Woundsday, Soldiermoon, 1313
General Summary
Blademas
Cactus Cat progress – day 2.
Hugo Stats: Hugo sleeps til noon.
Guardswoman Sherman Bloodsport – Ironside guard Ogre.
(New) Guard Captain Sithrak Khopesh – Lizardfolk.
A guy who is a fence and appraiser of stolen artifacts who the criminal gangs further down who want to know what they’ve got or want to get it repainted, there’s a guy called Chester who Lindie is pretty sure she remembers the location of his chop shop. He’s done all kinds of weird artifacts including gems.
Chester operates out of the back of a front company that is located just below the noble quarter in the Rich Commoner District. Legitimate Antique Shop. Trinkets and Sundries.
Guardsman Guardsman Belecose Van Harl – human. Bad tempered Ironside guard.
Chester: “You found him, baby!”
Giant steamer trunk (mimic)
Chester: “Oh, the old growl to speech entrapment scam.” -27 gp.
Arib Darktusk. Wears antique orcish armour from back before human times. Has a few throwing axes. A little plume on her helmet. Only doesn’t win because Ash and Clayton use magic shenanigans.
Ash. Comes out in her normal courtesan outfit with a normal dagger. As soon as the fight starts, she moves incredibly quickly and gets a sneak attack on one of the rhinos before anyone else has had an initiative turn. Couple of sneak attack dice (no-where near Lindie level). After that her eyes go blood red corner to corner and the wound starts gushing blood. And just doesn’t let up as long as she is within range (like Connie’s brother). While that’s ongoing, she alternates between doing a creepy spell of shadow and blood that causes the rhino to become panicked and frozen. And then she gets another sneak attack on it. Can’t do both in same round.
Hooksy. Third. Does well but not brilliantly. Cleary is doing more damage than the others. She fires from her hook as a grappling hook thing. It literally smashes through the target each time like a harpoon.
Vitra Granatine. Is a soldier for hire, Significant part earth genie (Shaitan). Rocky skin. Oread. Bow and arrow. Bow is bigger than she is. Wrought out of a single piece of iron. Each arrow is a long piece of metal that has been extruded into the shape of an arrow and (at least for her) they still fly. Starts off doing poorly and then zen centres herself and hits a bunch of bullseyes in a row perfectly. Grey eyes.
Koshmar Longshaft. Jolly looking bugbear. Wearing Jackalslicer colours. Tinkery mechanical bow. Compound bow. Studded leather armour. Decently well funded. Difficult to tell if male or female. Second (got lucky)
Sherman Bloodsport. Is very large. Female. Ogre. Clearly one of the ironside’s guardswomen. Possibly holding back because employed by Balthazar. Second.
Keratin Slag. Beggar worshipper. Gets rusting with his hits. He rusts through the metal clamping button on his first hit and gets 4 tries to win. Third.
Hlo-Hlo Katterpat. Ettercap. Couple of hits to smash through. Fourth. Creepy sorcerer man in the stands is disappointed and leaves.
Zephyr Windrun. - Tall lanky elven monk – Courier. Messenger runner. Has smeared blue dust on her face and feet. Sailorite colours. Bronze threads.
Agamemnon Ironside. - Shiny Orange sabatons.
Buttons. – Forfeit
Richard Dargent CHA 17: Unknown.
Victor Dargent-Laureat CHA 15: Really hoping Hugo doesn't fuck up and gie away the plant.
Satine Dargent-Laureat CHA 16: Wants the tournament to be over so she can go home.
Voltaire CHA 10: His mistress should continue to believe nothing has changed.
Leopold Stargazer CHA 16: Secure allies against the Dargents and he sees getting Pollux married to Britomart as a means to that end.
Andromeda Stargazer CHA 14: Unknown.
Pollux Stargazer CHA 13: Britomart to win Elemental Slaying.
Castor Stargazer CHA 14: Unknown.
Cassiopeia Stargazer-Greenskin CHA 8: Unknown.
Rina CHA 17: Unknown.
Pelagia CHA 16: Wants to conduct herself well enough to retain employment in some form.
Balthazar Ironside CHA 10: Unknown.
Caiaphas Ironside CHA 10: His family to make a good showing at Blademas. Disappointed in Agamemnon. Expects granddauther (Britomart) to win Elemental Slaying and son (Balthazar) to win Melee.
Britomart Ironside CHA 10: Win Elemental Slaying.
