Nemnosti session 9

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Summary

Ifa talks to Kibai Pilting, who tells her that her family disowned her over an incest accusation, and Ifa offers to advocate for her to become an acolyte. Jevai heads to Akapa Sogo with Voice Ingo so she can talk to her ancestor Sharusila Nadenigh, and learns the ancillary flourish needed to modify the megalithic door on the Lanky Stones. Kuspir and Bem Pekai find an intruder in the protected area of the Lanky Stones, who turns out to be Fultukhari Nemni intent on some harmless vandalism. Marga has a strange dream given to her by Ushukuna about ongoing events, and then wakes up in the ruins of Lurusiru next to Rechegoko, who had a related dream, about his family, who are apparently Hulti. Kuspir hangs out with his friends Pomirabe and Regivus, where they gossip about Nemni marriages and other recent events at the ulajeta. Jevai chats with Ozh Laigrunuf, who shares her knowledge of folktales and legends about Musune and Gil Hargush, her lineage’s ancestral territories. Alai is visited by Roska and Uvragaz Vegru, her adoptive father and grandmother, the former of whom entreats her to find a Nemni husband, and the latter of whom is intrigued by the Abyss within her, which her ancestor Aathuvansi Leu also apparently had. Marga is visited by a disguised Saza, who tells her about friends she has up in the high hills, and they discuss what Ushukuna’s prophetic dream might mean.

Session

Session date: May 26, 2024

Negili Reckoning date: IE 768, Nalaltu

Prologue

Welcome, acolytes! When we gather by the firelight, we come together as a community, under Her protection, but even more importantly, under Her love. Anyone who has completed Her courses, and yes, even you, just learning them for the first time, become part of something much larger than yourself. We all come from different circumstances. Some, like me, are the children, grandchildren, and more of Nemni, as far back as the Lady Herself and Her first hengi, the true Osper. Others step into these walls for the first time when we begin our service. Regardless, here we have a place. Nemnu Herself spent many years separate from much of Her own family during Her personhood, as you will have learned in this month's lessons on the history of this place. She knows what it is to be apart from lineage, from kin, from loved ones. And thus, Nemnosti has always been a haven and home for those who have no other. You may come from afar, and your heart and larynx may not always swell when you think of your families. But here, you are in Her home, which has become your home, and we who share the warmth of this fire and Her spirit form a kind of family. Here, you are never truly alone.

Ifa talks to Kibai about her family life and learns why she was on her own

[NemnostiGM] Ifa, about a week after your visit to Hertu to investigate Azolte Rumnoska, it's now the month of Nalaltu and the beginning of summer. It's been several weeks since you found the girl Kibai Pilting in the Musune and brought her back so her leg can heal.
[NemnostiGM] You've been keeping an eye on Kibai in general, but without any specific plans for the longer term. Jorota is also checking in on her regularly, given that she's living in and with the acolytes.
[NemnostiGM] She's still healing - the break was a bad one and she is not the most compliant patient, but has put on a little bit of weight and her condition is much improved since you found her trapped and threatened by the giant spider.
[NemnostiGM] You are making a point today to check in on her in the small chamber you've set aside for her.
[Ifa] (She has a room to herself?)
[NemnostiGM] (yes, a small one, but it was thought to be best given her condition)
* Ifa will knock politely.
[Kibai] Who is it?
[Ifa] It's Ifa. I brought you some [kind of snack food] and tea.
[Kibai] Come in.
* Ifa will do so.
[Ifa] (How does she look?)
* Kibai looks healthy and well-rested. Her healing has been very fast - and also, she's clearly gained a little much-needed weight after a few weeks on the ulajeta's food.
* Ifa smiles.
[Ifa] How are you feeling?
[Kibai] I'm fine. Ready to head back soon, get out of your hair.
[Ifa] If you like, but please take your time. No sense in leaving before you're fully healed and just getting injured again.
[Kibai] You people are ... well.
* Kibai struggles to find the words she's looking for.
[Kibai] I don't deserve your kindness.
[Ifa] I don't agree with your premise.
* Ifa sets down the food for her.
[Ifa] We choose to offer kindness; it's not a matter of deserve.
[Ifa] That said, I'm curious why you would think you don't deserve it.
[Kibai] Hand Ifa, can I ask you a question about morality?
[Ifa] Of course.
[Kibai] We are always taught that we have obligations to our families. But what happens when our families reject us?
[Ifa] (What would be the Corps philosophy on this?)
[NemnostiGM] (it's complicated - there isn't a one size fits all philosophy)
[NemnostiGM] (people do have obligations to their ancestors, but living people are very complicated)
[Ifa] Obviously, that's a complicated question. Can I ask why you're thinking about it?
[Kibai] Well, because I can't go back to Ojon Sogo. When I leave here, I mean.
[Ifa] I'm sorry to hear that. Would you be willing to tell me what happened?
[Kibai] You won't tell anyone else?
[Ifa] Not if you don't want me to, no.
[Kibai] All right. I was accused of incest by my family, and told to leave the village.
[Ifa] I'm very sorry to hear that, Kibai.
[Kibai] It's not true!
* Kibai adds defensively.
* Ifa nods sympathetically.
[Ifa] Do you know what caused them to accuse you?
[Kibai] My cousin Chorgosh, he liked me. And he used to play around, when we were kids.
* Ifa frowns.
[Ifa] Go on...
[Kibai] Nothing ever happened, not really. But when he was caught being a little too friendly with his hands - well, he is on track to be the Pilting hengi one day, and I am strange and awkward. So ... I was blamed and they told me to leave.
[Kibai] I think they figured I would go to Naftusa, find a job, leave Ravre ways behind.
[Ifa] I'm very sorry that happened to you, Kibai, that's awful.
* Kibai shrugs.
[Kibai] I'm better off without them.
[Ifa] If you say so, though it can suck to not have people.
[Ifa] For instance, no one there to help if you get trapped or injured.
* Ifa tries to go for levity.
[Kibai] I take your point.
[Ifa] I take it then you wouldn't go home even if you could?
* Kibai shakes her head.
[Kibai] How could I ever trust them?
* Ifa nods.
[Ifa] And you didn't want to go to Naftusa?
[Kibai] I spent my entire life in the village. The big city doesn't have anything for me.
[NemnostiGM] As you speak to her, Ifa, you get a strange sense that Kibai is not as young as you imagined her to be originally.
[Ifa] How long have you been on your own?
[Kibai] Some months. Since the autumn.
[Ifa] That sounds very lonely.
* Kibai shrugs.
[Kibai] I guess.
[Ifa] I would imagine even Nemnosti is a crowded place after all that time.
[Kibai] It is, but people have been kind, mainly. Some of the acolytes are rowdy.
[Ifa] If you wanted...I'm sure we could find a more permanent position here for you.
[Kibai] What do you mean?
[Ifa] Circling back to your original question...I don't necessarily think you owe anything to anyone who doesn't keep faith with you. *But*, I tend to be of the opinion that everyone needs community, and we could be that if you like.
[Kibai] I figured Nemnu must be pretty picky about who She accepts.
[Ifa] She can be particular, but idiosyncratic. Can't hurt to ask, at the very least. And you've managed alone in some dangerous wilderness for month, so clearly you have skills to recommend you.
[Kibai] I'm not going to beg for admission.
[Ifa] I'm not saying you should.
[Ifa] But I'm offering, as much as I'm able, and I would be happy to advocate for you.
[Kibai] Why would you do that?
[Ifa] Why wouldn't I?
* Kibai tries to keep a stern face, but you're sure you see a hint of a smile.
[Kibai] All right. I accept your terms.
* Ifa smiles.
[Ifa] Sounds good. I'll leave you to eat and rest, then, and I'll go see about a more permanent arrangement.
[Kibai] Thank you, Hand Ifa.
[Ifa] You're very welcome, Kibai.

