Takes place the evening after the game on 27MAR21
1
APR/21
New Chapter: Oasis of the White Palm
Plans – for the Pyramid of Ra and for Leaving Town:
Oni threw himself into a chair as they entered the room, “Well that did not go as well as I had hoped.” Mar’iya eyed the others in the room. Oni huffed out a quick breath, “who cares?” Inex went around the room searching it as he did. David slowly walked around. He was a free man. He had been free weeks earlier but paying the debt somehow made it true only today. He moved from spot to spot, as if walking in them for the first time. Arnia went into the bathroom and gathered up some soap, water and a few towels. She brought them out and set them on the table. Oni looked up to her. She looked back confused, “What?” Oni waved his hand over the table, “you are not our servant.”
Mar’iya walked the edges of the room. He did it slowly. He was reaching out with a mental connection, trying to see if they were being heard. Not finding anyone he came back to the table, “we need a plan.” Oni squinted his eye, “fuck those two.” He shifted his gaze over to Arnia, “what is this hideout?” Arnia started to wash the last five days of dirt from her face, “Hidden in the sewer is a small chamber… it has a lot of names. Over the past five days of hell, we have gathered some people down there to protect them.” She looked out the window, “It was important to Niki.” Oni stared at Mar’iya, “he seemed like a good guy, but these two can never be together.” Mar’iya feeling a little defensive, “he can’t be that good, he takes a little girl into battle.”
Arnia: “We have made some friends with some Mul, that are protecting the group currently.”
Mar’iya: “how many?”
Arnia: “Mul or total?”
Oni: “both, either.”
Arnia: “I have seen six to ten Mul, and maybe twenty-five others, … including kids.”
Oni looking with a slight grin: “that might be perfect.”
David: “perfect for what?”
Mar’iya looking over to Inex: “can we talk here?”
Arnia following his eyes and laughing a little: “yes. Most of Raam wants him dead. He will not reveal anything.”
Oni: “well if we can get the two ladies to send a small group of guards and craftsmen, maybe this is the start of a community.”
Mar’iya: “they seemed interested enough to send a small group. I will talk to them after dinner.”
Oni: “we need to think of a cover story.”
Arnia: “cover story?”
Mar’iya: “If we just move a bunch of people out of town, people will notice and ask a lot of questions. They would likely be killed in the desert before reaching the place.”
Arnia: “what place?”
Oni: “we will share that shortly; the wall may be listening.”
They went on to plan. Mar’iya shared a bunch of memories with Arnia, including all of the memories of who they thought was some long dead ancestor. The magic within the pyramid was incredible. Oni had to find some private time to talk to David.
Mar’iya or lord Vashir would talk to Lady Sabrina and Lady Meshah. He would try and convince them to gather a small force outside Raam. The story would be that they are going to the Oasis several days south and setup a Waystation. We would still make it look like a secret. That way as the people talked, it would all seem like the right plan. Leo and a few trusted leaders would know where they were really going. They would have food, and stone working tools. They would make sure to send some seeds, so they could start some plants and groves.
They would need to find Niki again. Oni wanted to convince him to take his people to the pyramid. He thought if they could only get there, they would be safe. He knew not safe, but maybe safer. Again, he would tell them the plan. They would move them to the pyramid but tell most people that they would be going to an oasis to the south. They would tell them great stories of the oasis. This would hopefully make the other houses want to go there. They could fight over that distraction. Leo was the key. He knew the path and he could lead this group and get them there safe. There was that word again. Safe was a scale and they wanted to move them a couple of marks on the safe scale.
That is when a servant walked into the room. She had a tray of food. She plopped it down on the table, “Lord Vashir, dinner is about to be served for you in the parlor.” He rose and started to head to the door. Oni started to follow him. He looked back, “you guys stay here.” He grabbed a little cheese, “save me a little food.” Mar’iya glared at Oni, “where are you going, dinner is for me.” Oni smiled, then bowed, “My lord, your loyal servant will be there the entire time.” The servant guided Lord Vashir down the hall to the parlor. Oni followed as his personal valet.
