Nemnosti session 27
Summary
Session
- Session date: July 20, 2025
- Negili Reckoning date: IE 768, Munudend
Prologue
[NemnostiGM] Greetings, acolytes! All of you have passed your Fifths, so I know you already know, more or less, about the Kinds. Humans have six Kinds, but all of us, from the mightiest emperor to the lowliest corpseborn, end in the same manner. We are all Ancestors, in the end. It is our final state which is why it sits at the lowest point of the prism that diagrams our existence. Even a hallowed and ageless saint is temporary, in the scale of the universe, but the Ancestors are forever. But human Kinds are not the only Kinds. Our kin the vultures are a very strange kind, reborn again and again, dying-repeating, always part of the same great wake. The Hith in faraway Osnabis, upon death, wither and dry in the sun their god, and rejoin it upon death. I do not claim to know the truth of these conceits; they are not my mysteries. But I do know this - all things, everywhere, recognize that which we see as Unfolding - which is, no matter what the words, the notion that Kinds do not stay the same. Just as we have child, adult, and elder, all of us occupy multiple Kinds over our existence. Our goal in exploring cosmology here at the ulajeta is to learn what we can, while we are here in this form. All of which is to say that your Tenths are coming up sooner than any of you would like to recognize, and you have some studying to do!
Jevai visits the Nadenigh iftibal and learns from Dijur about strange voices heard down by the Fingerprint
[NemnostiGM] Jevai, it has been a while since you've been home for real. The Nadenigh iftibal is still a kind of home for you, of course. Since Pughan's expulsion and your parents' separation, you haven't felt quite the same hanging around your kin, though.
[NemnostiGM] The Fingerprint, though, remains your special charge. You do try to get up there now and again, using the secret path as much as you can, so as not to inspire too much curiosity among your lineage.
[NemnostiGM] Today, though, you're going up for a different purpose, and so you will travel along the high path out and up to the village. Dijur's father, the old hengi Nesepon, is being moved to a new tomb within the caves that he has had built for the purpose, and all of the lineage are expected to come for the ceremony.
[NemnostiGM] Voice Sumasi has come down all the way from Hong Sogo to preside. At the moment, Akapa Sogo has no Voice priest of its own, and usually the villagers are cared for by Nemnosti's priests.
[NemnostiGM] But some things are Ravre things, and this is one of them. You are not particularly devout, and your liver has never pulled you strongly in one direction or another, but at times like these, you can't help be affected.
[NemnostiGM] The ceremony is simple and unadorned, but the gathering of so many of your kin, here in the caves, gives it a strange warmth.
[NemnostiGM] After the ceremony, Dijur pulls you aside.
[Dijur] Thank you for coming, Jevai.
[Jevai] Of course I would
* Jevai smiles
[Dijur] I know how busy you are, with important matters, at Nemnosti.
[Jevai] This is important to.
[Dijur] I never would take your presence for granted.
[Dijur] My father always liked you, even if he and I differed on whether it is right to send you young ones down into the valley as acolytes.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] I am glad I was allowed, but I understand, it can be tricky to know what it might change
[Dijur] Your father is doing better, I think. I have been involving him, as much as I can, in the business of the ifti.
* Dijur looks over across the crowd, where you see your dad chatting to one of the old aunties.
[Jevai] thank you. He needs that right now, I thikn
[Dijur] I am assuming there is no reconciliation with your mother likely to come?
[NemnostiGM] (you certainly haven't heard of any!)
[Jevai] :/
[Jevai] Not that I am aware, no, but that is a matter between them.
[Dijur] I know you'll want to talk to him while you're here, but I have an awkward question, unrelated.
[Dijur] Were you here last night? At the Fingerprint?
[NemnostiGM] (you were definitely not)
[Jevai] no - did somethig happen?
* Jevai looks mildly concerned at that
[Dijur] It, ahh, may be nothing. But two or three times in the past weeks, there have been reports of voices, in the direction of the Fingerprint. Yours?
[Jevai] no...
[Jevai] Who reported them?
[Dijur] Villagers. Not children or drunkards.
[Dijur] But the caves have such strange resonance. It's not impossible, with echoes, that it was just a voice carrying.
[Jevai] did they here anything specific, or just voices?
[Dijur] Exactly that, just as if a voice was speaking, but no words could be discerned.
[Dijur] Have there been any changes you have noticed, in the ... crack?
[Jevai] no, but I will plan to spend more time there, and see if I can observe these voices...
[Jevai] did they come at any particular time of day, or any kind of interval?
* Dijur shakes his head.
[Dijur] Not a pattern, or anything like that.
[Jevai] thank you for letting me know
[Dijur] I will of course continue to keep the children away.
* Jevai nods
[Jevai] That is for the best
[Jevai] how are things unfolding here, otherwise?
[Jevai] (I can make genral chitchat about lineage matters for a bit but we don’t need to play it out per se if there’s nothing specific to learn!
[NemnostiGM] All right, you talk with Dijur for a few more minutes until inevitably, he is called away.
[NemnostiGM] Are you going to go down to the Fingerprint now, or later?
