What has gone before 12

On reaching Nol, the party found out that something was afoot. No Kethem merchants or warships had pulled in to the docks in well over a week. Legum used his communication braclet to contact Vanderhoven, the Hectlac Arch Priest in Bythe, and found out that the Kom offensive had collapsed, and that all available shipping was extracting Kethem troops from the Troll lands.

Resting in Nol, the party was summoned to a meeting with an unidentified individual who wished to hear about their adventures in Sheravar territory. They explained the situation to the individual, who was hidden behind a veil in a large tent He exclaimed angrilly that "we warned you humans five hundred years ago about the gates... now your foolishness will be the end of this world". The party darted past the veil to find nothing. Hammerhand, however, found his weapon to be enchanted, as they had been promised at the beginning of the conversation.

Later, the party found out that several Hectlac clerics were attempting to cross overland to Kom in order to find out what had happened there. The party did not join them, but Legum agreed to trade his communincation braclet for some exploding magic gems.

The party decided to head north with the Ibisi to do battle with the Chen Kunda. It was a mistake; in the middle of the battle, they attacked a group of twenty adolescent Chen Kunda, burning alot of magic without doing much damage to the enemy. Afterwards, an even more foolish decision by Anthrax to loot the dead Ibisi of any magic result in his capture and detention by the Ibisi. He was to be returned to Nol to face the dance of truth.

In the meantime, the party decided to question some Salhenahain that had joined in the attack on the Chen Kunda.

"What is the nature of my ring?" asked the Vodan Cleric.
    Moratyr on Wyvern's back
    Enemies they do not lack
    A ring it seems of their design
    But to a dreadlord it does bind
    A trap perhaps that was set
    But Moratyr are hard to net
    Now you'll walk again when dead it seems
    Dancing to a dreacttord's strings

"Where is changling?" asked Legum.
    Twelve great swords accross the land
    God's bane will soon be close at hand
    Dragonmaster is lost to all but one
    Spellbreaker in Hediro finds the sun
    But Changling flits from here to there
    A worldgate's place is hard to snare
    Yet three times will come to pass Changling's hilt within your grasp
    The first will be within a dream
    The second lies in shadow stream
    The third will be when you all die
    Or when the stuff of gates collide

What is my madsend? asked Ziwa
    Ziwa's madsend wraps around
    A core that now lies dormant
    Untie the knots that it may bound
    To ride along the current Facinalethvree may guide
    The traveller on her path
    But don't forget the sword takes sides
    And may kill in bitter wrath

When they returned from to Nol, Anthrax was subjected to the dance of truth. He was to be killed by the unknown god that met him in the strange mystical state the dance of truth instilled in him, when Catherine Belgi, the woman he had helped save on the road to Nol, appeared and begged the god to give him another chance. The god agreed to geas Anthrax instead of killing him because of Catherine's purity, but warned Anthrax that his chances of completing the task were slim. Then Anthrax had a strange dream. He was walking along the shore, but the deep blue sea was frozen, motionless in front of him. He saw someone out over the water, and walked to investigate. As he approached, he saw a man with no eyes. Suddenly, the sea was in motion, and they both fell below the surface. The man now had eyes, and pointed off into the water. As Anthrax watched, a black and white spear flew out of the deeps and pierced his chest. He woke again in the company of Catherine and the god. The god added "One more hint I will give you. You must find a way to steal the breath from the one who does not breath". Then the god was gone.

Catherine spoke with him for a while. Her slinkly, semi transparent garment did little to hide the supple curves of her body, and Anthrax, being a gentleman, ripped the flimsy thing off in a heartbeat. They made passionate love, and as they rested, Antrax returned to conciousness in the tent where the dance of truth was ending.

Other things were occuring in Nol. There were two ships in harbor, the Elvish ship Granessian and the Kethem Light merchant "Goodie bag". The Goodie bag was a old, beaten up merchant crewed by unkempt, slovenly crewmen. It was apparently taken out of mothballs and staffed with dregs to provide some service to Nol during the Kom collapse.

Antrax felt he should travel east, along the shoreline. Advertisements in the Kethem section read as follows:

• "Looking for a few good meres. High pay, low risk. Must be willing to slaughter children. Contact John Doe at the Moon's shadow pub."
• "Party wishes to hire mercenaries for cross-land trip to Evael. Standard pay plus ten percent bonus when reaching Evael. Contact Grish Angan at the Resting Traveler inn"
• "Noble woman seeks revenge. Waylaid by a group of unkempt Tawhiem tribesmen. Over two thousand gold peices worth of cargo stolen. Ten percent of recovered goods to be divided amoung the party, other ninety returned to rightful owner. Eternal blessing of the Trusk Hold as well. Ask for Catherine Belgi at the Dancing Mole Pub".
• "Looking for trouble? Mountains is where you will find it. Trouble and riches. I am a seasoned guide, well known by the Kazanti. Ask for John at the Unicorn Pub"

The Ibisi would be marching in two weeks. Destination... Sheravar territory. Arab Mycain was not sure what the objective would be when questioned.