Jevai talks to her ancestor Sharusila about how to change the password to the Lanky Stones

[NemnostiGM] Jevai, the last week has been very hard, made even harder by the fact that no one really seems to understand. How could they? You have done such a good job pretending to be normal that others don't see the risk that Saza presents, not really.
[NemnostiGM] You've gone over it in your head a thousand times. You know there's something more, something more than mere spite or meddlesomeness that motivates her, but what it is, you don't know.
[NemnostiGM] What you do know is that you are not willing to sell out the ulajeta, or any of its acolytes, by agreeing to Saza's bargain. Which means you need solutions.
[NemnostiGM] You have arranged to meet with Voice Ingo and travel up with him to Akapa Sogo, to the little temple there, to talk to your ancestor Sharusila Nadenigh.
* Kibai is now known as Ingo
* Ingo is dressed in his black Voice robes, of course, but a version cut to allow him to hike up to the village with you without too much difficulty.
[Ingo] So, Jevai, tell me about this Ancestor.
* Jevai is dressed is her usual style f comfortably worn leather trousers and a loose top
[Jevai] Hmm?
[Ingo] The Ancestor we're going to see, this Sharusila. Tell me about her.
[Jevai] I did not know her in life. She was the last sigillant of the Nadenigh before me, but she died in the plague
[Ingo] Have you spoken to her before using a death dialogue? I don't believe I have done so.
[Jevai] I have consulted with her before, but uslaly with more direct questions
[Jevai] This is a more complicated matter
* Ingo nods.
[Ingo] So, you understand how it works, though?
[Jevai] YOu will be aware of the full conversation, yes?
* Ingo nods.
[Ingo] I will be there, but not in control of my own voice.
[Ingo] It will pass through her, and I will serve as a conduit for her thoughts and views.
[Ingo] But everything she says - even matters that are to be kept among sigillants - I will know and remember them.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] Surely you must commonly be privy to these kinds of secrets
[Ingo] I am, although frankly, they are usually family matters - an old affair, a child's parentage, that sort of thing.
[Ingo] It is rarer that I encounter knowledge that might be considered an arcane secret.
[Ingo] But you need not fear. We also learn, as I am sure Izu has told you, to be steadfast holders of that knowledge entrusted to us by Ancestors.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] Well, we will see if she knows the secrets that I seek.... and whether I, let aone you, can understand them.
[Jevai] I am sure you know what this is about.
[NemnostiGM] You arrive at the village after a short walk, which does not seem to have tired Voice Ingo too much, and head to the small temple where the Nadenigh ancestors are kept. There are priests up here in the village, but for the most part, this temple is tended by Voices from Nemnosti for anything of great significance.
[NemnostiGM] It's an old stone building built with fragments clearly taken from other, older buildings, but has a certain quiet beauty about it nonetheless.
[Ingo] Yes, I know what it is about. And I will say, you are very brave to take it on.
* Ingo says as you reach the temple door.
* Jevai presumably woudl have told the local priests she was planning this, nnit just show up with a guy
[Jevai] It is necessary.
[NemnostiGM] (probably, although Voice Ingo is not just a guy, he is pretty much entitled to be here whenever he wants.)
[Ingo] It is sometimes necessary to show Her other possibilities.
[Jevai] (still seems polite ;)
* Jevai nods
[Ingo] She is mighty but She is not infallible, and no theology has ever excepted saints from human failings such as fear.
* Ingo heads in and navigates his way through the temple until he finds Sharusila.
[Ingo] Here, child, help me with the lid.
* Jevai can do so
* Jevai has always wondered if she carved it herself
[NemnostiGM] You slide the lid away to reveal the body of Sharusila. Even though she's been dead for nearly thirty years her skeleton is still articulated.
[Ingo] Are you ready to begin?
[Jevai] Yes.
[Ingo] Very well.
* Ingo touches the bones and speaks some ritual words, and then his posture shifts.
* Ingo is now known as Sharusila
[Sharusila] Hello. Who are you?
[Jevai] (Is there a term of address fo ancestors?)
[NemnostiGM] (you can just call her Ancestor, or Abas)
[Jevai] Abas Sharusila - I am Jevai Nadenigh, the sigillant from out Lineeage. I have consulted you before, as there were several years between your death and my training, and more to learn tham my Upward Eng-Dur Chuchuru and Downward Saza Gago could teach me. I have also been trained as an Acolyte at Nemnosti and am Privy to some secrets there that were once held between yourself and Nemnu Ula,
[Jevai] and I have her trust. We are speaking through Voice Ingo, who is the head Voice of the Ulajeta.
[Sharusila] Jevai.
* Sharusila says, mouthing the name as if tasting it.
[Sharusila] Who is your father?
[Jevai] My father is Porfo Nadenigh
* Sharusila nods.
[Sharusila] Porfo, I knew him when he was a boy. And many of his elders, I knew well.
[Sharusila] Are you keeping the Fingerprint secure still?
[Jevai] Yes, Abas, as best I can
[Sharusila] That is good. The caves, they stay moist and warm?
* Jevai smiles
[Jevai] They do.
[Sharusila] Very good.
[Jevai] I have come today to ask you about megalithic doors
[Sharusila] What about them?
[Jevai] someone gave an enemy of the ulajeta the password to us the lanky sones, and this person used them to desecrate bubun
* Sharusila frowns.
[Jevai] I need to know if there is a way that the password can be reset, or if they can be otherwise secured in some way
[Sharusila] This is an upsetting matter. Such sacred words are not to be treated with such indiscretion.
[Jevai] Yes.
[Sharusila] One solution would be for the Lanky Stones - or at least, the one that bears the door - to be removed. But such an extraction would be painful, I am sure.
[Jevai] Yes - the stones carry other protectiosn for the ulajeta, and so I am told this is not possible
[Sharusila] There is another way. An ancillary flourish could be added to the glyphs. Here, extend your hand.
* Jevai does so
* Sharusila takes her (Ingo's) finger and traces it on your hand.
[Sharusila] A line, broken in five parts.
* Jevai is glad she is used to having to memorize shit like this the first try, thank you Saza for something :p
[Sharusila] Two double hooks, interwoven through the four holes of the line. Carved deep, into the meat of the stone.
[Sharusila] Then across the hooks, a lattice, strung as a net.
[Sharusila] But such a mark is not merely any flourish. It would require a tekru of great power to alter such an ancient stone.
[Sharusila] I can see that you have great zampa, but are you strong enough? I do not know you, and I cannot say. But in my time, even I do not know if I could have made this mark with success.
[Sharusila] Whose Pebble are you?
[Jevai] My downward is Saza Gago. She calaims that she can help us, but what she asks in return is untenable. My Upward was Eng-Dur Chuchuru, but he is.... gone from this world, presumed dead. In his place, my Upward now is Giri Hazh
[Sharusila] I see.
[Sharusila] The flourish I have given you will work - but it must be channeled rightly, or it will be a mere scratch on the surface.
[Jevai] and then it would not work?
[Sharusila] Correct.
[Jevai] what will it accomplish if it succeeds?
[Sharusila] It can renew the stone, with a new word.
[Jevai] How powerful would someone need to be to enact it? Powerful enough to create a door?
[Sharusila] Yes, definitely, at least that powerful.
[Jevai] and it could only be done by a single sigillant?
[Sharusila] What do you mean?
[Jevai] to add a flourish to the work of another is already a collaboration of sorts, a sharing of the investment of power, even if it is to overwrite part of the original channeling
[Jevai] I don't know if there is another Sigillant alive now other than Downward who would be so powerful to do this on their own...
[Sharusila] There surely are others, but whether they should be entrusted with such a secret is a question I cannot answer for you.
[Jevai] I don't know any, Abas, who live still. If there are, they are in communities far from here and yes, I would hesitate to share such secrets
[Sharusila] If there is another way, I do not know it.
[Jevai] Thre are fewer of us than in your time
[Sharusila] That is sad to hear. Soon it will be time for you to take your own Pebble, then.
* Jevai gets a very complicated look
[Jevai] Soon enough.
[Sharusila] I wish you well in your efforts, Jevai.
[Jevai] Thank you, Abas
* Sharusila is now known as Ingo
* Ingo comes back into full control of his body.
[Ingo] I hope you have learned what you need.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] Thank you as well, Voice Ingo
[NemnostiGM] You travel back to the cloister in silence, both of you surely lost in thought.

Kuspir and Bem encounter an invisible opponent at the Lanky Stones, who turns out to be Fultukhari Nemni