[Jevai] (well I'll go now for a bit but I can also come back later - cycle it up in priority)
[Jevai] (I can talk to some other folks and check in with my dad and stuff, not just ditch the corpse inyterrment afterparty, what woudl be rude ;)
Jevai goes to the Fingerprint where she finds that the crack can talk to her and maybe she is its mother – although it hurts her quite a lot
[NemnostiGM] All right, after the event is mostly over, you head down to the Fingerprint.
[NemnostiGM] Initially you think the crack remains unchanged. It looks unchanged. But there is something else there - a sense of depth, or ... settling? It is hard to put words on a thing that has no precedent.
[NemnostiGM] https://rocksfall.org/wiki/File:Fingerprint.jpeg
[NemnostiGM] https://rocksfall.org/wiki/File:Cavecrack.jpeg
[Jevai] :|
* Jevai probably has some standard things she checks, bue 'vibes are off' is harder to monitor, save maybe through liek detect magic ?
[NemnostiGM] (all right, make a K:arcana check)
[Jevai] !roll 1d20+16
* Lan-werk rolls for Jevai: [ 1d20+16 ] getting [ 19 ] which, after the modifier [ 16 ] totals [ 35 ].
[NemnostiGM] At first, there is nothing. But then you realize that you'd been hearing it wrong.
[NemnostiGM] It's not a sound as if coming from a mouth, or even a sound at all. But a kind of sound-beneath-the-sound, emanating from the crack, or perhaps from the spirals of the Fingerprint itself, or both.
* Dijur is now known as Noise
[Noise] Who?
[Jevai] Jevai
[Jevai] Who are you?
[NemnostiGM] The noise is not like a voice - it doesn't sound like a voice. But it still has a word, almost as if it is trying it out.
[Noise] Who.
[NemnostiGM] Make a Fortitude save please.
* Longpig is now known as Marga
[Jevai] !roll 1d20+7
* Lan-werk rolls for Jevai: [ 1d20+7 ] getting [ 16 ] which, after the modifier [ 7 ] totals [ 23 ].
[NemnostiGM] !roll 2d8
* Lan-werk rolls for NemnostiGM: [ 2d8 ] getting [ 2 3 ] for a total of [ 5 ].
[NemnostiGM] Its response hits you like a powerful blow to your chest. You are startled but manage to partly withstand it.
[NemnostiGM] (you take 2 hp bludgeoning damage)
* Jevai gasps
[Jevai] (is it like a question or is this maybe like, another language or a part of a word?)
[NemnostiGM] (unclear)
* Jevai will use her slate to cast comprehend languages, just in case
[NemnostiGM] (ok go ahead)
* Jevai rolls [ 1d20+14 ] getting [ 2 ] which, after the modifier [ 14 ] totals [ 16 ]
[Noise] Cold.
[Jevai] (is it cold in here to me?)
* Longpig is now known as Marga
[NemnostiGM] (not especially; it's late fall, but there are so many people in the iftibal right now that even down here, it's probably ambiently warmer than normal)
[Jevai] Cold where?
[NemnostiGM] The force of it speaking strikes you again, but you are able to withstand it, with effort.
[Noise] Crack. Cradle.
[Jevai] Cradle?
[Noise] Awake.
[Jevai] (do I even get the sense that it is communicating with me?)
[Jevai] (well, trying)
[NemnostiGM] Hard to say to a certainty, but yes, it feels like it is striving.
[Jevai] this is the cradle?
[Noise] Mine.
[Jevai] are you the... child?
[Noise] Child. Mother.
[NemnostiGM] Make another Fortitude save please.
[Jevai] !roll 1d20+7
* Lan-werk rolls for Jevai: [ 1d20+7 ] getting [ 16 ] which, after the modifier [ 7 ] totals [ 23 ].
[NemnostiGM] !roll 2d8
* Lan-werk rolls for NemnostiGM: [ 2d8 ] getting [ 6 6 ] for a total of [ 12 ].
* Jevai gasps
[Jevai] (half damage again?)
[NemnostiGM] That one hits you harder. When it says 'mother', there is a wave of that same dark energy, sound-and-sight, that strikes you in the chest.
[NemnostiGM] (yeah, 6 points)
[Jevai] (Does this feel at all like....whatever it was that I spoke to with that spell before?)
[NemnostiGM] Yes, there is a resemblance to the entity that said 'I am nothing'.
[NemnostiGM] It's hard to say whether it is the same thing.
[Jevai] Why here?
[Noise] Why.
[Jevai] what do you need?
[Noise] Up. Down.
[Jevai] is this... when light meets dark?
[Noise] Dark. Dark.
[NemnostiGM] Make yet another save.
[Jevai] !roll 1d20+7
* Lan-werk rolls for Jevai: [ 1d20+7 ] getting [ 2 ] which, after the modifier [ 7 ] totals [ 9 ].
[NemnostiGM] !roll 2d8
* Lan-werk rolls for NemnostiGM: [ 2d8 ] getting [ 2 7 ] for a total of [ 9 ].
* Jevai staggers against the wall
[NemnostiGM] That one hits you hard. You think - as far as you can tell - that it was attempting to connect with you in some sort of powerful way.
