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Past Events & Major Developments
| 🜙 Bottom | ⤛ Navigation |
 Game-Changing or Unresolved Multi-Month Developments | |
| Captain Lykos • Queen Adira • The Masked Cult • Empty Einjar • City of the Free Peoples | |
| December 18 | |
| City Under Siege • Day of Lefkokó* • The Long Night | |
| January 19 | |
| Thlipa's Tribute* • A Tale of Three Cities | |
| February 19 | |
| Memento Mori • The Aftermath • The Oxen Gods* | |
| March 19 | |
| The Thaw • The Einjar Excursion • The Wyrm Moon • Arkoda's Awakening* | |
| April 19 | |
| Crowning the Cat* • The Calm Before the Storm | |
| May 19 | |
| The Song of Suffering • Return to Einjar • Seyra's Seenade* • Friend or Foe | |
| 🜙 Top | ⤛ Navigation |
🜙 Game-Changing or Unresolved Multi-Month Developments
⤛ Captain Lykos
January
During this rising confusion and concern a group of awakened began looking into the captain's disappearance starting with the individuals Daud and Rocket. They questioned the Defenders on where Lykos was last seen and whether or not the Defenders suspected foul play was involved. During Daud's questioning Rocket searched the warcamp for clues and eavesdropped on conversations between the defenders.
The Defenders were dodgy about answering Daud's questions, their responses were short and often limited to when he was last seen: the Long Night, however one guard was more helpful and offered a short summary of what she knew:
He was headed for one of the Southern bonfires. They found no evidence of a struggle or blood on the path he would have taken so they assumed something interrupted him before he made it to the bonfire. She added that she was certain something or someone was keeping Captain Lykos from returning because he loved the city too much to abandon it by choice. She grew too nervous to say much more and excused herself to get back to her duties of keeping the peace.
During Rocket's infiltration of the camp he overheard some of the defenders complaining about the pair of orcs who took charge after Lykos' disappearance, a large red orc named Koroc and a slightly smaller blue orc named Dervish. In his searching, he caught sight of two orcs who matched their descriptions and followed them to a large tent. There he overheard the pair discussing plans to forcible reign the city in and take back control. He also caught sight of some of Captain Lykos' belongings (his familiar hooded cloak at the top) and a large metal cage with a large gray wolf chained inside.
The pair kept an eye on the camp's activities for the next few days, catching glimpses of Koroc intervening in discussions of Lykos and occasional groups or individuals from the warcamp being sent to the South.
February
The Defenders were preoccupied during their mission by rioting in the streets and the growing resistance attacks the same day, using the distraction of the riot as a chance to raid the Defenders' armory and supplies. The double distractions provided the rescue team with a relatively clear path in and out of the camp and they were able to extract the wolf with minimal fighting and no loses.
The wolf was extremely weak and emaciated and the group discovered it had been branded on its left front leg with a crescent moon laced with silver.
Daud located a resistance member, a goliath blacksmith named Amisohn (Amy for short) who owned a blacksmith shop in the outskirts by the river and who was willing to let the group use his cellar to store the wolf in.
The wolf was seen to be protectively guarding a charm like those found on Tsekour's Stormers, but its trinket was white and the magic contained in it was stronger, suggesting the orcs' trinkets were replicas of it.
Once they had the wolf in the cellar Billie used her scrying stone to make sure it was Lykos and the stone confirmed it was him.
Shura then researched curses and spells that could be on the wolf and whether or not they were causing Lykos' wolf form, as well as if there were poisons beyond silver in his veins or any way to remove the brand or silver from his leg.
Daud, Shura, and Strange worked together to remove the silver from the brand and then Shura broke the seal by cutting a smiley face into it.
With the seal and silver no longer affecting him Lykos was able to regain some of his lucidity with the help of conversations from Shura and the other awakened.
As the full moon neared the wolf's fur began changing, growing darker as he grew more restless. He gave up the trinket he had been guarding and attempted multiple times to use arcane magic to teleport himself or teleport something to him.
The group kept him locked in the cellar through the full moon, preventing him from escaping, and the next morning his fur had changed to a snowy white. Amy let on that he knew their wolf friend was a werewolf but otherwise didn't change the deal or give them up.
Lykos, still trapped in wolf form, began attempting non-verbal communication with the group and directed their attention to a resistance network post about his cloak. Amy set up a meeting for the group to meet up with Lorna the leader of the resistance/rebellion who asked them to keep Lykos hidden for his own protection and gave them back his cloak.
With the cloak, Lykos was able to transform back into his elf form and after asking why they helped him Lykos provided answers for their questions with the addition of a comment that his memories of while he was trapped as a wolf were difficult to put in order.
During the Long Night one of his officers reported there was a large, unknown creature attacking the bonfires and attempting to destroy them. Concerned the fires would be extinguished, he had gone to check in with the bonfire guards but halfway there something had hit him like an elephant and flung him into a building. His memory after that is fuzzy, he remembers a dark, shadowy creature hunching over him and then his vision going black and his control over his curse slipping.
He remembers one of his Defenders coming to his aid and talking him down, and then a fight he could only hear and not see. She screamed, a heavier and familiar masculine voice cursed, and he struggled to find either of them in his blindness, feeling his curse overtaking him. In a last effort to keep his sanity he had shifted into his wolf form. Someone tried to call his name and then the trinket was being shoved into his mouth. He remembers nothing for a long period following that, only darkness and pain.
