Raskine, 860 DV (First Month of Spring)

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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Glaaki awakens The Deep Ones, aka The Neighbors

Around 2 and 1/2 years ago, Glaaki enlisted another ancient race that until now remained hidden deep in the swamp. The beings of this ancient race showed themselves as tall beings covered in wraps and cloaks of strange material. These beings, initially called simply The Neighbors, began to visit the Bat Hannocs and interact with them.

At first The Neighbors were helpers. They showed Bat Hannoc fisherman hidden places on An Tulecheo that yielded bursting catches of fish. They provided fertilizers that grew healthy and bulging crops with ease. They gave medicines and herbs that brought healing and comfort to the sick and burdened.

Speaking through Fingol and The Hive, The Neighbors conveyed a message of a new Empire of Nahrooma. Working with The Neighbors and the power of Nahrooma, The Bat Hannocs would expand their territory and influence like never before, crushing their opponents and bringing their neighbors to heel. Soon the Borgh Riac would be the center of a new kingdom, and the Bat Hannocs would be empowered as rulers over the Drakkenmire and eventually the entire Danneinkiff. In the long run, future generations of Bat Hannoc Nahroomans would wipe out the Ocean Kingdoms as well.

Every season though, The Neighbors became more demanding. After a couple of years, The Neighbors became open oppressors. Last fall The Neighbors worked with the collaborator converts among the Bat Hannocs and began to eliminate all of the Bat Hannocs who did not fall in line. The raid on Driftwood last fall was the final show of force that broke the entire clan. The Neighbors fell upon the village in full force to tear the resistors apart, including clan leader Norach Onchu and his inner circle of loyal champions.

After killing all of the adult males who would not come to Nahrooma for conversion, The Neighbors captured and enslaved the women and the youth of the Bat Hannocs, taking them away in boats. The male youth were taken to Nahrooma. The females were taken north to Goatswood, the historic hiding place of The Neighbors.

Rutcranna has since learned that The Neighbors are the fabled Deep Ones who were said to live in the lowest depths of the lakes, rivers, and even the oceans. The Deep Ones have now made an alliance and seem to be under the control of Glaaki at Nahrooma. They work alongside The Hive.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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The Nahrooma Alligators

Glaaki has been making secretions into meat and The Hive uses it as bait to the alligators of the Borgh Riac. When the alligators digest this infested flesh, their body gradually undergoes a change and they come under control of The Hive and Glaaki himself.

One of the physical manifestations of the change is the swelling of flesh behind the alligators’ jaws just below their ears. Rutcranna has come to call these enslaved beasts as Nahrooma Alligators or "Ear Sacs". These alligators serve as weapons and as the ears and eyes of Glaaki and The Hive. They are very difficult to detect, much less capture or eliminate.

A great dread is that Glaaki was able to subdue the ancient dragon (prehistoric giant alligator?) know as Titan. This mighty prehistoric beast is one of the greatest terrors, a fearsome living legend of the Borgh Riac, and he now serves Glaaki.

The Abomination Growths (Tree Flesh)

The Glaakieiou (The Hive) can also secrete fluids from their bodies onto other live organisms that in turn become unnatural pseudo-life forms in and of themselves. These abomination growths, usually anchored to large trunk swamp trees, serve as biological power stations that the Glaakieiou can use to recover from injury by drawing fluids into their bodies through their spine barb ports at the top of their backs.

The abomination growths are also spatial icons. When the Glaakieiou cultivate several of the abomination growths in an area, blending them with local plant and animal life, they serve as a collective grid that can allow the Glaakieiou to move their bodies through the surrounding space at high speeds.

Somewhat like a telekinetic spatial map board that is laid out over a wide area. The Glaakieiou use the board to triangulate and shift position with a sort of mental force that produces abrupt spatial movement. It looks like long jumps, glides, thrusts, and slides. Really it is like telekinetic movement among established anchor points.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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Old Island as the base of a new pantheon and a new religion

These abomination growths have been peppered throughout Old Island, which has become somewhat of a launching point of the Glaaki’s new Empire of Nahrooma. Old Island was being prepared as a central location that would serve as a "religious site" where The Hive would dwell as gods, and Fingol would serve as High Wizard and Prophet to the gods.

Fingol was planning to host visitors and pilgrims at Old Island, accepting fealty from nearby clans who would soon be placed under subjugation. On Old Island, new believers could see The Way of the Collective on full display, a new religion and hierarchy of power that would be undeniable.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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Nahrooma (South from Old Island)

Nahrooma, the ruins of an Uisde (aka The Barrow People, the Stone Cutters) city in the hills south of An Tulecheo, is Glaaki’s headquarters. There the ancient monster sends out his mental signals to The Hive.