[Jevai] Oh, I can't....
* Jevai leans against the wall, looking at the crack
[Jevai] (When I used contact entity before, I was able to communicate and it wasn't hurting so....)
[NemnostiGM] (OK, what level are you trying? and presumably not just slating it?)
[Jevai] (I reached....something before at 2 but let's try 3 ].])
[NemnostiGM] (ok go ahead)
* Jevai rolls [ 1d20+14 ] getting [ 6 ] which, after the modifier [ 14 ] totals [ 20 ]
[NemnostiGM] (almost but not quite, roll for backlash)
* Jevai rolls [ 1d100 ] getting [ 13 ]
[Jevai] (auditory effects! apt :v)
[NemnostiGM] The spell goes off but with a loud rumbling noise.
[Noise] Noise.
[Jevai] yes...
[Jevai] I think, from the spell. Is this easier?
[Noise] Mother. Noise.
[Jevai] are you calling me Mother?
[Noise] Mother. Love.
[Jevai] Love?
[Jevai] what is love, to you?
[Noise] Mother. Noise. Song.
[NemnostiGM] You feel another wave of that same energy, but this time it is somehow patterned, or it fits with your body, or something.
[Jevai] Song?
[Jevai] is this the song?
[NemnostiGM] It hits you and you feel it, but rather than hurting you, it matches you.
[NemnostiGM] It does it again and it is as if it is emulating the sound that came from your spell.
[Noise] Mother song.
[NemnostiGM] That almost seemed like a whole phrase, rather than Mother. Song.
[Jevai] Okay.... maybe we can learn to sing together
[Noise] Together.
* Noise says, and then fades away, as if tired and needing a nap.
Izu talks to Voice Imas about his theory of Precipitation whereby human action can help create the conditions for new saints
[NemnostiGM] Izu, you feel a little awkward, carrying around a little notebook detailing all the various details of your Voice elders. But you have a job to do, assigned by the Lady Herself, to help her decide on a new high priest for the temple.
[NemnostiGM] At least you have had the good sense to write it out in Old Ravre, Farai's tongue, so that no one will read this except you, should you distractedly lose your notes.
[NemnostiGM] Voice Kailas and Voice Imas being the two most likely candidates, you have spent more time thinking about them than the others. You've known them both your entire life; Kailas, of course, is kin to you, though not close. But both, as colleagues, have their flaws, as do we all. Still, it is not simple.
[NemnostiGM] You have decided to seek out Voice Imas to try to help figure out this conundrum.
[NemnostiGM] How will you approach him?
* Izu will approach him during a down time, when he is somewhere not quite as public.
[NemnostiGM] You all wear black robes, of course. Somehow Imas manages to seem like his holy garments are darker than all of yours, as if he has a supply of squid-ink that he applies every so often.
[Imas] Brother.
[Izu] Voice Imas, do you have a moment?
[Imas] Yes, I have a few minutes.
* Imas tries to not sound too annoyed.
[Izu] I wondered if you had heard anything about who might be replacing voice Ingo's as our leader. No one seems to know who is most likely.
[Imas] As long as it isn't that impostor Kailas, I suppose whatever She chooses will be fine.
[Izu] Impostor?
[Izu] I know the two of you disagree at times, but I did not know there was that much bad blood.
[Imas] Mmmm.
* Imas grunts noncommittally.
[Izu] What has he done?
[Imas] You wouldn't understand.
[Imas] It's not just that I don't like him. I don't, but that's trivial.
[Izu] I would like to understand. Is it about his theories on Dwindling?
[Imas] Yes, his preposterous idea.
[Izu] You believe it is impossible?
[Imas] The evidence I have been collecting suggests that quite the opposite is true. Against those - Voice Kailas very prominently - who say that there is Dwindling, I see the opposite as quite probable. Or at least, as potential.
[Izu] You have evidence that more saints are being made over time?
* Imas nods.
[Imas] I call it Precipitation. The idea that through human action, we cannot create a saint, but that we can, through careful and steady action, make ready the conditions that make a saint's awakening more likely.
[Izu] I see... what factors might be likely to do so?
[Imas] Well, that is the key question, isn't it?
[Imas] It is not that we should all be doing some specific ritual every day, or anything of the sort. But it is a notion that works against passivity and simply waiting for Unfolding to unfold.
[Imas] It is not about any particular Ancestor awakening, not like the ridiculous stories of some potion that one casts upon the lips of the dead. But the idea that we can control Unfolding is not bizarre. Every Source wielder knows it is true.
[Imas] We can change an ancestor to shoror, and our sisters ancestors to bubun.
[Imas] Why not ancestor to ula?
[Imas] In fact, I believe it must be so. We have just failed to recognize that we are already taking those actions.
[Izu] Very interesting.
[Izu] I wonder though, if your theory is truly incompatible with his. Can't both be true? Perhaps the reason for the dwindling is that we have not been correctly aligning these factors over time.
* Imas smiles.
[Imas] Kailas is not interested in this idea.
[Imas] Of course, Precipitation does not predict any particular rate. But for Kailas, Dwindling is just the ... background state of the world. An inexorability.
[Imas] And so he would sit passively and have us wait.