His next clearest memories are of Dervish and Koroc watching him from behind the bars of a cage and discussing plans, and of the two of them branding him with the seal his rescuers had broken. He remembers Koroc attempting to take his blood once without Dervish's help and how he had lunged for the orc's throat, missing and sinking his teeth into the orc's arm. It was an action he had not made while in his right mind, and he seems horrified at the realization of what it means. After that Koroc kept him muzzled and heavily chained until they rescued him.
He also informed Shura that only Koroc, Dervish, and Alice knew of his condition, and that they had all discovered it the full moon prior to the Long Night when his cloak had temporarily vanished in the night. He had been forced to ask them for help keeping him locked up in case the moon drew his curse out in the night. The cloak had turned up a few days later and while Lykos had been suspicious, he hadn't had time to address it between the aftermath of the orc attacks and the approaching threat of the Long Night.
He also told them that Koroc was the likely cause of the rise in werewolf numbers around the city and that Koroc and Dervish had been using his blood to boost their strength.
He promises to honor the debt he owes them for saving his life once he has dealt with Koroc. He also warns that Lorna is likely invested in this fight for her own interests, whatever those might be, and lets slip that he has seen the vials of the awakened before, on Alice and Lorna.
Full details
March
He contacted Alice for further information and she provided that Wolfsbane dipped arrows could incapacitate the werewolves.
Billie asked Lykos about Lorna and Alice, who they are and what part they played in the Defenders to which Lykos provided answers.
He stated that as far as he knew they were formerly knights of Krimnos, and that they showed up a year prior and were known for being exceptionally lucky, surviving fights and injuries that would have killed most. They came to the city of the free peoples to join the Defenders after he took it over from the orcs who were fighting for control of it.
He mentioned that Lorna is a very skilled fighter and exceptionally clever she tends to play by her own rules and has never been a fan of moderation or teamwork. Her method has always been hard force and survival. He also mentions that she left the Defenders in November because while she had incredible luck others who went on missions with her were rarely as lucky and a lot of her partners for scouting or patrol missions had ended up dead. This had created animosity and unease between her and the other Defenders.
He openly admitted that he didn't trust Lorna, and that her motives and allegiance had a habit of shifting when what she wanted or thought would help her get what she wanted changed. He used the word opportunistic to describe her.
As for Alice, Lykos said she is a Defender range scout and a strategist. She has always had a way with animals and wild beasts and he has relied on her intuition for many of the creature attacks that had hit the city in the last half of last year. He admits that both seem to be animal lovers, though Alice's connection to wild creatures was much more pronounced and Lorna mostly seemed to care only about her personal pet.
Billie then helped Lykos find Alice and he decided to try and get her help with Koroc, hinting to Billie unintentionally that he might have a thing for Alice.
Daud procured a courier for Lykos to track what was happening in the city and Lykos observed but did not respond to them. Daud also questioned what Lykos was before he was Captain of the Defenders, and why he challenged the old leaders to get that position. He learned that Lykos had lost his family and his home and that the city was all he had left of them. He was taken in by the farmers outside the city who had told him the city was built on the idea of equality, and that anyone could live there no matter their history. Those were ideas that meant a lot to him and that he wanted to see continue, but after the aggressive but respected orc leader had died Lykos saw the grim potential of any of the other bickering orcs fighting for control of the Defenders coming out on top. He fought them for control to protect the idea behind the city and the people who lived in it.
He told Daud about how Lorna and Alice had joined the Defenders once he took over, and the circumstances of Lorna leaving. And when Daud asked how he had lost his family, Lykos tells him the full story as he remembers it.
The two then began to work together with Strange's help and using Lykos as a guinea pig, to create seal trinkets like the one that had been carved into his arm that could be used to weaken werewolves and prevent them from transforming.
Daud also put the idea of tricking Koroc into incriminating himself in the eyes of the city in Lykos' head and the former captain began creating a plan to do that using Daud and Billie's help, and Ardis and his men, if it came to the need for it.
April
During this month, Billie also discovered that Lorna and Alice were not knights of Krimnos, or if they were, they weren't knights there in the last 80 years. Additionally, Daud attempted to get a count of the werewolves still at large and learned that people within the city seemed to think that the Defenders and Koroc himself had protected them from the attacks.
⤛ Queen Adira
Queen Adira acquired a dragon egg found on the shore by a patrol prior to the Wyrm Moon. The egg hatched into a dragonet during the night of the Wyrm Moon.
Following the hatching of the dragonet, Queen Adira made an announcement through her courier visible to all those in Didymos, with visual proof of the dragonet's existence. She explained the circumstances behind its discovery and admitted she was unaware of whether or not there could be more of them. After assuring her citizens that her scholars would be closely monitoring the hatchling she insisted that until they know where the egg came from, if there are more of them, and if the dragonet is a threat, she and her advisors would be keeping it contained and monitored. Its kind may have destroyed the kingdoms of old, but Queen Adira implored her people not to let that color their judgment and reluctantly admitted that the actions of the people and creatures of the past must not be used to sentence people and creatures of the present. Traveling down that road would darken the clarity of justice they uphold in Didymos.
Understandably, reactions throughout the city were wildly mixed.
April
⤛ The Masked Cult
It is suspected that the cult is responsible for raising an army of undead Atrómitos knights to launch an attack on Krimnos, and later raising the dead orcs from A City Under Siege to attack the City of the Free Peoples. It is also theorized that the cult was responsible for the magical barrier that blocked Fishers' bay off from the glass ocean and caused the bay to drain completely of water.