[NemnostiGM] Kuspir, when the children were younger, it was rare for you to have a post in the evening hours. Now, though, with Irdomila in training, Rugu spending more time at the iftibal than at home, and of course, with the need for safety so great, things have changed.
[NemnostiGM] So tonight, you find yourself on guard at the Lanky Stones this evening, along with Bem, who of course spends most evenings on duty.
[NemnostiGM] The heat of the summer day has melted away and the skies, which had been cloudy this morning, are now clear and star-filled.
[NemnostiGM] Bem seems to be in better spirits than recently, still a bit raw, surely, but you trust that she is tough and will come through this.
* Ingo is now known as Bem
* Bem is quiet, but that's not unusual for her. She is perhaps looking more at the ground than usual.
[Kuspir] How are you doing?
* Kuspir asks her
[Bem] All good.
[NemnostiGM] (you can make a SM if you want)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20+13
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20+13 ] getting [ 10 ] which, after the modifier [ 13 ] totals [ 23 ].
[NemnostiGM] (She's definitely avoiding looking right at you - like she's looking off to the side)
[Kuspir] (ok well I'm not going to press her on it right now)
[NemnostiGM] (OK, Kuspir, I'll get you to make a Perception check)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20+13
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20+13 ] getting [ 16 ] which, after the modifier [ 13 ] totals [ 29 ].
[Bem] !roll 1d20+9
* Jevai rolls for Bem: [ 1d20+9 ] getting [ 17 ] which, after the modifier [ 9 ] totals [ 26 ].
[NemnostiGM] Kuspir, to the north, from somewhere above Hul Hai, you hear what sounds like the scattering of pebbles across the flagstones.
[Bem] Did you hear that?
[Kuspir] Yes.
[Kuspir] (what is in that area?)
[NemnostiGM] (not much, it's just empty courtyard. Further north than that (#24) is the Limping Hall, which is a guest quarters.
[Kuspir] (it's pretty close to us, though, right? can I see anything unusual there?)
[NemnostiGM] (yeah no more than 30 feet or so where you heard the noise, and no, you don't see anything)
[Kuspir] It could be an attempted at a distraction.
[Bem] Want me to go check it out? You stay here?
[Kuspir] All right.
* Bem heads up that way.
* Kuspir will keep on high alert, focusing on the stones and on Bem in case she needs help.
[NemnostiGM] (Kuspir, make another Perception check please)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20+13
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20+13 ] getting [ 20 ] which, after the modifier [ 13 ] totals [ 33 ].
[NemnostiGM] You hear a voice speak almost in a whisper, a single word 'amethyst'. You hear it very clearly, though, are immediately drawn to attention. There is a magical alarm placed every day on the Lanky Stones, which, if the area is entered without speaking the correct word. And indeed, today's is 'amethyst'. The voice is, you believe, that of a young person - perhaps even a child.
[Kuspir] (can I see where the voice came from? or is the person invisible or something?)
[NemnostiGM] You cannot see where the voice is coming from but with that roll, you can tell exactly where it is coming from, right over against the east wall of the ulajeta, just to the east of the Lankies.
[Kuspir] (so there's a pond between me and them? just making sure I understand the geography here)
[Kuspir] (or are they on the other side of that big ... rock?)
[NemnostiGM] (i'll ping the spot)
[Kuspir] (ok I see your ping)
[Kuspir] (one more question and then I'll tell you what I do, I promise ;)
[Kuspir] (who is supposed to have this password?)
[NemnostiGM] (stoneguards, sentinels, probably Nemnu Herself ... I suppose maybe one or two official people)
[NemnostiGM] (presumably Jorota or whoever actually places the spell every day)
[Kuspir] (so a young person/child having it would probably seem weird?)
[NemnostiGM] (definitely weird)
* Kuspir will run towards where the voice came from and try to seize whoever it was. not trying to harm them (since I don't know who it is yet) but just trying to get hold of them.
[NemnostiGM] (all right, give me a CMB check (BAB + Str)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20+10
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20+10 ] getting [ 8 ] which, after the modifier [ 10 ] totals [ 18 ].
[NemnostiGM] !roll 1d20+9
* Jevai rolls for NemnostiGM: [ 1d20+9 ] getting [ 2 ] which, after the modifier [ 9 ] totals [ 11 ].
[NemnostiGM] (all right, now roll a 50% miss chance)
[Kuspir] (I guess I'll roll a d20 and say High is a hit and low is a miss)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20 ] getting [ 2 ].
[Kuspir] (bah)
* Bem looks alarmed and comes rushing over in your direction.
[NemnostiGM] Whoever/whatever it is moves in the direction of the Lanky Stones.
* Kuspir will pursue and yell for Bem
[NemnostiGM] You can't tell much more than that as they're still not visible. But you definitely did come into some physical contact with an individual, however briefly.
[Kuspir] Someone's there, invisible!
* Bem moves towards the Lanky Stones and extends her spear out in front of her, trying to find the target, but without success.
[NemnostiGM] All right, Kuspir, now what?
[Kuspir] (keep pursuing them, if I can tell where they are. still trying to grab them/stop them more than attack.)
[NemnostiGM] (all right, your best guess is that they're just on the east side of the stones. You can make another CMB)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20+10
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20+10 ] getting [ 15 ] which, after the modifier [ 10 ] totals [ 25 ].
[NemnostiGM] !roll 1d20+9
* Jevai rolls for NemnostiGM: [ 1d20+9 ] getting [ 3 ] which, after the modifier [ 9 ] totals [ 12 ].
[NemnostiGM] (all right, another miss roll please)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20 ] getting [ 10 ].
[NemnostiGM] You see before you a mark appear on the stone right before you. It's a letter F. But you definitely have this person by their shirt now, although they're trying to pull away.
* Bem comes over and attempts to hold this person also.
[Bem] !roll 1d20+8
* Jevai rolls for Bem: [ 1d20+8 ] getting [ 6 ] which, after the modifier [ 8 ] totals [ 14 ].
* Bem grabs at where she thinks this person is, but misses.
[NemnostiGM] All right Kuspir, what now?
[Kuspir] (I hate to say it but ... grapple them? :p)
[NemnostiGM] (once again, CMB)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20+10
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20+10 ] getting [ 14 ] which, after the modifier [ 10 ] totals [ 24 ].
[NemnostiGM] !roll 1d20+9
* Jevai rolls for NemnostiGM: [ 1d20+9 ] getting [ 14 ] which, after the modifier [ 9 ] totals [ 23 ].
[NemnostiGM] (one more time, 50%)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20 ] getting [ 9 ].
[Kuspir] (ffs)
* Bem tries to grab the person, seeing more clearly where it is now that you have them (ish)
[Bem] !roll 1d20+8
* Jevai rolls for Bem: [ 1d20+8 ] getting [ 1 ] which, after the modifier [ 8 ] totals [ 9 ].
* Bem definitely does not succeed
* Bem trips and falls next to the stones.
[NemnostiGM] You hear a young man's laughter.
[Kuspir] Stop right where you are!
[Kuspir] (I'll try to intimidate them)
[NemnostiGM] (all right, make a roll)
[Kuspir] (I assume I get my bonus on this for defending home etc?)
[NemnostiGM] (yes)
[Kuspir] !roll 1d20+16
* Jevai rolls for Kuspir: [ 1d20+16 ] getting [ 8 ] which, after the modifier [ 16 ] totals [ 24 ].
[NemnostiGM] (ok, tell me what you are doing/saying)
[Kuspir] (I mean I did. I yelled at them to stop.)
[Kuspir] (I'll try to position myself between them and the stones if I can, but idk if that's possible since I don't know exactly where they are)
[NemnostiGM] (sure, you can probably do that)
[NemnostiGM] You don't hear any further motion, but you do hear some heavy breathing sort of right in front of you.
[Kuspir] What do you think you're doing, young man?
* Kuspir demands sternly
* Bem comes and stands right next to you.
[NemnostiGM] There is no response.
[Kuspir] Bem, go get Jorota
[Bem] Yes, sir.
[Kuspir] And Jevai too
* Kuspir adds as an afterthought
* Bem heads off to do so.
[NemnostiGM] You hear the sound of someone trying to very quietly shuffle away from you.
[Kuspir] Where do you think you're going?
[NemnostiGM] The sound stops.
[NemnostiGM] (it will be a few minutes before either Jorota or Jevai can get here, so you just want to keep them in a staredown?)
[Kuspir] (yup, just prevent them from leaving/doing any other dumb shit, to the extent that I can)
[NemnostiGM] A few minutes later, Jorota pops out immediately by the Lanky Stones.
[Jorota] What is it, stoneguard?
[Kuspir] Someone who knows the password has tried to access the stones. They're invisible.
* Kuspir gestures in the general area of where they should be
* Jorota waves her hand and speaks a word. Before you appears the terrified form of Fultukhari Nemni.
* Bem is now known as Fultukhari
* Fultukhari laughs.
[Jorota] You have got to be fucking kidding me.
* Jorota moves forward and cuffs her son across the head, and not in that nice 'oh you dumb goofball' way
[Jorota] Are you fucking stupid? Kuspir here would have cut you in half.
[Jorota] Kuspir, throw him in a cell.
[Kuspir] (how old is this kid again?)
[NemnostiGM] (13? 14? about Irdomila's age)
[Kuspir] (is Bem back yet?)
[NemnostiGM] (no, she'd have to go get Jevai separately and then run back, can't just pop in like Jorota could)
[Kuspir] I shouldn't leave my post.
* Kuspir says calmly.
[Jorota] I'll hold your post for you, stoneguard. Do it.
* Kuspir sighs slightly but will take the kid to a cell.
[Fultukhari] You almost got me. Good try.
[Kuspir] What do you think you were doing back there? You must have known you'd get caught, especially if you write your own name there.
[Fultukhari] I was just putting the one letter. It could be anyone whose name starts with F.
[Fultukhari] And I had to do it.
[Fultukhari] I almost got away.
[Kuspir] Had to do it?
[Fultukhari] Never mind.
[Kuspir] Did someone make you?
[Fultukhari] I do what I want.
[Kuspir] Or was it for a dare or something?
[Fultukhari] Nope.
[Kuspir] Trying to impress a girl? :p
[Fultukhari] Just take me to jail. Mom will let me out tomorrow.
* Fultukhari blushes a bit.
[Fultukhari] Nope.
* Kuspir guesses based on his extensive knowledge of reasons 13 year old boys do stupid shit
* Kuspir sighs
[Fultukhari] Anyway, just for the record, I won, you lost.
[Kuspir] You're lucky I didn't decide to spear you.
[Fultukhari] You're lucky you didn't fall on your face just like your friend.
[Kuspir] I heard your voice and knew you were just a kid. Otherwise I might have thought you were an actual threat.
[Fultukhari] I wasn't worried.
[Kuspir] You should have been.
[Fultukhari] Well, whatever.
[NemnostiGM] You reach the East Gate where you can find a place to throw the kid overnight, hoping that it might scare him at least a little.
[Kuspir] (I'll lock him up but make sure he has any necessary things - water, a blanket, etc. I don't actually want him to suffer.)
[NemnostiGM] (OK, you can leave him there, and presumably Jorota can sort him out tomorrow.)

