LogAn Age of High Adventure-Jason-5

Game log for the 2022/07/10 session of An Age of High Adventure, as taken by Jason

Due to scheduling issues, we skip over Set on the owe list and go to Carram.

Oracle: The Unquiet Past

• 3S - A rough wolf-hunter, surly, filthy, and crude.
• 7C - A ruthless bully of an under-officer with high ambitions.
• AD - The boasting chief of a team of rock quarriers.
• 2H - A serpent-demoness, malicious and venomous, seeking vengeance.

Workers are building the tomb of a high priest(ess). The high priest(ess) sleeps less than peacefully and has been obstructing their own entrombment. Most recently, there has been a plague of jackals, for which a wolf-hunter was summoned.

Chief of the quarriers - Omid - Joe Wolf hunter - Carram - Tim Ruthless bully - Awshalim - Jason Lead teamster - Mekha Eil - Gary Serpent-demoness - Ss'theris - Lisa Tomb architect - Zeth Karit - NPC

Best Interests:

• Omid
  • Build the tomb quickly
  • Keep himself and his men safe
• Carram
  • Escape the quarry
  • Form a pack
• Awshalim
  • Take credit for problem solving
  • Shut Omid up
• Mekha Eil
  • Keep on budget
  • Make the architect look good
• Ss'Theris
  • Escape the tomb
  • Possess Awshalim
• Zeth Karit
  • Finish the tomb
  • Avoid paying for it (no survivors)

The tomb of Sebakut-Ra is under construction. She has already died, so this tomb has to be done fast. The sarcophagus is complete and on-site. Zeth Karit needs to make sure that the tomb is done properly, as well as fast, and some soldiers are here to keep the slave laborers in line. Mekha Eli instructs them in their tasks. Morale is low, and laborers free and otherwise claim that the project is cursed. In case anyone didn't see what they meant, a pack of hyenas has recently been killing quarryman.

It's evening at the quarry, and Awshalim and his men have just brought in the mangled body of a quarryman. Omid's lieutanant, Telar, asks Awshalim what will be done to keep everyone safe. Awshalim asks if this was not the intention behind bringing Carram the monster-hunting slave to this place, and Carram seems happy to be noticed. Omid promises Carram his freedom in exchange for this killing. Awshalim says his men will not help with this hunt, as their job is to enforce discipline among the men.

Once Awshalim leaves, Carram tells Omid he needs bait for the hyenas, preferably bait that puts up a fight. Omid is disinclined to acquiesce to his request, but offers a donkey as a distraction. Carram points out that if he dies, there will be no hope at all against the hyenas. Omid's unimpressed, but he's willing to let Carram have a leather tunic, to at least give him some small protection.

Carram goes into the desert and makes his preparations.

Back at the tomb, Zeth Karit and Mekha Eil accost Awshalim. They're both unhappy with the protection afforded by the soldiers. Awshalim points out that bandit activity and slave escapes have both been prevented entirely, a very worthy job given all the wealth gathered here, and for the rest, perhaps they should get back to work and quit whining, so that the work will go forward more quickly.

Ss'Theris influences the hyenas to go prey on the quarrymen, while Carram tries to prevent them. They come for the tethered donkey, and he flings his spear, taking one of them. The pack spreads out, surrounding the hunter with shocking speed. He's struggling to keep them away, and while he's able to protect himself, he can't kill any more. At the end of the night, he traded a donkey for one dead hyena.

He returns in the middle of the night, bloodied, sans donkey, with a broken spear, and reports to Omid. Carram has learned that this is no natural pack of hyenas, though. Something was influencing them to respond in such a fierce and aggressive way. The monster hunter suggests sending for a priest. Omid can replace the spear but that's about it. He decides to set a trap, luring the hyenas into the quarry, on ground of their choosing.

Mekha Eil hears about this failure and becomes agitated, calling Awshalim out. Awshalim reminds him of all the catastrophes that have not happened due to the vigilance of the soldiers, but then says yes, he will involve his troops tonight, since all other efforts have come to naught.

During the day's work, as the stone masons carve Sabakut-Ra's cartouche inside the tomb, one wrong tap cracks a stone column, rocks fall, and Zeth Karit suffers a serious injury. Mekha Eil runs in, getting people to safety and telling them how to arrest the rocks. The rock fall is a setback, but nobody dies. Mekha Eil then consults Omid and brings him the news. The stone mason insists that the stone was of workable quality, and his work done correctly. He believes some malicious agency must have been at work. He thinks they should put the sarcophagus on a barge and send it downriver, on fire.

