In the Sea Ward of
Asturia's capital city,
Rabanastra, at sunset under a clear sky, a party of adventurers arrives at the opulent manor of Duke
Ravengard. The duke has summoned them for a farewell dinner the night before they depart on their quest to Marukuru.
There are four in their party:
- Chibuzo O'tamu, trained as a ranger in the jungles of Marakuru, the second son of one of the seven merchant princes of Port Nyanzaru and the younger brother of the expedition leader, Gero O'tamu;
- Dunch, a half-human, half-orc sent by his people to travel the world acquiring knowledge and skills, currently serving as first mate and navigator of the ship that will transport them, the Brazen Pegasus;
- Dolan, a sorcerer with the scaled limbs of a draconic bloodline, as well as an archaeologist and the former student of Elmar Norcross, who accompanied and betrayed the Duke on a previous expedition to Marukuru; and
- Ixtli, an Anasazi lizardfolk monk and former hermit, drawn to Rabanastra seeking to understand the visions he has had of the jungles, volcanos, and ruins of Marukuru—and of a strange crown, of gold, bone and obsidian, set with a single, massive opal that swirls with darkness.
Gero is waiting to greet them. He leads them across the entrance hall and through a portal flanked by ornate suits of armour holding longswords into a vast room lined with bookshelves. In the centre of the room is a pedestal holding an oblong chunk of stone under a glass dome. Standing around it are three people. One of them, a regal-looking gentleman clad in reds and golds, approaches to welcome them: Duke Lochland Braddock Ravengard III, the patron of their expedition.
He introduces them to his companions: a middle-aged woman, Templar
Nera Blacktyde, clad in the reds and greys of the
Azrinath, the military and diplomatic order of the
Gazel Ministry; and an older but still fit man, retired General
Kivan Voss. Blacktyde greets Dolan and Chibuzo warmly while nodding curtly to Dunch and Ixtli. Voss acknowledges them in the crisp manner of an ex-military man, but then addresses the Duke: "Sir, this man," indicating Dolan, "is an associate of the traitor Elmar. Can he be trusted?"
Dolan speaks in his own defense, stating Elmar's actions were completely out of character in his experience. Could it have been some sort of jungle madness? "I'd like nothing better than to find him and learn why he behaved as he did. And—to restore the tablet."
"I'd like that as well," says the Duke. "Come, look." He motions them closer to the fragment of stone under the glass dome. "This is the top half of the
Tablet of Ch'gakare. It speaks of a crown of great power, a relic from a much earlier civilization. The discovery of this artifact will bring fame and glory enough for us all." He turns to Dolan. "Would you care to translate the inscription?"
Dolan examines the ancient glyphs in concentration before speaking. The tablet speaks of the man who first united the lands of Marukuru, through brutal conquest and cunning diplomacy. At his coronation, he was presented with a crown by a man who brought it as a gift.
Some of the following writing has faded with time, but Dolan can make out the words "... Nephren-Ka... to the first king of Marukuru." The inscription says the crown would allow the king to see with divine sight, to see the hearts of men and turn them to ash with his gaze; and that an oracle,
Saja N'baza, warned the king that it was not meant for mortal men to look past the veil.
"Mortal men..." Ixtli murmurs quietly to himself.
The text continues further, Dolan concludes, but the remainder must be on the bottom half.
"Well done," says the Duke, impressed by Dolan's skills. "Five years ago we found this tablet in the ruins of the ancient city of
Mezro. Shortly thereafter, Elmar attempted to steal it, and managed to escape with the bottom half."
The group leaves the library for the ornate dining room. A great feast has been laid, with an immense variety of wines and viands. Even Chibuzo, born to wealth, is impressed. "We are honoured", he tells the Duke. "Clearly you have spared no expense."
At dinner they speak of the expedition's destination and their future plans. General Voss will not travel with the others on the
Brazen Pegasus, but will follow on another ship with supplies for their expedition. He speaks angrily of Elmar. There are no reports of his return to Asturia, he relates, but he has been sighted in Marukuru. "If I can, I will bring him back in chains to face judgment for his treachery."
Templar Blacktyde travels with new orders for the Azrinath forces stationed in Marukuru, who are waging war on the swarms of undead infesting the jungles. These are the remnants of an undead army raised hundreds of years ago by
Ras Nsi to defend the city of Mezro from an invading force. Nsi was a champion of
Ubtao, the god once worshiped in Marukuru who is said to have abandoned his people. Nsi and his undead army slaughtered the invaders mercilessly, saving the city, but Nsi was cast out for his crimes. Ever since the undead have wandered in the jungle, killing mindlessly.
