Simmouri Hornfeet becomes a priest of the Honoured Dead
True to his studious nature, Simmouri decides to join the dwarven clergy at the Honoured Dead Shrine and Brewery in Smokestacks.
Elder Veor is delighted by this choice, and tells the young dwarf how much the religious community admires his mortification of the beard, i.e. the fact that he is always horribly clean-shaven like a human. Simmouri is a little non-plussed by this remark, but pays it no more mind once the ceremony of admission is underway.
Wearing the traditional ceremonial robes of linked coins and the metal masks of the ancestors, the priests and the initiate descend the steps past the ale cellar and deep down into the holy of holies, the Vault of Grudges, where Simmouri admires row after row of ledgers recording all the unforgivable offences committed against the dwarven race.
There he makes his vows and receives a stone fragment taken from the Hall of the Ancestors of his tribe (razed by orcs, as recorded in Grudges XVI - chapter 51, part 3).
Brass becomes a magician
Always intent in stealing technological secrets to advance the domination agenda of the spider people, Brass learns the secrets of the Technomancy tradition thanks to his cleaner job at the Academy of Engineers.
For him it is a constant source of joy and amazement just how many hungover students are too lazy to store away the volumes and scrolls they've been working on, and nobody is as invisible at the Academy as a small clockwork janitor. Probably most of these fools and future slaves take him for a mindless construct.
Eavesdropping he hears about a walled factory - the Babbage Slag & Ballast Company - which according to the students who were gossiping is guarded day and night by orcs armed to the teeth and large, mean guard dogs, which is really wierd as there seems to be no activity and who would ever steal slag and ballast?
Intrigued, he's had a cautious look from the nearby rooftops and has indeed confirmed that the rumours were true. He's noticed that the orc guards are slaves, watched over by taskmasters who're also orcs, and that security is extremely tight. There's no sign of work or activity in the buildings behind the tall, guarded walls. The guards appear to be on a rota because he notices familiar faces periodically on duty. They seem to be extremely dangerous and dedicated to their task, and the only odd behaviour that he ever notices is when he overhears a guard talk to himself in Dark Speech, holding a bracelet of orcish make in his hands: "How's this possible? What happened to you, little sister?". He commits the orc's face to memory for future reference, in case this might ever be useful.
His real breakthrough, though, happens when he arrives at the Academy for work one day and finds it abuzz with news of a senior resident student, Frank, who'd self-combusted in his quarters during the night. "You should see the state of the room!" whisper the students to each other excitedly. Such is the commotion that Brass can sneak into Frank's room unnoticed. The far wall is charred and burnt except for the outline of what appears to be a human body holding its hands up. Everything is covered in blood, soot and gore. Whatever palaphernalia were there have been taken away, but Brass finds a loose floorboard under the desk and is soon able to retrieve some scrolls in Dark Speech and a handwritten note.
The scrolls allow him to learn the secrets of the dreaded tradition of Forbidden magic. It's as if his soul becomes stained and shrivelled with every bit he learns, and he glories in that feeling - it can only mean more power!
The note is a name and a place: "Barnaby, foreman - Babbage Slag & Ballast Company".
He tries to arrange an appointment asking at the gates, but is met with blank stares and eventually told that the place is closed down for refurbishments. Undeterred, he pens a note for Barnaby in Dark Speech mentioning the late Frank and demanding a meeting; r.s.v.p. to Len at the Fallen Soldier. Old drunk Len himself is only too happy to take any message deliveries in exchange for a promise of ale.
Elder Veor is delighted by this choice, and tells the young dwarf how much the religious community admires his mortification of the beard, i.e. the fact that he is always horribly clean-shaven like a human. Simmouri is a little non-plussed by this remark, but pays it no more mind once the ceremony of admission is underway.
Wearing the traditional ceremonial robes of linked coins and the metal masks of the ancestors, the priests and the initiate descend the steps past the ale cellar and deep down into the holy of holies, the Vault of Grudges, where Simmouri admires row after row of ledgers recording all the unforgivable offences committed against the dwarven race.