Carram suggests to Omid that they should force the soldiers' hand. They can set no fires tonight, which will lure the hyenas in, and ask the soldiers to enforce a curfew. Once everyone senior leaves, Carram tells the other slaves that this place is haunted, the soldiers will be distracted tonight, and there will never be a better time to escape. One of the older slaves is skeptical, but Carram seems to have talked some of them around. One major worry is that the men can't be held chained while a hyena is loose in camp, so Omid puts Telar in the main slave tent, where he can unlock the slaves at need.

At dusk, the plan goes into operation. A wind gathers, and men hear hyenas in the distance... and then not in the distance. The wind grows into a sandstorm, which drives away the hyenas, but threatens great destruction. Omid catches Awshalim in a moment of indecision, jumps in with orders for his men, and suddenly the soldiers are working for the quarry boss. Carram finds himself exhausted by battling the storm, and tells the slaves tonight is not the night. Mekha Eil has plans for every occasion, and sets them in motion, so that the situation is swiftly in hand.

The next day, Carram gets himself on the detail that brings stone to the tomb site. Zeth Karit is there, leaning against the sarcophagus, reviewing his plans, talking to Mekha Eil. Ss'theris starts shaking the ground, hoping to make people leave the work site. Carram is happy to do so, but Mekha Eil has more grit. (After last night's sandstorm, grit is a resource he has in vast quantity.) He assures everyone this is normal and they need to just stay at their jobs. However, the shaking becomes more violent, a rock falls on Mekha Eil's head, and there's a general decision to abandon the work site. The slaves will not enter the tomb again, and the free men are thinking thoughts in that direction.

One slave tries to desert that night, but the soldiers apprehend him, and whip him back to his tent. In the morning, there's a proper punishment whipping as well. Since Mekha Eil cannot attend, Awshalim announces that the whipping is in his honor.

Carram goes to Omid and points out that if they could only get the sarcophagus into the tomb, all their problems would be solved. Omid decides that he wants to do an inspection of the tomb site, so he leaves Telar at the quarry to oversee things, then takes Carram to visit the tomb. They visit Mekha Eil and suggest that the sarcophagus must be placed, soon. Only Zeth Karit seems to stand in the way. They all go to visit him.

Omid visits with Zeth Karit and gets him to take them all to the tomb, to review the state of the work. They discover it's full of venemous snakes today. They're struggling to get in, and then they're struggling to get out, and everywhere, more snakes. Carram and Omid both get bitten by snakes. Zeth Karit, inexplicably, walks out of the tomb without a scratch. He rejoices in Seth's protection.

As they leave, Omid tries to pounce on Zeth Karit with his mallet, but one of the guards jumps in to intervene. Zeth Karit jumps out of the way, the soldier comes in to intervene, but Omid's inexplicably quick, and manages to club Zeth Karit and then the guard in turn. The guards hesitate, because Omid seems to be on the side of wisdom, while their boss Awshalim is just a petty tyrant. Omid then goes to the infirmary, whence he and Carram have a short cryptic conversation about a previous deal being good even now.

That night, with Zeth Karit, Carram, and Mekha Eil all in the infirmary. In the dead of night, Carram makes his move. He sneaks up on Zeth Karit and tries to garrote him with a leather strap. The architect struggles, but Carram's strength is overwhelming, and Zeth Karit is no more.

Awshalim is summoned in the morning, and discovers that security has failed catastrophically. He is so fucked.

Mekha Eil suggests that they should bury Zeth Karit in the tomb along with Sebakut-Ra, sending them both to the afterlife at the earliest possible time. As the conflict starts, Mekha breaks down, calling in out in grief over being unable to bury his love. They squeeze past soldiers and try to rush the sarcophagus into the tomb, but fallen rock makes the entrance too narrow. Omid ends up exhausted by this failure.

Awshalim seizes that moment to attack him, hoping to settle their disagreement and also make the overseer suffer for this desecration of the tomb. Things go his way at first. Even when Omid manages to throw him off and try to scrabble away, the sub-officer is able to gather himself and leap onto his back, hoping to smash his face into the ground. Omid throws an elbow to block the attack, and somehow smashes Awshalim's nose, driving bone into his brain. The leader of the soldiers falls dead to the ground.

The surviving humans agree that this place is blatantly cursed, and that the sarcophagus must go under ground at the earliest possible opportunity. The tomb would have been great but any sort of cairn would be better than nothing. They go to work. Carram can feel the evil spirit trying to force events to go wrong, but the humans have learned to expect misfortune and be ready. They bury the sarcophagus in the entryway, under the stones, so that it looks like the tomb itself simply failed. Nobody would expect anyone to actually be buried there. Here lies Ss'theris until the stones weather away.