Lord Vashir joined the ladies already at the table. Oni stepped in the door and took his position as a wall ornament. Dinner went well, even if it took a long time. They had all the conversations they had to have. Political politeness was first. Doublespeak was second. Finally, Lord Vashir explained to them the goal and how they could profit from the plan, or at least their piece of it. To Oni they were vultures picking off the bits of a dying world. He made them know that they could risk a little for a huge possible gain. They were suspicious until Lord Vashir started to bargain for his part of the wealth. Oni and he knew he would never collect, but no royal would bargain without gaining something themselves.
Dinner took so long that Oni’s stomach started to gurgle. As Royals, the table was full of food. They like dandy’s ate a small portion, the rest to be wasted. Oni wanted to dive on that table but stood strong. Oni scanned the other servants in the room. They were all watching the food too. The house was in trouble. This food would not be wasted. As soon as dinner was over, it would be scavenged by the very workers that provided it. Lady Meshah was putting on a show, she was having trouble providing in the chaos.
As Mar’iya and Oni headed back to their combined room, he heard something from down the hall. It was the guest room that had been locked, the entire time they were there before. Arnia had said it was Niki’s room. Oni reached out with his inner mind. They were alone in the hall. Oni knew Mar’iya should not check it out, “My Lord, let me check something real quick.” Mar’iya went on to the room while Oni disappeared down a side hall.
Oni opened Niki’s door
Niki: “how you now?”
Oni: “good, I heard you”
Niki: “I wanted you to hear me.”
Oni: “I am glad to see you. I was hoping to talk.”
Niki: “you can’t trust him.”
Oni: “I can. He is not the person he was. He went into the desert and was re-born.”
Niki: “he is a monster.”
Oni: “he was. I saw the change. He will never make up for what he did or who he was, but he has been re-born just as the dawn can re-birth us all.”
Niki: “whatever, what do you want to talk about.”
Oni: “are your people, okay?”
Niki: “yes for now. They had been attacked by a small group. Wink and I found a place to hide them, …for now.”
Oni spent the next couple of hours explaining the plan. They spoke in the most hushed voices. Oni explained the dangers of the night and how she watches. Niki, had felt that but knew that someone else was now working with in the nights as well. He could see the new cycles of the moon working through him. He was not interested in the plan, until Oni explained that Lord Vashir would not be going. This made him interested. Niki could use that time to figure out how to kill Vashir once and for all. Niki had even met Leo. He was planning on hiring him to take him back to Balic. Niki went back out the window and Oni headed back to the room.
Oni moved silently through the halls. He had to almost merge with the shadows a couple of times to avoid servants moving through the house. Oni thought it was odd they were moving around so late. He did not completely understand these houses, but it was odd to him. He slipped into the room. They were all asleep within. It had been a long day. He looked about the room. It was mostly quiet, but he saw a shadow out on the small balcony. He moved to the edge. He peeked around the corner. Weasleton the giant owl was there, eating a small rodent and staring at him. A thought rushed through him.
He was about to step out, but the entire days hunger hit him again. Like the wind he moved through his sleeping companions. He grabbed the tray of food and the jug of table wine. He moved out to the balcony. He set the tray between them. Oni grabbed a piece of cheese and what Arnia had called Matzo. He was eating and the owl stared at him. Oni pushed the tray to him, “have some.” Weasleton who preferred human food dug in. They were both hungry and ate in silence for several minutes.
Oni looked over to the Owl. He started to talk to the owl. He explained the plan in the most hushed tones. Weaslton watched and listened. He could not respond, but he could listen. I do not want to tell the others, but I think it would be good, if some of you go with them. Oni shook his head convinced he was just talking to himself. The owl started to bob. Oni stared at him and he stopped. He had to know, “do you understand me?” Weasleton gave him a couple of quick bobs. Oni smiled, “not sure if you have any plans, but you might send some of you group, secretly with them. you might be able to help.”
