Dear Monstrous Effulgence

Clearing out and consolidating stuff on the hard drive and ran into this forgotten piece of Diagetic text. I kinda thought these characters were going to fuck at some point;




A turquoise-robed woman, bald, heavily tattooed, with her moth stitched shut, approaches you, and delivers this message, written on diaphanous silk, before leaving without a word.

"Dear Monstrous Effulgence,

I write to express my deep satisfaction on receiving your recent communication. The brutal and moronic aesthetic of its delivery, contemptible effrontery of its contents and marginal grasp of magical art involved in its creation succeeded in reaching a near-animal level of courtesy, style and beauty. The Yak-minded nature of your missive confirmed on every level my suppositions about the shameful mediocrity, decadence, poverty and gauche materialism of whatever culture squeezed out your form and character, very much as the afterbirth of a pigs womb is squeezed from the corpse of a plague-dead sow who crosses the terminating line of life at the moment of delivery, spewing forth, no doubt, some vile litter of squealing, mutated and bile-slick young with which to harry and torment the wiser cultures of the world.

I was as pleased as I was unsurprised to hear of your near-death at the hands of one of the more minor spirits to torment this unhappy land, deeply amused by your frantic flight and likewise disappointed in the servants of the Mantis God. If only they had known that by simply closing their doors on your shivering and wasted mortal form and leaving you to your one-thousand-times-deserved and absolutely brutal death (may it come soon!), they would have been performing a service to the city and the world equivalent of excising a cancer from the body of an innocent child. (For you are indeed a tumour, both the disease and its symptom.) Perhaps they would have chosen differently.

No doubt though you still cling to life with the thoughtless and ratlike cunning of your tree-dwelling ancestors. Like all true vermin, I do not suppose that your extermination will be easily achieved. In addition to this, the presence of a Baital in Syr Darya, though only a pin-prick in the magisterial reach of my truly global paradigm, is of some small interest to me.

While I am certain that this is one of the few instances in which the predations of these darker spirits are justified, (probably by one of a range of secret and shameful crimes engaged in either by you, or the effluvia of your sewer-like home of mediocre yet-still-utterly-certain basically fucking stupid rationalist filth who accompany you), nevertheless, in this one instance, it would please me greatly to laugh directly into your tiny, sharp-boned, dog-eyed, monkeylike face.

Should you still live, (and I hope you do not!), you may drag your degraded and pustulent flesh to my door where I will not immediately excise you from creation.

Pursuant to this, I Xab Yeng Yaaj, swear by the Chaos Tree, Father of my Race, that I will do you no harm etc etc. Offer ends Midnight, 9th October."

May you burn forever in the deepest pits of whatever your fallen race calls Hell.

Yours sincerely, Xab Yeng Yaaj."

Down and Out in Syr Darya

For about six months I've been running a group through the City of Syr Darya from  David McGrogan's book Yoon Suin.

Syr Darya is, in some senses a 'closed' city. You can walk right in through the Yak Gate to the East and its rare for people to be denied entry, but once you are inside there are almost no places open to the random tourist and no-one will tell you anything useful about where to go or what to do.

Shops don't have signs or displays in their windows, they are as anonymous as homes. There are almost no written signs on doors of buildings. Many buildings have complex arrangements of abstract teak or ebony panelling on their dark-painted doors, these look a little like black-on-black Mondrian’s. Some of these arrangements  symbolise family or house names, some are for types of shop or building. The arrangement most Pura work out first are those for 'Tea House' and 'Opium House' as these both have distinctive sensory signatures (Tea-Houses have the sounds of speech and community within, rare for Syr Darya, Opium houses stink of opium).

(There is almost no alcohol in the city. The space for causal social drugs is taken up by strong stimulant teas and the milder forms of Opium. Opium and Tea Houses sometimes form convenient 'pairs' and social groups spending time together will pendulum between them, imbibing the strong caffeine and tannins of the Tea-House before evening out with the mild downers of weak opium, then repeating the journey, sometimes for hours.)

The main streets of the city are rarely signposted in written language. Though they tend to be relatively large and straight, its not unusual for merchants and traders visiting to get lost and the occasional wagon of specialist goods to end up wandering the cities deserted streets until dark, looking for its delivery location.

Beyond the primary streets the smaller residential, or specialist streets, and the alleyways, are often gated and private. Even when not specifically blocked its common for an alleyway taken at random to open up into a square surrounded by boarded up houses, to dive into a one-way street or to curl back in an unexpected direction.

Half the buildings are ruined, or seem ruined, or just worn-down, but none of them are abandoned. Even places that seem wrecked can have Nasna groups living in strained dignity in the central core. You rarely see Nasna at the windows, you rarely seem them in the street. They generally do not start conversations with Pura. The windows of a decaying mansion, boarded, curtained or dusty, might hold single eyes in half faces, invisibly staring back, or might be utterly empty. It's almost impossible to tell.

The Nasna are all a thousand years old. They know everything there is to know about the city. This knowledge is their primary means of securing its control. They are no real interest in, unprovoked, sharing it with you. The Magi live securely in their towers and compounds, they fly through the air at night, transform themselves to hawks or other things and swoop from place to place, move as shadows in the wind, become flurries of snow or ripples of moonlight. They take on Nasna and Pura forms easily and go from place to place. Almost anyone or anything might be a Magi in disguise and it is from this (and from the staggering number of shape-changing and body-possessing spirits and monsters in Sughud) that the high-status practice of ritually boring guests for an hour or so before meeting them has arisen, and spread to much of the rest of Sughud and Yoon-Suin.

Even when not being specifically and physically barred from entering, the spaces are not friendly. The Nasna do not love Pura (as a general rule) and everyone else has somewhere to go and something to do. No-one has general business in Syr Darya, they are on their way from one specific place to another specific place. 

A handful of places are both open to pretty much everyone and relatively easy to find.



THE BLUE SNAIL

Syr Darya largest, most open, but also most auspicious hotel. This was formerly a palace built by one of the Rajahs for his favourite Courtesan. The Rajah, or the Courtesan, or both, had something of a fetish, so the facade of the building and the ceiling of its entry hall has frescoes of snails slugs and other indistinct slimy invertebrates twisting together in the act of love. As a whole it is said to be quite hypnotic.

The basement levels of the Blue Snail are cheap and unpleasant enough that they act as kind of hostel for poorer travellers, but the larger rooms are well-appointed and the penthouses are auspicious enough to please even the most munificent Magi or Slug-Man.

The Bar at the Blue Snail is one of the few places in Syr Darya that you can buy beer and the lobby is often a mishmash of travellers of the strangest sort, expatriates, scholars, merchants, political exiles, artists, drug dealers, courtesans and almost any other figure imaginable.

Its rare for any Pura in Syr Darya to not know of the Blue Snail. Its usually the first place they go.


THE OLD GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

Locally called the ‘Nasako Samaja’. Formerly, and technically still, home of the Cartographers Guild, a front for the ‘Foreign Office’ and intelligence service of the regime of the Rajas. This was, and still is, one of the few places in Syr Darya actually interested in the outside world. It has fallen a long way since then but is still a meaningful information exchange and known stopping-point for visitors and ‘adventurers’. 

Its most meaningful service is that members can examine its maps for free, meaning anyone planning any kind of expedition in the rest of Yoon-Suin, or beyond, and using Syr Darya as a base, will come here. 

Unlike the Blue Snail the Geographical Society has the air of a gentleman’s club. Those with financial, trade, military or political interests beyond the city can be found here, meeting, planning and intriguing against each other.

The ‘free rooms’ on the first floor are essentially an bar (the only other public alcohol-based bar in the city), full of ex-pats, Mercs, lonely Merchants, courtesans, spies, poets, thieves, fixers and dilettante slug-men.

Accessing the upper or 'map rooms' requires membership, a name or an invitation, tough members can bring the maps down for colleagues and non-members to examine on one of the societies huge map tables.

There is a list on the Societies wall of 'Expeditions - self financing' (meaning you will not be paid directly for going on them but they are expected to be profitable in the long run. Plus you get exposure. Sometimes thermal exposure.

This list is a primary node for anyone lacking funds and trying to get the hell out of Syr Darya. At the time of the game it reads;

• To the psionic desert beyond far Generica (rumoured timelost kingdom).
• To Investigate the Cults of the Purple City.
• To Find Ruins of the Aurulent Empire.
• To the Swordfish Isles.
• Paper to be written on the Stone Tribes of the Upper Kaldr river.
• To The Apocalypse Wall.
• To Llogres – assumed near Generica.
• Beyond the Land of Lamentations
• Over the Mountains of the Moon to the Kingdom of Dreams.
• Updated political map of the Hundred Kingdoms.

Every few days a fresh copy of the 'Topaz Dragon' a block printed (but each block individually engraved, in a treaty with the engravers guild) public (but actually subscription) news-scroll from the Yellow City arrives in the Geographical Society.

This scroll carries the quickest public and general news from the Yellow City. (Magic can get news faster but that means dealing with a wizard). It includes market shifts, lost ships, economic and political news and a breakdown of social events in the Yellow City.

It takes about a month for the scroll to get to Syr Darya, travelling from courier to courier faster than almost any individual could. Despite the news being at least a month old, men who like News, and who have Interests, all gather at the Society, sometimes sleeping in its leather chairs overnight, awaiting its delivery.

From here, the information is taken to the various Markets of Syr Darya and is used to adjust trade prices. The information in the scroll is the legally 'true' and accepted version of whatever has been going on in the markets of the Yellow City, until the Topaz Dragon arrives then everything is rumour.

(Of Syr Daryas markets little can be said. Magi contract directly with traders and deliveries come to their compounds. The Crab market, a warren of stalls and shops, bustling and active much of the time, is open to all and where almost all of the food and everyday goods of Syr Darya are traded. The Crystal Dragon market only allows membership to those with confirmed Crystal Dragon Energy - its centre is a kind of market, nest of boutiques and vast delivery centre and stock exchange, its a little like Switzerland in a building, specialised high-status shops and services are spread out around Syr Darya, identified by a Crystal Dragon symbol which is visible only to those who bear a Crystal Dragon ring confirming their membership. This Market is managed by the Silver Pigs, unusual, robed and cadaverous individuals in silver pig masks.

Of the Topaz Market, even less is known. Here oligarchs, ambassadors, high level mages, reality tourists, and possibly actual dragons hang out and do whatever the weird shit hyper-powerful people do for fun is. If you need to ask how you get in, you can't get in.

And of the mythical Yak Market, even less is known. A secret place, or vector, for the trading of souls and dark deeds where evil spirits, bhoot, cannibals, the darker slave traders, demons, Yak-Men and unspeakable beings gather to do whatever dark business such creatures engage in. The Yak market is probably a myth and childs tale.)

There can be from four to even ten scrolls in-transit at any one time and they do sometimes cross each other and arrive out of sequence. Attempts to tamper with the scroll are deeply frowned upon and utterly illegal, and extremely profitable in certain circumstances, so long as you can somehow get away with it.

There are some small offices in the Nasako Samaja which keep an eye on municipal events within Syr Darya itself, tracking things like water, waste collection, building and the slowly deepening and expanding Nightmare Infestation.



WAHEED QSMARIS TEA HOUSE

Qsmari is a Magi of one of the more liberal and less xenophobic factions. Few are invited to his tower but his Tea-House, not far from the Blue Snail, is popular with artists, poets, boardgamers, bird tamers, shadow puppeteers and people with tattoos.

Quasmiri himself has a fetish for polymorphing into famous entertainers, artists and storytellers and for acting out complex and 'amusing' dramas either in his Tea-House, or elsewhere. His 'given' form is an avuncular, eight feet high sky blue pot-bellied ogre with sharks teeth, white hair, a yak-wool suit, pepper-red jacket, mustard trousers, green silk slippers and a big jewelled cravat (the symbol of the burning gem, Quasmiris faction amongst the Magi, in his case flanked by snow leopard and crystal dragon).

(By Ian Reilly)

Despite Quasmiri being the originator of the PCs quest (he sent the original letter to the Kingdom of Dreams asking for help), they have shown remarkably little interest in him, preferring to set their own objectives.

The Cardinal Directions in Syr Darya

For about six months I've been running a group through the City of Syr Darya from  David McGrogan's book Yoon Suin.

I got my continents the wrong way round when setting up the game so Yoon-Suin, which is meant to be an Orientalist fantasia, is actually to the West of the Kingdom of Dreams, where my player characters are from. So my characters are actually people from a rationalist monotheistic *Eastern* culture, travelling to the mysterious *west*.

I have forgotten this multiple times during the game.

Me forgetting directions is one of the problems the imaginary cardinal directions below were mean to solve.

Briefly broken down.

West is Topaz energy. West is the direction of the Yellow City, home of the Slug men and beating cultural heart of Yoon-Suin. It's also the final direction of the God River, which tends to take everything to the Yellow City eventually.

Syr Darya is some distance from the river and one of the major cities furthest from the Yellow City, but its still part of the same meta-culture.

Topaz energy encapsulates everything Yoon-Suinians value and admire. Trade, profit, business, sharp practice, wealth, luxury, munificence, magnificence, being really rich, being a Slug Man, poetry, sacred energy, the more noble (often less "practical") magics, tea, silk, teeteringly vertiginous hats, high status, the power of the better gods, the direction of the God River and of course the rising sun. This energy wells up from the east, in light and warmth and flows back and forth down the God River to and from the Yellow City.

When PC's in my game meet each other they immediately sense each others Topaz Energy, and so know they can immediately trust each other and hang out together.


Silver Yak energy is the complete opposite of that. It comes from the East and encapsulates everything bad. Starting with Yak people, especially feared in Sughud generally and Syr Darya in particular. Yaks, and Yak energy come from the cold, freezingly and inhumanly cold, Mountains of the Moon, and flows down its valleys like a biting wind. To have yak energy is to have a destructive, mutated, ignorant, badly dressed and poor aspect. The truculent slave, greedy foreigner, blemished child, ignorant beggar, slum dweller and those mutated are all considered bearers of Silver Yak Energy.

To have Yak energy is to be extremely unlike a Slug-Man. Degraded, uneducated, with poor taste and a brutal aesthetic, no poetry, no tea, the poorest opium and a complete lack of munificence, intelligence, perception and noble magic. (Yak Energy people are crafty like beasts rather than intelligent, they sniff the air like dogs, smelling out responses to their bad deeds rather than being perceptive, they read cheap novels, have ugly wallpaper and their magics are destructive and low, at least as the popular conception goes.

Only Criminal gangs and the darkest or most rebellious individuals revere Yak energy. In Syr Darya edgy criminals might yet Yak tattoos, but out in the Eastern valleys anyone with a Yak tattoo would be assumed to be an actual Yak agent and quickly killed.

The vague association of Silver with Yak Energy may be part of the reason that most high status trade in Syr Darya take place through gems. Very wealthy people do not like to touch silver and the sooner you can move to a point where you have nothing to do with it the better you will feel.

Paradoxically, temples and other sacred spaces often have entrances to the East, to make sure the Yak energy inside can leave and go back where it is meant to be. Completely closing the western walls would trap negative energy inside; very bad.

For similar reasons, windows and doors placed in the West due to necessity are often very small, to keep all that Topaz Energy inside and stop it flowing away.

The other two directions are slightly less interesting.

North is the direction of the Vermillion Crab. This is associated with classically 'feminine' qualities like nurturing, caring, food, simple clothes, sleep, water, the family, beloved pets and obedient slaves. Hearths and ovens are often in the north of a building.

Why exactly the colour vermillion and the crab have been associated with these qualities is not clearly known. There are many theories and tales (each area and sub-culture has its own variety of 'Cardinal Animal' stories - as you get further West, away from the cold, the Yak-Man figure becomes a comedic villain rather than the absolute terror-figure they are in Sughud. In the Yellow City the Yak is considered and malignant, stupid and harmless bumkin, something that really freaks out visitors from Syr Darya if they ever make it that far), the North is associated with the lands of the Velvet Horizon, beyond the Radula Mountains, but these wild lands are not particularly maternal. The figure of the Crab is associated with the noble and obedient slave and there are many *stories* in which the dutiful but ignorant Crab-Man is a familiar positive figure, happily but stupidly serving its superiors. (Though in fact Crab-Men can be horrifically and insanely violent).

