| Aluvians
Gharu'ndim
Sho
Viamontians
Ispar
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Auberean
History
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Continued
. . . (previous) -
by Chris L'Etoile
Hollow Victory -
from the
Zone
Dereth: Harvestgain
PY 11 / Earth: October 2000
The night skies cleared. Stars flickered to
life in the void. The glowering volcanic face of Rez'arel and pale,
mysterious Alb'arel rose again along their courses.
Humanity began to rebuild after the violence
of the previous month, even as the Shadow Spires that had wrought the
destruction began to dig themselves back into the earth from whence they'd
come. In Arwic, the Environmental Defense League respectfully buried the
smoldering remains of the town's beloved heifer, Sally. In Tufa, the
residents stoically rebuilt their shops on ledges round the rim of the
crater.
Tufa's scribe left to join Fazyad ibn
Raymar's expedition into the cool grottos of Xarabydun. Explorers had
recently discovered this network of caves under the sands between Al-Arqas
and Khayyaban. The facility was a former Empyrean archive, and the
scholars of Zaikhal carted thousands of books out of the lower caves for
study. The first fruits of their research were the so-called “peas,” a
Yalaini method of storing magic reagents in compact form. Ibn Raymar's
party colonized the upper caves, though the lower regions remained dark
and overrun by creatures. Rumor held that a valuable aid to enchanters
could be found in the lower tunnels, but the entrance was magically
forbidden to the elite of Dereth.
While the Shadows remained quiet, other
races hostile to humanity were not. Explorers venturing into the rugged
Linvak Mountains were stunned to find an enormous fortress under
construction by the Lugians. Some mages feared that its massive walls must
be made of chorizite, and began wailing to their respective gods that the
structure be struck down by one of the increasingly rare shooting stars.
Sir Candeth Martine, an explorer of the
Dereth Exploration Society, disappeared into the Blackmire Swamp on a
mission to study the habits of mosswarts. Would-be rescuers discerned that
a rival tribe of banderlings had evicted Martine's band. The trail of the
refugees was followed as far west as Uziz. Unfortunately, Sir Martine
seemed to have been abducted by some other group at that point, for only
his journal was found among the mosswarts. By the end of the month, no
further clues to his location had been found.
In the Direlands, portals to a “Floating
City” began to appear and disappear at random. This structure,
constructed within the wilds of portalspace, drifted wantonly through that
strange violet-lit realm. Notes dropped throughout the massive structure
proved that at least one Isparian, bombastic explorer Alatar Locke, had
previously wandered the dusty corridors. He opined that the city had been
built at the height of the Seaborne Empire of Yalain, when portal magic
was “in vogue.” In time, its enchantments lost their potency. The city
was cast adrift, fading in and out of contact with the world of Auberean
over the millennia.
Perhaps in response to the disquieting news
coming from all quarters of Dereth, a festive atmosphere infected the
towns. On Ispar, Harvestgain was, naturally enough, the month of harvest.
Perhaps because of the abundance of scarecrows back home, some of the
homely straw men found their way through the vagaries of portalspace. Some
people reported animate scarecrows harassing travelers, but no reliable
witnesses could be found. These tales were dismissed as the work of those
kegs rolled out for the harvest festival.
There was unexpected benefit to the arrival
of the scarecrows, however. In their empty heads were seeds allowing
Isparian pumpkins to be grown in Dereth. The traditional autumn foods of
pumpkin soup and pie soon graced dinner tables. In keeping with Aluvian
custom, some of the pulpy round fruits had demonic faces carved into them.
Superstition held that these faces would ward off evil. The Shadows did
not seem overly impressed.
After months of work, the largely ignored
tailors of Dereth began to sell exquisitely designed dresses, ensuring
that they would occasionally be able to feed their families. One
enterprising Aluvian leather crafter decided to alter her Kireth gown to
allow a bit more . . . ventilation. She offered her skills as a seamstress
to others at no charge. To her considerable surprise, she found herself
beset both by conservatives, who claimed that the cut of the dress would
adversely affect the moral fortitude of Isparians, and liberals, who
claimed the cut of the dress denigrated the Aluvian goddess-trinity and
Queen Elysa Strathelar.
The master crafters Alexander the Deft,
Janda Sulifiya, and Tsua Kagemata offered to create masks from the heads
of banderlings, skeletons, drudges, tuskers, and mosswarts. To the alarm
of Ayan Baqur's residents, a second Virindi, calling itself Leopold,
floated into town one afternoon. It drifted aimlessly around the town,
closely observing the passers-by and asking many questions. Leopold, as it
turned out, was also a mask-maker. . . of sorts.
Leopold was hardly the most worrisome
Virindi of the month. The underground redoubts of Sotiris and Tumideon
were discovered in the wastes of the Obsidian Plain. In those inhospitable
halls, the enigmatic Virindi had created “Hollow Minions.” These
artificial life forms vaguely resembled scarecrows, but were animated with
malicious intent and partially constructed from chorizite ore. They proved
highly resistant to magic, and could punch through magical armors with
their hollow fists.
A final ill wind blew through the Direlands
during Harvestgain. In a small cave by the coast, one of Dereth's most
benign creatures acquired a hideous strength, heretofore unseen in the
world. The time of the white rabbit (affectionate dubbed “Pookie,” by
some) had come . . . and the bodies began to pile up like cordwood.
Continued |
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