Marga has a dream where Ushukuna gives her some cryptic information, and then awakens alongside Rechegoko in the abandoned ruins of Lurusiru

[NemnostiGM] Marga, you are flying across the Ghengom, east of Nemnosti. It's raining, which is strange for this time of year, and the winds are high.
[NemnostiGM] You bank around to the north, only to see a mass of cloud spiral above you. The sky turns a sickly grey-green and you begin to look for a place to land.
[Marga] . o O (uh oh...)
[NemnostiGM] Before that can happen, though, the cloud breaks entirely, and through the still-turbulent opening passes a great shadow, and then great claws, and then an enormous great black pair of wings. It is Ushukuna.
* Fultukhari is now known as Ushukuna
[Marga] :O
[NemnostiGM] Despite the tornadic chaos around you, the wind settles around you as Ushukuna descends to your eye level, flapping Her enormous wings against the storm.
[Marga] M... Mother?
[Ushukuna] BE UNAFRAID.
* Marga is awed.
[Ushukuna] YOU ARE NEEDED.
[Marga] Wha.. what? Where? Why?
[Ushukuna] THE CREVICE GROWS WIDER.
[Ushukuna] A WEDGE DRIVEN INTO THE CRACK.
[Marga] Crevice? Crack?
[Ushukuna] THE EARTH HAS SHUDDERED, AND WITH IT, THE PEACE OF THE LAND SUNDERED.
[Marga] It cracked under the hill?
[Ushukuna] IT DID. AND THROUGH THE LANDS.
[Marga] DId.... something get out?
[Ushukuna] IT DID. AND WITH IT, A SILENCE BROKEN, A STILLNESS DISRUPTED.
[Ushukuna] SECRETS THOUGHT LONG BURIED.
[Marga] What do You need me to do?
[Ushukuna] TELL YOUR OTHER MOTHER
[Marga] My... other mother?
[Marga] Nemnu?
[Ushukuna] IT IS SO.
[Marga] I will, Queen of Bones. _
[NemnostiGM] Marga, you awaken. The clouds are gone, the rain is gone, Ushukuna is gone, and it is a sunny Nalaltu afternoon. You are in your human form, prone, on rocky dry ground.
[NemnostiGM] You remember that you had lain down in your room at around noon after returning from your morning scouting and hunting. But now you are not there at all.
* Marga sits up groggily, disoriented.
[Marga] (Where am I?)
[NemnostiGM] You are, roughly, where you were in your dream - and looking around, you see that you are near the ruined town of Lurusiru, northeast of the ulajeta in the Ghengom. By the sun, you see that it is closer to mid-afternoon. So a couple hours have passed since you fell asleep.
* Marga brushes the dust off her front and looks around...
[NemnostiGM] Perhaps a hundred yards away, nestled next to a fragment of ruined village wall, you see Rechegoko Naznaz, looking similarly disoriented.
[Marga] Rechegoko!
* Ushukuna is now known as Rechegoko
[Rechegoko] Marga?
[Marga] Are you - Did you see Her?
[Rechegoko] Yes. You tooo?
* Marga nods frantically.
[Marga] What did She say to you? Was it about the earhquake, and cracks and crevices?
[Rechegoko] It was about the earthquake. And ... family.
[Marga] Family?
[Rechegoko] Yes. That I have a role to play, and ... also, my family.
[Marga] Your family... where you come from?
[Rechegoko] I guess so? I don't know. She wasn't exactly clear.
[Marga] She told me to tell Nemnu. I have to go back to the ulajeta... Rechegoko... will you come with me? Please?
* Marga goes to reach for his hands but catches herself, and instead just looks at him pleadingly.
[Marga] No one's going to believe just me.
* Rechegoko looks around.
[Rechegoko] Why are we here?
[Marga] I don't know... She must have had some reason for picking this place though, you're right.
* Marga scrunches her features into her Thinking Face
[Rechegoko] This town, Lurusiru. It is not a sogo.
* Rechegoko uses the ordinary term for a Ravre village.
[Rechegoko] It is of the lowlanders.
* Marga nods.
[Marga] I wonder if there is something here we're supposed to see?
[Marga] I'm going to just... look around a minute
* Rechegoko nods.
[NemnostiGM] (I suppose you don't have any relevant Knowledge skills about this place, huh?)
[Marga] (I have some Local and Geography?)
[NemnostiGM] (you can make a K:local)
[Marga] !roll 1d20+7
* Jevai rolls for Marga: [ 1d20+7 ] getting [ 10 ] which, after the modifier [ 7 ] totals [ 17 ].
[NemnostiGM] You know this place has been abandoned for a long, long time. There used to be a saint Lurusiru Ula who is now an ancestor, and their ulajeta was Lurusiru Osti, which is a short walk away from here.
[NemnostiGM] More than that, you either never learned or didn't remember.
[Marga] Maybe the old ulajeta...
[Marga] Come on!
* Marga strides off that way
[NemnostiGM] Looking around the village, you don't see anything in particular that has been disturbed. You do visit here fairly often as part of your scouting/hunting. There's no sign that there was actually a storm here - you already figured that out though, mostly. It seems perfectly as you would expect.
[NemnostiGM] You can head off to Lurusiru Osti. which is a very short, easy walk away.
* Rechegoko follows along, not really sure what he's looking for.
[Marga] (Me neither buddy)
[NemnostiGM] (I'll give you a SM on Rechegoko, actually)
[Marga] (lol)
[Marga] !roll 1d20+2
* Jevai rolls for Marga: [ 1d20+2 ] getting [ 17 ] which, after the modifier [ 2 ] totals [ 19 ].
[NemnostiGM] Marga, you actually think there might be something he's not telling you. Just a gut instinct.
* Marga stops and eyes him with concern.
[Marga] .. is there something I should know? About this stuff? Or this place?
[Rechegoko] Marga, I have something that I want to tell you, but I don't want you to be angry.
[Rechegoko] I like you.
[Rechegoko] I want to be your friend.
[Marga] You *are* my friend! :)
* Rechegoko smiles.
[Rechegoko] My family destroyed this place.
[Marga] Oh my bones and feathers :O
[Marga] (how long ago was this place destroyed? do I have an idea of what happened? is that general knowledge?)
[NemnostiGM] (a long long long time ago, you have no idea more than that. But there are definitely smart people at Nemnosti who do know that kind of thing, you are 100% sure)
[Marga] That was... a real long time ago though, right?
* Rechegoko nods.
[Rechegoko] Very long.
[Marga] Why would I be angry with you about that? You weren't even alive and... well. I mean. My family. haha.
[Marga] Anyway!
[Rechegoko] What I mean is, this place was destroyed by Hulti.
[Marga] That must be why we're here th- ohhhh. :o
* Marga 's eyes widen.
[Marga] Do you know what happened here then?
[Rechegoko] Not really. But I know they came here to kill the saint and destroy its cult, or whatever.
[Rechegoko] Marga, my family and I ... we are different. That is why I keep to myself.
[Rechegoko] But the Naznaz ... we are not like other Ravre.
* Marga nods slowly.
[Marga] Different ... how?
[Marga] Do you think revenants and people like that are bad?
[Rechegoko] The way it was explained to me is that after the Great Purge, we were pushed higher, higher, ever higher into the hills. Beyond where anyone could find us. And so we live there still, like in the old days.
[Rechegoko] I don't think that. I felt bad that Surgu died. I should have helped him.
[Rechegoko] I just ... I dont
[Rechegoko] That was how I was raised though.
[Marga] I didn't think you did, not really...
[Rechegoko] My family still does hold to the old ways, the old faith, the old language.
[Marga] Mother said something about a wedge being driven further, to me. If you're here... maybe it's something to do with the thing, between the Hulti and the corps people.
[Marga] Did She tell you to do anything specific?
* Rechegoko nods.
[Marga] What was it?
[Rechegoko] She said ... She said that I have to destroy my family.
* Rechegoko begins to shake and weep.
[Marga] oh ... oh no. I'm so sorry... Oh.
[Marga] Rechegoko... ;_;
[Marga] (is he standing up still?)
[Rechegoko] (yes)
* Marga wants to hug him so bad ;_;
[Marga] Can I... Is there... Oh shoot.
* Marga flaps her hands a little, flustered.
[Marga] What can I do, right now?
* Rechegoko reaches out and hugs you.
[Marga] ..!
* Marga hugs him back.
* Marga presses her cheek against his ample chest ].]
[Rechegoko] I can come back with you to Nemnosti ... if you think it's safe for me.
[Marga] I won't tell anyone what you told me, if you don't want... And if anyone tries to hurt you they'll have to go through me, I swear it by the Mother.
[Rechegoko] All right.
* Rechegoko lets you go, his hand hanging onto yours for just one extra moment before he releases you.
* Marga smiles what she hopes is encouragingly
[NemnostiGM] You can walk back to Nemnosti with Rechegoko, hoping that someone can help you make sense of all this, while still protecting his secret.
[NemnostiGM] Until next we gather by the firelight, young acolytes ...