The Vermilion Crab is still a noble and positive direction, but probably the least in status of all the 'good' directions.


South is the direction of the Crystal Dragon. This is a highly munificent, bold, active and positive direction, material and colour. The Crystal Dragon is closely associated with all positive 'male' coded qualities. Scholarship, learning, tools, the more practical (but less noble) magics, warfare, the military, transport, writing "work" (as in work done by free men, rather than that done by women, which is Vermilion Energy, that done by slaves, criminals or outsiders, which is bad silver Yak energy, or the planning and management of trade and political intrigue done by those with Topaz Energy, which is considered to be more an art, (and art itself which is usually Toapz energy, unless it's done by Crab-Men, then we are back with Yak energy)), but you know, all the other work.

Being associated with Crystal Dragon energy is nearly, but not quite as good as, having Topaz Energy. After all, those with intelligence must bow to those with Wisdom, those who work must be directed by those who do not, those who act act only in ways perceived by those who contemplate. To *do* is Crystal, to *understand* is Topaz. Those who comprehend most seem to do least, because they are wise.

The reason for the assignment of Crystal Dragon energy to the South makes relatively simple sense. There are actual crystal dragons, intelligent shape changers, living in the Mountains of Upper Druk Yul, which is technically 'south' of most things (though its more south-west really), and those dragons certainly have all of the qualities mentioned (though they also seem to have a lot of other qualities, and are not especially masculine.

Of course if you were to even meet a Crystal Dragon, you would immediately complement them on their munificent Toapz Energy, because they are more Munificent than you, and can kill you. And certainly they have a spectrum of noble energies, whatever they wish, it is not for you to un-weave that rainbow.

........................

I had known that places like China had cardinal animals and qualities associated with them for a while but the direct inspiration for the Syr Daryan versions came from Valley of the Five Fires by Richard J leBlanc. Inside he has a pseudo-Mongolian yurt diagram, with all the specialised areas of this circular home broken up like the segments of a compass, divided by zodiacal animal. I decided to rip off a simpler version of that and ended up producing an accidental pastiche of the Chinese directions.

The Cardinal colours thing is a point where the requirements of gameplay and the structure of an imagined world merge and combine. In the game world they are expressions of a shared culture, architectural assumptions about meaning so common that the people instituting them don't even really thing about them much. The idea that the doorway to a temple should face East, to make sure the Yak energy flows out, just makes intuitive sense to anyone, regardless of religion.

How it works in running and playing the game is that, in theatre of the mind, almost all spaces end up getting broken down to the four cardinal directions anyway. More subtle interpolations of positioning always require maps or something.

My players popped up in Sughud in a sacred temple. For convenience I made it square and gave it multi levels and these directions. The temple was hollow inside with a big statue going up multiple levels, something I ripped off from Wuxai movies. Assigning a colour and moral and cultural quality to each direction made it easier to remember them and assigning higher status to higher floors made intuitive sense to the players, to me and for the imagined world.

It turns out that architects of sacred spaces and D&D Dungeon Masters both have a deep interest in the utility and navigability of built space. We both want it to be comprehensible when you move around and we want space to *mean things*.

Knowing the directions made it relatively easy for the players to know where they were relative to everyone else, and made it easy for me to both decide on room contents and meaning (kitchens & bedrooms to the North, libraries to the South, sacred spaces West, exits and 'low' rooms East) and to improvise room contents if I didn't have anything worked out (if PCs are going into a Yak direction room on a high floor, then it needs to hold something 'bad', something that has to be controlled or abjured, and it needs to have more of that quality than whatever was on the floor beneath.

Because the sacred logic of buildings is shared in a vague way across the whole culture, the directions knit together my creations and improvisations, they give the players and PCs meaningful information about where to look for what (look for sacred stuff to the West, entries/exits to the East etc, and they make the culture feel like a 'real' shared space because the deliberate and unconscious arrangement of the buildings is shared across a lot of sacred spaces, and generally felt and intuited in the rest of the culture, even when its not to do with temples.

And players get to make cracks about avoiding 'yak energy' and complement NPCs in-character as having 'topaz energy' and it all makes sense.

The Gods of Syr Darya

For about six months I've been running a group through the City of Syr Darya from  David McGrogan's book Yoon Suin.

We've already discussed the layout of the city itself and how it is ruled. Now its religions.

What gods the Nasna might currently worship are few, and unknown. The Magi rarely dabble in religion but some of them do revers the Tree of Chaos, (of which, more of the few known details are below), though this may be a form of ancestor worship or simple history, rather than religion.

While Syr Darya, in its prime, was home to as great a cavalcade of temples and shrines as any city in Yoon-Suin, in the present day, most stand ruined, empty or barely surviving on the interest of Pura tourists, traders, visitors and the occasional Nasna.

The three main surviving temples are that of Sanco Hunhos, Lobhi Pas and the vast ruined Vatican of Tato Sampa.

Sanco Hunhos – He Who Restores

The closest thing Syr Darya has to a temple of healing, Hunhos is associated with restoration and regeneration. Whether this is a primary interest of the God or simply a side-effect of more abstruse motivations, only the Gods Priests truly know.

The Priests of Sanco Hunhos are often called ‘Clackers’ because of the small, jointed semi-puppets of Sanco Hunhos they wear around their necks, which clack and clatter as they walk about. You can always hear them coming. Some think this is an attempt to make them less frightening.

The Clackers are necromancers as well as healers, equally interested in life and death. The Clackers can be hired to heal many harms and ailments and can end many curses and sorrows.

It’s a common element of a contract with the Clackers of Hunhos that the means of ‘ending your sorrow’ do not include letting you die and raising you as a revenant.

Payment is requesting in the form of Citrines, and other yellow gems. (Or in frogs and toads). But the Clackers will pay you in turn, to watch you die, or to observe the progression of a disease or curse. They will pay again for the body of the deceased and this is a path taken by some in poverty or despair.

The Clackers are defended by hooded and bandaged figures almost everyone assumes to be revenants of some kind (some suspect that the higher echelons of the priesthood are undead, behind their Mantis masks) and are rumoured to be the primary suppliers of non-living guards, workers and servants to those Magi who desire such things.

Hunhos hates (or perhaps loves?) amphibians due to some obscure divine conflict. The only sacrifice he will accept is that of amphibian life and delivering strange, large or rare amphibians to his temple is a high-status gift. At least 100 Frogs must be sacrificed to Sanco Hunhos every day and all his Priests live in terror of what will happen if supplied run low. The Priests rear Frogs on the grounds. If the situation is dire, arriving with a large load of Frogs or Toads can buy you more goodwill than you might expect.

The temple itself is a huge, sopping, steaming greenhouse/bathouse/hospital/laboratory. Its one of the warmest, and dampest, places in Syr Darya. Yellow light blooms from behind its façade at night from the greenhouses on its roof and in its grounds. The temples glass windows are always fogged. Flies drift out and sometimes frogs escape by hopping out the front door, usually chased by a low-level Clacker.

Before the temple, glowing in the yellow lambency of its lanterns and beaded, quite dramatically, by the evaporating fogs that spew from its door, stands a huge statue of the Great Mantis himself in polished yellow calcite.

A huge statue of a Mantis-God in polished yellow calcite. Foggy glass windows (rare). Clattering priests. The croaking of Frogs. Huge escaped frogs. Greenhouses. Flies. The dying and the undead.

Properly, the Temple of Sanco Hunhos, He Who Restores. Syr Darya has few doctors (the Nasnas are immortal and the Magi rarely sicken) and the closest it gets to a hospital is the Temple of the Mantis.

Lobhi Pas - The Vulture God

Depicted as a Vulture with two heads, Lobhi Pas is actually twin gods; Lobhi (male) and Pas (female), who look backward and forward from any act of violence and who therefore reconcile the nature of violence and destruction to the necessary continuation of life.

Lobi Pas is/was originally a god of one aspect of time, the edge of the present moment that divides the future from the past.

Very few people give a shit about the theology any more because what Lobhi Pas has evolved into is the God of Mercenaries and Paid Violence.

The temple of the God(s) is a tiered fighting-pit, with a court of judgement and cells, rooms and other functions wormed into its sides and nearby buildings.

Before the Temple is a huge blue-stone statue of the twin-headed vulture. The Gods wings are spread and are pinned with bountys, messages, threats, IOU’s and various violent promises and requests.

Before the statue are armed men, women, Nasnas, even Crab-Men. River tribesmen. Hundred-Kingdoms fighters.  A Bird-Man. One with a huge Velvet Worm. Malmukes. Plantation Guards. Ex (and current) slaverhunters. Ex (and current) slaves. Anyone with a weapon.

This is the place to hire, and be hired as, mercenaries and harm-doers (or harm-stoppers) of every kind.

The place is full of shouts, posturing, threats, side-eye, testosterone, sword oil, martial arts, halberds, stamping, drums. Blood. The screams of an animal being sacrificed. (The God(s) technically do not require sacrifice but the idea has caught on and the Priests of Lobhi Pas need to eat like anyone so they have not supressed the practice). Nasnas cleaning away the blood. MEN SHOUTING OATHS. (At the rear is a famous butchers shop.)

Nearby and in the local streets, child Nasnas, child slaves and ex-slaves sell blotch-printed pamphlets and flyers about the Theology of Lobhi Pas (One Silver).

Behind the statue is the stepped open pit that is the Court of Lobhi Pas (the ‘Crab Court’).

The armoured, Bird-Masked priests of Lobi Pas seem, and generally are, Tough Motherfuckers. Even if this were not the case, they often go accompanied by a Crab-Man bodyguard, either white crabs, or those dyed white to fit the role. These Crab Men usually have their sacred duty caved into their shells in the manner of a slave contract and effacing, or forging one is a high crime.

As previously stated, the Temple of Lobi Pas is the least and lowest Court of Syr Darya and tends to settle disputes by cutting things off.

Technically, any worshipper of Lobhi Pas can ask for Trial by Combat but since too many people were doing that and it was slowing down the court you now have to answer some basic questions about the Theology of Lobhi Pas. Since the court tends to police the poor and foreign, few can answer these questions. Better grab a flyer, and also be able to fight.

The fights are scrupulously fair, against handicapped opponents, as the Priests take this stuff seriously. Finding, or handicapping ­exactly the right opponent for an accused can be very difficult. Its important that those facing off are as exactly physically equal as possible so that the God(s) can show their decision clearly. If a prisoner or accused has a distinct build or missing limb, or any other active physical quality, the Priests will do their best to track down someone very similar to match them.

Prisoners can be kept for a long time in the cells of Lobhi Pas, awaiting an exact match. Degredation in their physical and mental state means they have to be continually re-assessed. Helping out the Priests gets you free medical treatment (at the Temple of Sanco Hunhos) and can get you serious cred with them. You do have to really fight though. If you fake it they will know.

 The Priests pay well for service and PCs might be asked to assist.

(This happened to two of my PCs, it got them an invitation to the Dragon Market (of which more later.)

Fights can be to the death for serious crimes. More usually they are to first blood, maiming or surrender (women are often allowed to surrender).

Tato Sampa – The Dead God of Pleasure

In the great days of the Rajas, before the Shikk, the rulers of Syr Darya worshipped Tato Sampa, who proclaimed;

“Joy brought to others is the fruit of the world.”

“We are judged in death by the pleasure that we birthed in life.”

“Measure is the root of wickedness.”

True devotees might argue that Tato Sampa was not exactly a pleasure goddess but a Goddess of Pleasure as a Moral Good.

For thousands of years, the Rajas and their predecessors added to and endowed the gigantic temple to Tato Sampa in the exact centre of the city. The cult grew so powerful that it spread over the whole of Yoon-Suin and, at one point, was the closest thing to a unifying faith in the whole land. Every major town had a temple to the Bringer of Pleasure.

Though never actively (officially) supressed or made illegal, when the Magi took Syr Darya and the City became what it is, she was quickly abandoned by the now-Nasnas. In other Oliarchies, and throughout Yoon-Suin, the upper classes rapidly dropped the Failed Goddess to avoid judgement by the new rulers of Syr Darya and the Shikk (though neither seem to care at all).

Many of the Nasnas loathe her now. Most are simply disinterested.

Still, her Temple remains. Too sacred to pull down or re-purpose, too hated to be restored. The Snake in the Eye itself. The rotting empty spiritual core of Syr Darya. Said to be the largest and oldest (remaining) Temple in Syr Darya, and in Yoon-Suin.

It’s the size of the Vatican City and 99% abandoned. In the central building is an vast inner dome, said to be ten stories high (its more like eight), and within, lit by shattered statues of glorious stained glass, is a statue of the Goddess, a many-coloured snake curling upwards around a pink lily. A little like a caucadus.

Under the statue is a bird-bone boudoir – an ossuary of birds where the Rajas were meant to spen their wedding nights, and an altar.

A handful of priests remain, though most are Pura backpacker types after ancient wisdom. There are usually a handful of artists and tourists, foreign flakes, randos, Slug Men scholars etc hanging around sketching the murals of parties and sculptures of interlaced limbs. Sketching the Temple is a popular part of a young Slug-mans education and many monographs have been written on it. Together they provide just enough cash to stop it totally crumbling into nothing.

The roof of the temple is utterly overgrown, infested by Peacocks and Karaweiks, Tamasic men and roof goats, which are hunted by seasonal Snow Leopards.

The gardens behind the main building, the sub buildings there and the giant labyrinthine interior of the main temple have become inaccessible over time, haunted by Dust Nymphs, Gejigels and more dangerous things. Those who claim to be priests of the Goddess barricade themselves in beneath her statue at night as they fear whatever lurks in the darkness.

Rumoured contents of the building and its environs include The Tumbling Pools, The Floating Lake, The Botanical Gardens, The Zoo, The Great Arena, The Great Baths, The Slug Baths, The Great Salon, The Orphanarium, The School of Medicine, the Carnival Preparation Halls and storage areas, The Halls of Remission, The Porcelain Forest, The Tombs of the Rajas, The Fifty Two Theatres, The Temples of the Jovial Gods, The Schools of Joyous Magic and the Great Libraries.

Very recently, a group of adventurers claims to have penetrated and made safe a central part of the Great Library.

The rest of the temple remains as it has been for a millennia, a huge semi-sacred ruin in the centre of the city.

Various other small faiths of Syr Darya and its hinterland have come to light;

Many of the Ogre Magi claim to be descended from a vast black Chaos Tree, and to be the fruit of this tree. How metaphorical this is intended to be is unknown but many of the more conservative Magi do incorporate the tree into their heraldry.

The underground river of glacial meltwater that feeds Syr Darya is associated with the Cold Naga, a being who may be a personification of the river, or actually real. In Yoon-Suin its hard to tell.

Chandra Khanevala, the Goddess of the Eaten Moon, was worshipped at a small temple at the western borders of Sughud, right on the Ice Line of the Mountains of the Moon. The properties of this strange goddess are largely unknown though she tends to be associated with mystic visions and is opposed to the underworld. Her temple was recently destroyed and the individual who may be her final prophet is currently on a successful book tour in the Oliarchy of Damodar.

Who Rules in Syr Darya?

For about six months I've been running a group through the City of Syr Darya from  David McGrogan's book Yoon Suin.

This is the second post about my personal version of that world.

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Short answer – it’s the Ogre Magi.

Long answer – it’s complicated;

The Shikk as Monarch

Though the Magi rule in Syr Darya, they do not rule purely through their own power. Over a thousand years ago they made a deal with the Shikk, for the city, and that deal still stands.

Though the Magi never mention the Shikk, there is no-one who does not know about the deal.

This is part of the reason that Syr Darya has never been invaded. If anyone did conquer the city, what would happen? Would the Shikk enter on the side of the Magi, to back up its deal? Would the Shikk apply the same deal to the new rulers? Would the deal be cancelled and the population restored?

No-one knows, and no-one has ever tried to invest the enormous resources and risk to find out. 