* Imas looks disgusted.
[Izu] Hmmm... I think perhaps your ideas and desires are not as dissimilar as you both think, but I admit that you are both wiser than I in these matters.
[Izu] He does respect you, you know, as a scholar. As I am sure you do him.
[Imas] Did he say that? I didn't say that.
[Izu] I apologize, perhaps I am overstepping.
[Izu] I simply wanted to understand.
[Imas] Tell me this. Your dimirabas, Farai.
[Imas] When the Lady was dormant, She took action. She sang her songs, so that even today, three hundred years later, we still sing them.
[Imas] We act, so that we can transform the world.
[Izu] Indeed, that is so.
[Imas] So imagine Kailas as our leader.
[Imas] Shororre dying. Hulti attackers.
[Imas] And just 'oh well, I suppose we dwindle now'.
[Izu] I think perhaps you oversimplify his ideas. He has admitted to me that there may be some quality of a person that could determine sainthood. If that quality could be controlled, then I do not see that as being much different from what you are saying.
[Imas] Well, I do not think I do simplify.
[Imas] You are kind, and you wish to bring people together. But some things are irreconcilable.
[Izu] Of course. But I am not sure I believe this is such a case. But regardless, I shall refrain from meddling further. My apologies for bothering you.
[Imas] I have various readings for you, if you are interested in learning more about Precipitation.
[Izu] Of course, I would be glad to understand better.
[Izu] I would love to see the evidence you have used to come up with your ideas.
[Imas] I'll get you a copy of my notes.
* Izu will gladly accept them and read them over later.
Izu talks to Voice Faifir about the argument between Kailas and Imas, and the future of the temple leadership
[NemnostiGM] Having concluded this somewhat frustrating conversation, you can seek out Voice Faifir.
[Izu] Good evening, Voice Faifir. Do you have a moment?
[Faifir] Oh, good evening. Well, yes, I suppose I do.
[Izu] Thank you. I know you are one of the wisest voices here and I wondered if you might help me resolve a theological issue.
[Faifir] Certainly. As long as it isn't to do with the nonsense between Kailas and Imas.
[Izu] Ah.
* Izu looks a bit sheepish at that.
[Faifir] Ah, so it is that.
[Izu] I was wondering what your thougths were on the issue.
[Faifir] Perhaps what you really wish to know is, how to bring peace to the temple.
[Izu] That is a... consideration, yes.
[Faifir] Imagine that we could know, to a certainty, that one or the other was correct. What would that change?
[Izu] I suppose it would change whether or not we could affect the creation of ancestors.
[Faifir] (saints)
[Izu] (Saints, sorry)
[Faifir] But would it change whether we *should* do so?
[Izu] That is a separate question.
[Faifir] Not to me it isn't.
[Faifir] It bears on the question of whether we would want more saints in the world.
[Faifir] Both Imas and Kailas, in their own ways, presume that it is.
[Izu] But if we cannot affect it, then whether or not we should makes no difference. If we can, then that question must be discussed.
[Faifir] If one wishes to read, and puzzle, and learn, then I will grant you, it is always interesting to delve into such matters.
[Faifir] But Kailas and Imas, they are simply interested in being right.
[Izu] It seems to me that they might both be right. That is what frustrates me.
* Faifir considers the matter.
[Izu] They cannot see past this to work together on the question.
[Faifir] Let me ask it differently. Are you, Izu, a man, or are you a woman?
* Izu is taken aback.
[Izu] A... a man...
[Izu] But I... don't see...
[Faifir] Very well. Now we know what you are.
[Faifir] The literature on the huthajai comprises dozens of volumes.
[Faifir] What is man, what is woman, woman-changed-to-man, man-in-spirit, on and on and on.
[Faifir] I am sure you read it all yourself, back when.
[Izu] Of course
[Faifir] But ultimately all that learning, all that time, so much of it was spent simply in the service of being right.
[Izu] Is that a bad thing?
[Faifir] Every day, though, you wake up, and you are, after all, Izu, Voice of the Dead, faithful servant of the Grey Carver.
[Izu] It is good to know what things are.
[Faifir] It is good to know what you are.
[Faifir] I am not so sure that is what either Kailas or Imas are doing. Not anymore, at any rate.
[Izu] I think I see. Then is there no hope to mend the rift between them?
[Faifir] Being right is something that an individual does. The truth is something that simply is.
[Faifir] Once they understand that, they can mend the rift, but they would need to want that.
[Izu] Hmmm...
[Izu] That is much to ponder. Thank you.
* Faifir smiles.
[Izu] I am surprised you have not yet been asked to replace voice Ingo. Your wisdom is indeed formidable.
* Faifir laughs.
[Faifir] Well, I am very old.
[Faifir] Easily forgotten.
[Izu] Perhaps to some. Not to all.
Marga goes out scouting in the Turtu and encounters a strange woman, Shas Chuchuru, who has been talking to Saza about her, among other things
[NemnostiGM] Marga, normally it's not too hard for you to forget things and just move on. It's a thing that Gagos can do, you think.
[NemnostiGM] But in the last few weeks, you've heard about the events of the Great Purge, first from the Ancestor Lurokai - well, through Izu - and then from Rupun Lurusiri.