Agamemnon Ironside CHA 14: Unknown.
Reinhart Claymore-Nashorn CHA 11: Unknown.
Hali Shajara CHA 17: Unknown.
Cassilda Shajara CHA 16: Dargents to get off her case for a while. Wants their plans to succeed so they stop asking her for help.
Ash CHA 18: Unknown.
Hali Concubine 1 CHA 21: Doesn't like being up and about in daytime and is waiting for them to return to Shajara Estate or for night to fall to they can "have fun" properly.
Hali Concubine 2 CHA 21: Unknown.
Cassilda Concubine 1 CHA 21: Drink Cassilda's blood.
Cassilda Concubine 2 CHA 21: Unknown.
Jaq Mason CHA 10: Unknown.
Minarette Mason CHA 7: Unknown.
Aloysius Mason CHA 14: Unknown.
Whistlethorp Lovelace CHA 12: Return to Mason Estate to tinker with gear to improve it.
Babirr Mason-Bakerstreet CHA 13: Hopes her brother does not spiral again in wake of Wiggin's death.
Klank CHA 7: pro-TECT and SERVE.
Britomart Ironside. Gone in without greatsword and has her spiked bracelets, punching and tearing them apart. Prioritises medium-sized elementals. Lucky hits allow her to destroy one per round. May have taken a potion of some kind just before she entered. Overall score of 27.
Sithrak Khopesh. Recently promoted new Ironside Guard Captain. Lizardfolk. Dualweilds kopeshes. Male. Swarmed and claws and bites his way through them. Overall score of 18.
Florette Rocket. Wins initiative. Darts through the elements and with two swipes, disarms both Kopesh’s kopeshes. Goes for small elementals. Florette changes tactics to intercept Danforth and runs over and disarms the ring from Danforth’s hook. Was advertising her travelling show. Overall score of 16.
Fire, water, air, earth, ice, magma, mud, lightning – no scriveners. Randomised size and type.
Hydra Quartermaster. Swapped cloaks with Andromeda. As soon as boar is released, she mutters an activating phrase, takes a running jump. Cloak expands into a mataray that flaps like wings, and she shoots over the obtacles until she catches up with the boar. She’s brought an alchemical pouch that she hits the boar with and it is immediately stuck down and enflamed in burning pitch. She flaps in front of it and shoots it with a crossbow until it dies. First to catch the boar, but the crossbow took 3 rounds to bring it down. Fourth.
Tank Bloodsport. Ogre, male. Large. Huge greataxe and home-made javlons. Gets very lucky. He uses his large size and gait to run very fast and climb over anything in his way. As soon as he gets in range of the boar, he fires one of his spears and hits it with a lucky shot. Continues closing distance. When he reaches within arms’ reach he brings his axe down and gets it in clean in half. First.
Huntmaster. Gold eyes. Female. Has a pack of hyenas that she is rearing but cannot bring into this hunt. Nets it and then tightens the net and brings it down, hacking at it with her battle axe until it dies. Third.
Sithrak Khopesh CHA 11: Unknown.
Phileus Danforth CHA 14: Unknown.
Florette Rocket CHA 13: Unknown
Mrs Victoria Quarrier – Human cleric of the Soldier.
Case of Henbane Beer. Rage potions – Phileus Danforth
Vambraces of the Shaitan. adamantine, Glitterdust, meld into stone, stoneshape each 1/day – Mrs Quarrier
Efreeti Bottle. 10 per cent chance it attacks you (and disappears forever), 10 percent chance to grant 3 Wishes (and disappears forever), summon if not killed will return to bottle after 10 mins where it will remain until the next day – "Scarhide"
Ring of Djinni Calling. Similar but without the risk. Rub it and it summons a genie who’s name in the stone and the djinni appears and faithfully obeys and serves the owner of the ring. – "Vulpix".
Battle Standard of Ferocity. A military flag with the soldier’s symbol. It, while held or planted in the ground, the person holding or planting it and any of their allies gain +2 moral bonus on attack, damage and saving throws against mind affecting effects if they are within 60 ft of the banner. 2 ft. by 4 ft. 3 lbs. – Crowd is assured that the battle standard will be courier delivered to her estranged son “at no expense”.