Finally, the Salsenahain were marching along behind the retreating Chen Kunda, killing stragglers when possible.

Additionally, Ziwa had a very unusual dream. The description follows:
You have a dream. You are in darkness. Facinalethvree floats before you. Suddenly, the sword merges with you and you feel like you are moving at great velocity. You hear voices, but covering your ears does not seem to affect your hearing. You listen.
"Ragnerok, things are not going well. Chakduel Serpent-on-tree has lost the gatekey".
"You worry too much. A single world gate is a minor piece in the game. Even now, these events may turn to our advantage."
"How? The Chen Kunda openned a path to a level fourteen hell plane. Can you imagine what might have happened if the damn thing had stayed open? This world would have become a level fourteen hell plane in its own right Or do you think you can take on Sasdeen Demons and win?"
"Shogoth only came through, and the gate is closed. If we lost this world, well, there are others. If you are unwilling to take risks, you will never win the game, Sandish. And twenty or so Shogoth on their own are just another piece, not a player. A powerful piece, yes, but just a piece. We can, and will, move them against Eveal."
"Maybe. If you can even find them. Or they don't get obliterated by Kekarnar. You know he is planning on marching on that gate in two weeks, don't you? "
"Ahhh, yes. Kekamar. Rather risky of him to instantiate himself now, isn't it? He, and the Ibisi, stand to loose a great deal for a long time if Kekamar was to be forced out of that body before his time, wouldn't they?"
"You have a plan?"
"It is time to move another piece, Sandish. Or, in this case, have a piece move a piece. Time to play renela with Veskavar, I believe."

You have the sudden sensation of movement, and the voices fade in the distance. After a while, you begin to hear new voices. Your movement slows. You still cannot see, but again you hear a conversation. This time, you can feel the words. They take on nuances, second meanings. A few words generate the entire conversation for you.

"Hotherial, were did you get this information? The gatewards show no activity at Sheravar Gate. I cannot feel the source of your information when you speak. How can you be linked with us, yet not share with us?"
"Ernseltai, others of the council. As you know, I am old, and well travelled. I have learned many things. Partitioning of my knowledge is but one."
"Hotherial, this is... this is almost lying, impossible as it may seem with the mind link. Who told you the Sheravar Gate had been opened to a hell plane? Why will you not tell us? And why are the wards silent?"
"I believe we will find that the wards have been - tampered with. In fact, I believe that we may find that this is true on many or all of the worldgates we monitor. As to why I will not reveal the source... you know we have lost our piece in the Chakduel Serpent-on-tree situation. Kalkai et don Eye-over-mountian has been silenced. Only one group knew that name. We, the council. Perhaps it was just a slip, or a chance Urakai duel, but I wonder. Renela is a game that is getting harder and harder to play, and why? Do you not feel it? There is another group out there. A group that moves as quietly as we do, in ways as subtle. And intentionally or not, I believe they are getting information from someone in this group..."
[shocked silence] "But with the mind link, that is not possible, we would know..."
"Really? What was the source of my information? More importantly, what if this breach is unintentional? A form of magic we are unfamiliar with? I think at this point, we must be careful about sharing our knowledge. Need to know is the criteria now for passing on our knowledge."
"If what you say is true, we must do something."
"Some things are in motion. Renela with the Ibisi brought Kekamar to earth. Renela allowed him to stop the Chen Kunda. I have played renela again. Kekamar marches on the Sheravar gate in two weeks. I believe we should help him..."
Again, you have the sensation of motion. Voices fade in the distance. Suddenly, Facinalethvree is again separate from you. You fade back into sleep.

NOTE: Ziwa, by her nature, is reluctant to talk about her dreams or inner feelings. You can suggest courses of action based on this material, but you should only repeat it if really backed into a comer.

Ziwa, although recitent, was convinced to speak of her dream by simply getting the player stoned enough to spill his guts.

Legum convinced the party to speak with the elves. The resulting conversation resulted in an offer for support of the party in reaching Veskavar and convincing him to to travel to another gate in order to prevent the implied threat to Kekamar's son (now know to be Kekamar's instantiation on the material plane). Additionally, Hotherial, who had teleported in to talk with the party, suggested they report a rumor that Paris Praken had returned to the Ibisi, and that Guido was the source of the rumour. Paris Praken was the last individual to wield God'sbane, the anti-clerical great sword. Kekamar revived Guido from the undead paralysis that had held him for so long to learn of Paris, only to be disappointed when Guido professed ignorance of the subject. Hotherial agreed to take Guido back to Evael and to attempt to restore his memory while the rest of the party headed for Smagean, the ancient ruins where Veskavar lived.

They also decided to brief Hotherial on Ziwa's dream. Hotherial told them not to repeat it, particularly the part about Renala, to anyone else, including other elves. He also provided them with a "suicide ring", a magic item that would release a powerful ground zero blast to wipe out an enemy and to keep the party from being captured by killing them all. He also used a wand to cast a spell on each one of them that would erase their memory of the dangerous information if they were tortured or mentally probed in order to extract it The wand left the mark of a chimera on the upper arm of each party member.

The party set out on the elvish ship Granessian the next day.