11/15/2023

Walk Of Lights Festival

It has been a long held tradition in five duchies that one would take a candle and walk from their home to a cairn during the festival to help wayward spirits to find their way to the cairn.  In years past this ceremony was often nothing more than a way for families to mourn the dead and meet with friends in the cairns to celebrate the lives of those who had not returned from death's gate.  Often warm cider and pumpkin treats were had in the cairns while stories were told and children would place a personal token to teach gone relatives about their descendants.

However in recent years with the appearance of the Vargoth and the return of Fortunes Bend this festival has become more than a time of remembrance in one country.  In the cold long nights after the last harvest spirits have been seen across all countries wandering lost outside of cairns unable to find their way.  These spirits have even become aggressive in some instances attacking those who walked without a light to guide them.  As darkness spreads across Aeledd each culture has adopted their take on this festival with its own flavor.  But the thing that remains the same across all of Aeledd is that in every festival lights are hung about the cairns and even the most fool hardy look to carry a candle on their person.  And in this darkest time of year friends still gather to share harvest treats of cider and pumpkin confections.

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11/14/2023

As Fall draws to a close and Winter approaches, the time comes for the people of Aeledd to draw close to their hearths and homes.  The warmth and long days of summer are a distant memory, and the hard work and preparations of fall are coming to a close.  The days grow short and the nights come early, and bright colors of Autumn begin to fade into a dreary grey.

In years gone by in various parts of the world the late days of Fall held a special reason to be fearful.  Magics and enchantments which have always followed strict and binding rules tended to flutter and fail.  The Astral and the Ethereal both churned with tempests and storms.  Charms and Protection Rites of hearth and home would fail and on certain nights wild creatures of the Arcane of Bestial nature would howl and rampage and do considerable harm.

The Long Night.  The Reaping.  The Haunted Eve.  This season went by different names in different places, and each had their own traditions about how to survive, and even celebrate the dark nights of danger.  In some lands special charms and fetishes would be ritually crafted to provide protection against the danger.  In other lands traditions of feasting and gifting took place.  Some of these traditions and festivals, such as the Walk of Lights, carry on until this day and are still widely practiced.  But over the years for whatever reason the horrors and dangers of these nights have faded and gone away, leaving nothing but the holidays to carry on.

Well, mostly faded.

As with all things of strong feeling and import within the world, a corresponding presence or representation within the Shade came to exist, and to embody the feelings and fears experienced in these dark times.  While the phenomenon that empowered creatures of horror and darkness has faded from the land and memory of the people of Aeledd, the Shade is slow to forget.

In the days that we live the only danger that comes in these times appears but rarely, and generally in places with strong connections to the Shade.  From time to time these places receive visitations from beings of the Shade.  Sometimes the Shadewalkers receive visions.  However it occurs, an invitation is extended to people who consider themselves to be brave or heroes.

The Shade representations of those long gone dark days still wish to visit fear and horror upon victims.  If there are none at hand within the Shade, then they seek to draw from the people of Aeledd to become their victims.  If their invitation to visit is refused, then they will pull unwilling victims across the veil into their Shade world of horror and terror.  For this reason, it is a mark of pride amongst those who consider themselves heroes to take on the challenge in place of those who might be less willing, or able, to survive the experience.

In recent years such visitations have grown few and far between.  This has led some to speculate that even these faint remembrances of darker times were soon to fade from this world and Shade altogether.  But now the Omen Star has arced through the Winter sky.  Signs and Portents speak of turmoil to come, and great changes and upheaval.  Fortune Bend has risen once more.  The Astral and Ethereal have grown restless and unruly.  And the grip of the Shade has spread and grown tighter across the lands.

Autumn harvests, hearth and home, A season of feasting, food, and cheer. But in the darkness you best not roam, The Shade remembers, and is always near.

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9/12/2023

It was dark in the woods, but that served Pru’s purposes well. Years of being locked out of the Unlit Halls had driven her to this shady meeting in the forest instead of her comfortable luminous chambers. Even her inner circle could not be trusted any more. Someone had betrayed her, and she needed access to her Halls to set it right. She dimmed her own glow, allowing the shadows to wrap around her, she only needed to attract what she sought. The cautious step to her left told her that her quarry was approaching.

“Madame?” the tentative voice called to her through the shadows.

“Who else?” she replied waspishly. “What news do you bring me?”