Full set of rhino hide armour. Just like Rhinehart’s. +2 hide armour, -1 AC penalty, additional 2d6 points of damage on any successful charge attack. 25 lbs. – Balthazar
Sash of the War Champion. Blood red strip of cloth worn as a sash over the shoulder stitched in gunmetal stitches with images of a cheering Blademas crowd throwing garlands. Counts as chest-slot magical item. Treated as if you had a fighter level 4 higher than you actually do for the purpose of armour training and bravery features. – "Furry"
Minus 1 Potion of Invisibility
Talk to Guinevera – she is writing in Aquan (to Andromeda?).
Has agreed Connie can use the Dargent Vaults to contain the Wolf.
Church of the Sailor agrees that conversion is an obligation.
Castor has always questioned parents’ interpretation on that.
The chances of us building high enough to reach the stars any time soon seems extremely unlikely. Certainly not within any of our lifetimes.
Honourable Company has kept a pretty tight control on all of the most cutting edge research on Plane Shift and teleportation magic. Even the Company hasn’t found a way to shift or open a portal all the way to Salsabil. There’s too much disturbance, cosmic interference, between here and there. You have to get past all of the routes of all the other stars and the moon.
No-one’s been able to crack those calculations, but as far as Castor was able to guess, it may be a possibility, there’s a lot of factors that would need to be involved in the calculation. And from most positions in the City it wouldn’t be feasible at all. In theory, if you could find the right position in space and the right time of year, a lot of the most impossibly complex parts on both sides of the equations would cancel each other out at that point.
It might be theoretically possible for someone very gifted or with an awful lot of resources and help.
A god’s name is supposed to be part of its identity and made of the same essence of the god itself.
I don’t know if this is anything but if it’s erasing the stars, and anything directly bound to them, the name and maybe the memory of them, and it’s burning it out of existence, and we think this is caused by someone reaching Salsabil. And the Narrative of the Broken said that those that first reached Salsabil some kind of fountain of light. And every morning Salsabil spills light across the sky. Which is where the stars are.
Theorised by scholars that the positive energy that keeps living souls living is made of the same stuff as Salsabil’s light and come from the same origin.
And if you go back a little further. Early 1200s-10s the court was mostly orcish families and was thriving until some point in the 1210s-20s. It wasn’t. And then the humans arrived and found a weakened noble court that wasn’t too difficult for the company to instil itself above.
Amira's Court has released official statements every so often as far back as records began. Orcish families listened to her. Goblinoids did before that.
Do they ever say where they arrived from?
Cassie: "I don’t think I’ve seen records of it exactly but it feels like somebody has carefully excised most of the explicit confirmation. But they are spoken of as having reached the city. As having arrived… the wording implies “from outside”. Again, the orcs didn’t keep very regimented records of everything."
Cassie: The company has the power to open portals across the material plane and to the stars, at least to the elemental ones.
Note: This is Cassie knowledge – the city as a whole doesn’t think about it.
Some of the human religious myths speak of an ancient time of heroes in antiquity. Where, when the gods guided the chosen ones through the desert.
Before the humans turned up, I’m not sure anyone had airships.
Apokyllon
Apollyon – old orcish name, roughly means the breaker of things
Cassie: “If I had to guess, Common and Orcish both have some holdover loan words from Aklo – only a few. The exact etymology of the word apocalypse is not fully clear. It is known that a similar linguistic route exists in Ancient where it means “unveiling”. But the few texts I have read about Aklo do hypothesise that a apocalypse both in its sense in Common and in Ancient may actually originally be one of those loan words from Aklo. And the Apoll-yon in Orcish could come for the same place. And if so, the backformation of Apo-kyl-lon would be the one who brings the apocalypse. The herald of the end, if you like. He that unveils the breaking of things. That which unveils, I suppose, it’s not strictly speaking masculine.”
Cassie: "My guess would be that this Apokyllon word is from Aklo. It’s the Aklo name for whatever deity this song references."
Part of the reason Aklo is illegal is that it’s a language that doesn’t tend to interact well with material life. Most languages were created and designed by living things, they evolved from living creatures trying to communicate with each other. So their construction and the way you need to think to make sense of the language is the way that living things perceive the world anyway.
And then there are some languages that are harder to learn because they are not designed by creatures that think and perceived the way living things do. Elemental languages are tricky to learn, but elementals are close enough to material life… they aren’t damaging to try and read for any length of time.
Some of the explicitly illegal languages are unsafe to read for any length of time, because of how you have to contort the mind.
Cassie: "I had to learn Aklo a bit at a time. It took me a while to realise that was the cause of some of the migraines."