(Actually quite a few have made the attempt, including armies of Yak-Men and the occasional bust-up between Oliarchies, but none have succeeded.)

Though the Magi may fight, intrigue, and assassinate amongst themselves, they have never broken out into civil war, and the Shikk, either through fear of its actions, or just the solidarity brought about by shared implacable hatred, is probably the reason why.

The Shikk is sometimes referred to as ‘The Absent King’, though not by the Magi, who never speak of it at all.

In a sense, Syr Darya is a kind of constitutional monarchy, with sovereign power invested in the Shikk.

It might be simpler to ask the question;

Who Will Be Arresting You?

That is a lot simpler to answer. Probably a turquoise or blue-robed priest in an azure Vultures mask, backed up by a pair, or more of either albino (or more likely ritually white-painted) Crab-Men.

  

The Crab Court

The Court of the Holy Law of Lobhi Pas scrapes up the legal chaff of Syr Darya.

Named the ‘Crab Court’ due to its operatives, even though whole thing has a strong Vulture theme going on. These roving squads of Priests and Crab-Men are the closest thing to a Pura-oriented Police Force in Syr Darya.

There are few Crab-Men this far north and of those in Syr Darya most work for the Vulture-Masked Priests of Lobhi Pas. The fact that almost all Crab-Men in Syr Darya are effectively a form of Police gives that small population slightly (marginally) higher status than they enjoy elsewhere in Yoon-Suin.

Poor or low-level outsiders are policed & sentenced by the Crab Court – an extension or dispensation provided to the temple of Lobhi Pas.

The judgements of the Crab Court are usually, broadly fair, or at least not insanely and visibly corrupt. Guilty verdicts usually involve limb, finger, soft tissue or other body-part loss.

Anyone who receives a guilty judgement can appeal to Lobhi Pas for a Trial by Combat.

So many accused have done so that the Priests of Lobhi Pas now insist that those who appeal must answer a series of complex theological questions about the worship of Lobhi Pas. This is why scrappy copies of his doctrine are sold on street corners around the Temple and often found with low-level criminals.

Once a Trial by Combat is accepted, the priests are extremely obsessive about arranging an exactly-equal match. The opponent must be as close to the exact physical ability and martial skill as the accused (as Lobhi Pas would expect). This can be good or bad depending on circumstance. If the accused is of unusual physicality or ability then it can take a very long time to find a correct match, and persuade them to fight, especially to a potentially lethal end. This can mean a very long prison term, and if the accused degrades due to their imprisonment, then this too must be accounted for.

(There will be more on Lobhi Pas in later posts which consider the Gods of Syr Darya.)

But, if you are important, rich or just clearly full of munificent Topaz Energy, and you don’t want to risk losing a finger or flesh, or fighting someone, what do you do?

The Slug Court

A tribunal presided over by the Ambassador from the Yellow City is, and held in that Embassy, the Slug Court is a relaxed space for white-collar criminals where everything takes a very long time, complex issues of legal structure and fine detail always take precedence, where the lunches are very long indeed, there is always time to adjourn, and where everything can be appealed multiple times.

Judgements always involve massive fines and often complex political manoeuvres. In theory it can sentence imprisonment or death, though this is rare.

Wealthy Pura, Traders, Magicians, Scholars, Ambassadors and anyone else too high status to face the horrors of the Crab Court, and in whom no other court has interest, may appeal to, or be requested to be tried by, the Slug Court.

Some other Courts will ‘trade’ a case to the Slug Court, for a price. If a plaintiff or accused wishes the Slug Court to take their case, they must pay this price, plus 10%, plus whatever unofficial bribes or inducements are required to have the Yellow City ambassador take an interest, plus whatever bribes or inducements are required to have the owning court give up the case.

The wonderful thing about the Slug Court (depending on how rich or legally minded you are) is that its enormously expensive, takes a very long time and rarely kills anyone.

Because it carries the seal of the Ambassador of the Yellow City, a judgement from the Slug Court also has (some) validity in the rest of Yoon-Suin (though more the closer you are to the Yellow City).

Approximately 75% of all Pura lawyers in Syr Darya work for the Slug Court. The backlog is long.

All this works well for Pura-on-Pura crime. Tourists and mercs screwing each other over. What happens if a crime is committed against a Nasna?

The Half-Court

More exactly – the Court of the Rajas. This strange relic of Syr-Daryas pre-Shikk legal system lives on in a degraded form, operating from the old Palace of Judgement in the Snake in the Eye of Syr Darya, though the building is so huge, mouldering and empty that few who pass would realise that it is still in operation.

This law governs intra-Nasna disputes only. There have only been a few cases where Pura, or foreigners, have been brought into its judgements and little is known of its workings, except that it is terrifying.

The ‘Half-Court’ has a terrible reputation amongst the cities Pura, a nightmarish, fairytale place wreathed in rotting finery and strange ritual, from which few foreigners are ever released. Rumours say the Nasnas like to chop up, skin and divide Pura who offend them. Whether this is true is utterly unknown. (It is true.)

Most Pura will do anything to stay out of the clutches of the Half-Court, which starts with not committing crimes against Nasna, and includes doing anything to bribe or scheme their way out of its clutches, and into that of another court, if possible.

But what happens if you do something even more stupid and piss off an Ogre Magi?

The simple answer is that if you are a Pura, who has no political, social or financial power, and no allies who might cause a stink, and who does not serve another Magi, then they can just kill you, and eat you if they like.

Few Pura are fully aware of this when they spend time in Syr Darya. Those who become so, form alliances, the more the better, and make themselves useful to a Magi as quickly as they can.

If, as a Pura, you anger a Magi and if killing you might cause the city trouble, or if you are bound in service to another Magi, or another high-status person, then you might end up in;

The Court of the Magi

The one central law of Syr Darya is that the Ogre Magi rule. Though they to have some technical limits placed upon their reach (they would find it hard, for instance, to arrest the Ambassador from the Yellow City, and they are sworn not to interfere with the judgements of the other courts), in effect, they can do what they like.

Such is their financial, cultural, physical, magical and historical dominance that, legal or illegal, if they want something done they can find a way to get it.

The only thing that can stop an Ogre Magi in Syr Darya is another Ogre Magi, and the only thing that can stop a group of Ogre Magi is a larger group of Ogre Magi. (And the only thing that could stop all the Ogre Magi, is the Shikk, but don’t say that out loud.)

The Court of the Magi exists when two Magi, or two groups or Magi, or the servants of two or more Magi, are in conflict and either neither side thinks they can win or neither side thinks they can win without bringing down punishment from a powerful combine, syndicate or ‘arrangement’ of Magi. Or if they are just law-and-order types who enjoy the legal process, which many do.

The judge, jury and lawyers are all Magi. Magi testimony usually overrules all other testimony. They can summon anyone and anything from the city and no-one would dare to countervail them.

The most common judgement against ‘guilty’ Magi is were-gilt and banishment for a certain term, during which they are expected to make deals and trade contacts to the advantage of the city.

Pura, and others, are sometimes called as witnesses at this Court. They are blindfolded before transport there. Its location seems to shift and rumours breed about its nature. Sometimes it is alleged to be very small and take place in a snails shell, sometimes in an old ruined building in Syr Darya, sometimes in some kind of otherdimensional space.

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The vast number of courts and complex overlapping fields of jurisdiction they create are managed by one final court;

The Chrysanthemum Court

Also called the ‘Courtesan Court’, or, more cruelly, the ‘Whores Court’.

This group originally dealt with with crimes against, and between, Courtesans. It also possessed an unusual power since the times of the Raja. Back then Syr Darya was at the centre of an empire and had one singular system. Arguments over jurisdiction were rare and only took place when minor guilds or low noble houses had minor disagreements about specific matters.

On these occasions the Chrysanthemum Court was allowed to decide which court had jurisdiction. This may have been partly intended to be an insult to the warring parties (sort out your business or be judged by whores), or could have been because at the peak of the power of the Rajas, and of the worship of Tato Sampa, the position of Courtesan may have been more respected.

The power of the Chrysanthemum Court to decide jurisdiction has been allowed to persist by the Magi, partly as simple laissez-faire convenience and perhaps for other reasons.

The huge proliferation of courts and legal systems in the city means the meta-legal power of the Chrysanthemum Court has become more and more significant over time. It is rare that they get to decide anything directly, but they often get to decide who decides.

The Chrysanthemum Court meets in a walled garden in one of the corner zones between the Victors Wall and the Oculus. It is said to be extremely and relentlessly vengeful against those who harm women, or who allow women to be harmed, and though it can rarely execute this vengeance directly, it has a very long memory.

Of course there is one more Court in Syr Darya, for those who can claim no law at all.

The Yak Court

Crime in Syr Darya, like most things, is heavily ritualised and dominated by a handful of Nasna clans who have literally been stealing for a thousand years.

The Magi themselves sometimes get involved in things that might be described as crimes, but since everything the Magi do in Syr Darya is legal (because they do it) unless the other Magi try to stop them, then they can hardly be arrested.

Less is known about the Yak Court, (or the ‘Snow Court’) than about any others. Criminals tend to settle their disputes with other methods and any time they do meet must be deeply secret.

Wherever the Yak Court meets, if it does meet, it is almost certainly ‘Within the City, Beyond the Wall’, though rumours claim of meetings in the ancient sewer system, in caves of ice (which must lie outside the city) or in any dangerous and marginal area.

The Judge of the Court, the Great Yak, is meant to be an actual Yak-Man, one of the cities historic enemies, kept captive and frozen and brought out only to pass judgement on arguing criminals (though is probably just someone dressed up as one).

The nature of these judgements is unknown, but probably horrible.

A Personal Syr Darya

For about six months I've been running a group through the City of Syr Darya from  David McGrogan's book Yoon Suin.

This is the cursed capital of a Himalayan kingdom, powered by slave-grown opium and tea. Its people were cursed a thousand years ago after some Ogre Magi, who had been hired to defend the place, made a deal with The Shikk, a Demon of enormous power, to rule the city themselves.

The Shikk delivered, making the Magi the rulers of the city, and stole one half of every living person in it, leaving them immortal horrors, divided down the exact centre.

Ever since I read about it I wanted to know more about it, so I set a game there to encourage me to come up with more details. What follows, now and over the next few days is some of the stuff I developed for a personal Syr Darya.

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"Four squares within a circle in a square within a square within a square, itself surrounded by a circle, and the final wall itself a square.

But the wall is not Syr Darya, for the city is a circle, and there are circles of trust within."


Its blue, half-empty, beautiful, cold and semi-ruined.

The big main gates through the walls are at the cardinal directions. Anyone can use those, though they might be recorded and the inner gates could theoretically be shut). There are many 'sally ports' stairways, secret paths, lifts and other ways through the walls bit almost all of these are under the control of different factions, individuals and groups and if they don't know you, you aren't getting through.

There are several hundred needle-straight towers dotted all over the city, from its monumental centre to its outer reaches. Some are actually on the walls. These are the towers of the Ogre Magi

Somethings geographical importance is not its actual political importance. The old structures of power are dead or quiescent. The Ogre magi rule, so real power is distributed amongst them.

There is no 'tourist' or Pura section of town. Instead there is a network of 'open' or 'foreign friendly' resources and organisations dotted around the city. Pura are not kept out of the rest of the city, they are simply never invited in. Most of the cities life, or half-life, goes on beneath their notice.




This is the map we have been slowly filling in as the PC's see more of the city

The layout of Syr Darya is a combination of the old, ritual and historic pattern of the Rajas and the ‘fresh’ colonisation by the Magi, combined with adaptations by its Nasna population.

Ruination, decay and breakdown are common on many of the old buildings.

Many of the old spatial rules are still in effect, but they are ignored by the Ogre Magi at-will, or used by them for particular aims, ignored by Foreigners by mistake or re-interpreted by various factions.

The simplest concept is of an ancient and historic core, re-built in monumental style as the centre of the Empire of Sughud, surrounded by layers of expansion and re-fortification as the city grew.


8. The Snake in the Eye

The Snake in the Eye is the Temple of Tato Sampa, at the absolute centre of the city. Across from it is the Palace of the Rajas. Both of these buildings, and most of the monumental core, are almost completely empty.


7. The Oculus

The Oculus is the broken-up area within the first curtain wall. This is where ambassadors, major noble houses and various powerful factions build, intrigued and warred for supremacy of Sughud. Here are many beautiful buildings, some still active, like the temple of Sanco Hunhos.


6. The Victors Wall.

Built by the first ruler to unify Sughud in ages past. A very ancient wall. Long burrowed through, built over and incorporated back into the city. The last time it was used was in a vain defence against the Ogre Magi themselves.

Who the ‘Victor’ was is no longer known. The Priests of Lobhi Pas claim it was a worshipper of their god.

The corners between the Oculus and the Victors Wall are an early echo of the marginal areas of outer Syr Darya. Important, semi-legal non-state functions existed here. Magical, sexual or questionable. The Chrysanthemum Court is here.


5. The Wall of the Magi.

A fresh, monumental, sheer-sided bright-blue stone wall. Repaired by the Ogre Magi in a single night with use of their magic, when they still served the Raja as mercenaries. This wall defeated a Yak-Man army long enough for an army of River-Tribe mercenaries to arrive, and for the wintery magics of the Yak-Men to be countered.

At the time the appearance of the Magi was considered miraculous and the Raja was congratulated on a major coup in recruiting them.


4. The Rajas Wall.

Built in historical time (i.e. not lost to time like the Victors wall or ‘modern’ like the Wall of the Magi). This was built by the first Raja to rule Syr Darya, (at the time, little more than a milk-drinking chariot-riding barbarian) meant to encompass the cities widest reaches and bind it for all time.


3. The City Limits

A simple stone fortification. Its origin not recorded but presumably created by the Raja’s to make some attempt to protect and/or control the growing population.

The second circle was always a working class, mercantile or functional area. There were many workshops, markets and residences. Though there are few very high status buildings there are also few slums.

Though it was never important previously, now, the Magi prefer it as it allows their towers to rise above the local buildings, there is space to expand and secure their compounds and the logistics of bringing goods in and out of the city are preferable to the old centre.

It is also anonymous, with little to draw the eye to any particular entry or exit, and hard for strangers to the city to navigate, with high-walled streets, looming buildings, unmarked junctions and no clear view of nearby landmarks.

This is also the legal limit of most of the courts of Syr Darya. Legally, once you pass out through its gates you are no longer subject to its laws.


2. Beyond the City – Within the Wall.

The final wall of Syr Darya was built not by its authorities, but its people, in a desperate attempt to protect themselves from Yak Men in the final years of the Rajas.

When someone refers to ‘The Wall’ in Syr Darya, without title or addition, this is what they are talking about.

Each part of The Wall is different as it was built and paid for by local groups and authorities. It staggers, rises and lowers. It is in poor repair. (The residents do not fear invasion.)

It should be noted that the corner areas that are ‘Beyond the City but Within the Wall’ are technically lawless. Outside the city the law of the oligarchies technically rules, and within the City Limits there are agreed legal systems. But here, at least formally, there is no law.

There are still Ogre Magi Towers though, built here for their own purposes. And a wide range of strange and unique buildings. This is one of the only places that foreigners are allowed to, or would wish to, build new structures in the City.

The Embassy of the Yellow City is here (I ended up moving it), as are several other outposts. There are many private markets. The place is alive most of the time.


1. Beyond the City – Beyond the Wall

Finally, whatever buildings or shanty towns or tents that exist beyond The Wall, are truly, formally and absolutely beyond the (technical) law of the Ogre Magi. Officially, the laws of the Oligarchies rule here, changing as the oligarchs do.

Currently, to the North, the Oligarchy of Damodar rules, and to the South, the Oligarchy of Silash Vo has authority.

Encounters in Syr Darya

(These are things the PCs might run into as they walk around.)