During Memento Mori the cult was finally actually seen on the outskirts of the three major cities. They surrounded the cities with a red mist or fog that burned to the touch, preventing people from leaving or entering the city through any means but by flight/airship.
The risen dead were discovered to have weak replicas of the dragon-glass soul vials of the awakened and were found to not respond to pain or stimulus despite possessing clear evidence of strategy and ranking in their actions. Later dissection of one of their bodies revealed the bodies were devoid of internal organs. A strange alchemical orb was lodged in the chest where the heart should be and a smaller one in the skull covered in foreign symbols. The eyes were likewise small glass orbs. Among the undead army attacking Krimnos was a beast with glowing blue eyes that seemed to be working with them to bury the city's defensive wall in an avalanche of snow.
The cult was seen observing each of the three cities from beyond the fog, clad all in black with strange white masks covering their faces.
With Fishers' Bay drained of water a massive circular hole is revealed in the muddy, debris-strewn flats that remained and a message goes out to all couriers in all cities.
the young and old, the broken and whole.
and to her soul, all things return.
ashes. ashes. burn. Burn. Burn.
From the second to the ninth of February each dusk red marks in the shape of a phoenix appeared on the backs of the necks of random people in the three cities. The marks could not be removed and once they appeared the affected were completely cut off from their magical and physical strength, leaving them weakened and their senses dulled. Animas were affected in the same ways as their people.
When night fell groups of the masked figures headed into the cities, all but the masks over their faces disappearing from the moment they stepped through the surrounding red mist. They grabbed the marked individuals, and any animas that attempted to retaliate, and tossed them into wooden wagons painted black and drawn by black horses.
No matter where they were collected from they were all taken to the hole in Fisher's Bay which would soon become known as "The Pit". Red mist rose from the center of the pit and the long spiraling path down into it was lined with captives held there until the 10th of February with very little food or water as the pit continued to drain. Sand devils with glowing blue eyes patrolled the captives and the path down contained scattered nests of destroyed dragon eggs and dead hatchlings.
On the 10th the masked cult and potentially their leader marched the captives down into the depths of the pit where an injured and angry blue dragon was chained. The awakened were removed from the group of captives, after which red auras surrounded the captives and were ripped from them into a glass orb, causing the captives to fall dead to the floor. Fifty of those among the cult were also sacrificed seemingly without pre-hand knowledge, blue auras being ripped from their bodies to join the red ones in the orb.
At the end of the ritual only a dozen masked figures remained with their leader. The orb began to crack as they approached the dragon with it, shattering and releasing the trapped auras. Some escaped into the cavern but most slammed into the chained dragon. As the dragon broke free of its chains the awakened within the pit blacked out, the marks disappearing from their necks.
The dragon was seen by some residents of Didymos flying quickly from the pit over the city and Northward.
The masked figures have not been seen again, though there are rumors that King Ardis' scouts caught a glimpse of them heading North-East, and rumors from some captured werewolves that masked individuals in black were seen taking captured werewolves out of the underground cells they were being held. Neither of these claims are verified but could have merit.
There has been no sign of the dragon since February, but there are unverified rumors of a dragon in the North near Preciposte, the mountain outpost between Krimnos and Einjar.
⤛ Empty Einjar
The First Einjar Excursion.
April
A secondary excursion is planned to take place at the end of April, arranged by King Sitka of Krimnos. Three small airships are being built and prepared for the return trip and those who have agreed to come along have been sworn into an enchanted oath of secrecy that will prevent them from sharing any details about the second excursion or the preparations and reasons behinds it. Word has been kept quiet over the actual findings within Einjar and rumors of a dragon near Preciposte have made the locals wary to explore on their own. The Northern Outpost is being evacuated to Krimnos, relieving the outpost of all but the most essential defenders and communicators until the creature responsible for the recent deaths and disappearances is apprehended.
⤛ City of the Free Peoples
Recently Koroc has claimed himself to be king and restored the old name of the city, referring to it as Atrómitos once again.
An anti-Koroc group calling themselves the Rebellion is being led by an elf woman named Lorna that is attempting to wrestle control of the city away from him. They have been taking frequent militant action against the Defenders and their warcamp but have suffered heavy losses and weak support from the frightened citizens of the city.
Another anti-defenders/koroc group has been defacing city buildings with graffiti spreading messages such as:
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A city full of sheep is a city full of meat
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The real wolves are among us
(Accompanied by a stylized defender with red eyes and sharp teeth)
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Who's holding Koroc's leash?
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They're Here! They're Watching! We're Next!
(Accompanied by a stylized cultist)
In addition to this, 'Defenders' have been heard drunkenly complaining in various taverns throughout the city about keeping wolves in the Defenders warcamp, nervously warning others to stay away from the Defenders when the moon is out, or whinging about how Dervish should be the real king because Koroc doesn't do anything, is nuts, and is violent toward his own people.
At X Marks the Spot another elf woman named Alice and a Goliath going by Amy have been helping the tavern-inn to provide for people seeking a place to get away from the city, housing numerous people in the various surrounding barns and in the inn itself.
King Ardis has been seen with a few of his guards keeping a camp in the open lands beyond the city's outskirts, keeping a distant eye on the situation.
Additionally, rumors are spreading that people have seen Captain Lykos and that he has come back to help them, though just as many of those rumors also blame his sudden return for the werewolf attacks.