If Salsabil's light is the animating force of life. If that light was corrupted and was what was erasing the names from the books, it might have a harder time erasing names that were written in Aklo or Necril.
Flarak – Ignan for Wild Elf.
Drow – dark elves, Elves – high, light elves.
Wild Elves were a previous culture that predated the splitting of the two. Not restricted information. Just not well-known.
Cactus Cat progress – day 2.
Hugo Stats: Hugo sleeps til noon.
Guardswoman Sherman Bloodsport – Ironside guard Ogre.
(New) Guard Captain Sithrak Khopesh – Lizardfolk.
A guy who is a fence and appraiser of stolen artifacts who the criminal gangs further down who want to know what they’ve got or want to get it repainted, there’s a guy called Chester who Lindie is pretty sure she remembers the location of his chop shop. He’s done all kinds of weird artifacts including gems.
Chester operates out of the back of a front company that is located just below the noble quarter in the Rich Commoner District. Legitimate Antique Shop. Trinkets and Sundries.
Guardsman Guardsman Belecose Van Harl – human. Bad tempered Ironside guard.
Trinkets and Sundries
Small mousy white-haired human. Leon Tchotchke.Chester: “You found him, baby!”
Giant steamer trunk (mimic)
Chester: “Oh, the old growl to speech entrapment scam.” -27 gp.
Rhino Slaying (Winner: Clayton Quarrier)
Slatestalker Nightghost. Bugbear; Can camouflage in shadow. Gets off to a good start and then gets outpaced.Arib Darktusk. Wears antique orcish armour from back before human times. Has a few throwing axes. A little plume on her helmet. Only doesn’t win because Ash and Clayton use magic shenanigans.
Ash. Comes out in her normal courtesan outfit with a normal dagger. As soon as the fight starts, she moves incredibly quickly and gets a sneak attack on one of the rhinos before anyone else has had an initiative turn. Couple of sneak attack dice (no-where near Lindie level). After that her eyes go blood red corner to corner and the wound starts gushing blood. And just doesn’t let up as long as she is within range (like Connie’s brother). While that’s ongoing, she alternates between doing a creepy spell of shadow and blood that causes the rhino to become panicked and frozen. And then she gets another sneak attack on it. Can’t do both in same round.
- Not a follower of the Terrier. The voice of my reflection, in my head, does muse that even the terrier may have learned some of his tricks from older sources than himself. Dogs she reminds you, will scavenge the dead if it gives them an advantage.
Archery (Winner: Vitra Granatine)
Tonkus Ratrider. Tonkus’s gun backfires!!!!Hooksy. Third. Does well but not brilliantly. Cleary is doing more damage than the others. She fires from her hook as a grappling hook thing. It literally smashes through the target each time like a harpoon.
Vitra Granatine. Is a soldier for hire, Significant part earth genie (Shaitan). Rocky skin. Oread. Bow and arrow. Bow is bigger than she is. Wrought out of a single piece of iron. Each arrow is a long piece of metal that has been extruded into the shape of an arrow and (at least for her) they still fly. Starts off doing poorly and then zen centres herself and hits a bunch of bullseyes in a row perfectly. Grey eyes.
Koshmar Longshaft. Jolly looking bugbear. Wearing Jackalslicer colours. Tinkery mechanical bow. Compound bow. Studded leather armour. Decently well funded. Difficult to tell if male or female. Second (got lucky)
Strength Test (Winner: Balthazar Ironside)
Balthazar Ironside. Obliterates the targets with his flaming glowing greatsword.Sherman Bloodsport. Is very large. Female. Ogre. Clearly one of the ironside’s guardswomen. Possibly holding back because employed by Balthazar. Second.
Keratin Slag. Beggar worshipper. Gets rusting with his hits. He rusts through the metal clamping button on his first hit and gets 4 tries to win. Third.
Hlo-Hlo Katterpat. Ettercap. Couple of hits to smash through. Fourth. Creepy sorcerer man in the stands is disappointed and leaves.
Obstacle Footrace (Winner: Vulpix)
Captain Ahab MagellanZephyr Windrun. - Tall lanky elven monk – Courier. Messenger runner. Has smeared blue dust on her face and feet. Sailorite colours. Bronze threads.
Agamemnon Ironside. - Shiny Orange sabatons.
Buttons. – Forfeit
Detect Desires
Guinevera Dargent CHA 18: Unknown.Richard Dargent CHA 17: Unknown.