1. Great Nasna funeral parade. Walk in pairs. Beautiful half-widow. Crab-Men painted dark purple pulling carriage. Saltwater censers (valuable sea-water) Rows of paintings – some recent, some terrifying, some truly ancient. They are not meant to die. Now, the power structures will change.
2. Nasna with ebony cane makes strange complex wrapping on oblique door, door rapidly opens and they disappear.
3. A small blue man, hooded, with a long nose, walks directly down the middle of the street – rewarded with respect by all – Oovarmon the Demon-Hunter.
4. Worm festival – ancient child Nasna dance awkwardly with the great worm costumes, grown mad and strange over the centuries.
5. Lonely servant drinks tea over small portable lamp and huddles in corner wrapped in purple wool  trying to read poetry. Large gilded carriage waits nearby, pulled by fuming stamping horses. Waiting for Nasna master to return.
6. Nasna child calmly rides roof-goats across street.
7. Patrol – the Priest of Lobhi Pas – vulture masks and Crab-Man enforcers.
8. Pura Opium fiend beset by figments, turning blue in cold.
9. Lost Frog merchant on way to Temple of Sanco Hunhos, frogs escaping & drying out.
10. A pair of swallows meet before a doorway, turn into a female Magi and enter.
11. Rag-Person dropping stream of poisoned coins.
12. Kite-Riding monkey thieves attack – kites flown by Criminal Nasna.
13. Hail emerges from empty sky. Nasna slams open upper floor window on one side and speaks Word of Power, hail flies away from that house, and into the PCs.
14. Heavy winds, roof goat falls, sparrowhawk turns into Magi & walks briskly all wrapped up.
15. Lost Yak-Wool merchant looking for the Pura market – never been to the city before.
16. Tea-drinkers watching huge black Tortoise lumbering somewhere, arguing quietly as to whether it is a Magi.
17. Nasna beetle-taxi kicks out opium-high & vomiting Pura tourists.
18. Rare Nasna argument, two seem about to break into violence, crowdstands in shock. Language descends into barks -  a half bell chimes, the argument slows and becomes rhythmic, becomes ritual, the crowd nods along, everything slows and becomes still, the two bow and break away. A bell chimes and child says “it is done”, the crowd leaves.
19. A mantis loose in the street. Strung with octagonal chimes. Escaped? Or some weird ritual?
20. Urthanatak – the Nasna hot-dog and tea seller. Yak meat Hot Dogs are perfect. Tea is perfect. Has achieved true inner peace. Doesn’t even hate Pura.

Nightmares in Syr Darya, Sessions 5 to 16

Its been a while since the last update. They have stopped doing session reports so no doubt the Caliph is pissed.

(I am working on another Wodlands post but stuff is relentless here and daddy needs content so here we are.)

SESSION 5

A guy faints.

As the gate opened an acolyte faints. Ipny regales them with the recent past and kisses their feet. Which wakes them up.

They nearly faint again and run away. Rushing up some stairs.

Golshan (naked) and Feruz (clothed) followed them. They find themselves in the temple of the Goddess of the Eaten Moon. Big central statue of a woman with a giant venus flytrap coming out and reaching towards the moon on the ceiling three floors up. Statue is a silvery bronze. Central atrium has canonical colours on each of its four walls

(Note - I actually got the canonical colours wrong becasue I forgot how my consent was oriented, will do a post on this & try to get it right in the future.)

Each level of the building has a moon design, full moon at the bottom, then slightly occluded, then gibbeous then on the ceiling only a slight sliver of moon left.

Feruz and Golshan follow this guy up some stairs, they are interrupted by another acolyte who does not faint and who passes his roll to avoid pissing himself. This guy tries to ward them off as underdark spirits but Feruz can speak a little Trade Tongue and Golshans bird can translate. The Acolyte slowly starts to work out that they are humans from the underworld.

They meet Geeta Bagale - The Reader of Entrails

The only woman in the temple so far. Mid-50's, hair in several Venus flytrap clasps, belt of knives and cleavers.

Geeta pushes past the Acolyte, assesses the situation and immediately takes control. She speaks a little Pseudo-Arabic and decides that Golshan, as naked, must be a slave and Feruz the one in charge.

She talks the pair into getting cleaned up, on the way to do that they pick up the rest of the crew. They are offered baths, which Ashtar and Feruz refuse. Geeta Bagale closely questions Ipny, who has revealed that they met the mummified monks. She discreetly milks him for into then tells him to reveal none of it to others.

They meet Gangra Pryakurel - Interpreter of Dreams and Best Dude Ever.

60 to 70 years old, wearing multiple robes he just piled on and a multi-teared hat, Gangra is the ostensible 2nd in command of the Temple of Chandra Khanevala, the Goddess of the Eaten Moon.

He is tripping out to see them here and happily talks to them about a whole bunch of stuff until Geeta kicks him out and sends him to wait in his meditation chamber.

Feruz and Ashtar both initially refuse to bathe. Ashtar is ultimately persuaded as she doesn't have to do any work. It is revealed that Feruz is a *NEVERNUDE*, perhaps due to his fear of being spied on by someone exactly like him. He eventually finds some way to clean himself privately, over more than half an hour, behind some screens while everyone else makes awkward smalltalk. Geeta becomes aware that Golshan has an ancient death-mask.

Ashtar takes this opportunity to take every fucking drug the temple has. An anally applied opium, a tea made with crushed eyeballs that makes you throw up and some HIGHLY addictive yellow opium. The combination of these gets her fucking wired. And vomiting every 30-45 seconds.

They are then lead to the chamber where they are interviewed by Gangra Pryakurel. He is fucking THRILLED  to see them. Thinks Golshan is a great philosopher, Feruz a great storyteller, Ahstar a great sensualist and Ipny a brilliant potential disciple. Also he's really thrilled that someone has turned up from the underdark as now the temple has purpose.

Also they are trapped in the temple because Jetsuma, the leader of the village outside has been slowly going insane over the last few years and has started somehow 'consuming' hot young men and, presumably, transforming them into some kind of ice demons or ice golems or something.

Anyway, long story short, there are only 6 people left in the temple and three of them are acolytes. So now they *might* start starving to death as they only get a yak a week.

Also, the only safe way out of the valley beyond is through a silent snowfield that is seasonally occupied by some kind of blind ice demon that moves through tunnels, has super hot blood or something and hunts by sound. So as long as you don't make any sound crossing the snowpack, or are covered by a larger sound, then that's fine.

Also there are Yak-Men, but those are now a tertiary problem due to everything else.

So now you guys can stay here for six months waiting for the snow to melt and the demon to leave, and then sneak past Jetsuma somehow, get to Syr Darya and tell them that we need help, and also that the temple actually has a purpose now due to the underdark travellers.

So the team decide to think about this, they spend a week preying to Chandra Khanevala. Ipny is the only one who gets anything out of it, having a full-on vision of that time she helped defeat the terrible Ziggurat Moon and spat it down into the earth. Everyone else just gets vaguely spiritual but now they are pure enough to explore level 2, where they find a locked room left by 'The Exiles' (the creepy mummified monks they met previously).

Ashtar wants to evade their problems here by going back into the Veins (and finding Hotat) and tries to persuade Geeta towards this aim, she enters some kind of intrigue with Geeta when G asks which of the PC's the goddess would prefer. Ashtar says Feruz, and something is agreed.

Golshan (and I think Feruz) decide to try to break into the sealed room on the second floor.

And that is where we left the session.


SESSION 6

It's midnight, Feruz, Banu and Golshan are about to break into the secret room on the second floor.

Ibny dreams of the Ziggurat moon, he sees a strange procession made up of brightly coloured figures and undead wanderers. They seem to ignore him and he finds this terrible so intervenes.

One of the bright figures turns to look at him and he suddenly has the idea for the catflap.

The would-be thieves hear Ibny laughing in the night below.

Ibny encounters an undead creature with silver nails for eyes. It grabs him and (I think) talks shit about the goddess Chandra Khanevala. Ibny is outraged by this and summons his bonesaw, he attacks the figure.

Everyone in the temple is woken by an enormous crash of Ibnys bunk bed going over and him screaming "CHANDRA KHANEVALA"

Banu skips downstairs & looks innocent but Feruz and Golshan get tangled up and fall to bottom of stairs.

The neopytes see Ibny fighting his own bedclothes and wake him up he says has seen a goddess-sent vision.

Gangra and Geeta both wake up, see fallen Goshan and Feruz. Golshan or maybe Feruz, says they were coming up for help re-Ibnys vision. Geeta buys this due to an unusually good roll.

Ibny describes his vision, Gangra is impressed, Geeta less so, Tsang Yang is totally pissed

They all go back to sleep, but just before the morning, Golshan and Banu think they hear someone entering the large bunk room. Golshan tries to carefully and secretly turn his head to look but can only see a sillhouette and the figure runs away. Golshan chases after them but bursts into the central temple to see only Geeta Bagale silently praying. They talk warily of Dreams and Nightmares.

The next day, Ibny meditates with Gangra. Ibny asks for access to the 'Sacred Weapons', Gangra asks in return for help defeating Jetsunna in the village outside. They both agree to help each other because they are Super Great Guys.

Below, Feruz, Golshan and Banu talk to Jungne, the smallest acolyte, about his fear of Ghosts. Feruz says he should probably get a new name so the ghosts can't find him.

Banu gets hopped up on some opium that makes him think he is a child

Gangra tries to take Ibny up to the third floor to the 'sacred weapons' but Geeta slams her door open and argues with him. She forces Gangra back down the stairs.

THEN - Ibny sketchily 'Charms' Geeta, which actually works. Gangra doesn't see this but Tsang Yang below does. He asks what is going on and Feruz nearly talks him into accepting it but then Child-Banu starts chanting 'speeeelcraaaft' and Tsang-Yang freaks out. The team downstairs manage to intimidate Tsang Yang into silence.

Geeta now willingly takes Grangra and Ibny to the Yak room on the 3rd level. Inside are various ancient Dao and Halberds, a library of scrolls with black seals and a lot of crow cages, many have crows in them, a desk with writing paper, some crows have message tubes on their legs. A window is open.

Gangra is very confused by the crows, he hasn't been in there for years and these aren't meant to be here. Ibny asks Geeta, under a charm spell, what is going on. She says these are messages to save the Temple. Ibny questions her more intently and her massive internal conflict and a lucky roll let her save against the spell.

Geeta screams and attacks Ibny with a sacrificial knife.

Ibny shoulder barges her.

Down below, everyone hears the screaming  -

Golshan pulls his magic blade and races upstairs, his lame leg making an off-rhythm beat

Tsang-Yang tells the Neophytes Jungne and Gendun they have to fight the PC's together

child-Banu hides

Feruz faces Tsang-Yang, Jungne and Gendun alone, they are nerds, he is a pornographer, who will win?

Ipny pushes Geeta back into the room, to the open window where they struggle. Geeta knocks open one of the crow cages with her knife. The crows escape, they bear no messages but perhaps their simultaneous release will itself be taken as a kind of message?

Golshan is still racing up three floors on his lame leg.

Banu is scared of the room beneath the trapdoor and instead starts to climb the statue of Chandra Khanevala.

Feruz puts on his ritual mask and assumes a 'Dr Strange' position to battle the acolytes. This is scary enough that Gendun and Tsang-yang both freeze in fear.

Only Jungne, the smallest, is brave enough to defend his goddess, he leaps to kung-fu kick Feruz in the face.

Upstairs, Ibny tries to knock the knife out of Geetas hand but she strikes at him and draws blood, Golshan arrives and tries to talk her into surrendering but she isn't listening.

Below, Banu hides in the open mouth of the goddess, he believes he is child-sized  and therefore unseen but in fact his fat little legs stick up out of her mouth. Considering she ate the moon this is maybe not a good omen.

Jungne misses his kick. Feruz casts Sleep on Jungne, Geeta and, by accident, Banu. (Richie had to leave the game).

Ibny and Golshan tie up Geeta. Gendun and Tsang-Yang hide in the bunk room and lock the door.

Gangne finally breaks and, after they make the request, allows Ibny and Golshan to meet the Great Master of the temple Yami Shiwakoti. Surely he will know what to do.

I am not going to write down all the secrets that were revealed to them for everyone to read because his knowledge is TOO POWERFUL. Details will have to wait until they make individual reports to the Caliph, but I will say that he, or possibly she, delivered relics to Ibny and Golshan and a secret message to Feruz.

Yami also allowed them to access the sealed room of the Exiled Monks.

Feruz (I think) takes a Halberd from Gangra and smashes open the super ancient seals. He looks in with a lit torch and sees a human face, upside down

Flayed, preserved ancient human skins. Bones. Flensing knives. Resin-preserved sculpture bodies, sealed scrolls, dust, resin, closed jars.

In the centre, a kind of mediation tent or sub-room made of flayed skin, a dark hole just large enough for one person to climb into.

Feruz enters and gets a bit scared. Golshan enters and is drawn deeply towards the tent, the energy reminds him of what he felt in the crevasse in the Veins where he nearly turned deeper in but was prevented by Glamoko. Ibny enters and freaks the fuck out. Ibny decides this place needs to burn and runs off for oil and fire.

Feruz decides to slow this process down by blocking the door from the inside.

Golshan enters the tent.

He crawls for what seems like a long time, moving towards something cold.

He puts out his hand and feels a mask of ice, like running water frozen in the shape of a face.

He puts on the mask. The mask is frozen tears. The tears melt on his face.

His mind travels deep deep down into the earth, past many places they have visited and past many more.

He sees a terrible city, strange things fly amongst black angles, beautiful people with silver hair and negative-image black skin. One holds a scroll marked with a lotus.

They see him.

Feruz and Ibny hear Golshan screaming inside the tent. Feruz tries to tear it open but the horrid skin flexes under his fingers. Ibny summons the strength of Chandra Khanevala and manages to smash through the door.

Feruz throws himself onto the tent to crush it. Ibny finds Golshan within and wakes him with a touch.

Feruz is only midly traumatised by being wrapped up in the crushed human-skin tent but Golshan has suffered massive mental damage and now has a violent and murderous phobia of whatever he saw in that city. He is visibly a nervous wreck.


SESSION 7

Arguing in the temple

Feruz and Golshan escape the formerly sealed room of the exiles. Ashtar, who has just woken from an Opium slumber, finds them sprawled on the floor. Totally whacked out on drugs, she investigates the room herself but finds nothing odd. Golshan persuades her not to make a cloak from the stitched-together faces.

Golshan and Feruz team up to interrogate Geeta Bagale. Golshan uses reason. Feruz wakes her by waving a crow under her nose and shows her his pornography. She is unimpressed and un-threatened. One crow is harmed.

During this, Ashtar tries to convert the Tsang-Yang and Gendun, who have hidden themselves in the bunk room. Despite the massive unlikelihood of this, she rolls really well and Gendun knocks out Tsang-Yang and becomes Ashtars first convert.

Ashtar then casts her shrink spell as a ritual. She tortures Geeta by shrinking the bones of her left hand inside her flesh. This is so horrible that Geeta breaks instantly and confesses everything to 'Good Cop' Golshan. (Ashtar doesn't give a fuck anyway.)

Geeta works for a group called the Black Lotus. She knows very little about them but thinks they may be Ogre Magi from Syr Darya. They have an interest in making sure that no-one comes from the Kingdom of Dreams. She is meant to notify them by crow of any arrivals and give a full description, as well as their expected route of travel. She thinks that this is so they can be intercepted and killed.

She didn't manage to get off any descriptions of the PC's (she says), but the release of crows without messages will have alerted them. There are two main ways to Syr Darya from the snowfield. They will expect travellers to take the shorter, safer, southern route. But there is a longer, less safe but unexpected northern route as well.

Golshan shows Geeta the room of the exiles to persuade her of the horrors of Nightmare. She seems persuaded but while he pontificates she jumps out of the window, falls to earth and runs for it.

The team watch from the second floor as Geeta runs down the long hairpin path to the valley. Ten Ice golems guard the way. When she encounters them, five seem to grab Geeta and carry her off.

The team decide that its time either attack the village and kill Jetsumna, or at least sneak through.

First the re-seal the room of the Exiles, adding their own seals in their common tongue, unreadable and mysterious to the locals. Ashtar writes Hotep slash fic. Feruz writes Caliph slash fic and Golshan writes 'Property of Golshan'.

