What You Missed - Price of Gi-dom

 By Eric "Rosetta" Willisson and Kyra "Omri" Barry

Gi is one of those places I have often heard about, but seldom interacted with, and had never visited. The Risen Kingdom attacked my home in multiple ways, from creating the Iron Road which divided Faerie for a time, to several incursions into Chimeron. I was pleased and grateful that the Realms as a whole came together to drive them out, but was less available for the following war in which, I understand, the power of the Risen Kingdom was broken forever and the people of Gi granted a new lease on life.

I do know something about rebuilding a broken world, though. And I feel for the suffering of the people there. So when I saw the letter from Major Olive, I traveled to the portal to see how I could help. 

The night before, I had a strange dream, of a finely-crafted construct, humanoid but covered in an entire armory of weapons. I saw it scale a mountain, and slam the rocks with its hammer. The boulders fell to the ground and smashed into pebbles. Then, I realized that the construct was even larger than I had realized, for people who appeared speck-sized emerged to smash the "pebbles," actually boulders in their own right, down into even smaller rocks, which they finally dragged away on sleds.

The small party that entered Gi had a mix of experience with the land, and so some were prepared for the foul air. It was as bad as I had heard. Just when you think you are getting used to it, too, it gets worse. 

From the base in Praespero, we were appraised of the situation by Major Olive. It seems that the Resistance is the only force in Gi attempting country-wide coordination, while most villages have turned inward to try and fend for themselves. Unfortunately, this is not working for those villages: without the magics of the Risen Kingdom to provide basic necessities, Gi is currently all but uninhabitable, particularly through the cold seasons. Fresh water is scarce, as opposed to the ever-present sludge, and violent wildlife stalks the roads where patrols are too rare to hold them back. Isolation is likely to lead to death, but the hardy people have a difficult time seeing this with only the perspective of their own homes.

The Resistance (perhaps they should consider a new name soon, as they have succeeded and no longer have a kingdom to resist against) is stretched very thin, and picked out two top priorities which they asked us to investigate. One was a rumor of a dangerous agent of the Risen Kingdom somewhere in a collection of villages at the outskirts of one of the cities, and another was a village in desperate need of fresh water. A third mission, to settle a property dispute, would have been helpful for Gi's long-term stability, but we did not have enough people to travel there as well. 

The Resistance has a vessel called the Dreamliner, which I understand was captured by King Orion during the war, before being lent or given to the Resistance for their work. Apparently during the war it allowed for quick travel all over the land, but it is now at full capacity sending small groups outward. As such, we were able to quickly reach our destinations, but were warned that the return trips would have to be under our own power. 

I went with the group to root out the Risen Kingdom agent, joined by two Resistance soldiers on patrol. The wildlife of Gi is extremely vicious, and their blood inhibits healing, so we were forced to stick together and advance carefully. We progressed well, with a good line of fighters backed up by a hail of Magic Missiles from myself, Saka, and Irri, and were able to fight off the poisonous snakes and savage hawks. But it was the wasps that nearly overwhelmed us, scattering the party and decimating our morale ((This was, unfortunately, a real OOC nest of ground wasps. No medical emergencies to my knowledge, but a great many stings. Really, I am surprised I have not run into something like this before in the 18 years I've been playing, and it was only a matter of time. After everyone was treated, those who wished to continue playing regrouped indoors to play out the scene. Special thanks to Becky and Keith for taking charge of checking out everybody's stings and treating them as possible, and to Amber for knocking a truly terrifying number of wasps off my pants legs with her boff hammer.))

When we reached the village, one of a group of settlements collectively called Sombra's Tears, they were in the middle of a town meeting, making plans for the approaching harvest season. It seemed they had a somewhat-mysterious source of fresh water, and generally felt they would be able to make it through the harder seasons as long as nothing unexpected happened. Their plans were more about how to best position themselves, rather than truly desperate survival. 

Two people immediately stood out: Yvaine, who seemed to be leading the meeting, and a woman named Lyra who seemed to match the vague description we'd been told, who was constantly on the move, leaving to work on a millstone just as we arrived, making quick smithing repairs, planting seeds, and generally never resting.

Our presence was not welcomed. The village seemed very tight-knit, protective of each other and resistant to the idea that there could be a traitor among them. They were also very wary of the Resistance and seemed to expect to be "tithed" as the Risen Kingdom had done before. 

The meeting was adjourned and the mood became tense. As several of our party attempted to get to know the locals, we discussed among ourselves whether to jump at the obvious conclusion, and apprehend Lyra. I felt on sufficiently unsteady ground to attempt divination. We eventually settled on a Séance to Vesta, as Orion's presence in the war meant her influence had reached Gi, and the question "what could disrupt this hearth and home?" felt within her purview. J-B and Tarnisha joined in the ritual.

Vesta was not able to see very far, but she confirmed that there was "rot" in the "wood" of the hearth. New rot, not yet deep, but that it was there. Perhaps it would die on its own, perhaps not. She was unable to see farther, so distant from the Realms, and it was clear that we would be on our own to discover the lies at work.

With varying levels of reluctance, we made it clear to the people that we had to question them individually. With no tangible proof of our claims, this did not go over well, but there was little they could do. If I had not received divine insight, I doubt I would have been willing to see this through.

Saka led a more orderly questioning, and I followed one Reed who was feeling particularly antagonized by Makhta, among others. Reed told me a story of living there with their family for their whole life, having lost one of their two brothers to the workings of the local arm of the Risen Kingdom, House Xeraph. I grew increasingly suspicious of Lyra, who seemed to help everywhere but also to be associated with accidents. Sabotage, perhaps?

I considered how we might reveal any such activity, but we were already pushing our luck with the villagers. Reed was particularly defensive of everybody in the village, and seemed incapable of imagining that any of them could be secret traitors. The idea that an agent of the Risen Kingdom could be nurturing them to form a new core of tyranny struck a nerve.

