Nemnosti: The Story So Far

At the beginning of the year 768, Surgu Takovenga was killed at an ancient Hulti temple site west of Gil Hargush. You now have identified this figure by the name Gunuremai, who you think is a female Hulti shaman of considerable power. Surgu was systematically stalked and hunted through the Ghengom, taking advantage of the fact that he was a revenant who suffered from hallucinatory delusions and had few social ties. He was killed, as best as can be told, using the power of shamans to lay revenants to rest. After he was murdered ritually involving red ochre (a Hulti practice), Surgu's body was brought to the 'Dropping Stone', Istu Levunu, miles away, a carved sigillant stone at the very top of the Pardopasu looking immediately down over Nemnosti. As Surgu's sister, Ailal, is a respected acolyte, this is interpreted as a threat against the ulajeta and ultimately, Nemnu Ula Herself.

The name Gunuremai, found in a book on Hulti stories, describes a demon of revenge, embodied through a teardrop-shaped mask, worn as a kind of mantle or focus by a shaman. Through investigation, you have learned more of "Gunuremai's" activities in the area. A woman of middling years who could be her spoke to Desam, Surgu's corpseborn son, which learning more information about his hallucinations and his isolation. You also know much about the power of shamans - the ability to kill bubun, revenants and saints, and the ability to see through others' eyes and speak messages into their minds. But Hulti masks are also said to have additional powers, whose nature is still unclear.

The hill temple is an area of great interest. It is located in the Ghengom west of the ruined fort, Gil Hargush, at the north end of the province. You have learned that although the fort at Gil Hargush was occupied by Corps followers, there were certainly Hulti in that area perhaps until the Great Purge about 200 years ago. Hulti temples, in the old days, at least, appear to have consisted of earthen stepped terraces with a stone building on top, which matches the hill you discovered. It appears that Surgu was lured to the hilltop before being killed there, as if the place were important. Within the terraced hills, you discovered tunnels in which a magic bronze ring and iron dagger, as well as a carved slate, had been stored or placed long ago. The site has now been damaged and those tunnels collapsed due to the earthquake that occurred while you were inside.

There are not any open Hulti in Khutu at all, although some surely still secretly practice the faith, such as (perhaps) at least some of the Pekai lineage. But ever since the Third Council of Romaz was held in Malfan eleven years ago, some radical shamans have been advocating for more direct conflict with the Corps for the first time in centuries. One such group is known as the Sijunikh, a group of masked shamans who oppose any compromise or coexistence with the Corps, and reject the existence of saints, bubun, and revenants. There is clearly deep dissent among modern Hulti, most of whom aim for peaceful coexistence.

Gunuremai's next action was to unrender four bubun at Nemnosti, and then to place them in a spiral pattern on the courtyard to be seen. The loss of the bubun is sad, but much more disturbing is the idea that Gunuremai could enter the ulajeta freely, despite Nemnosti's many protections. It appears that Gunuremai used one of the Lanky Stones, secretly a megalithic door, to enter unobserved. But to do that she would have needed to know the password (and indeed, of the existence of the door), which was not known to many. One candidate to have told Gunuremai is Saza Gago, who has been summoned to Nemnosti by Nemnu Herself and who, at least for now, is staying as Her guest, while she awaits a response to her demand: in exchange for changing the password, a new acolyte to train as her new Pebble.

During this time Gunuremai also seems to have taken over the identity of Susuva Nemni, another revenant, this one from Nemnu's own family, allowing them to be in the ulajeta without difficulty. You have recently recovered Susuva's body from the Turtu, where Gunuremai apparently left it. The real Susuva apparently left the ulajeta days before she was noted to be missing, as her double (presumably Gunuremai?) escaped capture through the Lanky Stones.

Many of these facts are known to a high degree of certainty, but few to an absolute. Many questions remain. Above all of these, it remains unclear how any of this relates to the concept of levununde (cataract) foreseen by Nemnu Herself, or to the notions that Ushukuna, the Queen of Bones, has shared with some of her vultures.