They begin by rolling rocks down the hill towards the remaining ice golem. Ashtar bowls perfectly first time and annihilates four. Everyone else misses shamefully. Only one remains.

They decide to attack the remaining golem by sledding at it at high speed on an inverted table. The team gathers together and they toboggan at the creature at high speed.

Feruz sings that part of the Song of the Firebird in which the hero slides down dunes on a magic carpet and safely guides the toboggan to the base of the hill. Ashtar keeps them upright while Gendun holds on a little too tightly. Golshan swings for the golem but misses.

As they hit the bottom, Golshan leaps up and assuages his shame by nailing the Golem in one blow.

The golems themselves are the naked forms a beautiful young Nepalese men, each is a translucent blue-white except for a chunk of bone and flesh in its core.

The team argue about how best to attack or infiltrate the village, Ashtar briefly considers Yak manipulation but lacks persuasive ability with those beasts. Ultimately Ashtar and Feruz simply wander blindly in. Golshan hangs back to see what happens to them.

There are women and children in the village, but no men. No-one will speak to them or look at them. Everyone flees.

The group encounter more golems who herd or pursue Ashter and Feruz towards the centre of the villiage. Golshan tracks them out of sight. Feruz tries to grapple with the golems, seizing on their naked, beautiful, cold blue-white flesh. Instead he is borne down.

Ashtar casts feather fall on herself and dashes over the fabric roofs of the yurts toward the centre.

Feruz is borne upwards by the naked golems and taken the same way.

Golshan breaks into a Yurt to get around the golems and encounters a woman who, due to his rare decent charisma roll, does not freak out but instead asks for help. Golshan says he will and cuts his way through the yurt, circumventing the golem guards.

Ashtar bursts into the central Yurt. She sees burning braziers, a deep luxurious pit filled with Yak furs. The body of Geeta Bagale hanging. A huge (6 or 7 feet) fat, naked, hairy woman lounges in the furs and nibbles on the flensed face of Geeta. She turns to Ashtar and says something, but Ashtar doesn't speak the language.

Ashtar attacks immediately with spellcraft. She tries to shrink the womans throat, but fails. Feruz's hot body helps him melt his way free of the clasping golems and Golshan cuts his way into Jetsumnas Yurt just in time to see her summon a storm elemental which carries Ashtar 100 feet up into the air, bursting open the Yurt.

Feruz dashes in and whacks Jetsumna on the tit with his crowbar. It does but little damage, but the iron in the bar dispels her illusion, or shape change. Her hair grows and grows, her feet become cloven, she grows rows of extra teats. She is a Yak Woman sorceress.

She charges Feruz and though he manages to ride her huge horns without being penetrated, he is borne back through the yurt, into the village. Ashtar struggles with the Storm creature and Golshan attacks Jetsumna from behind with a lit torch, doing little damage but managing to set her hair on fire.

Feruz flails with the crowbar again. Ashtar manages to hurl her Lamenter oil at Jetsumna from above, and hits, intensifying the flames. Golshan tries to strike with his magical sword but missed.

Jetsumna hurls Feruz into a Yurt and commands her Storm Creature to throw Ashtar to the ground with force.

Unfortunately for her, Ashtar is still feather-light. She controls the fall and, with some assistance from Feruz (she bounces off his head) she leaps at Jetsumna at caves her head in with a club.

The Yak Woman collapses burning to the ground. The village is saved. As an expression of contempt, Ashtar refuses to eat any of her.



SESSION 8

The team are shilling in the village of Baraphra, drinking Yak milk, eating these porridge ball things and generally relaxing. They heal up for 2 days, Ibny aids Golshan heal mentally with meditation.

Feruz is beloved by the local maidens but only wants to surveil the Caliph.

Ibny and Ashtar ornament their Yaks with coloured flags. Ibny places the Venus Flytrap symbol of Chandra Khanevala on his chest and on a flag he carries from his purloined halberd. (Everyone grabs a halberd from the Temple).

Ashtar uses her dangerous charisma and persuades the villagers to help the team by bashing ropes on the ice to distract the Andra Danava, the blind ice Demon. She also manages to persuade Ayush, their teenage guide towards her philosophy.

The team ride their Yaks towards the ice sheet. They are beset by hail, wind and thunder, good for avoiding the Ice Demon but bad for navigation.

The pounding from the village seems to pull the demon that way, the group starts to worry that they have sacrificed the Yak Herders to live.

Banu bravely summons a Giant Frog which uses its massive legs to attract the Demon which attacks and, presumably, consumes it beneath the snow. The group escape after an day of travel, zero demon encounters and brutally chilling cold and storm.

They descend into the valley of the Hire Mere Diamond mine. The people seem impoverished and starved, in fact they are slaves. They are astounded to see such pussiant and mysterious foreigners arriving from the empty and impassible East. Some run in fear, others beg for help in protecting them from the 'False Children'.

The head guard of the complex, Mithilesh, comes out and is shocked by the nightmare-inspired tabard or band worn by Golshan, he seems to accept that Ibny is some kind of foreign monk, since he comes from the Temple of the Eaten Moon and wears and wields its symbol.

Golshan and Ibny go to talk to Mithilesh privately, Ashtar, Banu, Feruz and the two followers, Ayush and Gendun stay behind.

Ashtar says the one word in the local language she can pronounce correctly and is approached by a slave who names themselves Vishal and indicates that they have some hard shit. Ashtar and Banu go off to get high, taking Feruz and the girl Ayush. Only Gendun, the hairy Neophyite remains behind to guard the Yaks.

Golshan and Ibny discover that the guards don't give two shits about the slaves in the valley. A few weeks ago two slaves, Vishal (the dealer) and Ravi, broke through into what seemed to be a vein of Amber. This transformed into an amber corridor, like that of a house, and an amber door. From behind the door came children which transformed into monsters.

They children have come every night since. No-one knows what is going on or what to do.

Meanwhile, Ashtar and Banu are getting wasted on the Ansari Child-Dream Opium. Feruz remains wary and sees that Vishal only pretends to take the Opium and act like a child. He casts 'sleep' on Vishal and gives Ashtar and Banu something to draw on. Ashtar searches Vishal and 'gets dirty', she finds a roll of 50sp and a strange black stone with a 'G' or 'Ji' written on it.

Mithilesh asks Golshan and Ibny to help and gives them a free hand with the slaves, provided they don't break any. The two emerge to find all the rest of the party have wandered off and left Hairy Gendun with the Yaks. They take over a crappy warehouse to use as a base and manage to re-unite the team.

The group surrounds Vishal and wakes him. They terrify him and demand 'the whole story'.

He confesses to being a spy for a group of bandits who intend to raid the mine and carry off the diamonds. This is not what the PC's were looking for but they will take it. He was also there when the Amber corridor was discovered, with Ravi, who broke down crying 'for some reason' when the place was found.

The team also know that the camp had some feral children at some time but that they went north to try to find the temple of Chandra Khanevala and have not been seen since.

Vishal tells them that Ravi is working in the mine right now. The PC's decide to investigate.

They travel to the mine and arrive in the workings just as the miners suffer an attack by False Children, this time in daylight. The PCs bravely slaughter the horrible mutated nightmare children, being badly strained, but not permanently hurt, in the fight.

They proceed into the mine, Ashtar forcing Vishal to guide them.

They find the Amber Corridor. The walls are full of frozen insects. Banu thinks he sees one move. Ibny decides that this is probably a relatively minor Nightmare incursion. Relatively straightforward.

They find the Amber Doors and open them. Within is an Amber Room with a giant Amber Cat, curled around a tiny, carved amber toy in the shape of a cat.

Golshan tries to communicate but the Cat is having none of it. Banu turns to find more False Children are blocking their escape.

A fight breaks out. Banu tries dangerous magic but only manages to turn the cat blue. Ashtar shrinks its head but does no damage. Feruz grabs the toy and distracts the cat by stamping on its tail while the rest of the group battle the False Children.

The Amber Walls start to melt and the insects inside come alive and begin to buzz.

Feruz uses the magic of the Mummified Monks to hypnotise the Amber Cat and the rest of the team cut through the False Children. Feruz then sends the cat far away into the outside world.

The team grab Feruz and run for it, as soon as they get the Anchor out of the Nightmare, reality snaps back and the Amber and monsters disappear.


SESSION 9

THE HIRE MERA MINE

The team emerge from the Hira Mera mine, having defeated the Nightmares. Unfortunately, they forgot to un-hobble the spy-slave Vishal and he seems to have been lost in the collapse of the Amber corridor.

Ibny makes an attempt to covert the listening crowd to the worship of Chandra Khanevala but meets limited success. Mithalesh, the head guard, asks him to please not covert to slaves to any religion that might make them less pliable.

The group are hugely tired after their journey and pass out in the Yak shack offered to them by Mithalesh.

Ibny has terrifying nightmares of a city that is four squares within a circle in a square within a square within a square, itself surrounded by a circle, and the final wall itself a square. There are crooked towers and blue-skinned people ask terrible questions.

Golshan tries to have a nightmare, but fails.

They wake on Day 4 of their journey and talk into the mid morning, drinking Yak butter tea served by Ayush, the girl from Baraphra. Ibny no-longer cares much about whatever their mission was. Opinions differ on what to do next. Eventually they decide to continue on towards Syr Darya.



THE VILLAGE OF GOPA HATYARAHARU

After another day of uneventful travel they arrive in the village of Gopa Hatyaraharu and are met by an enthusiastic individual who calls himself Gokul and who seems very impressed by them all. He invites them to stay the night with him. Gokul is the 2nd richest man in the village and Ibny accidentally insults him by asking about the first richest man, but manages to make amends.

The crew go to Gokuls house, meet his wife and five children, and tell tales of their adventures. Everything goes well until Feruz tells a strange tale of Mustapha and the Wolf, in which a boy steals a fruit and is eaten by a wolf. Gokul seems deeply interested in different interpretations of this story and asks Ibny many questions about its meaning.

Golshan becomes suspicious of Gokuls shift in character and demeanour. Ibny asks, directly, about theft and its meaning for Gokul. At this Gokul becomes very withdrawn and goes immediately to bed. Golshan is suspicious enough that he requests that the group keep watch, even though they are sleeping in someones home.

It is well that he does.

Feruz takes first watch, and through he dreams of surveiling the Caliph, he decides to actually do his duty and sits staring blankly at the empty home. He sees a shape behind a curtain. The shape might be a face. The face might be looking at him, staring, still and silent. He hears a sound, whispering. One of Gokuls children crosses the room and leaves the house.

Feruz casts sleep on all the remaining family of Golshan. He moves to the door and cracks it open. The night is clear, the stars like pricks of ice or the tips of blades. He sees the shadow of a child and the shadow of a man, standing against the wall of a hut in the night. The man seems strong, thick but stooped slightly. The shadow turns towards him.

Feruz hides himself back in the sleeping area. The boy returns and goes to his sleeping father, seems to be trying to gently wake him. But the sleep spell holds and the boy eventually goes to his own area.

Feruz quietly wakes the rest of the group. Golshan is unsurprised by the intrigue.

Think I lost exact track of precisely what they did next. I think Ibny creates an illusion of himself and sends it out to pretend to pee. They watch the illusion from the door and hear someone approach the illusion as if it were real, asking a question. Feruz sticks his head round the door and takes a look at the guy speaking to the illusion. Looks like an older Shiva Shankar.

Feruz himself goes out to pretend to take a piss and to interact with this guy. He pretends to stumble into him. This person instantly slides Feruz into a tight armlock based on rotational pressure to the elbow

I don't know exactly how or why this happened, but Banu decides to summon something. He fails his roll. The summoned creature breaks through into our reality. It's a giant spider, almost as big as the house itself. Banu sacrifices some of his Health (permanently) to control this beast.

Banu screams and vomits blood down his front. The boy in the house starts screaming. The man holding Feruz throws him to the ground and runs towards the house. Ibny hides behind the door with a scalpel.

Banu commands the spider to leave through the window, then to travel West and 'do what it likes'. The creature scrabbles at the window until Golshan gets it open.

The strange man bursts into the home just in time to see the giant spider legs slipping through the gap.

Ibny tries to control him with the scalpel but the man easily knocks it away and simultaneously ducks Banus clumsy mace swing. This makes him vulnerable to Golshan who takes him down and pins him.

The groups successfully terrorise this person and interrogate him. (The drifting sound of screams emanates from the west of the village). Feruz GOES DEEP, and successfully finds a black 'G' stone in exactly the same place as Vishals. They show the man both stones and say they know who he works for.

This is Natwar, he says he serves the bandit king Gagan Gnyawali and that his bandit group has infiltrated this village and taken it over in preparation for a raid on the Hire Mera diamond mine. Gagan wants the diamonds because he has fallen in love with Phanindra Gadha, the wife of the owner of the Gadha Opium plantation, so really, this is a noble cause.

The team and Natwar negotiate and discuss various options. For a while it seems like they might join with the bandits in raiding the mine. Eventually, they agree to an exchange, they will give Natwar one of the black stones and they will take the son of Gokul who saw & heard all this shit go down. Natwar will spin the villiagers a fairy story about the boy being turned into a spider and the only witness will be got rid of safely (without having to kill him). They will both keep each others secrets. Natwar won't tell anyone about the magic and they won't speak about the bandits.

(It seems likely that Natwar thinks they are secretly Ogre Magi on some kind of mission.)

The team leave the house, taking Bhaskar, and lead their Yaks through the village at night. People seem freaked out by the giant spider which has disappeared to the west.

They face off with the bandits and exchange the stone, then the group treks West, into the hills.


THE TOWER OF GOURISHANKAR BUDDHACHARYA

After a few hours, in the early hours of the morning, they come upon a strange tower, like a lighthouse, but in the middle of the mountains, that overlooks the trail. They remember something about an Archmage in the hills, someone they should avoid. Bhaskar says his dad told him never to come this way because he would be eaten.

They set down to rest as they didn't really sleep during their night of intrigue. They keep watch in shifts. Golshan hears some crashing from the tower, but the noise fades. Ibny manages to teach Bhaskar some words of his language. Feruz, who has the last shift, decides to surveil the tower.

Feruz checks out the bottom room and finds an entrance hall panelled in lapis lazuli, the front door is open, a women's clothes are strews about the room. He moves a room upwards and finds eight ivory cages carved with lions. The cage doors are swinging open. One still has the key in it.

Ibny, sitting with the Yaks, sees a beautiful and high-status woman wandering on the path. She falls dramatically into his arms.

Feruz sees the hem of a magnificent embroidered robe disappearing upstairs, the robe is so beautiful that he must follow. He gazes upon its beauty and doesn't notice that its owner has actually noticed him, though he is ethereal.

The lady in Ibnys arms declares herself Thalia Buddhacharaya. She says she is escaping a brutal and uncaring husband and begs for his assistance. Ibny decides his fate is to help this woman.

The rest of the group see this and Golshan notices that Feruz is both meditating in his perv-coma and also that ice is frosting on his face.

Feruz is grabbed by the wizard who digs his frosty nails into his skin and questions him in his own language, asking about his wife..

Golshan and Banu hear something to the rear of the Yaks and go to investigate. They find two magical fucking lions made of elemental energy and formed from leaves falling through a tornado. They lions ask about 'the woman'.

Feruz is reluctant to disclose his status. The magician manages to grab his silver ethereal cord and yanks it. Golshan slaps the shit out of Feruz who manages to wake up.

Feruz engages at least one of the magical lions with a story.

Ibny is persuaded to escape to the west with his hot babe. He does not go far before being surrounded by six magical lions. He decides that his fate might be to not help this woman, and lets her go.

End in media res.

Typing these things takes a while.


SESSION 10

wHAT OF THE WIZARD?

Ibny faces a shitload of magical lions (Shishi) and is looking for a way out.

Feruz converses with a remaining lion, one interested in his Literary concepts, this lion is called' Blades Falling' and seems to like hanging out with him.

The sorcerer from the tower seems to be setting off towards them, borne by hundreds of lady frost/storm elementals/ghosts in creepy fashion.