Eventually, Saka revealed that his questioning had uncovered a key difference. Yvaine and Lyra's stories did not match up: they both claimed to have traveled together for some time since the war's end before coming to this village, but they claimed different starting locations, and Yvaine said Lyra had been a Risen Kingdom conscript, while Lyra said no such thing, even when directly asked whether she knew of anyone who had been forced to serve the Risen Kingdom. It was not much to go on, but at least it was something that could be brought up in a group. Magics worked off to the side seemed to confirm Lyra's history in the Risen Kingdom, and Tarnisha was able to summon a Vision showing how Lyra was out of place: first, seeing her working in a field, with Castle Chimeron behind her; then, seeing her going from place to place in the village, always using her advanced knowledge of how a non-ruined world could work, and seeming terribly frightened she would be caught.

It was not what I was hoping for, no secret spellbook or recruited cultists. Really, nothing that seemed to fit as the "dangerous" Risen Kingdom agent we had been told to expect. But, the risk was present enough to bring the truth out. In front of the gathered people, I asked Lyra if she had ever worked, willingly or unwillingly, for the Risen Kingdom.

When she said, forcefully, that she had only ever done what was best for the people of this village, we all knew what the evasion meant.

Nothing that followed was pleasant. She did eventually admit to her past. Yvaine did as well. It seems they both were Risen Kingdom conscripts. Yvaine says she was taken prisoner rather quickly after a single battle. Lyra, however, claims that, while unwilling, she did take part in "atrocities", including, in an admission that caught me fully by surprise, laying down a part of the Iron Road.

Despite all this, the villagers remained staunchly in defense of both of them. Apparently, their work over the past year had earned the people's trust. Caught between a rock and a hard place, I was not prepared to fight the village to take them, and began to suggest that the Resistance keep watch on the place. The Resistance patrol, however, quite reasonably argued that they did not have the right to let someone go free after such an admission.

Many tears were shed, particularly by Yvaine, but Lyra agreed to go with the Resistance patrol for questioning. She gave notes to Yvaine and other villagers on how to carry our her plans to make it through the coming seasons. I truly hope that she wishes for nothing more than to repent for her actions, and that the Resistance leadership sees this and agrees to allow her to return to the village. One of Gi's greatest vulnerabilities at this time is to fall to suspicion and infighting, after their bad experience with a forced unification. However, we were there at the Resistance's invitation, and it also would not do to override their intentions for how to handle former enemy combatants. Indeed, my own judgment regarding what to do with her should not be trusted, as she was involved so deeply at the strike against my home.

Irri courageously volunteered to stay in Gi and travel with Lyra, to ensure her safe treatment and fair return. She had her own magics prepared for just such an occasion, and ensured us that she would be alright.

With heavy hearts, we returned to Praespero and the portal to the Realms. Many mysteries remain about that village. How did they become so attached, so quickly, to the newcomers? Why do they still have a source of fresh water? How many of Lyra's and Yvaine's Realms-inspired farming experiments will work in Gi, and are they different from what the Resistance has learned from the Chimeron Militia? Will they ever forgive the Resistance, or will this experience cause them to turn even further inward?

I feel the story here is not yet complete.

---

The next night, I had another dream.

In it, I was Irwin, a member of a Resistance patrol. We were traveling to Camtoo, a village deep in what had once been the "industrial forests" that provided lumber for the Risen Kingdom's war machine. Since the Total Void Cascade, their water source had completely ceased functioning. I remember thinking that this village had it hard, but they had been largely untouched by the final stages of the war, and were decidedly ungrateful to the Resistance despite our hard work and dangerous activities to bring about the end of the Risen Kingdom.

I was accompanied by a healer-soldier, Myra I believe, and we were bringing a shipment of bonereed which could be fashioned into crude filters to get clean (enough) water out of the sludge. We were grateful to be joined by a party of heroes from the Realms, the people who had brought us to victory over the Fallen King. And they were essential: wolves fought us the entire way to the village, hounding our steps and surrounding us whenever possible. Some of the heroes took to rather alarming pastimes such as allowing incapacitated wolves to stay among us, despite the dangers that their leaking blood posed. But, with their help we were able to reach the village and slam the gate closed behind us.

We met briefly with the village elder, Sylvia, who took the bonereed and asked when we would be leaving. The heroes of the Realms had a slightly warmer reception, or perhaps were more dogged in their attempts to find additional ways to help. Some of them went back to harvest meat and blood from the bodies of the wolves they had slain. This seemed to warm the villagers up to them, at which point they divided into two parties. One party was taught to weave the bonereed filters, and I hear they produced two good filters, one packed with charcoal from a cooking fire to see whether it would be more effective. The other party was taken to plant "relon" seeds, for a type of melon that apparently grows in sludge, and is edible (besides its poisonous rind).

Myra and I went with the second group, as they would have to be a little farther outside of the village, and we kept hearing wolf howls. Thankfully, none attacked, and the heroes, particularly aided by Fern's horse, were able to plant a sizable crop of relons.

After both tasks were completed, everyone gathered to discuss the progress. The villagers seemed somewhat more pleasant now that they had seen the help, and that the heroes of the Realms did intend on leaving before twilight. The fear of new oppressors is strong in these people. The heroes made a point of introducing myself, Irwin, and Myra, to the village elder. They hoped to ensure that the village would be better disposed to future offers of help from the Resistance. Sylvia seemed to thaw slightly, though it is clear that the Resistance will have hard work ahead of them if they wish the village's favor.

---

The Resistance clearly has their work cut out for them. Between needing to support the people in a world left at the brink of collapse, while not replacing one conqueror with another, they have work that is both difficult and complex ahead of them. I hope to continue to help them when the opportunities present themselves.