Solos

Kuspir hangs out with his buddies Pomirabe and Regivus, and they drink gossip about goings-on at the ulajeta

[NemnostiGM] Kuspir, you don't get many evenings off, but even you recognize the need for some time for yourself if you're meant to stay sane through the present crisis.
[NemnostiGM] Your old acolyte buddy Micho - Regivius of the Losturi - has called an official tasting evening for you, him, and Pomirabe to get together and hopefully not get into too much trouble.
[NemnostiGM] These two (and a few others) have been your friends for twenty years or more and have seen you through everything.
[NemnostiGM] The cellars in Nemnosti are exceptionally well-apportioned, with a tasting room / salon down in the lower level of Carver's Hall, which has the added bonus that no one is likely to disturb you down here.
* Regivus has laid out a set of glasses on the carved marble table before you.
* Kuspir will meet them there
[Regivus] Medimur! We were wondering if you'd actually show up!
[Pomirabe] Don't listen to him, he's just being an asshole.
[Pomirabe] Some of us have real jobs, after all.
[Kuspir] It's my night off.
[Regivus] Hey, you want to drink, you will pay me the appropriate respect.
[Pomirabe] How have things been on your watch?
[Kuspir] Other than Jorota's son messing around, quiet.
[Regivus] Oh, do tell!
* Pomirabe shakes his head, presumably having heard this story already.
[Kuspir] Ah, just stupid kid pranks. He turned himself invisible and went sneaking around trying to write his name on the stones.
* Regivus laughs and laughs.
[Regivus] How pissed off was Jorota?
[Kuspir] She wanted him put in a cell overnight to teach him a lesson.
* Regivus shudders.
[Regivus] Terrifying.
[Kuspir] I'm not sure he learned much of anything from the experience.
[Regivus] My dear wife won't tell me who his father is. She knows, though.
[Pomirabe] None of our business, really.
[Pomirabe] He's lucky you didn't skewer him.
[Kuspir] I told him that. I don't think it made much of an impact though.
* Regivus pours you each a mug of something.
[Kuspir] At that age, nothing adults say seems very important.
[Pomirabe] We have more than a few scars to remind us of those days.
* Kuspir nods
[Regivus] All right, to start us off, Dadim Nemni has sent over some of his precious queenshook, to be enjoyed only by those of discriminating taste.
* Kuspir takes a sip
[NemnostiGM] (you've had it before at Dadim's tavern, the Coathook - it's a kind of aperitif, but not too strong.)
[Kuspir] It's not bad.
[Regivus] Enjoy it while you can. I hear they're looking for wives for Dadim. About time, really.
[Pomirabe] Don't look to my people. We've got enough marriage trouble already.
[Kuspir] Oh, and after he marries he won't have time to make liquor anymore?
* Pomirabe takes a big drink of his queenshook.
[Regivus] Well, not if he marries some fancy noblewoman who keeps him around the house to get fat!
[Kuspir] Is that likely?
[Kuspir] Who are they considering?
[Regivus] I don't know. I shouldn't say.
[Pomirabe] You definitely shouldn't.
[Kuspir] Maybe after a few more drinks.
[Pomirabe] Anyway, he's got to get in line.
[Kuspir] oh?
[Pomirabe] Well, you know ... Momuzai.
[Kuspir] Ah. Yes.
[Regivus] A toast to Momuzai, for making the rest of us look clever!
[Pomirabe] Yes, fine.
* Kuspir just sighs and shakes his head, but will drink anyway.
* Pomirabe takes a drink.
[Pomirabe] Your dear wife seems resigned to your father's plan. And my kin are ecstatic, solves their problem.
[Regivus] Here's to Hojon and his lecherous hog!
* Regivus takes another drink.
[Pomirabe] He's been going for a while before we showed up.
[Kuspir] You don't say...
[Regivus] I'm fine!
[Pomirabe] All right, Kuspir, your turn to offer up a toast.
* Kuspir considers
[Kuspir] To the team who've been helping me these past few months. Jevai, Marga, Alai, Izu, and Ifa. A good bunch.
* Regivus downs his drink.
[Regivus] I guess I shouldn't ask how all of that is going, huh?
[Pomirabe] I mean - are there things we don't already know about for you to report?
[Kuspir] Ah... nothing new, really.
* Regivus nods.
[Regivus] Scary times.
* Kuspir nods
[Regivus] Here, this will take the edge off.
* Regivus gets up and brings over a flagon of wine.
[Regivus] Now this is not local. This is Daligashi wine, but aged in casks that were used to transport fos from Ashnabis.
[Regivus] They say it doesn't actually have fos in it ... but who can say?
[Kuspir] Does it add something to the flavour?
[Regivus] I think so.
* Regivus pours some for you.
[Pomirabe] It's good ... I don't think I remember what fos tastes like anymore though.
* Kuspir gives it a try
[Regivus] Well?
[Kuspir] Interesting. Maybe a bit ... spicy?
* Pomirabe nods.
[Pomirabe] I like it. Tastes like it's overpriced and designed to please effete noblemen like myself.
* Kuspir chuckles at that
[Pomirabe] So I hear your daughter is trying to seduce my son?
[Regivus] Oooh!
[Kuspir] Bit of a strong word for that age. I think she has a crush.
* Pomirabe smiles.
[Pomirabe] You say that now, but we weren't so much older when you and Geme got together.
[Kuspir] Ah, don't remind me. I'm not ready for that.
[Pomirabe] And ... you do know that every noble lineage in the province has a list of eligible Nemni girls, right? And boys.
[Kuspir] I suppose so.
[Kuspir] She's still young. Maybe in a few years.
* Regivus nods.
[Regivus] You and me, Kuspir, we lucked out with our Nemni women, that's for sure. Gives everyone else hope.
[Kuspir] Mm, I suppose so.
[Regivus] My brother's giving up on the marriage game, he says. One Nemni was enough for a lifetime for him.
[Kuspir] What's he going to do instead?
[Regivus] Says he might take vows.
[Regivus] Although frankly ... ahhh, never mind.
[Kuspir] frankly?
[Regivus] Gigos is all right most of the time, but lately he's been in a strange mood.
[Kuspir] I thought he had taken up with Lijun, is that not true?
* Regivus shrugs.
[Regivus] Lijun is too strange for anyone to be with him, I mean, not really.
[Kuspir] well, if your brother is in a strange mood, maybe that suits him right now?
* Regivus shrugs.
[Regivus] I think it's more than that. Like he has no purpose in life.
[Regivus] He's seven years older than me but, you know, his life hasn't turned out. He's still like a kid. And no one really knows what he was doing when he was away.
[Kuspir] wasn't he with your lineage?
* Regivus shakes his head.
[Regivus] I mean, he stopped by there.
[Regivus] But who knows what he did after that?
* Regivus takes another drink.
[Kuspir] Strange.
[Regivus] I think it tastes like fos.
[Pomirabe] A little.
[Pomirabe] Here, my turn.
[Pomirabe] A toast, to Susuva. At rest, at last.
* Regivus drinks.
* Kuspir will drink as well
[Pomirabe] I do miss this. Not that my regiment isn't friendly, but ... well, it's different with all the 'sirs' and that. Here I get to not worry about that.
[Kuspir] You don't want us to start calling you 'sir'?
* Kuspir asks dryly
[Pomirabe] Next I shall demand to be appellated in the elder style, in the High Address.
[Regivus] I think that He needs another drink.
* Regivus pours more in Pomirabe's cup.