Ibny freaks out and counjours a giant illusion of a Genie to try to scare the Shishi guarding him and Thalia (the wizards wife). This does not go well, the Shishi attack the illusion and Ibny somehow manages to cast protection from elemental magic on himself, which would actually be strangely situationally useful, if he knew he had actually done it, which he doesn't.

The distraction does give him to opportunity to go and hide behind a Yak though. Which he cunningly uses to sneak out of the following conversation.

The Sorcerer of the tower, Gourishankar Buddacharya, arrives, dispels the illusion, sends the lions home and begins arguing with his wife, Thalia Buddacharya.

Feruz and Golshan arrive & introduce themselves. Golshan subtly grasps a sack he seeks to put the wizard in. Ibny still hidden behind Yak.

Gourishanker at first refuses to believe they are Ambassadors of his close personal friend, the Calpih of the Kingdom of Dreams. But the magic bird, the magic paper and Feruzz highly specific hand-drawn Caliph porn convince him. He gives up on his wife and invites to 'Ambassadors' to visit him at his tower.

Thalia Buddhacharya then manages to attach herself to Feruz 'for protection'.

They approach the tower, Thalia asks them not to go in, but since they insist she says she will not speak while inside.

They see the same rooms Feruz previously scried, the Shishi Blades Falling says hi to Feruz, didn't expect to see him again so soon. Thalia does her makeup with Feruz's mirror, everyone waits for this for two minutes,  but they are guys & quickly get bored.

They find Gourishankar in his study/lounge/bro cave, smoking on a hookah, and engage in civil conversion. Ashtar tries to yank as much food & free drugs as possible and hogs the hookah. Feruz keeps things civil. Ibny stutters awkwardly, his subtle shielding of himself from elemental magic suggests a careful intelligence, yet he seems a goon, could this be part of a still-greater game?

No, he accidentally drugs himself with powerful healing tea and falls asleep.

Then the subject turns to magic and Golshan fails one of a long string of CHA rolls. He gets into an argument with Gourishankar over the validity of Nightmare study vs the weird combo of Diabolism/Spiritualism/Elementalism he is into. Thalia interjects to raise the temperature (she does speak) and things get heated.

Gourishankar angrily challenges Golshan to face the manifold universal horrors he has witnessed, Golshan accepts and Feruz very reluctantly goes with him to try to stop the whole situation exploding.

Left alone with a hot girl and a sleeping Ibny, Ashtar, while high as fuck and now an opium addict, still manages to put the moves on Thalia. They exchange stories of love and this ends up with Thalia first crying all over Ashtar, then lying in her lap.

Gourishankar shows Feruz and Golshan his Warp Room. Feruz is too scared to look at the infinite demons outside the window but Golshan easily eyes them and seems deeply unimpressed. He tries to be nice about it but Gourshankar gets even angrier & takes them to his spirit box room.

Ibny is sleeping happily.

In the spirit box room Golshan eyes the terrifying deserts of black sand, inverted pyramids, nightmare boxes and easily communes with the spirit of a Fire Elemental Queen killed in a terrifying interdimensional war. Its easy for him, EASY.

Although Golshan tries to be chill and to calm things down, Gourishankar gets VERY UPSET. Feruz just manages to talk him down from violence but they have to leave right now.

Elemental ghost spirits dump them back out of the tower. But not before Gourishankar extracts a promise/agreement/vague handshake/possible headnod about the idea of Feruz persuading Thalia to return to him in return for cash/favours/magic.

................................

TRAVEL TIME OCCLUDED AS IBNY WAS SLEEPIN'

................................

NEXT VALLEY OVER

The team is pretty tired so enters the next valley towards the end of the day and doesn't notice that it is a mercenary encampment until its waaaay too late. They are surrounded by Beetle Riders and 5 Giant Crayfish, the armourd vehicle of Yoon-Suin.

They are cornered, questioned and searched. Their weapons are taken from them. They keep things vague and Feruz cleverly and bravely manages to hide the black stone of Gagan Gnywali in a small boys crotch.

The leader of this group is Ayush Karki, wearer of a glorious gilded helm of crustacean control. he invites (orders) them to speak in his tent.

Ashtar stays outside and charms the young cavalrymen by appreciated their toughness, competence and masculinity, which they enjoy. They tell her about the temple of Tato Sampa in the middle of Syr Darya - the temple of the old goddess of the Rajas, a goddess of pure pleasure.

Inside, Golshan, Ibny and Feruz fail to make a great impression. They tell Ayush Karki some stuff but keep a lot back, they don't really explain much about where they are from they do talk about the bandits infesting the village of Gopya that they encountered & say they are pilgrims from Chandra Khanevala.

Ayush is deeply interested in this. He has been sent by the Ogre Magi to take down the bandit Gagan Gnywali as he is a threat to the Oliarchies. Outside the beetle riders tell a slightly different story, the Magi want Gnyawali gone as his abducting and seducing or the wives of plantation owners and his many dramas are causing havoc in the agricultural hinterland of Syr Darya.

The guys notice, slowly, that a man working for Ayush is called Mithalesh, the same name as a guard they met at the Hire Mira diamond mine, and has the same face, a younger face. This freaks them out. They try telling Ayush that they have seen a man with the same face but he seems indifferent to this knowledge. Maybe just because he thinks they are dumb and/or suspicious foreigners.

During the meeting, Mithaliesh seems to be dicking them around generally but they can't pin anything on them.

Ayush insists that they accompany him back east to check on the bandits & identify them. Since he has 30 armed men, they can't find a way to get out of it. Mithalesh suggests that Lady Thalia be allowed to continue east with her servants.

They are taken to sleeping areas where they are watched over by five bored, armed, men.

Ashtar is allowed to go with Thalia to the commanders tent (he is leaving it to them). Mithalesh will guard them.

The boys hatch a plot to escape, get back their weapons & yaks & get outta there. Feruz casts sleep, one guard remains awake so Feruz creeps on the dude & tries to Solid Snake the guy. This half works & they go down.

Meanwhile, Ashtar is comforting Thalia, when someone quietly calls her to the rear of the tent. Its Feruz, he cuts through the tent and tells them he has a plan to escape. Ashtar is waaay not into this but Thalia is, so they sneak out. Ashtar slapsticks her way into making a shitload of noise, but like the business with Solid Snake Feruz the guards just roll really really badly and all of this shit passes off without notice.

Golshan, Ibny and Feruz pile on this poor guy & manage to extract the location of their weapons from him then they beat him senseless, then Ibny robs everyone's pockets (only XP of the session). Then Ibny and Golshan (Feruz still a nevernude) change into Guards uniforms.

The other Feruz tries to persuade Ashtar and Thalia to a plan of seducing Ayush Karki, stealing his helm of crustacean control and causing chaos. Ahstar has begun to seriously suspect this un-Feruz-like Feruz and demands to see his pornography. He vacillates and she punches him in the throat.

exeunt media res.



SESSION 11

PART ONE - CHAOS IN THE CAMP

The valley is lit only by the campfires of the sleeping beetle riders. As we open, Feruz, Ibny and Golshan have overpowered their immediate guards and Golshan and Ibny have changed into their clothes, Banu materialises from the dreamlike/shadow/parallel world and slips back into this one, in the night, he witnesses a beautiful riding beetle tied up in a stockade and wishes to bond with it and Ashtar and Thalia have become suspicious of what they now think is an illusory Feruz who claims he is rescuing them.

Golshan summons a blessing and fucks it up, banishing any curses on the nearby guards. Feruz wanders towards the centre of the camp while Golshan and Ibny sneak around to the south in their guards uniforms, looking for their stuff.

Banu calls down a blessing upon the wonderful beetle before him, this gives him a mild magical embolism but otherwise works well. It does alarm the beetle riders to the north of him.

Ashtar punches 'Feruz' right in the throat.

The illusion is revealed! Before her stands a three headed, black skinned, red-eyed apelike creature with outward-facing palms, a Greater Rakhosh!

While Banu messes with his beetle and Ibny and Golshan sneak around, a battle breaks out between Ashtar and the Rakohsh which alarms the whole camp.

Ashtar successfully shrinks its ribcage and the creatures lungs and viscera leak from its throat. The Rakhosh counters by poly-morphing itself down to a scale to fit its new bones. However, this uses up the last of its shapechanging ability and it is now trapped at a dwarflike size.

Thalia screams "A Rakhosh!", the creature slices open Ahstars arm with a razor sharp claw, causing inexorable bloodloss.

Ashtar swings wildly for the creature but Feruz, following the commotion, blunders into the blow. He clumsily tackles the Rakhosh but falls.

Meanwhile, Ibny and Golshan have their escape plan complicated by the supernatural battle they can hear, but not see, in the centre of the camp. Golshan wants his stuff back, Ibny is indecisive. He would really like to mess with those giant riding crayfish. The commotion masks their movements for now but could endanger them long-term.

Banu mounts his beautiful beetle. Confused men try to pull him down but, exercising brilliant instinctual beetle-management, he leaps into the air, in a completely random direction.

Men close in on the now-revealed Rakhosh from every side. It evades Ashtar and Feruz's clumsy attacks and flies cackling into the night sky.

Only to collide with Banu and his beetle. All of them crash into the approaching beetle riders. The beetles legs are broken and Banu is utterly disconsolate, the Rakhosh is somewhat perturbed and dazed. It hesitates just long enough for Ayush Karki, the Mercinary leader to arrive and see it directly.

It swears vengeance on Banu and Ashtar and escapes in flight.

It would seem that confusion has reached maximum levels but Ibny now executes his 'plan' and terrifies the Crayfish with an illusion. The difficulty of maintaining psychic control via his magic helmet of crustacean control, drives Ayush Karki to his kees.

Golshan and Ibny use the chaos to slip back to Ashtars side. Despite questionable magical healing attempts, she is bleeding heavily and arguing with Karki while Thalia tries to bind her wound. Golshan and Ibny try to act as guards but Karki sees through their deception and draws his sword.

Ashtar aces another CHA roll and Thalia backs up her explanation. Karki is mentally broken by the revelation that his long term friend Mithalesh was a horrible shapechanging vampire chaos monster.

Ibny and Banu work through the night and, as an intermittently genius-level surgeon, Ibny manages to use radical surgery to save the life of the innocent beetle, earning the deep admiration and respect of the young beetle-rider Anup.

Without clear leadership, the mercenaries sink into purposeless and fractions lethargy. Not helped by Ahstar and Golshan filling Karkis head with Opium and questionable philosophy. Ibny also helps degrade the morale of the group by playing on their fears and identity issues.

The team rest happily, knowing the mercs have too much Rakhosh-induced PTSD to command them to do anything. Karki seems persuaded by Ashtars cult of pleasure and easy access to drugs.

After a day of rest, the team try to talk several Mercs into giving up their beetles, but even without a clear leader they still find themselves trapped in an oppressive social system and unforgiving environment, plus they can't afford the bribes.

Feruz does make a deal with a reasonable seeming fellow, he hands over 30 silver and the man promises him a Beetle which he will find 5 miles west, by a huge grey rock shaped like an eagle. Feruz is pleased to have disposed of his ass roll.



PART TWO - THE MYSTERY OF NEELAMBAR

The group set off on the morning of the 8th day of their travel from the Temple. So, roughly a week and two days since they emerged from the Veins, itself a journey of uncertain length.

They pass through the Ansari opium plantation, (the same Opium that Ashtar is currently addicted to), and find, for the first time, a real road, a crossroads, and a Yak-Exchange station.

(They are approaching the Yak-line, the altitude beneath which Yaks, which cannot sweat, will find it difficult to live. Syr Darya is built just below this line, presumably to protect it from the Yak-Man rampages of former ages.)

They encounter Rishbah, a Yak-Exchange merchant, and begin careful and lucid negotiations.

Ashtar uses the power of neolibral economic philosophy and does a straight exchange of Yak for Camel (Bactrian).

Golshan just takes the money and gets 75 silver for his Yak.

Ibny pays extra to buy a riding-beetle.

Banu can only afford a small beetle.

Feruz keeps his Yak (for now).

Ashtar really needs opium and this is the place where her brand is grown. After hearing from Rishabh that his friend, the plantation foreman, has dissappeard, probably gone to Syr Darya to try to make money from a new preparation method he created, they decide to go speak to the plantation owner.

They go to the house and Thalia Buddacharyas high status, and familiarity with the family, gets them easy access.

They are taken to a classical boring room, where guests are taken to be ritually bored to confirm their identity. (Ogre Magi can shapechange and hate to be bored.) After several hours Ibny and Banu consider stealing one of the exceptionally boring paintings, but are found in the act by the Butler Baldeen.

They are taken to meet with Rishav Ansari - a fucking deluded idiot in a ver short robe, with rather muscular thighs.

He rambles in a deranged manner for a while about the missing Neelambar. The group manage to persuade him to accept their help as detectives.

Ashtar and Ibny examine 'the numbers' and despite having little experience with either the language or buisness they notice some minor embezzlement and a deep history of growing slow resentment.

They illustrate this to Rishav with a CSI-style series of red threads and wall charts. Then they ask to interrogate the butler Baldeen.

Baldeen immediately tells them that Neelambar probably went to Syr Darya to make money off his new opium preparation methods. The team seem unwilling to accept this as an answer and push for a deeper conspiracy.




SESSION 12

PART ONE - ITS COARSE AND ROUGH AND IRRITATING AND IT GETS EVERYWHERE

Evening Day 8


The group finishes up interrogating Baldeen the butler and finally lets him go. At a loss for any meaningful action, they wander around. Golsha and Feruz go to check on Shisav Ansari and Ibny looks for something to steal.

Feruz finds a young maid, Buphendra, standing listening at the door to Ansaris room. He joins her in listening to the amorous sounds from within and takes a peek through the keyhole. Golshan is unmoved.

Ibny finds a glorious sand mandala laid out on a huge copper plate. Unfortunately, the fates are against him and he tips it right the fuck over, spilling the sand and sending a gong sound through the house.

The door swings open and Feruz is presented with a robed, but engorged Rishav, who asks some dificult questions. Golshan tries to persuade him that the house is being attacked, a lie aided by the laughter of a Rakhosh coming from down the corridor. All set off to face and confront the beast.

Ibny has in fact summoned the illusion of a Rakhos to disguise his crime. Golshan is unaware of this when he kicks down the door and attacks it with his sword. The illusion disappears before anyone else arrives, but despite the total absence of meaningful evidence, Rishav is convinced that there is indeed a Rakhosh somewhere about, either shapechanged or, more likely, invisible.

He immediately surrounds himself with guards, calls for his Theramin player and starts hitting the meth.

The situation deteriorates from there. Despite their best efforts to calm him down, Rishave will not let his guard or staff rest until the invisible demon is found. They stagger about searching constantly and jabbing holes in the walls, ceiling and furniture while Rishav gets more and more high and paranoid. Golshan & Ibny briefly consider finding the body of a Tiger and sewing on its paws the other way round but alas they are unable to locate the resources required.

Ibny tries to perform a ritual to sooth Rishav, Golshan assists with nightmare psychotherapy, the do manage to get him to swithc from the meth to his families opium, which he grinds the fuck into his bleeding eyes to reduce his Rakoshaphobia.

The group stumble to sleep in the wrecked home. Golshan strikes up a conversation with the maid about Nightmares. She takes his cultic enquiry for therapeutic aid, his sinister skull shape for nobility and his strange silences for depth and seems like she is into him. Then he fucks a roll up and she leaves, he will never know why.

Day 9

The group wakes up early, Golshan is VERY keen to get back on-mission and they effectively flee the house. The cries of Rishav Ansari and his wife follow them "The Rakhosh has Taken my Eyes!"

They return at speed to the Yak exchange. Feruz briefly considers theft but thinks better of it. The group exchange their remaining Yak for two beetles, aided by Ibnys surprisingly effective offer of an anti-Rakhosh charm, which must have pressed a button with Buphedra the Yak Merchant as he is very eager to aquire it and utterly indifferent to any proof of efficacy.