🜙 December 18
⤛ City Under Siege
A group of open lands orcs referring to themselves as Tsekour's Stormers laid siege to the City of the Free Peoples, setting fires throughout the city and ransacking buildings on a path for the airship Skywhale. The city and its Defenders suffered high losses in life and property after numerous unpredictable attacks from all sides over the course of two weeks.
During the fighting, the airship Skywhale, responsible for carrying people between Didymos and the City of the Free Peoples. Between its grounding and the avalanches that grounded Krimnos' airships, the City of the Free Peoples found itself cut off from the other cities of Idan and any assistance they might have provided.
A bounty was placed on the orc tribe by the Defenders and recruiting was extended to anyone willing to help protect the city.
The Tsekour's Stormers orc tribe built a warcamp near Epithymetikon's Fall, south of the city. It was approximately 150 orcs strong at the start of the siege on the city, a number nearly unheard of in open lander forces in modern day times, and rose to 500 orcs by the middle of the siege. Thatch buildings were constructed and the camp was occupied by predominately red orcs and the orcs were painted black, red, and white with warpaint. Tamed or restrained beasts were kept as guards or locked in wood and metal cages around the camp. Blood red banners and flags flew over the camp.
It was possible to infiltrate the camp if stealth was used and several missions were undertaken to both survey the forces and to attempt sabotage by releasing aggressive, untamed beasts within the camp.
During the attacks, captured orcs were interrogated by several awakened, providing the following responses and answers:
The orcs were mainly from a tribe in Spear Valley and called themselves Tsekour's Stormers. They expressed disgust over an elf commanding the orcs in the Defenders and claimed they were searching for weaknesses in the city's defenses so they could take it themselves. They say they were sent by Tsekour herself. They also claimed that they had not even begun to fight and that the siege was a test that proved what they already knew: The city is weak, led by an untested warrior with weak blood.
Several orcs answered with cryptic threats:
You brought wolves into the rabbit den.
We are making sure our weapons taste your blood before they do.
-
We are the unending.
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The river will run red with blood.
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The fallen titan will watch us bring this city to its knees.
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The storm cannot be stopped / The storm will consume you / We are the thunder
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Fire burns everything in its path / This city's smoldering ruin will keep us warm through the Long Night.
Although they initially seemed reluctant to share any information with non-orcs, the orc civilians in the city provided some unique insight into why they believed the orcs were attacking:
Orcs have been at odds with elves for so much of history, it is not easy for orcs without kingdom backgrounds to accept that elves can hold positions of power when they are, in the eyes of an orc, much weaker. Open landers who were denied entry into the kingdoms historically did not take well the encroachment of kingdom lands over what they viewed as their lands and had laid claim to first. But you didn't hear that from them.
The siege ended mid-december with a heavy death toll on both sides and efforts to rebuild and prepare before the Long Night were the primary focuses of all citizens of the city.
⤛ Constellation Deity Celebration: Day of Lefkokó
It is a day of dance, drinking, and games of skill and chance. It is also the day the aviaries in each city release the newest flock of rare snow ravens, the most coveted of magic familiars, back to the wild so they may seek out hidden trinkets, magical herbs, and small, rare items across Idan. They are known to bring gifts of these rare trinkets, herbs, and items back from the wildlands. Those who honor Lefkokó by celebrating in his name may be visited by his rare and clever emissaries with an offering of thanks from Lefkokó himself.
⤛ The Long Night
Between December and January, a dangerous transformation of the world takes place across all of Idan. There is a planet known as Anasta's Shadow whose orbit takes it between this planet and the sun. The planet shares its orbit with this planet for one week before the orbits go their separate ways and during this time the far larger planet blocks out the sun's light, plunging Idan into frigid darkness.
In the time before the Last Great War, the dragons protected Idan, lighting massive magical fires that provided warmth and light across all three kingdoms and kept the true threats of the Long Night away. Since their death, however, the Long Night has returned to a dangerous state not experienced since the formation of the Elf-Dragon Alliance in the first days of the great elf kingdoms.
In the time before the war the dangers of the Long Night were fairytales, stories meant to keep children indoors and out of the cold.
Now that the dragons are gone there is simply not enough magic to create the powerful, lasting bonfires that once sheltered the three kingdoms.
The Long Night is a period of sheer darkness and a burning deep freeze that lasts from dusk on December 27th to dawn on January 5th. During this period of darkness, the cold fluctuates between -18 to -32C (0 to -25F). At these temperatures, the risk of frostbite and hypothermia are greatly increased and without proper precautions, a person could experience frostbite in 10-30 minutes when exposed to the elements. In addition to this, wind, sleet, and snow periodically drop the temperatures further. Horrific sounds and creatures fill the darkness and the risk of death skyrockets.
Death tolls during the Long Night are highest beyond the three main cities, but nowhere is truly safe during the week-long treacherous night.
🜙 January 19
⤛ Constellation Deity Celebration: Thlipa's Tribute
In January pods of fin whales spend their nights in the safety of Fisher's Bay during their migration. At this time Thlipa is believed to be watching over Idan and many of Idan's people show their respect for the deity. Thlipa's Tribute is a somber affair. Though she is the goddess of the seas, storms, and power, she is also the goddess of mourning and it is this realm she is believed to preside over most following the Long Night.
