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Casing the Middlesea Joint

2026-05-07T15:08:51Z

Justom: Created page with "=Aftermath= Diomarche vanishes; Managaratha reappears. (Scout has not yet appeared). Stella heals Inspector Vok. The people who got jumped (Vok and Rakta) want to know what happened; we explain the non-secret parts and give Vok his clues. He notes there were three different directorates involved in the permits - the mole probably wasn't in Redaction, but both the Inspectorate and Remediation could be compromised. Does his security needs to be fixed in the ne..."

=Aftermath=

Diomarche vanishes; Managaratha reappears. (Scout has not yet appeared). Stella heals Inspector Vok. The people who got jumped (Vok and Rakta) want to know what happened; we explain the non-secret parts and give Vok his clues. He notes there were three different directorates involved in the permits - the mole probably wasn't in Redaction, but both the Inspectorate and Remediation could be compromised. Does his security needs to be fixed in the next few days? Probably not, though it is not big enough for the task it needs.

Gale chivvies Vidan to go get his paperwork about why the Ministry of Lilacs was reopened. No powerful sponsor; their head is only a second-level bureaucrat. They were in the process of opening prior to Middlesea and that happens to be the day the paperwork came through. The mission statement is disappointing that their investigations into this area have been incomplete in the last few decades, and they think it would be a good thing to start up again. The Minister has particular talent for it, he spent some time in Green studying Alchemy - he is curious what can be done there without needing magic.

Gale also wants someone to talk to the Guiding Star. Rakta will pass the message.

Managaratha goes to the Ministry of Magic to recover his burnout. Someone comes in and reverses his limbs.

Rakta comes and says that the Guiding Star will see us - he'll be at the door of the temple of Tem. We go. It's a large black gothic cathedral, rather out of place with the nearby Purple pagodas. The Guiding Star is a man in his early 40s.

=A Ministry Ain't Nothing But A Monastery Mis-Spelled=

Apparently Gale is in charge of this conversation. She wants to know why he assigned Rakta to follow us around (it should not take a great deal of imagination to think of reasons to watch foreign priests with Broken miracles). Managaratha explains that there are a lot of things to do with Middlesea that we are pursuing. He tells us: on the night that Middlesea was closed, someone laid claim to the title of Emperor. They are not the Emperor, exactly, yet, but they laid claim to the title. People who dream or imagine or wish for an Emperor are dreaming or imagining or wishing of him. He expects there are ways to fight this. The impact on the way people think and dream about certain things was noticed. He has told Warmth of Summer - he did not notice the same thing - and he has not spoken with the bureaucrats, though at least some of them probably have an idea. Gale wonders if this is likely to be related to a broken Tem priest? He thinks it more likely to be Truth magic than a miracle. Stella wonders if there is anything in the Emperor being a half-orc that would be precluded. The laws of the Empire say that the wielder of Orcslayer is the Emperor; a half-orc is unlikely but not impossible. He has claimed many of the things that the Emperor is in charge of - that gives him ins into the bureaucracy. Is there something we should be doing? Dealing with the Emperor, preventing the orcish invasion would be lovely. Releasing those in Middlesea would be good but he does understand that that has to be done carefully.

Vidan notes that he is treating himself as High Priest of Tem, rather than working with the High Priest of Tam and a Balance counterpart.

=Acquiring Tybalt=

Vidan gets us to Rinyan and Stella's house. Managaratha calls Tybalt - well, he only just left Vani. He's in Fioli at an inn called the Gardens of Alexandria. OK, we will try to catch him in the morning.

Vidan grouses that Managaratha uses Orellian's Spire as a landmark, and that is ''not'' the same thing as the Twins Tower. We should absolutely go there to see this spire thing. Vidan disapproves.

Managaratha spends the night trying to find Fioli, and gets us there with a portal. He suggests that Vidan make a beacon; Vidan is not impressed by this little town and doesn't see the point.

We fly and then teleport and then unfold the boat, and head to Middlesea.

What is the ship situation? Less of an armada than there was, but there's definitely more ships than pre-Muddle. The [[Golden Falcon]] is there, as is the [[Monstrous Maw]] ([[Captain Byron]]'s pirate ship). The town looks a little bigger and fancier. We sail in and dock, then fold the boat up and head up to the bubble, briefing Tybalt about everything we know about the Muddle.

There are Darstan flags around the bubble, and a small orange-ish camp with the Golden Falcon's flag (not a full army unit).

And Lisetera comes up and says "There you are! I was expecting you yesterday!"

Vidan goes to set up a teleport landing zone while we talk to Lisetera. At first they're talking shop about the casing - the unreality zone is less timestopped then the rest of it. Is the army likely to be difficult? It doesn't want people to mess with it. They stopped the Saurien (Josef) from trying to climb the wall. Yalanda is trying to see how deep it goes. Pho Jun from the Ministry of Lions is here. But then it segues into social chit chat.

Hey, maybe Lisetera could help us talk to Dinav and Nivad. Purple and Divine to make different versions of the same person. Can Unreality talk to them? Well, to some version of them. Between the two of them they can put together a ritual.

Gale wonders: hey, could you have me talk to a version of me who pays more attention to the boring stuff to tell me what I should have noticed?

An aide-de-camp from Lord Denis (the army unit from Darstan) shows up to see what we're up to. Of course we're not messing with it. Tybalt goes to reconnoiter. Nesh and the rest of us go talk to Josef. Managaratha casts detect magic, and notes some red spells at the Darstan group, and denser spells around the Orange and Yellow tents. And a green spell over there...

Nesh chats with Josef. Josef has heard of him. Can Nesh get in? No, though he is in some sense still in there. Nesh's 15 suppression is not even up to table stakes - General Petrov is in there. Josef can see it, and his suppression is at least table stakes. He is waiting to see what Yalanda can figure out, and if not, will go back and tell Uncle what he found. (Rasputin is his uncle; Lilya is his niece).

Managaratha is interested in the green mage - this is [[Lutenania]], the elf who was here last time we were here as well. He's not there right now.

Pho Jun shows up to meet Vidan. He is with the Ministry of Lions, and has a base set up over there.

Managaratha wanders to his house - there's a note that says "Wait for everyone before you go in. Oh, and there might be an attack." Stella has Interpret Managaratha, and thinks this wouldn't be for "the final run", but is sometime soon. It probably means the party and not Thistle, etc.

We warn people about the potential attack.

Lisetera says she doesn't see anything until tonight, and there's a bunch of divine stuff tonight.

=Channeling Nivad=
Time for the ritual! We spring it on Nivad!

<ul>
<li> Have we met? Yes.
<li> Do you know about the stuff Vidan doesn't know about? Who's Vidan?
<li> What is the next step to get the Goddess to cooperate better? Where are we on that? I'd like to be able to leverage the fact that the cult of Al'an can talk to all three faces to mock them into talking to more faces.
<li> What did we do in Jabar towards that? We talked to the Second Servant and figured out what the different churches are trying to do. Messing with Feelings magic, trying to take over the country via the Lady of Life's niece, and messing with the Varna system to change how the Merchant Varna works. Maybe they should help each other? But he doesn't know if he wants them all working together.
<li> What does he remember about the conversation with Mother Jess? He hasn't talked to Mother Jess.
<li> How about Ritasi? They talked about using the Church of Al'an - putting the church back together and bringing the church in Jabar more with Orange. The Church of Al'an has a hierarchy the way Stella's priests don't.
</ul>

Tybalt returns. Getting things out of there is going to be beyond him unless it is going along with other things leaving with him. We are a crack in the big wall; he could slip in and out with us. Maybe with Lisetera faking time passing in the Unreality zone. The Unreality zone is changing even though time isn't passing.

Pulling the Prince out will take a fairly large expenditure of DI.
And we will need a defense against the amnesia mist.
And we should understand why Unreality is just affecting a part of it and not all of it. (Maybe that's a default security measure in place).

The Breaker's Avatar didn't start acting until he noticed us when we got close, and then he got actions. So he's moving in meta-time instead of actual time. But he hasn't physically ''moved''. Maybe because we were doing things with a Blue mage, he could do Blue/Battle, Purple doesn't think that there would be anything fairness/balance-y, but divine theory thinks there might be.

Tybalt hopes that if get to the Prince, we can just ''leave'' after that.

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> +8 EPs
<li> +12 SPs
</ul>

Main Page

2026-05-07T14:59:53Z

Justom: /* Chapter 4: [title of chapter] */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and [[Melmane]] ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A Maharani Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in [[Vani]] in Orange), 2025-10-25
# [[Another Stabby Dagger]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-11-22
# [[House Party]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-12-06
# [[Heart of Orange]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-01-17
# [[Day of the Maiden Part One]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-02-14
# [[Day of the Maiden Part Two]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-02-28
# [[Purple or Bust]] (in Vani, then in Zheldat in Purple), 2025-03-14
# [[Casing the Middlesea Joint]] (mostly in Middlesea), 2025-03-28

===Total EPs===
As of 2026-03-28 (4.16), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 434 EPs
* 585 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]

Main Page

2026-03-28T22:05:26Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and [[Melmane]] ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A Maharani Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in [[Vani]] in Orange), 2025-10-25
# [[Another Stabby Dagger]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-11-22
# [[House Party]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-12-06
# [[Heart of Orange]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-01-17
# [[Day of the Maiden Part One]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-02-14
# [[Day of the Maiden Part Two]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-02-28
# [[Purple or Bust]] (in Vani, then in Zheldat in Purple), 2025-03-14

===Total EPs===
As of 2026-03-28 (4.16), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 434 EPs
* 585 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]

Main Page

2026-03-15T04:10:03Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A Maharani Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in [[Vani]] in Orange), 2025-10-25
# [[Another Stabby Dagger]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-11-22
# [[House Party]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-12-06
# [[Heart of Orange]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-01-17
# [[Day of the Maiden Part One]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-02-14
# [[Day of the Maiden Part Two]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-02-28

===Total EPs===
As of 2026-03-15 (4.15), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 426 EPs
* 573 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]

Main Page

2026-02-28T22:57:43Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A Maharani Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25
# [[Another Stabby Dagger]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-11-22
# [[House Party]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-12-06
# [[Heart of Orange]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-01-17
# [[Day of the Maiden Part One]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-02-14

===Total EPs===
As of 2026-02-28 (4.14), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 414 EPs
* 565 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
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Main Page

2026-02-14T22:10:29Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25
# [[Another Stabby Dagger]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-11-22
# [[House Party]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-12-06
# [[Heart of Orange]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-01-17

===Total EPs===
As of 2026-02-14 (4.13), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 404 EPs
* 555 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

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Heart of Orange

2026-02-14T22:08:03Z

Justom: Created page with "= Preparations = Purple Guy fades out; Scout fades in. It’s the morning after the Party. Scout is disappointed that he missed exploring the Secret Mine Under the Lord’s House. Maybe less disappointed in having missed the party. Lord of Fire and Earth is Carlo Picanti The party tells Scout we’re going to look for the Lord of Fire and Earth. Okay. Do we have a plan? Well, they hoped Scout would find him. Nesh gives Carlo some reflect-incoming-magic, and he..."

= Preparations =

Purple Guy fades out; Scout fades in.

It’s the morning after the Party. Scout is disappointed that he missed exploring the Secret Mine Under the Lord’s House. Maybe less disappointed in having missed the party.

Lord of Fire and Earth is Carlo Picanti

The party tells Scout we’re going to look for the Lord of Fire and Earth. Okay. Do we have a plan? Well, they hoped Scout would find him.

Nesh gives Carlo some reflect-incoming-magic, and he tries to find Carlo, but bounces off of Carlo's way-much-higher resistance. "Not even close." OK, we can try again tomorrow with the narrative pathfinding way as opposed to the physical location way.

The X on the map is in the desert north of the mountains. Managaratha realizes that using Orellian Coordinate Math to find the X is hard, however– because if the pool was part of the Rainbow River, it’s supposed to be at the Spire. Oh. Hmm. So he has to re-do the math for 10s. With a good roll, he thinks he’s figured it out. So we have co-ordinates now.

But first, we want to go to Red briefly (“Wait, what?!?” says Scout), to get the coordinates for the heart of Red. We find out that the Heart of Red is west of the Great Valley, between King Richard’s lands and Darstan, about halfway to the coast.

We teleport again! We’re in a sandy desert. Blue spells are +2 difficulty here. Nesh puts up his AoE defense, and stands near Gale in case Orange is as vengeful as Blue was. We start heading towards where we think the Heart is, and make Fortune rolls with Orange magic. Stella rocks it, and a jeweled horse appears in her pocket.

= At the Heart =

The path turns from sand to stone, and we’re in to Orange level 3. When we get to the place of the X, we’re just standing on stone. Huh. Scout thinks it’s very Orange here, and suggests the Heart is probably down. Stella looks around with Orange. She’s pretty sure there’s a big Creation effect on the rock we’re standing on. It’s not currently active or anything. Diomarche thinks it’s solid down a good ways.

Stella creates a fire, which works, though she has to make sure it’s not Too Big. She then analyzes the rock, and thinks it’s about 1000 hit points of Wall between us and the Heart, and the Creation effect will cause it to start repairing it. This is a Vault-level Wall, but it’s hit points, rather than successes, so we can potentially manage it. Diomarche could potentially invoke Rush to help break through. Hmm. Let’s do some more experiments.

Stella makes pickaxes (and one pickaxe/shovel hybrid due to awryage), and 67 points of damage It chips away at the rock. At the end of round 2, it tried to heal, but gets thwarted by Nesh’s AoE. We do some damage to it over a number of rounds, when Gale brings out the Dagger of Destruction. That seems to help counteract the healing, at least.

Managaratha tries a weird Orange-Blue spell to turn Diomarche’s pickax frozen, which causes two of his Magic dice to turn Orange and can’t be used for Blue.

On round 18, we break through! Berserking pirates and magic pickaxes for the win! Out comes the Forbidden Desert mechanic.

We’re in an area that looks like a forge. We need to find things. There is a lot of fire and around.

Scout makes it easier for him to see Magic, and then moves into a square, where he finds a vial of Orange water! Stella searches, and finds out there’s something in the middle column, and we’re looking for four things. Nesh finds a vial of Orange water!

All of a sudden there are a lot of storms and we take serious damage, and Nesh, Managaratha, and Gale fall down. Scout makes his death check and stays up. He manages to get to the crystal and wilds a nature spell to prevent us from getting hit by the environment. This lets Stella cast an actual resist-fire spell, which helps. Everyone unconscious passes; diomarche explores and finds out the location of a Magic Compass. Scout grabs the power crystal and Diomarche grabs the compass. Managaratha grabs an in-mechanic magic item (move people between tiles).

But the next shuffle through the deck is full of storms and sun, so we fleet - the crystal and the compass and the mechanic item all remain in the mechanic, but we have two vials of orange river water. So at least a minor win?

We ponder next steps. We’re tired enough [read: it’s 4:30pm] that

The Goddess thinks Viktor is apparently the worst choice (although not a terrible choice; he won’t blow up the world, or anything); Richard could be a good choice, or a problematic choice– he will require shepherding; Leopold is fine, he will keep things stable; and there’s nothing on Pyotr with only 11 successes.

Managartha brews some healing potions (2 each of potions that heal 12 hit points, decays after 6 days).

= Loot =
* +12 EPs
* +8 SPs
* +2 vials of Orange water

Main Page

2026-02-14T22:06:18Z

Justom: /* Chapter 4: [title of chapter] */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25
# [[Another Stabby Dagger]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-11-22
# [[House Party]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-12-06
# [[Heart of Orange]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-01-17

===Total EPs===
As of 2026-01-17 (4.12), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 396 EPs
* 543 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

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To Catch A Thief

2026-02-14T21:00:16Z

Justom:

[[Nesh]] and [[Managaratha]] reappear and [[Scout]] vanishes.

We want to wait to hear about the interrogation and get our promised share of the loot, and then go to Red to catch up with [[Thistle]].

Around breakfast, [Phoenix 2] Volda shows up, but we say we're waiting at the moment. Managaratha wonders if there are records of who he visited in the past six months. That would be difficult. We lounge about until lunch-ish, when a messenger shows up and delivers a note and a bag to Volda. We go up to one of the rooms.

The information that was recovered from the assassin, to date, is that she was sent after us because her master discovered that we are the best key to getting Slayer out of Middlesea, and her master does not want Slayer released from the trap. (An orc, Slayer). We wonder if this is the same orc who [[Sergeant Susie]] would not want let out.

There is a bag of loot: a small amount of cash, four poisons of unknown poison-ness.

Managaratha yellow-calls Thistle. We will be heading towards Red. She's in [[Darstan]] still.

Volda arranges a teleport for us to Darstan, for the cost of our bag of coins.

We're now in a square in Darstan. [[Gale]] rescued a kidnapped librarian (Rosalind) here from an annoying relative of [[Baron Volstak]].

[[Diomarche]] hails the duty paladin. He needs to see a senior priest, but stay out here, because it's complicated. The priest comes out. Diomarche gives him a reasonably detailed up to date report, and also says he wants to talk to [[Duchess Zerbina]] about the link. The priest thinks that she will probably not be willing to change her strategy - a lot of her forces are there. The Duchess is not doing as well breaking up the forming alliance between [[King Richard]]'s lands and Berana (King Olanson). Also, Diomarch should not come into the temple of Rush himself.

Gale looks up Rosalind and regales her with the story over tea.

Managaratha finds a horse that looks kind of gilled and scaly on the common, and asks if he can sit on it. He sells his fancy rock and does so, noting that it bends oddly, more like a snake than a horse.

Dinner where Thistle is supposed to show up. Some people notice that there's a lady keeping an eye on us from another table, and [[Vidan]] thinks it's Thistle in disguise. Managaratha waves, and she rolls her eyes and leaves. Nesh follows stealthily. She eventually stops. "Nesh, right?" He apologizes for his friends. There's at least one person in town she doesn't want to spot her.

"What do you all want?"
"Uh... that much I wasn't told."

They arrange to meet later on the commons. Can we help? Do we know a good fence? Nesh wonders why she hasn't gone home where she is in the thieves guild. She'd get a better price for it here... she'll go talk to Nesh.

She got teleported here, and tried to make contact with the local guild. Got in an argument with this "bitch named Marsha" who didn't think she was competent. Stole some of her stuff. In her stuff is what looks like the Duchess's signet ring. Nesh offers to handle returning it for a reward and the reward is hers. We can probably deal with probing in a way that doesn't implicate her, for example.

[Phoenix 3]

Vidan gets us an audience, and gives her a packet. There's something else that might be more sensitive - she takes us to a tower where a red mage takes away the guards' ears. O_o Lots of us have various investigatory abilities - we came upon a lifelink, is she aware of that? Yes. We thought it might be in an unfortunate state. Her husband's absence is day to day inconvenient. The lifebond is not day to day inconvenient...but she is concerned about what will happen when the timestop is ended. Her husband had taken a great deal of damage right before the timestop went into effect. She has recovered from her share of that damage - and is concerned that people get to him quickly.

Vidan also notes that the enemy has been pushing instability, in case there is anything we could help with. Since Middlesea closed and her husband went missing, there have been pressures on Darstan that have increased from neighbors in Red. It seems likely that one of Berana and King Richard's Lands were responsible for a recent intrusion into the castle. If you were to learn which of them that might have been, that would be appreciated. Berana has an envoy here publicly, Prince Sven. King Richard doesn't have anyone official.

Nesh goes to find the thieves guild. They tell him to go to the Temple of Jord and talk to Joseph. He slouches in and to the shrine of Jord, Joseph notes that he has a lot of DI resistance, but quizzes him on streetwise and some other skills he doesn't have. Before making plans, he should talk to either Alex at the Dragon's Claw or Marsha at the Stone Table.

Nesh and Gale talk to Marsha. Ex-pirates. Red guard dogs are something we won't be used to. Don't do too large a hit too often. Don't get too ambitious or claim we're Jord's left hand. She thinks there might be some jobs in the next week or so in case we're interested. If we're on a sanctioned job, we can run to a safehouse, but don't run to them on random jobs.

Nobody sneezes, though. Very disappointing.

We also recall that the Duchess actually asked that we figure out which of two people was responsible, not to investigate the theft. So we need to find the people and investigate them.

General gossip: [[Victoria]] is not all that interesting, she's always fighting Purple. Prince Sven is in town from Berana, everyone knows where. (The king of Berana has 25+ kids). Everyone assumes King Richard has someone here but nobody knows who offhand. Everyone is clear that the Duchess is the war leader, and Volstak is the ruler.

We visit Sven and give him a packet. He assures us that's very interesting. But he doesn't care about stuff outside of Red. (He is familiar with the Blue Mage, the most interested in outside Melmayne). Does he know who Richard's guy is? Well, give me two, I can get one to Richard. Vidan thinks that he is in communication with Richard about what to do about Darstan. Nesh thinks that he has moved here for the long term, not just for a bit.

Back to the common to talk to Thistle. Is Marsha a fence? No. So she stole it probably on someone else's behalf. She can show us.

Stella asks "What needs fixing?" (11 successes, 7 DI).

* Get the ring back to the Duchess.
* Clearing Marsha out would be good.
* Stopping the war between Darstan / King Richard's lands / Berana from starting.

Getting the seal back to the Duchess will help with that last one (getting it back to where Marsha was sending it would do best.). Marsha was sending it to George, King Richard's spy. Don't let George get it, that would start the war. Letting Sven get it would start the war more slowly.

We split up - Diomarche, [[Stella]] go up the stairs. Nesh (with Thistle) on the roof, Gale, Vidan, Managaratha, in the Kittiwake lurking in the alley on the second floor.

She goes out the window and we give chase. We fritter her down until she explodes, which Vidan confirms is Broken. (Gale loses her party clothes and Managaratha loses his ingredients).

Thistle and Nesh, tossing her place, finds them. (Nesh gives Thistle all the money).

World Map

2026-02-14T20:07:41Z

Justom:

[[File:CometMappe.png|1500px|A sketch of the world]]

==[[Red]]==
Red is an area of continually rising and falling Kingdoms, in which you have to be constantly prepared to fight to hold/expand your territory. Most Classically European Fantasy Zone. At present there are four major Kingdoms, with border lands of petty nobility between them. In order of age, they are:

1) King Richard's Lands, currently ruled by King [[Richard III]], about 200 years old and taking up a swath of the South of Red, abutting Orange - KRL has shrunk since it was founded by King Richard I, but Richard III has made some increases over what he was left by his father, King Albert.

2) [[Victoria]], about 100 years old and ruled by Queen Ionia, granddaughter of the founder, Baroness Gabriella. In the Northwest, bordering Purple and the Broken Lands, Queen Ionia has spent most of her reign fighting outwards, rather than conquering more of Red.

3) Berana, along the eastern coast. Its ruler, King Olanson, has spent nearly 50 years expanding his territory. Although too old to seriously fight personally anymore, he still generals his kingdom's battles, and his large clan of children can handle the fighting. Has the strongest navy in the Mainland zones. Not clear how well it will hold together if Olanson dies.

4) [[Darstan]], in the center. Founded about 20 years ago with the marriage of [[Baron Volstak]] and [[Duchess Zerbina]], the two have formed a formidable team. Zerbina leads the army to conquer a new barony or duchy every year or so, and Volstak is a master of incorporating them into a united country once the conquest is complete. They still use Baron and Duchess as their titles, but their daughter is Princess Bella, and they are a kingdom in all but name.

==[[Orange]]==
The south-eastern mainland zone, Orange is a region dominated by trade and commerce. Orange is divided into 50 or more city states each of relatively limited territory. Each city has a representative in the Merchant's Guild, which makes most of the decisions for the zone in an ongoing squabble of infighting and politics. Each city is theoretically the equal of every other, but in practice, one the three cities of Kor, Rin'yan, and [[Vani]] is generally responsible for any new initiative. The zone with the most internal racial tension, as the three major cities are all led by humans, and the Saurians tend to think they should have more say, being nearly half the population. Think Renaissance Italy, more or less.

==[[Yellow]]==
Map: [[Jabar Map]]

Far Jabar across the Merfolk's Ocean is the home of Yellow. More Indian than Arabian nowadays, with a [[Maharani]] instead of a Queen. Politics is mostly about who is important in the Maharani's court and who has her ear. Although on occasion in the past the Maharani has become effectively a puppet for other court officials, the present Maharani is well respected and the Lady of her own domain. The House system has been replaced by a caste system ([[Varna]]) dividing the populace into nobles/warriors, "priests", merchants/craftsmen, and farmers/laborers. Children of the first three varna can be moved fairly easily into another until they come of age, depending on what they show talent at, and adults in the last can be "promoted" into one of the three upper varna as a reward for significant service, but it is difficult to impossible to move between the three upper varna as an adult. While all priests of the goddess are expected to be of the Priest varna, not all members of the caste are actual priests, with many of them acting as teachers or artists or philosophers instead. The Three Ladies are the heads of the Priest Varna. There are no official leaders of the Merchant/craftsman Varna. Elves and half-elves are mostly incorporated into the Varna. Centaurs have an unclear relationship with the Varna - Herds generally divide along the same lines, but centaur warriors are not generally considered exactly the same class as the warrior Varna. They are more like a second, separate set of Varna, although they do all answer in theory to the Maharani or the Ladies. There are not really enough Saurians around to have a clear interaction with the Varna as a race.

<h2> [[Green]] </h2>
The lands of the Elves, in the south-west of the mainland. It has been divided into three Kingdoms, the Forest, the Plains, and the Mountains, since the War of the Lord and the Lady (the last comet), and the grudges between its rulers are said to go back even farther. The three Kingdoms hardly ever actually go to war, but they are not friends. The King of the Forest is a High Elf, Their Majesty of the Plains is a sluagh, and The Queen Under the Mountains is a dwarf. The Queen is the nominal ruler of Kern, the only major human city in Green, although she does not pay so much attention to it as it sits above the mountains.

<h2>[[Blue]]</h2>
The Blue Zone has been ruled by Blue Mages from time immemorial, long before the Archipelago became a single island in the War of the Lord and the Lady. Although there was a significant upheaval with that change, as governance shifted from each Mage having their own island to a more communal rule-by-committee, it has long since settled down, and Challenge Duels between the Mages to settle points of ownership or control have been limited to one or two a year for centuries. Melmaine is the only one of the Surface Lands to have any regular interactions with the Merfolk Kingdoms, and assists them in their eternal war with the Slith. The Saurian military encampment on Melmaine that also assists in that war is basically its own city, with limited interaction with the rest of the island, and the Mages rarely intrude there, where the power of Magic is limited.

<h2>[[Purple]]</h2>
The last of the mainland zones, Purple has been run by the Bureaucracy since the death of the last Orcslayer, more than a thousand years ago. The servants of the Empty Throne still run the Empire in the name of the Orcslayer, and purport to be seeking the Sword that Was Lost to restore the line, but cynics both in Purple and outside of it think they may not be looking so hard as all that. Bureaucrats are frequently purple mages or balance priests or both, although it is not required. It is rare to be a purple mage or balance priest and *not* be a Bureaucrat, however. Advancement in the Bureaucracy is a matter of doing well on the periodic exams and impressing one's superiors. Without the Orcslayer to lead the Armies, the Empire's forces are not what they once were, and the majority of Purple's military might is in the hands of the Lead Stallion and his herds.

<h2>[[Rainbow]]</h2>
The "Rainbow Isles" in the middle of the inland sea are orders of magnitude smaller in both size and population than any of the major zones. They survive as a neutral ground and meeting place, and because none of the mainland powers is willing to see one of the others establish control over the Isles. No one is officially in charge of them, but few in the Isles would dare cross [[Cara]] Benefice, "the Pirate Queen". Her fleet is the largest in the Inland Sea, and any merchant who wants to cross it is wise to pay her first for safe passage. Actual piracy is relatively rare in the past 20 years since she came to power, but the fine line between "taxes" and "extortion" is non-existent in her "lands". About ten years ago she laid claim to Middlesea, the keep where inter-zone negotiations are traditionally held, as her "capital," and it is there that she has invited representatives to attend a Conclave to discuss the appearance of the Comet.

To The Heart

2026-02-14T19:24:53Z

Justom: /* Rin'yan */

==Overview==
Being the events of the third run. In which our heroes venture into [[Orange]], to meet with the [[Cult of Al'an]] and see what they know about the Breaker's plans, and are recruited to assist in a ritual to repair a fraying ancient-yet-familiar-sounding spell, which leaves many with strange new characteristics and behaviors. With diversions for parties and possible adventures.