OOC:

As one of the original Risen Kingdom staff, it is such an honor to see the world we created be taken up by another. Ryan has focused in on one of the parts of Gi that we weren't able to explore as much as we had hoped, due to the pandemic: the personal stories of people living in such harsh conditions. I am delighted that he is taking this mantle up, and look forward to future events. As you can see, this event had heavy roleplaying, while still including enough fights to make it clear that one cannot travel in Gi alone safely. It is a good mix, and I particularly like how we were given leeway as our NPCs to interact freely and naturally. It is a very promising start to a new era in Gi.

-Eric "Rosetta" Willisson

Dear Realms,

We were met in Prospero by Major Olive Pensnatch, a leader within the resistance, seeking to rebuild Gi after the fall of the Risen Kingdom. Their god king, the Fallen King, had been defeated the year prior in a push on the part of the united Realms, and had been tackled into the void by Jean Baptiste, leaving the body to be reinhabited by Jack, the child the Fallen King had once possessed. In the year since Gi has suffered for its freedom, as it had been heavily reliant on portal structures that are now defunct, and its previous form of governance had been overturned.

Understandably, its people were wary of us. Plus, the harvest season was upon them but with the portal system in Riskan City being down, there was limited fresh water for the crops. Most of the rivers and waters in Gi are sludge. Riskan City is as of the time of this report unbreached by Resistance, and it is unknown its state. It’s presumed abandoned.

The night before arriving I dreamt I was the very ground, beating and straining with much effort as blows rained upon me. My life blood beat out warmly on my skin (I believe this to be lava) as my body worked with effort. Then, as if a taut string was cut, the tension vanished and I could relax. My blood cooled, and my body rested, no longer battered and bruised.

Team Beta took the patrol heading to the town of Camtoo in the west, to bring resources and relief aide. We’d bring bone reeds, which can filter the sludge into potable water.

Team Alfa went south to one of the settlements of Somber’s Tears, where it was reported a “dangerous agent of the Risen Kingdom” was located. More on that later.

I was part of Team Beta, comprising of myself, Ryu, Griffin, Corvus, Crane, Serra, Leo, Jasper, and Fern. We were accompanied by Gisistance soldiers, Irwin and Mira. As I was somewhat adjusted to Gi atmosphere from my scouting missions into Gi then the months of work I put in helping it post-war, I was able to tell they sported some articles of bright clothing. Seems that Realms fashion is rubbing off on the Gidans. I helped carry bone reeds as we fought our way past exploding blood hounds. Irwin commented our meat was probably tastier smelling due to better nutrition, so the wolves were not easily deterred.

We finally reached the town and made it past the gates. The villagers were wary of us, initially turning down the offerings I brought to facilitate good will. Eventually they agreed to let us help with tasks, such as bringing the meat from the wolves back to help feed them, set up the Bone Reeds filters, and planting some melons that seemed to grow particularly well in the sludge even if the rind was poisonous and the fruit rotted quickly on the vine. We’d name the new fruit relons, for Robert “Robby”, the child who found the seeds and brought them back to the village. 

Robby also shared that he and his friends had encountered “The Wanderer”, a man in a tattered red jacket that healed Robby’s injuries with games. It seems that Jack is alive and well, and holds some potent magic still.

From how the villagers behaved and what they shared with me, it seemed to me the villagers didn’t want their independence undermined. I relayed to a few of them a similar feeling on my part, how an injury has limited my capabilities, and how me relying on my friends for help while I recover doesn’t undermine me or my independence. I’d like to think it helped, and that we left that village better than before. Especially that it will be better able to make it past harvest season.

---

Now, I was not there for Team Alfa’s mission. Yet, in a strange way, I was. Waking from an odd dream I confirmed that other members of Team Beta had had similar dreams, yet from different perspectives. I had dreamt that I was a villager in the settlement Team Alpha went to, a farmer named Reed. It was strange seeing my friends through the eyes of a stranger.

This Gidan was angry that strangers were there. Insistent that the community stick together, and that the settlement had no water or food to spare for elsewhere. Reed called the most of them thugs, as the Realms and Gisistance soldiers had the townsfolk stay in the meeting house as they tried to figure out who the “dangerous agent” was. Reed was convinced there was none, and resented the implication his neighbors would be anything less than trustworthy, even the new folk within the last couple of years. Reed compared the Realms and Resistance to the House Xeraph who used to rule over this settlement and kept them in line as they forced the settlement to send tithes to the capital. Reed even shouted at Makhta who menaced with her ax, and Rosetta who said there was a “rot” and that if it wasn’t taken care of the town would end up like House Xeraph. Reed really didn’t like that comparison. Eventually the Realms discovered an ex-soldier, who had been part of the “swords-to-ploughs” program in Chimeron, and had worked on the Iron Road in Fae. She had been the one the Gisistance was tipped off about.

Lyra, the ex-soldier, was taken away as her roommate Yvaine sobbed, and Reed watched distraught, leaning on his brother Al for support and partly not to run after her, and they begged the Realms not to do this. Irri went with Lyra to make sure she was safe, as Reed had begged her to help.

It is only thanks to the other members of my Team, and their dreams, that I know this isn’t the whole story. There was a Triskwater in town working as apprentice miller, went by the name of Arbor, with a couple of ex-Void Spinners working as bakers. He was angry that these newcomers, swords-to-ploughs folks, had denounced the Risen Kingdom. So he tipped off the Gisistance about one, Lyra. They want to rebuild some form of the previous power they had held, and plan to use the settlement to do so.

Lyra was not the rot. Arbor is. And they’re still in the village.

May your paths be lit,

Omri Azar

Flamekeeper of the Order of the Lantern

Word From the West - Post Gi Ad

Written by: Becky "Kovaks" Baron

Organized by: Brookelyn "Rowan" Gingras

*Experienced Researcher Seeking Temporary Employment*

Magical researcher with 10 years experience with The Subtle Thread (specialty focuses in Void Interactions in Microthaumatological Auras and  Zaubermeldic Forging) seeks short term employment while furloughed following end of last assignment. 

Name and references available upon hire!