People from all across Idan who are able to travel will make a journey to Didymos to be closer to the sea, while others observe the fin whale goddess' day in their own homes and cities. Ancestors, lost relatives, and friends are remembered with offerings of handmade gifts and small collections of nuts and sweetened dried fish. Small, enchanted candles are set out on boats down the river and shore to be carried out to the ocean.
It is believed by some of the more power-hungry supporters of Thlipa that by calling on and revering the spirits of the departed during January Thlipa might gift them with the magic of the fallen. Gatherings of Thlipa's most devout followers can be seen on the shores or on small skimmer boats in the bay. Vandalism of fishing boats and nets by those who fear they might endanger the fin whales living in the bay runs rampant during this time.
⤛ A Tale of Three Cities
Krimnos
A large army of former Atrómitos knights marched on Krimnos from a battlefield at the base of the twin mountains the cliff city is built on. The army launched a full-scale attack on the city's walls, dressed in tattered green and gold colors and old armor. They were unaffected by the cold and their eyes appeared to be a colorless and glossy grey. They fought on undeterred by injury or weather and set magical fire to the gates and the wall surrounding Krimnos.
The army fought day and night to try and break through into the city and seemed to follow a hierarchy of commanding officers during the battle. Those that were captured lacked functional internal organs and did not breathe or bleed.
Investigation revealed that the army did not appear to be cursed but that severing or breaking the magic around them with a powerful counterspell or countercurse caused the bodies to collapse and that the spells keeping them going were individual rather than one connected spell.
If the spell keeping them alive was broken it was accompanied by the sound of shattering glass and a flash of blue light from their chests. The shattered remnants of a glass vial could be found on the bodies
24 hours after death the bodies rose a second time, this time as fully undead ghouls, barely functional but far more violent and blood-thirsty. The bodies had to be burned or fully incapacitated to stop them from continuing to rise again.
An autopsy of one of the fallen soldiers revealed that the chest cavity of the body was devoid of organs and was lined with a viscous red fluid that was not blood despite smelling very similar to it. On examination, the liquid was actually very wet clay mixed with copper, salt, and magnetite.
Stuck in the skull, chest, and eye cavities were small sphered of glass and a magnetic metal covered in unusual designs. Stationary gears could be seen behind the glass. The markings were unfamiliar, made of triangles with curving, looping, and twisted lines in and around them. The symbols faintly resembled tiefling runes, and by drawing correlations between the similar symbols it was possible to determine the symbols on the heart orbs might be the runes for Bind, Fire, Bird, Remember, Rage, & Blood or Spirit (blood and spirit are the same runes for the tieflings) in that order. Bind and Blood/Spirit were on the 'top' and 'bottom'.
This event continued into Memento Mori and The Aftermath
City of the Free People
Sometime during the Long Night Captain Lykos went 'missing', apparently disappearing without word or trace to the Defenders who then kept his disappearance quiet. Citizens of the City of the Free Peoples began to grow suspicious and rumors spread about the disappearance of the city's unofficial leader, with some rumors even leading to suspicions that he was responsible for the attack on Krimnos. Panic over the Captain's absence began to spread and the Defenders declare martial law to keep the city in order as stability and control over the population grows shaky. The city began preparing for a revolt and the Defenders upped their visible search efforts for the missing captain.
This was also the first appearance of a Siamese cat with a familiar glowing adornment (a dragon glass vial) watching over the city with eyes that occasionally glowed blue. It would later be revealed publically that Alice is a feline shiftling and those who interacted with the Siamese would be able to infer it was her.
This event continued with the Captain Lykos sideplot
Didymos
The morning of the 14th the tides went out from Fisher's Bay and never came back in in. The bay waters continued to recede further each day, stranding fishing ships in the shallows, exposing long lost sunken wrecks and skeletons, and washing all manner of strange crates to the shore. Sealife was beached, ships were grounded, and Didymos was left without access to the Glass Sea.
Widespread fear from the troubling changes mixed with a growing panic of possible war on the horizon thanks to news from Krimnos rose tensions in the city, while a lack of access to the ocean immediately began impacting trade and resource gathering.
This event continued into Memento Mori and The Aftermath
🜙 February 19
⤛ Memento Mori
The Beginning
The risen army from A Tale of Three Cities continued to attack Krimnos, bringing with them an unfamiliar mountain beast with glowing blue eyes. The army used the beast to cause an avalanche, burying Krimnos' main gates and wall under snow. The risen army used the newly formed hill of snow and rock to invade the city, occupying Krimnos' knights fully with attempts to keep them from successfully pouring into Krimnos over the buried wall.
While this was happening, the Masked Cult appeared for the first time, observing the battle from the cliffs in black robes with white masks. The city was surrounded by a cloud of red fog that burned to the touch and prevented anyone from leaving.
Isolated:
Meanwhile, at the City of the Free Peoples, the rebellion amassed enough numbers and weaponry to start a war with the Defenders. Riots broke out in the streets and the defenses of the city were weakened. Around the same time Tsekour's Stormers reappeared to launch a new attack on the city, but this time something was different. The orcs bore the same characteristics as the knights attacking Krimnos, bloodless, silent, and undying.
The orcs overtook the city and the same red fog rolled in, surrounding the City of the Free Peoples. White-masked individuals dressed in black robes could be seen on the other side of the fog.
Stranded:
Fisher's Bay was reduced to mudflats and out by the sunset gate the Glass Sea could be seen, held back by some form of magical barrier that prevented the water from returning to the bay.