Jevai encounters Ozh Laigrunuf, and they talk about legends about Musune and Gil Hargush

[NemnostiGM] Jevai, you've been in the libraries a lot lately, trying to figure out more about ancillary flourishes and megalithic doors and anything that doesn't have to involve Saza and her demands. No luck so far.
[Jevai] :|
[NemnostiGM] You're sitting there poring over materials one afternoon when you hear a cheerful voice behind you.
* Pomirabe is now known as Ozh
[Ozh] Oh, hi!
* Jevai looks up
[Jevai] Ahh, hello Tovra
* Ozh smiles.
[Ozh] You look like you could use a break.
* Jevai looks down at the tomes onf front of her.
[Jevai] Mm. Soon.
[Ozh] I heard that you were back at Gil Hargush.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] Yes... I suppose it wasn't so long ago, it just feels that way.
[Ozh] Was it the temple? Alai thought it might be the temple.
[Jevai] It was, yes.
[Ozh] ~In ancient times, when hills were Kinds~
[Jevai] hmm?
[Ozh] You know, the old song. ~In ancient times, when hills were Kinds, the mountains danced and the hills would grind~
[Ozh] It's not a very good song.
* Ozh shrugs apologetically.
[Jevai] I don't know if I have
[Jevai] did people really believe that, that hills were kinds?
[Ozh] Oh, maybe it's just a Laigrunuf song. We have a lot of them, from the old clans.
* Ozh considers.
[Ozh] Maybe some hills. Wee Famai's Hill, you know that one?
* Jevai closes her book
[Jevai] (do I?)
[NemnostiGM] (you can roll, ahhh ... K: local, I guess?)
* Jevai rolls [ 1d20+11 ] getting [ 11 ] which, after the modifier [ 11 ] totals [ 22 ]
[NemnostiGM] It sounds vaguely familiar. You know the name, and something about a living hill.
[Jevai] vaguely perhaps... can you tell me more?
[Ozh] Oh, sure!
* Ozh beams as you ask her about her favouritest topic
[Jevai] This might be more helpful than trying to find what I'm seeking than books.... if you have time for me
[Ozh] Yeah, of course!
[Ozh] We don't have to stay here either, if you don't want.
[Ozh] You look like you could use a walk.
[Jevai] maybe you're right
[Ozh] Come on, then!
* Jevai will stand and stretch
[Ozh] We could go down to Degh Ekorre and hear our voices echo.
[Jevai] alright
[Jevai] that's a good place
[Jevai] let's go
[NemnostiGM] The two of you can walk out of the Ulajeta and downriver to the Degh Ekorre, the holy Voice site of natural wonder that serves as a pilgrimage for thousands, often on their way to Nemnosti.
[NemnostiGM] There is an acolyte on duty, who mainly just smiles and stays out of your way.
[Ozh] So Wee Famai's Hill is a story about a lazy farmer, you know, lazy farmer stories!
* Ozh says, as if that is a meaningful category of stories for all people.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] yes, many, but not that one
[Ozh] And a hill came a-creeping up step by step, and a sliding smoothly, and then leapt all of a sudden, and Wee Famai was nocked out of his hammock and spilled onto the forest floor.
[Ozh] I guess that would be Musune, the forest. Like I say, maybe this is just a tale from old Grunuf Sogo.
[Jevai] (does that mean anything to me? a place?)
[NemnostiGM] (make another K:local or K:geography)
[Jevai] !roll 1d20+11
* Lan-werk rolls for Jevai: [ 1d20+11 ] getting [ 10 ] which, after the modifier [ 11 ] totals [ 21 ].
[Jevai] (local)
[NemnostiGM] You recall that that was the name of the Ravre community around Gil Hargush prior to its abandonment. The Laigrunuf lineage is the descendant of those clans, combined into one, hence the name.
* Jevai nods
[NemnostiGM] The Laigrunuf are basically former Ravre, who, you think, were rewarded with lands for their service during one of the wars around here.
[Jevai] Your lineage seems to have held on to many stories that others have lost...
[Ozh] Well, I think every lineage has stories. Like, don't tell me there are no secrets tucked away in Nadenigh caves.
* Jevai smiles
[Jevai] are your stories secrets?
[Ozh] No, not really. I don't think most people care about them. You know, we still go up there to Gil Hargush now and again, even into the forest to where the village used to be.
[Ozh] It's fun. Not scary.
[Jevai] I hear there is a strange spirit that lives out that way - do you have any stories about that?
[Ozh] Oh ... we don't go up there.
[Jevai] oh?
[Ozh] I mean, those stories are not like Wee Famai, nailing down his hill with a spike so he can get back to rest. Those are like ... warnings.
[Jevai] hmm.
[Ozh] I'd love to tell you all of my stories.
[Jevai] well for now, I'm interested Wee Farmai and his spike, but maybe the others another time
* Ozh laughs.
[Ozh] So he drove in an iron spike into the hill to nail it down, but the hill got angry and tumbled Wee Famai down its spine to the ground. And still the hill rails at those seeking to scale it, they tumble down to the river.
[Jevai] earthquakes?
[Ozh] I guess ... I never thought about it as being about a real thing, exactly.
[Ozh] Not all stories are legends.
[Jevai] Stories are, often, tools for teaching us about the world
* Ozh nods.
[Jevai] When it comes to stones, the earth... that's how I was taught
[Ozh] I guess that makes sense. It must be so interesting.
[Jevai] it can be
[Jevai] are there other stories about this idea of hills as kinds?
[Ozh] Not that I know of.
[Jevai] hmm.
[Ozh] Is that a thing you do?
[Jevai] is what?
[Ozh] Humm. You keep saying that. "Humm." "Hummm." I like it.
[Ozh] It's suitable for this place. See?
* Ozh hums really loudly, in resonance with the rock formation.
* Jevai looks up at the columns
[Jevai] yes...
[Ozh] So you brought back a girl from Musune? This Kibai?
* Jevai is more one for listening than talking to the rocks though
[Jevai] Ahh, yes. She had been living in the forest alone, but was nhurt in thr landslide. I believe Ramarima has got her settled somewhere
[Ozh] She's trustworthy though? Like, with everything going on?
[Jevai] well, she went to great extremes to infiltrate if she isn't
* Ozh nods.
[Jevai] She is lucky we decided to investigate the area of the quake - Ivis saw the ikhanne circling her
[Ozh] She's lucky, Musune can be dangerous.
[Jevai] She didn't want to come, but I also think she won't be going anywhere on her own for a while, now that she is here.
* Jevai nods
[Ozh] So you think the old stories might mean something?
[Jevai] They often do, but not literally
* Ozh nods.
[Jevai] but it could be a warning, about disturbing a particular area, say, which could lead to tremors. A warning, maybe
[Ozh] Makes sense. There have been so many earthquakes in this area. But I guess you know all about that, rocks and stone stuff, right?
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] but that doesn't make the hills a 'kind'
[Ozh] No, well, I suppose that's probably heretical anyway.
[Jevai] so that I'm curious about still. It must be... hmm, an adaptation of something older, somethig before the corps
[Ozh] Maybe!
[Jevai] The corps taught the idea of kinds to the Ravre
* Ozh nods.
[Ozh] I remember that from theology lessons. I never paid as much attention to that though.
[Jevai] We had different ways of understanding the world, and I'm sure it took some timeto align that with new teachings
[Ozh] I wonder what they used to say about this place?
[Jevai] maybe they used it to talk to the hills.... as long as they knew what they wanted to hear, hmm?
* Ozh smiles.
[Ozh] It's nice to think of those people sitting here all so long ago, drinking beer by the fire, telling stories that were old when their grandfathers were babies.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] It would be nice to hear them.
[Jevai] There's fewer and fewer Sigillants... sometimes I think we must have lost a lot of knowledge
* Ozh nods.
[Jevai] knowledge that would be very useful now...
[Ozh] Even here, where there are so many answers, we don't even know the right questions.
[Jevai] mm, yes.
[Ozh] There are Ancestors here from the time of the foundation. Even a little before.
[Jevai] yes... but I am not sure the Voice would want me to ask them about early heresy
[Ozh] Oh! Probably not.
[Ozh] But you could ask about *stories* about heresy...
[Ozh] If they don't like the answer they just won't tell you.
[Jevai] maybe, yes. I'll think about that
* Jevai will go up and touch the stone thoughtfully
[Jevai] If we could speak to them, I wonder what they could tell us?
* Ozh smiles.