Word from the West - Rise of Gi-sistance

Written by: Kathy "Makhta" Fey

Organized by: Brookelyn "Rowan" Gingras

**Amidst the race to pull our remaining forces from Gi, one of our allies on the western flank recovered a misplaced journal with a single entry scrawled hastily on bloodstained pages.**

Even now it pains me to put pen to paper, knowing I'll be damned for it, but I can't bring myself to stop. The King is dead and armies scattered, so what does it matter anyway? I feel I must write of our deeds so our story will survive if no one is left to tell it.

They attacked during a brutal time of blazing sun and close air. Sweat and blood ran in the eyes of both armies. This enemy from another plane had the audacity to invade our territory and raze their own resources to drive us away.

They came in great numbers, must have been through portals or some kind of magic travel, bringing all manner of living and undead, enchanted and beastly creatures to fight us.

We braved the first skirmishes with stout heart and strong formations, and caused a great number of the enemy to crumple in death. Until they peppered their forces with enemies we could not affect with our weapons at all.

In response, two of our most skilled compatriots rushed to the forge and quickly crafted sleek and sturdy axes that we could throw at these hard-skinned foes.

We fought with our best prowess and hope against an ever-mounting arsenal of attacks. Only a few of us could affect those enhanced enemies, and then they sequestered truly irritating drummers and singers behind their lines, which seemed to bolster their strength. We faced forces equipped to cut through the armor of even our most powerful allies, and banish our spirit support with but a word. Still, we killed so many. They kept coming. But so did we.

Our soldiers skilled in stealth struck blows as well. We found some of our scouts cut down but with blood on their swords, while others returned with information of enemy strength and movements. One intrepid soldier destroyed their unguarded ballista and still returned to report on activity at their base.

We burned down their sleeping quarters, and launched several attacks that gained access to the enemy base. Feats of clever, close-range and hand-to-hand combat resulted in satisfying harm to the enemy on their own proclaimed ground.

After days of conflict, battles raged on - in open fields, through guarded entryways, across all terrains. Our healers labored fiercely and we carried extra weaponry to the front for the constant shattering of our equipment. We were light of foot and keen of aim against a foe that seemed determined to fight to the end.

At last our King himself, resplendent in attire, came forth to face the enemy, with our remaining magical and beastly forces at our side and our weapons sharp as ever. We showed no fear in the face of the onslaught, until somehow, the true King fell, and seemed consumed by a suffocating crowd of attackers.

My companions closest to the gate escaped. I am left here with neither country nor kin, to make my way in this ruined world.

What You Missed - Rise of the Gi-sistance [Photos Edition]

 Photos by Kersten Prince. Captions provided by Kieran/Kyra Barry

Tactics discussed around the war table.

Gi Goggles are fashionable and great at emulating the horrible smog that cloaks the land.

Risen Kingdom forces.

First contact with the enemy.

Day 2. Valiant forces of the Realms fight together against their foes.

Realms forces fight ferociously.

Banners help provide specific benefits to the Realmsians in Gi.

The Fallen King stalks the battle field with ill-begotten prizes, magic swords stolen from Realmsians.

Jean Baptiste uses all his wile to tackle the Fallen King.

Once the Fallen King is vanquished, the heroes of the Realms work to put Jack, the original owner of the Fallen King's body, back into his body. The Fallen King is defeated.

Why I Want to Go - Rise of the Gi-sistance [Part 3]

My name is Sir Jean Baptise, let me tell you my routine.

I wake up every morning at 6:30 AM to the same nightmare. I feel sick, but I had ginger for dinner, so I held it in less not to accidentally purge myself of the sacred herb. I get up and lather myself with a bodywash of apple cider vinegar and 11 different herbs in spices. I place one sprig of organic herbs in my mouth to ensure my flesh remains tender and optimal on the secondary market. After fiddling with the shower door with my stump hand I pull my blood stained clothes out of a disinfectant mixture of grain alcohol and cheap, gamer body spray and hand it to dry. Still dripping, I then attend my quills and contemplate the next headache I can give Starblade.

There is a idea of Jean Baptise, some kind of abstract collection of unspent resources, but you may look into my empty eyes, talk to me, and even find our quest experiences somewhat similar. I truly, am not there.

Welcome to Rise of the Gi-Sistence, it’s a lot like a war tourney, except this time the war is actually real.  Apologies for my lacklsiter grammar i am typing this with my only remaining hand and i gind the experience taxing to my patience. Why do  mi have a hand missing. Dony worry bout that camp. Let us talk about

Gameplay
The gameplay is simple, see bapyise the clown, he will chear u up

But tara, the man cries, water flooding his sockrets, im baotise.

Everyone laughs, roll on snare drum, curtains

Otherwise, simple! Two armies, a red one, a blue one, locked in forbidden love, painting the map with each movement, tearing the lands apart like a broken household. Until they clash, and then, each pc pretends to be a multitude of 50-10000k npcs each with a fun power or skill. Some of those skills? Dying, dying alot, and eating the dead. And imbue.

Every battle a war tourney, the stakes, the armies themselves. Because after all, your armies dont come back, why would they? Its war.

People die, they die and die forever… or should, most likely they will exchange their second class citizenship for a third class eternity as a Chained Labor caste, tearing apart the conquered lands for copper wire to power their void batteries.

Its all very exciting, and im sure many people are very excited. Me? Im a bit put out of war, last time i commented on war, people got quite peeved at me, so instead i just sit outside and stare at them through the window.

Instead, let me introduce you to, the crimson path. Simply go outside, and sneakily (or boldly since no ones ever outside) collect the wooden intel token and you get a free story shard. What can story shards do?

Problems, lots of problems. Raise a army, raise a child, forge the true name of a dead god into a sword. Eat yucky candy so you dont have to later. (Unless you get sad) Or even, take a trapping and get a worse version of a spell everyone already has.

The power is yours.

Whats that? You want a story? You need a plot to get excited over?

