The Long Wake

With the Night of the Watch (at the start of this week) begins the month-long public mourning period of the Long Wake, commemorating the many fallen heroes and others who fell throughout the long period of the Man-Kzin Wars centuries past. This period has, perhaps, especial poignancy this year as the threat of the Red Cloud and his Kzinti warbands hangs over the cities of Cothon-Gadeed.

Beginning this evening, the nights will be filled with the sound of drums, the high eerie trilling of elegiac pipes, and the keening of mourning songs. Professional mourners like the Poor Brothers of the Dead will begin processions memorializing the dead, both within the city and along the Pallbearers' Way, and they will also bear both those who have recently died to be interred in the Necropolis of the Tel al Safina as well as sacrifices to be dedicated to the dead already there. These sacrifices are of course be bloodless--sweet cakes and milk--for it is not wise to give bloody victims to the dead.

At the end of the Long Wake will be Stillest Night (on 27 January), a commemoration specifically of the poet-squire Nguen hla Rii standing silent watch over his slain master, the warrior Karkhor, composing the death song as he waited for dawn to come for him to retrieve Kharkor's corpse to Tsurr after a disastrous battle. This is a week of silent mourning when nothing new is undertaken and no downtime is to be undertaken even by barbarians.

And then, as Stillest Night ends, the next week brings the beginning of the Coreguyi Games! These are the great circuit of athletic and gladiatorial games, mostly held within the huge Coreguyi Arena in Cothon, which begin the solar-year cycle of the Tripartite Games. These Games will be held during the week ending 3 February this year, and more information will be provided for them then.

For player-characters interested in participating in the Long Wake, the scribes suggest these opportunities (these are suggestions; individuals may describe for themselves what they are paying for if they prefer otherwise):

Gold Spent	Public Mourning
25 dn	Pay for a great mess of pottage of beans and greens for the Poor Brothers
50 dn	Hire torchbearers for a procession to the Necropolis
100 dn	Pay for a Poor Brother's stint as a tomb-watcher for the month
250 dn	Dedicate a burial mask of a hero in silver or electrum to the Necropolis
500 dn	Hire gladiators for a private funeral games for the recent dead

Any player-character who spends at least 100 dinars will get +1 on reactions with the Poor Brothers of the Dead for the rest of the year. Spending 500+ dinars on ostentatious public mourning will extend this +1 on reactions to the Dual-Cities at large.

A Procession for a Princess

Some months ago, Iqtadar Sesel received a petition from the Mnor Klackons who make up a portion of the population of his iqta': in short, we demand a princess for ourselves, so that we may be fruitful and multiply--and if you do not, we will seize one!

Here are the arguments with which they put forth their petition, in short (not being the full presentation, but rumors of what was argued to Sesel):

• We are no longer outcasts and dregs barely surviving at the edge of society, but are now organized in the service of a Spire (i.e. Sesel's tower)

• We have provided good service to this Spire in helping to build its infrastructure and maintain its fields (however strange it is to eat the produce of the land, rather than eating the fungal fruits of the fruits of the land)

• We assist in the common defense of this Spire

• Yet we are left bereft, incapable of maintaining our population in service to this Spire! This injustice is injurious, both to ourselves and our lineage which is denied, as well as to the Spire itself, and to the City of which the Spire is only a part, like to a drone being part of the body politic of a Spire

• Therefore, we petition our Ersatz-Princess Sesel to acquire for us a true breeding princess, wherewith to begin replenishing our numbers and the health of our body politic

Hearing these arguments from the subjects dwelling on his iqta', Sesel ultimately ventured directly to the Attine Spire and requested an audience with the princess of the Fifth House (with whom he and others have had the most communication, during the affairs of the cleansing of the Sixth House).

Though many were aghast to hear of the possible intermixing of one of the blood of the Fifth House to intermix with Mnor outcasts, the translator Txach'achit warmed to Sesel's arguments for the mutual benefit of such an agreement and argued eloquently on behalf of his friend's request to his princess--and she, after much hedging and uncertainty, finally acquiesced to allow a junior cousin of her line to be taken by Sesel as a princess for his Mnor.

But not merely taken, of course--as is only proper, there must be a grand procession for such a union!

So, in order to effect this union, Sesel must organize the procession for his Mnor Klackons (and/or other subjects) to receive this princess into their company at the Attine Spire and then transmit her to his iqta', in a representation of a kind of faux-raptio (abduction), which the Attine Klackons observe as a ritual remembrance of their past as many separate spires having to abduct princesses from each other.