==Leaving the Islands==

[Early Morning, Gazelle 21]
We return to our Heroes having just thrown a dead goblin through a tree, where he went to Green, at the border between the Plains and Forest.

[[Vidan]] starts fading out, while [[Managaratha]] shows up. [[Scout]] says the passplant spell will fade at dawn - can Managaratha tell anything? Managaratha looks, but doesn't discover much. He wants us to go to Green to get ingredients. Everyone else is dubious about the wisdom of this plan.

[[Nesh]] discovers that his sword has become lighter, and sneaks off to investigate. Scout sneaks after him. It's lighter but duller and rolls with agility (but is now x3 instead of x4)!

[[Diomarche]] finishes chopping the tree by sunrise, so the spell is no longer active.

We head back to the keep, where Managaratha wants to use his sigil-getting spell to look at the [[Muddle in Middlesea]]. [[Gale]] unfolds the boat and we go up. The Purple and Blue spells are visible from outside the keep area.

The spells in effect include:
* Blue extra effort battle thing
* Purple stasis
* Yellow unreality
* Can't see the green fog

7 Detect Magic: many small spells on people. There’s a Red spell that stretches out of the region, that’s the most interesting thing. Probably Life rather than Blood, which means it's likely the one that was being supported by the [[Darstan]] mage in [[Second Run]]. There are three sigil-ish things on that, which Managaratha more or less got.

Scout boldly proclaims his theory that the Duke and the Baroness merged their lives at their wedding, and weird things will happen if the Life connection breaks.

Our investigations done, we decide to head off to Rinyin, via Kor. It's about three days sailing; Managaratha makes vegetables to keep us fed. Nothing too eventful happens - as we approach Kor we see the Golden Falcon leaving, but manage to evade before they spot us.

[Gazelle 24]

We find an inn and begin puttering. Gale and Nesh and Stella stock up on some provisions. Managaratha wanders off, overseen by Diomarche.

Gale badgers Scout into reporting to the ambassador. "Hey, den mother! Where is an elvish ambassador?" Stella points out the Elvish quarter.

Managaratha: "Oh, I have a spell for splitting the party. I forgot to cast it."

Scout goes to the Elf Quarter, and scouts the area, finding a Forest Trade Delegation. There's not an active Green spell, but there's definitely some magic going on. He goes in and is greeted by a halfling, and Scout says he's new in town and was hoping to send a message to the King. There's a courier service, or for something more discreet, talk to the Master Trader.

While waiting for the Master Trader, Scout talks to the halfling-- what should he know about Kor? The halfling says things are more expensive than you’d expect, and that it requires money to deal with the Guild in most instances.

About half an hour later, someone leaves from a back room, and then the Master Trader, a troll named [[Rekar]], comes out. Rekar asks why he needs to send a message to the King-- Scout says he was in the delegation to the Conclave at Middlesea, and was the only one to escape, and he needs to report back. The Master Trader seems to think this is enough to merit a secure message. He takes out a sheet of paper, does some green magic, and asks Scout what he wants to say.

Scout goes through a copy of the [[Tarn Evidence Packet]], also adding that the miracle is from the cataur [[Oasis]], and pointing out the elf things in particular (status of the delegations, [[Flint]] saying who the traitor was), and leaving out the bit about Nesh.

Is there any assistance? We're heading to Rin'yan, could they help us with horses? Yes, those can be provided tomorrow.

Afterwards, everyone reconvenes at the inn. While hanging out in the common room, a guy in fancy robes comes in.
"Do I have the honor of addressing the remainder of the delegations? Guildmaster Vincenzo wishes to extend an invitation to after dinner drinks and a party - he'd like to speak to everyone. [Looks over the party's attire.] It's a... formal affair."

"We lost a lot of our luggage in the transformation event" -Stella

The messenger says that can be dealt with. Nesh hands him a Tarn Evidence packet to bring to the Guildmaster. Later on some tailors arrive. We get redressed in +1 charisma clothes. There's some orange Creation going on in making them quickly, but they're not still magic when they're finished, just well done.

==Party==

The overall shape of the party - Guildmaster [[Vincenzo]] meets us and thanks us for the information (he has read the packet). People tell the story multiple times. Not much of note happens, but we do gather some information.

We hear Vincenzo was smart to send his journeyman. If people are going to be stuck there for a while, who is looking after what interests? 20 important guild members are stuck in a time halt!

Gale looks for adventure hooks because that's what she does. There's a journeyman who is talking about a line on some old stuff that is going to get dug up soon. He's looking for people to go run his dungeon when he finishes digging it up.

Scout scouts; there’s lots of Orange magic, and a moderately large priest of Jord, a priest of Tam, a priest of the Goddess. No spirits. Some orange magic has been thrown around actively at the party, but no miracles are being thrown around.

Nesh is Lucky but not Karmic; he notes that the tension is present but subtle between the humans and the Saurians. The one Saurian Guildmaster gets the story from Nesh, and offers him a job if he wants to apprentice. Nesh demurs, saying we’re stuck, something to do with a Blue spell. The fact that Nesh does not speak Saurian gets one of the other Saurians interested– a noble, not a merchant. The poor dear. She sends him a book at the inn.

== Rin'yan ==

Off we go towards Rin'yan. The main road is nice. We travel for four days and head to the temple of the Goddess that [[Stella]] belongs to. Scout turns the horses over to a trade contact of Rekar's.

[Gazelle 28]

We are greeted by [[Diana]], another priest. "Oh finally, you're back. [[Meraldi]] is off talking to people, and I need to leave for a few days, so can you take care of things for a while?" Stella admits as to how we're only here temporarily. Diana seems a bit annoyed by this but will deal. She offers to put us all up at the temple; which we accept. Stella sets up a nicer space for Diomarche than the standard stable.

Time to go to visit the Cult of Alan? We head across the city. The cult have an actual large compound - fifty priests rather than three. Stella recalls that [[Ritasi]] is the head of the order, but doesn't talk to people any more, as he's largely retiredish. [[Leonardo]] is the one that mostly deals.

When we start to come in, alarms seem to go off-- bells are ringing and people start coming to the entry. We start to back away, and Stella invites Leonardo back to her temple, where she briefs him about the Broken miracle on us.

Leonardo looks to Managaratha - you didn't explain?
"How is Alan?"
"Long dead."
"Oh. :("

Leonardo says there is a person who has an old enchantment, which is in need of some repair. Managaratha has repaired it before. A rainbow mage with skill in Purple and Yellow, usually. Hmm. Stella might be able to repair magic. The person with the spell is drawn to the Breaker's plans. It often transfers on their death. (We suspect the last of Tirinian's Mark!) The cult keeps track of it and keeps it in repair as best as possible, and the information should not be spread around.

Gale runs into [[Giaconni]]! He's doing better here than he was in [[Kor]]. Anything worth doing right now? How much trouble you want to get in? Well, I don't want to get dead...

Leonardo comes in with a young woman, [[Thistle]] and an older man (well, thirties, to Thistle's 20-ish) who happens to be Giaconni. Thistle is told that Stella might be able to get the spell under control. Thistle seems a bit skeptical of her being the chosen one.

What Needs Fixing?

Managaratha examines the spell, and notes his own sigil among the various ones on it.

Probably the best is to do a ritual with [[Risto]] and some others. It would be wise to have friends around because there will likely be consequences. Stella doesn't know who Risto is, but Leonardo does. Let's not just turn him loose on it - he has a shtick in attacking magic, but working with Stella they could make it more surgery.

How are things going awry? Since Thistle got the spell, she'll have unpleasant visions or wind up in a different part of the city - it's not very useful. Moving it to someone else would be fine. Visions of things like orcs and goblins. It's supposed to be less random, she hears.

We leave the temple (which is Goddess holy ground) for Scout to take a look at the spell. It's on par with the Middlesea stuff, it's yellow/purple. Has been patched multiple times; refilled in power and restructured. It's close to full though could be topped up, but it's frayed - 50 to 100 years since it was patched. There's a major sigil and many patch sigils, several of which were Managaratha.

A plan is made-- three priests of the Goddess will do the ritual tomorrow to let people work on the spell.

While we are waiting, we receive invitations to both Master Cassandra's party tomorrow and Master Divoli's party, which are at the same time. Stella asks for information on the politics of the situation. Meraldi says they are the two most able to step into [[Mariana]]'s shoes (she is in the Conclave bubble). The Masters have been given reports from [[Vincenzo]], so this is more about leveraging her or us into conferring Mariana's blessing. Better to split the party or go to both, don't snub both of them. She suggests splitting 2:4 with Stella in the 2, and Meraldi will party hop and convince both parties that it's Not Throwing Influence.

A guy with a dog ([[Bran]]) shows up to the temple, looking for Diomarche. The Commander got Diomarche's message two weeks ago, and has sent him to get more details. Nesh gives him a Tarn Evidence Packet. Diomarche also briefs him on the Rush priest insights. (We still don't know who the Fourists are.)

Apparently, tensions are rising in Red with Darstan missing half its leadership. Looking at war. [[Victoria]] is taking advantage of orcs invading Purple to try to make headway there. [[Richard III|Richard]] and Baranna are both eying Darstan since the Baron is gone. The Lord Commander is not willing to actively ally with Darstan - he's not so great at *preventing* wars. Can we get the Baron out sooner? Diomarche doesn't have any sense in which that can be done soon. There's the red life thing too.

If he can get the Baron back without destroying everything else, do that. But the most likely looking result is everything else explodes.

The next day [Gazelle 29], we perform the ritual. It involves the priests making rolls while standing around a hexagon of dominoes, two per side, representing the spell, while people draw dominoes from a hat to replace the dominoes to try to repair the spell. Minimal repairing of the spell would involve there being no blanks, and all the corners adding to 7. Repairing the spell perfectly would also have each side be all evens or all odds, and alternating evens/odds/evens... around the hexagon. Replacing dominoes comes with side effects, small/medium/large in either Yellow or Purple flavors, depending on the largest number of the tile that's removed from the hexagon. A domino could also be placed perpendicular to the normal edges, by turning an existing tile perpendicular, but only if the two numbers that would be in the hexagon matched. [This was easier to explain visually...] If we took that option, it would make the spell decay faster, based on the total number of pips that were outside the hexagon.

Different people had different bonuses in drawing tiles. The side effects were one level smaller on Nesh. Scout could declare he was looking for a number and draw up to 5 dominoes, stopping the first time he ran into that number. Managaratha could roll a wild magic effect to draw more than one and pick. Diomarche had a way of blowing up a tile, but was told not to do that because it would be a miracle of [[Rush]], and would cause the priests some burnout. Gale didn't have any special power, but as it turns out, her plucky adventurousness was benefit enough!

Nesh drew many of the tiles. The small side effects were bounced, but the larger side effects involved things like being stuck in a Purple force cage; gravity reversing; a hrulgin being teleported in; smelling roses. Diomarche drew one and now has a song playing in his head constantly. Gale got a vision of a woman murdering her husband, who she could stop, but she would have to leave RIGHT NOW. She fled into the afternoon, calling out that she had to stop her from killing him! Ominous.

After about 20 turns, we complete the ritual!

End results:
* The spell is repaired perfectly, with 4 extruding non-blank tiles, for a total of... 19? pips.
* Gale has run off to find a woman about to stab her husband.
* Nesh is in a force cage and floating up, speed drained, smells roses, can't lie, sees in black and white.
* Managaratha is blind.
* Diomarche is extra big and hears a song.
* Scout can only say "What should I say?" and his eyes return! (probably an illusion...)

And then, before we can deal with any of the effects, [[Thistle]] teleports out.

== Loot ==
* 5 EPs
* 5 SPs
* +1 Charisma clothes for everyone except Vidan (Nesh's and Managaratha's at least have lost that buff 'cause they wore them constantly on horseback for a week. Other people who claim they took better care of them might still have a set.)
* +1 TiRinian's Heart
* Lots of side effects

Vani

2026-02-14T19:20:05Z

Justom: /* Notable NPCs */

[[Vani]] is an important Orange city-state - one of the trio (with [[Kor]] and [[Rin'yan]]) that often shapes regional commerce and politics. Ruled in practice by [[Centurion Julia]] of [[House Horellan]], who combines military command (the Legion) with civic authority and maintains a well‑guarded household that embeds a priest ([[Carol]]) and an Orange mage corps led by [[Mario]]. The city is merchant‑oriented but leans toward martial governance and noble culture (the Lord’s House sits in a walled, gardened Noble district and is open to the public), and its local politics are currently dominated by a contentious consort succession that has produced candidates such as [[Leopold]], [[Viktor]], [[Pyotr]] and the unpredictable [[Richard IV]]—a contest watched closely by guilds, priests and Saurian leaders. Vani hosts significant Saurian presence and institutions (including a Saurian library and the keeper [[Piotr]] of the Lord’s House), struggles with tension between human and saurian interests, and has become the focus of security concerns after a Broken/Orange dagger theft and evidence of a broader Broken/Slith plot tied into the [[Middlesea Free Rangers]]’ investigations; as a result the city’s Temple, Guild and military networks are all on heightened alert while civic leaders favor cautious, stability‑oriented solutions.

=Notable NPCs=
* Angelina: priest of Navere
* Pyotr: Guardian of the Lord's House
* Carol: potentially-Bent priest of the Goddesas
* Waldron: a warlock
* Julia: Centurion, the ruler and general of the city.
* Mario: the Orange mage pushing the boundaries of Orange magic
* Lucy: priest of the Goddess

Vani

2026-02-14T19:01:40Z

Justom:

Main Page

2026-01-17T21:55:41Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25
# [[Another Stabby Dagger]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-11-22

===Total EPs===
As of 2026-01-17 (4.12), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 396 EPs
* 543 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
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Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
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Party Loot

2026-01-17T21:31:15Z

Justom: /* Items */

=Items=
* Blackjack, non-lethal, +10 damage ([[Scout]])
* A necklace with a bottle of Holding 3 DI, shaman flavored (Scout)
* A bottle of Holding 5 DI, shaman flavored (Scout)
* +1 Charisma clothes, for everyone except [[Vidan]]. (Several have lost their buffs by the end of [[To The Heart]].)
* Dagger of Destruction ([[Gale]]): x4 damage, seems to have some way of compelling people to Stab Stab Stab
* A pair of Absconded Tongs (Gale): Stolen from poor normal people in Rin'yan.
* Adventuring Perfume (Gale): Dashing, sexy. From the Ministry of Lilacs.
* Orc Allergen Perfume: Makes orcs (half-orcs?) sneeze around us. From the Ministry of Lilacs.
* Magic Compass -- tuned to point at [[Nesh]]
* Necklace of Dodge Pool (Nesh)
* Feather with a Red/Yellow spell on it, from [[Suvatra]]
* 2 Necklaces from the time of The Lord and the Lady. 4 successes of Appraisal says they’re worth more for historical value than for their pure gold/gems value. Might be worth something to one of the Mages that was looking for something. (One is worn by Gale for fancy dress purposes)
* Scrolls in Melmani - orders to the sunken ship directing the captain to carry the treasure to somewhere in Orange. Army logistics orders, so this was some kind of military vessel of some kind. The loot being carried is to fund the Lady’s army on the mainland. There is a map to a hidden stash of stuff in Orange somewhere.
* Some roc feathers
* A bunch of pegasus feathers
* 1 Phoenix Feather
* Necklace of Tamish "Hide Me" schtick (? DI successes). (From half-orc assassin, 4.5.) [Vidan]
* 3 Blue Items with Army Schticks: 1 that lets a unit fly; 1 that gives a unit defense against Orange; 1 that gives an army unit more martial skill.
* An Army Unit worth of Uniforms from last comet (in the cache near Kor)
* An Army Unit worth of Medical Supplies (in the cache near Kor)
* <s>Ring of Yellow area-of-effect mods don't count (Diomarch)</s>. On loan to [[Suvatra]].
* <s>1 Perfect Pearl</s>. USED IN MERFOLK KINGDOM.
* Ring: a rack of 10 successes of spells difficulty 10 or less, from one person. Trigger is settable– going unconscious, speed roll, whatever. All spells triggered at once. The caster sets the trigger.
* Wand: 10 Magic dice, can be used on Orange spells, over the course of a day. (Like fortune dice.) Replenishes at sunrise. [[[Stella]]]
* Rainbow cloak: provides 5 ranks of Rainbow Mage for protection for learning colors in the old way. Not entirely clear how that works for people born in the Zones. But it probably is just bonus magic for [[Managaratha]]. [Managaratha]
* Magic belt: Dodge pool!
* +2 dagger (x5 damage) [Nesh]
* slippers of quieter move: Yellow silence, give you a “cannot be heard” schtick. 15-20 successes anti-hearing. May not work in Purple.
* 12 +1 non-magic daggers [3 [[Diomarche]], 3 Nesh, 1 Scout, 1 Vidan]
* 15 Shields with shield skill in them. (5 or 6 skill) [1 to Diomarche]

* 2 Vials of Orange Water

=Cash (on the Barrelhead)=
* 3 Loot of Gold and Gems (from the cache we found in 4.6)
* 1 Loot of Random Stuff
* 1 Loot of Gold
* 1.5 Loot (for the second cataur boat)
* <s>1 Loot (pirated from the cataurs) (Spent in Melmane)</s>
* <s>A small bag of coins.</s> spent to teleport to [[Darstan]].
* <s>A small bag of pearls (collected from the slith in Run Ten). Equivalent to 1/2 Loot.</s> Spent in Melmane.

Total: 6.5 Loot

Plot Threads

2026-01-17T19:20:47Z

Justom: /* Recurring Bad Guys */

A list of plots and things that we need to look into.

=Large-Scale Plots=
* Opening Middlesea
* Opening Spiritbreaker Fortress

==Recurring Bad Guys==
* The Orc, Slayer: The Avatar of the Breaker. See [[Muddle in Middlesea]].
* Mikhailovich: The Saurian who was building (and then destroying) the wall in Nalari in [[Yellow]]. He claimed to be from Orange, but we think he was lying. He used Forge magic but not Creation or Elemental, so we posit he may be a Rainbow Mage, and therefore possibly he was a slith who had shapeshifted. He might have also been the Saurian that showed up at the Party at the Lord's House in Vani.
* [[Silenalania]]: Drow shaman and Green mage who had been disguised and in Their Majesty's delegation from [[Green]]. One of the leaders(?) of the group corrupting the Spirits of Green, which seems to be based out of Spiritbreaker Fortress.

=Purple=
Breaker's Goal: Take over the Empire

[[Stella]] asked the Goddess what needs fixing, in 4.4:

* Having an Emperor would be good, although there isn’t a convenient one to hand
* The Orc Invasion needs to be pushed back is important; it will get worse when Middlesea opens, so pushing it back as much as possible before then would be good.
* The Half-Orcish spy ring should be taken apart, because he’ll be a Terrible Emperor. (Making him Emperor would not fix the first problem.)
* Stopping the Pirates would be good.
* Keeping Inspector [[Vok]] from being assassinated would be good.
* Eventually we’ll need the key to Middlesea, so figuring that out wouldn’t be bad.
* Making sure no one else gets the Key to Middlesea would be good.

==Todo==
* Get a Mission from the Ministry of Lions
* Find the Heart of Purple
* Provide a Report to the Ministry of Magic, Subministry of Frag, on the mess that is [[Vidan]]. Requires speaking to either [[Mother Jess]] in King Richard's Lands or [[Ritasi]] in Rinyan.

==The [[Emperor's Spy Network]]==
The group of half-orc assassins and others who seem to be on Team Terrible on the take-over-the-Empire plot.
They're being investigated by [[Inspector Vok]], who has about 45 out of 100 clue points as of run 4.5. They seem to have some connection to the [[Ministry of Pearls]], which regulates actors.

We believe they're more than 50 percent half-orcs. The assassin we found in 4.5 had a necklace with a Temish miracle of Hide Me, which made him seem human.

=Green=
Breaker's Goal: Corrupt the Spirits of the Forest (and others)

=Orange=
Breaker's Goal: Corrupt the Orange Zone

* Find a Priest of Jord to help steal the [[Maharani]]'s nephew out of the [[Muddle in Middlesea]]. Possibly Stella's [[Uncle Carlo]].
* <s>Follow the Melmani scrolls to the hidden loot stash of the Lady (see [[Party Loot]])</s>. COMPLETE.
* Talk to [[Ritasi]], the head priest of the [[Cult of Al'an]], to get a report on Vidan. (1 week from 4.5). IN PROGRESS, [[Rinyan Redux]] / 4.7

Stella's Hammer of What Needs Fixing in [[Rinyan Redux]] (19 successes, 12 DI):
* There is nothing serious in Rinyan that needs Fixing right now.
* Broadening to Orange as a whole, there’s definitely the Thing She Can’t See, even with 19 successes.
* The Orange Mages who are working to expand Orange and are likely to Break it need fixing, but that’s a long-term project, and you’ve already put some resources onto that. It will need more tending.
* Getting Nivad (Goddess-flavored Purple Guy) more direction is a good thing to work on. It will definitely be a step towards Fixing Things that the Goddess Wants Fixed.
* [[Vani]] has a Broken Plot that is proceeding, that it would be good to thwart. It’s not huge, but it’s the biggest Broken plot in the country that is imminent. (Orange Mages are larger, less imminent, and not everyone in it is Broken or Bent. There is some devil-on-the-shoulder going on, it would be good to find them and deal with them.)
* The Goddess notes that Uncle Carlo and the Treasure Map are on Stella’s todo list, but they’re not on the Fix-It list.

=Red=
Breaker's Goal: Promote the Disagreements between Rush and the rest of the Five

* Talk to [[Mother Jess]], head of the Church of Navere, in King Richard's Lands. She was one of the three who set up the Vidan/Nivad/Dinav plot.

=Blue=
Breaker's Goal: Assassinate enough of the Blue Mages that Melmane falls to Chaos (more than it already has)

=Yellow=
Breaker's Goal: Send enough slith into Jabar to conquer it.

Main Page

2025-12-08T00:49:21Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25
# [[Another Stabby Dagger]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-11-22

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-12-06 (4.11), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 384 EPs
* 535 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
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Main Page

2025-11-22T22:05:12Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-11-22 (4.10), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 376 EPs
* 523 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]
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Hearts of Magic

2025-11-22T19:23:53Z

Justom:

The Hearts of Magic are the places that are the sources of power for the Zones. They can be found via Gale's map, and usually have other defenses.

The Heart of Yellow was guarded by Other Dunyazade.

The Heart of Blue is Melinda's Tomb.

The Heart of Purple has to be reached by teleport.

The Heart of Green is where the three Kingdoms meet.

The Heart of Orange is centrally located, where the desert and hills meet.

We haven't looked in Red yet.

Hearts of Magic

2025-11-22T19:11:46Z

Justom: Created page with "The Hearts of Magic are the places that are the sources of power for the Zones. They can be found via Gale's map, and usually have other defenses. The Heart of Yellow was guarded by Other Dunyazade. The Heart of Blue is Melinda's Tomb. The Heart of Purple has to be reached by teleport."

Welcome to Vani

2025-10-26T21:33:02Z

Justom: /* Other Visitors */

=Back to the Present Time=
We are still tired from the previous Comet adventure. We take an evening’s rest before deciding to head to Vani to look for the Nearest Broken Plot.

We debate how to get there, having no boat. Could we borrow horses? What about joining a caravan?

Managaratha says enough of this, and does math (with help from Scout)! He teleports us to “halfway” to our destination. Bamf, we’re somewhere in Orange. He does more calculations to find the final destination, and teleports us there. Bamf, we don’t move. Well that’s not right! He calculates again (again with help from Scout, although Scout thinks the math is wacky because it’s Orellian math), and teleports us to the halfway point. Then he does the calculations, and discovers the previous spot was where we wanted to be? He’s very confused, but one more teleport and brings us back to our first teleport location. Scout climbs a tree and finds a road.

Carol, who works in the Centurion’s household, is the biggest Goddess priest in the city. The Centurion is like the Mayor, typically a noble, but not necessarily, who is selected by the nobles and Guild masters. The current Centurion is a noble.

There are Guards at the gate. They ask our business. Vidan says we’re traveling, we’re here to get rooms. They seem to not care much, and wave us through. They wave a metal wand thing over us, it beeps and they seem surprised we have quite so many magic items on us. There are some Orange spells on the walls, Scout notes.

=Inside the Vani Gates=
We go to the Temple district, looking for the Goddess temple.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m Stella, I serve the Goddess, largely in Rinyan.”

“Oh, what brings you to Vani?”

“The Goddess told me there was a Broken plot here that needed fixing.“

The priest’s name is Lucy. (That’s more of a Red name.)

“The thing everyone is paying attention to is who the Centurion is going to take as a spouse for the next few years, since her current spousal contract has expired.

“Carol is taking point on that, yes. If there’s a Broken plot involved with that, I expect Carol would notice it.”

Vidan goes to the Church of the Five. He authorizes himself to go in and then goes in. Is there a priest? There is, Valentino, a priest of the Nameless. Vidan introduces himself as Vidan of Zheldat, with the Middlesea Free Rangers. He wanted to check in as how things stand with the Temple, as he is in town for a few days. They are pleased to see another Priest of the Five. Are there not many? “The city is divided among its loyalty to the Gods; our neighbors to the north do not have the same difficulties.” Vidan gives him a Tarn evidence packet, and hopes for an introduction to the Centurion. Angelina, the priest of Navere, would likely be able to make that introduction.

8 successes on an Int roll to suss out the politics of the Church. Possibly Valentino outranks Angelina, possibly he has more DI. Vidan’s 12 DI

Scout notes that building over there is holy to Spirits. Ooh! He might have to check it out. A tall, older gentleman answers the door. “Hello, I’m Scout!” “Yes I see that. Would you like to come in?” Scout does, and has tea.

“It would be awkward for me to travel to Yellow, but if you need help in keeping that Spirit tethered to the world, I would try to help with that.”

“I have heard about that Spirit. It was near here for a long time, a long time ago.”

“My understanding from what I read is that was difficult for it to be part of two Zones, so they moved it. After they made the Zones, as I understand the timeline. They made the Zones, and it spent the duration between Comets dealing with the difficulty of that, and then it was moved in the Comet after that.”

“We are not as appreciated as the Churches are, but no one will… well, maybe the Church of Rush… but mostly no one will try to accuse you of heresy here, or at least not one with the force of Law behind it. There are not many spirits in the area.”

Scout says we’re here hunting Broken plots, is there anything odd he’s noticed? No. Hmm, okay.

If we want Orange magic in particular, we probably want to talk to Mario or Piotr. Mario is the Centurion’s Orange Mage. Piotr’s a saurian who keeps the Lord’s house. The Lord of Earth and Fire? Yes, that is the person whose house it is. But no one using that title has been residing in the House since before Waldron was born.

Scout tells Waldron about the goblins-Breaking-Spirits plans, and that definitely concerns him. He can certainly keep an eye on things here and make sure none of them get Broken. He thinks that finding out how they’re being connected to Brokenness, and then having them stay out of the Broken Lands for a few weeks should do it. He’ll think about it. Possibly other Spirits could help? They have some relationships.

Waldron says he’ll be able to get in touch with Scout’s friend if he needs to. Okay then. If Scout wanted to learn more about Warlocks, is there somewhere he should go? No. Huh. Well, okay then.

Stella asks for a recommendation for an inn– the Steaming Cauldron is the one most people visiting the District. It has centaur accommodations, which is slightly unusual. She sends a note to Carol that we’ll be there.

We re-convene at the inn.

=In Search of Broken Plots=
Stella decides to Bring It, and finds out what needs Fixing in Vani. 19 Successes with 15 DI.

<ul>
<li> There’s the thing you were originally coming to fix
<li> There’s the Slith thing.
<li> There’s the fact that the Lord of Earth and Fire is missing.
<li> It would be good to get Guildmistress Isabella back, when you can, but don’t go rushing to break Middlesea to fix that.
<li> Thistle’s in town, you might be able to get information from her.
<li> It would be good for the Centurion to have a partner who is Good, not Junky.
</ul>

Okay then.

Managaratha calls Thistle on her cell phone. She is snoring. He wakes her up by shouting at her. She says go away. He says let’s meet at the Steaming Cauldron.

