2025-05-30 A Stolen Mountain
General Summary
We ret-con that Apollonia (and Temagen) came with us as a guide.
She helps us avoid some pitfalls and such.
Repatriator of Souls goes looking to see if there are any ghosts about.
He finds the ghost of Apollonia’s grandmother.
Apollonia seems to have been terrified of this person in life.
When RoS introduces himself, the ghost declares her name is Nefvarin Cloudia and that RoS’s “name” is no “name” at all.
She is not happy that people have broken into her home.
We ask Cloudia about where we could take the food.
She helps us find a Mortal boy named Togo and we ask the boy to find other living people.
Apollonia’s Devil Body (a 12-foot tall purple rat with crackling lightning) keeps glitching in and out.
She apologizes for this and Stelsor tries to teach her about the Unwoven Coadjudicator.
Togo brings an adult to us.
Fortifier sizes the guy up (read intentions) to sus out this person’s Intimacy toward Togo.
He’s not Togo’s parent, but he’s sort of leading a crew that Togo’s in.
His intention seems to be to see what he can get by hawking the food.
We bring him as much food as he can carry (50 pounds out of the 2 tons we brought in).
Cloudia seems a little less cold toward us after this.
Cloudia brings over a young couple who seemed to be walking around on a date.
Anson, the young gentleman, has an armband for The Company of Martial Sinners.
Stelsor comments that they don’t seem to be starving.
The young lady, Sigje Vanametri, has a father who has a position at court.
She suggests she could have her father provide the food to the commoners when they come to plead at court.
She says the court handles about a 100 people very half day, so this could be an excellent way to distribute the food steadily (giving out too much too quickly could draw attention of scalpers and others).
We coordinate a dead-drop location where we can leave items for them, so we’re less likely to give away that we’re working out of the Nefvarin villa at the moment.
Stelsor also brought some letters from Thorns people in Nexus, which we also entrust to them.
Cloudia has had a ghostly eye on Sigje for some time now and feels the girl has a good head on her. She comments that she thinks Anson is beneath Sigje.
Cloudia seems surprised we are willing to do so much behalf of Apollonia and is reevaluating her disappointing granddaughter.
Fortifier tries to get a sense of how tight the city’s security is.
Scene: Flashback 1 - Nexus > Golden Laurels party > during Nightsweat-borne Concerns’s singing
Nurlissa speaks to Dreamflower.
Nurlissa has found a new job working for Shy Stallion, Envoy to the Confederation of Rivers for Nexus. It will mean she has to leave Nexus to live in Maurita.
Dreamflower congratulates her and suggests they create/enchant something that will let them stay in touch.
Nurlissa is touched that Dreamflower is so supportive.
Dreamflower can tell that Nightsweat-borne concerns aka Leannansidhea Nefvarin’s songs are enhanced by Solar Charms.
Stelsor waits for the performance to end and tracks NBC down backstage.
She’s drinking some spiked tea with her bodyguard, Sansho "he who must not be named".
Stelsor suggests she sing for some benefit events to help the Thorns-folk.
She knows Stelsor’s been collecting and publishing the stories of the refugees in Nexus and tells Stelsor about an opera that she’s been writing. Stelsor’s on board for this.
NBC leaves to bathe and has Sansho wait on her. Sansho bits back considerable annoyance at being treated like a butler.
Scene: Flashback 2 - Nexus > Golden Laurels Party
We present the Ar-Duke Pritchard, warlord of Metagalapa’s request to join the Confederation of Rivers to the Ambassador couple.
Ambassador Wisdom’s Shining Promise hesitates to make this official without approval from Shy Stallion.
Shy Stallion is the Guild-selected envoy from Nexus to the Confederacy of Rivers and is stationed in Maurita at the moment.
On behalf of Lookshy, Ambassador Karal Kallias doesn’t seem to have objections.
The Confederation has several smaller members, but something like this would probably need the approval of the Big Three: Nexus, Great Forks, and Lookshy.
Dawn after the delivery to Thorns.
We had arranged for the Ar-Duke to have quarters in our mansion while he’s in Nexus.
He’s pacing in agitation when we arrive.
The Ar-Duke tells us Mana-Tui is gone!
Stelsor wonders if the elemental got a boyfriend.
Ar-Duke explains that he’s attuned to Metagalapa and Mana-Tui, but he can’t sense them at all.
He'd had them floating a bit south of Kamthahar and he hadn’t told them to move.
The Ar-Duke has tried to send Infallible Messengers to Mana-Tui and the other Solars in his circle, but it keeps failing as though they’re not in inside Creation.
Fortifier asks if the Ar-Duke has had any scuffles with demons or Infernals.
Ar-Duke has hardly had any interaction with the Infernals, except recently when he met a shocking number of them all in the same evening during the Golden Laurels party.
Since an entire magical mountain disappeared and that seems bound to have some effect in the Loom of Fate, we ask Seline to see if the Sidereals have picked up anything about this.
Seline says she’ll try using the Sidereal Manse in Firewander first, then check in Yu-Shan, and get back to us in 1 day.
Dreamflower points out that sudden Wyld zones have been known to happen, so we decide to talk to some of the Fair Folk we know.
Scene: Outside Nexus > Guild Pyramid
We visit the Guild pyramid outside the city to find Director Byorn and Dark Bonbon of Perdition, champion of Shines-in-Numbers.
Dark Bonbon says to spirit away a whole mountain is the stuff of legends.
The king of a fae Court might be able to do this but it would probably take all their might.
The Wyld zone theory is seeming less plausible.
While we’re in his office, we ask Byorn (a necromancer) if he’s familiar with any spells that could disappear a mountain or pull it into the Underworld. He’s doubtful that this could be done necromancy.
Just to be sure, we go to the Liveeasy shadowland to test if Infallible Messenger will work from there but Dreamflower’s sorcery still doesn't reach Mana-Tui.
Fortifier recalls we had found Kratofil the wise’s diary in Little Cloud and he had flown the ship on many secret paths between Creation and Yu-Shan.
While some of these portals were large enough for Little Cloud, there aren’t any records in the journal of a portal large enough for Metagalapa.
The Ar-Duke had told a legend at the casino opening party about a behemoth that Cytherea transformed into giant butterflies which flew so high they reached Yu-Shan. So perhaps Mana-Tui crossed into heaven by simply flying straight up.
We will have to wait to hear back from Seline to learn if it is in Yu-Shan.
Scene: Nexus > Firewander Wyld Zone
We check if Starchild, Orchid's Jester, acolyte of Dreams, acolyte of Diamonds knows anything about this.
She says that there’s a dread Raksha in the deep wyld that is said to be strong enough.
Fortifier asks about if any raksha operate close to Kamthahar.
There’s the Orchid Court, but that’s farther out in the waters of The Dreaming Sea itself.
The Ruby-court Raksha are the next closest, but they are much further south.
Dreamflower uses Charms to investigate the theft of the Ar-Duke’s attuned property.
Meditation on Rivalry > What is the criminal’s motive?
They wanted to protect their own secret.
Meditation on Rivalry > What can we do to unravel their plans?
Uncover their secret.
Jade Leaves a Trail > Who benefits the most from the actions being investigated?
Varakleion, the tri-sided
We send an Infallible Messenger ask Combative Mattresses if he knows this name.
Mattresses hasn’t heard of it.
Dreamflower muses aloud about how unfortunate it would be if Varakleion plan fell apart and the secret got out (Bureau Breaking Method). (The charm didn't seem to work.)
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