Tar Eneemena: Preface to Game 1

Here is the backstory for the party, which hopes to have a long, strange trip together.
The party starts the adventure in the Druid sanctuary Cysegred Bryn, with the land of Sinann the foothills of the Kozar Steep. The party consists of:

• an amnestic forest gnome illusionist-thief named Gemm-me (pronounced with soft "g" "ga-uh" or the "g" in give; it is not hard "g" like judge; as in a diamond "gem") (Katie);
• a part elven-Celtic Druid avenger named Ankili mac Aevyrn (David);
• a human peasant hero fighter from Northern Fultar in the Empire of Fultar named Monell (Taj);
• and Cormac, a Celtic human musician-priest of Ohgma (Non-Player Character, or NPC).

Tar Eneemena, the Earth Shaker

The proximate cause for bringing the party together was the destruction of the Earth Shaker, a great lute called Tar Eneemena in the Druidic tongue. The Earth Shaker was stolen by unknown forces of chaos and evil, who also murdered its keeper, Akana Alcestes a druidess of a hidden grove. Her son, the druid Ankili mac Aevyrn, has sworn to avenge his mother’s death and return the great lute to his people.
In the days following the theft of Earth Shaker, the Druids of Sinnan have discussed, debated and sought the assistance of the gods to determine who was behind the terrible deed and how to retrieve the great magic item.
The Druids are split, with one group believing that the perpetrators are taking the lute to Barovia (a vampire, zombie and other undead infested lands), which is in the northeast. The other Druidic faction believes that the lute can be found southeast in the Celtic nation of Galletica. Few believe that the lute may be traveling south to the Empire of Fultar.
One faction is the Druids who provide the highest honors to Arawn, the “Dark One”, god of the death, and the first among equals. These Druids cast a great and power spell of communion with their great and terrible deity to learn the location of the lute. This allowed them to contact Arawn and request information. To do so, they burned sage and mistletoe, and formed a circle around a sacrificial victim, a condemned criminal who stole three prized bulls from the sacred herd of Dunatis, the god the mountains and peaks. The criminal received a blow from a blunt object to the top of his head, while he was seated, which fractured his skull. Then a cord was thrown around his neck. As the criminal was being throttled, his throat was cut. Combined with the pressure from the noose, this caused a geyser of blood to erupt from the wound. However, perversely, the blood also flowed out in a rush through his mouth and through his eyes. Then, they cut him open, and found unlucky signs. New, fetid and black blood jumped from the veins. The man was a great warrior, but his heart was blackened, weak and sickness lied deep down. A large part of the entrails was not there, and his rotten liver oozed with black gall. Finally, the sacrificial victim received a sharp kick to the small of his back, propelling him face-first into the waters of a bog.
From careful observance of the holy signs, it was obvious, to the Druids who are most favored by Arawn, that the lute was taken to the south in Galletica, most likely to the Tarvish tribe, and potentially even to the capital in the Sacred Isle of Loch Oilean and the city of Oilean Craig. Ever since when High Queen Tegwedd is Elected at the Great Kingsmoot, the Druids of Arwan have complained that High Queen Tegwedd has strived to subject all the Galleticans under her thumb, as well as to undermine the worshipers of Arawn and the northern non-Galletican Druids. They are convinced that she and her uncle, Cas Mac Culain likely have stolen the sacred lute, and plan on using it to further their own selfish ends.
The Druids who most favor Dagda, the dozen king and the chief god of the Celts, performed their own separate communion with this great god reaching a different conclusion. Dagda is a father-figure, king, and great Druid. He is associated with fertility, agriculture, manliness and strength, as well as magic, druidry and wisdom. He can control life and death, the weather and crops, as well as time and the seasons.
The second communion used a powerful divination magic based on reading the behavior of the most sacred of all birds: the chicken. In the sacred grove, Cyw Iar, a beautiful red feathered chicken with the deepest of red combs, is the reigning chief auguor. Seeds that were five years old, but mostly still fertile, were cast upon the ground, and the pattern of Cyw Iar eating the grain was carefully observed. Cyw Iar only ate the diseased seeds, and shat on a black seed in the northeast of the sacred ring of seeds. The chicken shit was black as night. The Druids that most honor Dagda, this clearly indicated that the lute was in the northeast, which is the land of Barovia. Eating only the diseased and dead seeds also indicated that the lute went to the land of undead and vampires.
The primary evidence from the communion with Dagda was also supported by the physical evidence that whoever killed and stole the lute was accompanied by the large footprints of ogres with their extra knuckle-like indentation at the edge of their footprints, and potentially something even larger. Giants and ogres were unlikely to travel to the more civilized and populated lands of the Galleticans, but north into the Kozar Steep or east toward the wilder lands and Barovia.
The Fultonian fighter Monell and the gnome Gemm-me are amazed by the investigatory process of the Druids. While there is limited physical evidence as rangers failed to pick up the trail, almost all consideration and efforts are locating the lute were based on divination and magic. While Gemm-me cannot recollect much of his past, he is pretty certain that this is mostly superstition and barbarism. Monell understands that the priests have special access to the divine, and has seen the miracles and healing powers of the gods of Fultonian Religion, especially Tya Nehru the mother goddess and Sennia the goddess of the harvest. But to place your complete faith in barbaric gods, the horrific human sacrifice and where a chicken, which is for eating not fortune telling, shits seems like pure madness.

