Codename: Sleeping Alley, Report the Twenty-Third

General Summary

We met the Alley Sleepers in the truncated analogy of danger, with Aletha of the Flintclaw receiving a Kexan vision and the rest of the Sleepers pondering next moves.

Birth of the Wormspeaker

The vision that Kexan shared with Aletha was disturbing, to say the least. It featured Kexan in what is now the Pullkirk Tabernacle of Triad's Grace, facing down Beirdein Cahlor and a host of folks dressed up in what is surely proto-Alerki Ascendency uniforms. The conflict between these two factions of The Worm's Share has finally come to a boil and the vision ended with a clear glimpse of what the future held for the continent of Keshloam. Kexan, separated through betrayal magics from the divine essence inside of him, was consumed by a different magic--this one derived from the terrible form of the Morkoth in the Crater--was entombed and commanded to serve as The Wormspeaker. Cahlor, now infused with the divinity that was within Kexan--"ascended" to become Sovereign and the Ascendency was born, directly from the ashes of The Worm's Share.

A Powderkeg of a Parish

Needless to say, Aletha shared her vision with the crew, and all agreed that it was thoroughly disheartening. It was high time the crew got back to business--like, literally, check in The Ivory Bee. To do this, ship was taken to Nineboons. A quick check-in with "Smallcastle" revealed a city very much under aggressive martial law, but also illustrated a power whose resources are thinning, as most of the Ascendency soldiers in the city were ragtag militia conscripts. Nineboons, like all urban areas, has become a home for refugees fleeing the relatively arbitrary "justice" dolled out by the Ascendency in the rural areas, hoping to find a slightly less fickle form of safety in the cities. The arrival of Gnet offered a clear augury--change is coming. The question is, between the people of Skint Parish and the power of the Ascendency, who will benefit most from whatever is made anew?

Aletha Answers a Goddess

Speaking of augury, Aletha has been following her own signs left for her by Xun , even less subtle than usual, has been trying to reach Aletha and finally manages to make contract through a Nineboons alley and a rough-looking kenku. Turns out, Xun needs some help. She needs Aletha, whilst sailing home, to pay attention, because "beside the road, there is a darkness." Cryptic as ever, but sure enough, a crook in the Pimeweld revealed a glade permeated with isolated darkness. Further investigation revealed a clearing with a shine/ritual/thing dedicated to the manipulative god Zemtris. Having dealt with the emergent Zemtris cult faction, Aletha was gifted with yet another Xun vision, this one featuring Aletha's believed dead mom, Doxia, dressed in Ordinator regalia. Jeez! 
That night, Hama cleansed the glade of evil, washing it in Gnet's embrace. A final spirit troll, confused by the influx of bizarre energies, was also released back to the ether of creation by our folks. Now, it was long past time to return home.

The Destroyed Bee

With Aletha still reeling from that insight, the gang rounded the bend and headed for home. All was not well at the Bee, however, as the sickening sign of black smoke could be seen coming from the direction of the meadery half a mile away.
Arrival proved right the Sleepers' fears--the Ascendency had caught up with them and burnt their home to the ground as it violated "the harmony and grace of the Sovereign. After dealing with some The Manifest soldiers and a strangely new earth/construct thing, our heroes searched their home for any sign of life. None to be found. But, aside from the dead body of Elmurk the drover, no sign of corpses, either. 
Here, Hama vu Ivory Bee lost the plot a little bit and engaged in some pretty gnarly rituals which involved using his shard of Gnet to flay the bodies of the dead soldiers and do some questionable stuff to the insides, culmination of a "revelation of shame hearts" to the power of Gnet. 
Possible survivors or not, it was agreed that it was time to head back to our squad's true birthplace, true home--Curragan's Shame. Thus did the Sleepers return to the swamp (with the additional possible nom-de-guerre of The Shameborn. Trudging through the Shame to the Thricedead, more eyeless crows dogged the path of Aletha. A sure sign that Xun has come calling yet again. 

A New Mission for The Resistance 

Aletha had little time to ponder that, though, as it was time to intrude upon the hospitality of the Thricedead and to plot next moves. After a serious back and forth with Svennson and Avarix of the dwindling bandit gang, it was decided that both the Brass Lamb and the region needed to light some fires, to ignite some sparks of resistance and rebellion as openly as possible. A drastic measure was called for, so the Thricedead were dispatched to garner support and rally the resistance all over Skint, while the Sleepers headed to Riverskint to make sure the Ascendency hasn't forgot about them and to, perhaps, extract some small distillate of revenge.

Of Monks and Mothers

Meanwhile, Rieta has received a message, presumably from Arkkarad, to meet in Nineboons at The Open Fig Tavern. Aletha also has business in Nineboons. Family buisness.

And That's Where We Left It

We'll see what dangers and delights Riverskint holds for the Sleepers during our next session.

Rewards Granted

Level 9!

Character(s) interacted with

"Smallcastle", Brass Lamb leadership
Svennson of the Thricedead 
Avarix of the Thricedead
Kexan Cloudroot, erstwhile Worm's Share leader
Xun, goddess

Report Date

21 Mar 2021

Primary Location

Skint Parish

Secondary Location

The Ivory Bee