One, It’s a war tourney no you dont. And two, okay you little scamp

Inhale

LONG AGO IN A ALIEN LAND A GOD TRIED TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND GOT EXTRA KILLED FOREVER FOR REALISES. HOWEVER A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLANET WITH VOID MAGIC SHOWED UP FOR FRIENDLY TRADE. SEVERAL SALTY FAILED TYRANTS ASKED THE VOID TRADERS IF VOID MAGIC COULD SAY… BRING THE DEAD BACK. AND THEY SAID “SURE I GUESS, IF YOU HAD LIKE, SOME CHILD TIED TO THE VOID, WHY” AND THEN THE TYRANTS KILLED THEM. ONE BUTCHERED CHILD AND A GAME OF DOUBLE JEOPARDY LATER AND GI IS NOW GROSS AND SHI-GI. BUT THSE WHO WANT MORE NEVER FIND MORE, THE GOAL POST ALWAYS MOVES. SO GI INVADED AND INVADES AND INVADES AND UNRAVELS THE PLANETS OF ALL THAT COULD’VE MATTERED IN EXISTENTIAL INDUSTRIALISM.

THEY TRIED TO DO THAT TO THE REALMS, THEY FAILED, NOW WE ARE INVADING BACK TO STOP THEM FROM TURNING OTHER PEOPLE INTO REALITY MINES.

Listen ive written the book on this 3 times, and this is the last event.

Now you might wonder, why make the LAST event a war tourney with numerous chances of defeat, what happens of we lose.

Darkvale happens, we just lose, and stay lost for years. Maybe we’d get to try again.

But we probably wont. So we better win now!

Maybe I can make a plague bomb…

Recruiting for the Heroic Complement

By: David "Tirvanel" Rubenstein

Adventurers and Questers of the Realms, we are still looking for heroes and those otherwise adept in our craft to bolster our numbers for our impending battle in Gi beginning this weekend. We understand that many of you have not felt that you can contribute to the cause, but please know this is not the case! We are assembling a specific Heroic Complement to accompany our armies. This Complement will be fighting a reasonable amount per day, and evacuation measures are already in place for your safe retreat should the battles become too dangerous. Please reach out to me by the end of the day Friday for further details.

~ Tirvanel

OOC:

The event this upcoming weekend is partially run as a tabletop war game. Some battles will happen “off-screen”. The marshals have kindly allowed us to create a mechanism where PCs not present at the event may add themselves to a unit called the “Heroic Complement”. The movements of this Heroic Complement will be determined by people playing the tabletop war game. The powers and benefits of the Heroic Complement will depend on who volunteers for said unit. Volunteering for this unit does not confer risk to your character. “If their army would be destroyed, they will retreat to the [base]. If they are at the [base] and would be killed there, they will retreat to the Realms.”

Your character is eligible if you are:

• Unable to attend the event for any reason.o
• Do not want to attend the event for any reason.
• Are planning to attend the event as an NPC or otherwise staffing/helping OOC.

Once again, please reach out to me by the end of the day Friday for further information if you are interested. You can find me on discord or Facebook. Every bit helps.

~ David

Why I Want to Go - Rise of the Gi-sistance [Part 2]

Written by: Sean "Eamon" Finn

Fellow Adventurers,

        It has been some time since I last interacted with the Risen Kingdom, the last time being in 1018 (2018) When we wrested control of the portal between Gi and the Realms from the Risen Kingdom.

Since then much has happened in the Dreaming with Dreamliners (Dreaming ships?) and between the Realms and Gi that others who were present could better inform you of.

However, what has been brought to my attention is the call for aid from a resistance movement within the realm of Gi. For anyone unaware, Gi is the main base of power it seems for the Risen Kingdom. On Gi they have a large number of portals, some connecting to other realms like our own, some interconnecting different areas of Gi, and one of import to our mission in Gi, one to a Realm called Morodyne, the source of the Risen Kingdom’s power.

The Risen Kingdom had been using the portals throughout Gi to access other realms, conquer them, and then mine them for their resources and process Void Corruption and power. They then channeled that power and resources through Gi to their Capital, which houses the portal to Morodyne as well as the seat of power for the “Fallen King”, ruler of the Risen Kingdom.

This weekend, at the behest of the Resistance of Gi (The Gi-sistance) and the request of Sir Orion of Chimeron, we gather our forces to push through the portal into Gi and assist the Resistance with deposing the “Fallen King” and ridding Gi of the Corruption polluting it.

This will be a large-scale operation requiring the full force of everything the realms can bring to bear to fight the remaining armies of the Risen Kingdom in Gi. Ultimately, our main strategic goals are the capture of a number of portals in Gi, including finally the portal to Morodyne in the Capital.

Once we have secured the required portals the Resistance is supposed to start a process that is being called “TVC”. Now I know that sounds ominous, however, we have been informed that it should be relatively safe for us in Gi itself. As for what will officially happen as a result of this we have our estimates, but I will keep it vague so as not to give away the final “surprise” in case any Risen Kingdom spies are reading this.

In preparation for this operation many adventurers and even entire nations have come together. Many of us are bringing our own technical and tactical experience to the forefront. Some by performing numerous scouting missions into Gi. Some by preparing supplies and performing rituals to grant additional abilities to those venturing to Gi. While others have mustered the forces of their nations to bring entire armies of troops to the fight.

Hopefully all of this preparation will be enough as we will have several (in character) days in Gi to accomplish our goal. This will require many of us to take the field in battle, much like what we practice for in our War Maneuver tournaments yearly. While others will be needed to maintain our forces' morale and supplies. In addition we will need a dedicated command staff to help our forces navigate the lands of Gi and accomplish our goals before it is too late.

I look forward to seeing all who are willing to join the fight this coming weekend. We will take the fight to the Risen Kingdom, ending their threat once and for all and in the end. And with that end, we help free the Gidans to rebuild and live their lives without the crushing weight of the Risen Kingdom and their corruption.