Alai gets a visit from her adoptive father Roska and grandmother Uvragaz; they talk about her finding a Nemni husband, but then Uvragaz detects the darkness within her

[NemnostiGM] Alai, you are in your room one morning reading when there is a knock at your door.
* Alai will set aside the necklace she was working on and will go to the door
* Alai opens it.
[Alai] Yes?
[NemnostiGM] It's a young woman. It takes you a moment to put it together and recognize her, but then you figure it out: Irdomila Nemni, Kuspir's daughter.
* Irdomila smiles nervously.
[Irdomila] Ah, hello, Ozel. I am here with a message for you.
[Alai] Very well, come in then.
* Alai will usher her into the room.
* Irdomila comes in and looks around, as if half expecting to see something else.
[Irdomila] Very cool.
[Alai] My work desk is a little a mess with materials... you had a message, yes?
[Irdomila] Ah, yes, ahh ... You have visitors who are at the West Gate tower.
[Irdomila] I was just the one assigned to bring the message.
* Irdomila is still looking around at whatever is on your desk.
* Alai has polished bone, fine cord, a spool of copper wire, and metal tools arranged on her desk, the pattern of a necklace half formed.
[Alai] Do these visitors have names?
[Irdomila] Yes ... Roska and Uvragaz Vegru.
* Alai nods, somewhat unsurprised
[Alai] Well then, you can help me change.
[Irdomila] I can? Uhh ... sure!
* Irdomila smiles broadly, still a bit nervous though.
* Alai will sort through her armoire for a more formal dress than the plain work outfit she was wearing.
[Irdomila] Are these family members of yours, then?
[Alai] It is simpler to say yes, than to explain.
* Alai hands her the Altala with fine scrollwork on the arms and skirt.
[Irdomila] This is very pretty.
[Alai] (it also has furred cuffs)
[Alai] It will suit for my visitors.
* Alai removes her dress in one swift motion and will take the other one to put on.
* Alai glances at the small mirror
[Alai] Little to be done with the hair...
* Irdomila watches with what you suppose is admiration and awe.
[Irdomila] I think you look great!
[Alai] Thank you. One must make right impression.
* Alai will slip on some bracelets and rings
[Alai] Lets go
* Irdomila smiles.
[NemnostiGM] You head off to the West Gate.
[Irdomila] Well, uhh, here you are! Good luck with your family.
[Alai] Thank you for the message and assistance.
[Irdomila] You're welcome. I hope to talk to you again soon.
[Alai] Of course. When I have more time.
* Alai gives a quick smile
* Irdomila heads off.
[NemnostiGM] You enter the small waiting room where you are met with Roska and Uvragaz, your adoptive father and grandmother.
* Roska is dressed quite formally but in Omban, not Luetkan style, which always seems ill-fitting on his short, squat frame.
* Uvragaz is wearing much more traditional clothing, a woven dress and leggings much more in the way of your homeland.
* Roska smiles as you enter.
* Alai greets them in Leutkan
[Roska] Alai. Daughter, it is good to see you.
* Roska will also speak in Luetkan (we can presume it all is from this point on)
[Alai] Father, Grandmother, I am pleased for the visit.
* Uvragaz does not smile, and remains seated.
[Roska] How are your studies?
[Alai] They are good, if not time consuming. A few new directions as of late.
[Alai] And yourselves?
[Roska] Well enough. The Lion is distracted with other matters, leaving us free to pursue our interests.
* Roska scowls as he invokes the name of Rembes Kaisastelovis.
[Alai] that must make you happy
[Roska] Well, like you, a few new directions as of late.
[Roska] Which is, in a way, why we are here.
[Uvragaz] Just tell her already.
[Alai] I suppose a recreational visit was unlikely.
[Roska] We have come to discuss with you the matter of marriage.
* Roska always talks this way, in a slightly affected tone as if he's looking to impress someone.
* Alai gives a little chuckle
[Roska] You've come of an age where it would start, perhaps, to be unseemly not to have an interest in such a pursuit.
[Alai] I've had little time such things. I'm not indifferent to the thoughts of family, but have been busy.
[Roska] Of course. And we have no interest in pulling you away from Nemnosti, of course.
[Roska] You are most valuable to your family here, with your Lady master and your access to knowledge.
[Alai] There must be something prompting this subject. You might as well be out with it.
[Roska] Well, just this: we would like to see you married to a Nemni.
[Roska] In this strange system of Omban ranks and hierarchies, the one path out are the saintly lineages.
[Roska] I can work my whole life and no noble family will pay any Vegru any attention. But the Nemni stand outside all of that, don't they?
* Roska seems almost gleeful at the prospect.
[Roska] And we understand there are several who might meet your needs.
[Alai] There are plenty of Nemni here, should I try and find one specifically
* Alai muses
[Roska] Well, exactly. We don't have a preference, and I am not fool enough to think to tell you whom you must marry.
[Roska] We have heard a few names mentioned. Momuzai, the hengi's son, perhaps is too high to aim. But there is Dadim, the innkeeper in Naftusa. He is only a few years older than you, I think.
[Uvragaz] Don't be smug, Ruus, just because you think you've had a good idea.
* Uvragaz remarks sharply.
[Alai] You are less inclined to this suggestion Grandmother?
[Uvragaz] I don't give a fuck.
[Roska] Mother ...
* Roska says, but without much conviction.
[Uvragaz] Have you a good lover, girl?
[Alai] Its hard to stumble on a good lover... they take effort to... teach.
[Uvragaz] Omban men are trainable. You just have to find the right treat.
* Uvragaz looks at you curiously, though ... as if staring from her beady tiny little eyes right through you.
* Alai smiles and giggles
[Roska] I'm not here to say what you must do, Alai. I ... (sigh) ... know better than that.
[Alai] That's good, but as I said, I'm not against at least looking around at the Nemni to see if there is any that interest me. It might be amusing.
* Roska smiles.
[Alai] I commit to nothing, though.
[Roska] Of course. It is too early for any of that, anyway.
* Uvragaz is staring at you more, now, Alai, uncomfortably so.
[Alai] Out with it Grandmother.
[Uvragaz] You have it inside you, don't you?
[Uvragaz] The curse.
* Alai eyes go wide for a second.
[Roska] Mother, don't be strange. We're having a pleasant conversation here.
[Alai] What curse?
* Alai approaches Uvragaz
[NemnostiGM] (make me a Bluff)
[Alai] !roll 1d20+10
* Lan-werk rolls for Alai: [ 1d20+10 ] getting [ 3 ] which, after the modifier [ 10 ] totals [ 13 ].
[Uvragaz] The deep blue.
* Uvragaz says, and you have absolutely no idea what she's talking about.
[Alai] Explain.
* Alai says firmly, no longer amused.
[Uvragaz] How old are you, child? Twenty? Twenty-one?
[Alai] Two, twenty two.
[Uvragaz] Well, fuck.
[Roska] Mother, stop this nonsense!
[Roska] I'm sorry, Alai.
[Uvragaz] Leu had it too.
[Uvragaz] It came upon him, at an age.
[Uvragaz] Why do you think he called it the Blue Storm?
* Uvragaz is basically outright ignoring Roska now, and staring right at you.
[Uvragaz] When did it start?
[Alai] It's been years that I could hear it... tell me what you know.
* Alai looks hard at her
[Uvragaz] I was just a girl. I know that Leu was not the first in his line. Clearly he was also not the last.
[Uvragaz] None of we Heijuvansi had it, or not that I knew.
[Uvragaz] He said it drove him forward.
[Alai] Who knows more about this... what you are saying is vague, to say the least.
[Uvragaz] Few now live who remember the Walrus or the Storm.
[Uvragaz] At home, perhaps some - but it has been so long since I have been there.
[Alai] I wish that helped. I can get there, but the ocean is louder the closer I am.
* Alai considers
* Alai sags
[Alai] I don't think I'm ready for that, yet.
[Roska] Well, perhaps as a first step, think about your family.
* Uvragaz shoots him a look.
[Uvragaz] I remember him once, he said a word ... Kaanath.
[Uvragaz] Leu didn't say what it means. A name, perhaps?
[Alai] (does that mean anything to me?)
[NemnostiGM] (nope)
[Alai] Thank you Grandmother. That at least gives me something to delve into.
* Uvragaz looks at you, not like before, but with a mixture of emotions that you can't figure out.
[Uvragaz] You must find your anchor, to keep yourself from being swept along with the great wave.
* Alai nods
[Roska] Think about your options, Alai. I'll be ready to start negotiations when you are.
* Alai gives her father a look
[Alai] I'll see if the Nemni are up to the task of having me as a wife.
* Roska smiles.
[Roska] All right, Mother, come along, if we want to get home before dark.
* Uvragaz stands up, her tall, thin frame a contrast against the two of you.