Vidan goes to talk to Isabella. “Ah, you must be Vidan. Valentino said you would be stopping by.” He wishes to be introduced to the Centurion. Does he want it to be a private interview, or to be presented to her? She doesn’t hold court, per se. Making the contact is good. Ah, okay then. A solo interview, or with his companions? With companions would be good. Is he planning to introduce a suitor? Vidan feigns ignorance, and she explains. He mentions the Broken plot, and diplomatically wonders if there is a candidate who should be avoided? It’s unlikely that any of the suitors are Bent or Broken, although possibly someone in their retinue. But some of the candidates

The Church has no official position, although Isabella feels either Lord Viktor or Lord Leopold would be preferable to Piotr or Richard (son of King Richard). An alliance with Richard would see some resources going towards Red, rather than staying internal. Though she doesn’t think any of those are particularly likely to be Bent or Broken. Unlike in the succession plot we encountered in Red, there have been no assassinations to date. It would be difficult to assassinate the Centurion, it would be less difficult to assassinate the suitors, except maybe Lord Victor.

The Five are not treated with the reverence they are due, but they are respected. Is the Centurion crowned? She is both the Ruler and the General. Vidan strategically (and charmingly) rolls his eyes to see if that elicits a response. She is the only General in Orange that Isabella is aware of. The others don’t have Generals, but they also don’t have Rulers so much either. Vani historically has had more Rulers and fewer Merchants, but also they are closer to Red and its influence, and the fact that they are ruled by Kings rather than Merchants.

Vidan asks how things stand between the Church and the Rushian brethren? Things were somewhat strained in Red. The local captain of the Paladins maintains a separation from the Church, but there is a Priest of Rush in the Temple of the Five. But the Church of Rush does have separate agents who are not coordinated with the rest of them, necessarily. Vidan probes; it doesn’t seem to be a serious concern for her.

==Other Visitors==

Stella gets a note from Carol.

A guy with a dog says hello to Diomarche and asks why he’s in town. It’s that Red Mage with the dog Vakla, even if he doesn’t look the same ([[Bran]]).

Well he’s in town to keep an eye on Richard, is he in town for that? Maybe, there’s an unspecified threat. Unspecified, that’s… helpful.

“There are slith in town,” says Managaratha, “if you can find them. I’m Managaratha, have we met?” He’s a good tracker, he can probably find Slith.

Diomarche brings him up to date on the Breaker’s plans, and renews the talk-to-Bran-by-pricking-his-finger spell that had expired.

Diomarche and Nesh are in the stables. Nesh is shaken awake by Thistle. “What do you people want?” We heard she was in town. “Usually there’s something that needs stealing, or is going to be stolen, but the Thieves’ Guild is silent. There’s probably suitor presents, but there’s nothing on the street about anything specific.” Something occurs to Nesh– Managaratha had mentioned he could analyze why she’s here. They could go talk to him. “Must we?” “Well, he can potentially find out why she’s here…”

Managaratha analyzes TiRinian’s spell. She’s here to see if she can find the thing that was stolen in the Centurion’s Household before it gets used. It’s already stolen, well, okay. She can spend a few nights casing the joint to figure that out. Scout asks if she wants to come meet the Centurion? “No. Why would I want that? They’d see me, they’d know my name, or at least my fake name.”

=The Next Day=
In the morning there’s a note, “The guards are good, if something was stolen it’s either someone very good or it’s an inside job.”

Vidan goes to the Temple and asks Valentino if he can speak to the Dead. Yes, he has some ability in that sphere. Connection to the Dead would be helpful– his name, where he died, his body. Vidan can get authorization, if that would be helpful? That would probably help persuade him to give him the information. Being there would be helpful except it’s holy ground to the Twins. If it’s been a few months, we can probably wait a week or so. Vidan can arrange authorization that will help with the holy ground issue, and arrange for teleportation.

Is there anything Vidan can do for Valentino? He can make miracles go off on Holy Ground without interference? Well, yes, though not subtly. He’ll think about that.

Diomarche stops by the Rush temple. He reports in and asks if they have any information about the Centurion’s household/court.
The Centurion is local head of government. She has two children who are just coming into their 20s; they are heirs to her House, House Horellan (“House Horellan!” says Tom), but not to the position of Centurion. That’s assigned by the nobles upon her death. She commands the Legion. She has an array of Captains and Sergeants in her Legion. It’s nearly exclusively infantry, but has a Mage corps, the head of which is Mario. She has a priest of the Goddess in her household, Carol, and no Priests of the Five, although she does consult with Angelina and Captain Antonio fairly regularly. They do think the local military is better trained than you might have thought from the guys at the gates, and they’re moderately active. She keeps it busy, either along the border to the north, or off into the desert to the east (bandits). She sometimes puts legionnaires onto boats to trick pirates into attacking.

Guildmaster Mikaeli is pushing hard to replace Lord Leopold (Isabella’s younger brother) as her consort. He’s been consort for two three-year terms. He would be the cinch if Lady Isabella was here, but she’s not, and it’s not clear how long she’ll be gone. Piotr is in the mix, which is surprising to them; he’s one of the local Saurian leaders, but the Saurians have not typically tried to move in on the political sphere that way. Richard IV is here and is a total wild card. Why would he be here, he’s not Vani at all. They’re not clear about the politics there. Lord Victor is the head of House Mikeli, he’s a Guildmaster, they don’t have dirt on him (or on anyone really for that matter). Of the four of them, they think Richard has the most military background, but he’s not from Vani, so… they’re not sure how to feel about that.

How do country turns work in Orange? Oh. Well. Vani, Rinyan and Kor all get draws fairly regularly. Their stats are not very fixed, and there’s a sub-game in which the three cities are fighting over the stats and what the draws are. THey blame Navere for this.

Purple gets a draw for the Military, which goes between Minister of War and the Head Stallion; the Church gets a draw which goes between Tam and Tem (and sometimes Balance?) and one for the Bureaucracy.

==Meeting the Centurion==
We’re on the list. It’s more like a large office than a throne room. There’s a line, there’s a large desk-y thing, people going up to it in order.
Nesh overhears a conversation from a Saurien inviting the Centurion to dinner at the Lord’s House tomorrow night.

We get to the front of the line, Vidan introduces us as the Middlesea Free Rangers, we give her the Tarn Evidence Packet including the Breaker’s Plots. She is happy to receive that, she inquires about Isabella, and Vidan conveys his knowledge of her. It’s not as impressive as the Foreign Minister in Purple, but she’s clearly good. Managaratha asks if it’s time to ask about stolen things; she raises an eye. Vidan leans in and says we’ve heard from the Goddess that something was taken that should be recovered before it is used.

People in the office are working, not chatting, but they’re polite. There’s some Orange magic going on, but not major. There’s something Goddess-y secret-keeping going on, that’s established and long-germ– it’s hard to get secrets out of this room, maybe.

Nesh looks around. This is a well-defended building, with more guards than most places. It would be hard to sneak in here, you’d need multiple good Stealth rolls in short succession, so you wouldn’t be able to rely on fortune. The guards have marked Nesh as particularly sketchy.

Managaratha calls Mario. He sets up an appointment for lunch tomorrow, at the Pig in a Top Hat.

==The Lord’s House==
More of a mansion than an office building, it’s set up a bit like a museum and is open to the public. Which is not standard for any of the other countries we’re from. There’s centuries-old furniture. Stella thinks some of it has been repaired or replaced over the years, but it’s all maintained to high quality. Not much wear an tear, it’s all expensive, and well-made. There are surprisingly few defenses, although maybe it’s hard to sell if you stole it? It’s not jewels, it’s very specific. The building itself is well-engineered, and it might be original for several hundred years. Scout thinks this building has schticks on it. Maybe Orange-ish, but not magic per se.

Managaratha talks to Piotr.

“I understand the Lord is missing?”

“That would imply that he is supposed to be here, and I am not certain that is true. If the Goddess wants you to look for him, then you may have more information on that than I do.”

“I am not sure that would be advisable with the Buccaneer.”

“Oh, very good, most people wouldn’t notice that.”

“I am the Keeper of the Lord’s House. But perhaps you would start at the Library.”

He doesn’t need any immediate assistance. He’d be willing to help us if there’s something specific we need.

We go to the Saurian Library, because Nesh thinks he’ll get help. Vidan does some research on the line of the Lords. The title is for the most powerful Orange mage. It is not genealogical; seems to be exclusively male, and always human, which is odd since Magic doesn’t work that way. The first did not have a name. The last one, listed about 100 years ago, went on a trip to Undisclosed Locations, and did not return. There was some discussion for a while whether it was time to pick a new one or not, how long do we give him to come back. How does the Lord get chosen? 10 successes with Succession Law and Research– does Vidan want to spend a DI? Yes. More than one DI? Yes. All right.

One is the Lord of Fire and Earth, in much the way that Nesh is the Buccaneer– the title just appears on you . There’s some discussion of likely candidates, but who the next one is has nothing to do with that. It just transfers to the next Lord. It has done so, multiple times (at least twice) since the Lord vanished 100 years ago. The current Lord of Fire and Earth is Carlo Picanti.

Nesh does some basic research. It was definitely the war they fought against each other. It seems unlikely that either side was the Breaker’s side; the war was the Breaker’s. The war did a lot of damage to the landscape; that’s when the landbridge between Kor and Kern was created, the New River was created.

Managaratha thinks about the names. The Lord Captain Commander. The Admiral. The Centurion is a title from that Comet. Then, there were titles and there were no names. That part of the mechanic doesn’t seem to be in effect now. Managaratha thinks it was more Purple magic than Nameless.

When we get back to the inn from the Commandant saying that Mario has had a dagger stolen, and a note from Leopold asking us to breakfast tomorrow.

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> + 10 EPs
<li> + 10 SPs
</ul>

Welcome to Vani

2025-10-26T21:31:57Z

Justom: /* Inside the Vani Gates */

=Back to the Present Time=
We are still tired from the previous Comet adventure. We take an evening’s rest before deciding to head to Vani to look for the Nearest Broken Plot.

We debate how to get there, having no boat. Could we borrow horses? What about joining a caravan?

Managaratha says enough of this, and does math (with help from Scout)! He teleports us to “halfway” to our destination. Bamf, we’re somewhere in Orange. He does more calculations to find the final destination, and teleports us there. Bamf, we don’t move. Well that’s not right! He calculates again (again with help from Scout, although Scout thinks the math is wacky because it’s Orellian math), and teleports us to the halfway point. Then he does the calculations, and discovers the previous spot was where we wanted to be? He’s very confused, but one more teleport and brings us back to our first teleport location. Scout climbs a tree and finds a road.

Carol, who works in the Centurion’s household, is the biggest Goddess priest in the city. The Centurion is like the Mayor, typically a noble, but not necessarily, who is selected by the nobles and Guild masters. The current Centurion is a noble.

There are Guards at the gate. They ask our business. Vidan says we’re traveling, we’re here to get rooms. They seem to not care much, and wave us through. They wave a metal wand thing over us, it beeps and they seem surprised we have quite so many magic items on us. There are some Orange spells on the walls, Scout notes.

=Inside the Vani Gates=
We go to the Temple district, looking for the Goddess temple.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m Stella, I serve the Goddess, largely in Rinyan.”

“Oh, what brings you to Vani?”

“The Goddess told me there was a Broken plot here that needed fixing.“

The priest’s name is Lucy. (That’s more of a Red name.)

“The thing everyone is paying attention to is who the Centurion is going to take as a spouse for the next few years, since her current spousal contract has expired.

“Carol is taking point on that, yes. If there’s a Broken plot involved with that, I expect Carol would notice it.”

Vidan goes to the Church of the Five. He authorizes himself to go in and then goes in. Is there a priest? There is, Valentino, a priest of the Nameless. Vidan introduces himself as Vidan of Zheldat, with the Middlesea Free Rangers. He wanted to check in as how things stand with the Temple, as he is in town for a few days. They are pleased to see another Priest of the Five. Are there not many? “The city is divided among its loyalty to the Gods; our neighbors to the north do not have the same difficulties.” Vidan gives him a Tarn evidence packet, and hopes for an introduction to the Centurion. Angelina, the priest of Navere, would likely be able to make that introduction.

8 successes on an Int roll to suss out the politics of the Church. Possibly Valentino outranks Angelina, possibly he has more DI. Vidan’s 12 DI

Scout notes that building over there is holy to Spirits. Ooh! He might have to check it out. A tall, older gentleman answers the door. “Hello, I’m Scout!” “Yes I see that. Would you like to come in?” Scout does, and has tea.

“It would be awkward for me to travel to Yellow, but if you need help in keeping that Spirit tethered to the world, I would try to help with that.”

“I have heard about that Spirit. It was near here for a long time, a long time ago.”

“My understanding from what I read is that was difficult for it to be part of two Zones, so they moved it. After they made the Zones, as I understand the timeline. They made the Zones, and it spent the duration between Comets dealing with the difficulty of that, and then it was moved in the Comet after that.”

“We are not as appreciated as the Churches are, but no one will… well, maybe the Church of Rush… but mostly no one will try to accuse you of heresy here, or at least not one with the force of Law behind it. There are not many spirits in the area.”

Scout says we’re here hunting Broken plots, is there anything odd he’s noticed? No. Hmm, okay.

If we want Orange magic in particular, we probably want to talk to Mario or Piotr. Mario is the Centurion’s Orange Mage. Piotr’s a saurian who keeps the Lord’s house. The Lord of Earth and Fire? Yes, that is the person whose house it is. But no one using that title has been residing in the House since before Waldron was born.

Scout tells Waldron about the goblins-Breaking-Spirits plans, and that definitely concerns him. He can certainly keep an eye on things here and make sure none of them get Broken. He thinks that finding out how they’re being connected to Brokenness, and then having them stay out of the Broken Lands for a few weeks should do it. He’ll think about it. Possibly other Spirits could help? They have some relationships.

Waldron says he’ll be able to get in touch with Scout’s friend if he needs to. Okay then. If Scout wanted to learn more about Warlocks, is there somewhere he should go? No. Huh. Well, okay then.

Stella asks for a recommendation for an inn– the Steaming Cauldron is the one most people visiting the District. It has centaur accommodations, which is slightly unusual. She sends a note to Carol that we’ll be there.

We re-convene at the inn.

=In Search of Broken Plots=
Stella decides to Bring It, and finds out what needs Fixing in Vani. 19 Successes with 15 DI.

<ul>
<li> There’s the thing you were originally coming to fix
<li> There’s the Slith thing.
<li> There’s the fact that the Lord of Earth and Fire is missing.
<li> It would be good to get Guildmistress Isabella back, when you can, but don’t go rushing to break Middlesea to fix that.
<li> Thistle’s in town, you might be able to get information from her.
<li> It would be good for the Centurion to have a partner who is Good, not Junky.
</ul>

Okay then.

Managaratha calls Thistle on her cell phone. She is snoring. He wakes her up by shouting at her. She says go away. He says let’s meet at the Steaming Cauldron.

Vidan goes to talk to Isabella. “Ah, you must be Vidan. Valentino said you would be stopping by.” He wishes to be introduced to the Centurion. Does he want it to be a private interview, or to be presented to her? She doesn’t hold court, per se. Making the contact is good. Ah, okay then. A solo interview, or with his companions? With companions would be good. Is he planning to introduce a suitor? Vidan feigns ignorance, and she explains. He mentions the Broken plot, and diplomatically wonders if there is a candidate who should be avoided? It’s unlikely that any of the suitors are Bent or Broken, although possibly someone in their retinue. But some of the candidates

The Church has no official position, although Isabella feels either Lord Viktor or Lord Leopold would be preferable to Piotr or Richard (son of King Richard). An alliance with Richard would see some resources going towards Red, rather than staying internal. Though she doesn’t think any of those are particularly likely to be Bent or Broken. Unlike in the succession plot we encountered in Red, there have been no assassinations to date. It would be difficult to assassinate the Centurion, it would be less difficult to assassinate the suitors, except maybe Lord Victor.

The Five are not treated with the reverence they are due, but they are respected. Is the Centurion crowned? She is both the Ruler and the General. Vidan strategically (and charmingly) rolls his eyes to see if that elicits a response. She is the only General in Orange that Isabella is aware of. The others don’t have Generals, but they also don’t have Rulers so much either. Vani historically has had more Rulers and fewer Merchants, but also they are closer to Red and its influence, and the fact that they are ruled by Kings rather than Merchants.

Vidan asks how things stand between the Church and the Rushian brethren? Things were somewhat strained in Red. The local captain of the Paladins maintains a separation from the Church, but there is a Priest of Rush in the Temple of the Five. But the Church of Rush does have separate agents who are not coordinated with the rest of them, necessarily. Vidan probes; it doesn’t seem to be a serious concern for her.

==Other Visitors==

Stella gets a note from Carol.

A guy with a dog says hello to Diomarche and asks why he’s in town. It’s that Red Mage with the dog Vakla, even if he doesn’t look the same ([[Bran]]).

Well he’s in town to keep an eye on Richard, is he in town for that? Maybe, there’s an unspecified threat. Unspecified, that’s… helpful.

“There are slith in town,” says Managaratha, “if you can find them. I’m Managaratha, have we met?” He’s a good tracker, he can probably find Slith.

Diomarche brings him up to date on the Breaker’s plans, and renews the talk-to-him spell that had expired.

Diomarche and Nesh are in the stables. Nesh is shaken awake by Thistle. “What do you people want?” We heard she was in town. “Usually there’s something that needs stealing, or is going to be stolen, but the Thieves’ Guild is silent. There’s probably suitor presents, but there’s nothing on the street about anything specific.” Something occurs to Nesh– Managaratha had mentioned he could analyze why she’s here. They could go talk to him. “Must we?” “Well, he can potentially find out why she’s here…”

Managaratha analyzes TiRinian’s spell. She’s here to see if she can find the thing that was stolen in the Centurion’s Household before it gets used. It’s already stolen, well, okay. She can spend a few nights casing the joint to figure that out. Scout asks if she wants to come meet the Centurion? “No. Why would I want that? THey’d see me, they’d know my name, or at least my fake name.”

=The Next Day=
In the morning there’s a note, “The guards are good, if something was stolen it’s either someone very good or it’s an inside job.”

Vidan goes to the Temple and asks Valentino if he can speak to the Dead. Yes, he has some ability in that sphere. Connection to the Dead would be helpful– his name, where he died, his body. Vidan can get authorization, if that would be helpful? That would probably help persuade him to give him the information. Being there would be helpful except it’s holy ground to the Twins. If it’s been a few months, we can probably wait a week or so. Vidan can arrange authorization that will help with the holy ground issue, and arrange for teleportation.

Is there anything Vidan can do for Valentino? He can make miracles go off on Holy Ground without interference? Well, yes, though not subtly. He’ll think about that.

Diomarche stops by the Rush temple. He reports in and asks if they have any information about the Centurion’s household/court.
The Centurion is local head of government. She has two children who are just coming into their 20s; they are heirs to her House, House Horellan (“House Horellan!” says Tom), but not to the position of Centurion. That’s assigned by the nobles upon her death. She commands the Legion. She has an array of Captains and Sergeants in her Legion. It’s nearly exclusively infantry, but has a Mage corps, the head of which is Mario. She has a priest of the Goddess in her household, Carol, and no Priests of the Five, although she does consult with Angelina and Captain Antonio fairly regularly. They do think the local military is better trained than you might have thought from the guys at the gates, and they’re moderately active. She keeps it busy, either along the border to the north, or off into the desert to the east (bandits). She sometimes puts legionnaires onto boats to trick pirates into attacking.

Guildmaster Mikaeli is pushing hard to replace Lord Leopold (Isabella’s younger brother) as her consort. He’s been consort for two three-year terms. He would be the cinch if Lady Isabella was here, but she’s not, and it’s not clear how long she’ll be gone. Piotr is in the mix, which is surprising to them; he’s one of the local Saurian leaders, but the Saurians have not typically tried to move in on the political sphere that way. Richard IV is here and is a total wild card. Why would he be here, he’s not Vani at all. They’re not clear about the politics there. Lord Victor is the head of House Mikeli, he’s a Guildmaster, they don’t have dirt on him (or on anyone really for that matter). Of the four of them, they think Richard has the most military background, but he’s not from Vani, so… they’re not sure how to feel about that.

How do country turns work in Orange? Oh. Well. Vani, Rinyan and Kor all get draws fairly regularly. Their stats are not very fixed, and there’s a sub-game in which the three cities are fighting over the stats and what the draws are. THey blame Navere for this.

Purple gets a draw for the Military, which goes between Minister of War and the Head Stallion; the Church gets a draw which goes between Tam and Tem (and sometimes Balance?) and one for the Bureaucracy.

==Meeting the Centurion==
We’re on the list. It’s more like a large office than a throne room. There’s a line, there’s a large desk-y thing, people going up to it in order.
Nesh overhears a conversation from a Saurien inviting the Centurion to dinner at the Lord’s House tomorrow night.

We get to the front of the line, Vidan introduces us as the Middlesea Free Rangers, we give her the Tarn Evidence Packet including the Breaker’s Plots. She is happy to receive that, she inquires about Isabella, and Vidan conveys his knowledge of her. It’s not as impressive as the Foreign Minister in Purple, but she’s clearly good. Managaratha asks if it’s time to ask about stolen things; she raises an eye. Vidan leans in and says we’ve heard from the Goddess that something was taken that should be recovered before it is used.

People in the office are working, not chatting, but they’re polite. There’s some Orange magic going on, but not major. There’s something Goddess-y secret-keeping going on, that’s established and long-germ– it’s hard to get secrets out of this room, maybe.

Nesh looks around. This is a well-defended building, with more guards than most places. It would be hard to sneak in here, you’d need multiple good Stealth rolls in short succession, so you wouldn’t be able to rely on fortune. The guards have marked Nesh as particularly sketchy.

Managaratha calls Mario. He sets up an appointment for lunch tomorrow, at the Pig in a Top Hat.

==The Lord’s House==
More of a mansion than an office building, it’s set up a bit like a museum and is open to the public. Which is not standard for any of the other countries we’re from. There’s centuries-old furniture. Stella thinks some of it has been repaired or replaced over the years, but it’s all maintained to high quality. Not much wear an tear, it’s all expensive, and well-made. There are surprisingly few defenses, although maybe it’s hard to sell if you stole it? It’s not jewels, it’s very specific. The building itself is well-engineered, and it might be original for several hundred years. Scout thinks this building has schticks on it. Maybe Orange-ish, but not magic per se.

Managaratha talks to Piotr.

“I understand the Lord is missing?”

“That would imply that he is supposed to be here, and I am not certain that is true. If the Goddess wants you to look for him, then you may have more information on that than I do.”

“I am not sure that would be advisable with the Buccaneer.”

“Oh, very good, most people wouldn’t notice that.”

“I am the Keeper of the Lord’s House. But perhaps you would start at the Library.”

He doesn’t need any immediate assistance. He’d be willing to help us if there’s something specific we need.

We go to the Saurian Library, because Nesh thinks he’ll get help. Vidan does some research on the line of the Lords. The title is for the most powerful Orange mage. It is not genealogical; seems to be exclusively male, and always human, which is odd since Magic doesn’t work that way. The first did not have a name. The last one, listed about 100 years ago, went on a trip to Undisclosed Locations, and did not return. There was some discussion for a while whether it was time to pick a new one or not, how long do we give him to come back. How does the Lord get chosen? 10 successes with Succession Law and Research– does Vidan want to spend a DI? Yes. More than one DI? Yes. All right.

One is the Lord of Fire and Earth, in much the way that Nesh is the Buccaneer– the title just appears on you . There’s some discussion of likely candidates, but who the next one is has nothing to do with that. It just transfers to the next Lord. It has done so, multiple times (at least twice) since the Lord vanished 100 years ago. The current Lord of Fire and Earth is Carlo Picanti.

Nesh does some basic research. It was definitely the war they fought against each other. It seems unlikely that either side was the Breaker’s side; the war was the Breaker’s. The war did a lot of damage to the landscape; that’s when the landbridge between Kor and Kern was created, the New River was created.

Managaratha thinks about the names. The Lord Captain Commander. The Admiral. The Centurion is a title from that Comet. Then, there were titles and there were no names. That part of the mechanic doesn’t seem to be in effect now. Managaratha thinks it was more Purple magic than Nameless.

When we get back to the inn from the Commandant saying that Mario has had a dagger stolen, and a note from Leopold asking us to breakfast tomorrow.

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> + 10 EPs
<li> + 10 SPs
</ul>

Tales of Comets Past

2025-10-25T21:46:34Z

Justom: /* Reconnaissance */

Tom: “If we run into people who are as big as we were at the end of the last run, we’re in trouble.”

=Recovery and Recognition=

“So, how’d it go?”, asks Ritasi.

We are all here, and all very tired. Some of us are down stats, though the Cult of Allan can fix the stats. Non-blood damage is also healed.

After some brief discussion, we go back to Stella’s temple for rest, and plan a spa day the next day.

Overnight, nothing happens. We are glad for the rest. In the morning, someone teleports in.

As it turns out, it’s Weythran!

“It is an honor to meet you all.”

Managaratha recognizes him. “How much time do you have?” “I have a few things to do here before I return.”

“I have to bring you somewhere, somewhen. Gale, you’ll need to leave your map here.”

“I can see several of you are quite weary. I don’t want to unduly tax you.”

It turns out he wants to bring us to 500-600 years after his time– which would be around the Dispersal of Magics comet. Hmm. Well, it’s not immediately pressing, because it was so long ago, so we have our spa day before going towards.

Weythran notices the Oasis miracle on us, and decides maybe he can afford to take a look at what’s going on with the Brokenness.
It looks to him like we’re on the outskirts of the Oasis. It should have us in an extradimensional space, but there’s something Five-y that’s keeping us here– at least most of the time.

He thinks about the Breaker’s Avatar. The Gods move more in meta-time than in time. The Breaker’s Avatar is in No Time, but if you provide him with meta-time access, he will be able to take advantage of it. So if we go back in with a very very specific plan that doesn’t use much meta-time, we might not give the Breaker’s Avatar as much response time.

=Reconnaissance=
Weythran tells us the mission: we’re going to make sure that Sunny (Selene) and Charlemagne are able to create Gale’s map.

We go to the past! We’re in a swamp (Weythran introduces it as Shumash - it is a homeland to the Nameless and Spirits). The comet is larger than anyone has seen. It’s larger than the sun, even.

We all have:
<ul>
<li> +5 to all stats
<li> Double skill for anything you have more than 1 level
<li> A bonus schtick:
<ul>
<li> Managaratha: What’s going on? Find a note in your pocket.
<li> Gale: Half suppression fields against your magic.
<li> Vidan: Needed Change: the Gods can invoke a change
<li> Nesh: Nikolai’s Heir
<li> Scout: Strengthen Spirit: Give DI to spirits
<li> Stella: I’ve Got You– use as a reaction when someone fails a death check
<li> Diomarche: Yet Another Set of Hit Points
</ul>
</ul>

“This place is great!” –Scout

We all make our survival rolls. Scout analyzes the ecology. It’s remarkably deadly. It’s also reminiscent of Green, in that there is magic feeding into the ecology. Or maybe DI or something. There are many Green-magic useful plants. There’s a giant hole in the ecology a few miles away, where it’s not a swamp or anything else. Well that doesn’t seem good.

We head through the swamp. Scout notices a big spirit-y thing shielded by stuff. Vidan thinks we’re going in the direction of what needs to be Witnessed. There’s a house.

Managaratha thinks that right now the Heroes of the Comet are off doing their big ritual to… Destroy? Disperse? Move? the Rainbow River.

The hut is surrounded by all six colors (grey is Yellow and black is Purple), with a big “And Stay Out.” Stela thinks we need to hold out for 3 Rounds.

We flank out to defend the Hut. Nesh charges forwards to engage with the named badguy. The slith swings at him, and cuts through the spells, and all the Shamanistic miracles on/near him go poof.

“Um, that’s the Spirit Slayer.” – Managaratha
“Aiya!” – Scout

Gale zaps some of the mooks.

Scout can’t see the Spirit Slayer, because his spirit won’t look at it. “Break it.”

After some trampling and shooting, Spirit Slayer starts to fleet under hiding, and Gale knocks him down. People shout to get someone to take him down further.

The slith close on the walls Managaratha has been building and start taking them down.

We finish wiping the slith mooks; Spirit Slayer has used Die with Style to be gone.

Char talks to Weythran - no walls near the ritual. They block the connection to the magic water heads going up.

The orc wave is pretty fast.

Gale says it's 2 out of 4.