Victor Dargent-Laureat CHA 15: Really hoping Hugo doesn't fuck up and gie away the plant.
Satine Dargent-Laureat CHA 16: Wants the tournament to be over so she can go home.
Voltaire CHA 10: His mistress should continue to believe nothing has changed.
Leopold Stargazer CHA 16: Secure allies against the Dargents and he sees getting Pollux married to Britomart as a means to that end.
Andromeda Stargazer CHA 14: Unknown.
Pollux Stargazer CHA 13: Britomart to win Elemental Slaying.
Castor Stargazer CHA 14: Unknown.
Cassiopeia Stargazer-Greenskin CHA 8: Unknown.
Rina CHA 17: Unknown.
Pelagia CHA 16: Wants to conduct herself well enough to retain employment in some form.
Balthazar Ironside CHA 10: Unknown.
Caiaphas Ironside CHA 10: His family to make a good showing at Blademas. Disappointed in Agamemnon. Expects granddauther (Britomart) to win Elemental Slaying and son (Balthazar) to win Melee.
Britomart Ironside CHA 10: Win Elemental Slaying.
Agamemnon Ironside CHA 14: Unknown.
Reinhart Claymore-Nashorn CHA 11: Unknown.
Hali Shajara CHA 17: Unknown.
Cassilda Shajara CHA 16: Dargents to get off her case for a while. Wants their plans to succeed so they stop asking her for help.
Ash CHA 18: Unknown.
Hali Concubine 1 CHA 21: Doesn't like being up and about in daytime and is waiting for them to return to Shajara Estate or for night to fall to they can "have fun" properly.
Hali Concubine 2 CHA 21: Unknown.
Cassilda Concubine 1 CHA 21: Drink Cassilda's blood.
Cassilda Concubine 2 CHA 21: Unknown.
Jaq Mason CHA 10: Unknown.
Minarette Mason CHA 7: Unknown.
Aloysius Mason CHA 14: Unknown.
Whistlethorp Lovelace CHA 12: Return to Mason Estate to tinker with gear to improve it.
Babirr Mason-Bakerstreet CHA 13: Hopes her brother does not spiral again in wake of Wiggin's death.
Klank CHA 7: pro-TECT and SERVE.
Elemental Slaying (Winner: Phileus Danforth)
Phileus Danforth. Magically glowing hook, ashy black charred smelling wizard robe. Wizard. 1st turn, retreats to the edge of the arena, gets into position and fireballs the entire arena. Has targeted a large ice elemental and melts it. Taken on by fire elementals and a water elemental. Lightning bolts them. Has to spend rest of fight running away. Overall score of 32.Britomart Ironside. Gone in without greatsword and has her spiked bracelets, punching and tearing them apart. Prioritises medium-sized elementals. Lucky hits allow her to destroy one per round. May have taken a potion of some kind just before she entered. Overall score of 27.
Sithrak Khopesh. Recently promoted new Ironside Guard Captain. Lizardfolk. Dualweilds kopeshes. Male. Swarmed and claws and bites his way through them. Overall score of 18.
Florette Rocket. Wins initiative. Darts through the elements and with two swipes, disarms both Kopesh’s kopeshes. Goes for small elementals. Florette changes tactics to intercept Danforth and runs over and disarms the ring from Danforth’s hook. Was advertising her travelling show. Overall score of 16.
Fire, water, air, earth, ice, magma, mud, lightning – no scriveners. Randomised size and type.
Boar Hunting (Winner: Tank Bloodsport)
Thale. Takes a similar sort of approach to Hydra. Starts off running. His eyes turn black and sink into his skull. His body shifts and distends and shapeshifts into a direbat. Flaps over obstacles, lands on boar. Just with his bare hands and smashes boar’s head off the ground. Boar survives, but as soon as it’s wounded and bleeding. The boar shrivels under his grasp and then he smashes its head again and the skull shatters. Second.Hydra Quartermaster. Swapped cloaks with Andromeda. As soon as boar is released, she mutters an activating phrase, takes a running jump. Cloak expands into a mataray that flaps like wings, and she shoots over the obtacles until she catches up with the boar. She’s brought an alchemical pouch that she hits the boar with and it is immediately stuck down and enflamed in burning pitch. She flaps in front of it and shoots it with a crossbow until it dies. First to catch the boar, but the crossbow took 3 rounds to bring it down. Fourth.
