Session 221 – Shadows over Ekul – Part 2

- GM’s note: Ok, I’m months behind in the session writeups. So increasingly my updates will be shorter. This is the second part of the Beasts and Barbarians adventure, which has some Lords of Gossamer spin put into it.

Part 3 – The Enemy is Revealed

- Grant and Ethan march with Tokarim’s armies to Tenebar fort and deal with Jirro. Upon arrival, they find Jirro’s men rebuilding the fort’s defences but it is a long way from being complete. Tokarim isn’t interested in parlaying, and Grant (as Shah Ulesir) volunteers to lead a sneak attack to open and hold the gate as a prelude to Tokarim’s assault.

- Anaea, the commander of the Amazons, has been watching Grant and Ethan carefully. She agrees to send some of her best with them. Painted up for battle, they climb the eastern walls and take the battlements, and then the gate. Jirro’s men are alerted and they try to retake the gate but Grant, Ethan and the Amazons prevent that. Meanwhile Solembar, Tokarim’s general, leads a cavalry attack against the men camped outside the fort, routing them and then attacking through the open gate into the fort itself.

- The battle is over in twenty minutes. One of the Amazons has been hit by a bow-shot but otherwise Grant, Ethan and the Amazons have held their position without injury. 

- Jirro is dragged out to face the wrath of Tokarim, but he pleads ignorance. He did as he was told and he took his men to Tenebar and began rebuilding the defences as instructed. He has no knowledge of where Karmella is.

- A messenger arrives. He carries a message from Korras, Ulesir’s half-brother, who claims to have her. (Ruman Gask stole her out of the city and Jirro unfortunately got the blame) At this new, Tokarim has a seizure and collapses. His men take him away and Ethan’s offers to help (as a healer) are rebuffed. 

- Confined to a tent, Grant, Ethan and Marduk are effectively held as prisoners until such time as Tokarim recovers. As they make plans as to what to do next, Anaea brings the monk Jimpah into the tent who has an idea – they should escape and recover Karmella themselves.

- Leaving Marduk behind to explain where they have gone, the others slip away with the help of the Amazons. Following the instructions given to them by the messenger, they head to Rusty Lake in order to hand over Ulesir in chains. 

- An ambush is set up and when a group of ruffians arrive with a hooded woman to make the exchange, Ethan and the Amazons pick them off. Grant (Ulesir) shrugs off the chains and attacks the leader, Ruman Gask, who undergoes a startling transformation as he seems to channel Umbral power and begins Gaunt-like, shrugging off a number of Grant’s blows before finally he is felled.

- However, their prisoner is not Karmella. It’s another double – this woman named Tamira. She has a passing resemblance to Karmella and has been dressed to look like her. She tells the story as to how she was kidnapped by Korras’ men months ago and has been kept captive in the Monastery of Shadows since. She doesn’t know the way there as she was blindfolded most of the way but says that there is a set of hidden stairs cut into the rocks behind the lake which ascend to a point where there are two men waiting. Her blindfold was removed at the top so that she could safely descend the steep steps.

- Grant and Ethan ascend the steps and surprise the guards there. They get directions to the Monastery of Shadows from the guards and decide to head there immediately.

Part 4 – The Monastery of Shadows

- They travel for hours in the high peaks of the Iron Mountains, eventually reaching a fortified village. The gate is heavily guarded. However there is a sheer cliff that looks climbable – for Grant and Ethan. Reminded of their climb of the glass mountain (GM’s note – way back in Session 44), they rope themselves together and make the climb. They are covered in war paint as they are expecting a fight.

- Climbing by this route, they avoid the gate and guards and reach the monastery directly. Slipping through one of the openings, they start making their way through the rooms, one by one. They find a library where the ‘writing’ is in knots of rope made from human hair. They ambush a group of six guards and quickly deal with them. They pass through an enchanted door which can only be opened via a riddle. They find a torture chamber on a lower level and find one of Jimpah’s fellow monks barely alive – he has been badly tortured. Even Ethan can’t save him. 