A ninja sneaks onto the board - between Gale's "show broken on the map" and Scout's perception, the unseelie is damaged enough that it goes down when it takes out an orange block.

Diomarche draws a fake hut.
"That's what you did with my action? No more for you!" -Vidan

Round 3 continues

==Round 4==

A bunch of guys show up. A saurian comes up and kills them all, and they explode.

"You wanted me! I am here! What do you want me for?"

The Goddess (Stella), Orellian (Weythran), Rush (Diomarche), Twins (Nivad) come forward.

Greetings, eldest.

That is not an answer.

It is past your time.

I have no children yet.

Rush: You have some little time yet, but soon you will become the enemy.

He really should start having kids next comet. He can go one more. He did go one more, don't mess that up.
"Your Godlinesses, please give him next comet, it works really well that way." - Managaratha, having read the note in his pocket.

Twins: Time is not immutable, but it is a thing even you must abide by.

Orellian: Your people grow strong again. If you continue to guide them as you have, they will never cease being children.

Nikolai: I waited twenty-five thousand years. I can wait a thousand more.

Goddess: You waited that long to have children. It is time to have children.

Nikolai: Not until they will be safe.

Rush: No one is ever safe, Nikolai. But we agree, they need to be strong. We have given you this extra time that your companions did not get. And another (looking at Managaratha). But you must be ready to go by the time the next Comet is in the sky again.

Nikolai: I must be?

Twins: If you are not, you will destroy your children. (teleports Nesh forward)

Nesh: "What's the point of magic resistance if the Gods can still teleport you?"

Nikolai comes and looks at Nesh. How far?

Orellian: He is from three Comets from now, assuming you have children.

Nikolai: Very well, I have heard you. I will make a decision. He walks off, and after a few steps seems to vanish.

Shortly after, this turns into Red zone, though it is still holy to the Nameless and the Spirits.

(Managaratha gets 23 successes detecting magic on the magic items. He thinks that magic items tend to have smaller effects between comets, and some might seem like they’re not magic at all.)

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> +20 SPs
<li> 1 Creation Point on stats
<li> Drow Loot
<ul>
<li> Ring: a rack of 10 successes of spells difficulty 10 or less. Trigger is settable– going unconscious, speed roll, whatever. All spells triggered at once.
<li> Wand: 10 Magic dice, can be used on Orange spells, over the course of a day. (Like fortune dice.) Replenishes at sunrise.
<li> Rainbow cloak: provides 5 ranks of Rainbow Mage for protection for learning colors in the old way. Not entirely clear how that works for people born in the Zones. But it probably is just bonus magic for Managaratha.
</ul>
<li> Forest goblin Loot
<ul>
<li> Magic belt: Dodge pool!
</ul>
<li> Unseelie Loot
<ul>
<li> +2 dagger (x5 damage)
<li> slippers of quieter move: Yellow silence, give you a “cannot be heard” schtick. 15-20 successes anti-hearing. May not work in Purple.
</ul>
<li> Slith Loot
<ul>
<li> 12 +1 non-magic daggers
</ul>
<li> Orc Loot
<ul>
<li> 15 Shields with shield skill in them. (5 or 6 skill)
</ul>

Welcome to Vani

2025-10-25T21:41:14Z

Justom: /* Inside the Vani Gates */

=Back to the Present Time=
We are still tired from the previous Comet adventure. We take an evening’s rest before deciding to head to Vani to look for the Nearest Broken Plot.

We debate how to get there, having no boat. Could we borrow horses? What about joining a caravan?

Managaratha says enough of this, and does math (with help from Scout)! He teleports us to “halfway” to our destination. Bamf, we’re somewhere in Orange. He does more calculations to find the final destination, and teleports us there. Bamf, we don’t move. Well that’s not right! He calculates again (again with help from Scout, although Scout thinks the math is wacky because it’s Orellian math), and teleports us to the halfway point. Then he does the calculations, and discovers the previous spot was where we wanted to be? He’s very confused, but one more teleport and brings us back to our first teleport location. Scout climbs a tree and finds a road.

Carol, who works in the Centurion’s household, is the biggest Goddess priest in the city. The Centurion is like the Mayor, typically a noble, but not necessarily, who is selected by the nobles and Guild masters. The current Centurion is a noble.

There are Guards at the gate. They ask our business. Vidan says we’re traveling, we’re here to get rooms. They seem to not care much, and wave us through. They wave a metal wand thing over us, it beeps and they seem surprised we have quite so many magic items on us. There are some Orange spells on the walls, Scout notes.

=Inside the Vani Gates=
We go to the Temple district, looking for the Goddess temple.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m Stella, I serve the Goddess, largely in Rinyan.”

“Oh, what brings you to Vani?”

“The Goddess told me there was a Broken plot here that needed fixing.“

The priest’s name is Lucy. (That’s more of a Red name.)

“The thing everyone is paying attention to is who the Centurion is going to take as a spouse for the next few years, since her current spousal contract has expired.

“Carol is taking point on that, yes. If there’s a Broken plot involved with that, I expect Carol would notice it.”

Vidan goes to the Church of the Five. He authorizes himself to go in and then goes in. Is there a priest? There is, Valentino, a priest of the Nameless. Vidan introduces himself as Vidan of Zheldat, with the Middlesea Free Rangers. He wanted to check in as how things stand with the Temple, as he is in town for a few days. They are pleased to see another Priest of the Five. Are there not many? “The city is divided among its loyalty to the Gods; our neighbors to the north do not have the same difficulties.” Vidan gives him a Tarn evidence packet, and hopes for an introduction to the Centurion. Angelina, the priest of Navere, would likely be able to make that introduction.

8 successes on an Int roll to suss out the politics of the Church. Possibly Valentino outranks Angelina, possibly he has more DI. Vidan’s 12 DI

Scout notes that building over there is holy to Spirits. Ooh! He might have to check it out. A tall, older gentleman answers the door. “Hello, I’m Scout!” “Yes I see that. Would you like to come in?” Scout does, and has tea.

“It would be awkward for me to travel to Yellow, but if you need help in keeping that Spirit tethered to the world, I would try to help with that.”

“I have heard about that Spirit.
It was near here for a long time, a long time ago.”

“My understanding from what I read is that was difficult for it to be part of two Zones, so they moved it. After they made the Zones, as I understand the timeline. They made the Zones, and it spent the duration between Comets dealing with the difficulty of that, and then it was moved in the Comet after that.”

“We are not as appreciated as the Churches are, but no one will… well, maybe the Church of Rush… but mostly no one will try to accuse you of heresy here, or at least not one with the force of Law behind it. There are not many spirits in the area.”

Scout says we’re here hunting Broken plots, is there anything odd he’s noticed? No. Hmm, okay.

If we want Orange magic in particular, we probably want to talk to Mario or Piotr. Mario is the Centurion’s Orange Mage. Piotr’s a saurien who keeps the Lord’s house. The Lord of Earth and Fire? Yes, that is the person whose house it is. But no one using that title has been residing in the House since before Waldron was born.

Scout tells Waldron about the goblins-Breaking-Spirits plans, and that definitely concerns him. He can certainly keep an eye on things here and make sure none of them get Broken. He thinks that finding out how they’re being connected to Brokenness, and then having them stay out of the Broken Lands for a few weeks should do it. He’ll think about it. Possibly other Spirits could help? They have some relationships.

Waldron says he’ll be able to get in touch with Scout’s friend if he needs to. Okay then. If Scout wanted to learn more about Warlocks, is there somewhere he should go? No. Huh. Well, okay then.

Stella asks for a recommendation for an inn– the Steaming Cauldron is the one most people visiting the District. It has centaur accommodations, which is slightly unusual. She sends a note to Carol that we’ll be there.

We re-convene at the inn.

=In Search of Broken Plots=
Stella decides to Bring It, and finds out what needs Fixing in Vani. 19 Successes with 15 DI.

<ul>
<li> There’s the thing you were originally coming to fix
<li> There’s the Slith thing.
<li> There’s the fact that the Lord of Earth and Fire is missing.
<li> It would be good to get Guildmistress Isabella back, when you can, but don’t go rushing to break Middlesea to fix that.
<li> Thistle’s in town, you might be able to get information from her.
<li> It would be good for the Centurion to have a partner who is Good, not Junky.
</ul>

Okay then.

Managaratha calls Thistle on her cell phone. She is snoring. He wakes her up by shouting at her. She says go away. He says let’s meet at the Steaming Cauldron.

Vidan goes to talk to Isabella. “Ah, you must be Vidan. Valentino said you would be stopping by.” He wishes to be introduced to the Centurion. Does he want it to be a private interview, or to be presented to her? She doesn’t hold court, per se. Making the contact is good. Ah, okay then. A solo interview, or with his companions? With companions would be good. Is he planning to introduce a suitor? Vidan feigns ignorance, and she explains. He mentions the Broken plot, and diplomatically wonders if there is a candidate who should be avoided? It’s unlikely that any of the suitors are Bent or Broken, although possibly someone in their retinue. But some of the candidates

The Church has no official position, although Isabella feels either Lord Viktor or Lord Leopold would be preferable to Piotr or Richard (son of King Richard). An alliance with Richard would see some resources going towards Red, rather than staying internal. Though she doesn’t think any of those are particularly likely to be Bent or Broken. Unlike in the succession plot we encountered in Red, there have been no assassinations to date. It would be difficult to assassinate the Centurion, it would be less difficult to assassinate the suitors, except maybe Lord Victor.

The Five are not treated with the reverence they are due, but they are respected. Is the Centurion crowned? She is both the Ruler and the General. Vidan strategically (and charmingly) rolls his eyes to see if that elicits a response. She is the only General in Orange that Isabella is aware of. The others don’t have Generals, but they also don’t have Rulers so much either. Vani historically has had more Rulers and fewer Merchants, but also they are closer to Red and its influence, and the fact that they are ruled by Kings rather than Merchants.

Vidan asks how things stand between the Church and the Rushian brethren? Things were somewhat strained in Red. The local captain of the Paladins maintains a separation from the Church, but there is a Priest of Rush in the Temple of the Five. But the Church of Rush does have separate agents who are not coordinated with the rest of them, necessarily. Vidan probes; it doesn’t seem to be a serious concern for her.

==Other Visitors==

Stella gets a note from Carol.

A guy with a dog says hello to Diomarche and asks why he’s in town. It’s that Red Mage with the dog Vakla, even if he doesn’t look the same ([[Bran]]).

Well he’s in town to keep an eye on Richard, is he in town for that? Maybe, there’s an unspecified threat. Unspecified, that’s… helpful.

“There are slith in town,” says Managaratha, “if you can find them. I’m Managaratha, have we met?” He’s a good tracker, he can probably find Slith.

Diomarche brings him up to date on the Breaker’s plans, and renews the talk-to-him spell that had expired.

Diomarche and Nesh are in the stables. Nesh is shaken awake by Thistle. “What do you people want?” We heard she was in town. “Usually there’s something that needs stealing, or is going to be stolen, but the Thieves’ Guild is silent. There’s probably suitor presents, but there’s nothing on the street about anything specific.” Something occurs to Nesh– Managaratha had mentioned he could analyze why she’s here. They could go talk to him. “Must we?” “Well, he can potentially find out why she’s here…”

Managaratha analyzes TiRinian’s spell. She’s here to see if she can find the thing that was stolen in the Centurion’s Household before it gets used. It’s already stolen, well, okay. She can spend a few nights casing the joint to figure that out. Scout asks if she wants to come meet the Centurion? “No. Why would I want that? THey’d see me, they’d know my name, or at least my fake name.”

=The Next Day=
In the morning there’s a note, “The guards are good, if something was stolen it’s either someone very good or it’s an inside job.”

Vidan goes to the Temple and asks Valentino if he can speak to the Dead. Yes, he has some ability in that sphere. Connection to the Dead would be helpful– his name, where he died, his body. Vidan can get authorization, if that would be helpful? That would probably help persuade him to give him the information. Being there would be helpful except it’s holy ground to the Twins. If it’s been a few months, we can probably wait a week or so. Vidan can arrange authorization that will help with the holy ground issue, and arrange for teleportation.

Is there anything Vidan can do for Valentino? He can make miracles go off on Holy Ground without interference? Well, yes, though not subtly. He’ll think about that.

Diomarche stops by the Rush temple. He reports in and asks if they have any information about the Centurion’s household/court.
The Centurion is local head of government. She has two children who are just coming into their 20s; they are heirs to her House, House Horellan (“House Horellan!” says Tom), but not to the position of Centurion. That’s assigned by the nobles upon her death. She commands the Legion. She has an array of Captains and Sergeants in her Legion. It’s nearly exclusively infantry, but has a Mage corps, the head of which is Mario. She has a priest of the Goddess in her household, Carol, and no Priests of the Five, although she does consult with Angelina and Captain Antonio fairly regularly. They do think the local military is better trained than you might have thought from the guys at the gates, and they’re moderately active. She keeps it busy, either along the border to the north, or off into the desert to the east (bandits). She sometimes puts legionnaires onto boats to trick pirates into attacking.

Guildmaster Mikaeli is pushing hard to replace Lord Leopold (Isabella’s younger brother) as her consort. He’s been consort for two three-year terms. He would be the cinch if Lady Isabella was here, but she’s not, and it’s not clear how long she’ll be gone. Piotr is in the mix, which is surprising to them; he’s one of the local Saurian leaders, but the Saurians have not typically tried to move in on the political sphere that way. Richard IV is here and is a total wild card. Why would he be here, he’s not Vani at all. They’re not clear about the politics there. Lord Victor is the head of House Mikeli, he’s a Guildmaster, they don’t have dirt on him (or on anyone really for that matter). Of the four of them, they think Richard has the most military background, but he’s not from Vani, so… they’re not sure how to feel about that.

How do country turns work in Orange? Oh. Well. Vani, Rinyan and Kor all get draws fairly regularly. Their stats are not very fixed, and there’s a sub-game in which the three cities are fighting over the stats and what the draws are. THey blame Navere for this.

Purple gets a draw for the Military, which goes between Minister of War and the Head Stallion; the Church gets a draw which goes between Tam and Tem (and sometimes Balance?) and one for the Bureaucracy.

==Meeting the Centurion==
We’re on the list. It’s more like a large office than a throne room. There’s a line, there’s a large desk-y thing, people going up to it in order.
Nesh overhears a conversation from a Saurien inviting the Centurion to dinner at the Lord’s House tomorrow night.

We get to the front of the line, Vidan introduces us as the Middlesea Free Rangers, we give her the Tarn Evidence Packet including the Breaker’s Plots. She is happy to receive that, she inquires about Isabella, and Vidan conveys his knowledge of her. It’s not as impressive as the Foreign Minister in Purple, but she’s clearly good. Managaratha asks if it’s time to ask about stolen things; she raises an eye. Vidan leans in and says we’ve heard from the Goddess that something was taken that should be recovered before it is used.

People in the office are working, not chatting, but they’re polite. There’s some Orange magic going on, but not major. There’s something Goddess-y secret-keeping going on, that’s established and long-germ– it’s hard to get secrets out of this room, maybe.

Nesh looks around. This is a well-defended building, with more guards than most places. It would be hard to sneak in here, you’d need multiple good Stealth rolls in short succession, so you wouldn’t be able to rely on fortune. The guards have marked Nesh as particularly sketchy.

Managaratha calls Mario. He sets up an appointment for lunch tomorrow, at the Pig in a Top Hat.

==The Lord’s House==
More of a mansion than an office building, it’s set up a bit like a museum and is open to the public. Which is not standard for any of the other countries we’re from. There’s centuries-old furniture. Stella thinks some of it has been repaired or replaced over the years, but it’s all maintained to high quality. Not much wear an tear, it’s all expensive, and well-made. There are surprisingly few defenses, although maybe it’s hard to sell if you stole it? It’s not jewels, it’s very specific. The building itself is well-engineered, and it might be original for several hundred years. Scout thinks this building has schticks on it. Maybe Orange-ish, but not magic per se.

Managaratha talks to Piotr.

“I understand the Lord is missing?”

“That would imply that he is supposed to be here, and I am not certain that is true. If the Goddess wants you to look for him, then you may have more information on that than I do.”

“I am not sure that would be advisable with the Buccaneer.”

“Oh, very good, most people wouldn’t notice that.”

“I am the Keeper of the Lord’s House. But perhaps you would start at the Library.”

He doesn’t need any immediate assistance. He’d be willing to help us if there’s something specific we need.

We go to the Saurian Library, because Nesh thinks he’ll get help. Vidan does some research on the line of the Lords. The title is for the most powerful Orange mage. It is not genealogical; seems to be exclusively male, and always human, which is odd since Magic doesn’t work that way. The first did not have a name. The last one, listed about 100 years ago, went on a trip to Undisclosed Locations, and did not return. There was some discussion for a while whether it was time to pick a new one or not, how long do we give him to come back. How does the Lord get chosen? 10 successes with Succession Law and Research– does Vidan want to spend a DI? Yes. More than one DI? Yes. All right.

One is the Lord of Fire and Earth, in much the way that Nesh is the Buccaneer– the title just appears on you . There’s some discussion of likely candidates, but who the next one is has nothing to do with that. It just transfers to the next Lord. It has done so, multiple times (at least twice) since the Lord vanished 100 years ago. The current Lord of Fire and Earth is Carlo Picanti.

Nesh does some basic research. It was definitely the war they fought against each other. It seems unlikely that either side was the Breaker’s side; the war was the Breaker’s. The war did a lot of damage to the landscape; that’s when the landbridge between Kor and Kern was created, the New River was created.

Managaratha thinks about the names. The Lord Captain Commander. The Admiral. The Centurion is a title from that Comet. Then, there were titles and there were no names. That part of the mechanic doesn’t seem to be in effect now. Managaratha thinks it was more Purple magic than Nameless.

When we get back to the inn from the Commandant saying that Mario has had a dagger stolen, and a note from Leopold asking us to breakfast tomorrow.

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> + 10 EPs
<li> + 10 SPs
</ul>

Welcome to Vani

2025-10-25T21:40:40Z

Justom: Created page with "=Back to the Present Time= We are still tired from the previous Comet adventure. We take an evening’s rest before deciding to head to Vani to look for the Nearest Broken Plot. We debate how to get there, having no boat. Could we borrow horses? What about joining a caravan? Managaratha says enough of this, and does math (with help from Scout)! He teleports us to “halfway” to our destination. Bamf, we’re somewhere in Orange. He does more calculations to fin..."

=Back to the Present Time=
We are still tired from the previous Comet adventure. We take an evening’s rest before deciding to head to Vani to look for the Nearest Broken Plot.

We debate how to get there, having no boat. Could we borrow horses? What about joining a caravan?

Managaratha says enough of this, and does math (with help from Scout)! He teleports us to “halfway” to our destination. Bamf, we’re somewhere in Orange. He does more calculations to find the final destination, and teleports us there. Bamf, we don’t move. Well that’s not right! He calculates again (again with help from Scout, although Scout thinks the math is wacky because it’s Orellian math), and teleports us to the halfway point. Then he does the calculations, and discovers the previous spot was where we wanted to be? He’s very confused, but one more teleport and brings us back to our first teleport location. Scout climbs a tree and finds a road.

Carol, who works in the Centurion’s household, is the biggest Goddess priest in the city. The Centurion is like the Mayor, typically a noble, but not necessarily, who is selected by the nobles and Guild masters. The current Centurion is a noble.

There are Guards at the gate. They ask our business. Vidan says we’re traveling, we’re here to get rooms. They seem to not care much, and wave us through. They wave a metal wand thing over us, it beeps and they seem surprised we have quite so many magic items on us. There are some Orange spells on the walls, Scout notes.

=Inside the Vani Gates=
We go to the Temple district, looking for the Goddess temple.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m Stella, I serve the Goddess, largely in Rinyan.”

“Oh, what brings you to Vani?”

“The Goddess told me there was a Broken candidate“

The priest’s name is Lucy. (That’s more of a Red name.)

“The thing everyone is paying attention to is who the Centurion is going to take as a spouse for the next few years, since her current spousal contract has expired.

“Carol is taking point on that, yes. If there’s a Broken plot involved with that, I expect Carol would notice it.”

Vidan goes to the Church of the Five. He authorizes himself to go in and then goes in. Is there a priest? There is, Valentino, a priest of the Nameless. Vidan introduces himself as Vidan of Zheldat, with the Middlesea Free Rangers. He wanted to check in as how things stand with the Temple, as he is in town for a few days. They are pleased to see another Priest of the Five. Are there not many? “The city is divided among its loyalty to the Gods; our neighbors to the north do not have the same difficulties.” Vidan gives him a Tarn evidence packet, and hopes for an introduction to the Centurion. Angelina, the priest of Navere, would likely be able to make that introduction.

8 successes on an Int roll to suss out the politics of the Church. Possibly Valentino outranks Angelina, possibly he has more DI. Vidan’s 12 DI

Scout notes that building over there is holy to Spirits. Ooh! He might have to check it out. A tall, older gentleman answers the door. “Hello, I’m Scout!” “Yes I see that. Would you like to come in?” Scout does, and has tea.

“It would be awkward for me to travel to Yellow, but if you need help in keeping that Spirit tethered to the world, I would try to help with that.”

“I have heard about that Spirit.
It was near here for a long time, a long time ago.”

“My understanding from what I read is that was difficult for it to be part of two Zones, so they moved it. After they made the Zones, as I understand the timeline. They made the Zones, and it spent the duration between Comets dealing with the difficulty of that, and then it was moved in the Comet after that.”

“We are not as appreciated as the Churches are, but no one will… well, maybe the Church of Rush… but mostly no one will try to accuse you of heresy here, or at least not one with the force of Law behind it. There are not many spirits in the area.”

Scout says we’re here hunting Broken plots, is there anything odd he’s noticed? No. Hmm, okay.

If we want Orange magic in particular, we probably want to talk to Mario or Piotr. Mario is the Centurion’s Orange Mage. Piotr’s a saurien who keeps the Lord’s house. The Lord of Earth and Fire? Yes, that is the person whose house it is. But no one using that title has been residing in the House since before Waldron was born.

Scout tells Waldron about the goblins-Breaking-Spirits plans, and that definitely concerns him. He can certainly keep an eye on things here and make sure none of them get Broken. He thinks that finding out how they’re being connected to Brokenness, and then having them stay out of the Broken Lands for a few weeks should do it. He’ll think about it. Possibly other Spirits could help? They have some relationships.

Waldron says he’ll be able to get in touch with Scout’s friend if he needs to. Okay then. If Scout wanted to learn more about Warlocks, is there somewhere he should go? No. Huh. Well, okay then.

Stella asks for a recommendation for an inn– the Steaming Cauldron is the one most people visiting the District. It has centaur accommodations, which is slightly unusual. She sends a note to Carol that we’ll be there.

We re-convene at the inn.

=In Search of Broken Plots=
Stella decides to Bring It, and finds out what needs Fixing in Vani. 19 Successes with 15 DI.

<ul>
<li> There’s the thing you were originally coming to fix
<li> There’s the Slith thing.
<li> There’s the fact that the Lord of Earth and Fire is missing.
<li> It would be good to get Guildmistress Isabella back, when you can, but don’t go rushing to break Middlesea to fix that.
<li> Thistle’s in town, you might be able to get information from her.
<li> It would be good for the Centurion to have a partner who is Good, not Junky.
</ul>

Okay then.

Managaratha calls Thistle on her cell phone. She is snoring. He wakes her up by shouting at her. She says go away. He says let’s meet at the Steaming Cauldron.

Vidan goes to talk to Isabella. “Ah, you must be Vidan. Valentino said you would be stopping by.” He wishes to be introduced to the Centurion. Does he want it to be a private interview, or to be presented to her? She doesn’t hold court, per se. Making the contact is good. Ah, okay then. A solo interview, or with his companions? With companions would be good. Is he planning to introduce a suitor? Vidan feigns ignorance, and she explains. He mentions the Broken plot, and diplomatically wonders if there is a candidate who should be avoided? It’s unlikely that any of the suitors are Bent or Broken, although possibly someone in their retinue. But some of the candidates

The Church has no official position, although Isabella feels either Lord Viktor or Lord Leopold would be preferable to Piotr or Richard (son of King Richard). An alliance with Richard would see some resources going towards Red, rather than staying internal. Though she doesn’t think any of those are particularly likely to be Bent or Broken. Unlike in the succession plot we encountered in Red, there have been no assassinations to date. It would be difficult to assassinate the Centurion, it would be less difficult to assassinate the suitors, except maybe Lord Victor.

The Five are not treated with the reverence they are due, but they are respected. Is the Centurion crowned? She is both the Ruler and the General. Vidan strategically (and charmingly) rolls his eyes to see if that elicits a response. She is the only General in Orange that Isabella is aware of. The others don’t have Generals, but they also don’t have Rulers so much either. Vani historically has had more Rulers and fewer Merchants, but also they are closer to Red and its influence, and the fact that they are ruled by Kings rather than Merchants.

Vidan asks how things stand between the Church and the Rushian brethren? Things were somewhat strained in Red. The local captain of the Paladins maintains a separation from the Church, but there is a Priest of Rush in the Temple of the Five. But the Church of Rush does have separate agents who are not coordinated with the rest of them, necessarily. Vidan probes; it doesn’t seem to be a serious concern for her.

==Other Visitors==

Stella gets a note from Carol.

A guy with a dog says hello to Diomarche and asks why he’s in town. It’s that Red Mage with the dog Vakla, even if he doesn’t look the same ([[Bran]]).

Well he’s in town to keep an eye on Richard, is he in town for that? Maybe, there’s an unspecified threat. Unspecified, that’s… helpful.

“There are slith in town,” says Managaratha, “if you can find them. I’m Managaratha, have we met?” He’s a good tracker, he can probably find Slith.

Diomarche brings him up to date on the Breaker’s plans, and renews the talk-to-him spell that had expired.

Diomarche and Nesh are in the stables. Nesh is shaken awake by Thistle. “What do you people want?” We heard she was in town. “Usually there’s something that needs stealing, or is going to be stolen, but the Thieves’ Guild is silent. There’s probably suitor presents, but there’s nothing on the street about anything specific.” Something occurs to Nesh– Managaratha had mentioned he could analyze why she’s here. They could go talk to him. “Must we?” “Well, he can potentially find out why she’s here…”

Managaratha analyzes TiRinian’s spell. She’s here to see if she can find the thing that was stolen in the Centurion’s Household before it gets used. It’s already stolen, well, okay. She can spend a few nights casing the joint to figure that out. Scout asks if she wants to come meet the Centurion? “No. Why would I want that? THey’d see me, they’d know my name, or at least my fake name.”

=The Next Day=
In the morning there’s a note, “The guards are good, if something was stolen it’s either someone very good or it’s an inside job.”

Vidan goes to the Temple and asks Valentino if he can speak to the Dead. Yes, he has some ability in that sphere. Connection to the Dead would be helpful– his name, where he died, his body. Vidan can get authorization, if that would be helpful? That would probably help persuade him to give him the information. Being there would be helpful except it’s holy ground to the Twins. If it’s been a few months, we can probably wait a week or so. Vidan can arrange authorization that will help with the holy ground issue, and arrange for teleportation.

Is there anything Vidan can do for Valentino? He can make miracles go off on Holy Ground without interference? Well, yes, though not subtly. He’ll think about that.

Diomarche stops by the Rush temple. He reports in and asks if they have any information about the Centurion’s household/court.
The Centurion is local head of government. She has two children who are just coming into their 20s; they are heirs to her House, House Horellan (“House Horellan!” says Tom), but not to the position of Centurion. That’s assigned by the nobles upon her death. She commands the Legion. She has an array of Captains and Sergeants in her Legion. It’s nearly exclusively infantry, but has a Mage corps, the head of which is Mario. She has a priest of the Goddess in her household, Carol, and no Priests of the Five, although she does consult with Angelina and Captain Antonio fairly regularly. They do think the local military is better trained than you might have thought from the guys at the gates, and they’re moderately active. She keeps it busy, either along the border to the north, or off into the desert to the east (bandits). She sometimes puts legionnaires onto boats to trick pirates into attacking.

