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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 6:57 pm 
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Location: Central Alberta
Pardon me, good sir, but did you say a group, without any authority of the Crown, the Duke, or the Matriarch of the Black Talons, invited fell beasts into OUR lands to feast upon OUR children? I find it hard to believe that any subjects of the Crown would make such a deal with savage animals as HYENA MEN! What sane creature would ever think that those beasts, known for centuries for their vile blasphemies, disrespect for any form of authority, and their lust for the flesh of sentient beings, would ever be able to live peacefully within Milandir? I can assure you that they will never be allowed to cross our boarders. As we speak I am calling my Cantons together to protect my lands from these monsters. I can assure you that those beasts will not cross Milandir's noble borders and survive!

You mentioned it was the group known as BEAST who, through their actions, threatened the people of Milandir? Can you provide me with the names of such individuals? I can assure you that should they ever cross my lands (or, the borders of Milandir if I can sway it with the Duke or the King) that they will be put the sword for their crimes against the people of Milandir! At the very least I will effort to have their names forever listed as betrayers of the King and Country so all know of their lunacy!

Forever yours,

Margrave Adolf val'Horlyn

[[OOC: The Milandisians do not take well to one of their historic enemies being invited into their lands, and I assume my old NPC from "The Dark Face of War" (who is even less open minded than most Milandisians) would take it even less well ;) ]]

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Cody Bergman
Legends of Arcanis Campaign Staff
Initial Author Contact/Adventure Vetting

Haakon Marcus val'Virdan, Divine Holy Judge of Nier
Ruma val'Vasik, Martial Crusader and Master of the Spear
Jorma Osterman, Arcane Coryani Battlemage


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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:46 am 
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Location: Ontario, Canada
val Holryn wrote:
There was only one voice that even tried to support the Blight Bearers. A Nierite priest from Canceri. But no one was listening and I am not sure his heart was in it. Blight Bearers! No one likes them! I don’t think their emissaries even made it out of the Ballroom alive.

Ambassador,

While naturally a Priest of Lord Nier need not explain his actions to those outside the Church, I understand that you--more than most--appreciate having a full understanding of any situation. As you may or may not have been aware, I was not present for the past four decades of world events following a fateful incident below the First City, which need not be spoken of further.

My Nerothian brothers in Canceri have always embraced Lord Neroth more completely than that watered-down form of worship espoused by the Coryani. It was for this reason that I initially believed that the Plaguebearers were sanctioned representatives of Holy Canceri. It was not until later that a trusted friend advised me that during my absence, these Nerothians had been declared heretical by the Nihang Council.

As one who has personally fought against the Cult of the Thousand Eyed Man, the Varn and many other heretical factions, I assure you that I take pleasure in stamping out heresy regardless of its origin.

Glory to Lord Nier, glory to Holy Canceri.

Raseri val'Emman
Master of the Order of Incandescent Flame

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Akira Currier
aka Raseri 'Crash' val'Emman - Master of the Incandescent Flame (Martial 3.7)
aka Leif - Skohir Warped One (Martial 2.6)
aka Rurik - Nol Dappan War Priest (Divine 2.3)
aka Karthik - Tultipetan Stonemason (Expert 1.4)


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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 2:20 am 
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Location: Tampa, Florida (temp.)
Brother Tukufu,

I send my regards to you, your wife, and your wonderful scriptorium.

I have researched more information on the several prophecies of Coming of the Destroyer, and I am sending you my latest notes with additions highlighted. I have found out when the "Idiot Priests" had their vision (1073 IC) and have also discovered Khitani interpretations of a passage in their Kalindruhl mentioning the Destroyer an an anti-messianic being.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g3bv1efl6eg83n4/Prophecies%20of%20the%20Destroyer.pdf?dl=0

I have received word that a common friend and ally of ours has taken some political steps that may be able to put some brakes upon the one whom you most suspect of being the Destroyer or his harbinger. Whether those political maneuverings can stop the Destruction, I am hesitant to say, but perhaps they may help the Falcon endure.

May the Gods inspire us and our own minds serve us as we strive to interpret these prophecies for the sake of all Men.

Your brother,
Amadi D'Abura

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David Thomas Chappell
Sestius Ovidius val'Mehan Comma and Khamat - psion patrician diplomatic legate and his Myrantian tutor
Quintus Ovidius val'Mehan - patrician military tribune
Amadi val'Abebi - Monk of Althares
Talathos - choleric Kelekene dabbler


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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:39 am 
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Location: Portland OR
Cousins, Comrades, and all Gentle Readers,

I sit here writing by lamplight. Belinay, suddenly a stranger to me, has already gone to bed. Last week I could have written how my wife filled the gap in my soul. Now I search her eyes, fearful that I will see a stranger. We have mutually retreated into stilted formality.

