elw Clayday, Harmony Week, Sea Season 1627

With the Frog Woman pleased and the newtling bachelors satisfactorily mated, the undines that had blocked our way upriver subsided and we we able to sail north again. Within a day, we’d made it as far as the Great Bog under the ruined walls of Raus Fort¹. That night, Berrik dreamed of the last hopes and dashed aspirations of the ghosts of the Lunar settlers who still haunted the ruins.

glw Windsday, Harmony Week, Sea Season 1627

With the ghosts of Raus Fort behind us, we sailed into the lands of the Sun Dome Templars, Sun County. We anchored at the first village at the edge of the County, Chomoro, and quickly learned that much not goes on in Sun County after dark.

.lw Fireday, Harmony Week, Sea Season 1627

Onward, into the green banks and golden fields of wheat and flax that make up the broad alluvial plains of Sun County, we anchored at Helmbold.

Klw Wildday, Harmony Week, Sea Season 1627

Sailing from Helmbold to Stablefort, we found the river blocked by the Great Boom, a massive bronze chain of dwarven manufacture that the Sun Domers use to control ships passing on the Zola Fel. A small contingent of templars rowed out to meet us, and they invited us not only to shore, but to the Sun Dome Temple itself for an audience with the Countess. As this was an offer we could not refuse, we accepted. We arrived in Sun Dome Temple before sundown (as was proper) and were billeted in very pleasant quarters, complete with servants. We were fed, allowed to bathe with running water from dwarven plumbing, and given comfortable linen clothing to rest in.

The next morning, our two Light Son escorts, Selander Brightspear and Vorrash the Grave, led us to our meeting with the blind Countess of Sun County, Vega Goldbreath. She inquired after our reasons for being in Prax so far from Sartar, shed a tear for her beloved companion Kallyr², and hooted in delight when we admitted that Queen Leika had sent us to drag Argrath back to his homeland. That was something she would gladly assist us with.

Her mirth was not long lasting, for a messenger boy came running into the audience chamber to let everyone know that a great blue serpent-like wave had broken the Great Boom in Stablefort. This, everyone agreed, was the evil magic of the Anti-Count, Belvani. Vega and Hector the Wise conferred together, looking at us thoughtfully many times, until the privy court, with us in tow, moved from the audience chamber to the temple library. There, Hector brought out evidence regarding Belvani’s motives that his spies had collected for the Countess. Weaving history, mythology, and pure deduction into a vast tale, he concluded that Belvani was attempting a far-reaching heroquest combining Lunar and Orlanthi mythology with EWF³ draconic magic to change the very nature of Sun County. Not only that, but Hector knew that Belvani, a known purveyor of hazia⁴, was sending his best supply to the palace in Pavis to keep Argrath tripping on his couch and, Hector assumed, out of the way.

And thus a plan was hatched to empower us to muck up Belvani’s intricate plans. This plan involved re-enacting the Contests of Yelm and Orlanth, with us playing the parts of Orlanth.

Xlw Godday, Harmony Week, Sea Season 1627

Bright and early on Godday (auspiscious, indeed), we were awakened by our ever-present escorts, Selander and Vorrash, and taken to the temple yard which had been prepared for the ritual contests of Dance, Magic, and Music. As it is written, we were utterly humiliated and lost each contest, but in doing so found ourselves filled with the bristling potential of the storm. We returned to our quarters to a generous feast to rest, for in the morning we would go to war with the Countess.

otw Freezeday, Death Week, Sea Season 1627

With Vega’s True Golden Phalanx, marching in the command group with the Countess, we headed north to Harpoon, where the Sun Domers knew that Belvani was bivouacked. At the town of Haymon’s Gate, the army paused for the evening and we dined in the officer’s mess with the Countess, learning about Sun Dome equipment and tactics as well as their favorite pass-time game, the Shield Push⁵.

wtw Waterday, Death Week, Sea Season 1627

From Haymon’s Gate, it was only a few miles to Harpoon, and the True Golden Phalanx reached it easily before High Yelm. Belvani’s forces were assembled on the bluff above the village, in possession of the famous Harpoon⁶. With a commanding position and a powerful weapon to use against us, it was clear that a straight-ahead assault of Belvani’s position would be disastrous.

However, inspiration came from the locals. They informed the Countess, through an almost unintelligible local dialect, that Belvani’s forces had arrived and challenged them to a friendly game of Shield Push. The local lads were all up for it (since the Lunars had left there hadn’t been a lot of games being played).

The spirit of the game was summoned, but before the first gong, the “Pavis County All-Stars” cheated, steam-rolled through the locals to run up the bluff, captured the harpoon and took its crew hostage. Vega leapt at the chance: the spirit of the game had been summoned but the game had not been played; therefore, the rules of the game could be magically enforced.

Vega called out to the spirit, the Superb Owl, who appeared and confirmed her guess. Vega then set the goals for the game: her helmet set upon a spear and the harpoon! As beams of sunlight magically lit up the goals of the game, the Superb Owl let out a screeching whistle and the game was on.