With Hope and Determination,

Sir Eamon Azzamean

Knight of Blackwood

Knight of the Steward

Why I Want to Go - Rise of the Gi-sistance

Field Report
Allied Gidan Command
23 July 1024, B.M.R.

Sir Warlord,

Final preparations are underway at the portal war camp. Despite the bands of troops stationed down here, the caverns are remarkably quiet—there is tension in the air, the kind of tension one applies to the string of a bow to ensure that your first shot lands true.

I admire the way our friends and allies have answered the call to arms. You know as well as I do that this war is an unusual one, being that we are the aggressors entering a foreign land. The threat to our lands posed by the Risen Kingdom was brought to an end when we captured this portal in 1018. We could have stopped fighting when we drove the wretched enemy from our sovereign kingdom and rightfully celebrated our victory. Gi could have become a dusty memory, a curious name remembered only in the stories we pass down to new adventurers.

That might have been good enough, but then we realized that we weren’t just fighting for ourselves.

I already knew that Gi had some humanity, given that I had put in a great deal of effort towards rehoming and rehabilitating the enemy’s soldiers who were left stranded in our world when we captured their portal. They were, as many soldiers are, regular people with regular lives who became wrapped up in the ambitions of their commanders. (And sir, I assure you that the dual-edged nature of that particular statement is not at all lost on me in this moment.) But for better or for worse, their lives in Gi had been supported by crumbs of the Risen Kingdom’s wealth.

River was the first Gidan I ever met outside of a battlefield. A civilian, living her life on her own terms. We saved her from a pack of giant cats, and out of gratitude she offered to introduce us to her village.

I remember thinking to myself, astonished: “There are enough people here to form a village?”

In my report to you, I counted three buildings and five citizens in this village. A trivial place in any other setting, but in Gi they were five more people than I ever expected to meet without my sword drawn. That’s not to say that we weren’t on guard during this first meeting. I also remember discussing the high likelihood of ambush, and how our expedition was likely being set up by agents of the enemy. And yet despite the reputation of adventurers, we spilled no blood that night. These people offered us their meager hospitality and they MEANT it.

I also reported to you a conversation I had with their mayor. The description was brief: she told me about her brother, who had been called into service by the Risen Kingdom and marched through the portal to do battle in an unknown land. I chose to reveal my role in that conflict to her, and rather than hating me for it she asked me to look for her kin. What I have not reported to you, sir, is how that conversation still haunts me to this day. There are people—real people!—who despite every curse inflicted upon this plane by the Fallen King still insist on calling Gi their home. No, not just calling it home. Making it their home.

When describing Gi to other adventurers who have never been there, I often describe it as a wasteland devoid of most life, where even the dust has been mined out by the Risen Kingdom. And although this is true in a broad sense, I have to admit that I have been doing a disservice to the Gidans. There is quite a lot of life in Gi, and you can find traces of it everywhere.

We are no longer fighting for ourselves. We are fighting for the Gidans.

Brother sir, I hope to write to you again soon to describe the means of our victory in Gi. If I do not, please understand that I did the best I could.

By my own hand and seal,
And in the name of Gidan Freedom,

Sir Orion

What You Missed: Here Today, Gi Tomorrow: Expedition Omega

After Action Report Expedition Omega Events of 18 November 1023 B.M.R.

The morning was cool and dry when I left the city to board Revenge. A perfect day for sticking it to the Risen Kingdom.

Quite a lot of work had gone into preparing for this Expedition. Research from the Subtle Thread and individual adventurers poured in as soon as I set foot on the recently expanded Dreamliner. Magus Prime James Swift was already preparing what he called a “mass silvering” ritual, so that our party would be well-equipped to defeat Void-infused creatures. And perhaps most importantly, Cap’n Cimone needed to load all of her provisions into the galley. That’s right, Revenge has a galley now. I’m always impressed by the modifications that the artificers make to this vessel.

The most crucial upgrade to the Dreamliner for this mission was the ability to navigate into lesser-Known parts of the Dreaming, allowing us to access far more enemy-occupied demiplanes than ever before. Ever since we pushed them out of our Realms, the Risen Kingdom has established resource harvesting operations in numerous other planes to sustain their ravenous regime. We have previously attacked four of these outposts (three during Expedition Alfa last year and a fourth this past October), but this accounts for only a third of the total number of successful attacks we need to make against the enemy’s infrastructure in order to trigger Total Void Cascade. And with signs that the Risen Kingdom was imminently reinforcing their harvest portals, we needed to move against them with urgency.

Unfortunately, the complex systems of a vehicle which travels physically through the Dreaming are rather laborious to start up. But as always, the individuals who controlled these systems soon fell into an efficient rhythm. I passed the captain’s chair to the Baron Diamond soon after getting underway (though come to think of it, I doubt he ever stopped moving long enough to sit in it) as he had a natural intuition for piloting the Dreamliner and the Reforged Iron blades on my belt were keen to lay into the enemy.

The briefing for Expedition Omega was straightforward: navigate Revenge to a demiplane and send in a strike force to attack the Void portal in that world while the vessel moved on to the next one. Once our forces reached the portal, they were to flip its attunement and recall back to the Dreamliner. And we needed to do this at least eight times during the six-hour mission. 

Following a recommendation from Sir Saka, we organized into two “away teams” so that we would be able to attack multiple portals simultaneously. This strategy yielded mixed results, as our divided efforts were defeated on several demiplanes. With time working against us, the decision was made to throw our full strength at one target at a time, with the hope that the increased likelihood of success would outweigh the cost of moving more slowly.

Attacking each demiplane in force did in fact significantly increase our success rate. And incredibly, we were achieving these successes faster than we had before. Both Dreamliner crew and the away team became orchestras of war, each moving more and more efficiently with every beat. Our final attacks were so rapid that we would recall to the Revenge after flipping a portal and immediately teleport out to attack another one. The Risen Kingdom must think that we attacked them with a force threefold larger than we actually were.