Jevai talks to Alai about her stresses and anxieties

* Alai will knock on Jevai's door early one evening
[Jevai] Who is it?
[Alai] It's Alai.
[Alai] You have time to talk?
* Jevai will come open the door, then, weaifn an old stained shirt - her hair is covered and there's paint? on her scarf and a few smudges on her face
[Jevai] if you like.... it's very messy inhere right now, though
[Alai] I would not have knocked if I didn't like... mess makes little difference
* Jevai looks behind her, where her shelves have been pulled out from the wall and are towering over her bed to expose the wall, and there's some various igments in differen stages of mixing sorted on the floor
* Jevai waves Alai in and directs her to sit on the bed
* Alai will do so while glancing around the room
* Jevai has been painting on the exposed wall, mostly ravre designs, but there's some other stuff goig on in there as well
[Alai] greivance with the wall?
* Jevai lao looks at it
[Jevai] mm... no, not yet. It isn't finished though
[Jevai] (also looks)
[Alai] what will it be when you are finished?
[Jevai] We'll see when we get there. Mostly I wantd to try different things.
[Alai] Fair. How have you been doing?
* Jevai huffs a little sigh
[Jevai] Well. I'm here.
* Jevai smiles
[Jevai] you?
[Alai] I could tell you all if you want... there's alot spinning up here.
* Alai swirls a finger at the side of her head
* Jevai nods
[Alai] I just really wanted to check on you, though.
[Jevai] I did hear about your duel - I'm sorry I missed it
[Alai] I went a little much... I was frustrated by recent events.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] Things are very frustrating...
[Alai] I shouldn't have... maybe I shoudn't have.
[Alai] I enjoyed it though.
* Jevai smiles
[Jevai] That sounds okay. No one was seriously hurt, as far as I heard
[Alai] Avrubai's recovered... and I get lots of space when I walk the halls.
[Alai] Have you heard anything about your brother? I hope he is well.
[Jevai] no.
[Jevai] I hope so too.
[Jevai] :/
[Alai] I could check on him.
[Alai] Just to make sure.
[Alai] If you want.
[Alai] or you could... It's your family.
[Jevai] I know I could. Thank you, though, but for now I think I need to let him be.
[Jevai] If he is fine, that's good. If he is not fie, then what can I do but worry?
* Alai nods
[Jevai] I can't take more worries right now.
[Alai] If you want to let things out, I'm here. May not solve worries, but could help? I can tell you all the strange going on with me, after.
[Alai] or we can sit and stare at wall, if that helps.
* Alai shrugs
[Jevai] I don't know if I can.
* Alai nods
* Alai gives her friend a quick hug
* Jevai hugs her back
* Jevai will try not to get any paint on Alai's dress thoughh
[Jevai] I just feel like I am being crushed to death
[Jevai] everythign keeps piling on
[Jevai] But I'll find a way out
[Alai] rocks are hard to crush. You dont have to be rock all the time though.

Marga gets a visit from Saza in disguise, and they talk about Ushukuna’s strange words and Saza’s allies

[NemnostiGM] Marga, you are at dinner, filling up on delicious farfaz (goat kidney), one evening, when a young woman you don't recognize comes and sits across from you.
* NemnostiGM is now known as Young_Woman
[Young_Woman] Mind if I sit?
[Marga] Fill your boots!
* Young_Woman is wearing acolyte's garb, but you definitely don't recognize her.
[Marga] You new?
* Young_Woman sits, smiling.
[Young_Woman] You could say that.
[Young_Woman] Both new and old.
[Marga] That's kind of a weird thing to say
[Marga] But alright :)
[Marga] I'm Marga.
* Young_Woman smiles, very broadly, and pauses just a second too long.
[Young_Woman] Saza Gago.
* Young_Woman is now known as Saza
* Marga scrunches up her face in confusion
[Marga] Uh. I don't get it
[Saza] Well, you knew I was here, didn't you?
[Marga] Are you... named after her?
* Saza laughs.
[Saza] I am her.
[Marga] Why do you look like that?
[Marga] (was shapeshifting something I knew she could do?
[Saza] Well, now that is because my Pebble, and your Lady, think that I need a chaperone while I'm visiting your fine ulajeta. I disagree.
[Saza] (well, you're no expert on magic, but you do know that spells that make you look different are pretty basic)
[Saza] (she is, after all, a very powerful sigillant)
[Marga] Oh, that makes sense.
[Saza] And shouldn't an auntie want to speak to her niece uninterrupted if she should want to?
[Marga] Sure!
[Saza] Exactly!
[Marga] SO... what did you want to talk to me about though?
[Saza] Well, right now my little sentinel support girl is looking around for me, no doubt.
[Saza] She will be disciplined, no doubt, for failing to keep track of me.
* Saza sounds ... excited?
[Marga] I mean... maybe? I guess I don't really know.
[Marga] I mean, you are super good at stuff so they probably aren't gonna be really surprised
[Saza] No, of course not.
[Saza] How have you been?
[Marga] Great!
* Marga says perhaps too enthusiastically
[Saza] Good, good.
[Saza] Have you talked to your father at all recently?
[Marga] Kinda recently?
[Marga] RIght after Surgu died.
[Marga] Well, Right after we found him. He died a while before that.
[Saza] Right, of course. Well, he didn't have many people to mourn him, thankfully.
[Marga] People here were sad... But I didn't really know him
* Saza nods.
[Saza] When you think about it, someone you don't know dies every moment, but we only become sad when we learn about it.
[Saza] There is surely a lesson there.
* Marga nods slowly.
[Marga] That's just how nature works
[Saza] Exactly. I've been in the high hills recently, beyond even the villages, and there is no forgiveness there, no tears. Just life. It is exhilarating.
[Marga] Wow... that sounds awesome.
[Saza] Is that something you would like to learn more about?
[Marga] The hills?
[Saza] The things that lie beyond what we normally perceive. The truth, not the lies told to you in books and around the hearth here at Nemnosti.
* Marga tilts her head to the side, birdlike.
[Marga] What truth? What lies?
[Marga] Honestly I try not to think too hard about stuff, haha.
[Saza] Your Alabaster Lady is not as pure and white as she would have you believe.
[Marga] Most folk aren't...
[Saza] Events have been set in motion that will upset the coherence here, bring secrets to light long buried ... literally.
[Saza] And people are going to need to pick sides.
[Saza] I'm coming to you, Marga, to see if you would like to pick the winning side.
[Saza] That is what your father would do, if he were here.
[Marga] Oh right. This is about what the Queen of Bones was talking about isn't it?
[Marga] The crevice? That's widening?
[Marga] Something got wedged in it?
[Marga] And some buried stuff got out. Did She talk to you too?
[Marga] It would be kind of weird if She did I guess...
[Saza] Ahhh ... I could lie to you and say that she did. But no, child, only the vultures have access to Her wisdom.
[Saza] She, ahh ... spoke to you, in a dream?
[Marga] Yeah!
[Saza] Fascinating. She is a curious figure. Stands outside of the Corps, the saints, all their quarrels and machinations. Elder one ... practically a god. That must sound heretical to say.
[Marga] Well, the line's a bit fuzzy when it comes to stuff like that.
[Saza] That's true. We're not always good at dealing with fuzziness.
[Saza] Well, look, Marga. Nothing is ripe quite yet. I'll be leaving here soon, hopefully with my new prize.
[Marga] Prize? What did you win?
[Saza] Oh, that's *interesting* ... I would have thought she would have told you, even if She did not.
[Marga] Huh? Who? Tell me what?
[Saza] My Pebble keeps much from you all. Typical, I suppose.
[Marga] Oh, Jevai?
[Marga] She’s been really busy lately...
* Marga looks a bit bummed for a second but then plasters her smile back on :)))
[Marga] ...doing important stuff!
[Saza] It's surely my fault. Part of training someone to be a sigillant is about teaching them not to share too much.
[Marga] That makes sense.
[Saza] I wouldn't bother her. Like you say, she's been so busy.
* Marga nods.
[Saza] What I will suggest, Marga, is that Ushukuna would not come to you in a dream idly. If she did so, it is because she is giving you information to help you make better choices, when that time comes.
* Marga nods again, looking Very Serious.
[Marga] She wouldn't waste her time...
[Marga] I dunno why *me* though.
[Marga] (Her)
[Marga] Oh well!
[Saza] You are a Gago. That makes you special.
[Marga] I'm sure it'll work out...
[Marga] That's what Daddy used to say! ... sometimes.
* Saza smiles.
[Saza] Your father has had difficult choices to make at many junctures. And you, being young, not so much. But soon, it will be your turn.
[Saza] But I will help you make the right choice, when that time comes.
[Marga] Alright, that's... good?
[Saza] Sometime, if you would like, I have some friends I could introduce you to. Not now, perhaps - that would be challenging.
[Marga] Are they Vultures?
[Saza] Some of them. Sigillants, also.
[Marga] Are they up in the hills?
[Saza] Yes, exactly.
[Marga] Ohhhh...
* Marga nods.
[Saza] I think you're ready for this, Marga.
[Marga] Maybe? Ushukuna didn't have many... actual *directions* for me, other than just to tell the Lady about the crack...
* Saza nods.
[Saza] Of course, of course. She is so far above us, She doesn't have the experience of being human. So everything can seem vague and hard to interpret.
[Marga] It sure is!
[Saza] Well, it has been lovely talking to you, Marga, but I should probably not alarm the guards too much.
[Marga] Okay! Have a safe trip back! ... through the rocks I guess?
[Saza] We'll see whether they'll let me ... or if they can find me.
* Saza smiles.
[Saza] We'll talk soon, I'm sure.
[Marga] Alright!
* Marga waves cheerfully
* Saza heads off.