There in Nahrooma dwells The Scáth, ancient cultic followers of Glaaki who are seeking to have fully functional bodies soon. There at Nahrooma, Glaaki performs his unnatural biological conversions of the Bat Hannoc youth to a new army of warriors who will soon augment The Hive. There at Nahrooma also dwells a large contingent of The Neighbors (The Deep Ones) who serve as guards to Glaaki and the Scáth, and as advisors/support to the growing Hive.

Naahrooma is the center of ancient dark magics of Uisdea. Now it is impenetrable without a huge force of warriors.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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Goatswood (North from Old Island)

Goatswood is the historic hiding place of The Deep Ones (The Neighbors), before they were allied with Glaaki. Goatswood is a sinister and nasty stretch of unwelcoming terrain. It is said to be haunted by roaming spirits and the dead. It is a mix of hills and flooded lowlands, gnarly dark-barked trees, and cut through with endless waterways, stagnant pools, and hidden lakes that make travel and navigation extremely tough.

No normal man is familiar with living in Goatswood. It is a land of darkness, deformed animals, and fiendish races of old.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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How and Why was Sorcha Rhone captured?

Last winter, Sorcha Rhone was ripped from Rutcranna’s hand by force, by The Hive. Rutcranna and Sorcha escaped the slaughter of Driftwood in the fall. Instead of fleeing, Rutcranna stayed in the Borgh Riac, running and hiding all the while, to try to save the captured women and youth of the Bat Hannocs being drug out from all of the settlements and camps throughout the area.

Rutcranna says that it was at Sorcha Rhone’s insistence that they stayed in the area. Rhone wanted desperately to save her girlfriends. They tried to ambush a boat transport led by only Phantom, carrying many captured girls.

It turned out to be a trap. The rest of The Hive and Fingol was nearby and closed in on Rutcranna and Rhone. Rutcranna was beaten and shackled. Rhone was captured as well, and taken away.

Since then, Rutcranna was a prisoner in her own home, which was occupied by Fingol, the Voice of Glaaki, the Prophet of the New Gods.

And since then, for about 3 months now, Sorcha Rhone has been a prisoner of The Hive and/or The Deep Ones.

Rutcrana is not entirely sure why Rhone and the other girls were captured and enslaved, but suspects that The Deep Ones and Glaaki intends to use them in some deranged and unnatural conversion process, changing them into something terrible, something inhuman.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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What did Rutcranna do? How did she learn all of this information?

Fingol wanted to have Rutcranna as a personal prisoner; Glaaki and The Hive made sure it was so. Fingol wanted to learn all of Rutcranna’s draichta and worked accordingly in a manner that he thought was successful, to subjugate her and steal all of her power as she became his slave. Little did he know he was being played as a fool. Rutcranna acted the part of a weakening slave; all the while she was becoming more powerful, learning more of her enemy.

She learned of the power of the abomination growths, of Glaaki’s biological takeover of men via the barb spines, of the true identity of The Neighbors. She secretly developed rituals that would disrupt the senses and movement of the Glaakieiou. Foolish Fingol, first a lap dog of Glaaki and The Hive, soon became a lapdog of The Witch of Old Island (Rutcranna) as well, though he never knew it.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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What are Rutcranna’s intentions?

Thanks to the mercenary team, Rutcranna has been freed and now she is ready to throw it all on the table for a bold rescue mission to recover her daughter. She plans on packing every component, contraption, equipment, and ritual she has to do damage and wreak havoc against The Hive, The Deep Ones, and even Glaaki himself.

Though Rutcranna sent a fake message that the group would invade Nahrooma to the south (the false plans spoken into the ears of defeated Bull and Bird before their spine barbs were remove), she really is planning to go north to Goatswood. She has reason to believe that she can make contact with secret group of allies who have conglomerated there in Goatswood.

Rutcranna has come to learn that Sorcha Rhone and the other girls and women are currently being held in a secret prison site in Goatswood, not in Nahrooma as was once believed. Rutcranna’s goal is to divert attention to Nahrooma, but instead quickly find the prison in Goatswood, recover Rhone, and make good a true escape from the Borgh Riac.

Rutcranna will go alone if she must, but of course she hopes that we will help her.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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What can be expected?

Hopefully Glaaki, The Hive, and The Deep Ones will be thrown off for a time. If the ruse works, the coalition of villains will prepare to defend against an expected assault on Nahrooma in the south.

Meanwhile Rutcranna hopes we will accompany her and leave Old Island right at nightfall, at which time Rutcranna will use some tricks and theatrics to cover their departure by boat. The plan is to cross An Tulecheo to the north, link with rare allies in Goatswood, find the Hidden Prison, and plan a prison break.