- As they make their way through the darkness, Grant receives an Icon contact from Lucien for a chat.

 

- They run across two acolytes and Grant captures one of them named Jinzu. Jinzu leads them to Karmella who seems to be asleep and trapped in a nightmare. Two hounds that have been infused with Umbral energy need to be dealt with before she can be rescued. Unfortunately, freeing Karmella sets off an alarm and the group tries to make a fighting retreat but is forced into another chamber.

- In this chamber, Korras faces the man that he thinks is his hated half-brother. He begins monologuing that he will feed Ulesir to the Black Flame (which clearly has a link to the Greater Power of Umbra) to reinvigorate it. There is a prophecy that the Divided Man will restore the flame. 

- A large number of acolytes in the balconies are chanting a ritual and the black flame on the altar leaps higher. Guards leap forward to restrain Grant, Ethan and the Amazons but they quickly swing into action. Grant punches Korras in the face, breaking his nose. Ethan is seized by two superstrong Umbra-infused guards and the Amazons try to bow down everyone they can. The battle is bloody but between them, they manage to disrupt the ritual – a ritual which has clearly been misunderstood as the Acolytes wanted to sacrifice both Ulesir and Korras to the flame (ie: the Divided Man prophecy referred to both of them). However they have not counted on the fact that Grant is not Ulesir, and Grant is also an Umbra Master. While the others fight for their lives, Grant uses Umbra Mastery to disrupt the ritual, cursing all of the surviving acolytes in the monastery with permanent blindness.

- In the confusion, Grant, Ethan, the Amazons and Karmella flee the Monastery of the Black Flame and return to Tokarim’s encampment (with blind Korras as their prisoner). A wounded Anaea is healed by Ethan. Karmella seems happy to talk to Grant now that she has been rescued and she knows that she will not be married to him. Marduk gives Grant and Ethan a heavy purse for their services and suggests that they be on their way before the real Ulesir arrives. He thanks them and wishes them well.

- The monk Jimpah also says a fond farewell and promises that their paths will cross again ‘should the gods wish it’.

- The Amazons meet with Grant before he leaves. Anaea says that Grant has the bearing of a Lord and King, and she says that her Amazons would follow him should he wish it. Flattered, Grant thanks her (as it is a true mark of respect) and he promises that he will return. 

- Grant and Ethan walk off together back to Teluk’Ammar where Grant plans to open a Door and return to the Stair.

Session 220 – Shadows over Ekul – Part 1

- GM’s note: I’m rather fond of Gramel’s “Beasts and Barbarians” setting for Savage Worlds. It has a Conan feel to it. In fact I was so impressed by the setting that I wrote to the writer and asked them to send everything they had in print, and I have been steadily acquiring printed supplements via Noble Knight, Amazon etc. I have them all electronically but I wanted the printed materials. There are many great adventures available and there are two that are perfect for Grant and Ethan.

Hence this adventure is a flashback to an earlier stage where Ethan is not being hunted by Dragons.

Part 1 – A Prince’s Life

- This adventure finds Grant and Ethan in a realm where sorcery and magic is certainly possible, but it is typically only used by evil warlocks and demons – and hence is not something that Grant and Ethan would choose to do openly. They are in the city of Shan’Ammar, built by the mouth of the Ironshadow River in the southwestern part of Ekul. They find themselves carousing in the Repentant Blacksmith, one of the most ill-reputed taverns in Shan’Ammar, full of foreign mariners, scoundrels and assorted lowlifes.

- While Ethan relaxes at a booth along with a few trollops who are interested in fleecing him of the coin in his purse, Grant has earned the ire of a number of Lhoban sailors. Their champion, a tough guy named Dragon, is keen to crush Grant’s arm in an arm-wrestling competition and take the fat prize wallet on the table. 

- People cheer as Dragon and Grant lock arms. The Dragon is very tough, and in this realm, the difference between Grant and the natives is not as great as might be found in other realms – but after a few minutes (to make it look good), Grant slowly pushes the Dragon’s arm to the table. Grant is victorious.

