LogAn Age of High Adventure-Jason-2

Game log for the 2022/04/17 session of An Age of High Adventure, as taken by Jason

God-Kings of War

AD - The human servant of a mighty and unspeakable demiurge. 6H - A speaker for the ancestors, carrying secrets and warnings. KD - A chest containing the tax monies of a rural province, and the soldiers carrying it. 10H - A tender of war-bulls (aka minotaurs), shaved-headed and fearless.

Carram (Tim) returns off the owe list. Later in his life, he's become a speaker for the ancients. The demiiurge is Ba'ator, the Hyrcanean god of the winds and weather. We'll need a human servant of Ba'ator, some soldiers, and the tender of the war-bulls, who wants that chest. The second-in-command of the troops is Nirar (Jason). Xujak (Joe) is one of the minotaurs. The commander of the soldiers is Zakiti (Gary). Larsa (Lisa) is the human servant of Ba'ator. The war-bulls are tended by Olvec (NPC).

Carram has been harranguing Larsa for weeks, telling her that she's doing things wrong. She's pretty much sick of hearing from him, but Zakiti likes Carram and won't let her ban him. Every year, a different horse clan provides the forces to guard the caravan. Zakiti's band needs to complete the circuit and bring the offering to the sacrifice reflects on him, the clan, and the khan.

It's evening, and the group has just entered the village of Talann, which is also the name of the clan and the head of the clan. It's just a temporary village, made of yurts erected by herders of cattle and goats. They've just left the winter forage lands, and they're in this open site near a stream for the season. It's not yet the vernal equinox, which is when the tribute must be delivered and the sacrifice to Ba'ator made. There's still a late winter chill in the air on this clear day, but there's no snow on the ground, and the sun is just above the horizon. The local clan head has welcomed the caravan and made a show of hospitality. Talann, the person, is hugely fat, and wears an enormous hat.

At the feast, Larsa discusses the tribute with him, which does not seem to be hi favorite subject. He claims his clan has fallen upon hard times, with declining herds, and precious little forage nor fruit. Larsa points out that these are all reasons to try to gain the Ba'ator's favor. He's talking about a "non-traditional" sacrifice. He offers his daughter Zara. Larsa asks if she's going to serve the god, and when Zara makes to speak, someone clamps a hand over her mouth while Talann assures Larsa that yes, of course Zara wishes to serve the god. Larsa asks to speak with her to discuss her future as a servant of the god, and Talann tells her they'll have much time to talk... on the road. Larsa expresses concern as to who will pay for Zara's education in Ba'ator's service, which takes Talann back. He asks who pays for her upkeep, and she explains that as a senior servant of the god, her upkeep is paid by gifts from the faithful. He points out that he means he's supporting her. He's happy to keep supporting Zara the same way, but she's the only tribute there's going to be.

Corram's a litle digusted by all this and makes his disdain for Zara's value as a sacrifice clear, but Larsa assures her that this is a good life. She puts an arm around the lass and tells her that serving the god is an interesting life. Carram tells her all priests talk that way. Zara's not sure how to process any of this. Larsa makes herself seem real trustworthy, and Zara seems inclined to side with her. Corram still thinks Larsa should get more out of Talann, and when he makes that clear, she tells him to go talk to Talann himself.

Zakiti talks to Nirar and tells him that Zara's going to be his special problem. Nirar sighs and accepts, then goes to talk to the girl. She refers to him as her minder. When she makes it clear that she's going to get the hell out of this, he goes to speak to her separately. He offers to assist her in escaping but asks her to let him formulate the plan.

Later that nite, Nirar sneaks out to meet with Olvec and the four bulls. The bulls are grazing but unruly. They're meeting in a cave set into the side of a hill. Nirar tries to convince Olvec to adjust the plan so that they can use Zara's escape as a distraction. When Nirar sees that Olvec hates this idea, even if it might mean losing fewer bulls, he gives up, and they agree that the war-bulls will attack when the caravan crosses a stream the next day.

Corram goes to speak to Talann, to whom he expresses his sympathy for his difficulties. However, he presses him on whether this is really something the chief does for the god, or just for himself. Talann thinks they should make Zara a human sacrifice, which would answer all these objections. Corram reminds him that if Larsa doesn't make a sacrifice of her, but rather a servant, there may come a day when the senior servant of Ba'ator is a woman who hates Talann for what he once did to her, and that would be much to his disadvantage. Talann asks him to make sure Zara gets sacrificed, then. Corram points out that even so, the priestesses normally skim off a little something something, and Talann's daughter is not divisible. Talann suggests he can make that up next year, when the sacrifice will assure his clan of bountiful wealth. Corram decides to go along with that.

The next morning, the caravan moves on. Zakiti goes to talk to Zara, who pours out her bitterness to him. Zakiti keeps trying to make her understand that this doesn't have to be unpleasant, but since it's a one-way trip for the young lady, she's not real motivated to make things easy for anyone either.

Corram seeks out Larsa and they discuss Talann's intentions for his daughter.

The lead riders begin crossing the stream. As they do so, a bunch of minotaur's attack! Larsa tries to get Zara to cling to her. The guard ride to defend the caravan, and though some of their saddle straps have been weakened (by Nirar, in the night), these are riders of legend, and they can cope. Xujak leads the attack, swiftly injuring Corram and pinning him under his dead horse. Nirar continues his treacherous attack on the other guards. In the chaos, Zara sneaks off, but Larsa catches her. The minotaurs terrify Nirar out of the fight, and push Zakiti back, enabling them to loot the treasure. The minotaurs start to run wild, but Olvec enforces discipline, ropes the packhorses together, and then orders the minotaurs to go nuts while he rides off.

Zakiti restores order, as night falls, while Nirar tries to sneak in and finish his betrayal. He gets spotted and stabbed on the way in, and a chase ensues with all the guards after an exhausted traitor. Zakiti calls on Ba'ator to aid him, while Nirar calls on Dagon to aid his retreat. Lightning and then hail pound the area around Nirar, and he gets lost in the blinding out and pounding. Eventually Zakiti's guards find him, dead of cold.

Corram looks for the mule tracks and follows them west. He catches up with Larsa and Zara, and finds the girl sleeping while Larsa struggles to stay awake on watch. Zakiti meets up with them and informs them of the betrayal. They think they all accounted for one minotaur, in exchange for losing the entire caravan except for Zara. Zakiti can move his men faster than the war-bulls, but the numbers would be very close to even, making a rematch a very tricky proposition. Zakiti sends a soldier called Kalyx to escort Larsa and Zara, along with Nirar's body, to the kurgan for sacrifice. Corram will go with them. Zakiti and the other guards will try to recapture the tribute.

Zakiti orders her few troops to try to stand off and use their short bows as an equalizer before closing. Olvec's horse takes an arrow to the rump, and he ends up getting carried out of the fight by a panicking horse. Sadly the minotaurs are very hard to bring down with arrows, and they're surprisingly fast. They kill one before the arrows run out, but then it's all minotaurs all the time. Zakiti sends the survivors away so that the responsibility for whatever happens will be on her alone. She then rides to her death against the war-bulls.

When they arrive at the tor/kurgan, Corram slaughters a mule for food. Larsa prays to Ba'ator for guidance, and he reveals that he will be pleased with a human sacrifice. Corram has a dream that reveals the same message, except it's revealed to him that Larsa should be sacrificed and Zara put in charge. They talk briefly before Corram cuts to the chase and attacks her, but Larsa escapes.

Corram burns Nirar's body on the kurgan, turns to Zara, and asks, "Where to?"