the faith. Four years was a short time, and Gertrude had waited for much of her life for her calling.CHAKA
With the Lightbringer’s assistance, Chaka made great strides over the course of the day. After the previous night’s dream, Chaka was visibly rested and energized.- Mortimr gave various tidbits of advice to Chaka, which caused him to slowly turn towards the gnome. He then said he should use that feeling of rising anger to fuel his creativity and paint with emotion.
- Demitri expounded on Mortimr’s words, explaining various artistic theories related to proportions and scene-crafting.
- Gertrude and Romsca cast Mending on Chaka’s brushes and supplies to keep them in pristine condition.
- As Chaka grew frustrated, Ilmendwyth pointed out flaws he noticed as well.
Report Date
06 Mar 2024
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Characters
14 Adroth 5A 352 to 15 Adroth 5A 352