Sesel must, in addition to picking the date*:

1. Spend a minimum of 1000 dinars on trappings for this procession (and may earn xp equal to the gold spent above this minimum, to a max of 100 times his level)
2. Spend a minimum of 2500 dinars on a feast for the bride's reception to her new "Spire" (the iqta') (and may earn xp equal to the gold spent above this minimum, to a max of 100 times his level)
3. Describe the procession in a write-up to be posted to this chronicle. Necessary trappings are:
1. a suitable gift for the princess (300-1800 dinars would be suitable; if Sesel spends in excess of 1800, he may earn extra xp as above)
2. fungal lightbearers to lead the way
3. armed guards for the protection of the princess (pay a special wage for the procession, i.e. a full month's pay for mercenaries per the table from the book; pay humans as normal, but pay for any Klackons, e.g. the Mnor, as if they are Elves--and once again, any money spent here will earn Sesel xp up to 100 times his level)
4. optionally, if Sesel invites leveled friends, he may pay them as special guards at 100 gold per level, and earn xp equal to that for each one involved)

*a note on the date--it would be considered bad form in Cothon-Gadeed to pick the week ending 27 January for this procession, as that is the week of Stillest Night when it's evil luck to start anything new

The guards may seem at first blush to be ceremonial, and they certainly are--but let it be noted that they may also be necessary, as they once were. One mere fact is that a procession overland from the Spire to the iqta' has the chance of running into some dangerous beast from which the princess will need to be protected. More realistically, however, there are definitely interests against the union of a Fifth House princess to a colony of outcast Mnor. It may be that such ill feeling toward this union could instigate a counter-raptio, in which Klackons from the Spire would rush forth to attempt to seize the princess and return her to the Fifth House--a coup which would no doubt end any possibility of such a union being successful in the future.

So the guards may be necessary as they were in the old ritual, as insurance against a counter-raid against the procession. It's up to Sesel to determine how seriously he wishes to take this concern--and therefore how many guards to hire and how well to arm them.

This will be a downtime action taken by Sesel (or by Zaida if he can convince her with a 7+ on two dice). Anyone else involved does not need to spend a downtime to participate, as they're not really planning anything, just taking a day out for a procession and feast.

ديسمبر Saba' al Khair

 News

• The lunar new year has come and passed, and the current year is now Urodas-Bayzadis 2. Iqtadar Sesel has not been elected to any particular office, but may well be called up by the Souffets for extraordinary service, especially with the threat of the Red Cloud still hanging over the city
• Pursuant to Pako's election as censor of Fort Stormbreak, Pako has also been granted citizenship by the Souffets
• The Sakkra merchant Glarh arrived, heralding the renewal of merchants periodically appearing with wares for adventurers in the city, every few months or so. As for Glarh, he will be debarking from the city during the next week, so his remaining wares are only available until 6 January, after which Glarh will have departed for further shores
• Durham at the Ringing Anvil was commissioned to create a new enchanted item, a magical khopesh for Fa Mei, first mate of Najm ibn Marwan; this khopesh was forged of chromium, and it was deemed prudent by the Ringing Anvil to spread information about that metal for anyone else interested in seeing it enchanted
• Tales of the sunken city of Babilar were noised in the city after a seaborne adventure some months since. Najm was excited to seek this place out, as a maiden voyage for his new ship, the Rihha. He and a number of adventurers took ship on 28 December to go seek out the strange place, and still have yet to return from their venture.

Rumors

• There has been some kind of uproar at the Souffets' Court of the Moon. No details have filtered out of the palace, but some new report seems to have caused the furor. Perhaps more information will be available soon
• The Long Wake, a time of fasting and mourning in memory of those lost in the many Man-Kzin Wars, will begin next month; at the end of the month, the Coreguyi Games will be held in the arena at the culmination of the Long Wake (because of the intercalary period, the months of the lunar year have been pushed back approximately one month in comparison to our own calendar--I forgot to do this in the last year)
• There are reports that the Beyg of Ittiyqa has raised a private army of mercenaries with the intent to personally send them against the Red Cloud, in despite of the Souffets' apparent inaction
• Iqtadar Sesel is known to have appealed to the Attine Klackons in the Great Spire on behalf of the Mnor Klackons of his iqta'. There is no doubt something in the works regarding this action, which may merely be an opportunity for a festival, or perhaps moreover a chance for action ...