The tremor from the voice in the shadows was filled with fear and excitement. “It was as you predicted. I followed the trails of those from Fortune's Bend and that led me to a stronghold. Then I followed the whispers. I heard about whose stronghold it was and was able to get more information about them and where they gather. Here are the locations that are most likely to have what you seek.”

Pru reached out her hand and took the parchment from the shaking hand and used her own light to read the information there. The smile that spread across her face was predatory. “Notify me if you find anything new. Continue to look for information but for now, this may be what is needed.” With a wave Pru dismissed her informant but the grin stayed on her face. Finally, after so many years of being locked out of her Halls, things were starting to fall into place.

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9/11/2023

Memories lie in shallow graves, and rise as fearsome revenants when something gentle scrapes the earth.

They blow as a wind at your back, pushing you unseen, and guiding you unnoticed.

They grip tightly to those ragged cords between your eyes and your brain, shrieking and scraping at every image that passes them. Memories are not like a seed, no.

They are like a worm that will grow to fill your mind, and emerge from that cocoon as a new thing, not what it was, and not what you wished it to be.

The Gate of Moths is the Gate of Memories, and the town of Fortune’s Bend is steeped deeply in the pain, the magic, and the glory of them. They twine and tangle as things remembered do, but in this place there are so many who remember, and so many powerful threads that tie back to those two simple things; the Gate, and the Town.

You see, there has always been a Gate, and there has always been its people. The people always make a town. If you could see Aeledd from afar, as the Celestials do, you would see that when the Gate appears it is the great ocean of memories, to which all the rivers of the world flow. It is deeper and broader than  can be imagined, as fathomless as the mind of the Purposed. Cryptids large and small roam its depths. Every time the Gate and the Town appear, the ocean gets deeper, and its shores get farther apart.

This new Fortune’s Bend struggles to breach the surface of the tossing, hungry mire, to define itself from those that have come before. The people of town will notice the changes, how buildings are familiar and placed wrongly. How the walk to the tavern now contains three curves, where it used to contain five.

These are the ghosts of Towns that once were.

The Gate is choosing its people, and those people will choose which among those ghosts will remain to haunt the new town with memories of the old.

((OOG: We are at a different campsite this time, and will be next time as well! The changes in the layout and topography are all happening IG, and so you should feel free to comment upon them in-character. The town, the gate, and the land do shift about, though it always seems to happen when no one is looking. We are taking advantage of these changes in game, and will be making note of it in upcoming plots.))

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5/3/2023

SPYNDELMERE - Summit to Discuss the Vargoth Goes Horrifically Wrong

We are shocked and saddened to report that early this evening, the Farthest Star Council was attacked by a number of unknown entities while on recess. Notably, Spyndelmerian ambassador Commander Lesley Longstepper, who was a member of the Knight's Guard and advisor to the Compass Rose, was fatally wounded in the onslaught. Memorial services are planned to honor him in Thornwen. Very few eyewitnesses can reliably testify to the action in Fortune’s Bend. There is an ongoing search for survivors, even as this news is breaking. Names will be released as soon as they can be confirmed. General Kiernan Jowenys, who called for the summit in the first place, has been reported missing. Jowenys was just beginning to unite the nations of Aeledd against the threat of the Vargoth, the monstrous army behind the fall of Valarmore. He was convinced that they would push onward past the Duchies and into the rest of the world. Could they be behind this invasion?It was widely understood before the Farthest Star Council ever took place that travel, both by mode of Lattice and by Hadley’s Cove in the Reaches, would be subject to rigorous security protocols. One wonders who could be capable of such violence, and indeed, how they could manage to infiltrate such a gathering?

Mayor Alizon Locke of the Reaches is begging for assistance from any willing parties. The area needs to be tightly secured so that no further attacks can occur, and as witnesses are few, capable investigators are sought to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.Please exercise compassion and patience as we release more details.

[OOG: The events of this message are meant to take place on Friday evening a few hours before game-on. We are releasing this today, Wednesday, so that @everyone has a chance to read and absorb it.]

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5/2/2023

For years, chatter and buzz about the hero Kiernan Jowenys has steadily increased as he seemed to score one unlikely political ally after another. His remarkable military record gained him entry into the scene, but by all accounts it is his towering charisma and integrity that have solidified his international reputation. At a multinational fundraising event, the Merrigorian host introduced him by saying “We’ve all heard that in the Duchies, the Howling Gate holds back the enemy. I’m here to tell you that’s not true - the true power holding them back is our next guest, the one and only General Kienan Jowenys.”