The snout of the forgetful forest man

Ankili respects the augurs and feels blessed to watch the powerful divination magic. But something does not feel right, and believes there must be powerful magic disrupting the communion spells and playing upon the factional, earthly disputes among the Druids. Ankili recollects a phrase his mother once told him years ago that: When shall come your first great trial, you should follow the snout of the forgetful forest man. Ankili is convinced that this is the gnome illusionist, who has the largest nose he has ever seen. The answer to the location of the missing lute is to solve the mystery of the amnestic gnome in a box.
Little is known for certain about the gnome-illusionist, except that he was found alone in a box. At first when he was met, all he could say is "Gemm-me, Gemm-me" (pronounced with soft "g" "ga-uh" or the "g" in give; it is not hard "g" like judge; as in a diamond "gem"). So because of this, everyone calls him "Gemm-me", which is similar to "Ho-dor" in Game of Thrones. Why exactly is our little gnome saying "Gemm-me?"
The only other clues to the mystery of the gnome in a box are that maybe he was to be taken to the Celtic hamlet of Glan Elin (in Celtic, meaning the "bright riverbank"), or the Fultonian village of Orlane in Northern Fultar’s Tesser River Valley. A group of orcs, led by the half-orc, Drwg Gwenu, were found nearby, and the Druids believe that they were likely carrying the box. Drwg’s half-orc brothers, Cymderig Gwenu and Torig Gwenu, reside by themselves along the river close to in the hamlet of Glan Elin. Cymderig and Torig makes their living trading in legal and illicit goods. All the orcs found close to the gnome in a box were slain, but the half-orc Dwrg escaped. Included among the foul and crude orc weapons and equipment, was a letter addressed to “Explicitica Defilus” in “Orlane”. The written has not been translated, but it appears to be written using the Fultonian alphabet. Monell passed through Orlane years ago, and remembers nothing extremely unique, other than it had two inns (a rarity for a small village) and an impressive temple to the goddess Sennia.
After spending time recuperating and, without success, seeking to regain his memory, the gnome illusionist has decided to investigate the reason for his capture and memory loss by seeking out the people who may be expecting to receive a captive gnome in a box. He hopes to first pay a visit to the half-orc, Drwg Gwenu, close to the halmet of Glan Elin. Depending on the information gained from the half-orc, he next plans to go to the village of Orlane.
None of the Druids are convinced that the lute is being taken to Fultar or that Ankili’s mother’s message is related to the lute. However, they value and honor Ankili, not the least because he is the son of the murdered keeper of the Earth Shaker.
Therefore, they have decide to assist Ankili.
First, they have assigned Cormac, the priest of Ohgma. Cormac is a Celt, from the Nation of Galletica, but has been visiting distant family in Sinann.
Second, they have hired the human fighter, Monell. She was already planning to travel to Northern Fultar. Monell had accompanied Darragh, a Druid, an Initiate of the Second Circle (4th Level) the from the Village of Hommlett in the Tesser River valley from Northern Fultar. Darragh was sent by the Druid Jaroo Ashstaff to obtain an interpretation of an oracle. The content of the oracle is uncertain to Monell, but it was somehow related to a concern related to dark whispers about the Temple of Elemental Evil. Monell and the Draragh of Hommlett successfully completed their mission, the tidings of the oracle were that the people of Hommlett should not molest the Temple of Elemental Evil. Satisfied, the Draragh has decided to stay at Druidic sanctuary Cysegred Bryn to assist with locating the Earth Shaker lute, while Monell returns to Fultar and to eventually report back to the Druid Ashstaff of the village of Hommlett.

Those Who Can Help

The Druids have also provided the names of individuals who can assist them.
In the Celtic hamlet of Glan Elin, there is a boatwoman, Emer Mor Emer and her daughter, Enid Mac Chail. They transport cargo and trade up and down the Kozar River. The party should find her in Glan Elin, if they can arrive within the week. If asked, Emer will transport the party south.
The party is also provided the name Rhodri Fawr, an old warrior who lives in the Celtic town of Bondar. Rhodri Fawr used his well earned wealth gained from fighting the people of Henarria to invest in a merchant company. He now owns and operates this company that trades south all the way to the Fultonian town of Immersea. Rhodri is not the most trustworthy of men, which is evidenced by the fact that he uses Fultonian coins (ancient Druid law proscribes the use of coins and requires that most commercial transactions be based on barter. In modern times Celtic kings and queens have been able to buy indulgences that allow them mint their own coin for certain transactions. However, no Celt is supposed to use the coins minted by foreign nations like Fular, Bevil and the Gildam Confederacy). Rhodri is also not the most intelligent (he has learned to read and write Fultonian, which is a sign of a weak mind because a man should be able to remember everything important and not have to write anything down). However, Rhodri owes the Druids for an unmentioned boon they provided him years ago, and the Druid expect that he will provide assistance to the party to help get them safely from Bondar to Orlane, or at least Northern Fultar.