Aersalus E-Team: Season 1, Session 2 – The Gi’able and Open Sands

Dramatis Personae

Previously . . .

Talijet goes hunting, scouting or something, and Rileah goes to bed. Arsham goes back to the caravan to consult with Doren. The campsite appears to be an invitation from the spirits, so they decide to accept.

The Road to Al-Wazari

Arsham and Doren
Encampment of the Lady of a Thousand Eyes
Spiritday, Zhven 8th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 7th hour of the Moon
Al-Kahmara, Northeastern Atterallus

They perform the standard ritual greeting by stomping their right feet three times to request admittance and are invited by a spirit with a hidden face and extremely red clothing. The jaima is bigger on the inside. In the middle of the jaima is a fancy rug with a woman dressed in moderately high class clothing with a ragged bandage covering her eyes. The bandage is noticeably out of place.

There are some tables for washing and eating, so Arsham and Doren wash their hands as is proper and perform the other formalities of accepting hospitality. Whatever refreshments are desired somehow appear at the table as if they were always there. The woman offers to tell fortunes after the meal.

Both Arsham and Doren recognize the woman as the Lady of a Thousand Eyes. She is an archon of Imir. Upon recognizing this, Arsham quickly performs a ritual for respect to one of his gods’ servants. The Lady of 1000 Eyes asks where Arsham learned the proper forms, and he explains that he is from a sect that maintained faith in the old gods after their fall and await their return. The Lady of 1000 Eyes asks Arsham if he would be willing to die, live and kill for the return of the gods. Arsham answered in the affirmative “if [he] must.”

The Lady of 1000 Eyes unwraps the bandage from her eyes and reveals that her eyes are sewn shut. She hands Arsham a pair of silver scissors and moves in close expecting Arsham to cut one of the threads. Leaving a choice to fate, he flips a penny and cuts the 2nd string of the left eye. Arsham sees a strange vision with unnaturally colored features. He does not recognize the location, but he feels a sense of nostalgia. The Lady appears beside Arsham and tells him that the next part would be painful. Many sensations enter Arsham’s mind, and he feels pain in body and spirit. As the vision ends, Arsham’s eyes and nose bleed. The Lady wipes the blood from Arsham’s face with her eye bandage and looks at Arsham with sadness. She kisses the penny and returns it to Arsham.

After telling Arsham’s fortune, the Lady of 1000 Eyes turns to Doren. She mentions that she knew his grandfather and asks if Doren is like his grandfather. Doren never met his grandfather, but his parents don’t speak of him. Doren asks about his grandfather, and the Lady of 1000 Eyes ask to make a deal with Doren. Doren offers the cost of knowing the things about his grandfather that he would rather not know. She accepts the offer and hands him a book in Dwarven.

After handing Doren the book, she hands him the scissors and moves in for him to cut a string. Hoping to avoid Arsham’s painful experience, Doren chooses the 1st string of her right eye. He sees visons of an empty desert. He walks to a floating door, and the Lady is standing there. There are kani crystal of many colors floating in front of the door – even some that Doren has never seen before. The Lady of 1000 Eyes tells Doren that she cannot lead him to the door but indicates that the book may provide guidance. The vision ends with Doren clutching the book tightly. His eyes and nose are also bleeding. The Lady wipes the blood as with Arsham.

Aftermath

After she finishes wiping Doren’s blood, she rewraps her eyes and appears to cry. As Arsham and Doren leave, the Lady tells of a coming sand storm and offers shelter through it. She also offers to tell the fortunes of any in the caravan who wish it. Arsham and Doren return to the caravan and explain the situation – leaving out the personal details.

After Action Report (GM)

In all the Aersalus games I have been pushing something: spirits. This game was no different. We only had 2 players tonight, but we played anyways. And we were going to continue anyways. Had to improv a bit – but I’m better when I move (Quick! What movie?). One thing I really enjoy in a campaign is foreshadowing and prophecy. Like. A lot. I love the straight up version, the lampshaded version, the subversion. All the version. Because when you do something like this the players don’t know if it can happen, will happen, etc. It’s there. And sometimes when you are on the road…well, sometimes you gotta kill Buddha. This was a short session, but I got to throw out some worldbuilding and I like that.

World Lore Tidbit (Guest Right, Hospitality, and Sanctuary)

The idea of guest right and sacred hospitality is something that goes back in our world thousands of years. In Aersalus it goes back even farther. When the Giant’s Rebellion (against the Old Gods) had reached its peak, tensions ran high in the ranks of the Warborn (dwarves, elves, and humans) and unintentional hostilities broke out between groups. To stymie this Nyto (the god of war and oaths) and Autora (goddess of hospitality, among other things) created a ritual that they bound all Warborn to. Thus the Troth of Salt and Eaves was born. All the Old Gods powered a measure of their power into the effort, while Autora and Nyto created the bindings. From that point on, this oath could be invoked by either the one seeking shelter or the one providing it. Either could deny the invocation before it was finished, but guests seeking to avoid it were (rightly) turned away. Those asking it for shelter would sooner sleep under a tree then stay in the home of someone who would deny such a basic thing. Sanctuary could also be asked for (or denied) as well, either way could result in blood. If given, the asker and the giver both draw blood from a spot on their body (usually the forearm or hand) and press the wounds together. To dissolve this bond, each party will once again cut themselves, but this time let the blood drip into the earth. Until withdrawn mutually, the two parties are expected to defend one another as if they were born of the same blood.

Like many of the early rituals and rites, the Troth has survived in one form or another over the years. It can vary from region to region, but in general it always involves a pinch of salt exchanged between the leaders of a group (or on a one by one basis) or peice of bread pinched from a loaf. In Abolethe, the salt is stirred into a small cup of alcohol (wine for the upper class, small beer for most everyone else) and drank. In Aterallus, the salt typically sits on the dining table of a home (or on a table at the door) and everyone is expected to take a pinch themselves. The rite of Sanctuary has not changed almost at all – blood is always drawn, but that doesn’t mean other things have not been added. In the Empire, sanctuary is given by cutting one’s self with a knife, exchanged with the other, and then pressed to the wound. The knives are then kept until the bond is absolved.

Violating this law will typically mark you as an oathbreaker if anyone is left to know of your misdeed. In Aersalus, being an oathbreaker is…not good (we’ll look at that at another time). The second possibility is that Providence (a sort of semi-sentient guiding force in Aersalus) notices what was done…and then punishes you for it. Breaking oaths can result in death, being cursed, or worse (and yes, there is always worse).

Other Notes

None.

Soundtrack

“Future Legend” by David Bowie

Aersalus E-Team: Season 1, Session 4 – Let The Boy Have The Sword