The Crowns of Tyrants

Having crossed the seas to the distant continent of Izekra, Makar and their friends face a strange world ahead. Temples of Endless Night, Rains of Blood, and Eternal Wars lie ahead; new lands, new problems. Will they have what it takes?

The Crossing

Sailing across the Veniv straights, Makar talked with Captain Yamoa about the possible business venture: raid religious artifacts for her, and she would split the riches with them. The more important it is to more people, the more cash it would be in return. Yamoa had several targets prepared:

• Dumella, a town that was the last bastion of traditional Izekran religion. Would be more on guard, but provoke little infamy if caught
• Ladivar, a village that is peaceful, secluded, and Ishkibite. Has a vulnerable and prominent temple, but would provoke immense infamy if caught
• Kenamar, an Ishkibite castle-town in the North with notable relics. Wouldn't draw much attention or infamy if caught due to its proximity to many religious enemies, but would be difficult.

And Makar seemed interested in trying to get some of these items consensually or through trickery rather than stealth and violence. Dailio was opposed, and Ezia seemed interested in perhaps scouting them out for being bad people first.
Finally, after 8 days, the ship arrived in Warmtide Reef. While they entered port, Makar was drawn naturally to the sunken Isle of Nexora, a powerful site of warlockery - and dove into the water there with Zofara. Makar communed with two great Leviathans: the arrogant sphinx known as the Tideweaver, and the pretentious blasphemer known as the Moonhunter. Makar encouraged them to try to unite the Elder Leviathans, and learned of a few of them. Makar also learned that the Tideweaver was tracking where the Rot originated from - a possible future lead to investigate who they were as a person once upon a time. Makar also communed briefly with the Scarred One, Zofara's patron. They were unhelpful, but content with letting Zofara go.
Makar asked for the Tideweaver's help in getting mortal aid in Warmtide, and the warlocks of the church arrived with some gold and some flourishes of power. Makar encountered an agent of the secret police there, and ended up backing off from asking for more aid to avoid entanglement. Makar also deduced that whoever was buying from Yamoa was probably planning to do sympathetic magic on people, and decided against robbing places of their artifacts.

Kafia

After the Warmtide adventure, Makar went to the nearby surface city of Kafia to check out the local culture and meet some people. The crew went to go see the Zeruan district around the Greater Makal Company office, visited the Shrine of All Gods, and saw some of the city's nightlife. Makar visited the Ishkibite Temple, talked with Ishkibal, and made an alliance with the God of War. Ishkibal and Makar had their differences, but Ishkibal agreed to throw together a structure to plan the war against the apocalypse and to try and smooth things over with Lily. Makar also learned about Savros' existence and some facts about the False Chimera.
After causing a stir in the temple, Makar hit the town to celebrate. Their antics drew the attention of a foreign spy - a curious character by the name of Nezaret, who turned out to be a spy for the Empire of Runeva. Makar asked him to add a note to his report back to the Empire requesting a truce with the Lunar Pantheon.

Dumella

Makar was interested in the Izekran old faith, and the crew visited Dumella despite not planning on raiding its holy artifacts. The town was happy to have visitors, though a shadow of conflict loomed over the small port. Warriors had recently seized control of the town and escalated conflicts with the region's power; Dumella seemed doomed to at least suffer in the upcoming war. Nonetheless, the town was friendly and welcoming, and the local priestess invited Makar to study the philosophy of the Izekran Old Faith (known generally as Prakahl, though I couldn't find its name that session woops ). She told the stories of how the Old Faith had found the four elemental Gods, how the town worshipped the sacred places as their ultimate and beautiful manifestations, and how each element was given a home. A tower with a great turning chime for wind, an underground temple for earth, a secret canal-shrine for sea, and no temple but the sky for fire. Each God came together to make the world, but each played its role in death and rebirth - be it in Paradise or via reincarnation.
Makar decided to ask about town politics - what was going on there? - and to reveal themselves to Priestess Prafella as The Masked One. Prafella only somewhat understood their full power, and was preoccupied with current events and with saving Dumella from destruction. The Kingdom of Sarokai was marching against the Old Faith, and Dumella alone stood strong - but stood little chance against their armies. Ishkibism was conquering and converting the entire coast. The council of elders wanted to negotiate and maybe accept some Ishkibism as a political ploy while ideally keeping the Old Faith for the most part. But a young warrior named Mokriss had raged against that plan and had overthrown the elders. Mokriss was militarizing the town and ruling with an arbitrary rage - and Prafella planned to poison him. Makar saw another path forward. The plan: free the elders, humiliate Mokriss, and restore the oligarchy to make peace. The town prison was laughably easy to break the elders out of, but the reveal of Makar was a little dicy - the town started firing arrows when they burst from the water in a moment of magical splendor. Makar was able to intimidate them down, and through a Nat 20, frightened Mokriss into surrendering the throne. Makar took his crown and the oligarchy was restored. Makar had a nice moment connecting with their aspect as the God of Change, and all was well.