I am deeply grateful to every single person who came on this Expedition. The many hands, minds, swords, and spells that we brought to bear against the enemy made our mission a clear victory! Of the ten portals we flipped in this attack, nine still remain active. This suggests to me that the Risen Kingdom is still unaware of the full extent of the damage we have inflicted upon them. The tenth portal—according to reports—no longer exists, and neither does the world it had been built in. Even before we set out on Expedition Omega, we had heard rumors of a deadly new superweapon in the hands of the enemy; I fear that the lost world might be confirmation of its existence.

In the light of these successes and in the face of the dangers ahead of us, I bid you—remember these words from the old Gidan Resistance:

We shall not yield

We shall not fear

In service to all who oppose the Risen Kingdom,

Commander Sir Orion

Why I Want to Go to Here Today, Gi Tomorrow: Expedition Omega & Helpful Knowledge for Fighting the Risen Kingdom

By Hannah Boucher and Ryu Goldscale

Why I Want to Go:

OOC:

This is the Penultimate event in the 10 year long Risen Kingdom plot by the Chimeronian Subnation Rua Thar Cinn (RTC). I have only been interacting with this plot for a year or two, but I have had a blast! These events are challenging, but in a very fun and satisfying way. Now that this questing series is coming to an end, I’m excited to see where the story will go. I am personally very invested in seeing the Risen Kingdom fall. I would like to invite everyone, and I do mean everyone, to join us for this event. It will likely be the most challenging one yet due to its strict time limit and everyone who can come will contribute greatly to our chances of success. 

NOTE: Please be on site BY 10:00AM! The event staff has informed us that there is a very strict very hard start at 11:00AM. Any on site prep, including ritual casting and pre-cast spells, should be completed before 11:00AM.

IC:

We have spent the last year preparing for this confrontation and I believe we have a very good chance of winning. Our end goal is to flip 8 portals in 6 hours. It of course won’t be easy, but we are opting for speed over stealth. I have compiled some information to help people get up to speed ahead of time, but please feel free to ask me further questions. I appreciate each and every one of you who has helped us get this far. Lets go kick some Risen Kingdom ass!

Helpful Knowledge for Fighting the Risen Kingdom:

Hi! Do you like fighting? Good! I’ve got a great event for you! 

First things first, heres the TL;DR:

Risen Kingdom (RK) is a bunch of bad guys who are currently occupying a plane called Gi (hard g). They invade other planes and drain them of resources… all of their resources. They tried to do this to the Realms and even built a cold iron road through Faerie but we managed to repel them for a time. We are now working with a research group called the Subtle Thread to make a final push against the RK and destroy them once and for all. 

What’s going on at this event?

We are attempting to weaken the RK by reversing their planar portals. The RK uses these portals to pull resources from various planes into their home base on Gi. Reversing a portal is extremely easy and Sir Orion has been hard at work preparing the proper tools. All that is needed is to touch the tool to the portal itself and it gets reversed. If we reverse enough individual portals, we will induce what is known as a Total Void Cascade and reverse every single portal the RK has and completely drain them of their resources. A research organization known as the Subtle Thread has informed us we must reverse at least 8 individual portals to trigger this. More is better. Unfortunately we have only 6 hours to accomplish this. The RK does not know this is possible, and it will take them approximately that long to find out what we are doing and stop it. 

What enemies will we face?

Write up provided by Griffin Hurana

Void Corrupted Beings - Have void growths on various hit locations, means it has Void Armor

• Void armor is a layer of floating armor that goes over a creature's normal stats. Some creatures may have additional powers while they have void armor.
• The amount of Void armor that a creature has is equal to three times the number of Void corruption blobs that are stuck to it. (one blob, 3pts; 2 blobs, 6pts; etc.) While the creature still has void armor, they can only be damaged on hit locations that have a Void blob attached.
• Void armor counts down instead of up. (Void 3, Void 2, Void 1, Void broken, resume regular armor calls if applicable)
• To remove a void blob, you must saw at it for 10 seconds with silver (or Reforged Iron) to cut it off. As long as a creature still has void blobs attached, it has a forced 60 second regeneration.
• If you have Reforged Iron, swinging it at a creature with Void armor immediately breaks all Void armor when you strike it anywhere, not just on a Void blob location.

How to kill void growth things in 4 easy steps:

1. Get rid of the void armor - Hit the thing in same locations that the void growths are. You don’t need any special weapons to get rid of void amor, just careful aim.
2. Kill the thing underneath - once the void amor is gone, you have to kill whatever the void armor was on top of, be it Undead, Elemental, or whatever else.
3. Cut off the void growths with Silver or Reforged Iron - As long as a being has void growths it has a forced 60 second regen. You need to saw at the growths for 10 seconds with Silver or Reforged Iron weapons to cut the growth off. It is recommended to cut off growths that are harder to reach first. Only one person can saw off a specific growth, but multiple people can be sawing off growths at the same time.
4. Do it again - repeat steps 1-3 until the thing has no more void growths.

That’s really all we know of. Be prepared for new enemies to appear and be different. Sorry I wish I could give you more.

FAQ:

What is Reforged Iron? 

This is a material made from the remnants of the Iron Road the RK built through Fae. It has been worked so that it is no longer harmful to Fae and extremely harmful to RK. All current members of the Cerulean Company have Reforged Iron so seek us out if that material is needed. We will be able to loan out a few extras as well.

What is Void Magic?

Void Magic is a type of magic that uses the Void to alter reality. It is extremely powerful and extremely dangerous. Please do not seek out or use void magic unless you are a qualified individual.

How do I reverse a portal?
Poke it with one of the specially prepared sticks that Sir Orion has made. 

Do I need to go through a portal to reverse it?

No. DO NOT GO THROUGH ANY OF THE PORTALS!