In the ten years following the fall of Valarmore to the Vargoth, many attempts have been made to start an international discussion of the Vargoth threat, and all have sputtered out without much fanfare. A few nations showed interest or curiosity, and a few small meetings were managed here or there, with the results typically falling into the category of the fundraiser mentioned above. The most anyone seemed to agree to was to throw some money on the problem so that they could continue ignoring it. The Five Duchies, Valarmore, and the Vargoth were all very far away, after all.

But then came Kiernan Jowenys. A survivor of the Vargoth attacks and refugee from Valarmore, he brought the visceral, screaming horror of the Vargoth monsters in his eyes wherever he went. Battle-worn armor, a tattered cape, scarred skin and a burning, brutal honesty about how his country had been taken. You can smell the tragedy on him.

His speaking voice is soft, but you can hear echoes of battlefield commands. He laughs often, and you realize that he takes every moment for what it is, because he knows he might not have another. He is truly remarkable, and it’s just … that… it’s just… him, that has made an international meeting come to pass at last.

He’s called it the Farthest Star Council, in honor of some Valarmore custom. He made personal visits to every nation that would allow him, and somehow… he got them all to agree. We can only guess at the motivations each nation may have, but all of sudden, pulled from the aether, now there is an international council happening. Let all those who said it would never happen settle their bets.

The council, it is said, will take place on the newly risen Fortune’s Bend, for what better reason could there be for its return than to save us all from the fate of Valarmore?

Lattice Travel to the area is under tight security for the safety of the diplomats, and the other method of reaching the new island is Hadley’s Cove, a heretofore unremarkable principality in the Reaches. The shore is watched by the ruler of the Cove, Alizon Locke, who is an old companion of General Jowenys from his days at Elistara. There has been a whirlwind of speculation about what nations are taking part, and who they are sending to attend, and why.

I won’t make any guesses about that last one, but I have consolidated what is known of the ambassadors, diplomats, and courtiers who will be in attendance.

Council Host

General Kiernan Jowenys

Aluvair

Senator Terrana Demetrius

Barred Commots

Viscountess Emmalaine Breeze

Callum

Politely declines the invitation

Dovenost

Magistrate Mikail Sykora

Eltiel

Colenol Rythe Lotos

Five Duchies

Elling Wright, Proxy for Speaker Wright of Bull Duchy

Kindaria

Representative Reese Bastian

Konnigstrava

Ambassador Rachael Whitting

Lanprass

Lady Laroux Viksirre

Luroria

Uplander Paul White

L’Dahn

Prime Guardian Clay Raynar

Melluria

Councilor Rosa Moltenswift

Merrigor

Councilor Florin Albescu

Myos

Ambassador David Pierce

Qatran

Trace Qavarrin

Republic of Ophrailes

Alliver See Parkwright

Rues

Ryan Damiano

Sanaria

Ambassador Bensen Creek

Spyndelmere

Commander Lesley Longstepper, member of the Knight's Guard and advisor to the Compass Rose

T’barris

Ix’vor Grawl

Ulinoss

Honorable Marren Brithinch

Vale of Scyllina

Astrella Spirini

OOG: The first event of Numina will take place on the newly risen island of Fortune’s Bend, just off the coast of the Reaches in the inland sea. All characters will arrive there at the same time, right at game on, though there are options on how that happens! It may be that your character was already on their way there, crossing over on a boat from the nearest part of the Reach since all Lattice travel in the area has been shut down for the security of the Council. It may be that your character was entering a Node or Threshold with the intention to travel somewhere else, but for some reason the Lattice shunted you out to Fortune’s Bend instead. It may be that you had absolutely no intention of traveling anywhere, and were just getting into your jammies to sleep off a night in the tavern when -whoosh- you were swept up into the Lattice and dumped out on a strange island at Game On. For characters carrying over from N2, it may even make sense for you to tumble out of one of the structures in Fortune’s Bend, depending on how your character has passed the time between arcs. We want everyone to have “just arrived on the island,” but we also don’t want everyone trying to carry their sleeping bag, costuming, slow cooker, pallet of water, etc. so please feel free to set up your cabins ahead of time. If you have questions about this feel free to ask!

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5/1/2023   The Omen Star

Turning and turning in the widening gyre; The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere; The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst; Are full of passionate intensity.