Items of Interest

• The Confraternity of 'Issa the Baptist is offering a bounty of 1000 dinars per shanu'u egg, or 3000 dinars per shanu'u fledgling on behalf of the Alkari of the coast (from Kir Sabaha). Shanu'u (gryphons) are known to roost in the high hills and mountainous territory over the Turma River to the southwest of Gadeed, especially over the Cataracts.
• Dindins are still plaguing the waters between Ittiyqa and Cothon and attacking fishermen and sponge/pearl divers there (see here for a former effort at hunting them). A more formal bounty has been placed upon them, claimable in any of three harbors, Ittiyqa, Cothon, or Baldashmun: 250 dinars per 3 dozen stone weight [don't be scared--this means 250 dinars per hit die, but we wanted to provide a diegetic number ~the Scribes]
• Per the inflammation of the Red Cloud's aggressions, a new bounty is being instated in Cothon: any detached head of a Kzin can earn one 200 dinars, while any live Kzin captive can earn one 500 dinars. Kzin lieutenants or captains would be worth at minimum twice such a bounty, but possibly far greater, depending on the importance of their position

At the Ringing Anvil: Chromium, the King's Steel

[written up by Joel, player of Durham of the Ringing Anvil, expanding the scope of the setting--thanks, Joel!]

As the work on Fa Mei's magical khopesh sword is finished (project noted in the middle section here), it seems appropriate for the scribes to make an entry about this metal’s history, properties and where it could be found.

Chromium's first recorded appearance was roughly 250 lunar years ago, In a small city of the Vermilion Mountains, ruled then by Idris, first of his name. Located many leagues west of Cothon and Gadeed. A vein of the ore was found and smelted, producing orange colored ingots. After some experimentation by the King’s smiths it was discovered when forged with steel the metal itself took on a golden sheen and color.

King Idris ordered a sword made for himself and for his guard as protection of the mine fell to the king and his men. It is recorded that the warrior king’s weapon started to take on magical properties, shining light in dark caverns and warding away evil spirits. The popularity of chromium grew due to its ability to take on magical enchantment and the alloy became a status symbol within noble and wealthy circles. Decades passed and it was not uncommon for those of great wealth or social status to have some item forged with chromium, mostly weapons or armor, though not always the case. Many of these items were passed down through family lines, while others were lost in battles with Sro, demons, or in the wars of man. Chromium started to lose its glory after a few generations; rumors swirled that chromium magical items would lose the power they had by the time the grandchildren of the original owner inherited them; others simply state it was no longer the status symbol it once was.

The small city eventually became the great city Idris, one of the ten in the Ten Cities League. Those close to the royal family swear that there is a secret chamber where the sword of Idris the first is kept and that the sword itself speaks providing the wisdom and counsel of the former King. Such rumors aside, it is no secret that the city Idris has some of the best smiths in the known world and developed most of the techniques used for making chromium.

Chromium is almost exclusively forged with steel to give it maximum durability. Often the two metals will be layered on top of one another creating a pattern (damascus), which can be further manipulated to provide more unique patterns. After being forged this new alloy gains some new properties. First and foremost it makes the metal easily enchantable; it also allows the steel to be worked much more easily, removing problems such as shrinkage and porosity during the forging process. Pure chromium is a rare thing to see as it is brittle and likely to break.

Where can chromium be obtained? Idris of course is one such place, it is also said the far northern lands is another. There is unconfirmed rumor that the Fremen have access to chromium as well but most would rather believe that those barbarian tribes traded for it. The metal is more common than the fabled zortrium of legend so it would not surprise anyone if a merchant vessel had some to sell. An adventurer who is brave enough could very well come across some in the lair of a Sro or the tomb of a king.

 

Merchants' Return

A Hanse ship has put into port, and it heralds the good weather of summer soon to come. [the Scribes need to figure out the actual dates of the solstices and equinoxes of the solar year at some point, but have not yet done so] This means several things:

1. Adventurer-Merchants should begin to trickle through the Cities again
2. Telman of Tsipa will have to return to press his campaign against the Luwian Pirates very soon now [the Scribes know that Durham is working on something in regard to this and acknowledge that a session may be a good way to resolve it]
3. 
   (though this is not how it works in the real world), winter inflation is now over and prices are normal per the SRD once again

As for this merchant, he is actually a Hansesakkra, one Glarh.