I should weep for the loss, but right now I just feel cold and dead inside.

Alcohol having failed me, I seek solace in my ink well. Yet I am not ready to write of all the recent horrors. Most of you who read these letters already shared these events anyway. You already know that chaos seems to grip the world from Biharn and Seremas, to Coryan, Khitan and the First City.

I beg your indulgence. Let me instead turn our narrative back to the last time that I was truly happy. Really, it was not long ago. I had the opportunity to travel with good companions. And of course, to poke my nose into new mysteries.

It started, improbably, with an overdue attempt at revenge.

Not against me, thank the gods. No it started with a visit from a … I’ll call it a consortium of bitter people from Canceri. Perhaps that was redundant to write. Few people I meet from Canceri can be described as either happy or content. When they came to Littera Scripta Manet, we all packed into the upstairs room and I offered a pot of tea. I then listened to grievances against the Legion of the Black Sun.

Do I need to pause here to describe the Legion to you? I am sure their spooky highlights are generally known... How their first Imperium Standard was rediscovered and brought to Quaron val Dellenov, “the Mad Emperor.” And how he refused to reactivate the Legion. In Quron’s defense I note that it was a Nierite Legion and Canceri had just revolted. Still, it proved to be a poor choice. The dead Legionnaires of the First Imperium rose from their graves, ostensibly from the direct will of Neroth and Nier, to reclaim their standard and march north to Canceri. Almost everyone knows that particular “ghost story.”

But do you know that the Legion of the Black Sun barely involve themselves in Nishanpur and Canceri? For example they have never been part of the various invasions of Milandir. In fact it’s not entirely clear to me just who they answer to in Nishanpur. Certainly they bow before the Dark Apostate and accepted Leonydas. But even then they keep the world at arm’s length. I am told Hegrish interacts with them through a liaison and they both seem to keep a wary distance. So one might say they are rather mysterious.

Certainly, no one admits to having any real idea what the Legion of the Black Sun does on a daily basis. Do they mostly sit around with dice and cards? Somehow I doubt it. I did some poking around. The Legion may or may not have been involved in the death of a significant numismatist in Nishanpur. They may or may not be hunting works by Aldemerius Biriglo who was once the Abbot of Rell … before he fell from grace and was labeled a heretic. About the only thing I do know for sure is that they are ruthless and thorough when fate or chance cause them to spring into action; and the Legion is completely indifferent to any collateral suffering they cause among the living.

Hence the cabal. There are those among the living who have grievances. And wish to act on them.
They said a half century (or more) was on the move and might be passing through the Blessed Lands. Was I willing to figure out where they were going and what they were doing?

"Sure," I said!

Don't get me wrong. I didn’t want to fight half a century of hardened undead veterans, for all the obvious reasons! But I thought I could investigate a little and keep out of their clutches.

I also knew just the group of friends to help out … Though sadly I report to you that, to the last person, they have requested that I not mention their names. I guess I can understand why one might not wish to antagonize the Legion of the Black Sun. I'll ask you gentle readers, to refrain from forwarding this letter to Nishanpur!

Just assume I got lucky and that, after yourself gentle reader, the best and the brightest were intrigued enough to sign on.

I was worried that the Legion’s movements would be opaque and well concealed. But even given efforts to move at night and travel by Gate, it turns out its just plain hard to move a large number of infamous undead horrors with anything resembling real secrecy. Besides several of us were decently powerful spell casters. Our combined use of divinatory and clairvoyant magic, as well as a willingness to suck up at least a little unpleasantness, all but guaranteed we were going to figure out where they were going.

Which turned out to be the Sea of Grass.

If you don’t know where the Sea of Grass is … well I don’t blame you. It turns out that it’s a sparsely inhabited peninsula on the southern coast of the Sea of Lanterns. There the marshy lands grows tough grass that reaches out of the mud six or seven feet (or more) toward the sky. It might be completely uninhabitable except that there are the occasional low hills out in the wild which provide some solid ground.

The Sea of Grass’ sole distinction, beyond the grass itself, is as the home to the Hunai people. None of us knew much about the Hunai, but we did some quick research. Reportedly they have simple minds and make excellent pleasure slaves. So great is the demand for Hunai in the markets of Grand Coryan that they sell for at least 30 gold imperials each. Slavers must love the place.

In the First City the Hunai have some kind of Temple to their three Goddesses in the Pearl. So of course we went to talk to one. You know, before trying to head out past the far end of the known world. We quickly made friends with a smiling but simple man.