This is the opening stanza of The Second Coming, by William Butler Yeats.  It was written about another time when the world called for heroes.  It is one of my favorite poems.  Have you been at a place and time when you felt that things were falling apart, and no one was stepping up to do anything about it?  With those thoughts in mind, I present

The Omen Star.

For those that seek comfort in stability, the heavens are the place to find it. The night sky shines with the lights of constellations fixed in their proper place. In ages past the legends speak of a time when the heavens churned with spinning and whirling stars as the Constellations danced and weaved about directing the people of the lands through the fate that had been decreed for them. But in this age, when the spark of Purpose burns within each person, the Constellations sit in their appointed spot in the wheel of Heaven, silent spectators to the deeds of others.

And so it has been since the time of the sundering of Fate. With no higher power to direct their lives the people of the land have used their Purpose to accomplish or fail as best they could. No longer were the events of the world preordained to occur in clockwork precision. Instead history was written by the deeds of commoners and nobles, heroes and villains, the plain and the extraordinary.

The annals of history are messy. Sometimes there are long stretches of peace and stability where most enjoy comfort and prosperity, and the people celebrated in song and story are the caretakers, the artists, the peacemakers, the people who share and spread kindness and joy. At other times history is filled with danger and drama, and the world is full of strife and conflict. During these times the pages of history are full of stories of conquerors, and explorers, people who live lives of risk and danger, and who overcome challenges and defeat their foes.

Still other parts of history are barely written at all. In these rare dark times for reasons unknown there is no one to step forward to meet the challenges of the day. Darkness, chaos, destruction, and evil hold sway and the world seems powerless to stand against it. Though rare, these times do occur, and are remembered with fear and dread.

Thoughts of these bleak times preoccupy some of the thinkers and scholars of the world today. Some would say that history has been kind in the fairly recent past. The kingdoms and countries of the world have mainly been at peace and thriving for some time. Discoveries have been made, travel along the Lattice has supported trade and exploration, and wars have largely been a subject that is taught as opposed to experienced.

Scholars who study the patterns of history believe these times are drawing to a close. Events and recent years have taken a disturbing trend. Throughout the world stories of troubles and unease have begun to increase. Each seems on its own to be a small thing, a reasonably manageable trouble on the scale of events of the world. But they have begun to occur at an increasing rate and with disturbing regularity. Worst of all, no one seems to be stepping forward to solve them..

It is into this world that the silent Constellations stare from their perch in the night sky. But lately those who looked to the skies for the comfort of stability were surprised by something new. Beginning on the first few days of January in the year 123 a bright spot appeared near the horizon in the early hours of night. As the days passed this star grew brighter and brighter and began to move across the sky. Soon a bright tail was visible behind it.

Astronomers and astrologers were amazed. What could the star mean? Were the Constellations trying to signal something? Was it a sign? Was it a warning? As the star began to reach the center of the heavens the oracle, seers, and prophets throughout the land began to have visions and seeings. All began to speak of the coming of heroes, and how common folk, adventurers, wizards and scribes, rogues and performers, and people of all sorts would step forward to meet the challenges of the day.

The Omen Star, as it came to be called, traveled the length of the sky and began to fade into the morning sun over the course of a dozen days. And as it disappeared, one last set of prophecies began to circulate. They spoke of a city of legend returning, a place of diplomacy, and a gathering spot for heroes.

On the first night after the Omen Star left the skies there were reports of rumblings heard in northern Aluvair and the eastern shore of the Reaches. And when the morning came the sailors that plied the trade routes of the inland sea reported seeing a strange new island.

Soon the word went out to all the kingdoms and countries of the land. Fortune’s Bend had returned to Aeledd.

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4/25/2023

Kiernan Jowenys on the Vargoth: Why passivity is no longer an option

By Wyn Philar

This season, an old friend invites me to dinner. There are no warnings, absolutely none. “It’s a collection of acquaintances,” he assures me. “And friends of friends. No need to fuss over the dress code.”

I arrive a little late. As a writer, I’m accustomed to the rhythm of these things. The wine is poured. Guests begin to nibble on the hors d'oeuvres.

I’m just beginning to discuss the weather with someone when I come to the realization that on my left by the salad platter is Kiernan Jowenys. General Kiernan Jowenys—the public figure. The war hero. He notices me staring immediately and offers me an easy smile. I stammer a clumsy hello, and, like a coward, devise a reason to move away from him. Half an hour later though, I understand the folly of this and change my mind, deciding to approach him after all.