As per the rules, no weapons are allowed on to the pitch, and the weapons that Belvani’s forces brought up against us vanished into the air. Then, with the pent-up power of the Storm that we’d been holding since the Contests of Dance, Magic, and Music, we blasted through the opponents line and raced up the hill to the harpoon.

And just as we captured it, winning the game, the Zola Fel burst out of the river banks in the form of a great blue dragon and began swallowing men, Vega’s and Belvani’s alike, along the riverbank.

We were in control of the harpoon, and it was already loaded with a 12-meter long spear inscribed with the words (in Firespeech) “Dragon Slayer”. How convenient. However, we knew we couldn’t ponder the convenience to much for the blue dragon was huge and it was quickly eating up Vega’s Phalanx and probably would soon eat us. We fired the harpoon, striking the dragon true, and killing it.

As the dragon coiled around itself in its death throws, we found ourselves rising into the the sky - into the night sky - with the dragon below us, the star dome above us, and ourselves in possession of the four quadrants of the Middle Air. Then eight captains of Yelm appeared in the eight quadrants of the Sky World, with great tin globes on their heads. They began to descend towards the dragon armed with hooks and flaying knives. This was Belvani’s plan all along: he had used the Summons of Evil to entrap us in his heroquest. And there he was, a great golden man flying high above everything, out of reach and serene.

We played our part, defending the dragon’s corpse as the Planet Captains entered the Middle Air. Although Berrik failed the Red Goddess’ Errand of Mercy, he did not fail Shargash’s Call to Fight, and Aeson turned Buserian’s Pedantry inside out - and two out of three ain’t bad.

With Buserian sputtering and Shargash defeated⁷, the other Planet Captains spun into Disorder. Confused, they stripped off their tin helmets and threw down their spears and fled into the Upper Air. Then from the dragon’s corpse, the Beautiful Blue Woman rose up, naked and very, very blue, while the Golden Man Belvani, still peaceful and impassive in his lotus position, descended from the sky dome to stand in the Middle Air with us.

Belvani half-heartedly clapped for our success at spoiling his best-laid magic: indeed, he did not seem particularly upset at all, perhaps even mildly impressed or even, more strangely, pleased with us. Behind him unfolded a dragonewt shadow which moved with him and without him. The Beautiful Blue Woman snaked around us, serpentine and fluid, while Belvani spoke. The golden crown which had floated above his head clattered to the ground⁸, although he seemed not to notice. But, before Belvani could sardonically say very much beyond “Congratulations”, the Beautiful Blue Woman ardently embraced Aeson. She entwineed her sinuous, strangely flexible limbs around him. Her forked tongue flickered into Aeson’s ears as she hissed hot words of quicksilver endearment. Her serpentine fingers deftly manipulated his belt buckle, and her own strange openings dilated. The swelling climatic magic of Five Eyes Temple once again filled Aeson’s loins, and she said:

Belvani’s otherwise implacably smiling mouth formed into a surprised “NO”…

And then we were in Utter Darkness with only the chittering of faraway insects, or worse, to comfort us.

Foundry Chat Log

People We Met

Lady Vega Goldbreath, Countess of Sun County .cy,

As the only female Rune Lord in a man’s cult, Vega Goldbreath has used her intelligence and quick wits to fight prejudice, derision and chauvinism all the way to the top, and is now the first woman to rule Sun County in Prax.

Countess Vega was blinded last year: she struck the usurper Belvani with a Sunspear, but it was Reflected and burned out both of her eyes. Just how Belvani obtained a Lunar defensive spell, we can only surmise.

Vega Goldbreath and the Great Flood

e Earth Season 1622: Several days after Count Solanthos’ body was burned, a great inundation swept down the River of Cradles valley, flooding parts of Pavis County and the Rubble, and then beyond to Sun County. Lhankor Mhy scholars later concurred with Hector the Wise that the ice and snow in the Rockwoods never had a chance to melt in the Great Winter, and the Zola Fel and its mountain streams and tributaries must have frozen over. This all changed when the Windstop suddenly ended, sending the entire spring melt downstream in a vast flood, wreaking destruction from Boathouse Ruins as far as the Great Bog.

For several weeks, a great sheet of water spread far over the flatlands of Pavis County and the breadbasket of Sun County, causing further misery for the people. But when the floodwaters finally receded, they saw that Zola Fel had left them with a gift: the fields were now covered in a thick layer of fertile silt. It was too late in the year for planting, so the hungry times continued, though the farmers all agreed that the next planting season offered incredible promise. In the meantime, famine was kept at bay by the grateful elves, who shared the miraculous bounty from the Garden with the people of Pavis and the Sun Dome.