What a weird experience! First, one of the three Goddesses appears to be Belisarda! “Belisarda provides,” our new friend said with a wide smile. Since the Hunai are human I can only wonder what the elorii make of that! There is also a younger sister goddess they associate with the Green Moon. “Lyssandra protects.” Again the big simple grin. And an older sister. “Nayal.” He stopped smiling for the first time and looked away at the floor. But soon he looked back at us smiling and said, “Friends!” The liturgy, if I can call it that, was repeated a couple of times. “Lyssandra protects. Belisarda provides. Nayal.” He also spoke wistfully of “Home.”

Trying to get detailed information from the Hunai proved to be almost futile. He, and the others in the Temple, really were “simple.” They all had difficulty with abstract concepts like the passage of time, distances between locations or even something like "yesterday." And the Hunai spoke in two or three word sentences.

Two things were obvious to us all after this talk. One: the Legion of the Dark Sun wasn’t going to the Sea of Grass looking for stimulating conversation. And Two: undead Legionnaires don’t cross the world to get a discount on pleasure slaves. Whatever they were up to, it was only getting more mysterious.

...I ask your indulgence. My lamp oil burns low. Give me a moment to refill it and I will continue the story of the Legion of the Black Sun and the Sea of Grass...

-Tukufu

_________________
Eric Gorman

AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage
. . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix
Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen


Last edited by val Holryn on Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:23 am, edited 3 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:54 am 

Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 12:08 am
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Very enjoyable as always, Eric!

Please, do continue ambassador.

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Best,

Henry Lopez
President
PCI


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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 12:26 pm 
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Location: Central Alberta
Waiting on baited breath for the continuation!

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Cody Bergman
Legends of Arcanis Campaign Staff
Initial Author Contact/Adventure Vetting

Haakon Marcus val'Virdan, Divine Holy Judge of Nier
Ruma val'Vasik, Martial Crusader and Master of the Spear
Jorma Osterman, Arcane Coryani Battlemage


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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 4:29 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:06 am
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Location: Portland OR
...coming...coming...that damnable lamp oil is around here somewhere....

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Eric Gorman

AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage
. . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix
Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen


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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:44 pm 
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Posts: 2493
Location: Central Alberta
::Haakon stops by and turns himself into a living candle if need be::

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Cody Bergman
Legends of Arcanis Campaign Staff
Initial Author Contact/Adventure Vetting

Haakon Marcus val'Virdan, Divine Holy Judge of Nier
Ruma val'Vasik, Martial Crusader and Master of the Spear
Jorma Osterman, Arcane Coryani Battlemage


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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:30 am 
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Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:06 am
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Location: Portland OR
"Haakon, its, uh good to see you. Ummm. You are on fire you know. You do know? Okay. Okay. But...ummm... Well. Please. You are making me nervous. You are burning awfully close to a shelf of books. No don't move there! Loose scrolls! Perhaps a step over there? One more? Yes. Thank you! Okay, yes that's better."

"Oh. And don't touch anything."

_________________
Eric Gorman

AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage
. . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix
Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen


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 Post subject: Re: Letters from Ambassador Tukufu
PostPosted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:38 am 
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Location: Portland OR
Gentle Readers, I return after refilling my lamp with more oil.

To recap: a consortium of bitter individuals from Canceri sought an allegedly overdue revenge against the Legion of the Dark Sun - who were headed to the western edge of the known world. The Legion's destination was a place called the Sea of Grass. Home of the Hunai people, who are valued by slavers as docile pleasure slaves.

Well, we needed to get to the Sea of Grass to continue our snooping.

It would have been months of travel going overland. And none of us conveniently owned a ship. Chartering one for two weeks would have been prohibitively expensive. That left seizing a ship by force or booking passage. Beyond the technical legalities involved, none of us knew much about seamanship. So that was that: Passage! And there was only one man who sent ships there regularly...Duoppol of the Twisted Eye. The leader of the Crimson Shackle slavers.

I know I didn’t relish the prospect of visiting Duoppol again. As an Altherian I dislike the concept of slavery. And let’s face it. Duoppol might be the most well informed and dangerous man in the First City. So I was very happy someone else actually volunteered for the job. The poor fool…no one else went with him. That made me feel a little guilty. But not guilty enough to venture onto Duoppol’s estate a second time.

Apparently he caught Duoppol in a good mood, the negotiations produced a price that wasn’t ruinous. Duoppol did admonish us not to undercut his business in Hunai slaves. But since we were going to sail back on his own boat he probably meant that as a joke. Surely we're no threat to his interests. But I bet even he had a hard time guessing what we were going to get up to out there. Other than the Hunai there is just … grass.