There he makes his vows and receives a stone fragment taken from the Hall of the Ancestors of his tribe (razed by orcs, as recorded in Grudges XVI - chapter 51, part 3).
Brass becomes a magician
Always intent in stealing technological secrets to advance the domination agenda of the spider people, Brass learns the secrets of the Technomancy tradition thanks to his cleaner job at the Academy of Engineers.
For him it is a constant source of joy and amazement just how many hungover students are too lazy to store away the volumes and scrolls they've been working on, and nobody is as invisible at the Academy as a small clockwork janitor. Probably most of these fools and future slaves take him for a mindless construct.
Eavesdropping he hears about a walled factory - the Babbage Slag & Ballast Company - which according to the students who were gossiping is guarded day and night by orcs armed to the teeth and large, mean guard dogs, which is really wierd as there seems to be no activity and who would ever steal slag and ballast?
Intrigued, he's had a cautious look from the nearby rooftops and has indeed confirmed that the rumours were true. He's noticed that the orc guards are slaves, watched over by taskmasters who're also orcs, and that security is extremely tight. There's no sign of work or activity in the buildings behind the tall, guarded walls. The guards appear to be on a rota because he notices familiar faces periodically on duty. They seem to be extremely dangerous and dedicated to their task, and the only odd behaviour that he ever notices is when he overhears a guard talk to himself in Dark Speech, holding a bracelet of orcish make in his hands: "How's this possible? What happened to you, little sister?". He commits the orc's face to memory for future reference, in case this might ever be useful.
His real breakthrough, though, happens when he arrives at the Academy for work one day and finds it abuzz with news of a senior resident student, Frank, who'd self-combusted in his quarters during the night. "You should see the state of the room!" whisper the students to each other excitedly. Such is the commotion that Brass can sneak into Frank's room unnoticed. The far wall is charred and burnt except for the outline of what appears to be a human body holding its hands up. Everything is covered in blood, soot and gore. Whatever palaphernalia were there have been taken away, but Brass finds a loose floorboard under the desk and is soon able to retrieve some scrolls in Dark Speech and a handwritten note.
The scrolls allow him to learn the secrets of the dreaded tradition of Forbidden magic. It's as if his soul becomes stained and shrivelled with every bit he learns, and he glories in that feeling - it can only mean more power!
The note is a name and a place: "Barnaby, foreman - Babbage Slag & Ballast Company".
He tries to arrange an appointment asking at the gates, but is met with blank stares and eventually told that the place is closed down for refurbishments. Undeterred, he pens a note for Barnaby in Dark Speech mentioning the late Frank and demanding a meeting; r.s.v.p. to Len at the Fallen Soldier. Old drunk Len himself is only too happy to take any message deliveries in exchange for a promise of ale.
Aethelfrieda becomes a priest of witchcraft
In the days following the fire at Moore House the witch Ezekia expresses tangible gratitude for how the group has managed to prevent further deaths in the poor district of Grievings and find almost all of Father Gregory, and finally accepts Aethelfrieda as her apprentice in witchcraft.
A good person by nature, Aethelfrieda concentrates with Ezekia on the study of the Life and Enchantment traditions, but the evil that she's witnessed so far in the world has convinced her that it must be fought on even terms, so she extends her studies to include the dread Curse tradition despite Ezekia's warnings and misgivings.
She feels as if a small part of her soul has died, but the dangerous streets of Crossings no longer scare her as much as they used to - it's those who cross her path who should be scared instead.
Sumaya and Will become rogues
Sumaya and Will become partners in crime and make a living pickpocketing people at the market.
Will, the bright green goblin, recently had a bit of a mishap at the bakery of a friend, a shop in the streets over the sewer where the goblin tribe lives. The baker, a nice old man but very greedy, had confided to Will that he'd hired a magician who claimed to know an incantation which could enchant his ovens and make him the best baker in Crossings. He'd be rich! The only problem was that the ritual required at least three people, would Will mind attending? He'd give him cake afterwards.