[NemnostiGM] It does make looking at the landscape out here in the hills different than normal. Like, you can almost imagine who used to live in these old villages, back then, and think about what happened to them.
[NemnostiGM] Today you are scouting out in the eastern hills, the dry rocky crags of the Turtu, even further east than where you found the body of Susuva Nemni, almost out towards the old abandoned village of Shuruguse.
[NemnostiGM] You're in one of the dry river beds, making your way around on foot.
[NemnostiGM] Please make a Perception check.
* Marga swings her arms as she walks just for the joy of movement
[Marga] !roll 1d20+13
* Lan-werk rolls for Marga: [ 1d20+13 ] getting [ 11 ] which, after the modifier [ 13 ] totals [ 24 ].
[Marga] (+2 for eyes of the wild)
[NemnostiGM] To your left (the north) there's a thin, almost impassable fissure between two faces of layered sandstone.
[NemnostiGM] From inside, you can smell smoke, perhaps not completely fresh, but no more than a couple hours old.
* Marga sniffs the air
[NemnostiGM] Definitely there's a scent of human, just one though, you think.
* Marga examines the fissure for signs of passage...
[NemnostiGM] (sure, give me a Survival)
[Marga] !roll 1d20+12
* Lan-werk rolls for Marga: [ 1d20+12 ] getting [ 11 ] which, after the modifier [ 12 ] totals [ 23 ].
[NemnostiGM] You see some evidence that someone has been going in and out, based on small rocks that have fallen down.
* Marga is curious now...
* Marga is going to creep through the fissure and try to see who it is ].]
[NemnostiGM] You slip through without too much difficulty, and eventually come into an opening where there is a campsite. The firepit here is well-constructed and there are various small pieces of gear around, suggesting that it's still being used, although the fire is out and no one is here.
* Marga will look for clues as to their identity and provenance, not that she would know what 'provenance' means
[NemnostiGM] Your quick assessment is that whoever it is knows their way around a campsite, and is probably Ravre / hillfolk.
[Marga] . o O (what if it's... a spy? :O)
* Marga decides to hide, wait and see ].]
[NemnostiGM] (ok, hide where?)
[NemnostiGM] The camp area doesn't really provide a space to hide. But the cliffs are climbable, probably, if you wanted to get to an elevated spot.
[Marga] (are there any other cracks/fissures big enough to hide in? or an outcropping I could climb to and lie down on?)
[Marga] (cliffs it is)
[NemnostiGM] (ok, make me a Climb)
[Marga] (actually this is dumb haha I'll fly up and wait as a vulture)
[NemnostiGM] All right, no problem.
* Marga transforms into a vulture and will perch unobtrusively on a rocky outcropping.
[NemnostiGM] After a while, a woman returns to the camp.
* Woman is a short, muscular woman, perhaps your age or a little older. She is wearing hill country clothes, a short, functional juskai, with a wide belt with several pouches, and a cap with two black vulture tailfeathers in them.
[Marga] (and I do not recognize this woman?)
[NemnostiGM] (not at all)
* Marga will watch to see what she does.
[Marga] (the abandoned village out here... why was it abandoned)
[NemnostiGM] You don't know why for sure. Shuruguse was an Omban village, not a Ravre 'sogo', and you were not exactly the ulajeta's best history student.
[NemnostiGM] The woman pulls out some rough hardtack and drops it in a pot of water to soften it up.
[NemnostiGM] (all right, you know what, I'll let you make a K:history)
[Marga] !roll 1d20+2
* Lan-werk rolls for Marga: [ 1d20+2 ] getting [ 11 ] which, after the modifier [ 2 ] totals [ 13 ].
[NemnostiGM] (nope, no real idea)
[Marga] (is she armed at all?)
[NemnostiGM] She definitely has a bow, spear, and knife, but that wouldn't be too unusual out here.
* Marga will watch a little longer, trying to decide what if anything she should do...
[NemnostiGM] All right, you've hidden yourself away well enough, so the woman eats her meal uninterrupted.
[Marga] (then what)
[NemnostiGM] After finishing up, the woman heads out again through the fissure.
* Marga calls out relatively softly, "cra-craaa!"
* Woman looks up and sees you, startled.
[Marga] (I COULDN'T HOLD IT ANY LONGER)
[Marga] (I pressed send just as your text appeared or I would have waited, lol)
[Woman] Oh, hello there. Don't worry, I won't eat you.
[Marga] *normal vulture noises*
[Woman] I don't have anything for you. Hunting's not good today.
* Marga ruffles her feathers
* Woman pulls out her bow as if considering her options.
* Marga turns into herself again
[Marga] I don't taste good.
[Woman] Whoa!
* Woman composes herself, but doesn't put her bow away immediately.
[Woman] Who the fuck are you?
[Marga] I'm Marga. Who are you?
[Woman] Shas.
* Woman is now known as Shas
[Marga] What're you doing here? Not many people come out this way...
[Shas] I could ask the same.
[Shas] I'm just hunting.
[Marga] Not many animals either...
[Shas] Not today.
[Shas] Where are you from?