Rutcranna expects that eventually the Glaaki forces will regroup, redirect, and come after them in Goatswood. So everyone has to be smart, work quickly, and be bold. It is unknown just how long they will have before their enemy regroups and comes after them wherever they are in the Borgh Riac.

5th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Late Afternoon
Rutcranna's Mission Briefing in the Old Island Cabin
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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Short Summary of Rutcranna's Info Dump and Mission Briefing

The Plan to Find and Retrieve Sorcha Rhone (as posited by Rutcranna): Use the red herring distraction we allowed Bull and Bird to hear, wherein Glaaki forces will organize to defend an expected assault on Nahrooma, to keep the enemy's focus off of...

Our real objective: Leave at nightfall, make our way to Goatswood, connect with Rutcranna's 'rare allies', then find the Hidden Prison and retrieve Sorcha Rhone. Time will be of the essence as, sooner or later, Glaaki forces will undoubtedly become aware that the assault on Nahrooma was nothing more than a ruse. Once that happens, we can expect that they will scour the swamp in an effort to find us, and more importantly, to find Sorcha Rhone (who Rutcranna believes has immense value to Glaaki, via some ritual she believes will transform the girl into some inhuman monstrous being... or something like that).


Glaaki: the main bad guy, a Great Old One slug monster that has psychic powers and manages physiological transformations upon his victims and servants

The Scath: ancient Uisde spirits, former cult of Glaaki who somehow gained some semblance of bodily form and summoned their god monster to Nahrooma

The Glaakieiou, aka The Hive of the Collective: Men gradually transforming into monsters with great physical and mental powers by the barb spines of Glaaki stabbed into their backs

The Deep Ones, aka The Neighbors: Another race of ancient beings who usually live underwater or hide in the swamp, now serving Glaaki and supporting The Glaakieiou

Naahrooma: ruins of an ancient Uisde city to the south, the headquarters and stronghold of Glaaki and all of the bad guys

Goatswood: a haunted area of hills, swamp, and forest to the north. Hopefully where Rutcranna can help the team link up with rare allies and find Sorcha Rhone in a hidden prison camp.

6th of Raskine (First month of Spring)
Dawn
Region Map: The Borderlands of Eastern Jeres

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Last night, after the battle with the Hive, we talked over strategy during a veritable feast prepared by Maeriks. We moved out under cover of darkness, at nightfall, making our way to Goatswood (escorted by alligators! they literally fought off other alligators I can only assume were minions of Glaaki!).

After a dark and silent trip, save for the occasional tussling and splashing of alligators in the black, we arrived at Goatswood. Met the natives (Tochoans), a smallish (4 feet tall) primitive seeming tribe. We witnessed a strange ritual ceremony wherein a long-horned goat was sacrificed, head cut cleanly off, to a strange and alien looking statue (Chaugnar Faugn), splitting the beast open immediately after death.


THE STATUE OF CHAUGNAR FAUGN



A priest or shaman of some sort, Chim Nolp, sifted through it's entrails, seeming to find knowledge there, casting some of the guts at the crowd. Moments passed and finally Chim Nolp spoke these words:

"Um cipac cutl pac nachil."

My understanding of their language isn't perfect, but it a semblance to Gaerimundi I learned in Mozamyah, and means "A Time to Clash." It would seem the natives were aligned with our purpose in some way, intent on confronting Glaaki and the Hive.

Preparations were made throughout the night, with a plan to coordinate an attack on what seems to be a holy place of sorts for Glaaki and The Hive, a 'Black Ziggurat.' The Tochoans will also attack the dark trees, trying to cripple the Hive's sorcerous movement capabilities.

As part of the operation we learned to use a fascinating creature, the krekutil , as an underwater breathing tool of sorts, wearing them on our heads, wherein they would seal at the neck (fascinating00 I've never seen anything like it!). It took some getting used to, learning to breathe a liquid that enables us to make the deep dive into mostly submerged temple. We're being led by a Tochoan named Hinka, who has much experience in the waters around the ziggurat, and will take us down into the black depths, showing us the underwater entrance to gain access and, hopefully, a way to locate and retrieve the girl, Sorcha Rhone.

Down there what are called 'Deep Ones'... and it is believed that Gorolach, son of Daolach, called the 'King in the Box' resides with what I imagine is some sort of cult-like harem. Captive women being kept alive for breeding? It would explain why the Tochoans see supplies being brought in. I can only wonder.

If all goes as planned, we get in and get out with one more then we started with, the girl.

Fates be kind, we don't lose a man.