Tank Bloodsport. Ogre, male. Large. Huge greataxe and home-made javlons. Gets very lucky. He uses his large size and gait to run very fast and climb over anything in his way. As soon as he gets in range of the boar, he fires one of his spears and hits it with a lucky shot. Continues closing distance. When he reaches within arms’ reach he brings his axe down and gets it in clean in half. First.
Huntmaster. Gold eyes. Female. Has a pack of hyenas that she is rearing but cannot bring into this hunt. Nets it and then tightens the net and brings it down, hacking at it with her battle axe until it dies. Third.
Detect Desires
Britomart Ironside CHA 10: Go hide in her room, thorougly defeated.Sithrak Khopesh CHA 11: Unknown.
Phileus Danforth CHA 14: Unknown.
Florette Rocket CHA 13: Unknown
Melee
Lindie murders Vitra, and Tank Bloodsport and Clayton Quarrier…Mrs Victoria Quarrier – Human cleric of the Soldier.
Prizes
+1 Flaming Greatsword. 1d6 fire damage in addition to normal damage – Sherman BloodsportCase of Henbane Beer. Rage potions – Phileus Danforth
Vambraces of the Shaitan. adamantine, Glitterdust, meld into stone, stoneshape each 1/day – Mrs Quarrier
Efreeti Bottle. 10 per cent chance it attacks you (and disappears forever), 10 percent chance to grant 3 Wishes (and disappears forever), summon if not killed will return to bottle after 10 mins where it will remain until the next day – "Scarhide"
Ring of Djinni Calling. Similar but without the risk. Rub it and it summons a genie who’s name in the stone and the djinni appears and faithfully obeys and serves the owner of the ring. – "Vulpix".
Battle Standard of Ferocity. A military flag with the soldier’s symbol. It, while held or planted in the ground, the person holding or planting it and any of their allies gain +2 moral bonus on attack, damage and saving throws against mind affecting effects if they are within 60 ft of the banner. 2 ft. by 4 ft. 3 lbs. – Crowd is assured that the battle standard will be courier delivered to her estranged son “at no expense”.
Full set of rhino hide armour. Just like Rhinehart’s. +2 hide armour, -1 AC penalty, additional 2d6 points of damage on any successful charge attack. 25 lbs. – Balthazar
Sash of the War Champion. Blood red strip of cloth worn as a sash over the shoulder stitched in gunmetal stitches with images of a cheering Blademas crowd throwing garlands. Counts as chest-slot magical item. Treated as if you had a fighter level 4 higher than you actually do for the purpose of armour training and bravery features. – "Furry"
Minus 1 Potion of Invisibility
Talk to Guinevera – she is writing in Aquan (to Andromeda?).
Has agreed Connie can use the Dargent Vaults to contain the Wolf.
Connie: “Hi Cassie, It’s Connie. Guinevera and Andromeda meeting so are you and Castor free to meet us tonight? Good news about Pollomart! Best wishes, Connie.”Andromeda believes that any hostile forces from outwith the pantheon would be an impediment to the Sailor's freedom and anathema to his cause.
Cassiopeia: “Cassie’s occupied with the family right now. I can slip away while they think I’m manning the library. Same meeting place as before? Um, Cassiopeia.” Connie contacts Cassiopeia with a Sending spell.
Church of the Sailor agrees that conversion is an obligation.
Castor has always questioned parents’ interpretation on that.
- Tar invasion would be something else to explore and experience.
- Tar. Anchor is a thing you use to stop moving.
- Fallen Kin – Kin doesn’t mean friends necessarily.
- Good Captain sounds nice.
- Lady With The Lamp sounds at least harmless.
- Black Baron and Shocktrooper more questionable.
Reaching Salsabil
Reaching Salsabil isn’t an easy task. Don’t know how it would have been done in the past. There are references to a myth that the city may have reached it once before it started sinking. If so, that was a long time before recorded history. We are very slowly increasing in height from what Cassie can find. The Amira is constantly funding new ways to improve our construction efforts. The Amira’s own towers are gradually outpacing in their heightening the rate at which the city’s sinking. The Masons certainly have produced a lot of data that confirm overall on average the wall is gradually heightening over the years.The chances of us building high enough to reach the stars any time soon seems extremely unlikely. Certainly not within any of our lifetimes.
Honourable Company has kept a pretty tight control on all of the most cutting edge research on Plane Shift and teleportation magic. Even the Company hasn’t found a way to shift or open a portal all the way to Salsabil. There’s too much disturbance, cosmic interference, between here and there. You have to get past all of the routes of all the other stars and the moon.
