The RQ weekend (November 10-12, 2006) went well despite a small turnout and a good time was had by all. Saturday dinner was at Famous Dave’s. Because of several factors, the party did more prep work (binding POW spirits and doing research) than is typical for our group, but that paid off in a number of different ways.

Our group consisted of:
• Dwayne - Lucky, the leprechaun follower of the Morrigane, the Celtic goddess of Battle.
• Rich O - Aurelieus, the Greco/Egyptian sorcerer follower of Ra
• Bob F - Theleos, the Gondorian knight who wears the Scales of Bairanax, the magical dragonscale armor that allows him to shape shift into a huge, glowing blue bear.
• Rich F - Grumfar, the minotaur follower of the Morrigane who wields an axe enchanted against Islam and the East, and who has sworn an oath to his goddess to slay 100 of the followers of Mohammed..
• Thad - Arre, the minor nobleman of Melnibone who specializes in archery and alchemy.
• Mark - master of horses, follower of Maat
• Leon, Tony and Keith’s characters are present but only to provide healing and magical support, and to set scenario hooks provided by the GM.

Note that almost all inhabitants of this world see and hear the party members as human, due to the spell cast upon the party by Merlin.

Part I - In Search Of … The People of the Horse

When we last left our intrepid party, they had just survived an assassination attempt by the Islamic mage Malachi (premier sorcerer of Islam west of Sicily), this attempt had been aimed at Grumfar the minotaur specifically, but could have taken out a number of bystanders, including the Emperor Nicephorus.

The party has returned to Constantinople where they have rejoined their companion Lucky, a leprechaun follower of the Morrigan ( the Celtic goddess of Battle) and an inveterate gambler. Lucky's luck has been mixed of late: although he has managed to make some money (about 5000 silver) and survive the battle after Prince Michael's wife was murdered, he has developed a rather dubious reputation, even for a gambler: everyone who lets Lucky into their establishment tends to wind up dead, in prison or with their gambling den burned to the ground. Its getting tough for Lucky to scare up a decent game anymore.

The company has also encountered an old friend: the paladin Oliver, faithful servant of Charlemagne, has arrived in the Byzantine capital as a special envoy to the Emperor from his western counterpart. Oliver seeks the party out and imparts to them some intelligence and asks their help with an important matter. Charlemagne has gathered the best minds of Western Europe at his administrative center at Aachen; and they are gathering and analyzing every piece of information that the Emperor's agents can bring to them. They come to the conclusion that Khan Krum, Lord of all the Bulgars and overlord of both the northern and southern Slavs, is in the process of solidifying power; if he succeeds, he will have absolute control over what is now Eastern Europe: from the Adriatic to the Ukraine, and from the Baltic to the Black Sea. This will allow him to field armies in excess of 100,000 men, bigger than any army Europe has seen since the days of Attila the Hun. Only the wild descendants of the Scythians, the Pechenegs who roam what is now the Ukraine, are a significant challenge to Krum and his Bulgars. And Krum has made an alliance with followers of the Red Moon.

Oliver also tells the party that Malachi has made alliance with forces that are apparently chaotic in nature, and sound to be followers of the cult of Krasht from Glorantha. Krasht is a goddess of assassins and sends her children, the burrowing krashtkids, to serve her human followers. Lucky and the Argan Argar troll (Keith) who survived the murder of the Princess both believe that the assassins included krashtkids and they were able to gain access to Prince Michael's town house by burrowing UP from underneath it. That would explained why most of the house collapsed into a crater after the fire. You also learn that Prince Michael's 3 sons, the nephews of the Emperor, are still missing.

This is bad: Chaos forces from Glorantha have allied with the mightiest sorcerer Islam has in the West, and agents of the Red Moon have allied with the Muslim hordes of the Caliphate and the Bulgars under Krum. And they are all coming to Constantinople, perhaps for the same reason, the same artifact: whatever the Lunar Empire lost in the fall of the Sassinid Persian empire, the artifact that the Emperor Heraclius brought back to his capital 200 years ago. And the party doesn't even know what it looks like.