[Marga] Where'd you come from?
[Marga] (does she have an accent I recognize?)
[NemnostiGM] You're no expert on languages but she does sound Ravre from the high hills.
[Marga] I came from toward Naftusa.
* Shas nods.
[Shas] Same.
[Marga] (sense motive)
[NemnostiGM] (go ahead)
[Marga] !roll 1d20+2
* Lan-werk rolls for Marga: [ 1d20+2 ] getting [ 16 ] which, after the modifier [ 2 ] totals [ 18 ].
[Marga] (lol my mighty +2)
[NemnostiGM] I mean, she's being cagey, but not obviously deceptive.
[Marga] Sound like you're from the high hills.
[Marga] Did you really come here just to hunt? Brought hardtack; seems like you expect to be gone a long time from... wherever.
[Shas] Could be.
[Marga] What's your lineage? Maybe I know 'em.
[Shas] Chuchuru.
[Marga] (does that mean anything to me)
[NemnostiGM] (You definitely know the Chuchurus, that is a high hill lineage from Vija Sogo (quite a long way away). Jevai's old Upward, Eng-dur, is from that clan.
* Marga whistles lowly.
[Marga] You *are* far from home.
* Shas shrugs.
[Shas] I guess so.
[Marga] Do you know of a man called Eng-dur?
* Shas shakes her head.
[Shas] No, who's that?
[Marga] A friend of a friend... He was of your clan.
[Shas] Oh, I see.
[Marga] A sigillant.
[Shas] So, Marga, I was thinking, you seem to know what you're doing, and I could use some help.
[Marga] Oh?
[Marga] What kind of help?
[Shas] I think we could be friends, work together, that kind of thing.
[Shas] Actually we probably are friends already.
[NemnostiGM] Marga, please make a Will save.
[Marga] !roll 1d20+6
* Lan-werk rolls for Marga: [ 1d20+6 ] getting [ 15 ] which, after the modifier [ 6 ] totals [ 21 ].
[NemnostiGM] (OK, carry on. Nothing happens.)
[Marga] I dunno about that, lady...
[NemnostiGM] Ohh, I just mean, it would be to our mutual benefit.
[Marga] What do you want?
[NemnostiGM] I don't mean you any harm.
[Shas] I don't mean you any harm.
[Marga] I mean, if you did you probably wouldn't tell me
[Shas] Probably not.
[Marga] So I'm gonna ask again, what do you want?
[Marga] You said you needed my help. With what?
[NemnostiGM] (where are you, relative to her? you still up on the cliffs?)
[Marga] (yes, on the cliffs)
[Shas] I'm a friend of your kin, Marga.
[Shas] And so I would be a friend of yours.
[Marga] You mean Saza, don't you (watching her reaction to that)
* Shas nods.
[Shas] She said you were smarter than you appeared.
[Marga] (i'm gonna transfrorm and fly away)
[NemnostiGM] All right, you can do that.
* Marga flies back to the Ulajeta to narc
[NemnostiGM] All right, no problem, you can report on this mysterious person's doings, and provide a general description to the stoneguards just in case.
[Marga] (I'll say I can bring folks there if they want, or point it out on a map)
[NemnostiGM] (no problem, although of course her location is not necessarily the most important thing - it was a fairly temporary campsite, not like she'd been there for months and months)
Ifa talks to Sakasa about goings-on outside Nemnosti, and of course about Hojon’s illness, but they are interrupted by loud noises in the iftibal
[NemnostiGM] Ifa, things have been very quiet over the past few days, around the iftibal. You should be happy, right? But quiet does not mean calm. The whole place, the whole lineage, seems on edge, and you can't help the feeling that some of the whispers are about you.
[NemnostiGM] One small blessing is the return of Sakasa to the ulajeta. Your kinswoman is a decade older than you, but your shared experience as wards of Borgegus Ula has given you a connection.
[NemnostiGM] When she's around, she is very well-informed about matters at the ulajeta; it's just that those days are rare, lately, since her divorce from Gigos. You've always wondered why she doesn't get remarried, but your recent experience of Nemni marriages has given you some insight as to why she might want some independence.
[NemnostiGM] But it's her insight that you will be seeking today - if nothing else, to give a new perspective on recent events.
[NemnostiGM] How / where are you going to approach the conversation?
[Ifa] (I'll try to catch her in as private a situation as possible, including making future plans ("Can we meet up at x?") as necessary.)
[NemnostiGM] All right, you can definitely find a private place in the iftibal, since you are both Nemnis, after all.
* Shas is now known as Sakasa
* Sakasa is wearing what you can only imagine must be the latest fashion for well-to-do Ombans; she has a long grey-green dress with a wide ruffled collar off of which various shells are linked with silver chains. These are not vumuri shells, which are restricted to the nobility and even a saintly Nemni may not wear them, but they are clearly not from around here - perhaps from Choradan,
* Sakasa you wonder.
* Sakasa smiles and comes over to embrace you.
* Ifa returns the smile and the embrace.
[Sakasa] Hello, cousin. It's been too long.
[Ifa] Indeed. It's a comfort to have you back, for however long that may be. :)
[Ifa] What news of the wider world?
