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- What Do We Do? We’re still journeying, and need to decide our next step. We still need to do our exhaustion saving throws, and some of us are in rough shape.
We’ve crested a hill and we have a view of the city. There’s a rocky crag at the southern end that has a few raised towers. The river flows past it on the opposite side. From where we are, the bridge enters the walls. We could cut north of the city through the rolling fields, or make our way up through some rockier mountains to the south and drop down stream from the city.,
Is it a town/city/castle? When we think about the settlements that any of us have seen, Balz is the only one who has seen a big walled “city” with thousands of inhabitants. Monsoth was a couple thousand, not walled, wooden, not medieval London. This is smaller than Trenewydth, 150 people, 3-5 acres, but completely walled. We could probably find boarding but probably not a huge market. Similar in size to Meander (the fishing village on the river) Balz could say that it looks like a defensive castle. Big curtain wall with towers spaced along edges.
Krambler looks through the telescope. Nothing indicates the SK. The insignia shows a sky blue, not red and gold.
What direction was the squad of SK soldiers going when we ran into them? We couldn’t really tell at the time. We had to move slowly and didn’t have a chance to observe.
We decide to go to the city and find lodging. We’ll try to lay low. We may have to figure out a plan for Arthen.
- Our Arrival at the Fortress Taymar Single cart path to a barbican. Stone outcrop rising up to a tower. Towers are all connected. Wall climbs up the stone. One cluster overlooks everything else.
We head to the main entrance so as to not look shady. There are guards, both men and women. They’re watching us, but not super concerned with our approach. There’s some traffic on the road, not passing people now, but there’s dust in the distance.
We approach. There’s a portcullis. Four guards, two men, two women. All dressed in blue. Not heavily armored. We see an insignia of a silver harp on a blue background.
“Hello, travellers, what brings you to Taymar?”
We’d like to rest, we are weary, and discover more about your city.
As visitors, you are welcome, but until we have some idea of who you are, you need to leave any weapons or musical instruments with us. You will get them back, but they need to be left for Lord Black Willum and Lady Fiona.
(Branwen’s weapon lets her “call it at will,” which would amount to hiding it.) Do we want to smuggle it in?
Storr tries to sense what Kleghein is feeling. She’s affronted at being left at the gate.
It seems to all of us though that leaving weapons is SOP, it’s not aggressive or crazy.
They are watching the bear, but they need to get through official matters first. They take our things. As we’re going in they ask Silas, “This animal seems calm. Is he safe?”
“He is well trained.” (persuasion, 16) They are persuaded.
Bill and the raven are okay to enter.
We enter. The path is about 10 feet across. There are buildings on either side, wooden beams and plaster style. Immediately inside there is a four way intersection.
Storr asks about an inn and food.
You’d have to go towards the barracks, straight through to the far gate. We go that direction. We come to another portcullis with a couple other guards.
They say they do have some space. When travelers do arrive, we are able to provide space, but we need to know a little more about your business and where you’re coming from. We are a fortress, not a town, so there’s no inn per se. We may ask you to do a little work for us.
Br: What is the purpose of the fortress?
We maintain the bridge and watch the river
What are you watching for?
The river goes over a giant fall about ½ a mile downstream, so ew’re here to protect this entrance to Nyth.
What’s on the other side of the bridge?
A similar “rival” installation. Mostly just stealing some banners, etc.
K is looking for a large bell, but doesn’t see one yet.
Br: Never seen the waterfall. We’d love to get a closer look in the morning.
You can see the mist from the bridge, but a closer look is going to be too dangerous.
They’re waiting for us to tell them our story.
We decide to keep it simple, and say we are travelers and not from Nyth and are trying to get back home.
Not from Nyth? How did you get here? (Professional pushback, because we got in and they’re watching the river.)
We tell a tale, a hybrid of our story and Musk’s story. They see that we are banged up, take some pity on us. Ya’ll look like you could use some rest. We’d like to help you out. Come on into the guard house, get cleaned up, have something to eat, we’ll get you some bunks.
We agree.
We are led up to the barracks. It’s late afternoon. We end the journey. Fatigue Saving Throws coming up…
We all take multiple levels except for Krambler.
- The Night Sounds and the Guard Interrogation We crash for the night. We take a short rest. As we listen to the river rushing by and the wind in the tight cleft in the mountains. Not sure where the wind is coming from, eerie tonal sounds, ethereal, in a minor key. More noticeable at night. Can still hear it in the morning, but more faint.
They offer us some hearty porridge for breakfast. A young page dressed in the guard livery asks how we all are. The lord and lady have been informed of our presences and are willing to speak to us if we are interested. They have heard that we have come from away and would like to hear more of your story and how we got here.
We decide to go see the lord and lady.
The guard master says it’s been a longtime since we’ve hosted anyone outside of Nyth. She says, “We’ve heard that there are forces around. After a long time of not having incursions, we have to be on guard more so than in the past. How did you get here? Do you know how the SK arrived?”
Storr: We come from Norglass, which is unfamiliar to anyone here, just as we are unfamiliar with Nyth. We’re trying to avoid the SK minions.
How do you get from there to here?
We went through a cave in our world and emerged in Nyth.