Guildmaster Mikaeli is pushing hard to replace Lord Leopold (Isabella’s younger brother) as her consort. He’s been consort for two three-year terms. He would be the cinch if Lady Isabella was here, but she’s not, and it’s not clear how long she’ll be gone. Piotr is in the mix, which is surprising to them; he’s one of the local Saurian leaders, but the Saurians have not typically tried to move in on the political sphere that way. Richard IV is here and is a total wild card. Why would he be here, he’s not Vani at all. They’re not clear about the politics there. Lord Victor is the head of House Mikeli, he’s a Guildmaster, they don’t have dirt on him (or on anyone really for that matter). Of the four of them, they think Richard has the most military background, but he’s not from Vani, so… they’re not sure how to feel about that.

How do country turns work in Orange? Oh. Well. Vani, Rinyan and Kor all get draws fairly regularly. Their stats are not very fixed, and there’s a sub-game in which the three cities are fighting over the stats and what the draws are. THey blame Navere for this.

Purple gets a draw for the Military, which goes between Minister of War and the Head Stallion; the Church gets a draw which goes between Tam and Tem (and sometimes Balance?) and one for the Bureaucracy.

==Meeting the Centurion==
We’re on the list. It’s more like a large office than a throne room. There’s a line, there’s a large desk-y thing, people going up to it in order.
Nesh overhears a conversation from a Saurien inviting the Centurion to dinner at the Lord’s House tomorrow night.

We get to the front of the line, Vidan introduces us as the Middlesea Free Rangers, we give her the Tarn Evidence Packet including the Breaker’s Plots. She is happy to receive that, she inquires about Isabella, and Vidan conveys his knowledge of her. It’s not as impressive as the Foreign Minister in Purple, but she’s clearly good. Managaratha asks if it’s time to ask about stolen things; she raises an eye. Vidan leans in and says we’ve heard from the Goddess that something was taken that should be recovered before it is used.

People in the office are working, not chatting, but they’re polite. There’s some Orange magic going on, but not major. There’s something Goddess-y secret-keeping going on, that’s established and long-germ– it’s hard to get secrets out of this room, maybe.

Nesh looks around. This is a well-defended building, with more guards than most places. It would be hard to sneak in here, you’d need multiple good Stealth rolls in short succession, so you wouldn’t be able to rely on fortune. The guards have marked Nesh as particularly sketchy.

Managaratha calls Mario. He sets up an appointment for lunch tomorrow, at the Pig in a Top Hat.

==The Lord’s House==
More of a mansion than an office building, it’s set up a bit like a museum and is open to the public. Which is not standard for any of the other countries we’re from. There’s centuries-old furniture. Stella thinks some of it has been repaired or replaced over the years, but it’s all maintained to high quality. Not much wear an tear, it’s all expensive, and well-made. There are surprisingly few defenses, although maybe it’s hard to sell if you stole it? It’s not jewels, it’s very specific. The building itself is well-engineered, and it might be original for several hundred years. Scout thinks this building has schticks on it. Maybe Orange-ish, but not magic per se.

Managaratha talks to Piotr.

“I understand the Lord is missing?”

“That would imply that he is supposed to be here, and I am not certain that is true. If the Goddess wants you to look for him, then you may have more information on that than I do.”

“I am not sure that would be advisable with the Buccaneer.”

“Oh, very good, most people wouldn’t notice that.”

“I am the Keeper of the Lord’s House. But perhaps you would start at the Library.”

He doesn’t need any immediate assistance. He’d be willing to help us if there’s something specific we need.

We go to the Saurian Library, because Nesh thinks he’ll get help. Vidan does some research on the line of the Lords. The title is for the most powerful Orange mage. It is not genealogical; seems to be exclusively male, and always human, which is odd since Magic doesn’t work that way. The first did not have a name. The last one, listed about 100 years ago, went on a trip to Undisclosed Locations, and did not return. There was some discussion for a while whether it was time to pick a new one or not, how long do we give him to come back. How does the Lord get chosen? 10 successes with Succession Law and Research– does Vidan want to spend a DI? Yes. More than one DI? Yes. All right.

One is the Lord of Fire and Earth, in much the way that Nesh is the Buccaneer– the title just appears on you . There’s some discussion of likely candidates, but who the next one is has nothing to do with that. It just transfers to the next Lord. It has done so, multiple times (at least twice) since the Lord vanished 100 years ago. The current Lord of Fire and Earth is Carlo Picanti.

Nesh does some basic research. It was definitely the war they fought against each other. It seems unlikely that either side was the Breaker’s side; the war was the Breaker’s. The war did a lot of damage to the landscape; that’s when the landbridge between Kor and Kern was created, the New River was created.

Managaratha thinks about the names. The Lord Captain Commander. The Admiral. The Centurion is a title from that Comet. Then, there were titles and there were no names. That part of the mechanic doesn’t seem to be in effect now. Managaratha thinks it was more Purple magic than Nameless.

When we get back to the inn from the Commandant saying that Mario has had a dagger stolen, and a note from Leopold asking us to breakfast tomorrow.

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> + 10 EPs
<li> + 10 SPs
</ul>

Main Page

2025-10-25T21:37:21Z

Justom: /* Chapter 4: [title of chapter] */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# [[Welcome to Vani]] (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-10-25 (4.9), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 368 EPs
* 511 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

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Tales of Comets Past

2025-10-25T21:35:23Z

Justom: Created page with "Tom: “If we run into people who are as big as we were at the end of the last run, we’re in trouble.” =Recovery and Recognition= “So, how’d it go?”, asks Ritasi. We are all here, and all very tired. Some of us are down stats, though the Cult of Allan can fix the stats. Non-blood damage is also healed. After some brief discussion, we go back to Stella’s temple for rest, and plan a spa day the next day. Overnight, nothing happens. We are glad for the r..."

Tom: “If we run into people who are as big as we were at the end of the last run, we’re in trouble.”

=Recovery and Recognition=

“So, how’d it go?”, asks Ritasi.

We are all here, and all very tired. Some of us are down stats, though the Cult of Allan can fix the stats. Non-blood damage is also healed.

After some brief discussion, we go back to Stella’s temple for rest, and plan a spa day the next day.

Overnight, nothing happens. We are glad for the rest. In the morning, someone teleports in.

As it turns out, it’s Weythran!

“It is an honor to meet you all.”

Managaratha recognizes him. “How much time do you have?” “I have a few things to do here before I return.”

“I have to bring you somewhere, somewhen. Gale, you’ll need to leave your map here.”

“I can see several of you are quite weary. I don’t want to unduly tax you.”

It turns out he wants to bring us to 500-600 years after his time– which would be around the Dispersal of Magics comet. Hmm. Well, it’s not immediately pressing, because it was so long ago, so we have our spa day before going towards.

Weythran notices the Oasis miracle on us, and decides maybe he can afford to take a look at what’s going on with the Brokenness.
It looks to him like we’re on the outskirts of the Oasis. It should have us in an extradimensional space, but there’s something Five-y that’s keeping us here– at least most of the time.

He thinks about the Breaker’s Avatar. The Gods move more in meta-time than in time. The Breaker’s Avatar is in No Time, but if you provide him with meta-time access, he will be able to take advantage of it. So if we go back in with a very very specific plan that doesn’t use much meta-time, we might not give the Breaker’s Avatar as much response time.

=Reconnaissance=
Weythran tells us the mission: we’re going to make sure that Sunny (Selene) and Charlemagne are able to create Gale’s map.

We go to the past! We’re in a swamp (Weythran introduces it as Shumash - it is a homeland to the Nameless and Spirits). The comet is larger than anyone has seen. It’s larger than the sun, even.

We all have:
<ul>
<li> +5 to all stats
<li> Double skill for anything you have more than 1 level
<li> Managaratha: What’s going on? Find a note in your pocket.
<li> Gale: Half suppression fields against your magic.
<li> Vidan: Needed Change: the Gods can invoke a change
<li> Nesh: Nikolai’s Heir
<li> Scout: Strengthen Spirit: Give DI to spirits
<li> Stella: I’ve Got You– use as a reaction when someone fails a death check
<li> Diomarche: Yet Another Set of Hit Points
</ul>

“This place is great!” –Scout

We all make our survival rolls. Scout analyzes the ecology. It’s remarkably deadly. It’s also reminiscent of Green, in that there is magic feeding into the ecology. Or maybe DI or something. There are many Green-magic useful plants. There’s a giant hole in the ecology a few miles away, where it’s not a swamp or anything else. Well that doesn’t seem good.

We head through the swamp. Scout notices a big spirit-y thing shielded by stuff. Vidan thinks we’re going in the direction of what needs to be Witnessed. There’s a house.

Managaratha thinks that right now the Heroes of the Comet are off doing their big ritual to… Destroy? Disperse? Move? the Rainbow River.

The hut is surrounded by all six colors (grey is Yellow and black is Purple), with a big “And Stay Out.” Stela thinks we need to hold out for 3 Rounds.

We flank out to defend the Hut. Nesh charges forwards to engage with the named badguy. The slith swings at him, and cuts through the spells, and all the Shamanistic miracles on/near him go poof.

“Um, that’s the Spirit Slayer.” – Managaratha
“Aiya!” – Scout

Gale zaps some of the mooks.

Scout can’t see the Spirit Slayer, because his spirit won’t look at it. “Break it.”

After some trampling and shooting, Spirit Slayer starts to fleet under hiding, and Gale knocks him down. People shout to get someone to take him down further.

The slith close on the walls Managaratha has been building and start taking them down.

We finish wiping the slith mooks; Spirit Slayer has used Die with Style to be gone.

Char talks to Weythran - no walls near the ritual. They block the connection to the magic water heads going up.

The orc wave is pretty fast.

Gale says it's 2 out of 4.

A ninja sneaks onto the board - between Gale's "show broken on the map" and Scout's perception, the unseelie is damaged enough that it goes down when it takes out an orange block.

Diomarche draws a fake hut.
"That's what you did with my action? No more for you!" -Vidan

Round 3 continues

==Round 4==

A bunch of guys show up. A saurian comes up and kills them all, and they explode.

"You wanted me! I am here! What do you want me for?"

The Goddess (Stella), Orellian (Weythran), Rush (Diomarche), Twins (Nivad) come forward.

Greetings, eldest.

That is not an answer.

It is past your time.

I have no children yet.

Rush: You have some little time yet, but soon you will become the enemy.

He really should start having kids next comet. He can go one more. He did go one more, don't mess that up.
"Your Godlinesses, please give him next comet, it works really well that way." - Managaratha, having read the note in his pocket.

Twins: Time is not immutable, but it is a thing even you must abide by.

Orellian: Your people grow strong again. If you continue to guide them as you have, they will never cease being children.

Nikolai: I waited twenty-five thousand years. I can wait a thousand more.

Goddess: You waited that long to have children. It is time to have children.

Nikolai: Not until they will be safe.

Rush: No one is ever safe, Nikolai. But we agree, they need to be strong. We have given you this extra time that your companions did not get. And another (looking at Managaratha). But you must be ready to go by the time the next Comet is in the sky again.

Nikolai: I must be?

Twins: If you are not, you will destroy your children. (teleports Nesh forward)

Nesh: "What's the point of magic resistance if the Gods can still teleport you?"

Nikolai comes and looks at Nesh. How far?

Orellian: He is from three Comets from now, assuming you have children.

Nikolai: Very well, I have heard you. I will make a decision. He walks off, and after a few steps seems to vanish.

Shortly after, this turns into Red zone, though it is still holy to the Nameless and the Spirits.

(Managaratha gets 23 successes detecting magic on the magic items. He thinks that magic items tend to have smaller effects between comets, and some might seem like they’re not magic at all.)

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> +20 SPs
<li> 1 Creation Point on stats
<li> Drow Loot
<ul>
<li> Ring: a rack of 10 successes of spells difficulty 10 or less. Trigger is settable– going unconscious, speed roll, whatever. All spells triggered at once.
<li> Wand: 10 Magic dice, can be used on Orange spells, over the course of a day. (Like fortune dice.) Replenishes at sunrise.
<li> Rainbow cloak: provides 5 ranks of Rainbow Mage for protection for learning colors in the old way. Not entirely clear how that works for people born in the Zones. But it probably is just bonus magic for Managaratha.
</ul>
<li> Forest goblin Loot
<ul>
<li> Magic belt: Dodge pool!
</ul>
<li> Unseelie Loot
<ul>
<li> +2 dagger (x5 damage)
<li> slippers of quieter move: Yellow silence, give you a “cannot be heard” schtick. 15-20 successes anti-hearing. May not work in Purple.
</ul>
<li> Slith Loot
<ul>
<li> 12 +1 non-magic daggers
</ul>
<li> Orc Loot
<ul>
<li> 15 Shields with shield skill in them. (5 or 6 skill)
</ul>

Main Page

2025-10-25T21:27:34Z

Justom: /* Chapter 4: [title of chapter] */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comets Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# Run 4.9 (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-10-25 (4.9), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 368 EPs
* 511 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]
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Main Page

2025-10-25T21:27:26Z

Justom: /* Chapter 4: [title of chapter] */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23
# [[Tales of Comet Past]] (aka Breakerversary!), (in Orange and ShuMash), 2025-10-11
# Run 4.9 (in Vani in Orange), 2025-10-25

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-10-25 (4.9), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 368 EPs
* 511 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

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The Endurance of Memory

2025-10-25T21:25:12Z

Justom: Created page with "=Pre-Ritual Puttering= Gail and Diomarche bamf in. Hail, hail, the gang’s all here! Hmm. It seems early for Chapter End. Vidan Gail looks at the map! The X is in the area just north of the mountains northwest of Rinyan. Vidan communes with the map so he can teleport to the X on the map. We head back to Rinyan, to Stella’s shrine. Scout ponders Spirits in Orange– they tend to take qualities of the land around them, so they are more likely to be earth and f..."

=Pre-Ritual Puttering=

Gail and Diomarche bamf in. Hail, hail, the gang’s all here! Hmm. It seems early for Chapter End.

Vidan Gail looks at the map! The X is in the area just north of the mountains northwest of Rinyan. Vidan communes with the map so he can teleport to the X on the map.

We head back to Rinyan, to Stella’s shrine. Scout ponders Spirits in Orange– they tend to take qualities of the land around them, so they are more likely to be earth and fire than the Spirits in Green. They’re not specifically tied to Magic, so there will still be Tree spirits, but maybe not as many in Green. There could be a spirit of Merchanting, or Making? But that’s not so much about it being the Orange Zone, and more about the environment in general.

We sleep! Nothing seems to happen.

=The Ritual=
We go to the Cult of Al’an, and Leonardo sees us in. Vidan spends a DI.

We find ourselves on a mostly featureless plain. Huh. Oh. We bet we’ve forgotten what happened. Scout looks around, and sees a whole mess of Miracles and Magic over there. We’re standing on a Goddess area. Middlesea (the spirit) is over that way. Interesting.

Stella has spent 3 DI; Vidan 1; Diomarche 5. Stella asks the Goddess what needs Fixing, for one DI– we’re here to fix the Broken Miracle on us. We’re in stage 1. Vidan looks at the ritual space over there– we need to pull the mess over there and put it on the grid in the space. Red is Rush, Blue is Navere,

Managaratha looks for Magic. There is definitely Magic. Kind of like there’s a sky. Huh. He looks at himself– he definitely has a Detect Magic up. (Managaratha is not the platonic ideal of Managaratha, though).

Vidan draws a box. It’s Red for Rush. He changes it into a Blue for Navere square. He puts it on a Blue square. It gets a little black box on top of that– that’s the Breaker. Oh dear.

Nesh pulls an Oasis square (yellow). He puts it on yellow, and our space gets smaller. More isolated, okay. Diomarche draws an Oasis square, and puts it on Black. Oasis on Black. THe space doesn’t get smaller, but we all lose 1 Move. Hrm. Scout thinks the Oasis energies tried to do the Oasis thing, and couldn’t do it right, so they zotted us instead.

Black things will only appear when Blue tiles are put down.

Stella draws a black/blue tile– that’s a big Blue spell, says Scout. She puts it on a Blue/Black square. We can now see further off the map. The

Managaratha draws Rush. He puts it on an Oasis square, on the theory that Rush and the Oasis could fight. The Oasis takes a hit on the Scoreboard, but now it’s paying attention.

Well now that it’s a battle, Gale thinks about hidden secrets in a fight. There won’t be any actual fights until we get to Stage 2. How hard the fights are will depend on how much attention we’ve drawn to ourselves and how much damage we’ve done is unclear. On reflection, we think it damaged the miracle on us, more than the Oasis itself. Although the Oasis is standing Right Over There.

She draws 4 and chooses 1– it’s the white snowflake, which is the Purple/Twins time stop. She puts it on a snowflake. Not much happens.

Diomarche recognizes the Red tile as being his schtick. Not all his DI– a bunch of Fivist DI was channeled into it.

Scout draws Purple/Time, and puts it on Purple/Time. Round 1 is done.

Vidan thinks he could Sanctify that

The demons (spiritbreaker fortress) are not yet paying attention; Middlesea is over there on the edge of the battlemap.

Scout draws Blue, and after some discussion, everyone takes 5 lightning damage no toughness.

Blue Magic on Oasis – -1 Strength and the Oasis lost more points.

=Stage 2!=
We’re on a square battlemap, it’s largely featureless.

There are five orc-shaped things. They seem to take about 35 points of damage before they get stacked on top of another one. Stella uses her cleansing schtick to pop one– she thinks they have 5 levels of DI resistance. When they attack Diomarche, he loses 5 of a substat (he picks CHA).

We pop the last one and the combat ends.

We go into the Time Stop square– we spend a night without sleep. The END cost begins to get painful.

We move on to Navere square two– combat again! The fourth END starts to take its toll.

There are five orc-shaped Brokenness and one goblin. Diomarche attacks and pops an orc. Scout shoots the Goblin, who does something magic which pushes him off the map into Time Stop. Bye, Free Rangers!

The orcs take 5 Substat points away from Diomarche and Nesh. Ouch.

Vidan summons Scout back. The orcs do a bunch of us some stat damage; Managaratha heals some. We shoot them all.

Diomarche converts the Blue Magic on the Oasis square to a Rush square– we enter it, and engage a combat between ‘paladins’ and ‘cataurs’. The cataurs do hit point damage and are mooks, so we mostly clean up.

In round 3 of Navere/Broken, there are two goblins and 7 orcs. The goblins punt Managaratha and Nesh into the adjacent square, which is the un-encountered Oasis/Oasis square. Stella brings down the Hammer and sanctifies most of the orcs and one of the goblins. Gale says “THEY ARE ON MY BATTLEMAP” and part of the wall between our square and the Oasis/Oasis square. There are a bunch of cataurs over there, so we go that way to fight them. We think that if we’re all in that square when the combat ends, we’ll have moved forward a square in the larger map. Eventually, we do that, and enter the final battle.

==Final Combat==
8 orcs, 2 goblins, and a slith. We’re all very tired. The slith goes first, and has both a mini-smite and some serious damage capability. Diomarche takes down a goblin, but they stack. The goblin punts Stella from the board, and Scout just barely hangs on. Vidan brings down his hammer, and that takes out everyone except the slith. The slith hits Nesh fairly hard, and then runs into the middle of the board and hides. Diomarche runs around the center of the board and finds the hex he’s hiding in. We finally corner and attack the slith.

The slith falls! We fall out of the ritual, and into the ritual room in the Cult of Al’an.

“How’d it go?” asks Ritasi, as the run ends.

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> +10 EPs
<li> +10 SPs
</ul>

Party Loot

2025-10-25T21:19:20Z

Justom: /* Items */

=Items=
* Blackjack, non-lethal, +10 damage (Scout)
* A necklace with a bottle of Holding 3 DI, shaman flavored (Scout)
* A bottle of Holding 5 DI, shaman flavored (Scout)
* +1 Charisma clothes, for everyone except Vidan. (Several have lost their buffs by the end of [[To The Heart]].)
* Dagger of Destruction ([[Gale]]): x4 damage, seems to have some way of compelling people to Stab Stab Stab
* A pair of Absconded Tongs (Gale): Stolen from poor normal people in Rin'yan.
* Adventuring Perfume (Gale): Dashing, sexy. From the Ministry of Lilacs.
* Orc Allergen Perfume: Makes orcs (half-orcs?) sneeze around us. From the Ministry of Lilacs.
* Magic Compass -- tuned to point at Nesh
* Necklace of Dodge Pool (Nesh)
* Feather with a Red/Yellow spell on it, from [[Suvatra]]
* 2 Necklaces from the time of The Lord and the Lady. 4 successes of Appraisal says they’re worth more for historical value than for their pure gold/gems value. Might be worth something to one of the Mages that was looking for something. (One is worn by Gale for fancy dress purposes)
* Scrolls in Melmani - orders to the sunken ship directing the captain to carry the treasure to somewhere in Orange. Army logistics orders, so this was some kind of military vessel of some kind. The loot being carried is to fund the Lady’s army on the mainland. There is a map to a hidden stash of stuff in Orange somewhere.
* Some roc feathers
* A bunch of pegasus feathers
* 1 Phoenix Feather
* Necklace of Tamish "Hide Me" schtick (? DI successes). (From half-orc assassin, 4.5.)
* 3 Blue Items with Army Schticks: 1 that lets a unit fly; 1 that gives a unit defense against Orange; 1 that gives an army unit more martial skill.
* An Army Unit worth of Uniforms from last comet (in the cache near Kor)
* An Army Unit worth of Medical Supplies (in the cache near Kor)
* <s>Ring of Yellow area-of-effect mods don't count (Diomarch)</s>. On loan to [[Suvatra]].
* <s>1 Perfect Pearl</s>. USED IN MERFOLK KINGDOM.
* Ring: a rack of 10 successes of spells difficulty 10 or less, from one person. Trigger is settable– going unconscious, speed roll, whatever. All spells triggered at once. The caster sets the trigger.
* Wand: 10 Magic dice, can be used on Orange spells, over the course of a day. (Like fortune dice.) Replenishes at sunrise. [Stella]
* Rainbow cloak: provides 5 ranks of Rainbow Mage for protection for learning colors in the old way. Not entirely clear how that works for people born in the Zones. But it probably is just bonus magic for Managaratha. [Managaratha]
* Magic belt: Dodge pool!
* +2 dagger (x5 damage) [Nesh]
* slippers of quieter move: Yellow silence, give you a “cannot be heard” schtick. 15-20 successes anti-hearing. May not work in Purple.
* 12 +1 non-magic daggers [3 Diomarche, 3 Nesh, 1 Scout]
* 15 Shields with shield skill in them. (5 or 6 skill) [1 to Diomarche]

=Cash (on the Barrelhead)=
* 3 Loot of Gold and Gems (from the cache we found in 4.6)
* 1 Loot of Random Stuff
* 1 Loot of Gold
* 1.5 Loot (for the second cataur boat)
* <s>1 Loot (pirated from the cataurs) (Spent in Melmane)</s>
* <s>A small bag of coins.</s> spent to teleport to Darstan.
* <s>A small bag of pearls (collected from the slith in Run Ten). Equivalent to 1/2 Loot.</s> Spent in Melmane.

Total: 6.5 Loot

Main Page

2025-10-25T21:09:44Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-10-25 (4.9), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 368 EPs
* 511 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
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Main Page

2025-10-25T21:09:02Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A [[Maharani]] Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-10-25 (4.9), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 358 EPs
* 511 SPs

Plus one additional Creation point on stats from Run 4.8.

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

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Talking to Trees

2025-10-25T19:14:19Z

Justom: /* At the Capital */

==Heading Back==
We start flying back towards the capital.

[[Stella]]'s uncle Carlo calls her - apparently he is a priest of Jord! We request a feasibility study. Stealing someone from Middlesea is something Jord might be able to help with. The Guild might be calling an election soon, so many people are done. He'll think about it and see if anyone has taken a serious look at it.

We are hit by a yellow surge of darkness just as Scout appears; Hmm. We persist, and it wears off after an hour.

We make it back to the priests, and we check in with them. Fire giant, huh. Okay.

We head back to the capital. “Let’s not go to the palace, okay?” asks Scout. People seem puzzled, but Scout continues “Because the [[Maharani]] will ask us ‘AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?’, and she’s terrifying.”

Vidan gets a note as we approach the capital. “There was a wave of assassinations in the Ministry of Redactions. The high priest of Tam, Sai Ko Ti, put together a ritual that revealed a bunch of the half-orcs in the capital, and they’ve either fled or been killed. He’s hopeful that the immediate danger from the half-orcs is under control, but the Ministry of Ramifications thinks that alerting you to the ongoing half-orc problem is probably helpful. ” A note thanks him for his efforts to direct Victoria in Red against the orcs rather than against Purple.

Vidan replies: “We did encounter half-orcs in Red, but none in Yellow thus far. We had success using the Ministry of Lilac’s tinctures to detect half-orcs.”

We tell Seph, the Blue mage, about the fire giant; he thinks he’s not doing anything about that.

==At the Capital==
Day 4 of flying, we get close to the capital. Two ravens fly to the boat - they turn into a guy and a dog. (WHO ARE THEY? The Red mage from [[To The Heart]], [[Bran]], and [[Vakla]] the dog)

The Lord Captain wants to know if there's any way to get Baron Vostok out before the whole thing goes down.

(Nesh is born in Red and from the Homelands, Scout divines. Nesh thinks the Homelands are the place sauriens come from, east of the Oasis? Nesh remembers that the sauriens he was eavesdropping on in Middlesea mentioned the Homelands. Hmm.)

Diomarch writes a report, and shares it with Bran.
Bran knew about the alliance with the merfolk; he has been to Blue and spoken with the Admiral. He doesn’t have as much information on the Mage. The information about the on-land fight with the slith is useful, and what the country turns out here are doing is useful. He’s supposed to speak with the local political leaders, if there are introductions that could be made…? We can probably do that.

Nesh chats about Red magic, as he is thinking about learning it.
Scout talks to Vakla about flying, etc. THere’s some discussion about whether Animal is a single language. Scout thinks that Nature thinks all Animals speak one language, but Essence says each animal species speaks its own language. Interesting…

We return to our rooms at the palace. There’s a letter for [[Gale]] from Nidari, a Servant of Life, saying that her brother Stephen is in the process of returning to Melmane. The letter has been forwarded on but will probably not get to him for some time. Scout gets a letter from Jabril, and he says he spoke to the priest whose name he gave me, and they’re supposed to be looking into it in Rinyan.

==Talking to the Tree==
We go to the Tree. The High Elf suggests getting rid of the Oasis miracle, which she could probably arrange. We ponder whether that’s going to be a problem. Vidan thinks that he could sanctify us out of the Oasis miracle, but that would bring the Oasis’ direct attention. A shaman miracle would probably be better? Scout thinks he could probably Scout/Find the Path away from the group a bit, but then we have to worry about the being-on-the-same battlemap issue.

Vidan, with help from Gale and Scout, comes up with a ritual to put Scout on an inset battlemap. He and Gale and Stella will be on the three corners, and there will be ritual rolls, and then Scout will need to escape without anyone seeing him.

The High elf will provide us with space, but reserves the right to veto Scout going to see the Tree if she thinks it’s a problem. “Oh good. Our rituals rarely have Quality Control Officers,” says Vidan.

They do the ritual, and Scout sneaks off. The High Elf doesn’t stop him, so he asks entrance, and spends a DI.

Inside there are a grove of Trees. There’s not anything obviously to talk to, but he’s obviously IN a Spirit. He spends a DI to stay connected to Middlesea. There’s Green here– more Essence and Nature than Alchemy. The Essence changed the Nature of the Spirit, in some way. The Nature is mostly just passplant-y sorts of things. The spirit has connection to the spirit hubs on the outside, and . There was someone Big who did this, making a big Green ritual, that changed its nature which still resonates, and also connected it to the trees outside it. The Essence change Scout is less clear on; the Nature change was more that it had a connection to the world in one place. Now it has lots of connections in lots of different places. They’re both at least hundreds of years old. THere’s more than one sigil on the green; none of them are ones Scout recognizes.

Scout introduces himself. Nothing happens for a minute or two, but then Middlesea says “Its connections to Jabar are difficult to maintain in a holy land, and are shrinking. A large enough either Green or Shaman ritual could strengthen it. De-holy-landing Jabar would be fine, but it would weaken Jabar against the Oasis, so maybe don’t do that, but it would work. Bringing it power from the heart of Green would work. There are probably other ways to help. A strong reality spell might help. Disentangling it from Melmane could help if it was only holding here and not beyond.”