[Sakasa] Well, Onighus is abuzz, of course, with the new conduit. I always knew Ingo would do it.
* Ifa nods.
[Sakasa] I didn't really get a chance to speak to him; even an envoy can't just go up and approach one of the Nineteen.
[Ifa] A shame, really.
[Sakasa] I would have had to go through his people. And of course he is just getting settled.
* Ifa nods.
[Sakasa] I'll just go through Junu, if I want to see him.
* Ifa chuckles.
[Ifa] Makes sense.
[Sakasa] Other than that ... The Fedifri are becoming more active. Recruiting, especially among the nobility, but also among the common folk. In the lowlands, but, so it is said, even into Naftusa province, at least in Zhustir and Ai Dandura.
[Ifa] That's...interesting.
[Ifa] Any particular reason why?
[Sakasa] The Token-maid is a mystery to me, but saintly politics are always more convoluted than we can imagine.
[Ifa] It's certainly a perspective necessarily beyond ours.
[Ifa] And we're dealing with our own politics at the moment.
* Ifa sighs.
[Sakasa] Now, Ramarima, you can't go creating problems and then complain that there are problems. It's unseemly.
* Ifa smiles at that.
[Ifa] I would like to argue I wasn't the one who made the problem, but I take your point.
[Ifa] Surely you can't disagree with me we need a change in leadership?
[Ifa] ;)
[Sakasa] The reason I'm here is that Ajemika asked me to come back.
[Sakasa] As for what we need ... well, I don't want to presume too much.
[Ifa] Oh? That's interesting.
* Sakasa nods.
[Sakasa] If I were to guess, she's gathering support.
[Ifa] Thanks goodness.
[Ifa] I've been worried she was still trying to avoid the issue.
[Sakasa] I think you've made it very clear that that won't be an option.
* Ifa shrugs.
[Ifa] Avoidance wasn't a viable long-term strategy.
[Sakasa] Not in this case, no.
[Ifa] So, then, can I assume she does have your support?
[Sakasa] Oh, yes. I mean, she's really the only one of the kids to be old enough, even.
[Sakasa] I do think if I had expressed an interest, she would have stood aside though.
[Sakasa] So maybe that was her other purpose - to make sure I wasn't going to.
[Ifa] Sure you won't consider it? ;)
[Sakasa] I could ask the same of you.
[Ifa] Why does everyone assume I'm aiming for the job?
[Ifa] Is it so strange to imagine that a person can think we need new leadership without meaning for it to be themself?
[Sakasa] I take you at your word.
[Ifa] Sorry, I don't mean to snap. It just seems it's a common question.
[Ifa] And, the honest answer is, I *would* do it, if necessary, but we have plenty of options that aren't me, that would cause less consternation, at a time when I think unity is at a premium.
* Sakasa nods.
[Sakasa] Are you done with whatever your plans are, then? For now, at least?
[Sakasa] Are we just waiting for Ajemika to take the next step?
[Ifa] Well, that was my problem in the first place. I understand her reticence, but we need her, or *someone* suitable, to actually take action.
[Ifa] I was this close to heading over to Naftusa to pitch the idea to Mususi.
[Sakasa] Oh ... that seems more problematic.
[Ifa] Well, there's a reason my preference is Ajemika.
[Ifa] She has the best combination of claim and reasonable expectation of acceptance.
[Ifa] And, of course, capability.
[Sakasa] Of course.
[Ifa] I just worry now there's nothing I can do for her in this regard that won't just poison her chances.
[NemnostiGM] Your conversation is interrupted by a loud commotion. You hear some loud talking, and then yelling, from out in the iftibal.
* Sakasa looks at you, concerned.
* Ifa will get up swiftly to go see what's going on.
* Sakasa follows along.
Kuspir talks to Pomirabe about Rembes and his marriage prospects, when they are interrupted by a message from the iftibal indicating that he is needed urgently!
[NemnostiGM] Earlier, or about the same time ...
[NemnostiGM] Kuspir, you're not sure what you're supposed to be feeling right now. This thing you've got going on with Ifa, it's ... different. Not forbidden, exactly - or at least, you're not sure who would be forbidding it. But also not quite right.
[NemnostiGM] (What have you told your wife about all this? What about anyone else in your family?)
[Kuspir] (I have not told anyone, currently)
[NemnostiGM] It feels wrong, in any case, every time you have a conversation and don't mention it.
[NemnostiGM] At any rate, you're catching up this afternoon with Pomirabe, as you've finally managed to coordinate your schedules. He's been back in Naftusa the past few days on some family business, and just got back yesterday to the ulajeta.
[NemnostiGM] (where will you meet him?)
[Kuspir] (probably at my house? unless he has another idea)
[NemnostiGM] (makes sense)
* Pomirabe arrives, a bottle of wine in hand.
* Kuspir welcomes him in
[Kuspir] Ah, I see you brought refreshments, that's good!
[Pomirabe] Well, you know, my iftibal has lots of stock and I figure I'm entitled to my share, so I brought some back.
[Kuspir] It's appreciated.
[Kuspir] How are things going with you?
[Pomirabe] Well enough.