- But the victory doesn’t last long. Someone shouts that Grant has cheated and pandemonium breaks out as everyone takes a side and multiple parties try to grab the prize wallet on the table. Grant is tackled by two of them and he throws them using a judo throw. One of them tries to break a chair over Grant’s head but he is kicked hard enough to put him out on the street. Ethan tries to flip over the table, only to have the women leap on him and try to steal his wallet in the confusion.

- Bang. Crash. Smash. One by one, Grant and Ethan proceed to lay waste to the tavern with fists, feet and anything handy. A heavy stool goes flying across the room, knocking Ethan down. One of the trollops leaps on him and cuts his purse-strings whilst another tries to sit on him to keep him busy. Ethan easily throws them off and grabs his purse before the girl can get away with it. Dragon tries to bearhug Grant but is thrown through the window out onto the street. 

- Utter mayhem. And then there is suddenly silence. No one is left standing except for Grant and Ethan. 

- The silence doesn’t last long as the town guard arrives. Or perhaps not the town guard. These soldiers are Ascaian Amazons – proud, athletic and totally bad-ass. Their leader, a raven-haired woman, stares at Grant and Ethan with cold eyes and decides to arrest them both. Ethan seems to be positively cheerful to be arrested but the Amazons do not share his enthusiasm.

- Figuring that it’s better to be arrested and escape later, Grant assents and the duo is led away. He is pretty sure that if they stick around that the lowlifes from the Repentant Blacksmith will have another crack at them.

- Instead of being taken to prison, Grant and Ethan are escorted to the palace, the residence of the Shah. The palace is very luxurious and heavily guarded. The guards are all Amazons. The Shah must be very rich to afford all of these mercenaries. The raven-haired Amazon leader tells them to wait in the antechamber and then they are introduced to the Shah’s right hand man, a fat fellow called Marduk.

- Marduk can hardly believe his eyes, and the two are quickly ushered into the presence of the Shah. There, Marduk makes it plain to Grant and Ethan that they have disturbed the peace of Shan’Ammar and should suffer months of hard labour for this crime. However, his Lordship, Ulesir Shah, Lord of Shan’Ammar is willing to pardon them should they accept a task.

- The task is simple. Grant is the spitting image of the Ulesir and he is tasked to impersonate the Shah. Marduk explains that the Shah has many enemies (including his half-brother Korras) and his father has organised for him to marry Karmella, the daughter of Tokarim, Lord of the city of Teluk’Ammar to the north. The marriage has been delayed because of unrest in the country and threats made to Ulesir’ life. But Tokarim has many soldiers and will send many once Ulesir is married to his daughter. Grant must head north, marry Karmella and bring back both the bride and many soldiers. 

- Ethan thinks better of laughing at the request and wonders how many Amazons will be travelling with them. Grant thinks for a moment and then accepts. Marduk looks relieved and promises that they will be well rewarded. He explains that Lord Ulesir is a very particular man and Marduk will come with them to instruct Grant on his lordship’s particular behaviours. When asked what role Ethan should play, Ethan decides that his ‘lordship’ will need a bodyguard.

- The next morning, they board an Amazon Hawkship called the Blue Arrow. To Ethan’s delight, all of the crew are Amazons, led by Anaea, the raven-haired leader who arrested them the previous night. They travel with Marduk, two servant boys (Tallo and Vallo) and Ulesir’s personal cook, Guatu. The ship is loaded with wedding presents for the bride. 

- The first day at sea passes quietly. The ship is fast and the river placid. The Amazons are excellent oarswomen and they keep a very constant pace. Ethan gets the impression that the Amazons have absolutely no interest in him. The landscapes are pretty and dotted with thriving farming villages and it is a relaxing time for him.

- Meanwhile, Grant is learning from Lord Marduk all about Lord Ulesir. He has impeccable manners, behaves elegantly, speaks with a lordly tone and is very vain (he is proud of the fairness of his skin and normally sits under a parasol to avoid tanning). He likes poetry and arts, has little tolerance for alcohol and is a truly inept fighter. He is very chaste and would not know the first thing about girls.