Scout ponders. He asks whether it knows anything of the Oasis’ plans– is it just trying to grow? It doesn’t know, but growing is probably part of its plans. Looking around, Scout thinks a ritual here with 25 DI would work. A bunch of smaller rituals in the 5-10 range at each Tree would work. A Nature ritual could be done, but something on the similar power level. A Nature/DI ritual would work if you are long on skill and short on dice. (Don’t do that, seems to be the subtext.) Severing it from Melmane would be relatively easy. Connecting it to the Heart of Green would change its nature, as that would be far from defending against the Oasis. (The Grove is about 35 DI, ish?) A well-designed ritual with several people putting DI in will be worth 10 successes, or something. And then there’s the amount of DI being put in, and then there’s the number of successes to do the ritual.

Scout casts Detect Broken, to see if there’s anything wrong here; he sees something way over there oh crap that’s the Oasis, okay, bye! He escapes. It takes a few hours to re-connect with the party.

==Other Errands==
Diomache and Bran go to talk to Suvatra. She seems pleased to meet him, and will make some relevant introductions. Diomarch also tells her about the fire giant– THE WHAT?-- the fire giant. We didn’t approach. Probably wise.

Vidan tries to find out what fallout there was from the party. Well, Rani Dwalla did not get the blessing of the Lady of Life, so that’s good. As to the assassins, it appears that most of the agents there were trying to break or steal the goblet which provides the Goddess’ blessing. The exact reason for that is not clear to Suvatra, but that appears to have been their goal. They weren’t all working together– there were two thieves, trying to steal the chalice, and the poisoner, who was trying to break the chalice. Her poison would have made the chalice no longer holy. Those three have been disposed of. The priests who brought them in were, as far as anyone can tell, unaware of their plans. The politics of the Church, however, are not officially Suvatra’s business. So the Lady of Life will be resolving the issues with Life’s Servants. But as she presumably doesn’t want the chalice broken, she will presumably deal with it, as she is not incompetent (more’s the pity).

There have been no further attacks. Her Majesty is in the field again, along with her bodyguard. THe princesses and Suvatra are still plausible targets, but security has been enhanced. Lord Tongree has been informed, and presumably has increased his security. She’s not sure what the next target will be; probably not the Maharani herself while she’s in the field.

Vidan also mentions that we’re investigating the connection between Love and Feelings.

Diomarch shows Bran around, gives him some more information, and gets some Red spells put into his rack. A 3 success spell of passing a 3 sentence message to Vakla. A 4 success spell of grow wings. And 8 successes of Red Restore Body (touch), which will restore 4 Body that has been taken from someone. Won’t work as well against divine, but will work against non-Slith poison, magic drains, etc.

Scout talks to Messalina. She thinks that the big ritual is more Green than expected, she was thinking closer to the do-small-rituals-at-each-Tree step.

The band meets up with Ruprecht, and Scout points the way to the first step to a Phoenix feather in the mountains. It’s not to the feather itself, but the first step is near the mouth of the Great River. He gives distance and direction to Vidan, who teleports the group to a few hours travel from that location.

==Loot==
<ul>
<li> +6 EPs
<li> +10 SPs
</ul>

Rinyan Redux

2025-10-25T19:07:19Z

Justom: Created page with "=To Orange!= As Diomarche and Gale fade out, we are but five! But the Fivist doesn’ know what we’re doing. So we tell him we’re going to <s>Red</s> Orange, to find out about what’s wrong with Vidan, and to maybe do something about the new Broken miracle on us. Managaratha does math, makes us fly up into the air, and then teleports us over to somewhere over Orange. He does some Navigation to figure out more clearly where we are– Stella can confirm we’re i..."

=To Orange!=

As Diomarche and Gale fade out, we are but five! But the Fivist doesn’ know what we’re doing. So we tell him we’re going to <s>Red</s> Orange, to find out about what’s wrong with Vidan, and to maybe do something about the new Broken miracle on us.

Managaratha does math, makes us fly up into the air, and then teleports us over to somewhere over Orange. He does some Navigation to figure out more clearly where we are– Stella can confirm we’re in the Orange Zone. Mangaratha asks Stella for a good place to have lunch, and she describes a restaurant, so we teleport there. Or… at least somewhere in Rinyan. Oops.

Stella takes us to the Temple, so that we can make a plan. [[Meraldi]] and [[Diana]] are the two other Priests there; Meraldi is there when we arrive. She asks if we’re back back, or just dropping in. Stella asks what’s going on.

Cassandra’s probably a little ahead of Tivoli. if they got in a fight, but they’re mostly not actually fighting. There’s been a couple of incidents with Orange magic going off, but she doesn’t have a lot of info– the Guild is trying to keep it relatively quiet. (She thinks they found some cursed daggers that were found shortly after we found the one that Gale is carrying. There was an issue with some horseshoes? She doesn’t know a lot about that. And there was a third incident in Rinyan, that was cleaned up darn fast. There were incidents in other cities as well. The Guild seems to be on it.)

The Saurians are up to something, it’s pretty clear, but everyone else is looking at it and not finding out much about it. They’re particularly displeased about the people stuck in Middlesea– that seems to be the focus of whatever they’re upset about. “Victor, is who they’re upset about?” asks Stella. Yes, yes that’s it. The other churches are mostly quiet. The Guild is pushing for some help with the pirates (on the Inland side)

[As an aside, Scout ponders how Country Turns work with Zones. He’s confident that it’s not simply one draw per Zone– His Majesty gets a draw that’s separate from Her Majesty or Their Majesty. The Empire might get one draw, but they’re probably a bigger Country. Countries in Red might each get their own draw, but not all the time? Blue is madness, who can say, really.]

Vidan asks if there is a Church of Navere nearby– there is a church of the Five, and [[Rafael]] is a priest of Navere. ([[Mother Jess]], the head of the Church of Navere, is in King Richard’s Lands in [[Red]].) Rafael is probably a bit bigger than Vidan, and definitely more involved in the Church hierarchy. There is also a Church of Rush.

We update Meraldi on the Breaker’s Plan to Corrupt the Orange Zone, or as much as we know about it. Well that moves looking into Orange Magic strangeness up the list.

=Church of the Five=
Stella sends a message to [[Ritasi]] that the Middlesea Free Rangers would like to set up a meeting. Then Meraldi takes us to the Church of the Five, and Vidan spends a DI to authorize us to carry these Broken Miracles around. The Church is bigger than the shrine of the Goddess; it’s clearly actively supported by The Church, in a way that Stella’s shrine is really just the three of them. Meraldi asks [[Pablo]] (a priest of Orellian) if Rafael is around; he goes to get him. In a while Rafael shows up and greets us, and is interested in Vidan. Vidan says he’s getting the lay of the land in Orange, and also looking for a reliable Priest of Jord, and of the Nameless. Have we had issues with unreliable priests before? Well, maybe a bit, in Red. Are there other Imperial Priests of the Five? Not really, no. What drew Vidan to Navere? He starts to think about it and decides that it is treading close to his Vow not to look into his past.

Vidan explains that we’re looking for a Priest of the Nameless who can talk to the Dead, to find out an important Secret. How long dead? Three months– that’s possibly doable, though he doesn’t know anyone off-hand. As for Jord, we’re trying to steal someone out of Middlesea on behalf of the Maharani. Ah, well. To deal with royalty, you probably want someone who follows the Merchant face of Jord; to actually steal someone, you want a Priest of the Thief face or Jord. Finding someone to do both might be tricky. Carlo is certainly someone we could talk to about the latter…

Vidan, having done the public work, asks if he can speak in private for a few minutes, and feels out Father Rafael about internal Church politics, and the Priests of Rush.
The Paladins are less of a separate presence, though they do maintain an outpost, in case military issues arrive. He has concerns that the Church is unbalanced at present, but it’s not something he’s currently attempting to address. (Part of that is he doesn’t feel like he’s high enough in the hierarchy.) Vidan thinks Rafael has 7-10 DI, and is more focused on Governance than, say, Law or Justice. He feels part of his job is interfacing between the Guild and the Rinyan nobility (there is a Lord Rinyan, whose power is not as strong as he thinks might be appropriate. He seems to think that’s more of an imbalance between Navere and Jord rather than an imbalance between Navere and Rush. But that’s less the Church of Jord driving that imbalance.

Vidan gives him some info about how the Empire works, which Raphael finds interesting from a theoretical perspective. He seems to be more ecumenical than many, but then Orange is more ecumenical than most Zones.

Managaratha chats with Pablo, as the resident Priest of Orellian. Given that we have heard of Broken plots to mess with Orange and Yellow magic, we’re wondering if there is a way of consulting with Orellian for guidance. Pablo is fairly sure there are dangers to Magic this Comet, though he hadn’t know about Orange and Yellow in particular. It would be hard to find a priest of Orellian big enough to tell you about the Breaker’s Plans this Comet, so you might need a different approach.

Magic by its nature is chaotic and hard to control. That’s why spells have to be particular, it’s why awryage and burnout happens, etc. It’s not surprising that its nature is to change over time. And it’s not always the Breaker’s doing, e.g., the creation of Zones was done at the behest of the Church, or at least with the understanding of the Church. Change to Magic and attacks to Magic are certainly possible.

If this was a Comet focused on attacks on Magic, he would have expected to see more signs than he has by now. So maybe focusing on the local threats would be more useful. What is it Managaratha thinks is happening in Yellow? It seems that there’s a faction of the priest of the Goddess that is trying to take over Feelings Magic. Hmm. Pablo thinks the description sounds like that’s just Priests trying to gain power for their Goddess, and not necessarily Broken. But don’t let that stop Managaratha from defending Magic everywhere.

More discussion ensues. We tell him where we got the info about Orange– he’s curious about the “single Orange mage”. If it’s someone that big to mess with the whole Zone, they’re Terrifying. Maybe they have support from people who are hard to see? Priests, or Saurians (the latter would be more likely to be the Destruction of the Zone). Pablo can come up with a list of people who are powerful enough to maybe potentially be a threat on that scale. Managaratha thinks the stabby daggers is related to that. He can look into that.

“Do you know what was up with the horseshoes?” Scout asks.

“The horseshoes made the horses go extra fast, but destroyed the roads behind them.”

Should we go talk to Carlo? Well, he is a Crime Lord. A Crime Lord?!? We thought Stella was being overly dramatic. “Oh, no, he’s definitely a Crime Lord,” says Meraldi.

Scout asks Meraldi’s opinion about who to talk to about the Broken Miracle. Ritasi is the strongest Priest of the Goddess in Rinyan, but she doesn’t know his schticks. Leonardo is less likely to be able to do the ritual thing, but would likely be able to find someone to help. But Ritasi might be the actual right person.

When we get back to the Shrine, there’s a note saying that Ritasi will see us in the morning. So we ponder what we’re doing with the remains of the day.

=An Evening Out=
Nesh goes to the Saurian quarter, and asks around about where to learn about Saurian history. Has he been to the Library? There’s a library? Of Rinyan? No, the Saurian Library. Oh. No. He goes to check it out. “Can I help you?” Nesh explains that he was raised in the Rainbow Isles and

“Well you have to remember n hat Saurian culture was very much designed by the Elders when the race was reborn, and while it has evolved some since then, I would expect most clusters of Saurians are the result of two or three Elders moving to a place and starting a community.”

“Is there anywhere I can read about that culture?”

“Well there’s a great deal written about the Elders, you can read.”

“There’s more information about the Homelands– they’re there, but contact with them has been severely limited for… two Comets? And there is occasionally messages that go back and forth, but there hasn’t been regular contact for a long time. There is, in my opinion, information that’s somewhat more reliable than the information about the Elders. In part because the Elders valued their privacy in a way that the Homelands was just far away. Where do you want to start?”

Nesh says the Homelands. Okay, she brings him back to the stacks. What does he know already? Does he know the names of the Homelands? No. But he has 4 levels of KS:Saurians. Okay, that gives her a sense… let’s start with… “Karenina”

At the time the Homelands were opened and the rebirth occurred, none of the Elders seemed particularly religious. There were a bunch of humans in the Homelands as well, but the Saurians ruled by proxy. There were only about 100 Saurians at that time. They had a single religion of Birth, Life, and Death– faces of the Mother, Twins, and Nameless, specifically. Miracles mostly only happened within the relevant churches (on holy ground).

By the time the Rainbow River was scattered, the Homelands had a more standard version of the religions, although it was not a strong force there, as the power of Magic and DI was weaker there in general, even among humans. The Homelands were ruled openly by saurians at that time, although it’s not clear whether they became more populous than humans by that time.

Karenina was writing shortly after the Merfolk-moving comet. But the historical account of the Homelands is helpful.

Scout looks at the Treasure Map from the ghost ship– it’s near Kor, so we don’t think we can get there

Stella decides not to go talk to Carlo, but does BRING IT and find out what needs fixing in Orange. 19 successes with 12 DI.

<ul>
<li> There is nothing serious in Rinyan that needs Fixing right now.
<li> Broadening to Orange as a whole, there’s definitely the Thing She Can’t See, even with 19 successes.

<li> The Orange Mages who are working to expand Orange and are likely to Break it need fixing, but that’s a long-term project, and you’ve already put some resources onto that. It will need more tending.

<li> Getting Nivad (Goddess-flavored Purple Guy) more direction is a good thing to work on. It will definitely be a step towards Fixing Things that the Goddess Wants Fixed.

<li> Vani has a Broken Plot that is proceeding, that it would be good to thwart. It’s not huge, but it’s the biggest Broken plot in the country that is imminent. (Orange Mages are larger, less imminent, and not everyone in it is Broken or Bent. There is some devil-on-the-shoulder going on, it would be good to find them and deal with them.)
</ul>

The Goddess notes that Uncle Carlo and the Treasure Map are on Stella’s todo list, but they’re not on the Fix-It list.

=Cult of Al’an=
No one attacks us overnight!

We go to see Ritasi at the Cult of Al’an’s Compound in the morning. Leonardo is there to greet us. Are we going to trigger any defenses? Leonardo says that’s been taken care of. Although

Ritasi waits for us in a sitting room. He is over 70, plausibly over 80. He rises, and shakes Stella’s hand, and Vidan’s hand, and Managaratha’s hand (“Have we met?” “Oh yes, but it was years ago.”), and asks for introductions. Managaratha says we have two main

“Nivad, come out.” He drops some DI, and Vidan turns into Nivad. Whoa. “Do you have an update on your task?”
Mike realizes that his Suckage is “Tasked, Doomed, and Fated to bring the Churches back together” was all amiss interpreted– he needs to be fixing ALL the Churches? Oh dear.

“I’m supposed to be uniting the Churches?”

“Let’s back up. When the Priests claim that the Priests of Lore cannot access the rest of the Goddess, that is false, and that they might be trying to do that is a means of Breaking the World. If they were more like the Cult of Al’an that would be good, but isn’t strictly necessary.”

Nivad realizes that he has been doing some recon in Yellow, so he relates what he’s found out about Love pursuing Feelings magic.

He doesn’t have suggestions for how to convince the Ladies that they should be cooperating rather than fighting. If the Maharani caught the Lady of Life trying to have her assassinated in a way that she could prove, she might be able to help, but it would also be irritating to have the Church smacked.

“Yes, it was irritating to have to deal with the factions. And they all wanted to recruit me.”

“They would do that. One reason to send a priest of the Cult of Al’an to look into it is that they would be less likely to try to recruit him.”

“The fact that

We update him on the Addenda to the Tarn Evidence Packet. He is intrigued that the Breaker’s Plan for Red involves

“All three Churches were damaged last Comet. The Three faces of the Lady are separated in Jabar; the Twins are separated from Balance and each other; the Church of Rush was separated from the rest of the Five. It sounds like the Breaker is only trying to exacerbate one of the three, but the others do need mending.”

“The details of that plan were kept between the Minister of Lions and myself and Mother Jess, to be revealed to you once things were far enough along that your immediate intervention was going to be relevant. It seems like, with the disaster in Middlesea, your time has come. I do not see exactly what it is that you will do to fix this, but you are the one who is most likely of anyone to fix the Churches this Comet. So if you have need of me or the Cult of Al’an in doing that, feel free to speak with me.”

“Are others, for instance Leonardo, informed on this?”

“Leonardo does not know the details. It was the Minister of Lions that approached the other two of us with the plan, and something having to do with Purple magic and The Yet, and the more people who know about it the more likely there will be Problems. It’s not clear if that makes it more likely to Fail. But the fact that you are most likely to help means you could be most likely to hurt the issue as well. But Purple is not my sphere.”

“As it turns out, it’s almost impossible to frag me with information.” says Managaratha.

“That would make sense, yes.”

“So if there’s information that you need to tell me you can probably do that privately.”

“We can talk afterwards.”

“The Destiny was there, we added things to help it out. I would presume that just waiting for events to unfold will not suffice.”

We talk a bit about the Ministries and the bureaucratic mess that is Purple Guy.

Would talking to Mother Jess be helpful to activate Purple Guy? Well, it’s probably worth talking to her, but if we’re not heading that way.

==Broken Miracles==
Scout mentions we’re also looking for someone to help out with the new Broken Miracle. Who looked at it? The Warmth of Summer. Oh. But he chose not to deal with it because it might interact poorly with the other Twins effects on us, not because he wasn’t big enough. Oh, well that’s better. All right, he will take a look.

“There are definitely things I am not seeing, and there is a lot there. The miracle in this case is one that is increasing your forgetfulness. It is tied to a Green effect. It does not seem particularly tied to anything else that I would worry about touching, but everything is entangled. Whether or not it is directly a part or not, there are connections between everything. In this case it appears that the strongest connection between that miracle and– well. That miracle is most strongly connected to the Green effect. The Green effect is also connected to the miracle of Navere, which is interwoven with a miracle of Rush, which is connected to the Oasis miracle. (Not all positive connections, they could be directly opposed to each other.)”

“The Blue effect and the Purple Twins effect are more closely tied to each other than to the rest of the mess, but they are connected to the Oasis miracle.”

“You cannot easily touch one without touching the others. But there is limited Goddess impact in everything. There is a small amount of Goddess effect on the Blue effect, but it’s not clear, and it’s not on us per se. That might mean there are other significant Red and Orange effects, since there are already Blue, Green, Purple, and Yellow…”

The effects are different sizes. The Oasis effect is the largest. The combined Rush/Navere effect is about the size of the Oasis.

He can’t see if the Broken miracle is just reinforcing the Green effect on us or on everyone. He can try to put something together to deal with that– if we come back tomorrow he will look again and have a better idea. He might be able to pull us out of Middlesea without getting rid of the Miracle, if that’s something we want? We’re not sure– we think it may be useful to have us connected to Middlesea for the time being.

We end the discussion for today; we’ll come back in the morning. Leonardo shows us out. He is clearly restraining himself from trying to get information out of us, and is grumpy about people having secret meetings with Ritasi without him being present.

=Aftermath=
Nesh wants to bring Vidan to the library; we also consider going to the X on the Treasure Map.

We decide to go look at the Treasure. After much debate about how to get there, Managaratha

There is a hill with a well-hidden door, with a giant Purple spell on it.

That is a discipline spell on it that only lets you in if you’re on the Right Side. If you don’t get through the spell, it sets off an alarm.

Oh. We bet the Buccaneer, one of the Lady’s Companions, is on the Right Side. Scout wilds a spell to see what Side he is on– he’s clearly His Majesty’s, and an essence spell on him doesn’t tell him which side His Majesty is on

<ul>
<li> A bunch of rotted stuff
<li> 3 Loot of Gold and Gems
<li> 3 Blue items with Army-level schticks on them
<ul>
<li> 1: Lets an army unit fly
<li> 2: Gives an army unit defense against Orange magic
<li> 3: Gives an army unit more Martial skill
</ul>
</ul>

Purple Guy looks around with Detective; he thinks some of the stuff that rotted used to be uniforms. But he does find out that the alarm goes to The Master Trader. Oh hey, Scout asked the Master Trader to send a message to His Majesty when we were in Kor. He also had a name, so it’s not just the same guy as before, probably? Nesh has a name.

Stella decides to fix everything in the cache. 16 successes with 12 DI. Suits of uniforms, and medical supplies! The food that was here doesn’t get fixed. There are some maps, showing battle lines, etc. Things have changed somewhat. Kor is where it belongs. A couple of the towns shown with medium-sized militias in them are no longer there. There’s at least one medium-sized town that has arisen since them.

The medicines didn’t really get restored, so it’s less medical supplies than Stella would like, but the splints and bandages are all good.

We decide to take a few.

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> + 9 EPs
<li> + 9 SPs
<li> Three blue artifacts, three loot, some medical supplies and uniforms (left in the cache)
</ul>

Investigation, Assassination

2025-10-25T17:29:31Z

Justom: Created page with "=Pre-Assassination= It is morning! Nesh has appeared, Diomarche has disappeared. Well, that could be awkward. We explain. No, is too much– we sum up. Nesh is discomfited to discover that there’s another Broken miracle on us. Breakfast is yummy, we are told. Petal is there. Volda is there. Nesh notices that the priest of Tem who’s been following us around is there, and waves. The Priest ignores him. =Church of Tam= We head first to the Church of Tam. It..."

=Pre-Assassination=
It is morning! Nesh has appeared, Diomarche has disappeared. Well, that could be awkward.

We explain. No, is too much– we sum up.

Nesh is discomfited to discover that there’s another Broken miracle on us.

Breakfast is yummy, we are told. Petal is there. Volda is there. Nesh notices that the priest of Tem who’s been following us around is there, and waves. The Priest ignores him.

=Church of Tam=
We head first to the Church of Tam. It’s a large, cathedral-like building with a large sun symbol on the front door. It has its own grounds around it.
We send Volda in to announce our presence, rather than triggering anti-Broken-miracle defenses.

A priest ushers us into a waiting area. “Tai Ko Tee [the Warmth of Summer] will see us shortly.”

“Ah, good good. You made it. Follow me, I have an area set up to look at things.”

We’re taken out of the public area and into a ritual room. Mirrors and candles and all that jazz. A big image of the sun on the floor.

We are told to get onto the Sun image so that he can see what

Purple Guy asks Tai Ko Tee if there are any churches of Balance that help people restore Balance.
“All of the Balance priests are Bureaucrats. There’s not a Ministry of Balance at present. There are probably ministries you could look into for that sort of thing, though.”

Vidan, thinking about his divination attempt, thinks that there was an element of “It would be bad for me to answer that question” from Navere.

After ten minutes of miscellaneous chat, we get back onto the image of the Sun. He starts doing a ritual. Stella thinks he’s doing an interesting scaling thing. A lot of what the ritual is doing is not getting him more information, but letting him spend his DI slowly, so that it calibrates to the right level of DI spent. [Pho Sien had a similar schtick, we recall.]

The things you had on you before are:
<ul>
<li> an unreasonably large miracle of Isolation,
<li> a more reasonably sized (although large) miracle from the Twins that stops time on us for a period, that is being reinforced by a similarly large Purple spell ;
<li> a Blue spell that I’m not sure how it scales, particularly (that’s not my area);
<li> an unreasonably large miracle from Navere,
<li> an unreasonably large miracle from Rush, which are… tied together in a way I don’t quite understand. Together the Navere + Rush miracles might be as Unreasonably large as the Isolation miracle.
</ul>

Now also:
<ul>
<li> a large (but not unreasonably so) Broken miracle which appears to be new, which is attempting to thwart the Navere miracle without actually directly interacting with it.
</ul>

It appears to be strengthening a Green spell that is not on us. This one’s in the realm of a powerful priest. It is integrated into the full effect; it would be delicate to remove it without impacting anything else. (He thinks that a priestess of the Goddess might be better able to disentangle it; he would have trouble not interacting with the Twins miracle - his interaction would risk, for example, freezing more of us in time)

The Warmth of Summer thinks he could remove the miracle (tomorrow), with the caveats above.

Definitions: Powerful Priest: 20-25. Unreasonable: 50?

He scaled up to 15 DI to get the information.

He notes that he only looked at the effects on the Group; we do have other effects on us individually. Broken effects? No.

Anything the Church of Tam is up to? Nothing that particularly calls for Heroes’ interactions at present. They’re more concerned with the orc invasions.

We give him a new version of the [[Tarn Evidence Packet]], with Secret Appendix Panda Bravo, the List of the Breaker's Plans.
He agrees to look into the plot about Orange for us for a bit. It will probably just be a Tamish prophecy, rather than research into Orange. If we come back tomorrow, he might be able to give us some more information.

=Ministry of Magic=

(We don’t have Diomarche with us; that’s convenient. Huh.)
We have an appointment, they were not expecting so many other people for the appointment, they’ll let people know we have brought friends. He writes a note and it vanishes. A few minutes later, a message appears, and we are shown into an office.

The Ministry of Magic has a Tardis effect going on– it’s bigger inside than outside. But it’s not otherwise covered in Magic the way that things in Yellow were. After a few minutes, Nesh notices we have all disappeared. A few moments later the rest of us notice Nesh has gone missing. Hmm. Nesh waits. We consider that we could probably get him here.

We get to our destination. Managaratha calls Nesh and teleports him in.
Someone else teleports in. The person behind the desk waves him away, saying that was Managaratha, which is covered under section 23 subparagraph 6.

"Sub-minister Kav, in charge of monitoring Frag effects in the Empire. It’s normally expected that you check in when you arrive, but apparently you have forgotten." Managaratha says he should also check out Vidan.

“My.”
“Well, it does not seem to be leaking, so I suppose that’s a good start.”
“Leaking?!”, asks Nesh.
“Frag is the consequence in the world when you travel in time that causes two things to be true. It is often constrained to the caster, but it can have other consequences, that can spread.”
“I try to only frag myself…” – Managaratha
“You do tend to only frag yourself. But you have been sending yourself notes?”
“A version of me is sending me notes.”
“Even worse.”

“There doesn’t seem to be anything going on beyond that, just remember to check in– or the rest of you can remind him to check in.”
“Your name is Kav? That will be helpful for checking in.”
“DO NOT CONTACT ME WITH A YELLOW SPELL.”
“But surely this is a safe place to cast Yellow!”
“You summoned the Subminister for the Defense Against the Yellow Arts when you tried to cast a Yellow spell.”

He freezes Vidan and asks what is up with him. We don't really know, and he is apparently unaware.

We are teleported to a Lounge. (Vidan is still frozen) Except Nesh, who resists. “That is quite a bit of Resistance you have, congratulations.”
In a minute, Managaratha calls Nesh, teleports Nesh to us, and the Subminister of Defense Against the Yellow Arts appears. He glares at us as we start trying to defend Managaratha’s actions. “Mages gonna Mage!” “He forgot!” “Hello, have we met?”

We wait for an hour and a half. Tea and snacks appear after a bit. 

We are teleported into a larger conference room, where Subminister Kav is, along with two other people we don’t recognize. Actually, several of us recognize one of them from the Ministry of Lions who we had spoken to as part of a group from that Ministry the last time we were here.. (?) 

Kav says “My investigations have been less… informative” (glaring at the guy we don’t know) “than I had hoped. However, in the case of triggering this particular event, there are protocols previously established, such that, if the Minister of Lions is unavailable to be consulted, the…. Subject [Vidan] is supposed to be sent to speak to Priest [[Ritasi]] in Rinyan, or [[Mother Jess]] in King Richard’s Lands. I anticipate that this will take place within the week, and I will have a report within the week on what actions I do or do not need to take in this matter.” He looks at the other two, who clearly have reactions to this. The tension is palpable. 

“I understand there are limitations on what Vidan can do himself to get this looked into, so I trust the rest of you will deal with it and I will not have to take any steps.”

Ritasi is the head of the Cult of Al’an; Mother Jess is the highest ranking priest of Navere.

Do the others need reports? –Gale

The one we don’t recognize says no.
The one we know as from Lions grimaces and says “Send a report to the Ministry of Lions, to the attention of the Minister.” Which causes the other to roll his eyes.

Subministers from Lions and Redactions. They do not give names.

With that, the other two teleport out, the Minister opens the door, and the Bureaucrat who showed us in is standing outside, and we follow him; Vidan is floating behind us. We are shown out.

Managaratha asks Vidan about the petition to have Managaratha’s burnout removed. that he had filed yesterday. Huh. Let’s check.
Vidan inquires at the front desk.

Vidan looks around for the gift shop. There isn’t one. He thinks about it, and thinks the Ministry doesn’t generally sell magic, but you could requisition something specific. A scroll for a one-shot casting a spell, so that you can cast a spell without taking burnout, for instance. Managaratha gets taken into a back room. There’s a guy who looks him up and down and then casts a Purple spell that disintegrates his left hand, then casts a Red spell that regrows his left hand, and says “There you go.” And that appears to have been something Managaratha has never done before, so he gets his burnout back.