[Pomirabe] While I was home, I had an offer of marriage for Rembes.
[Kuspir] oh?
* Pomirabe nods.
[Kuspir] From who?
[Pomirabe] An older girl, well, older than him, at least. Not local - from Onighus, from the Liveldo. Folk lineage, but a good branch. Kizne's sister is married to a Liveldo man, and that seems to have worked out for her.
[Kuspir] What did you say?
[Pomirabe] Well, I received the offer graciously, of course.
[Pomirabe] I will, at least, have to raise it with Rembes.
* Kuspir nods
[Kuspir] Irdomila might have something to say about it, if he takes the offer.
* Pomirabe laughs.
[Pomirabe] They do seem to be having fun.
[Pomirabe] Honestly my guess is that this offer is a bit of an attempt to lock him down, before he can find a better offer, either here or somewhere else.
[Kuspir] Well, they're young, they could change their affections easily enough.
[Pomirabe] True, true.
[Pomirabe] We will need to figure this all out, in time. But maybe less time than we thought we had? I do not think my hengi will wait for too long.
* Kuspir nods
[Kuspir] I know my daughter would be well taken care of if she and your son did get married. But it's not really up to me, of course. And knowing Irdomila, she will have her own strong opinions on the matter, of course.
[Pomirabe] True, true.
[Pomirabe] How have you been?
[Kuspir] I've been quite well.
[Pomirabe] Glad to hear it.
* Kuspir probably does seem noticably more cheerful than usual
[Kuspir] Well, let's open your wine and have some of that :)
[Pomirabe] Sure!
[NemnostiGM] You are interrupted by a banging at the door.
[Kuspir] I wonder who that is...
* Kuspir will go answer the door
[NemnostiGM] You open the door, and it's one of the youngsters, a Nemni kid.
[Kuspir] Can I help you?
[Kid] Sir, sir, you've been summoned to the iftibal!
* Kid is totally out of breath.
[Kid] There's something going on over there!
[Kuspir] I'll be right there.
[Kuspir] Sorry, Pomirabe, I guess I need to go.
* Kuspir will grab his weapon and head over to the iftibal.
[Pomirabe] I guess this will need to wait.
* Pomirabe is not armed other than a dagger, but is still coming with you.
Ifa and Kuspir arrive at the iftibal to find a commotion from Hojon’s chambers; they enter and find Hojon lying dead at the hands of Zaren Nemni
[NemnostiGM] You rush to the iftibal to see what is going on. As you come in, you almost run into Ifa, who is there with Sakasa.
[Kuspir] What's going on?
[Ifa] I was just about to ask you the same.
* Ifa will head towards the commotion.
[NemnostiGM] The quiet that has permeated the place for weeks has been replaced with yelling, commotion, and, most disconcertingly, screams of agony, from the hengi's private chambers.
* Ifa breaks into a sprint at that.
[NemnostiGM] Afra is there with little Multur in hand, as confused as everyone else, for the moment. Momuzai is not nearby, as far as you can see, but many other Nemni are milling around.
[Kuspir] (private chambers like behind a closed door?)
[NemnostiGM] (yes)
* Ifa tries the door.
* Kuspir will open the door (or try to anyway)
[NemnostiGM] The door opens.
[NemnostiGM] You enter the chamber. Hojon is crumpled on the floor, blood pooling around him.
[NemnostiGM] Standing over him, bloody sword in hand, is Zaren Nemni.
* Kid is now known as Zaren
[Ifa] D-dad?
[Kuspir] What happened here?
* Ifa rushes to check on Hojon.
[Zaren] I fervently request your aid, Medimur.
[Kuspir] You have it.
* Kuspir says immediately
[Kuspir] What do you need?
* Kuspir looks around the room to see if there's anything else out of place or unusual here
[Zaren] I did it. I took his life.
[Ifa] Why!?
[Zaren] Because it was necessary.
* Ifa says without looking up from what she's doing.
* Zaren is clearly in some sort of state of shock, and tears are flowing down his cheeks.
[Ifa] (Is Hojon dead?)
[NemnostiGM] Ifa, you inspect Hojon. As you do so, you see the life drain from his eyes and his body loosens and slumps. He dies, wordlessly.
* Kuspir goes to his father-in-law and will grip his arm, partly to make sure he doesn't collapse or something, partly to make sure he doesn't try to do anything else drastic.
[Ifa] (Quietly, in shock) No...
[Ifa] What happened?
* Zaren falls silent.
[Kuspir] Come with me. I'll make sure you are kept safe.
* Kuspir will try to escort Zaren out of the room if I can.
[Ifa] Kuspir, the crowd outside...
[NemnostiGM] All right, you can definitely do that. Pomirabe will come with you. You can take Zaren to the East Tower where he can be held, for now at least.
[Kuspir] Please keep the crowd calm as much as you can. I'll make sure your father is kept safe. Something is not right here.
* Ifa nods.
[Kuspir] You be safe too. I'll find you later.
[Ifa] Please. Be careful.
* Kuspir nods
* Kuspir will then escort Zaren to the East Tower
[NemnostiGM] Until next we gather by the firelight, young acolytes!