Gero has transcribed all his research findings in a notebook he is bringing with him, including a rubbing of the top half of the tablet of Ch'gakare. He's also learned of a man who may know more of the oracle mentioned by the tablet:
Grandfather Zitembe, a High Priest of
Zann, a god of wisdom and one of several gods the Marukurans have adopted since Ubtao left them.
Their dinner conversation is interrupted by a sudden crashing sound from the library. Dolan and Dunch swiftly rise from the table to investigate, followed by Chibuzo and Ixtli.
Inside the library doors, a man in nondescript clothing lies on the floor amidst the scattered pieces of one of the suits of armour, trying in a panic to to disentangle his tunic from an ornate pauldron. "Halt!" Dolan cries. In response the man calls out to a group of four figures gathered around the dome-topped pedestal—three humans and a kobold. "Boss, we've got to go!"
"Just keep them off me for a few minutes," the kobold responds. She pulls out a hammer and tries to smash the glass dome, but it only rings with the impact.
Dunch snatches up the sword from the scattered suit of armour and steps on the prone man. "Don't move," he commands, but the man manages to squirm away from under his boot.
Entering the room, Chibuzo seizes the sword from the other suit of armour but is kept at bay by two of the club-wielding intruders. In a sudden flurry of motion, Ixtli enters behind them, punching one unconscious and savagely biting the other. Calling upon his sorcerous powers, Dolan launches darts of magical force at the kobold and the other two trespassers before returning to the hallway. He calls out to the dining room: "Intruders! They're after the tablet!"
Ixtli knocks out Chibuzo's other opponent, then advances on the kobold, attacking with his teeth. Chibuzo moves forward as well, chopping down another of the thieves.
The kobold assesses her circumstances with a quick glance. "Well, sorry Delton," she says. She pulls a small glass sphere out of a pouch and smashes it on the floor next to the pedestal.
Immediately a thunderous boom shakes the entire building; a shockwave blasts the pedestal away from the library entrance and into an adjoining room, simultaneously demolishing the nearby bookshelves and scattering their contents. Ixtli catches the full force of the blast and is thrown back 10 feet. Chibuzo withstands the attack, and strikes a glancing blow at the kobold as she scurries out of the room after the pedestal. The remaining thief—Delton—follows his boss, with Dunch in hot pursuit.
Their flight is short-lived. As the kobold reaches for what is left of the tablet, Dunch strikes her unconscious with his sword. Delton runs out of the room into a courtyard, but Ixtli catches him and finishes him with his jaws.
The General enters the room, accompanied by servants and guards of the manor. "What happened here?" As the staff remove the dead and bind the unconscious, Dolan retrieves what remains of the tablet from the wreckage. The impact has broken it in two, but he is relieved to note that the break was clean; none of the ancient writing was lost. He returns it to the custody of the general.
Meanwhile Chibuzo searches the kobold. He finds two more of the spheres and hands them to Dolan: "These may be more your area of expertise." He also finds a folded letter. Written in Asturian, it promises a bounty of 10,000 gold from someone named Dalia for obtaining the tablet fragment and bringing it to "
the Thundering Lizard" in Port Nyanzaru.
Accompanied by his personal guards, the Duke also arrives on the scene, gazing at the destruction in stupefaction. Chibuzo hands him the letter: "Someone is willing to pay dearly for your piece of the tablet." The Duke peruses it quickly, then looks around at the adventurers. "I ask you to begin your journey as soon as possible."
Accompanied by Gero and the templar, the four take their leave of the Duke and travel by coach to the nearby docks. They soon arrive at the three-masted Brazen Pegasus, where Captain
Anton Radovich is overseeing the final preparations for their voyage, and relay the Duke's order to depart immediately. Dusk is giving way to night as the ship clears the harbour and raises her sails for Marukuru.
The voyage is uneventful until the 12th day, when their vessel encounters a heavy storm that threatens to damage the ship. But the well-trained crew, the captain's firm leadership, and Dunch's steady hand at the wheel bring them through cleanly. As the weather clears in the evening, the captain orders a cask of spirits to be shared amongst the high-spirited crew, as well as the passengers.
A few hours later, in the middle of the night, the adventurers are awoken by a piercing scream from the cabin where Gero and Nera Blacktyde are quartered. Grabbing his axe, Dunch hurries to investigate, followed by the others. Hearing sounds of a struggle and more screams, he bursts in to see a humanoid being of inky shadows clawing at Nera, who is trying to dodge its attacks. In a rage he swings his axe; it passes straight through the shadowy form, which seems to shed some of its substance but shows no sign of injury. The shadow turns its head towards him, and he sees that it has no face.
As Gero summons a magical light, and Nera swings at the shadow with her mace, Ixtli also manages to crowd into the cabin to attack it, punching it and then biting it. It has a foul and bitter taste, like rage.