Unbelievably, he seems to know who I am. “I respect your reflections and thoughtful statements on the loss of Valarmore,” he says. “They’ve given me and I’m sure countless others a lot of comfort.” I thank him for this. Seeming to divine that I’m going to ask, he gives me permission to print information about our conversation, and we’re off.

Of course, I want to know about his recent tour. “It’s been interesting,” he shares. “Some nations will engage in discourse about the Vargoth, and some are more reticent. But more and more, I believe the enemy have set their sights beyond the Duchies. It’s part of why I’ve been traveling so much. More war is coming. I’m hoping I can convince others to join our fight.”

It is odd to encounter Jowenys in such a setting, and I remark on the kind of company my host thought it appropriate to call, “A collection of acquaintances.” The general merely smiles again and shrugs, saying, “There is no wrong way to garner military support. I can’t make people join me. But I can ask them, and to do that, I have to get to know them.”

“What,” I ask him, “Do you say to ambassadors who don’t believe they can afford to get involved?” And he smiles grimly in response. “That they can’t afford not to. There is no endgame. The Vargoth will take everything—and passivity is no longer an option.”

As he speaks, I’m struck by the certainty in his voice. But then I remind myself just who I’m talking to.

Jowenys was born in Valarmore City and trained at the prestigious Elistara Military Academy. He personally saw to the installation of the watchtower at Thamrius, recruited and drilled all personnel stationed there, and was instrumental in defending the coast from privateers mere weeks later. Later in life, he returned to Elistara to teach at the same academy where he’d trained, often going from city to city in Valarmore to tour, recruit, and train young soldiers. And during the Vargoth invasion—this is when Jowenys became a household name—it was he who devised that the Howling Gate be secured as a holding point against enemy forces. He and his strike team kept the Vargoth busy and distracted while many refugees fled the country south through the Gate. He was horrifically wounded in that battle but would go on to make a full recovery.

Perhaps it is in bad taste, but I cannot help asking. “Do you still think about that night? Wonder if there was anything you could have done differently?”

There is honesty in his eyes when he answers. “I think about it all the time. Who wouldn’t? It’s been a terrible struggle. But I’ve done a lot of processing. Of course, it occurs to me to blame myself. We lost it, after all. We lost Valarmore.” But his voice is steady. “I can succumb to the shame and the failure of it all, or I can choose to celebrate the lives of the people we did manage to save. I got close to the Vargoth. I know how they work. And I can use that information to protect others from them in the future.”

The general is calling for an international summit to discuss the Vargoth threat. The complete list of attendees is unknown at this point, but here are the rumors so far:

Konningstrava will definitely be at the summit thanks to the lasting impression a very young Kiernan made on the country when he brought troops from Valarmore to assist in the horrific uprising of the undead. For about a month, Jowenys and his soldiers labored to free those trapped inside fortified buildings and on rooftops with very little hope of escape. For his service there, he was awarded an honorary knighthood and the title, “Hero of Konningstrava.”

The Vale of Scyllina is at least willing to hear Jowenys out. Some years ago in a debate with courtier Clement Viraggio, Jowenys managed to use honesty as an effective weapon when laying out the human cost of the war. He lost, as we know, but his statements as an expert witness captured the hearts of the people. The Vale will send a representative to the summit.

Spyndelmere is interested in what Jowenys has to say, most especially because he once rescued Prince Aeron Winterseeker from being trapped inside a building.

During an unseasonably warm winter in Merrigor that resulted in a surge of Ilfraic activity, Jowenys dispatched wagons, masks, and other supplies for the people trying to make their way back to Alletas. While Merrigor isn’t overly concerned about the Vargoth, public opinion favors the general, and so it appears that Merrigor has also agreed to send an emissary.

Melluria’s representative will go to the summit too, for similar reasons. When Jowenys visited friends there, he demonstrated a willingness to work alongside laborers to complete even humble tasks, impressing… Well, everyone.

Prime Guardian Clay Raynor of the L’Dahn learned martial prowess and leadership from Kiernan and as a result, the L’Dahn ostensibly will send someone as well.  

“I hope others will do the same,” he concludes. “We will need every advantage we can secure.”

At this point, he urges me to talk about my latest book. The man is undeniably charismatic, but as the evening wears on, I am convinced that it is all guileless, artless, seamless. Kiernan Jowenys is the real thing.

When it’s time for dessert, he leans over and whispers, “I’m embarrassed to admit this, but what are those? Are those ground cherries? How does one eat a ground cherry?”

How indeed.