Near the center of the bay a massive circular hole in the ground appeared, water draining down into its depths. From the pit came a creeping red fog that crossed the bay and surrounded Didymos. Anguished, angry roars could be heard through the night emerging from the bay, and the Masked Cult could be seen watching the city and the bay from the top of the Sunset Gate.
Kidnappings and the Ritual
the young and old, the broken and whole.
and to her soul, all things return.
ashes. ashes. burn. Burn. Burn.
At dusk every day strange markings in the shape of a phoenix appeared on the backs of people's necks that cut them off from their physical and magical strength. When night fell the marked were kidnapped by members of the cult who invisible except for their masks. Those who were kidnapped were taken to the pit at the heart of Fisher's Bay and kept there, bound and barely given enough food or water to survive until the 10th.
On the 10th they were marched down into the pit where a medium/small dragon was bound and chained with clear evidence of torture on its scales and in its wild, maddened reactions. The leader of the cult performed a ritual, pulling auras from the non-awakened kidnapped citizens of the three cities and from the leader's own cult members, all but a few dozen of their number. The awakened were spared from the ritual and called 'tainted' by the cult leader.
Once the auras were gathered a ritual was performed and the auras were released and most were thrown violently against the chained dragon by an unknown force. The dragon broke free from its chains, eyes glowing blue, and the awakened lost consciousness. abandoned and left to awaken and fight their way out of the pit on their own.
On the way up several of the awakened rescued eggs from the shattered nests lining the upward winding path out of the pit and emerged from the pit, dead or alive, with the eggs still in their possession.
As the last survivor made it to the shore the magical barrier holding back the sea broke and waters came flooding back into the bay. The pit vanished without a trace and Didymos' ocean quarter was flooded.
⤛ The Aftermath
Didymos was busy trying to repair the damages of the flooding and recover the boats that had been swept out into the bay or the sea.
Krimnos was preoccupied with clearing away the avalanche, burying the dead, and rebuilding the damaged wall and gates.
In the City of the Free Peoples no official news had come forward about Captain Lykos and the people began to assume he was dead. Fighting between the Defenders and the rebellion continued, and the Defenders tightened their military grip over the city, increasing countermeasures against civil unrest with violence.
⤛ Constellation Deity Celebration: The Oxen Gods
February is a time used to honor the dual oxen gods of the Sun and Moon. Vodi, the moon god, and Voda, the sun goddess, are typically honored by a show of community and compassion. Gifts of fruits and flowers, usually those grown in greenhouses or by magic, are given to loved ones. Ceremonies take place at both dawn and dusk, offering food, gifts, and music to lift spirits and symbolize a union of peace.
In Krimnos a giant sundial is uncovered to honor Voda, the light from the sun is reflected off its many-faceted surface, creating dozens of rainbows in the light fog of the warming sky above the city as a colorful artificial aurora borealis. Voda is honored most strongly in the cliff city, the warmth of the sun praised for the thaw that pulls the city out of dangerous freezing temperatures. People throughout the city provide her with offerings in the hopes of ensuring a slow and even thaw that won't bury the city in snow or mudslides. Celebrations across the city happen near midday and are most often celebrated by couples in love and close friends or families, celebrating passion, family, and love with sweets, plants, and crafted goods made of rare metals or glass.
In the City of the Free Peoples celebrations revolve around a parade of oxen from the local farms, as well as banquets, music, and a celebration of the vastly diverse community of varied cultures with a heavy focus on the rebirth of a new year, the start of a new planting season, and a celebration of the farmers that help keep the city fed and prosperous.
In Didymos the moon god, Vodi, is the focus of the celebrations. Vodi's impact on the tides makes him a highly respected god, especially among the fishermen and sailors. As the moon rises and reflects on the bay's reflective surface the city comes together as one unified community. In the open squares, people from both quarters gather over music, a fresh bounty of fish dishes, sea shanties sung loudly over various types of liquor and beautiful displays by wild magic entertainers, pairing water, wind, and fire magic to create visual plays, displays of talent, and melting ice sculptures. Didymos' specialty of sweet and salty ice creams are offered by various inventive food fanatics who offer up new and exciting flavors and naming competitions. A pair of young ox calves are paraded through the town, dressed up with ribbons and colorful paints. People pet them as they go by, and the oxen are eventually taken to the temple of the oxen gods near the outskirts of the city where they will live out the rest of their years free from expectations and protected by the temple caretakers as symbolic creatures of honor.
🜙 March 19
⤛ The Thaw
Farmers in the area around the City of the Free Peoples hired guards to protect their farm animals, and Krimnos and Didymos held competitions to find new knights to add to their ranks.
Didymos' bay had returned to its clear, calm waters but the sea life had not come back with the waters and fishing ships had to hire extra hands to defend them as they ventured further and further out into the Glass Sea, beyond Logistykon's Reef in search of fish to feed the increasingly hungry city.
King Ardis left Didymos in his sister's hands to pursue a lead to the City of the Free Peoples with a small force of his knights, seeking both a resolution to the city's conflict and a possible lead on the masked cult that had attacked all three cities.
The rebels began suffering heavy losses as the Defenders cowed the city's citizens into giving up their friends and neighbors for fear of being labeled treasonous or rebels themselves. Koroc grew increasingly erratic and aggressive but the prolonged absence of Captain Lykos had swayed many of the Defenders to support him and believe the suggestions that the rebellion had either killed him or taken him hostage.
The airship >Zenith began running from Krimnos to the Northern outpost of Preciposte once more and through that re-opened route communication about Einjar's silence during the winter was received.