PART TWO - BLIGHT AND A FREE BEE AT THE HYOJU VALLEY

The group has an unaventful days travel moving ever westward, down into the valleys of Sughud. Around mid afternoon they come into the valley of the Hyoju Plantation.

The great North Road leading right to Syr Darya is within sight only a few miles away!

However - a few things attract the groups notice first;

- The people here seem unusually not-horribly-abused (they wear clothes and actually wave hello).

- It seems this is because they are not actually slaves, they are paid workers.

- There is some kind of blight destroying the crops.

- This opium (while still addictive) has actual healing properties, making one of the few actually good things they have found so far in Yoon-Suin.

SO; purely because they are SUPER GOOD GUYS, and even though they are nearly in sight of their goal, our heroes decide to get involved and try to solve this mystery - with REASON.

From speaking to Shrinder Terring, the chief tester, they discover the history of the Hyoju plantation; the Hyoju were a noble family outside Syr Darya when the Shikk did its terrible deed. Since they were left whole, but largely dispossessed, they retreated here, a few days away and planted their special opium. The workers here are the descendants of the house Staff and family servants, and for this reason, they have always been treated as employees, rather than slaves. The massive value of the Hyoju opium also helps with that. The family has remained relatively poor and low status compared to others, largely because of the expense and suspicious nature of treating their workers like humans.

The team investigate by testing the various samples of blighted crop and asking questions about its reoccurance and pattern of transmission. Ibny thinks the problem may be a natural one.

They travel out to the centre of the blight. Digging into the earth and testing in various places reminds them of various kinds of Alkalai alchemical runoff from strange experiments and proto-industry in the Kingdom of Dreams, but there is no industry here.

Observation leads them to the suspected centre of the blight. They think an underground stream at this location may be poisoned and questioning Terring leads them to the glacier above them in the northern mountains.

They ride to the glacier and find the path of its summer meltwater. The path dissapears into the earth in a hip-high passage.

This of course, presents no fear to our utterly insane PCs and they pop right in, using Zoafs fire lantern (which then now/still/again have).

Feruz takes the lead as they crawl for hours beneath the earth (mere hours to our heroes presenting no particular challenge).

Feruz hears a strange moaning coming from ahead. Since he can actually understand the language of Earth Elementals (see sessions 1-5) he understands the depressive incel-like laments of the unearthly, lonely, self-loathing creature ahead.

The team makes a noise of some kind and the voice dies away.

They arrive at a deep pool, which must fill over summer and remain liquid in winter, feeding into the aquifer beneath the fields. The place smells like poison and baking soda.

Feruz calls out in the language of Earth Elementals.

A creature turns beneath the water, looks at him and rises up. A sickening collection of coagulated toxins, heavy metals and dissolving alkalai salts, it lives but only hates itself, and others. Feruz tries to be nice and offer it the Amber Cat they found in a Nightmare. This does not work.

The creature attacks!

Feruz, ever-crafty, had already prepared one of his two remaining vials of acid and manages to hurl it right into the creatures mouth.

A natural 20, perfect weapon choice and abnormally low hp roll for the monster make for an arguably-anticlimactic combat. It dies and the team tears up its valuable mineral corpse.

On their return they are, for once, acclaimed at heroes. Treated to an endles variety of Yak products and feited by all. The plantation owner Rakhesh Hyoju places himself at their service and promises to write their names into the family history.

DAY 10


The next day, they are waved on their journey by grateful workers and, perhaps more usefully, gifted a small bale of the expensive Hyoju opium and a FREE GIANT BEE. A dangerous, beautiful, expensive creature with no human sympathy and a poisoned sting. Ibny takes charge of the Bee and they finally go south on the Great Northern Road, Syr Darya only a days hard travel away!



PART THREE - THE ROAD TO SYR DARYA.

Our strange group are by no means the strangest on the Great North Road. They encounter huge long ass trains carrying silk and tea, Sybarites on gasping yaks, a pilgrim idol seller riding an ancient, huge and wingless bee (who condemned them as elitists), yak-produce merchants selling yak milk, yak cheese, yak meat, yak wool and yak-bone charms (proof against yak-energy), 77 soldiers, 8 mantis-riders, 3 vulture masked priests, 4 crabmen cracked and padded for the cold guarding an iron cage pulled by six camels and pushed on iron wheels by twelve slaves containing a yak man bound in chains and trapped in a silver mandala in the cage, and six sets of paris of nasna mercenaries looking for work.

The only extended contacts were with Mukti Rimal, a trader in Velvet Worms heading to Syr Darya, who took a liking to Ibny and who said he would look them up, Syam of Lao-Phun, the southern river-tribe itinerant tattooist who charmed Ibny with the thought of a Chandra Chanevala Tattoo, and who also said he would look for them in the city, and a crazed fortune teller with one eye taped shut, riding a Bactrian Camel lead by a madman.

The fortune teller initially failed to impress, but after his augeries persuaded Golshan of his accuracy, he predicted that Ibny would encounter great evil, at the sign of the mountain, behind the veil.

Eventually, as the sun set behind the mountains of the moon, they finally came in sight of the city itself and looked down on Syr Darya. Four squares within a circle in a square within a square within a square, itself surrounded by a circle and the final wall itself a square.

Right in the centre of the city, a huge, pink, temple caught the last light of the dying sun and blazed vermilion against the blue-on-blue stone.

Before them, between them and the city, was the dark pavilion of an Ogre Magi. A huge, blue, tusked woman with black-indigo hair, reclined on a velvet couch in the centre of a blue-black pavilion, idly pulling surgeon from a teak barrel and eating them.



SESSION 13

PART ONE - INTERVIEW WITH AN OGRE

Ashtar breaks the ice and goes to introduce herself to the Ogre Lady lounging by the road.

Her name is Suko Ogai. They open with some minor deceptions, Ashtar pretends to be someone else. Banu, Feruz and Golshan turn up. Ashtar lights a cigar from the fire.

Ogai serves them mild opium and Sturgeon from her teak cask of live fish. She offers them tea served with purple sand. The sand is spat out and lies leave with it, meaning the drinker cannot speak a deliberate lie.

They exchange tales. Ogai tells them her story, she has been wandering Yoon-Suin for 50 years and now must return to the city for at least 100 years before she can leave again. So she pauses here on the borders of the city, waiting for the last star to emerge before she goes home.

Feruz flirts with her and this goes down very well. He ends up sitting on or near her lap.

The team tell a variety af incomplete truths and crazy details, easier on Banus part as he has massive memory gaps and often doesn't really remember what is going on. Ashtar lights a cigar and Banu licks her eyeball to get some Opium dregs, and apparently familiar relationship between them.

Ogai brings out her dwarf and monkeys to dance and be admired. They negotiate, largely exchanging treasures for cash.

The Stormsheep body is brought out (not sure if this was exchanged?).

The Death Mask Golshan took from the Veins of the Earth is displayed. Ogai negotiates strongly but ultimatley defeated by her own tea, exchanged a substantial amount of gems and several magic items for the mask.

To seal the deal she low-key requests a night with Feruz. The team confir and decide to pimp him out.

Ogai takes Feruz to her tent to read him poetry. Outside the team chat to her dwarf, who tells them about his life and travels and tries to show the the Ogre Magi's Armadillo, but it will not uncurl.

Inside, a complex seduction takes place. Ogai comes on heavily and says she needs a massage. Feruz distracts with poetry. She reads him her poetry, it's not bad. Feruz deflects again with art and wants to draw her. This lasts a while. They talk about their difficult upbringings. Feruz's father never really understood his art and he had a hard time in school. Ogai was born of the Apocalypse tree that links this reality to infinite time, her mother was the multi-headed dragon beyond the skin of the word - possibly Tiamat. Dad never understood her either. He did give her a mysterious white fruit that gave her a vision of a future apocalypse but whatever

Feruz confesses to his fear of voyeurs, and to being a nevernude. She turns out the lights and they successfully bone.

Cut to outside, Ogai happily makes the exchange and advises them on some Syr Darya stuff. If they are looking to make a contact, speak to Youdon at the Old Geographical Society, he might be able to help them find an armourer. She tells Feruz to look her up, sends her cargo to the city and flies up into the night air.

--------------------------

PART TWO - THE WALLS OF SYR DARYA

The team travel down into the valley of Syr Darya. They first go to the Northern Gate, the one closest them. The vast moon-bronze doors are open only a crack. People are going in and out

Going to the city - the team go to the northern gate, the crab gate, but only women, children animals etc allowed in that way. They walk all the way around the city to the Eastern Gate, the Yak gate and enter Syr Darya.

Looming buildings, blue stone, near-empty streets, narrow alleyways. They go through gate of the Rajas on the Eastern side, above the gate is the statue of a Raja nailing a Yak man with a spear from horseback.

They find the Blue Snail! An old palace with a frize or front that has loads of snails in amorous conjunction. The door is open. It's about 10pm. All they need to do is go in, book some rooms and sleep.

-----------------------

AT THE BLUE SNAIL

At the bar a gentleman of Jukai is arguing with a Generican Wizard about the possibility of circumnavigating the world in 100 days 'by mortal means'. A Hyena-Man and Flamenco Prince are drinking in booth. A Slug-Man dimensional Sorcerer going on about "the angles". A ruined Ghost Hunter from the forest of Lahag is drinking his life away. A cracked female adventurer from the Land of Lamentations watches the room in a paranoid manner. An argument between courtesans about to be settled with a shoe-fight. A startlingly beautiful Nasna courtesan. A creep in the lobby trying to sell Sipopa. Man with magnificent moustache and long European Sword hanging around in the Lobby. Tourists wandering around pointing and sketching things. Old man playing Go against Nasna. At the desk an old, robust man with remarkable beard, white hair and strong peasant hands is arguing with the concierge, he wants a new room.

While Golshan goes to book in, a fellow called Chopec tries to sell the group something called 'Sipopa' but is chased off by the bouncers for dealing drugs in the hotel.

The night-concierge is Kochai Sadozai.

The man in front of Golshan is arguing with Sadozai about his room. He is tired of stalkers and fans, he wants a new room with a secret number and he wants it now. Sandozai seems unable or unwilling to help. Golshan sees an opportunity and offers to swap rooms with this individual.

The guy turns round and Feruz instantly recognises this as Master Dawa Yonten, the reclusive artist who radically changed the history of art in Yoon-Suin and beyond in his youth, 30 years ago, the legend of the art world! Feruz makes a little nod and Yonten storms off in a huff ranting about 'fans'

Golshan follows & tries to get his room number, but then offers him some potion for a service.

Golshan deals with rooms - they hire a pair with a connecting door. Golshan pays in a single shard of Jet, which impresses Sadozai. They have two decent rooms for a week. Golshan sees the lugguage upstairs and sets about bribing maids and Yonten to construct a creepy meditation tent in the middle of his room. One exactly like that in the room of the exiles in the temple of Chandra Chanevala.

While all this is going on Banu wanders off to the bar and encounters strange mercinaries, one a Hyena Man called Biter and the other a Flamenco Prince called Cylodon Kempi, he offers to buy them a drink, which they accept, and on realising he has no spare cash, uses their money instead. At the bar a man pokes him in the back to see if he is real and he turns round to see Konchi Himenko, a Ghost Hunte from Lahag with massive paranoia and ghost fear.

Banu invites Himenko back to the booth where things become extremely awkward until Himenko lets slip that he escaped Lahag after the total annihilation of his group, with only Haunted Diamonds to show for it. Biter and Prince Kempi keep Banu around to aid them in pressing Himenko for more information about the stones. Banu seems utterly unaware if what is going on.

Ashtar bribes the resteraunt into staying open this late and takes Thalia to a huge meal where she successfully persuades her to attempt to rob her magician husband through some kind of legal fraud. They are pretty loud about this but luckily the resteraunt is open.

Feruz encounters a younbg man called Bajwa, who worships Master Yonten and is effectively stalking him. He has an elaborate plan to locate Yonten by pretending to be a young lady pregnant with his child. Feruz is a big supporter of this idea but they are interrupted by Chopec, who has snuck back into the Hotel, who wants to involve him in a Sipopa deal.

Feruz lets him sit down and seems happily engaged with both the Sipopa deal and complex cross-dressing scheme.



SESSION 14

Our team wakes up after a HARD FRAME the previous night and find Golshan has gone off somewhere. They try to remember what they did.

Banu remembers deliberately screwing over Prince Cylodon Kempi and Biter by playing the fool and tipping their scheme to the Ghost Hunter Konchi Himenko. Himenko gifted him with a Diamond from the forests of Lahag, with a warning that it was haunted. Banus still has this, though he doesn't reveal it to the team.

Ashtar remembers completely screwing up her fraud scheme with Thalia by confessing that should doesn't really understand numbers, finances or paperwork.

Feruz recalls getting rip of the Sipopa Dealer Chopec and arranging with the obsessive fan Bajwa to bring a fine maternity dress in his size to the Blue Snail by mid-day.

Ibny can't remember how they even got to the city.

They decide to head for a market to get that damn dress and head out.

In the lobby they meet Esen Marri - the day shit concierge at the Blue Snail and Ibny is told the story of how the hotel came to exist.



GELEK AND THE FUNERAL

Out in Syr Darya they are on their way to the Crab, or 'Pura' Market when they encounter an ageing Pura opium addict, Gelek, beset by figments. Gelek turns a strange golden coin in his fingers which seem to be stained orange.  At the same time they see something remarkable, what looks like a Nasna Funeral.

Purple-robed Nasna walk in pairs. Guards with ebony spears and silver tips, censer bearers casting water about, gongs being banged, rows of paintings, some recent, some terrifying, some truly ancient. A beautiful half-widow. Purple-painted Crab-Men pulling a black cart with silver and bronze set coffin. This is the funeral of Youdron Drakthonpa - a high status individual, 5th in line to the family of the Raja.

Gelek says the Nasna are not meant to die and that there will be trouble amongst them now.

This procession pushes the group to the side of the street where they press against a wall with the addict Gelek, who begs money from them and promises much. Ashtar bribes him with opium and the promise of cash and he says he will guide them to the Crab market.

They make it there and Ashtar used Locate Object to find the dress they need, its in a wardrobe in a crappy wardrobe store and the old lady that runs it won't sell it wihout selling the wardrobe too. Eventually they just buy the whole thing.

Banu goes looking for a jewlery merchant and finds Seidons Bejewlerry - run by an idiot who Banu tricks into giving up info on how to find a better jeweler. Seldon says they need an introduction to a better market, they can appeal to the Yellow City Embassy, serve the temple of Tato Sampa or try the tea shop of Waheed Qsmari.

Once Ashtar learns how the temple of Tato Sampa works, she wants to do nothing else, she Banu and Ibny make their way there while Feruz takes the whole wardrobe (carried by Gelek and Gendun) back to the Blue Snail.

At the temple of Tato Sampa the team enjoy the huge two-headed vulture statue and martial atmosphere. The Vulture-masked priests have little interest in Ashtar but are really fascinated by Ibny and Banu.

Those on trial who appeal as worshipers of Lobi Pas can always ask for trial by combat, so long as the fight is as exactly even as possible. The priests have had a pair of alleged child abusers in custody for a year, waiting for their trial. They used to be larger men but a year in the dungeon has reduced them to something like the weakness of Banu and Ibny.

Banu and Ibny agree to the trial, hoping to get better access to the city if they survive.

On the way back to the Blue Snail, Feruz & Co encounter a strange figure who seems to be made of rags and dripping gold coins. Feruz is pretty sure this is something to do with Nightmare. He manages to trap it in the wardrobe and tips it over, running off with the dress. He tells Gendun and Gelek to pick up the coins and follow him.

At the Blue Snail Feruz meets Bajwa the stalking fan who is thrilled to see him and immediately runs upstairs to try on the dress. Feruz follows to their room where Gendun and Gelek both lie down, seemingly deeply tired. Feruz averts his eyes while Bajwa changes and is surprised to find that he passes really really well as a young pregnant woman.

Thalia emerges in the middle of this and announces that she is teaching the children poetry.

Ibny and Banu try to find a way to gain some special advantage but are unable to pull off any tricks, though Ibny attempts a distraction with a sermon to Chandra Khanevala.