After their conversation Weasleton flew off. Exhaustion struck Oni, he went into the room to get some sleep.
GM + Schroedergs
Plan for Raam
Gabe, our plan would be to setup a new community at the pyramid. So I think this is what we would ask Sabrina and Meshah. We provide them with a team of three people to lead a group to the pyramid to secure it for their great houses. Leo, Niki, and Wink would lead them there to start setting up. Whatever soldiers and other folks the house want to send plus a small group of folks that they have gathered, including a small group of Mul protectors. They would move to the pyramid and secure it for them. Once it is secure, Leo would come back to share with them that it is ready. Along with food, weapons and tools, they would secretly take some seeds to start some food within the walls.
Gabe,
Mar’iya and Oni are putting together a plan. They have been mildly talking about it together for days, in secret. They have been using the mental link that Mar’iya can create. David had been a little unstable and not kept in the loop, completely. His behavior at house Gardiward has made it worse. Oni had hoped their conversation with Lady Meshah had gone better, but he is now convinced she will only be mildly helpful. He and I think Mar’iya had hoped sharing the memories would have completely brought her into a position we could trust, but it did not. She knows enough that they must work with her. I think the party will be in town a couple of days, but in my (Kiai’s) opinion we could just gloss over those days and head out with the Pegasi the next game.
Here is the plan as best we can think about it.
- Find Leo. First off Mar’iya and Oni want to pay him a share of the treasure we gathered. We both think he deserves it. We want to ask him to guide another group to the pyramid. This group would be the start of a permanent settlement.
- Work with Lady Sabrina and Lady Meshah. We want to see if the two houses would be willing to send a small group of people from their collective houses to the pyramid to start the permanent settlement. I had hoped they would want to take the risk and just move their houses there, but clearly that is not the case. So, Oni and Mar’iya hope they would be willing to send a group of 20-50 people. A mix of guards and craftsmen to build the place up. We will share all the possible dangers that we can think of, like cultists, purple worms, and other stuff. We will not hide anything in this regard.
- Work with Niki and Wink. We want them to take the small group of survivors to the pyramid with the group from the two houses. We hope the mul will go with and help protect these survivors. This of course is more about how that group feels. Their lives in Raam are likely over, so they might all go fairly willingly. Again, we will share our safety concerns with them. Oni will share the dolls he has been making with the children.
- Talk to Weasleton. Oni will secretly talk to Weasleton. He wants to tell the old owl all the of these plans and hopes the owl can gather some of his friends to travel secretly to the pyramid. I know that Weasleton’s ability to communicate back is limited, so he may never know if he agrees or not. He suspects they are far more than they seem and hopes they want to go to there. Or at least a small portion want to go. Personally, I love the idea of these former familiars building secret bases in all the settlements.
- Gear Up. With the small amount of CP we have left, we will help them gather supplies for the trip. We will tell everyone about the small oasis we found south of Raam and tell everyone that this group is going to build a small way station there for one or both houses. I presume this is somewhat normal anyway. This is the cover story for the town. That way most will not wonder where they are going. They will likely think it is a death sentence for them. Who knows, maybe it is. J
- Discreetly move people out of the city. We would have everyone leave the city in small groups and mildly in secret. Except for the leaders, we would tell them all, they are going to that oasis. That way it will look like the houses are secretly trying to take advantage on the oasis, to the south. And as they started to be asked, they will all have the same story and tell it to their friends in secret, “we are going to make a way station at the oasis.” It would be a good cover story and look like they are trying to do it in secret. I think it would look exactly like how a house would work.
- Find a flawless crystal. This is not really part of the above plan. This is from our goal to try and create a magical device to protect us from detection. Greg will share those plans. I think we have 2PP left and a couple of GP. So, we can use a portion of them to procure the crystal.