⤛ The Einjar Excursion
A group of Knights of Krimnos, several mountain guides from Preciposte, and a group of volunteers journeyed through the dangerous Northern Mountains to Einjar following the start of the thaw in an attempt to discover why the dwarf city had gone silent in its communications with Preciposte and Krimnos.
Along the way they were rescued from animal attacks by a family of kobolds that said they were not from Einjar. Among the family was a towering individual named Monty who claimed he was also a kobold, though in appearance he resembled a dragonborn of another race, possibly elf or human.
The excursion team found its way into Einjar through the massive protective doors and found Einjar devoid of life, the furnaces cold and the mines and city abandoned seemingly mid-meal and workday. Within the mines they found a pool of dark liquid that caused a variety of violent and unexpected actions and reactions within the team and the kobold family. After experiencing heavy losses on the way to Einjar, especially of the dwarves in the party, and animosity between the knights and the kobolds they suspected of being involved, it was decided that the team should return to Krimnos before any more losses were incurred and report their findings.
The knights demanded Monty return to Krimnos with them for questioning on suspicion of involvement in the Einjar event as well as suspicion of being a dragonborn. The kobolds aggressively defended Monty from the knights' attempts to take him into custody and refused to allow him to leave.
Despite their actions during the Einjar excursion, the Knights of Krimnos bowed to the will of the majority when confronted with an overall dissent against their accusations and demands of the kobolds. While they were not pleased with the end result, the overall reaction of those supporting the kobolds appeared to be level-headed with a strong focus on communicating with and listening to both sides. The Knights were questioned on their demands while the kobolds were supported and defended by those who opposed the knights' actions and demands. With only one other non-knight member of the excursion team on their side to support them, they relented and allowed Monty to remain with his kobold family.
Those who remained neutral or defended the Knights were rewarded a little more lucratively at the end of the excursion, but all parties who went with the knights to Einjar were compensated for their efforts and the risks they took with a decent sum of gold, a couple pieces per day the excursion was gone and several more for handing over any information or artifacts they took from the empty city.
Upon the return to Preciposte and then Krimnos, the knights separated from the excursion team after requesting that they keep the circumstances and discoveries of the trip to themselves until more information could be gathered. This request is not enforced by enchantment or punishment, but the knights deny the involvement of any individual who makes 'wild and outlandish' claims of what occurred.
⤛ The Wyrm Moon
Koroc's behavior became almost manic and the orc declared himself king of the city and renamed it Atrómitos. Citizens of the city suspected of being rebels or rebel supporters were locked up in cells in the Defenders' camp and Koroc declared King Ardis' presence near his city an act of war.
As the moon rose a coordinated pack of werewolves launched an attack on the City of the Free Peoples. The Defenders protected the city but the outskirts and the farms around the city were attacked. Koroc was nowhere to be seen during the attacks yet multiple citizens of the city claim to have been personally rescued by Koroc.
Later that same night eleven of twelve dragon eggs hatched across Idan, ten of them ending up in the care of the awakened and one in Queen Adira's care, sparking the dawn of a new age of dragons.
Queen Adira immediately announced the hatching of the dragon in her care and advised her people to withhold judgment over the creature until they understood it better. The news that a second living dragon existed spread quickly to wildly mixed responses.
⤛ Constellation Deity Celebration: Arkoda's Awakening
In Krimnos, Arkoda's Awakening is celebrated by the tolling of the Hymn of the Mountains from the crystal bells in Arkoda's temple, as well as a competition of strengths and honor held by the Krimnos Knights.
In Didymos the celebration is split between the quarters.
In the overlook quarter the Queen pardons a number of people from serving out time for their crimes with the option of community service assisting on the docks or in the academies, keeping the buildings and ships orderly. A celebration of the Didymos justice system includes debates and elections for the Queen's staff of judges and advisors.
In the ocean quarter, the fishermen are celebrated with sea shanties, shoreline bonfires, dancing, music, and a jubilee for the upcoming spring, all culminating in a grand feast where the main dishes feature fish, berries, boars, rabbits, fruits, nuts, and various honeyed sweets and drinks.
In the City of the Free Peoples, the celebration is usually one of peace and mockery, a combination of cheerful drinking and telling of stories mixed with puppet shows and plays depicting kings and queens as fools to remind the city of why it has no kings or queens.
🜙 April 19
⤛ Constellation Deity Celebration: Crowning the Cat
April is the month dedicated to Aegas. Mid-April a day is chosen to honor Aegas, the cat constellation deity of charm, pleasure, secrets, and trickery. Celebrations differ from race to race and city to city but several common themes are shared.
The Crowning of Aegas is a ritual that takes place during the Celebration of Spring. is a day of dance, drinking, and games of skill and chance. Cat sculptures, paintings, figurines, or idols can be found all across Idan for those who can't make it to one of Aegas' shrines, and offerings of fish, sheep or goat's milk, silver or gold bells, silk, or saucers of water are left out for the many wild, stray, or tame felines of Idan to take at their leisure.
Known for being a deity over secrets, pleasure, trickery, and charm, Aegas is a favored god of rogues, assassins, bards, bandits, thieves, and charmers. An enchanted spring illness common in Idan has long been attributed to Aegas not feeling that his charms have earned him the favor of the people. The illness is known as The Aegas Affliction and is actually caused by the pollen of a flower that blooms in April after particularly harsh winters (the Golden Bellflower)
⤛ The Calm Before the Storm
Near the end of April Merfolk began appearing in and around Fisher's Bay and engaging with people on the docks or ships, mimicking their expressions, actions, and sounds and curiously observing their daily lives.