Chibuzo, clad only in a loincloth and carrying a yklwa, the traditional short spear of his people, is unable to reach past the others to attack the thing. "Come at me!", he calls to the shadow as he steps into the corridor. "Leave my brother!"
Seeming to heed his command, the shadow slides sideways through a crack in the wall and emerges next to Chibuzo. As the two face off, Dolan conjures three glowing darts to strike the shadow, and it dissipates into nothingness.
In the aftermath, the crew searches the ship but finds nothing amiss. The lookout reports no ships or land in sight. Gero remains shaken for some time; Nera regains her composure more quickly, but Dolan and Chibuzo note some lingering embarrassment. "I have no idea what that was," she says. The shadow's touch was cold, she reports, and sapped her strength.
The crew begin to mutter amongst themselves. What was the thing? Has the ship been cursed? Is something aboard—or someone—responsible for summoning it?
The captain tries unsuccessfully to calm them, but then Chibuzo speaks forcefully: "It matters not what it was. It is dead." The power of his conviction sways the seamen, and they return to their duties and their bunks.
The remainder of the journey passes uneventfully. Ixtli spends much of the time in meditation.
On the last day, as they near the bay that Port Nyanzaru harbours, the lookout sights a green-sailed ship on the horizon. "They're raising the bones!" Captain Radovich identifies it: the
Emerald Eye, a notorious pirate vessel.
The pirate quickly closes with their own ship. A catapult on the Emerald Eye's deck launches a flaming ball of pitch at the Brazen Pegasus, and parts of the sails catch fire. As the range closes further, the crews exchange missile file; a pirate crossbow bolt embeds itself in the ship's wheel, but Chibuzo's return longbow shot is more successful, puncturing the pirate helmsman. Dolan launches a magic fireball at the enemy sails, which also catch fire. Nera joins the others on deck to defend their ship, but Gero—more academically inclined than his brother—seeks safety below.
The crews not fighting the fires line up on deck as the Emerald Eye comes alongside. At the helm is the pirate captain himself, Chibuzo's arrow still protruding from his arm. "Bring me the bastard who stuck this arrow in me!" he commands.
With a shudder the two hulls collide. Grappling the ships together and laying down gangplanks, the pirates begin to swarm aboard the Brazen Pegasus. Swinging his battleaxe, Dunch defends his ship alongside the rest of the crew. Ixtli joins them, wielding his obsidian spear and biting the foe. From the quarterdeck, Dolan fires magic missiles at the pirate captain and the enemy archers.
Chibuzo, also on the quarterdeck, decides to take the battle to the enemy. He seizes a rope and attempts to swing across to engage the enemy captain. On his first attempt, the ship's motion swings him about and back to the Brazen Pegasus, where he inadvertently kicks Captain Radovich in the face. His second try is a success; he lands on the enemy quarterdeck and with a flourish draws his yklwa and shortsword. The pirate captain sneers in response.
As their duel begins, Dunch and Ixtli spot a huge dark shape passing underneath the boats. A moment later it surfaces on the far side of the Emerald Eye, raising a wave which crashes the ships together. Three pirates on the gangplanks lose their footing, fall between the vessels, and are crushed. The enemy lookout falls from the crow's nest, lands neck-first on the ship's railing, and drops soundlessly into the deep.
The massive dark green form is
Aremag, the dragon turtle who demands tribute from all who enter the bay. The Brazen Pegasus carries a store of valuables aboard for just that purpose. "Well, well," its massive voice rings out, "what do we have here?!?"
The pirates only continue their attack. Dunch and Ixtli finish more of the foe, aided by Templar Blacktyde. Dolan strikes the enemy captain with a fireball, and Chibuzo spears him, but it hardly seems to phase him.
The battle is interrupted by the dragon turtle's roar. "No one gets by without paying their tribute!" It slams its huge bulk into the Emerald Eye to the sound of splintering wood, rocking the vessel. The few remaining pirates begin to jump onboard the Brazen Pegasus but are quickly killed. Dunch and Dolan set to work helping the captain separate their ship from the Emerald Eye.
On the enemy quarterdeck, the enemy captain lunges at Chibuzo, trying to force him over the side. For a moment they grapple at the rail before Chibuzo manages to disengage. "Jump!" Nera calls out to him. He takes a mighty leap, just catching Nera's hand. He hangs between the two ships for a moment before Ixtli reaches down and hauls him to the deck. The enemy captain is last seen heading below the deck of his ship.
As the Brazen Pegasus steers away from the pirate vessel, the dragon turtle continues its attack. The Emerald Eye shudders, cracks, and begins to sink, while the dragon turtle forages amongst the wreckage, seemingly satisfied with its work.
Leaving the scene behind, their battle-worn ship crosses the bay, approaching Port Nyanzaru.