What the heck is a Dreamliner?
The Dreamliner Revenge is an advanced ship that can safely carry people Bodily through the Dreaming. It was captured from the RK by Sir Orion and now serves as our method of transportation to other planes.

Can I bring my horse on the Dreamliner? (You know who you are)

No. 

Who should I contact for further information?

Sir Orion has been at the forefront of the war against the RK and has the most up to date information about them. You can also reach out to me (Ryu) with questions or any of the other members of Cerulean Company (Bogen, Griffin, and Alias). 

The Part with Flashbacks in It - Part 3 of the Risen Kingdom History

by Jean C'est Magnifique Try Baptise

Are you ready for drunk history! I bet my editor is not!

So I don't know how Trystwater got arrested, I wasn't there. So let's just write it off as getting caught with tax evasion. That’s not my business.

What is my business is the Subtle Thread. They are a group of Arcaneologists, they work on understanding magic, with an organization as byzantium as their field of study.

You know… I am actually a member! But I haven’t gotten very high in their ranks. It’s because possessing magic affects how you can observe magic, and I have as many curses and afflictions as I have diseases… It’s a high number. Cannibalism isn't actually a healthy lifestyle, I learned that the hard way. 

But one thing they learned… is flashbacks, and I am drunk… and you know what.

I have to be for this.

None of these stories are happy tales.

Of course they aren't, you saw how the last one ended…. The death of a universe…

But how do those start?

Well, it turns out, through the power of the delta of possibility, you can learn these things, it's a simple matter of navigation.

And navigate we did! And it was my idea to! To find out where the Risen Kingdom started… and it turns out… they weren’t lying.

The Risen Kingdom was in fact a nation of merchants, from a nation called Gi! Innocent manipulators of elemental magic, barely dabbling in void magic, working very hard to avoid corruption. Hardly a threat to anyone, even if they tried, and they certainly weren't…

But then they weren't to another nation… and I do not know its name, let's call it VoidA. Now, VoidA was a lot like our nation, and like our nation, it had gods. One god in particular. The Dark one (or so they called him then) a master of void manipulation and evil.

But not OUR dark one, no he has a name now, the Fallen King. 

The nations of VoidA worked really hard and barely broke through the ranks and killed the god! Hooray!!! Yippie skippy!

And in so many other timelines, thats where the story ends, with happy ending.

But, we don't live in that world do we?

No, because Gi showed up, with void manipulation magic, and wouldn't that be just the perfect way for Fallen Kingdoms strongest soldiers, the void controlling Void Spinners, to create the very elementals their god corrupts to their service?

The world is like music sometimes, Notes perfectly arranged in the right sequences, sounds arranging until… crescendo.

And then… silence.

Sometimes the song is happy. Sometimes it's a dirge.

Gi would never sell their greatest secrets to those who mean their dear friends and business partners ill… but Void Spinners have their ways, and sometimes, choice is a afterthought. Gi died with honor…

But it died.

And no one remembers it.

And VoidA fell, and the King’s scattered spinners got the means to their end.

They had their armies, they had their powers… but… but they did not have their god.

And then, we went through another flashback.

Before…. Before we talk about this, I am in a sentimental mood, cider does that to you, and i need to ask. Do you have a kid, metaphorically? Literally? Does it matter? Maybe, maybe not. But I want you to stop reading, I want you to look at your child, give a good hard look at them, and think, what would you do, to protect your child.

You need to wonder this, because you cant REALLY understand what happens next until you know exactly what was lost….

Maybe i gave too much away. Maybe not.

Heres how the second story goes, it's not a happy tale, but it's not a rare tale. 

You see VoidA was not simply a band of random knights and dead nations, it had a group. The Void Guardians, the void guardians manipulate void but with discipline and passionless logic, they used the calm carefulness of Gi to help manipulate the void, not to make but to heal and strengthen…

They were the Spinners, those passionate murderers, greatest enemy. And their greatest had a child, a baby, and that baby held great potential. And that vessel was just as much a mechanism for evil as it was for good. If used in the wrong hands. 

I know my lords story, my father’s story.

Sometime’s, sometimes evil just wins.

The parents tried hard, they loved their child, they would give up anything to keep them safe.

It was not enough. Not really.

And when that child was in a circle, surrounded by intoning void cultists, calling upon their dead god to inhabit the vessel of someone who has a full life not yet lived…

Well, I left. I didn’t need to see how it ends. I know my Lord’s work. I KNOW how it ends.

And end it did. 

And rise the Fallen King did.

Thats why it's called the risen kingdom. It’s a joke you see, a spit in the eye of dead men.

And that’s the thing, that child, a kid who would have been named Jack, is still out there, trapped in the dreaming, playing games and never growing, never knowing.

But, understanding, and warning…

For that universe we saw fall, the food of Garuk, that warning Jack gave us? 

That was VoidA.

It’s not there anymore, not ruins, not dust… not anything.

Not even a gravestone marks the people who mocked the Fallen King, he is NOT a man who can let a loss go. 

And thus VoidA did not become the home of the Fallen King, the void spinners moved to the universe that gave them that opportunity, the people whose circle magic can make their armies….

They live in Gi, a wasteland of void corruption.

And with Tristwater gone, Gi’s offensive was neutralized… all that left was a counter attack.

All that was left… was chapter 4

This article is sponsored by… I CAN NOT EVEN!

A award winning series of articles written by the award winning steward of New Verai… ZARINE!

Are you a bad person! Of course you are! But is it because of those orphans you killed? The muddy shoes you tracked into the feast hall or maybe YOU just made cranberry sauce in a can that one time and never got over it?

The only way of knowing is… no not self reflection are you stupid? Its by listening to Zarine!!!

You are feeble! You are stupid! But with her help you can be… BELOW AVERAGE! 

Send her fan mail! Send her money! Send her letters begging for forgiveness… get NOTHING IN RETURN! Worms don't get responses!

But you get something better! You get a parasocial relationship with an advice columnist! And isn't that the real treasure?

I think so.