Everything was quite spectacular, with the pentagram on the floor and the black wax candles and the red-nosed mage Severin (who actually looked a bit of an alcoholic) reading aloud from what looked like a page made of human skin. Will was having a great time, but the smoke of the candles didn't agree with him at all and made his eyes itch terribly. He saw that some kind of portal had opened in front of the oven, and heard the mage scream in horror - unfortunately his vision was too blurry with tears to see what had scared the guy. Maybe the scream was just part of the ceremony. Some large shape appeared to be moving behind the veil of the portal, but Will was too busy trying and failing to hold a sneeze. The candles in front of him were estinguished by the portentous sneeze, the pentagram ruined by stepping on it when he became unbalanced... and suddenly there was a roar and a large hand grabbed the baker. A gurgling, happy voice boomed "Thank you little goblin! You've set me free!". Will darted out of the shop and didn't stop running for at least a mile.
In the following days he felt a bit sad but in no way responsible, and walked past the shop to see if the baker was back. There was a very poorly written sign on the door, "Militia lien do nowt cros", which looked like the handwriting of Constable Gnat (the local goblin patrolman). Inside everything appeared to be destroyed and covered in feces and gore. A slimy trail of congealed butter lead outside and into an alley. Will wisely decided to leave that alone.
Sumaya kept an eye on her former house and saw that almost every day Evans, the old manservant of her dad, would leave the house looking as if he'd aged ten years, and walk around the street talking to people. A few discrete inquiries revealed that he was asking after her and her father. Could she trust the man? In doubt, she didn't contact him and felt glad to be in disguise.
Every night she had a recurring dream. In the dream her father appears to be talking angrily, but she can't hear the words. The only sound she hears is a rythmic metal thud coming from a door. She can see a reddish light from the other side. There is a window and she sees the smoke stacks and spires of Crossings. It's snowing gently so it can't be the present, as it's now early summer.
An old female hand slams a small mechanical box with lights and gears on the table. Her father looks at it and resumes what he was saying but she still can't hear him, and wakes up.
Will is obsessed with the Spires and tells Sumaya that it's widely believed that if you sleep in the shadow of a Spire you have crazy dreams and sometimes go mad. That's why you never see any homeless people shack up next to them, even if you can find them everywhere else in Grievings and Tankards. They both decide to put the rumour to the test and have a nap under a Spire. Soon Sumaya is dreaming, and Will is an invisible presence in her dream, which only she can hear.
She is in faerieland, and realises that the dream is of her lost memories from when she ran away after finding out she was a changeling, but soon present and past are mixing confusingly. Some strange, wonderful creatures are discussing what to do with her in Elven, but luckily Will is at hand to translate (after a fashion). A nymph (Robert), stag made of starlight (Terry) and a vicious redcap (Alex) discuss her destiny, but as she's no human - but rather of faerie - the old statue by the pond opens its eyes and declares that she won't be let to have tea with the nymph, as the last guest went home to find that a thousand years and a day had passed, and the redcap can't have her blood to soak his cap in. The stag - always angry - wants nothing to do with her, and just wants to be off to run over the clouds.
Will and Sumaya realise a few things by listening to the conversation. They are on one of the many islands in the Dark Waters lake. These fae positively hate humans. Crossings is an eyesore and a constant reminder of the loss of the Land of Summer that used to be here before the Troll Wars, and its stench of iron and human filth is offensive. The two friends can only imagine how grim things would be for any human stranded on one of these faerie isles, if they were unable to defend themselves. It's also mentioned that the maker of Sumaya is a very powerful faerie, possibly a lord or lady, and that the power of that creation is palpable. Again it's mentioned that she is the key, although the key to what is not said.
The talking statue finally takes notice of Sumaya and shushes the other fae to address her.
"Welcome home, changeling. Your place is not here though, it's back with the humans. I won't let you go away empty handed however, so you can ask me three questions. As customary, I'll answer one with the truth, one with a lie, and one with either. What's your first question?"
But at that point, Will and Sumaya wake up.
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