=Assassination!=
We think about our tactics.
Nesh would prefer not to be stabbed, so maybe we use the homunculus?

How concerned should we be that the assassin will know the target is not really there, magically or divinely?
Probably not terribly, since the target is a Purple Bureaucrat.
A number of assassins will be able to notice if there are extra people in the room.
If they have Detect Trap, we might need someone from the Church of Tem to help.

We think about

Nesh talks to Rakta, the long-suffering Priest of Tem, who can provide us with some protection from half-orc detection.

We meet the Inspector at the Inspectorate; he shows us to his home. Which appears to be an apartment, which is weird. Like a tavern, but with long-term housing? It’s a big housing block for Inspectors, which he has a space. Everything’s in good repair. Not fancy, but functional. There’s a closet someone could hide in.

Petal suggests it would be good if the Inspector weren’t present; he will stay with the Inspector elsewhere. He imagines he’ll be able to detect if an assassin shows up.

Gale gives everyone an action in the surprise round. Managaratha goes in to set up the homunculus, and then teleports out.

Scout goes in, small and stealthy, and hides in the closet, where he notes (with his excessive perception) that there is a ninja hidden in the closet with him. The ninja hasn't noticed him, though probably did notice all the previous shenanigans with the homunculus. Well, time for a surprise round, in which he shoots the ninja.

Managaratha teleports us in, and Vidan drops a teleport ward. There is no obvious ninja, nor obvious Scout. Gale sets off a lightning ball next to the farthest-away Ranger, which is Scout, and the closet explodes. Stella puts the ninja in time-out, and Scout shoots him through the eye, and he dies. Wait, were we supposed to take prisoners?

Dagger is x4, poison is pretty nasty, but isn’t reusable. He has a poison tooth. He has a necklace that when it’s taken off turns him from human-looking to half-orc looking. Vidan uses Truth to discover it’s a Temish Hide Identity amulet. Lockpicks. Scout tries to find out Where Is He From? and gets “The Emperor’s Spy Network.” That’s interesting.

Vidan does some detective work to find out what he can without disturbing the scene more. He had been in the closet for several hours, and could see that we were casting the homunculus, so he was on to us.

Vok and Petal return; Vok gets 10 more points of clues, but doesn’t say what he thinks that leads to yet.
Vidan says “We overkilled our assassin and didn’t get to investigate.”
Petal says “It happens.”
“Definitely a member of a group, not all assassins. With a purpose, so they’re not for hire.” He sniffs at the body more. “His orders were relatively recent, within the last few days. He was not based in Zheldat himself, although he had contacts here. He got his orders somewhere else and came in. There were definitely members of the organization here that he spoke with upon arrival

“Is there anything on him that serves as his credentials?” –Vidan

“None of them are a credential, many of them will have a similar dagger/poison combo. Some of the group are not half-orcs, although there are definitely more half-orcs than not.”

“Is there any way to trace him back to his contacts?” –Scout

“I’m not good at tracing teleports, which is probably how he got into the city. I could probably identify other assassins from his group if I ran into them, although it might be trickier if he’s Hidden. If he used Truth magic to hide his identity that would be particularly difficult.”

Vok still thinks there’s still a connection with the Ministry of Pearls (Actors).

=Wrapup=
Vidan thinks about looking for the Bad Candidate. Who would he go to, to start pulling in threads?

The most famous of them currently is a Priest of Tam named Li Zhou. He is an archaeologist-ish, student of history, runs around finding old things. He’s the most reputable finder of old things that you can think of. He probably has no interest in being roped into a quest to find the Sword, because everyone knows it’s Lost. He’s based in a University in the city that used to be the capital of Ashkanor.

Ninjas v. Inspector Vok scoreboard:

"Ninjas" is not the name of that team. That's "Team Terrible". ("The Emperor's Spy Network" is a subteam of Team Terrible.)
There is a scoreboard, but that's not their main scoreboard.
It is Inspector Vok's main scoreboard. So this is more of a running tally for Vok. He is about 45 out of 100 clue points.

We go back to the temple of Tam. Prophecy things he saw having to do with the corruption of Orange (there is bleedthrough from things like the slith invasion also). There was also a lot of interference. 
<ul>
<li> A map with an X
<li> A single orange mage trying to push Orange to do more than it can/should
<li> An orc Rainbow mage who uses the Broken colors and hopes that Orange will expand to include Broken Orange
</ul>

Vidan goes to the Ministry of Naval Trade - he has been tasked to investigate piracy. Are there reports? ("Who is in charge" since the Minister is in Middlesea is complicated and maybe it is being taken over.)

Since Middlesea sealed, it is significantly trickier to negotiate by paying tribute to the Pirate Queen. There was about a month where people were playing by those rules, but now everyone is an individual pirate. It's much more random - it used to be coordinated if you didn't pay tribute, they'd hit you with a lot of ships or hit your lootiest ships, and now it's random and unplannable, which they hate.

==For Soon:==
Ministry of Lions: put us in, coach!

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> +9 EPs
<li> +9 SPs
<li> necklace of Temish “Hide Me” schtick
</ul>

On The Assassin's Trail

2025-10-25T17:08:44Z

Justom: /* Loot */

=Day One: Scoping out the Empire=
Nesh fades out, and Stella and Vidan fade in. Breakfast is being served. It’s all very cheery and tasty.
We update Vidan and Gale. Vidan decides it’s time to write up a report for the Ministry of Redactions.

Scout requisitions a set of leather armor. It’s cheerfully colored and has a sigil of Their Majesty on it. Scout frowns a bit at that, and Their Majesty says he could switch teams, which causes him to frown more. Their Majesty says oh well, and puts an X over the insignia. Diomarche requisitions a sword.

We leave the castle and Vidan preps the teleport to Zheldat, while Managaratha brews potions..

We teleport to the capital of the Empire. Vidan goes to file his form with the Ministry of Redactions, while the rest of the party goes to the [[Ministry of Lilacs]] (with Petal). [[Li Za]] is here again, she’s back to being in her 30s (she had been 18 last time we saw her). Gale gets another bottle of Half-Orc allergy potion, and asks if they have anything new and mysterious. The front desk person offers Wisps of Ninja Smoke. Smells like ninja smoke!

We head to the inn, and make Per rolls. There's a patch of strange darkness in the corner, according to Scout. Petal says it's not an assassin.

Managaratha goes and says hello to the corner. Someone sighs and says hello. It’s Rakta, the Priest of Tem who shadowed us last time!
Scout tries to gather information.

Vidan gets us rooms, including a stable room for Diomarche.

We try to remember what was happening in Zheldat. There was a… murder that the Minister of War wanted us to find out information about? Inspector Vok was investigating, maybe we should check in with him.

We recall that Stella said (see [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]]) there were two issues:
<ul>
<li> The half-orc spy network in the Bureaucracy
<li> Finding the key to opening the time-stop.
</ul>

“It’s probably better to avoid fixing the half-orc spy network too fast– the problems are both keeping a third problem in check. Solving either of those two problems will bring a third problem closer.”

Stella thinks the half-orc spy network is actively opposing the third thing.

Vidan remembers that the half-orc assassin The Knife said he served a true heir to the Throne.
He also remembers the following [[Visions of Middlesea]]:
<ul>
<li> Minister of Repercussions Dae, on the Day of Middlesea, said to Vidan: I am disinclined to answer questions, I do not like conveying things like this.
<li> There are three possible candidates for the Throne. The first would be a bad King, who would damage the Empire but it would be survivable. The second would be a Terrible King– it would lead to a civil war, parts of the Empire would go back to the Broken Lands.
<li> The Third would be catastrophic. If you do not find at least one of the first or the second by tomorrow, they will be dead by the day after. And either the Third will take the Throne, or the will be Destroyed.
<li> The Yellow (???)
<li> There’s a strong possibility you’ll find one of the first two by tomorrow. If you find the Second, make sure
<li> One of the seven Ministers is a traitor
</ul>

Stella asks the Goddess what needs fixing in Purple, and Brings It: 17 Successes, 12 DI
<ul>
<li> Having an Emperor would be good, although there isn’t a convenient one to hand
<li> The Orc Invasion needs to be pushed back is important; it will get worse when Middlesea opens, so pushing it back as much as possible before then would be good.
<li> The Half-Orcish spy ring should be taken apart, because he’ll be a Terrible Emperor. (Making him Emperor would not fix the first problem.)
<li> Stopping the Pirates would be good.
<li> Keeping Inspector Vok from being assassinated would be good.
<li> Eventually we’ll need the key to Middlesea, so figuring that out wouldn’t be bad.
<li> Making sure no one else gets the Key to Middlesea would be good.
</ul>

Well that’s somewhat enlightening.

Volda is waiting for us the next day. There’s also a Note from the Ministry of Fortune - Things we could take advantage of when opening Middlesea
If we rescue the goblin [Custard] from being killed by Flint we can use him to find a way into Spiritbreaker Fortress.
The sauriens have not left with their prize yet, so we can intercept them.
And we can acquire evidence for Suvatra before it is destroyed.
And we can keep a bunch of people from dying.

Minister Kato will see us tomorrow. We tell Volda we want to see Inspector Vok. He takes us to the Inspectorate.

Gale's assertion:
<ul>
<li> Bad Emperor: Orc-Slayer (?)
<li> Terrible Emperor: Orc Slayer (boss of half orc assassins)
<li> Catastrophic Emperor: Orc named Slayer (Breaker's Avatar)
</ul>

We go to the Inspectorate and ask to see Inspector Vok. They say he’s out, they don’t know where he is.
Managaratha calls Inspector Vok, and tells him we’re concerned about assassins; he says he’ll head back to the office.

Vidan thinks:
<ul>
<li> The Emperor is the wielder of the Sword that is Lost. (The converse is also true.)
<li> The Sword will recognize its wielder.
<li> If something wacky has happened, there might be hacks to make the sword recognize them. There’s not more than one Sword that is Lost.
<li> Primogeniture was the general law, but the Emperor could alter that prior to death if they chose.
(The wielder of the sword of the Orcslayer is the Orcslayer.)
<li> The Emperor had a Death Boon, but if there were twins somewhere along the line, or someone copied the schtick, or something along that line.
</ul>

Inspector Vok shows up, and Vidan says we were hoping to get an update, but also we believe he’s going to be assassinated. He brings us to a teahouse, where Vidan thinks it is hard to Witness things. The teahouse is called Chrysanthemum Boughs. He asks how we know he’ll be assassinated; we tell him. We try to get an update on his investigations. The Ministry has not seen fit to let him learn the Secrets hidden in the Minister’s House. However, he is reasonably confident that… he looks at Petal. We ask Petal and Volda to step out. It is likely that the sub-minister’s death is related to a number of deaths over the past two years. Vok has been attempting to trace those back to a central… he has not found a pattern that satisfies him as to who the targets have been, but the means and organization seem similar. That may mean an organization being hired by different people, or an organization whose goals he doesn’t understand.

The ministry of Pearls is likely involved– they regulate Actors! ([[Dame Etni]] would be proud.) The Minister is [[Li Sun]]. She is not a priest, but a fairly skilled Purple Mage, as well as a bureaucrat. Unusually, her sub-minister [[Tan Karu]] is a 2nd rank Bureaucrat, rather than a 1st rank Bureaucrat. Normally subministers are two ranks below. Possibly he’s a Priest and she is not; he’s looking into what that’s about.

He lays out some clues, which Vidan and Scout look at. Vidan is convinced the Ministry of Pearls is involved; Scout isn’t convinced but doesn’t rule it out. Vok had planned to stake them out in the next few days.

Vok thinks whoever these people are they have enough eyes in the Bureaucracy that filing reports is a good way to alert them to what you are doing.

Diomarche thinks that the assassins can probably see through disguises, but shapeshift might be better.

We consult with Petal. He thinks none of us will easily pass for Vok, and, also, most assassins will prefer to strike not in public, so do they know where he lives? Many assassins strike at home. With magic that can beat someone with 10-12 Per’s roll, that would be reasonable. A night attack they may not look very hard, just stab whoever is in the bed. Ninja may do observation as well, so you should be smart about the transfer. You could have him walk home and teleport someone in and the target out. The decoy will need a fair amount of protection in order to survive a reasonably trained assassin’s assault from surprise. They’ll need some way to call us in on that happening. It is possible that Petal would notice an assassin arriving if he was in the area and hidden, but any assassin will have some sort of hide schtick. But Petal’s ability to notice assassins is good enough to get past most first-level Hide schticks. (“This guy is good. I bet he thinks about this a lot,” says Scout.)

Wait, won’t they just try again? Petal thinks they’ll send the person available and most likely to succeed; they are unlikely to send the next

What’s useful for the investigation? Inspector Vok thinks him not getting assassinated is most useful. If Petal thinks he can just walk by the building and tell if it’s full of assassins, that would be helpful, but Vok’s expectation is that it’s not full of assassins. It would be good to verify that.

The assassin has some divine defenses; it looks like it will be 2 nights from tonight.

Gale takes Li Za out to dinner.

=Day Two: War and Opera=
Volda takes us to the Ministry of War. Volda stays outside, and the Minister seals the room against listening.
He asks if we have found a priest of the Nameless who could find the codephrase that was known by the sub-minister.
We give him a briefing on the assassination attempt.
We brief him on the Breaker’s Plan.

We get info on the orc invasion– they were fighting as a coordinated force, but since Middlesea they have been fighting as individual bands, and the failure to coordinate has prevented them from gaining ground. The Head Stallion and he are working on plans to drive them back. Getting Victoria to leave the eastern borders alone was appreciated, and helpful.

Do they need an adventuring band strike force? That’s more Lions’ responsibility than his. The Ministry of Lions probably has something for which they could use a strike force. Unless they’ve been infiltrated by the assassins, but he doesn’t think so, they’re too disorganized.

He tells us that the Ministry of Canals is the newest Ministry; it’s 3rd rank. They handle (surprisingly) canals. It’s not clear there’s much need for the ministry of canals.

There’s an invitation to the theatre with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

We go. It’s an opera more than a play. It’s a social occasion more than an event you watch; people wander around and chat while the performance happens. The Foreign Minister doesn’t interrogate us; he knows Petal already. He and Petal are watching the audience more than the show.

About two-thirds of the way through, Warmth of Summer shows up. He also recognizes Petal, and says hello. He chats briefly, and asks where we picked up the new Broken miracle that is on us. Vidan tries to look and gets “No information is available at this time.” Scout looks, and his spirit says “We’re not allowed to look at that.” “Huh. Why?” “Because the Breaker set it up so that none of us can look at it.” That seems… unfortunate. We think that having him look at it is probably good, but maybe not right here? In case something bad happens? Hmm. He invites us to the Church the next day; he says it won’t be a problem for us to get into the Church.

Gale uses "Love is a Battlefield" to see what is going on - there are a lot of plots going on in parallel. She notes that the foreign minister is using a very similar shtick, but he's starting with better data. Petal is doing something entirely different. (It's things like promotions and love plots and inter-ministry politics plots; nothing looks like an insurrection plot or a civil war plot.) Nobody here is on Team Catastrophic. There are some people who are maybe on Team Terrible but they aren't pursuing Terrible plots. Nobody on Team Bad here - Gale isn't sure there is a Team for Bad.

Managaratha gets invited to tea at the Ministry of Magic tomorrow.

We go to bed, to prepare for the coming busy day…

=Loot=
<ul>
<li> +8 EPs
<li> +10 SPs
</ul>

On The Assassin's Trail

2025-10-25T16:46:51Z

Justom: Created page with "=Day One: Scoping out the Empire= Nesh fades out, and Stella and Vidan fade in. Breakfast is being served. It’s all very cheery and tasty. We update Vidan and Gale. Vidan decides it’s time to write up a report for the Ministry of Redactions. Scout requisitions a set of leather armor. It’s cheerfully colored and has a sigil of Their Majesty on it. Scout frowns a bit at that, and Their Majesty says he could switch teams, which causes him to frown more. Their M..."

History

2025-10-11T23:13:18Z

Justom: /* The War of the Lord and Lady (C-1) */

=World History=
Notes on what happened when, as we discover it. For now, this will mostly be notes from things we discovered in the last run. Information on events more recent than that will be added as we stumble upon it.

By convention, Comets will be referred to by the number of Comets ago they happened; e.g., "three Comets ago", or C-3.

==Recent Events==
Things that have happened since the last Comet / during this Comet.

==The War of the Lord and Lady (C-1)==

* The Land Bridge between Kor and Kern is created, sealing the Inland Sea.
* Melmaine becomes a single large island, instead of an archipelago.
* (??) The [[Plains of Geddon]] appear in [[Red]], making it Holy ground to [[Rush]].
* The Buccaneer is one of the Lady's companions.
* The Lord and the Lady were an Orange and Blue mage, respectively. They were humans.
* Imit reawakens from his long slumber and does... something.

==The Merfolk War (C-2)==

Not so much happened on the mainland (as Comets go - there are a few things that happened), but the Merfolk moved from the Western Ocean to the Eastern one and started fighting the Slith. [[Managaratha]] helped them to move, per [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface‎]].

==The Dispersal Of Magics (C-3)==
The [[Oasis]] takes over the desert east of 'al Jabar.

About half of the cataurs are Unbroken in 'al Jabar and become centaurs. (This may have happened in the interstitial time.)

The Rainbow River disappears, and the Color Zones are established.

Middlesea was built by three of the Comet's Heroes-- Annaliese, the Last Witch of Shu-Mash, Minali Wen (apparently a merchant or rich noble from the Empire), and Davos the Builder (a troll). They thought that a place that was not in any of the magic zones they had created would be helpful as a neutral meeting place, and layered it with a number of benefits to make it a good place to conduct such meetings. One of those benefits was that Annaliese found (created? transformed?) a Spirit to guard it and make it hospitable.

==[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Previous Run] (C-4)==
Lots happens:
* Centaurs and cataurs come back into the world; the Valley moves from VaKels to ShuMash, the Oasis moves from Avan to 'al Jabar.
* Slith reappear, invading everywhere from under the sea.
* Saurians reappear, start to have children again.
* Male priests of the Goddess come into the world.
* 'al Jabar becomes a place where beings are Unbroken.
* Avan becomes a homeland of the Twins; ShuMash becomes a homeland for Spirits; the whole eastern subcontinent becomes a homeland for the Nameless.
* Possibly: Ratha becomes a homeland for the Goddess; Trelmane becomes holy to the Five.
* The Orcslayer becomes the first King of the West, where he is Overlord of the five countries, each of which is somewhat weakened.
* In Elfheim, the Arba-Sol is defeated and the Tree is destroyed, freeing many many elf souls from having been bound to it.

==Rebellion Against Avan (C-5)==
About 700 years before C-4.

Tureen and her band of heroes rise up against the oppressive Avani Empire, and it fractures into many countries.

==Founding of Avan (C-6)==

The Avani empire was founded 1683 years before C-4, uniting the east and west subcontinents of the mainland.

==Marriage Comet (C-7)==

[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aDO7r-bCrrL40JuJIQW7FuY76qzRUqeVj8Q1CNTLNLg/ Heroes of Kern] happens a few hundred years after this Comet.

==Centaur/Cataur War (C-8)==

==Neverending Winter (C-9)==
The Last Warlock sheds his tears, converts to the Five, and men stop being able to learn witchcraft.

==The Great War (C-10)==
The orcs are unified under a Chieftan and march south; Kor and Kern lead the defense against them, and come to political dominance for several comets.

==Magic Goes Haywire (C-11)==

==Ancient History==
* There have been about 40 comets total (maybe 45 now).
* Many comets ago, the Inland Sea is created when the mainland sinks.
* Poisoning of the air causes Saurians and slith to become "extinct"; Saurians lose the ability to produce young, slith are driven under the sea to escape the poison. The Goddess and the Nameless provide a miracle giving some Saurians incredibly long life, against the day they are able to have children again.

Main Page

2025-08-23T22:09:50Z

Justom: /* Chapter 4: [title of chapter] */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A Maharani Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09
# [[The Endurance of Memory]], (in Orange and ritual space), 2025-08-23

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-08-23 (4.7), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 358 EPs
* 481 SPs

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

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In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle

2025-08-23T22:07:48Z

Justom: /* A-maze-ing Adventures */

=A-maze-ing Adventures=

We wander eastward, looking for the pooka maze. After about a day, we get to an area that Scout thinks seems friendly. Diomarche thinks the walls are trying to keep him from getting in. Gale and Managaratha think that the trees are moving around.

The tallest pooka Scout has ever seen opens the door.

 “What.”

Scout explains his desire to find a more questing version of .

 “The problem with trying to find a path is that once you are on it, you must not leave, or else it will be lost.”
 “Oh, that could be tricky.”
 “And it is often the case that metaphoric targets are difficult to stay on the path to, long enough to get there.
And they are often the targets that you least want to lose.”

 Managaratha: So it’s good for a sandwich, but not your soul.
 “If your soul is lost, you might need to find it.”
 “It need not be done in a day, but acquiring a different goal will cause the first goal to be lost.”
 “Do you wish to proceed?”
 “Yes, I believe so.”

After some discussion, Scout chooses the goal of "find aid for that freshwater lake spirit in the middle of the ocean." 12 DI 13 successes.

The pooka shuts the door, and we start following Scout again. He has the feeling that he needs to find a ring with a blue stone lost moderately nearby.

Grove of animate fruit-throwing trees, probably the result of a Green surge. They’re quarrelsome; some are happy to give Scout permission to enter, others say

One of the Trees wants bees to come because it wants honey; Scout grows some flowers that will attract bees, but that won’t cause the hive to be moved. Nesh finds a hive in a nearby clearing, which we could try to move or persuade to move. The other trees don’t seem excited

Speed Rolls!

Scout hears one of the trees say “Hey, stop that!” and a branch swings at Diomarche.

He takes the hit, which does 48 points of damage. Ouch.

In 5, the trees pelt us with apples.

Diomarche digs, revealing a ring! WIth a root growing through it. Scout tries to get the roots to grow around

+4 Magic dice for inherent Blue schticks. Gale says ooooh.

We look up.

The Lady of Air and Water is the full title of The Lady from the last Comet, but Managaratha is pretty sure that she died. But then the Buccaneer also died, so… huh. Well that could be exciting.

The local birds had suggested "up" - there is no obvious Lady above the orchard. Birds suggest asking the Golden Eagle, at the Gold Mine. More quest!

We head south, towards the Mountains. We’re very clearly not in the Forest any more, we’re in the Mountains. Okay.

The Golden Eagle is flying– its feathers seem to be gold. Scout calls out in Eagle, but then realizes it’s not an Animal, it’s a Spirit. So he calls out in Common, which gets its attention more. He hails the Spirit, and says he is on a quest, seeking information. It asks if he has payment, and he says he would offer power, or they could try for something more specific. It accepts power, and Scout asks how to find the Lady of Air and Water.

“Her abode is on the Western Shore of the Forest, near the border with Purple. It is often difficult to view. If you have something of hers, though it will likely be easier.”

Scout thanks the Eagle for the information, and gives 6 DI. The Eagle flies off, and Scout shouts a warning about the goblins corrupting Spirits. It shrieks.

We head towards the Forest; Managaratha teleports us to nearby. We talk to more birds! It says the castle is a navigation hazard.

Nesh notices a sylph standing over there. He calls out to her– she asks why they’re calling. We have a ring?

“Oh! Lovely. I’ll be right out.”
She walks out of the Castle.

She seems to have some shaman DI, although she’s not a big shaman.
(The Lord was the Lord of Earth and Fire.)

Managaratha offers that we could call her if we had a name– Phillippa.

(We should set up somewhere in the boat to be good for guest receptions.)

Scout asks her to help out with the Lake Spirit that's near Blue; she's happy to help, but we don't have great directions, so it might take her a while. We thank her for her help, and head towards Their Majesty's realm.

= In Their Majesty’s Court =

We teleport into a thunder storm. There’s a creepy black castle over there. Scout shudders. We go and knock on the door. It creaks open, and a Raven pooka with slicked back hair opens the door.

“Yes?”

“Middlesea Free Rangers, here to pay our respects to Their Majesty.”

“I suppose you’d better… come inside.”

Once the door opens, the inside seems decked out in candelabra and surprisingly bright.

A sluagh dressed in red and green comes bouncing (?!?) in. “Managaratha! So good to see you! And Scout! The Heroes of the Comet! How wonderful to meet you all! Scout what happened to your eyes?”

“Uh… goblins.”

They got you? Oh, I see.
Brother dearest did mention that they were doing this, he gave the report about Silenalania.

Managaratha found a note– “Tell Their Majesty it’s only going to work for a couple of months.”
“A couple of months! Better than nothing. Okay.”
Twig (raven pooka)

Then you probably want to talk to Petal instead of Leaf.
And you said there’s something to read?
Okay, you talk to Petal, I’ll see you in the morning.

We get shown to some rooms. Twig gets us set up. Nesh asks how long the castle has been like this? Since shortly after the departure of Silenalania

Is there any part of the Castle we should avoid?
It’s all open at present.

We wander through the (alarmingly non-creepy) castle.

Twig is there when we look. We ask if Their Majesty has always been like this? No, this is new. The castle responds to the needs of Their Majesty. Is this was deliberate, can he say why? That would be for Their Majesty to reveal. Okay. Is there anything that needs doing around the castle? There are some repairs that are needed, if Managaratha has Orange.

==In the Morning==

There’s a Vulture Pooka hanging over Managaratha. (creepy!) “Good morning Petal! Have we met?”

He inquires about the assassins.

They’re largely confined to the Empire; if they’re moving south, they have not established a base here yet.
He would not be surprised that half-orcs and goblins speak to each other.
Their targets are primarily political; he doesn’t know Empire politics well, but they are targeting politicians rather than merchants or generals. They’re not coordinated with the invading orcish army. A few of them have likely assisted by taking out someone with authority at the right time, but they are not primarily militarily-motivated. They’re not even after Priests.

What are the patterns of assassinations?

The organization is new. It does not have a long history; perhaps a decade.
It’s not clear who’s running the organization / who they work for.

Is there a pattern, the type of politician?
That would require Petal to understand their politics better than he does.
If you truly desire answers to these questions, he could go North to learn more.

You can speak with Their Majesty at breakfast, but they asked me to assist in your endeavor, so I imagine they could spare me for a time.

Thank you very much for your help.

Of course.

At breakfast, Their Majesty is eating a cinnamon bun.

“I have to assume that, if they had a drow in my castle for three centuries, she must have learned a lot about me. So I figured it was time to change it up for a while.”

“Tell me you’re not playing with your song.”

“No, no.”

“The fact that it will work for a few months implies there will be a trap.”

“It seems likely that Futeau had a plan to take out my sister; she doesn’t share details.
Likely Brother Dearest was also targeted, but he doesn’t share normally, either. Neither do I, normally.
He has a temper, the easiest way to trap him would be to trigger that.
My expectation for the setup would be to lure him into getting him angry enough to move at their place and time.
He’s quite good at Green, so they’d have to have a way to deal with that. But he’s less well protected against Divine,
so a demon targeted on that.
They’re probably turning spirits in all three Kingdoms in Green.
If you want to come back, it would be great to have Heroes of the Comet cleaning up the demons in the Plains.
Maybe you’ll finally come work for me instead of Brother Dearest. [to Scout]

“Scout is a loyal retainer.” – Nesh

Alas.

Having revealed that one is a traitor perhaps did not reduce the efficacy of other traps of that nature.

To the extent that there are pockets of Brokenness, that’s more within my area than defeating Demons.
Anything that has actually Broken will try to stay Broken.

Scout describes the mushroom demon’s lair and the snake’s.

Looking for those sorts of hidden broken-lands-ish things is definitely within their purview. Okay, they can do that.
(Their Majesty calls Managaratha a Hero of the Comet!)

The queen has things under control?
Well enough.
We could probably find things to help.
Certainly, it’s a Comet.

=Loot=
+8 EPs
+10 SPs

Main Page

2025-08-23T21:30:43Z

Justom: /* Total EPs */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A Maharani Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-08-23 (4.7), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 358 EPs
* 481 SPs

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]
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Endurance

2025-08-23T20:11:26Z

Justom:

Doing stuff makes you tired. If you get tired enough, you start operating at less than peak efficiency. How tired you can get is a function of your Con. Various things (see below for partial list) cost you endurance points. A night's sleep gets you Con/5 endurance points back. A day of not-doing-anything-that-could-possibly-be-tiring also gets you Con/5 endurance back. Endurance is generally hard to recover with magic.