In the audience, Ashtar places bets with a mercenary captain, her black opium against his silver.

Gendun and Gelek seems ill. Gelek especially, Feruz asks Gendun to give Gelek all the gold coins. Then drags Gelek downstairs though he seems deeply ill. They await the 'scene' that Bajwa intends to cause.

Banu and Ibny are chained together and given an iron bar each. Two Generican foreigners, 'Fil-Ip and Os-kar', emerge in a similar state, big men but badly decayed from captivity.

The fight begins - Banu and Ibny attempt a failed clothesline which leaves everyone in the dirt. Ibny is quickly wounded in the face. Banu avoided most damage. Eventually Ibny manages to land a blow that shatters Os-Kars kneecap.

With each round of the fight, Ashtar raises her bet with the mercenary captain.

Ibny takes another brutal blow, now to the throat, but is still going. Banu manages to take Os-kars other kneecap out, leaving him crawling. The team use their opponents immobility to set up another clothesline attempt, which goes disastrously wrong.

In the Blue Snail, Feruz manfully plays his ridiculous part in the arranged drama. The cross-dressed Bajwa eventually breaks down laughing, then keeps laughing, and grows, and changes and grows shark teeth, until they become an avuncular, pot-bellied, shark-toothed, sky-blue, white haired Ogre Magi in a yak-wool ‘suit’, big jewelled cravat, pepper-red jacket, mustard trousers and green silk slippers. - This is Waheed Qsmari.

Ibny is blinded by his own blood. Os-Kar tries climbing Banu, who flails at him and Fil-Ip. On one hit point Ibny goes beseark and smashed Os-Kar in the skull, putting him down. Both then team up on Fil-Ip, smashing him to the ground.

Ibny ends up with massive sustained facial wounds, Banu hurt somewhat. Ashtar calls in her succesful bet with very bad grace.

Qsmari finds Gelek dead. He and Feruz team up to investigate with Qsmari acting as Feruz's 'watson'. They control the scene and go in search of the Wardrobe. They find it untouched and Qsmari discovers an alternate dimension inside it. They take it black to the Blue Snail where they find Gendun nearly dead of the poisoned coins from Nightmare. Feruz recalls the healing opium they posses and asks Qsmari to get Yak blood.

Qsmari flies off, leaving Feruz alone with a sick Gendun and the wardrobe to Nightmare, which now starts to open.

He tips it over and sits on it till Qsmari gets back

At the Temple of Tato Sampa, Ibny and Banu have served justice and won the respect of the priests and the crowd. The priest Tsela promises them free healing at the temple of Sanco Hunhos and gives them a basket of Frogs to that effect. She also promises to introduce them and sponsor them for access to the Dragon Market. They will bring the required details to them at the Blue Snail.



SESSION 15

The team re-unites back in their Hotel room in the Blue Snail. Present are Firouz (with a small Waheed Qsmari observing on the shoulder), Ibny (with a somewhat mashed face), Banu (apparently fine), Ashtar (nearly out of Opium), Golshan and his recently acquired Crab Man slave Buni (some guy in the street was trying to get rid of the crab and forced the contract into Golshans hands before he could react).

The team takes some time to catch up and discuss each others adventures. Ashtar and Abny complain about the low standard of literature (Court poets paid by the word).

Eventually, Buni pulls open the wardrobe door to reveal the alter-dimension within.

The group enter. Ashtar examines the puce flowers growing between the paving stones and tries to haul one up to throw through a window. She suffers some kind of entropic effect and her clothes decay into even more rag-like rags. Ibny takes the opportunity to sample some of the strange flowers and take some of their juices. Banu tastes them and starts hearing the sound of locusts.

A thudding sound announces the arrival of wanderers whose feet are swollen with Elephantisis, they slowly charge towards the team. The PC's have already broken into a building to their left. Ibny and Firouz hold the door while Golshan and Ashtar explore deeper. Buni jams the doorway in with another door while Banu quickly takes a hit of 'Unceasing Yellow Eye' opium to banish his delusions and summons a stone golem and orders it to smash its way through the building.

The team move north and arrive via different entries into another large square.

They hear the booming sound of giant feet, the fabric sky of this realm is lifted up by the head of an enormous approaching giant. A huge, fat, pale, weeping woman, her black hair and white clothes sealed to her obese flesh by the river of tears that runs continually from her eyes.

The team immediately attacks with magic. Ashtar shrinks the giant. Banu accidentally casts 'Truth Telling' on everyone. Golshan blesses everyone. Buni leaps to the attack.

The giant slips on its own tears and falls into the square. Buni slices into it and tries to climb its giatn face to get at its eyes, but falls.

Ibny (I think) accidentally casts 'sleep' on the entire group. Only Golshan, Buni and Ibny remain awake but they are enough to drive off the creature, who escapes by clambering over the roofs.

Buni pokes the rest of the group awake and Ashtar manages to control 'locate object' enough to get a general fix on the location of the nightmares crown. The team moves off in that direction.

They come upon a square full of seemingly inanimate piles of rag. Ibny investigates one, the rags come alive. Most of the PC's form and fan at the doorway and battle the horde of rag people, who are neither strong nor brave fighters. Firouz runs through the square to the other side and tries to lever open a door.

The PC's slowly hack their way through the monsters, suffering only occasionally due to their ability to burst into clouds of hallucinogenic opium when hit. Firouz manages to get the door open just in time to escape most of the attention of the group surrounding him.

The rag-people facing the main group break and flee, dropping golden coins. The team sees Firouz has escaped and chase after the rag people chasing after him.

Firouz finds another doorway and opens it to discover the Cathedral of the Pipe. The rag-people chasing him catch up but are so cowardly and afraid that they throw themselves at his feet to beg for somethingorother. The approach of Buni frightens them off.

The team enter the cathedral and find the Saint of the Pipe, a preserved corpse in the centre, clutching a silver opium pipe. Buni immediately approaches and grabs it. The Saint animates, screams and tears at Bunis eyes, doing serious damage and blinding the Crab.

Buni strikes back, doing some damage to the Saint, but snapping the pipe in two. The saint tears the crab apart as the team mob it, ultimately Buni is killed and the Saint destroyed. Golshan says not to worry as this is TNU and raise dead is cheap and easy as fuck.

Firouz had already grabbed on half of the pipe and run for it. Outside he encountered the second giant, a huge Father figure who knocked him literally out of the street. Luckily this is nightmare so gravity doesn't work as normal.

Ashtar leaves the temple and successfully shrinks the giants kneecap, crippling it, though biofeedback does damage to her own knee. It strikes at her but misses. Golshan grabs the other pipe half and Ibny grabs Buni's body, they and Banu run like fuck.

The giant tries to climb after them but its ruined leg forces it to crawl over the buildings, meaning the team all escape with the divided crown, thereby closing the gate.


SYR DARYA SESSION 16 - THE DRAGON MARKET

Everyone gets dressed up

Ashtar - Tourbillon dress with bolero, using materials like that of Issey Miyake, with a cape and lady pauldrons. Makeup and hair a bit like that girl who became a robot in Metropolis. Gvenchy 2015 style facial jewlery. And some Marianna Harutunian collection accessories.

Golshan - 2015 Issey Miyake menswear cult robe. Facepaint, not sure if they do black eye contacts in Yoon-Suin, but doubt Golshan needs them. Ceremonial sash dyed in a gradient from bright Yellow to Dark Purple. Faintly bioluminescent if possible. Depicting a selection of nightmare creatures and imagery including the false children, the pale giants, the drow from Golshan's vision, the amber cat, and at least one nightmare of the artist Golshan eventually selects

Feruz - A woven wicker beetle shell, painted to iridesce. An apple-green robe with drooping winglike sleeves and Monal and violet-tailed sylph feathers interwoven like an elegant but ugly bird. 100 small beetle pendants set in resin to glitter and gleam, hanging from a shirt of blue silk, paisley with bird shapes, and beneath it he chest hair shaved into a beetle-ish symbol.

Thalia in Vivienne Westwood 2013.

Children and Gendun attired as pictured above.

.....................

Feruz, Ibny and Buni have a non-canon adventure somewhere else for this session.

......................

It's roughly 7 days since the last adventure.

Tsala the Priest of Lobi Pas turns up at the Blue-Snail apartment and informs the team that tonight there will be a reception at the old Octopi Breeding Pits and they are expected to attend to be allowed entry to the Dragon Market.

The group vacillate for a moment before clambering into the Carriage and racing off through the dark streets of Syr Darya. They encounter something of a carriage-jam but Banu finds a way around it while also casting a ritual to summon a monster to announce them.

The crew arrive at the old Octopi Breeding pits. The scent of spices and opium wafts from within. Black beetle carriages are ranked up along the road. Guards are visible at the doors and on the roof, some carrying dragon-headed gunpowder weapons.

Banu casts his spell and summons a Gorgimera, a creature with the hindquaters of a gorgon, forequaters of a lion, and body and wings of a red dragon. This creature enters ahead of the group and announces them, then disappears, to a smattering of applause.

The group enters and see the tiled breeding pools have been drained and are now filled with guests and patrons. There are a large number of Magi here. Including Sugo Ogai, Feruz's squeeze, who no-one has the time to talk to as Feruz is having a non-canon adventure.

Tsala arrives next and quickly reminds the group that at the end of the night they will have to exhibit or declare some skill or quality to illustrate their 'Crystal Dragon' nature. The group splits up, each member attempting to penetrate the social circle around a particular dominant Magi.

Ashtar advances directly on Magi Ung Roth, a buffoonish but charismatic figure in an Ulfire Nerhu jacket wearing topaz jewels, surrounded by admirers and talking about markets and trade. A low level beta orbiter attempts to deflect Ashtar but her magnificent fashion easily resists his attack and she immediately crushes him into extinction. She enters into conversation with Ung Roth, who is immediately charmed by her.

Banu approaches Magi Droona Sherzai, an exceptionally boring Magi connected to the Lotus faction, a centrist conservative circle whos main interest is in making sure that tomorrow is as much like today as possible. Banu impresses Droona with his ability to blather asnine bureaucratic claptrap at-infinitum.

Golshan attempts to connect with Magi Xab Yeng Yaaj, bearer of the chaos tree and snake-wearing traditionalist hyper-conservative, but fails to really make a strong impression.

As the gong rings to summon guests to dinner, Ashtar is still charming the shit out of Magi Ung Roth with talk of free markets and ignores the overtures of the somewhat more attractive Gonpo, representative of the decaying temple of Tato Sampa. She ends up sitting between Roth and The Most Reasonable, Most Profitable Ayoy Yithalia, Slug-Man representative of Eke Ulale, Ambassador of the Yellow City (not present).

Golshan forms an unlikely connection with Lady Yuro of the Chrysanthenum Court, a beautiful Nasna woman. He sits between her and Magi Miyazaki Sae, the bug-eyed, distracted and monotone individual who keeps changing size.

Banu is drawn aside by a beautiful woman in a pale dress who seems enraptured with him. He sits between her and the Magi Miyazaki.

First course is served. Ashtar brilliantly snaps open and consumes the burning sea urchins. She continues to charm Roth, who becomes more intimate. She also impresses Yithalia. Golshan settles for the Sturgeon. and focuses most of his attention on the Lady Yuro.

The team face attack from Prince Cylodon Kempi who mocks their pretensions, but their incredible fashion choices easily deflect from this. The Prince is also Magnificently attired so their return shots do little damage. Banu converses with Magi Miyazaki and they agree to exchange spell knowledge, Miyazaki takes a burning urchin spike and begins writing an equation on the table. Banu flirts with his pale lady.

The second course arrives, consisting mainly of birds of various kinds. Ahstar rips the shit out of Cylodon Kempi for this but fails to penetrate his fashion.

Kempi returns fire by bringing up the blinding of the master of the Ansari plantation. A full argument breaks out at the table but together Ashtar and Golshan fight back against Kempi's insinuations, resisting any damage, through failing to penetrate his guard.

Conversation turns to the groups exact affiliations and as Golshan confirms that he is a representative of the Caliph, Xab Yeng Yaaj, the traditionalist, goes on the attack, joined by Kempi, they insinuate that the group are effectively spies and that they may in fact be bringing the Nightmare infestation to Syr Darya.

At the same time the party must attempt feasting on the whole ortolan, drowned in white wine, placed before them, but for those who have traversed the Veins of the Earth (available now), this presents little challenge and they easily gulp them down.

Again Ashtar and Golshan fight back, Golshan deflecting with facts, assisted by Waheed Qsmari, Ashtar launching a high-risk brutal broadside of extended contempt at Yaaj which manages to penetrate his limited Fashion and seriously reduce his reputation.

As the third course is served, the table breaks down in laughter at Yaaj's hidebound ways. But he and Kempi have a secret weapon, the late arrival of Gourishankar Buddacharya, Thalias estranged husband and super-wizard.

Before Gourishankar can even sit, Thalia blasts him with a brutal series of insults that strip his reputation down. Nevertheless, he persists and drops a Truth Bomb on the party, the temple of Chandra Chanevala has been burnt to the ground and the nearby village (home of the girl Ayush) has been destroyed and the Yak Herders killed. He strongly insinuates that the party is behind this as their arrival and path closely follow a trail of destruction through the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon.

The group takes some damage but Golshan and Ashtar fight back, arguing that they only tried to resolve negative situations, Ashtar launches another brutal verbal assault on Gourishankar, cutting his reputation down to nothing, but he refuses to budge. Thalia backs up the team, along with Waheed Qsmari. Banu focuses on memorising the plane shift spell and flirting with his new Bae.

Just before dessert and dancing are announced, Ashtar absolutely crushes the wizard Buddacharyia, he pales, stands up shaking and speechless, and tries to leave but on the way out Ashtars caustic insults reduce him to a minus value of Charisma. He is now socially dead in Syr Darya and may not return.

Banu goes to dance with his pale Bae but is confused when Miyazaki asks him who he has been speaking to. He ignores this nonsense when he sees his lady gesturing from the dance floor, beckoning him.

Ashtar gets into a groove thing with Magi Ung Roth and Secretary Ayoy Yithalia. Golshan goes to comfort Ayush and tells her the Wizard Gourishankar was almost certainly lying, he persuades her to dance with the child-Nasna Tagadhari Bourgar Drakthonpa, his attentiveness is noted by an approving Lady Youdon.

Banu dances with his new friend and feels utterly carried away. Golshan, concerned for him seeks him out and finds Banu silently facing the wall in a corner of the room.

Golshan grabs Banu and as he does the Bhoot from the Cursed Diamond he foolishly accepted grabs at him. The three struggle in terror and the Bhoot reaches for Banu, grasping his soul and ageing him 20 years, to an age of roughly 53, in a few seconds.

Just as others notice that a fucking Bhoot is present at the party, Banu manages to cast Protection from Evil on himself, forcing the spirit back. Golshan grabs Banus ceremonial sword and manages to damage the creature a little.

Recognised and surrounded, the Bhoot flees, leaving Banu traumatised.

Xab Yeng Yaaj and Cylodon Kempi allege that this is clear proof of the parties corruption, how else would a Bhoot have entered such august company, but more of Ashtars coruscating insults drive Kempi back, finally damaging his reputation. She, and Golshan, allege that the Bhoot must be a tool of the humiliated Gourishankar, after all, he was obsessed with spirits and the undead.... This seems to make sense to everyone.

The party have impressed enough of the high status individuals that when Ung Roth (trying to sleep with Ashtar) suggests that defeating a Bhoot before the entire group shows 'True Crystal Dragon Nature', most agree and Golshan and Banu are applauded.

Ashtar illustrates her amazing shrinking powers and all three are made members of the Dragon Market. Another glorious victory for the group.

Ashtar ends the night by hooking up Banu with Secretary Ayoy Yithalia so smoke dope and mourn his stolen years, before flying off in the night to fuck Magi Ung Roth in his tower (Banu already has an invite  Golshan takes care of the children and Lady Yuro indicates that she would not be displeased if he called on her to play Go or Mahjong at some point...