Our cruise was uneventful. The Crimson Slavers run an outpost there called Port Arlet and I was shocked to see, as our ship docked, how heavily fortified it was. It had walls of stone worthy of a major Milandesian castle. I could also see that there were cages lined up outside for slaves being prepared for transport, and that there was roughly a half Century getting ready to head out into the marsh. The Legion of the Black Sun was there collecting supplies! What a stroke of luck! Incredibly they were collecting amphorae from the slavers in the fort. Stupidly, they were loading them onto wagons. I say stupidly because the ground was at best “marshy” and the grass grew seven or eight feet high. There was no way those wagons would last a day without getting mired or worse.

The caged slaves were heartbreaking to walk past, and I was reminded of walking past the Stage on my one trip to Ymandragore. I was also reminded that the Hunai were “simple” or “innocent” when one of them politely asked me in broken common, “Can you open this door? I want to go home now.” He looked so sad in his cage. I had to bite my lip, look down at my feet and fight the urge to pick the lock and help him run for it. I admit I did nothing, and still feel some shame that I didn’t manage to do something “heroic” in that moment.

The Hunai are supposed to be peaceful, but we saw one of them go berserk. There was a teenage girl being beaten and then a young Hunai man suddenly became enraged. He leapt from the slaver escorting him and savagely attacked her handlers. The other chauni slavers laughed at first, until one of the captors lost teeth from a head butt. Then it was obvious that someone might get killed. Half a dozen chauni jumped the Hunai and bore him to the ground and beat him till he stopped fighting. Initially it took all of them to hold him down. The strangest thing about the whole thing was the reaction from the other Hunoi. I would swear I heard them whisper, “Nayal.” And to the last of them they all turned their backs to the “rescuer.” Some of them shook, and I thought that they were frightened.

Members of our expedition ended up buying the girl and the young man. The young girl had broken common at best, but was eager to communicate and seemed to offer to lead us to her home. The man said almost nothing and did his best not to attract further attention.

The Legion…I made the mistake of trying to strike up a conversation with a Centurion named Durant val”Virdan. I quickly found out that he thought it was rude a “breather” was even trying to talk to him without being spoken too first. I gather that if we had been in Canceri my error would have been painful, perhaps even fatal. He promised to teach me proper etiquette if I ever turned up in Nishanpur. I beat a hasty retreat. I wasn’t the only one in the party to make the mistake of trying to chat up the Legion. No one got very far with them. But we did learn that several of them were awakened, and that the amphorae were all full of olive oil.

Gods.

Undead Legionaires. The best pleasure slaves in the known world. And ALL the olive oil of Port Arlet. It sounded like a grotesque and horrible joke. Almost I wished for Altheres to stun my mind and halt my imagination. Some thoughts are just too horrible. I could only hope, and offer up a fervent prayer to Nier, that somehow large scale arson or a fire sweeping across the Sea of Grass was soon forthcoming.

It was obvious that we couldn’t travel with the Legion. So we chatted with the chauni slavers while we waited to see which way the Legion was headed. Then we’d try to cut around ahead of them. It was obvious they wouldn’t be moving fast with the wagons. Hopefully our path would more or less align with the way home for the Hunoi girl we saved.

Talking with the chauni turned out to be a good idea. We learned there were “invisible guardians” that patrolled the grasses. The chauni called them, “Pphhtt pphhhttt.” That was all the sound they made when they decapitated someone. Apparently if they targeted you there wasn’t even time to scream or cry out. And no one knew what they looked like. I can’t really comment, but suffice it to say many chauni are unreliable witnesses.

In the course of our travels I occasionally did see “furrows” in the grass as perhaps something tiger sized passed through. But no one in our expedition was attacked. I believe something is out there.

The Hunai village. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t actually gone there. It eventually proved to be located on a low hillock of solid ground. Amazingly the hillock was surrounded by fruit trees. And the water by it was pure and fresh. Some intelligence was at work there. But the Hunai were … the Hunai. It wasn’t their foresight or labor that had created this spot. They villagers were all innocents, without any of the benefits of civilization, but still living in a garden of plenty.

Something, perhaps a “Pphhtt pphhtt” left a deer at the edge of the clearing near dusk. I didn’t see it. The villagers completely lacked weapons or tools to hunt game. All the villagers would say in explaination was “Lysandra protects” and that “Belisarda provides.” They did manage to start a small fire to cook. Like the fruit and water, the meat was delicious.

Two very weird things have stayed with me from the night in the Hunoi village. But I need more ink and paper to finish the tale. I ask gentle readers that you be patient with me one more time and I will conclude the expedition to the Sea of Grass.

Tukufu

_________________
Eric Gorman

AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage
. . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix
Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen


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