We’ve heard tell of other lands. Are they real? We know the water falls. No one we know has gone over and returned. We don’t know where it goes. Presumably something could back from that place. We don’t know where that place is.
We’ve been told that the waterfall would bring us back home, we don’t know how.
Do you know what would be on the other side? Who told you about the waterfall? You trust them if they told you to jump over a waterfall?
It’s been a long time, we’re tired and desperate, trying to get home.
So you’re going to die?
Silas offers that they had found his sister, whom he trusts, in Nyth after they had been separated as children, and she was the one to suggest that we seek out this waterfall to bring us home.
They decide that perhaps they’ve gotten as much information as they could from us.
Black Willem and Fiona should hear this, when you are ready. It’d be cool if you lot could pull your weight a bit around here and do some chores…
Do you know if you’re being pursued by SK? Did they come through looking for you? Is there a connection?
We’ve avoided them so far. We don’t know what their intentions are.
You seem peaceable, as far as we know, you didn’t get up to anything last night. How long do you anticipate being here if we need to ask something of you? Anything to offer in terms of skills for us to utilize?
K is in good shape.
You can stay for a few days, but on condition that we will go and sit down and speak with them. Is anyone willing to take on a task? K is willing, and has experience hammering and making shit. She sends K over to some artisan shops.
- Krambler Helps the Fortress Artisans Someone is building wooden boxes with strings with bridges. Someone else is building trumpet looking things with animal heads at the end. Ask if he’s willing to help. K rolls 2 d20s (26). This is his insight into what they were working on. He spends the day, they’re building instruments it would seem. These folks are masterful in terms of their craft. They are humming quietly to themselves, what they’re doing is imbuing the instruments with some sort of power.
Our first full day in Taymar is complete.
What do we do for the next couple of days? Others lay around for a couple days shedding exhaustion while krambler continues his shopping.
K: Why are they making these instruments and who are they for?
We hope that we do not need to blow these trumpets. They’re war trumpets, they patrol the bridge with them. If someone comes up over the chasm, this will be their first line of defence. Also making :war harps” They put them at the tops of the towers. The wind plays them and the guards can tell if something is amiss with the wind. These are the eerie sounds we heard in the night.
How do these protect you?
Their goal would be to strike fear into the hearts of any who approach.
3 full days have passed. Evening in Taymar. The rest of us have shed our exhaustion and can get up and move as a party.
- We Go to See the Lord and Lady
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We go to see the lord and lady.
There are trees growing in the space in this tower. There’s an old stone table. An old man that seems to have had reddish brown hair but now gray. Blue cloak. One eye is messed up, sort of lazy. A younger woman, an adult, she wears a long purple robe. They enter holding hands elegantly and come and sit down at the table. They ask us to sit. They offer us wine.
Br: Who are you?
We are the lord and lady, we run things.
St: Who are the people across the water?
They are younger siblings of ours. They have a similar task.
What is that task?
To watch the bridge and prevent anything from coming back over the waterfall.
Has anything ever come up from the waterfall?
No, we hear fell voices on the wind coming up out of the chasm and our understanding is that there may come a time when the world changes. And clearly it is changing with your presence and one of your sisters and an army. Certainly there are worse things than an army of humans can arrive here and out of the abyss. But perhaps its not an abyss if your world is at the bottom.
We were thinking about jumping over the edge. Are you all fine with that?
They’re intrigued, but doubtful and want to discourage us. How do you know it’s the right place? They’re hesitant about our assurance that everything will be fine.
We’re not sure, but this is what we’re trying. If you know of any other leads, we’ll listen.
They want to know how these connections between these worlds exist.
Sidebar: we don’t know why these connections exist. They seem to have more information than we did arriving here. They’re aware of the existence of two worlds. Perhaps we can talk about Gorg and Gwenethen and Mother Night, as those are figures we’ve heard in our own stories but have also come across folk in Nyth that know them.
We mention Gorg and Gwen, and Mother Night. They perk up at this. They ask if our travels have anything to do with those figures. K notices then that as they talk about the three of them, they’;re looking a little more intently at Branwen (Balz is being ignored for now.) They’re trying to see if we have any alignment with the names we just mentioned. And if our travel is connected.
Branwen expresses her unapologetic patronage to MN. The rest of us distance ourselves from this idea, with Silas saying that he holds no opposition to Branwen’s alignment, but for himself he feels he may be more in tune with the ideals of Gwenethen.
Black Willum leans forward, smirking (see above), and asks “Do you fear the dead?”
Bran and Storr decidedly don’t (Br: “Some of my best friends are dead.”). K and Silas are more hesitant to outright dismiss them.
They sing a sad song which we don’t necessarily understand. It’s appropriate to the beginning of autumn when thinking of those who had been lost reminding us that beautiful things can come out of loss. They say: “If perhaps you’re willing, we have something to potentially offer you. You can go over the waterfall, but you can go over with a guide of sorts, (Willum is smirking again) but it will take a certain level of bravery than simply jumping over in a barrel. It’s a dark journey.”
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Next Time The coming week. We’ll probably end up leaving Nyth next week and pausing Osgog.
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Consider their offer
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Anything else we want to do
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What next steps are