When the waters abated, there was much to be done to take advantage of the precious soil deposited by the flood. Vega Goldbreath as Guardian led the efforts to repair the damage in the Lands of the Sun. Using an ancient tattered scroll from the temple archives depicting the fabled Gods Wall in distant Dara Happa, Vega evoked the Story of the Ten Sons and Servants. The entire population was mobilised into a Great Corvée, with even Light Sons and priests putting their hands to mattock and spade. Although initially scandalized to see the Light Lady taking on the role of Morkatos the Foreman, clad only in a kilt, in a remarkably short time the people cleared away tremendous quantities of debris, dug out irrigation channels and repaired the riverbanks.

Meanwhile, Penta Goldbreath formed a Ty Kora Tek sisterhood with others sharing her affliction to help the many restless ghosts and vengeful wraiths from the Great Winter to find their solace. The Goldbreath sisters earned great respect for their efforts to restore the land after the tribulations of the past several years. The Sun Folk were cheered when that Sacred Time Gaumata the Seer foretold a year ahead of peace and plenty, and that their earnest toil would at last be rewarded with an abundant harvest.

Source: MOB, The Great Winter and the Time of Two Counts

Hector the Wise .cy,

The venerable Hector the Wise treats the Sun Dome Temple’s library as his exclusive domain. A true worshipper of Dayzatar, he is both learned and aloof. Even the Countess is said to be wary of his sharp wits and intolerance for the modestly educated.

Hector’s Yellow Book, a fantastic collection of assorted notes on current and historical events and everything animal, vegetable, mineral and magical, is maintained in the Sun Dome Temple library.

The Yellow Book is modeled upon the similar compendiums held in the Lhankor Mhy temples at Jonstown and Nochet, the only difference being the Yellow Book’s emphasis on topics significant to Sun County and the surrounding region.

The Yellow Book is written in Firespeech, in special purple ink. It has pride-of-place in Hector’s library, and is chained to a special stand. All cultists of good standing may inspect the book and suggest new entries. Only Hector himself is permitted to write in new entries, which he does in a firm hand that belies his great age.

Every two years, a junior initiate from the Lhankor Mhy Temple at Pavis is selected to journey down to the Sun Dome Temple to copy the newest entries from the Yellow Book. In return, he brings texts that might be of interest to Hector the Wise. Thus, all but the latest entries in the Yellow Book may be examined in the reserve collection of the Pavis Lhankor Mhy library, and many Lhankor Mhy texts are available at the Sun Dome.

Belvani, the Anti-Count .yi,s

After being driven out of Sun County, “Count-in-Exile” Belvani holds court in his palace in Suntown, the Yelmalian enclave of New Pavis. The Sun Dome temple in Suntown is now the center of power for the new Sun Dragon aspect of Yelmalio worship.

Belvani no longer holds any territory in Sun County proper, though he claims he still has many secret allies there, particularly in its eastern fringes and to the south around Chomoro. In the wake of his ouster, some of his supporters fled across the river into Pavis County to avoid Vega’s bloody reprisals. Many of these refugees now cluster around the Yelmalio temple in the border town of Garhound, where they are rapidly outwearing their welcome. The situation was not helped when a recent impromptu Shield Push match at the White Rock River crossing against supporters of Vega led to deaths and maimings on both sides (as well as the destruction of the border bridge itself). The sport has now been banned in Pavis County.

Remarkably cosmopolitan compared to the other lords of Sun County, Belvani has maintained his idiosyncrasies over the years, and indeed become stranger still in many respects. He favors “efficient” weapons – the dueling shortsword and hunting crossbow – over “traditional” choices – the spear and bow. He speaks several languages fluently, including Pavic, Firespeech and New Pelorian.

It is also said he likes both snails and oysters.

Recent History in Sun County

For our edification.

e Earth Season, 1625

After the Dragonrise, the great dragon continued to fly in great spirals around Dragon Pass, circling Kero Fin and obscuring the Red Moon. As it did so, strange draconic energies revived that had been quiet since the days of the Empire of the Wyrms Friends. In Prax, the Old Sun Dome Temple⁹ again became a true place of power, and its once-cracked dome now glistened as if covered in scales. When Vega and Belvani’s forces clashed at the Dragonewt Temple in the Rubble (she lost the battle and her eyes), as most of Belvani’s forces were in Pavis the Countess arranged a simultaneous surprise raid on the Old Sun Dome by her Golden Guard. This also failed: the Golden Wyrm still there saw to that.

g Storm Season, 1625

Belvani’s prestige and power might have been weakened by the loss of Daystar¹⁰, but Vega feared moving directly against him again while the Golden Wyrm remained at large. Her chance finally came in Storm Season 1625, when Hector the Wise devised an ingenious plan to lure the wyrm to Harpoon, using the new mirrors of the Dragonward towers. When it came within range the Great Ballista shot it from the sky.

w Sea Season, 1626 (1 year ago)

With the Golden Wyrm dead, the Countess now took swift and decisive action. In a second great clash between the rival claimants, Belvani and his Sun Dragon followers were driven out of the Old Sun Dome in Sea Season, 1626.

Throughout the next year, Vega followed this up with a widespread and bloody purge of the Sun Dome lands, seeking to eliminate any remaining draconic influences among the people.