While his ship offloads some much needed spring cargo of corn, salt-hma, and other such goods, Glarh himself has certain curios from his personal chest for sale in the town, for anyone interested:

Price	No.	Items
40 dn/horn	8	Wapeetum Antlers
75 dn/cask	4	Ismiirli Pale Ale Cask (16 gallons)
100 dinars ea.	8	Sakkra Essence Healing Potion
150 dn/bottle	5	Chromium Ink (4 uses per bottle)
2000 dinars	1	a Northern Sekeker Queen (ready for nesting)
3200 dinars	2	Logrii Bulrathi Mail Shirt
5000 dinars	1	Manslayer, a Kzinti wtsai (magic)
8000 dinars	1	Moonlight Pendant (magic)

Availability is first-come::first-served. Please either comment on the blog below or on our Discord channel to let the Scribes know if anything is bought. The Scribes will keep track of the timing of any purchases.

These items/goods are available until 31 December, after which Glarh will have departed for his next port of call and taken anything not yet sold with him.

Regarding Najm: Some Housekeeping

A few items of note that Najm ibn Marwan and crew have been up to in the last year.

In a recent session, which was actually backdated to the beginning of this lunar year, Najm transported a company of individuals to the city of Ittiyqa, some of whom would partake in the Zihuitlani Games there. Overcome by the glint of dinars, Najm allowed himself to be talked into supporting Gan ad-Din's entrance into the Games with 1000 dinars towards Gan's entrance fees--despite Najm's personal reservations about the nature of the Games. Once the Games began, he remembered his scruples and was sick with giving money toward them, even if Gan and his fellows were gracious victors.

Najm received 1080 dinars (so far) in return for his support. Remembering his scruples, he has devoted all of that money to charitable donations. Five hundred and twenty dinars (520) were spent on manumission for slaves from the slave market of Cothon. This would free 13 slave laborers, the worst-treated of all slaves; any with an inclination for work on ships would be invited to join his crews for pay.

The remaining five hundred and sixty (560) dinars would be spent in a great fish-and-crab feed at Fahra's Hole-in-the-Wall down in the harbor, for the poor especially, but not turning anyone away.

Both of these actions would have occurred some time in February, probably, after the return to Cothon from Ittiyqa.

In August, the keel was laid for Najm's new ship, the Rihha, a fast-sailing vessel, with financial help from Sesel and with a bronze figurehead cast in the image of a rihha-sro that Najm and company defeated some time ago in a strange place.

The Rihha was finished in October and has been undergoing her sea trials in the intervening months. She will be ready for a maiden voyage seeking the strange lost city of Babilar by next week, as noted in Najm's call to adventure. With two mates and two ships, it's time to promote one to captain of Saint Iskameen; and Najm has elected Alianor Drake as captain of the Saint Iskameen, while retaining Fa Mei as his own first mate on the Rihha. Allie (Alianor) is therefore free to choose her own first mate for her ship (still owned by Najm, of course).

Fa Mei is no doubt disappointed that she has not been selected as captain; as consolation for not getting her own ship, Najm suggests that she get a sword enchanted at the Ringing Anvil (for if she's his first mate, there will no doubt be adventures for her yet!).

Fa Mei has a chromium khopesh (damage 1d8+1), of which the metal chromium was noted by Durham as especially good for enchanting. Najm will pay 1500 dinars for the sword to be rehilted with something more distinctive of Fa Mei--she elects a basket hilt designed after a nautilus' shell, allowing her to strike with less worry over her own hand (+1 to hit).

And once the rehilting is finished, Fa Mei will have the sword enchanted at her own expense (2000 dinars) and with a Bani Dawr psioinc potion (given by Najm). Fa Mei has a high intelligence (15), and between that and the psionic potion, her sessions with Zaynab the Enchantress will focus on Fa Mei being able to predict an opponent's defensive moves, thus neutralizing the protective bonus of an opponent's shield or defensive technique (yes, Fa Mei has also heard of Sesel's famed ability to parry nearly anything!); i.e. it would become a Khopesh +1, negates shield OR defensive technique and allows the wielder to strike an opponent as if they have no shield, or as if they are not using a defensive technique.

[if this ability is too much, the Scribes allow that perhaps Fa Mei needs to have spent more, or to reword the enchantment of her sword]

It will be up to Durham and his Ringing Anvil to determine how much time this takes, from the first week of October (2023).