Preparations began in Krimnos to return to Einjar and also to check out reports of a large suspected dragon preying on Preciposte reached the city. Three new airships were built and those who signed on to join the expedition were sworn into a vow of silence about it until the expedition concluded.
Strange travelers arrived on ships to the City of the Free Peoples and took up temporary residence at the Immortal Duke. The Defenders' Warcamp was set on fire shortly after.
🜙 May 2019
⤛ The Song of Suffering
Koroc and Lykos engaged in a courier-broadcasted fight which left both of them heavily wounded but neither of them dead. Following this broadcast and the city-wide revelations that both Koroc and Lykos were werewolves war fully broke out between the separate sides, with Koroc supported by undead soldiers provided by the Masked Cult, Ardis fighting alongside Lorna's rebels and the strange travelers, and Lykos re-entering the fray as soon as his injuries had been healed.
As the fighting began two twelve-foot blood wolves entered the city and joined the fight, indiscriminate in who they targeted. The river ran red with tainted waters from Einjar shortly after and worsened the conflict by overtaking the city's inhabitants who heard the river's ringing or touched the tainted waters with uncontrolled paranoia, fury, and desperation
By the 5th the effects of the tainted river left the City of the Free Peoples, pushed downstream by the natural current. The water level in the river lowers for a few days but will be back to normal by the 8th or so.
Lykos, Alice, Lorna, and Ardis were warned of the river's effects early on and managed to get their respective forces under control, however, the Defenders, the general population, and Koroc were still heavily affected by the various properties of the river and Koroc could be seen fighting in both werewolf form and full armor during the event.
At some point during the Song of Suffering the white blood wolf was killed by Strange & Rey, and the red blood wolf was cleansed and captured by Shura, Daud, and Billie before ultimately being given a merciful death. Both blood wolves were revealed to be dragonborn, changed recently enough that they were still transforming/acquiring scales. Aspects of their non-wolf forms suggested that they may have been experimented on or tortured and the dragon blood in their veins appeared to have given them an external immunity to silver.
Koroc was assassinated during the event and the surviving Defenders were rounded up and locked up by a mixture of rebels and Ardis' soldiers. Between the skirmishes across the city and the outbreak of induced violent paranoia, the death toll was high but not as high as it could have been. A masked vigilante also put a dent in the numbers of the defenders and the worst-of-the-worst criminals in the city (serial killers, rapists, underground slavers, fake healers and other people who might prey on the poor in seemingly innocent ways).
After the fighting stopped the city was officially leaderless and confused. There was still enough strong public support behind Lykos that the city accepted his decisions about where it would go after the resolution. Lykos' decision was that the city would remain free of rulers and be renamed the Free City. Lorna, Alice, and Lykos decided to work together with what was left of their supporting forces to repair the damages to the city and see to the surviving population's health and safety. The plan for the future was to have Lorna restructure and rebuild the city's defensive forces, Alice see to the protection of the outskirts and surrounding lands from creature threats, and Lykos help the city restructure while working with the city's now much larger population of cursed individuals. Their hope was to form a coalition of officials to govern the city's major choices and political dealings and build that coalition from the city's citizens.
There was no signs of the masked cult after the fighting stopped and the remaining defenders mysteriously seemed to have died all at once around the 5th. Their bodies were hastily burned before the general population could ask many questions. The strange travelers chose to remain in the city, establishing a camp in the Northern outskirts. They seemed to be funding all of the repairs.
⤛ Return to Einjar
⤛ Constellation Deity Celebration: Seyra's Serenade
Largely seen as a children's festival, the young ones gather the flowers and decorated their homes and the city streets, rivers, bay, and ledges with flower chains, floral graffiti, and petals.
Hunting is severely limited for the month in honor of Seyra and to respect the growth of all young creatures just entering the world. Diets are adjusted to a focus of fruits, vegetables, and grains, and the taverns help the older population celebrate 'healing' by offering floral wines, vodkas, and gins, as well as amaretto-based drinks.
Injuring young creatures or killing the parents of young creatures is a sure way to draw Seyra's ire during May and find oneself cursed by the Mother of Stars. Those who hunt creatures under Seyra's protection are afflicted by a curse known as Hunter's Remorse, a curse that usually only affects those who kill unicorns and is designed to cripple poachers, hunters, and predators. The curse forces the afflicted to feel a crippling and powerful empathy, especially towards the suffering of the world and the animals living in it. Hunter's Remorse is not widely believed to be a real affliction and most of Idan's population write it off as a cautionary tale and a fictional curse.
⤛ Friend or Foe
The return of the inquiry ship brought with it the knowledge that the merfolk attack was not meant as a violent act but as a warning to the people of Didymos to try and keep them from leaving Fisher's Bay.
A meeting with the merfolk near Logistykon's Reef led to the discovery that Logistykon's skeleton has been damaged and apparently rests on top of a sea creature of some kind that the merfolk called the deeper. The deeper had been trapped beneath the skeleton for years past its usual awakening of the century and return to the deep sea. This had led the merfolk to believe it had died. They learned it was still alive when it began fighting to free itself from under the dragon's skeleton, and they now fear it will take out its anger over being trapped on Didymos and Lau Mei, the city of the merfolk.