- That evening as they leave the realm of Shan’Ammar, Marduk warns them that there may be trouble in the days to come. That evening, Lady Sophia contacts Grant via an Icon contact and he reassures her that all is well. Grant is in a perfumed bath and he casually explains that he’s impersonating a prince and is off to get married. She is momentarily off-balance but quickly recovers. (Sophia is unflappable) He explains the situation and she tells him to be careful.

- Moored mid-river to allow the Amazons to sleep overnight, Ethan relaxes on deck. He is curious by these militant women and goes to talk to Eurybia, the sentinel that is standing guard over them while they sleep. The conversation is short as she does not like being distracted. A few hours later, he finds her dead. Someone has slain her and he goes to raise the alarm.

- Meanwhile, Grant has been relaxing in his beautiful cabin enjoying one of Ulesir’s favoured liqueurs whilst resting on silken sheets and lush pillows. A dark figure arrives – the figure concentrates and Grant finds his limbs stiffening as if a spell is affecting him. He decides to bluff that it has him and the assassin climbs through the window and tries to stab him. 

- At that moment the alarm goes off and Ethan is heard running for the door to his lordship’s cabin. Grant simply disarms the assassin with a judo-throw and subdues him. Ethan bursts in but the matter is in hand. The assassin has a tattoo on his body that marks him as a Keeper of the Black Flame, a group of monks who live in the Iron Mountains where they rule the Mountaineers (the local villagers). Marduk believes they support Korras who has threatened to kill Ulesir.

- The Amazons kill the assassin and throw his body overbought. Mourning their dead sister, Grant (as Ulesir) gives a stirring oration to mark Eurybia’s service and passing.

- The Blue Arrow carries on. The third day of travelling on the Ironshadow River, they are attacked from the nearby clifftops. Boulders are hurled from above, striking down Helene who was steering the ship. Ethan takes the helm whilst Anaea rallies the Amazons to row for safety. They escape the gorge but find themselves ambushed by two groups of Mountaineers in boats.

- The crew of the Blue Arrow attempt to fire the ship’s catapult but they find it too badly damaged from boulders overhead. Hence, they move to stand and fight. Concentrating, Grant uses Umbra in a subtle way on the approaching boat, causing it to capsize. The other boat reaches the Blue Arrow and there is a hand-to-hand fight. Ethan and the Amazons fight bravely and they quickly deal with the Mountaineers, capturing their leader, Gray Fox.

- Gray Fox confirms that Korras is now chief of all of the Mountain Tribes and there is a bounty to bring Ulesir to him alive. This is strange as Korras normally wants his brother dead, not alive.

- Of the Amazons, only Lybia has been badly hurt. Clete and Otrera have suffered minor wounds. Ethan explains that he is a healer and he tends to Lybia, much to the Amazons’ surprise. They are suspicious at first but he carefully bandages her wounds (and uses Eidolon very gently to speed her recovery).

Part 2 – A Troubled Wedding

- The Blue Arrow approaches the port of Teluk’Ammar on the fourth day. It is a walled city of average size surrounded by hills. There is a crowd of people waiting to welcome Ulesir on the docks.

- Grant is behaving more and more like Ulesir all of the time. Marduk is very impressed as he thought Grant and Ethan to be barbarians. However, Grant is very practised at disguise and deception. He is rather enjoying this.

- A man named Jirro offers a welcome and an escort to the palace – however the welcome doesn’t seem very friendly. Jirro offers horses to ride and Grant (as Ulesir) accepts. The men of Valk prize riding ability very highly and it is clearly a test of Lord Ulesir. A one-eyed servant of Jirro offers a horse named Cloud and he claims that it is the ‘best in the stables’. 

- However, the horse is quite deranged. At an inopportune moment when passing through the city streets, the barking of a dog causes the horse to bolt. The horse is clearly distressed, foaming at the mouth as it runs. Grant stays on the horse and tries to calm it. At last he does, and Ethan also catches up with Grant. It is obvious that the horse has been deliberately drugged. Ethan uses Eidolon to restore its health and Grant rides the noble animal to the palace without further incident. Grant thinks that Jirro is disappointed when he arrives.