No-one’s been able to crack those calculations, but as far as Castor was able to guess, it may be a possibility, there’s a lot of factors that would need to be involved in the calculation. And from most positions in the City it wouldn’t be feasible at all. In theory, if you could find the right position in space and the right time of year, a lot of the most impossibly complex parts on both sides of the equations would cancel each other out at that point.
It might be theoretically possible for someone very gifted or with an awful lot of resources and help.
The Three Immortals
That story’s an odd one. It crops up in a lot of places, at least allusions to it do. The aspects aren’t always identical. Variations on a theme. What scholars call a “monomyth”. Every culture and every generation adapt it into a form that make sense to them. Maybe the original form of the story has more clues in it. If we actually read that book, maybe we could piece together what the original form was.A god’s name is supposed to be part of its identity and made of the same essence of the god itself.
I don’t know if this is anything but if it’s erasing the stars, and anything directly bound to them, the name and maybe the memory of them, and it’s burning it out of existence, and we think this is caused by someone reaching Salsabil. And the Narrative of the Broken said that those that first reached Salsabil some kind of fountain of light. And every morning Salsabil spills light across the sky. Which is where the stars are.
Theorised by scholars that the positive energy that keeps living souls living is made of the same stuff as Salsabil’s light and come from the same origin.
Orc History
The orcs didn’t keep as strict records as the goblins did. They were always less regimented. Some point around, when the humans arrived on the scene there were only about eight noble families left. And only a couple of them were orcs.And if you go back a little further. Early 1200s-10s the court was mostly orcish families and was thriving until some point in the 1210s-20s. It wasn’t. And then the humans arrived and found a weakened noble court that wasn’t too difficult for the company to instil itself above.
Amira's Court has released official statements every so often as far back as records began. Orcish families listened to her. Goblinoids did before that.
Do they ever say where they arrived from?
Cassie: "I don’t think I’ve seen records of it exactly but it feels like somebody has carefully excised most of the explicit confirmation. But they are spoken of as having reached the city. As having arrived… the wording implies “from outside”. Again, the orcs didn’t keep very regimented records of everything."
Cassie: The company has the power to open portals across the material plane and to the stars, at least to the elemental ones.
Note: This is Cassie knowledge – the city as a whole doesn’t think about it.
Some of the human religious myths speak of an ancient time of heroes in antiquity. Where, when the gods guided the chosen ones through the desert.
Before the humans turned up, I’m not sure anyone had airships.
Apokyllon
Apollyon – old orcish name, roughly means the breaker of things
Cassie: “If I had to guess, Common and Orcish both have some holdover loan words from Aklo – only a few. The exact etymology of the word apocalypse is not fully clear. It is known that a similar linguistic route exists in Ancient where it means “unveiling”. But the few texts I have read about Aklo do hypothesise that a apocalypse both in its sense in Common and in Ancient may actually originally be one of those loan words from Aklo. And the Apoll-yon in Orcish could come for the same place. And if so, the backformation of Apo-kyl-lon would be the one who brings the apocalypse. The herald of the end, if you like. He that unveils the breaking of things. That which unveils, I suppose, it’s not strictly speaking masculine.”
Cassie: "My guess would be that this Apokyllon word is from Aklo. It’s the Aklo name for whatever deity this song references."
Part of the reason Aklo is illegal is that it’s a language that doesn’t tend to interact well with material life. Most languages were created and designed by living things, they evolved from living creatures trying to communicate with each other. So their construction and the way you need to think to make sense of the language is the way that living things perceive the world anyway.
And then there are some languages that are harder to learn because they are not designed by creatures that think and perceived the way living things do. Elemental languages are tricky to learn, but elementals are close enough to material life… they aren’t damaging to try and read for any length of time.
Some of the explicitly illegal languages are unsafe to read for any length of time, because of how you have to contort the mind.
Cassie: "I had to learn Aklo a bit at a time. It took me a while to realise that was the cause of some of the migraines."
If Salsabil's light is the animating force of life. If that light was corrupted and was what was erasing the names from the books, it might have a harder time erasing names that were written in Aklo or Necril.
Flarak – Ignan for Wild Elf.
Drow – dark elves, Elves – high, light elves.
Wild Elves were a previous culture that predated the splitting of the two. Not restricted information. Just not well-known.