Najm has not been idle as he awaits his new ship being finished. He has been developing new spells, partially inspired by his reading of the Queen of Winds, and partially by his own calling of Saint Iskameen at the Battle of the Hastati Gate.

This involves the commission of an excellent new spellbook (scroll) of the finest hmelu parchment, inked with the finest inks from Heijo the Dyer's inkshop, and copying the ballad that Gan ad-Din penned, "Najm at the Hastati Gate" as well as some paeans and prayers to Saint Iskameen and her battle prowess and lance of lightning (a cost of 2500 dinars). It will contain the spells Call Lightning and Saint Iskameen's Might.

The details of the spells are being worked out, but the results of his researches are as follows:

For Call Lightning 5 tick track (beginning week ending 9/9 to week ending 10/7):

1. 8 - success

2. 9 - success

3. 9 - success

4. 7 - success

5. 9 - success - 1500 dn altogether

For Saint Iskameen's Might a 6 tick track (beginning week ending 10/14 to week ending 12/9):

1. 6 – failure

2. 11 – success 1

3. 9 – success 2

4. 10 – success 3

5. 9 – success 4

6. 6 – failure

7. 8 – success 5

8. 6 – failure

9. 8 – success 6 – 2700 dn altogether

It has been noted that the second spell may be too weak as a fourth level spell, so negotiations over the particulars of that spell will continue, but Najm has successfully researched it, whatever the specifics, as well as having completed this spellbook, "Najm at the Hastati Gate".

Old Dog, New Status

[This document should be considered back-dated to 6 September, right after the reported decision of the Souffets and the response by the party that Pako should be censor of their new grant of land]

Pako the Citizen

The Souffets granted the company who captured Fort Stormbreak, né Bugeater, the right to elect a military commander (mridha), for whom they chose Sesel; and to elect a civilian commander and tax collector, or censor, to mutually command the Fort. For the latter, the company elected Pako, longtime loyal comrade of Durham of the Ringing Anvil.

This is certainly a surprise! There is no law against granting citizenship to a renyu or assigning one such a high office, it is a thing almost unheard of. There was Saint Khristof once, who was indeed even a saint, but renyu are not widely known for their intelligence or initiative. Whatever the feeling of the Souffets regarding this decision, they certainly won't deny it the heroes of the Bugeater crisis.

Therefore, with some little fanfare, Pako was duly invited to make the procession between the Long Walls from Cothon to Gadeed, to enter the Court of the Mount, escorted by Sesel, his sponsor and companion. In that palace, Pako stood first before a lesser magistrate, whose office of censor Pako would soon take on himself, to declare his answers to the four formulaic questions: 

1. What wealth do you claim?
2. Do you make any claim to rights or privileges according to the pedigree of your ancestors?
3. What is your profession?
4. Do you swear loyalty to Gadeed, to Cothon, and to their Souffets? Do you swear to keep arms, and/or to provide for the arms of your servants and/or slaves, for service to the Mother of Cities and the Ten Cities' League?

From there--assuming he answered well and without any offense to Gadeed, and did indeed swear the oath--he was escorted before the Souffets to be invested with his office of Censor of Stormbreak (as the fort was renamed) alongside Sesel being invested as Mridha of Stormbreak.

Pako's name and the date inked in lapis lazuli blue, and stamped with gold

Pako the Censor

As censor Pako is responsible for the development of the land around Fort Stormbreak into productive land, the taxes on which he can farm and will retain 10% for his own personal use. The land allotted him is a 10 mile radius around the fort, which is approximately 314 square miles.

The land is currently not well developed, except around the inn-on-the-ford, and so the land as a whole yields only a fraction of what it could if properly developed. The river is replete with fish and eels, so one might imagine fishing weirs providing one place for development; or using its current for driving a mill. One might also expect Pako to use his connections with the Was'go tribe of renyu, from among whom he was born, to perhaps develop the land in some way that renyu would be good at, like hunting or birding. Other ideas will have to be developed by Pako (and whoever might wish to help him).

As of September, Pako would have a monthly personal income of 100 dinars between taxes from the inn and the little bit of income from the land. This can be significantly increased if Pako surveys the land to see how it might be used, and invites settlers to come out to the Fort or the area around the inn and to thus start developing the land to be useful to Cothon-Gadeed.

This means that Pako has earned 400 dinars since investiture.

Pako should, of course, coordinate with Sesel on ideas about the Fort itself