Oliver has a request: the sages of Aachen have uncovered a reference to a prophecy that says a threat to the entire world will be averted by a (thing, power, gift, weapon?) that will come from the People of the Horse. And the timing of the prophecy says that the threat is coming NOW. Oliver has a few leads and asks that the party help him track them down and find out more about this threat and the People of the Horse. Being at loose ends, the party agrees, and begins a search of the libraries of the Byzantine capital for clues.

In the meantime, the emperor has publicly distanced himself from Prince Michael, who goes into seclusion. It is now late summer, 809 A.D., and the emperor decides that it is time that he earned a military reputation of his own. He takes the themes (the garrisons) of western Anatolia and northern Greece and the Tagmata (the imperial household troops) and he moves north against the Bulgars. He too has heard that Krum is growing in power, and when he learns that the Khan is in Pecheneg territory on a campaign against the plains tribes, he moves against the Bulgar capital at Pliska with an army that includes more than half of the empire's famed cataphracts, in an attempt to weaken the Bulgars while Krum and their main army are away. The emperor and his son lead the army north across the frontier in August.

Prince Michael has meanwhile readied 3 ships, and is setting sail to follow a lead that may take him to his sons. At the last minute, he offers the party the chance to join him, but they have already accepted the obligation to help Oliver. The prince sets sail and the party decides to act upon the information they have (a critical roll) gleaned from their search of the libraries.

The People of the Horse is a reference to the people of Troy, who were destroyed by the Trojan War shortly before 1000 BC, as described in Homer's Iliad. By cross referencing different sources used by Virgil when he wrote the Aeneid, and sources and histories that were based on Homer's work, the party has come to the conclusion that they need to seek out the tomb of Diomedes, King of Argos during the Trojan War, and one of the great Greek champions of that conflict. Almost all of the Greek leaders who survived the war died soon after in a series of murders, accidents and blood feuds. The only two who did not were Ulysses and Diomedes. The fate of Ulysses is told in the Odyssey, but the fate of Diomedes is lost to history. The party does find some personal information about Diomedes: he was equaled only by Ajax the Greater and surpassed only by Achilles as a champion among the Greeks; he was utterly without fear, and so much a cold-blooded killer that most of the other Greek kings were afraid of him. His personal symbol was a naked sword, held point up. The party leaves the capital and heads west and south into Greece, past Thessaly and the Attic peninsula, across the isthmus of Corinth, past the ruins of Mycenae, until they reach the SE coast of Greece and the ruins that had been the city of Argos 2000 years before.

Lucky goes into raven form and scouts the ruins; he finds a hilltop marked by tumbled stones, some of which bear the mark of the raised sword, but no tomb. The rest of the party searches the hill and finds nothing, and then begins a search of the other hills surrounding the ruins. Except for the minotaur finding the basement of an old guard tower (CRASH!), they find nothing of importance. They make camp, and that night something happens. Drawn by the feel of magic or the smell of death that follows those who follow the gods of war, the ghost of Diomedes rises, along with 6 of his personal guards. The guards are armed with spear and shield, but Diomedes wields a sword in either hand, and demands to know who dares to seek him out. Theleos answers for the party, but before he can finish his request, he is interrupted by Grumfar, who insists on interjecting his own two bits into the conversation. Diomedes refuses to tolerate this kind of insolence, and hacks the minotaur down. (critical to chest, slash to abdomen). Before the homicidal king of the Argives can ginsu the hapless bovine boob, the party manages to convince him that they meant no disrespect and that they seek a clue to the power of the Trojans, the People of the Horse. Diomedes relents and pulls his swords from the minotaur before he dies, allowing the party to heal him. He gives Theleos permission to enter his tomb and take one thing from it, if he chooses the right thing, he may find a key to the power of the Trojans who Diomedes hated so much in life. The price for this aid is that when (if) they find this power of the People of the Horse, they must take the life of the priestess they will meet in that time and place. The party agrees, and Theleos (followed by Lucky) treads the glowing path up the hill and into the entrance of the tomb which has appeared behind Diomedes. Inside, they find a sarcophagus, unsealed but closed, 6 pedestals that hold the remains of the 6 guards, and 3 artifacts hung on the wall behind the ancient king's resting place.