- As Grant arrives at the palace, he gets a glimpse of the princess from the balcony. She turns away and does not want to meet him. 

- Over the next four days, Marduk and Tokarim discuss details of the wedding. Grant meets the princess and she makes it clear that she is doing this because of loyalty to her father but this is not what she wants. Ulesir, Karmella and Tokarim go on a hunt together (with hawks). Ethan takes his bodyguard duty seriously – and he gets along well with Anaea as a result.

- At last there is the wedding feast. It is a great event with dancers, acrobats and storytellers. There is wine and food aplenty. However, Jirro decides to use the opportunity to insult Ulesir, mocking that he has women guarding him. There is laughter from the wedding party members. Ethan takes a stand and uses Jirro’s own words against him, joking that it is more prudent to have women guarding him than no women at all. Jirro then changes tact and praises Princess Karmella who can ride ‘like a man’, then toasts a man who will ‘never be able to ride like a woman’. It’s a clear insult meant for Ulesir.

- Again, Ethan intercedes and mocks Jirro for suggesting that his lordship could be such a man. But then he offers to match Jirro insult-for-insult, thus protecting Ulesir’s honour by deflecting him again. Jirro gets annoyed by this and challenges Ulesir’s courage directly to ‘play the Dance of Snakes’. 

- This offends both Ulesir (Grant) and Ethan sufficiently that they have to accept. Jirro and some of his men strip down to their waists and arm themselves. Baskets of snakes are brought in. A snake charmer will keep the snakes happy but when the charmer stops playing, the snakes will be freed from the baskets and attack the fighters. 

- Jirro continues to insult Grant and Ethan as the formal duel is set up. As soon as the fight begins, Ethan throws his knife at Jirro’s comrade – killing him instantly. Jirro tries to knife Ulesir (Grant) but finds that this man can confidently handle a blade. Some of the snakes try to bite Ethan but he kicks any away that get too close and prevents anyone else from coming to Jirro’s aid.

- Grant scores a number of superficial wounds on Jirro before Lord Tokarim finds out about what is happening. He orders a halt to the fight and chastises Jirro, believing that Jirro has disgraced him. He tells Jirro to go to the Tenebar fort and begin renovations there with his men, effectively banishing him for the time being. 

- Tokarim then looks after Ulesir (Grant) and makes sure that there is no other nonsense that would interrupt his daughter’s wedding. He explains that a man has arrived who is the personal envoy of King Eku of Ekul. This man is a holy man named Jimpah. 

- The rest of the evening’s festivities go well. Some of the court ladies show interest in Ethan but he is still busy being a bodyguard and he doesn’t allow himself to be distracted. Late at night when everyone is asleep, Isabelle contacts him via Icon and he explains that Grant is going to get married. Isabelle laughs hard and asks if she can come and watch. They talk for a while and she promises to get dressed for the occasion.

- The next day the wedding ceremony begins at dawn. Grant (as Ulesir) and the Princess go through their separate preparation rituals. Finally, everything is ready and a solemn wedding is held at midday in the main hall of Tokarim’s Palace in front of the whole court.

- Ethan is dressed in finery. The Amazons’ armour is gleaming brightly. Isabelle attends in a dark blue dress but her face is concealed by a veil in keeping with the local traditions. 

- Finally, the bride arrives. She is dressed and veiled in the most beautiful garments. However, Grant realises that this woman is not Karmella – she has the wrong colour eyes. He politely points this out to Karmella’s father, Lord Tokarim. 

- Tokarim explodes with rage and draws his sword, intending to cut off the poor girl’s head right there and then. Grant (as Ulesir) stops him from doing this and the girl crumples, confessing immediately. The girl says that Princess Karmella fled last night. Ruman Gask, Jirro’s best friend (the one-eyed man who gave Grant the horse) came before dawn to take her to Jirro.

- Tokarim curses and commands his generals to summon his armies. He will march west to Tenebar fort and deal with Jirro!