Components

Goals

QUEST GOALS

• Leave for Samvara
• Investigate the broader fallout from the arrival of the Rot
• Collect allies for the coming struggle
• Meet up with Potha
• Investigate the Rot's person-origins
• Protect Dumella

Relations

Allies

Zofara Nightwalker: Zofara is a stylish mercenary Warlock hired by the crew at the urging of Princess Maina Eramzir. Their goal is the same as Makar's: to investigate the disturbances in Makal and protect the seas from the Adversary.
Ezia of Aizari: Ezia was a neighbor and childhood friend of Makar. She is shy, bookish, and curious, always drawn to learning more about foreign lands and new things but held back by her social anxiety. Much of that anxiety melts away when she is around her friends, who she will follow to the ends of the Earth. Ezia comes from a brewing family with connections to The Circles. Knows the truth about Makar. Dailio: Dailio is a selkie outpost child, raised in Etekamo. Dailio is extroverted, polite, and open-minded, a bold and cheery business boy who hopes to one day be a merchant like his parents. Dailio is sharp of eye and has basic dueling training, but is a relentless rules-follower when not balanced out by Ezia or Makar. Knows the truth about Makar.
Dailio: Dailio is a selkie outpost child, raised in Etekamo. Dailio is extroverted, polite, and open-minded, a bold and cheery business boy who hopes to one day be a merchant like his parents. Dailio is sharp of eye and has basic dueling training, but is a relentless rules-follower when not balanced out by Ezia or Makar. Knows the truth about Makar.
Fastfin Cunning-Wolf: An old white-tipped shark and paladin of Emesh , who seeks a glorious future for shark-kind. On bad terms with their original shark-clan, the cat-inspired cunning-wolves.

Neutrals/Bystanders

Captain Yamoa: The selkie captain of the Aranu; merchant, pirate, and profiteer of dubious morals. Planning something suspicious. Kinda libertrarian. 
The Tidweaver: An Elder Leviathan, the master of riddles who rules the central seas. Sociable as leviathans goes, but abrasive and domineering. Seeks to defeat the Rot using facts and logic.
The Moonhunter: A Leviathan who is old enough to have style and sentience but is young enough to not be an Elder. Vassal of the Tideweaver. Seeks to blaspheme. 
Nezaret of the Lianas: A dryad journalist in Kafia with friends in many high places. A member of the Lianas, the spy network of the Empire of Runeva 
Elder Prafella of Dumella: The high priestess of Dumella, a practitioner of the Old Ways with a small bloodlust for tyrants.

Competitors

Mokriss, First King of Dumella: A warrior who couped the government of Dumella and crowned himself King. Wants to create a kingdom of the Old Ways under his crown. Proud, paranoid, and insecure.

Backdrops

Threats

False Chimera Facts Learned:

• Active among the selkies
• Active among the Desmians
• Active among the Kivish
• Probably spreading more cults worldwide
• Actively weaponizing Orthodox Desmianism, arming them with dangerous new weapons and radicalizing them against the rest of the world
• Spreading misinformation around the world

Rot Facts Learned:

• Is moving insects and rodents into South Izekra from the South, though they have yet to spread plague

Plot type

QUEST

Parent Plot

Reef Madness

Subplots

• Pure Blood and Blasphemy

Related Characters

• Ishkibal

Related Organizations

• Ishkibism

Related Locations

• Deluja
• Warmtide Reef