The first is a suit of gold plate armor, of the style used 2000 years ago. The second is a great spear, of the kind favored by the Mycenan Greeks for single combat. The third is a blood-stained banner, made of a green fabric, edged and embroidered with gold thread, bearing the stylized form of a horse facing to the left. Theleos takes the banner, and he and Lucky are teleported out of the tomb before Lucky can get everyone killed.

The party returns to Constantinople, to hear of Nicephorus's great victory over the Bulgars.

Only it wasn’t a victory on the battlefield, it was a series of successful sieges of thinly garrisoned minor forts, followed by the sack of the new Bulgar capital at Pliska, which had been held by only a 1000 troops.  Krum’s forces are battling the Pechenegs somewhere north of what is now the Crimea.  The campaign is profitable for the emperor, humiliating for the Bulgars, but not decisive by any means.  The emperor and his son bask in the glory of victory, and declare the summer games to be victory games in their honor.

What Lies Beneath

In the mean time, Prince Michael has returned from his voyage, wounded and with only 1 ship; it had been a trap, and he has not found his sons. Still in the emperor’s disfavor, he retires to his country estate along the coast about a 100 miles SW of the capital. After doing more research, the party joins him there to let him know what they have learned about his enemies. After talking with the Prince, the party searches the manor and finds traces of chaos, a traitor to the prince and an entrance to a tunnel in the manor basement. The party investigates and battles followers of the chaos god Krasht.  Someone in the party triggers a series of subterranean explosions during the fight and everybody runs for their lives after sounding the alarm. The prince and his household manage to escape, as does everyone in the party (after a bizarre series of events that left a hole in the side of the manor house). The manor house is badly damaged in the explosion, catches fire, burns down and then the ruins collapse into the sink hole that opens up when the Krasht diggings cave in. The party receives Prince Michael’s thanks, and returns to Constantinople.

The games in honor of the emperor’s victory are a great success. The party manages to win some applause from the people of the city and some money, while Aurelius burnishes his reputation for being invulnerable in the chariot race.  He hasn’t won a race yet, but has managed to survive more than a dozen deliberate attempts on his life.  But it is on the last night of the games that the party’s fortunes take a turn for the better.  Lucky has finally managed to con his way into a gambling den worthy of his talents.

Lucky Horns In

Nicodemus of Skoros made his fortune in southern Italy and the Adriatic smuggling trade and then decided to hit the big time in Constantinople.  He bought an entire block of warehouses and tenements and has converted the lot into a fortified complex with multiple stories, an underground stable and an outlet to the Golden Horn (the place is backed into the northern corner of the harbor of Neorion, against the old walls built by Septimus Severus nearly 700 years ago.)   This eats up all of his cash reserves and puts him in debt to three different loan sharks, but the smuggling profits alone will more than pay the vig, and his gambling hall is the most popular in the city.  Everything is coming up roses for Nicodemus, until Lucky walks in the door.

In a non-stop, 24 hour run on the house, Lucky racks up win after win at the dice, the card and the wheel tables.  He survives or evades three poisoning attempts, 2 seductions, half a dozen pickpockets and one outright attempt at a knifing, to force Nicodemus himself to meet him man to man (so to speak) at the Great Table in the center of the gambling hall, with the deed to the whole joint on the line.  Nicodemus cheats (of course) but it doesn’t matter, as Lucky’s luck strikes like a lightning bolt and beats even the House’s rigged game.  Nicodemus loses everything: the land, the house, his fortune and later, when he has to explain all of this to the loan sharks, his life.

Lucky wins it all, but can he keep it?

Breaking news

The Varangian mercenaries have been rotated from the eastern frontier back to the City.

The Eastern frontier is quiet at the moment, but the Arabs are said to be massing their forces.

Military grade horses are almost impossible to obtain, since the Emperor learned that someone was trying to corner the market.  All horses must now be offered for sale to the Empire first, at a set price, before they can be sold to anyone else.

Prince Michael has been said to have had an argument with Prince Stauracius (son of the emperor) and has been made unwelcome at the palace.  His political star is thought to be almost completely in eclipse.

It is now autumn of the year 809.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:02, Tue 15 May 2007.