You can calculate Con/5 with fractional values or by rounding in the normal mathy way, but choose one method and stick with it.

<h2> Effects of being tired</h2>

As you get tired, the following effects kick in (cumulative): (Number of End gathered in multiples of Con)
* 0.5 roll one less die on any stat that's higher than your Con (DI excepted, resistance rolls excepted). This also affects speed calls.
* 1.0 All rolls are at +1 difficulty
* 1.5 Number of successes maxes out at your Con (DI excepted, resistance rolls excepted)
* 2.0 All rolls are at +2 (total) difficulty
* 2.5 Number of successes maxes out at your successes on a Con check (DI excepted, resistance rolls excepted)
* 3.0 All rolls are at +3 (total) difficulty
* 3.5 Start making Con checks to stay conscious: hourly, and one each time you spend End.
* 4.0 All rolls are at +4 (total) difficulty
* 4.5 Pass out.

For example, Con 5 or 6 means you are not tired at 2 End gathered, and you are slightly tired at 3 End gathered.

<h2>Things that make you tired</h2>
* Activity (END cost)
* A day's travel (1)
* A day's hard travel (2)
* Combat (1) (up to CON of speed rolls in a short burst)
* A night without sleep (1) (more time without sleep will cost more)
* Magic (see [[Colors of Magic|the Magic rules]])
* A day without food (1)
* A day without water (4)
* A day's politicking (1)

In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle

2025-08-23T17:50:55Z

Justom: Created page with "=A-maze-ing Adventures= We wander eastward, looking for the pooka maze. After about a day, we get to an area that Scout thinks seems friendly. Diomarche thinks the walls are trying to keep him from getting in. Gale and Managaratha think that the trees are moving around. The tallest pooka Scout has ever seen opens the door. “What.” Scout explains his desire to find a more questing version of . “The problem with trying to find a path is that onc..."

=A-maze-ing Adventures=

We wander eastward, looking for the pooka maze. After about a day, we get to an area that Scout thinks seems friendly. Diomarche thinks the walls are trying to keep him from getting in. Gale and Managaratha think that the trees are moving around.

The tallest pooka Scout has ever seen opens the door.

 “What.”

Scout explains his desire to find a more questing version of .

 “The problem with trying to find a path is that once you are on it, you must not leave, or else it will be lost.”
 “Oh, that could be tricky.”
 “And it is often the case that metaphoric targets are difficult to stay on the path to, long enough to get there.
And they are often the targets that you least want to lose.”

 Managaratha: So it’s good for a sandwich, but not your soul.
 “If your soul is lost, you might need to find it.”
 “It need not be done in a day, but acquiring a different goal will cause the first goal to be lost.”
 “Do you wish to proceed?”
 “Yes, I believe so.”

After some discussion, Scout chooses the goal of "find aid for that freshwater lake spirit in the middle of the ocean." 12 DI 13 successes.

The pooka shuts the door, and we start following Scout again. He has the feeling that he needs to find a ring with a blue stone lost moderately nearby.

Grove of animate fruit-throwing trees, probably the result of a Green surge. They’re quarrelsome; some are happy to give Scout permission to enter, others say

One of the Trees wants bees to come because it wants honey; Scout grows some flowers that will attract bees, but that won’t cause the hive to be moved. Nesh finds a hive in a nearby clearing, which we could try to move or persuade to move. The other trees don’t seem excited

Speed Rolls!

Scout hears one of the trees say “Hey, stop that!” and a branch swings at Diomarche.

He takes the hit, which does 48 points of damage. Ouch.

In 5, the trees pelt us with apples.

Diomarche digs, revealing a ring! WIth a root growing through it. Scout tries to get the roots to grow around

+4 Magic dice for inherent Blue schticks. Gale says ooooh.

We look up.

The Lady of Air and Water is the full title of The Lady from the last Comet, but Managaratha is pretty sure that she died. But then the Buccaneer also died, so… huh. Well that could be exciting.

The local birds had suggested "up" - there is no obvious Lady above the orchard. Birds suggest asking the Golden Eagle, at the Gold Mine. More quest!

We head south, towards the Mountains. We’re very clearly not in the Forest any more, we’re in the Mountains. Okay.

The Golden Eagle is flying– its feathers seem to be gold. Scout calls out in Eagle, but then realizes it’s not an Animal, it’s a Spirit. So he calls out in Common, which gets its attention more. He hails the Spirit, and says he is on a quest, seeking information. It asks if he has payment, and he says he would offer power, or they could try for something more specific. It accepts power, and Scout asks how to find the Lady of Air and Water.

“Her abode is on the Western Shore of the Forest, near the border with Purple. It is often difficult to view. If you have something of hers, though it will likely be easier.”

Scout thanks the Eagle for the information, and gives 6 DI. The Eagle flies off, and Scout shouts a warning about the goblins corrupting Spirits. It shrieks.

We head towards the Forest; Managaratha teleports us to nearby. We talk to more birds! It says the castle is a navigation hazard.

Nesh notices a sylph standing over there. He calls out to her– she asks why they’re calling. We have a ring?

“Oh! Lovely. I’ll be right out.”
She walks out of the Castle.

She seems to have some shaman DI, although she’s not a big shaman.
(The Lord was the Lord of Earth and Fire.)

Managaratha offers that we could call her if we had a name– Phillippa.

(We should set up somewhere in the boat to be good for guest receptions)

= In Their Majesty’s Court =

We teleport into a thunder storm. There’s a creepy black castle over there. Scout shudders. We go and knock on the door. It creaks open, and a Raven pooka with slicked back hair opens the door.

“Yes?”

“Middlesea Free Rangers, here to pay our respects to Their Majesty.”

“I suppose you’d better… come inside.”

Once the door opens, the inside seems decked out in candelabra and surprisingly bright.

A sluagh dressed in red and green comes bouncing (?!?) in. “Managaratha! So good to see you! And Scout! The Heroes of the Comet! How wonderful to meet you all! Scout what happened to your eyes?”

“Uh… goblins.”

They got you? Oh, I see.
Brother dearest did mention that they were doing this, he gave the report about Silenalania.

Managaratha found a note– “Tell Their Majesty it’s only going to work for a couple of months.”
“A couple of months! Better than nothing. Okay.”
Twig (raven pooka)

Then you probably want to talk to Petal instead of Leaf.
And you said there’s something to read?
Okay, you talk to Petal, I’ll see you in the morning.

We get shown to some rooms. Twig gets us set up. Nesh asks how long the castle has been like this? Since shortly after the departure of Silenalania

Is there any part of the Castle we should avoid?
It’s all open at present.

We wander through the (alarmingly non-creepy) castle.

Twig is there when we look. We ask if Their Majesty has always been like this? No, this is new. The castle responds to the needs of Their Majesty. Is this was deliberate, can he say why? That would be for Their Majesty to reveal. Okay. Is there anything that needs doing around the castle? There are some repairs that are needed, if Managaratha has Orange.

==In the Morning==

There’s a Vulture Pooka hanging over Managaratha. (creepy!) “Good morning Petal! Have we met?”

He inquires about the assassins.

They’re largely confined to the Empire; if they’re moving south, they have not established a base here yet.
He would not be surprised that half-orcs and goblins speak to each other.
Their targets are primarily political; he doesn’t know Empire politics well, but they are targeting politicians rather than merchants or generals. They’re not coordinated with the invading orcish army. A few of them have likely assisted by taking out someone with authority at the right time, but they are not primarily militarily-motivated. They’re not even after Priests.

What are the patterns of assassinations?

The organization is new. It does not have a long history; perhaps a decade.
It’s not clear who’s running the organization / who they work for.

Is there a pattern, the type of politician?
That would require Petal to understand their politics better than he does.
If you truly desire answers to these questions, he could go North to learn more.

You can speak with Their Majesty at breakfast, but they asked me to assist in your endeavor, so I imagine they could spare me for a time.

Thank you very much for your help.

Of course.

At breakfast, Their Majesty is eating a cinnamon bun.

“I have to assume that, if they had a drow in my castle for three centuries, she must have learned a lot about me. So I figured it was time to change it up for a while.”

“Tell me you’re not playing with your song.”

“No, no.”

“The fact that it will work for a few months implies there will be a trap.”

“It seems likely that Futeau had a plan to take out my sister; she doesn’t share details.
Likely Brother Dearest was also targeted, but he doesn’t share normally, either. Neither do I, normally.
He has a temper, the easiest way to trap him would be to trigger that.
My expectation for the setup would be to lure him into getting him angry enough to move at their place and time.
He’s quite good at Green, so they’d have to have a way to deal with that. But he’s less well protected against Divine,
so a demon targeted on that.
They’re probably turning spirits in all three Kingdoms in Green.
If you want to come back, it would be great to have Heroes of the Comet cleaning up the demons in the Plains.
Maybe you’ll finally come work for me instead of Brother Dearest. [to Scout]

“Scout is a loyal retainer.” – Nesh

Alas.

Having revealed that one is a traitor perhaps did not reduce the efficacy of other traps of that nature.

To the extent that there are pockets of Brokenness, that’s more within my area than defeating Demons.
Anything that has actually Broken will try to stay Broken.

Scout describes the mushroom demon’s lair and the snake’s.

Looking for those sorts of hidden broken-lands-ish things is definitely within their purview. Okay, they can do that.
(Their Majesty calls Managaratha a Hero of the Comet!)

The queen has things under control?
Well enough.
We could probably find things to help.
Certainly, it’s a Comet.

=Loot=
+8 EPs
+10 SPs

A River Runs Through It

2025-08-10T22:12:45Z

Justom: Created page with "=Lay of the Land= We’re in the Broken Lands. Most of the party is small and in Scout’s bag. He heads down the river, and gets bitten by a plant, which drains his Strength. Bah. We get to the point where there is a Spirit– it’s still a spirit, not a demon! Managaratha notices there’s a big Blue/Green ritual/spell over this section. Scout thinks the Green part is holding the Spirit here until it becomes a demon. Scout doesn’t see any goblins, with 10 suc..."

=Lay of the Land=
We’re in the Broken Lands. Most of the party is small and in Scout’s bag. He heads down the river, and gets bitten by a plant, which drains his Strength. Bah. We get to the point where there is a Spirit– it’s still a spirit, not a demon! Managaratha notices there’s a big Blue/Green ritual/spell over this section. Scout thinks the Green part is holding the Spirit here until it becomes a demon. Scout doesn’t see any goblins, with 10 successes of Per– which scares him.

=Combat=
As we analyze the River, a pit opens up and four goblins attack! There is an unseelie who stabs, a goblin Orange mage, a satyr with panpipes, and an ogre.

The satyr plays panpipes and everyone except Nesh is inspired to dance (Saurians only dance when they want to, they can leave their friends behind). We concentrate some fire there and the satyr goes down. The goblin we also get fairly quickly; the unseelie sneaks around and tries to get the satyr up again, but we stop him, and he teleports out. We get the sneaking suspicion that we're now on the clock. We take out the ogre, loot the bodies, and do some work to figure out how we can get the spirit out. Scout offers to give the Spirit more power, and there's some suppression of the spell keeping it in place, and that's enough to break it free. As we start fleeing down the river towards the exit point, four demons appear, but we're mostly too far ahead, and we escape with the spirit.

In the aftermath, we get some information, from the spirit:

Three Drow shamans set up the trap. One was [[Silenalania]], another was the King’s advisor, and the third was someone we don’t recognize. They are not the Boss of the organization, although they’re clearly high up. The trap part of the ritual was set up, and then they teleported her up. They were all shamans as well as mages. They’re probably all Green, although they also used Blue and Purple to make it happen.

There are a bunch of connections from Spirit Breaker citadel to other places, probably wherever they sent their demon. It seems like their plan was to send her back to Green as a demon, with something to keep her Broken. Scout’s eyes are the link for his spirit; the mushroom ring helped the Mushroom demon stay Broken; a Broken lands spring feeding into the River would probably have worked.

=Back in Green=

Futeau could plausibly have been the third Drow that the River saw, according to His Majesty and [[Ambassador Strong]], who we inquire about. Ambassador Strong seems to have a reasonable Mind stat, but doesn’t crush our little minds or anything.

Could Scout find a path to a demon? Probably something.

Scout looks for information about pooka shamans that might be able to help him with his goal of expanding his Find the Path schtick. There’s one with a maze, so we decide that seems plausible, and head that way.

On the way there, we lure a nearby demon by hitting it with lightning. It is a small but toxic snake; Scout finds Broken Lands dirt and rocks in its burrow.

Stella has been investigating the orange items from the orange goblin; they are similar to the unpleasant swords from Orange.

=Loot=
* 10 EPs
* 8 SPs
* Satyr Panpipes
* Goblin Orange Magic creations that are similar to the Orange Magic in the swords and daggers.

Main Page

2025-08-10T22:01:27Z

Justom: /* Chapter 4: [title of chapter] */

COMET: Once More Unto The Breach 

== About The World ==
[[World Map|World Map and Overview]]

[[Jabar Map]]

[[:Category:Countries|Countries]] of the World

[[History]]

[[Muddle in Middlesea]]

[[Plot Threads]]

== Previous Comet ==
[https://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/CometWeb/ Website from the Previous Comet]

==Various Mechanics==
[[Colors of Magic | Magic]]

[[Endurance]]

[[Character Creation Message]]

[[Skill List and Costs]]

[[Combat]]

[[Middlesea Free Rangers]]

[[:Category: Rulings]]

==Logs==
===Chapter 1: Forging the Rangers===
# [[First Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-01-07
# [[Second Run]] ([[Rainbow]]), 2023-02-18
# [[To The Heart]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-04
# [[Adventures are Everywhere]] ([[Orange]]), 2023-03-18
# [[Promises Promises]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-04-01
# [[A Lilac Kind Of Purple]] ([[Purple]]), 2023-05-13
# [[To Catch A Thief]] ([[Red]]), 2023-05-27
# [[Bear and Frog]] ([[Red]]), 2023-06-17
# [[Keep in the Broken Lands]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-08
# [[Under the Sea]] ([[Red]]), 2023-07-22
# [[The Once and Future Queens]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-05
# [[Coronation and Investigation]] ([[Red]]), 2023-08-19
# Chapter End: [[Forging the Free Rangers]] (A space outside of space, and [[Red]]), 2023-09-02

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===
# [[On The Sea 1]] (Combats, Calms, and Cataurs) (Between [[Red]] and [[Blue]]), 2023-10-14
# [[On The Sea 2]] (Sea Giant, Sea Witch, and Melmane ho!) (Ending in [[Blue]]), 2023-10-28
# [[Three Mages]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-11-11
# [[A ritual and no Pearls]] (in [[Blue]]), 2023-12-09
# [[On His Majesty’s Secret Surface]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-01-20
# [[Terrain Type Shark]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-03
# [[Pearly Whites]] (in the Merfolk kingdoms), 2024-02-17
# [[Water Alliance]] (in the Merfolk Kingdoms and Melmane), 2024-03-02
# [[Heart of Blue]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-03-30
# [[Hunting Slith Spies]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-04-13
# [[Recapturing the Cataurs]] (in [[Blue]]), 2024-05-11
# Chapter End: [[Welcome to Jabar]] (on the way to and in [[Yellow]]), 2024-06-08

===Chapter 3: In the Land of Yellow===
# [[Caravan]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-17
# [[Caravan Part 2]] (in Yellow), 2024-08-31
# [[A Tree Grows in Jabar]] (in Yellow), 2024-10-12
# [[A Crack in the Wall]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-09
# [[Feeling Our Way Around]] (in Yellow), 2024-11-23
# [[Life of the Party]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-07
# [[A Maharani Calls]] (in Yellow), 2024-12-21
# [[Nor Any Drop to Drink]] (in Yellow), 2025-01-18
# [[Talking to Trees]] (in Yellow), 2025-02-15
# [[Climbing the Bird Gradient]] (in Yellow), 2025-03-01
# Chapter End: [[In the Court of His Majesty of the Forest]] (in Green), 2025-03-29

===Chapter 4: [title of chapter]===
# [[Mushroom Mushroom]] (in Green), 2025-04-12
# [[A River Runs Through It]] (in Green and the Broken Lands), 2025-05-24
# [[In Their Majesty's Creepy Castle]] (in Green), 2025-06-21
# [[On The Assassin's Trail]] (in Purple), 2025-07-05
# [[Investigation, Assassination]], (in Purple), 2025-07-19
# [[Rinyan Redux]], (in Orange), 2025-08-09

===Total EPs===
As of 2025-08-09 (4.6), including initial 30 EPs / 100 SPs.
* 348 EPs
* 471 SPs

==Things We Might Know==
* [[:Category:NPCs]]
* [[Party Loot]]
* [[Visions of Middlesea]]

== MediaWiki ==
MediaWiki has been installed.

Consult the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-announce.lists.wikimedia.org/ MediaWiki release mailing list]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Localisation#Translation_resources Localise MediaWiki for your language]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Combating_spam Learn how to combat spam on your wiki]

Plot Threads

2025-08-10T21:54:53Z

Justom: /* Red */

A list of plots and things that we need to look into.

=Large-Scale Plots=
* Opening Middlesea
* Opening Spiritbreaker Fortress

==Recurring Bad Guys==
* The Orc, Slayer: The Avatar of the Breaker. See [[Muddle in Middlesea]].
* Mikhailovich: The Saurian who was building (and then destroying) the wall in Nalari in [[Yellow]]. He claimed to be from Orange, but we think he was lying. He used Forge magic but not Creation or Elemental, so we posit he may be a Rainbow Mage, and therefore possibly he was a slith who had shapeshifted.
* [[Silenalania]]: Drow shaman and Green mage who had been disguised and in Their Majesty's delegation from [[Green]]. One of the leaders(?) of the group corrupting the Spirits of Green, which seems to be based out of Spiritbreaker Fortress.

=Purple=
Breaker's Goal: Take over the Empire

[[Stella]] asked the Goddess what needs fixing, in 4.4:

* Having an Emperor would be good, although there isn’t a convenient one to hand
* The Orc Invasion needs to be pushed back is important; it will get worse when Middlesea opens, so pushing it back as much as possible before then would be good.
* The Half-Orcish spy ring should be taken apart, because he’ll be a Terrible Emperor. (Making him Emperor would not fix the first problem.)
* Stopping the Pirates would be good.
* Keeping Inspector Vok from being assassinated would be good.
* Eventually we’ll need the key to Middlesea, so figuring that out wouldn’t be bad.
* Making sure no one else gets the Key to Middlesea would be good.

==Todo==
* Get a Mission from the Ministry of Lions
* Find the Heart of Purple
* Provide a Report to the Ministry of Magic, Subministry of Frag, on the mess that is [[Vidan]]. Requires speaking to either [[Mother Jess]] in King Richard's Lands or [[Ritasi]] in Rinyan.

==The [[Emperor's Spy Network]]==
The group of half-orc assassins and others who seem to be on Team Terrible on the take-over-the-Empire plot.
They're being investigated by [[Inspector Vok]], who has about 45 out of 100 clue points as of run 4.5. They seem to have some connection to the [[Ministry of Pearls]], which regulates actors.

We believe they're more than 50 percent half-orcs. The assassin we found in 4.5 had a necklace with a Temish miracle of Hide Me, which made him seem human.

=Green=
Breaker's Goal: Corrupt the Spirits of the Forest (and others)

=Orange=
Breaker's Goal: Corrupt the Orange Zone

* Find a Priest of Jord to help steal the Maharani's nephew out of the [[Muddle in Middlesea]]. Possibly Stella's [[Uncle Carlo]].
* <s>Follow the Melmani scrolls to the hidden loot stash of the Lady (see [[Party Loot]])</s>. COMPLETE.
* Talk to [[Ritasi]], the head priest of the [[Cult of Al'an]], to get a report on Vidan. (1 week from 4.5). IN PROGRESS, [[Rinyan Redux]] / 4.7

Stella's Hammer of What Needs Fixing in [[Rinyan Redux]] (19 successes, 12 DI):
* There is nothing serious in Rinyan that needs Fixing right now.
* Broadening to Orange as a whole, there’s definitely the Thing She Can’t See, even with 19 successes.
* The Orange Mages who are working to expand Orange and are likely to Break it need fixing, but that’s a long-term project, and you’ve already put some resources onto that. It will need more tending.
* Getting Nivad (Goddess-flavored Purple Guy) more direction is a good thing to work on. It will definitely be a step towards Fixing Things that the Goddess Wants Fixed.
* Vani has a Broken Plot that is proceeding, that it would be good to thwart. It’s not huge, but it’s the biggest Broken plot in the country that is imminent. (Orange Mages are larger, less imminent, and not everyone in it is Broken or Bent. There is some devil-on-the-shoulder going on, it would be good to find them and deal with them.)
* The Goddess notes that Uncle Carlo and the Treasure Map are on Stella’s todo list, but they’re not on the Fix-It list.

=Red=
Breaker's Goal: Promote the Disagreements between Rush and the rest of the Five

* Talk to [[Mother Jess]], head of the Church of Navere, in King Richard's Lands. She was one of the three who set up the Vidan/Nivad/Dinav plot.

=Blue=
Breaker's Goal: Assassinate enough of the Blue Mages that Melmane falls to Chaos (more than it already has)

=Yellow=
Breaker's Goal: Send enough slith into Jabar to conquer it.

Plot Threads

2025-08-10T21:53:20Z

Justom: /* Orange */

A list of plots and things that we need to look into.

=Large-Scale Plots=
* Opening Middlesea
* Opening Spiritbreaker Fortress

==Recurring Bad Guys==
* The Orc, Slayer: The Avatar of the Breaker. See [[Muddle in Middlesea]].
* Mikhailovich: The Saurian who was building (and then destroying) the wall in Nalari in [[Yellow]]. He claimed to be from Orange, but we think he was lying. He used Forge magic but not Creation or Elemental, so we posit he may be a Rainbow Mage, and therefore possibly he was a slith who had shapeshifted.
* [[Silenalania]]: Drow shaman and Green mage who had been disguised and in Their Majesty's delegation from [[Green]]. One of the leaders(?) of the group corrupting the Spirits of Green, which seems to be based out of Spiritbreaker Fortress.

=Purple=
Breaker's Goal: Take over the Empire

[[Stella]] asked the Goddess what needs fixing, in 4.4:

* Having an Emperor would be good, although there isn’t a convenient one to hand
* The Orc Invasion needs to be pushed back is important; it will get worse when Middlesea opens, so pushing it back as much as possible before then would be good.
* The Half-Orcish spy ring should be taken apart, because he’ll be a Terrible Emperor. (Making him Emperor would not fix the first problem.)
* Stopping the Pirates would be good.
* Keeping Inspector Vok from being assassinated would be good.
* Eventually we’ll need the key to Middlesea, so figuring that out wouldn’t be bad.
* Making sure no one else gets the Key to Middlesea would be good.

==Todo==
* Get a Mission from the Ministry of Lions
* Find the Heart of Purple
* Provide a Report to the Ministry of Magic, Subministry of Frag, on the mess that is [[Vidan]]. Requires speaking to either [[Mother Jess]] in King Richard's Lands or [[Ritasi]] in Rinyan.

==The [[Emperor's Spy Network]]==
The group of half-orc assassins and others who seem to be on Team Terrible on the take-over-the-Empire plot.
They're being investigated by [[Inspector Vok]], who has about 45 out of 100 clue points as of run 4.5. They seem to have some connection to the [[Ministry of Pearls]], which regulates actors.

We believe they're more than 50 percent half-orcs. The assassin we found in 4.5 had a necklace with a Temish miracle of Hide Me, which made him seem human.

=Green=
Breaker's Goal: Corrupt the Spirits of the Forest (and others)

=Orange=
Breaker's Goal: Corrupt the Orange Zone

* Find a Priest of Jord to help steal the Maharani's nephew out of the [[Muddle in Middlesea]]. Possibly Stella's [[Uncle Carlo]].
* <s>Follow the Melmani scrolls to the hidden loot stash of the Lady (see [[Party Loot]])</s>. COMPLETE.
* Talk to [[Ritasi]], the head priest of the [[Cult of Al'an]], to get a report on Vidan. (1 week from 4.5). IN PROGRESS, [[Rinyan Redux]] / 4.7

Stella's Hammer of What Needs Fixing in [[Rinyan Redux]] (19 successes, 12 DI):
* There is nothing serious in Rinyan that needs Fixing right now.
* Broadening to Orange as a whole, there’s definitely the Thing She Can’t See, even with 19 successes.
* The Orange Mages who are working to expand Orange and are likely to Break it need fixing, but that’s a long-term project, and you’ve already put some resources onto that. It will need more tending.
* Getting Nivad (Goddess-flavored Purple Guy) more direction is a good thing to work on. It will definitely be a step towards Fixing Things that the Goddess Wants Fixed.
* Vani has a Broken Plot that is proceeding, that it would be good to thwart. It’s not huge, but it’s the biggest Broken plot in the country that is imminent. (Orange Mages are larger, less imminent, and not everyone in it is Broken or Bent. There is some devil-on-the-shoulder going on, it would be good to find them and deal with them.)
* The Goddess notes that Uncle Carlo and the Treasure Map are on Stella’s todo list, but they’re not on the Fix-It list.

=Red=
Breaker's Goal: Promote the Disagreements between Rush and the rest of the Five

=Blue=
Breaker's Goal: Assassinate enough of the Blue Mages that Melmane falls to Chaos (more than it already has)

=Yellow=
Breaker's Goal: Send enough slith into Jabar to conquer it.

Plot Threads

2025-08-10T21:49:02Z

Justom: /* Recurring Bad Guys */

Party Loot

2025-08-10T21:46:30Z

Justom:

=Items=
* Blackjack, non-lethal, +10 damage (Scout)
* A necklace with a bottle of Holding 3 DI, shaman flavored (Scout)
* A bottle of Holding 5 DI, shaman flavored (Scout)
* +1 Charisma clothes, for everyone except Vidan. (Several have lost their buffs by the end of [[To The Heart]].)
* Dagger of Destruction (Gale): x4 damage, seems to have some way of compelling people to Stab Stab Stab
* A pair of Absconded Tongs (Gale): Stolen from poor normal people in Rin'yan.
* Adventuring Perfume (Gale): Dashing, sexy. From the Ministry of Lilacs.
* Orc Allergen Perfume: Makes orcs (half-orcs?) sneeze around us. From the Ministry of Lilacs.
* Magic Compass -- tuned to point at Nesh
* Necklace of Dodge Pool (Nesh)
* Feather with a Red/Yellow spell on it, from [[Suvatra]]
* 2 Necklaces from the time of The Lord and the Lady. 4 successes of Appraisal says they’re worth more for historical value than for their pure gold/gems value. Might be worth something to one of the Mages that was looking for something. (One is worn by Gale for fancy dress purposes)
* Scrolls in Melmani - orders to the sunken ship directing the captain to carry the treasure to somewhere in Orange. Army logistics orders, so this was some kind of military vessel of some kind. The loot being carried is to fund the Lady’s army on the mainland. There is a map to a hidden stash of stuff in Orange somewhere.
* Some roc feathers
* A bunch of pegasus feathers
* 1 Phoenix Feather
* Necklace of Tamish "Hide Me" schtick (? DI successes). (From half-orc assassin, 4.5.)
* 3 Blue Items with Army Schticks: 1 that lets a unit fly; 1 that gives a unit defense against Orange; 1 that gives an army unit more martial skill.
* An Army Unit worth of Uniforms from last comet (in the cache near Kor)
* An Army Unit worth of Medical Supplies (in the cache near Kor)
* <s>Ring of Yellow area-of-effect mods don't count (Diomarche)</s>. On loan to [[Suvatra]].
* <s>1 Perfect Pearl</s>. USED IN MERFOLK KINGDOM.

=Cash (on the Barrelhead)=
* 3 Loot of Gold and Gems (from the cache we found in 4.6)
* 1 Loot of Random Stuff
* 1 Loot of Gold
* 1.5 Loot (for the second cataur boat)
* <s>1 Loot (pirated from the cataurs) (Spent in Melmane)</s>
* <s>A small bag of coins.</s> spent to teleport to Darstan.
* <s>A small bag of pearls (collected from the slith in Run Ten). Equivalent to 1/2 Loot.</s> Spent in Melmane.

Total: 6.5 Loot