Session 9
17 August 1999, 6:30pm
Attended by: Steve, Ken, Jason, Merwin, Scott, Chris
StoryGuide: Ken
Logged by: Jason
RULES NOTE: We will be using Ken's Aura rules (forthcoming; watch the House Rules page for details).
Game
[Note of clarification: The first day of the game was March 18, so the current day is the 21st. It is the equinox--the start of the Spring season.] Six days of subjective time (sleep cycles) later...
Parma seems to stay up, and the interpreters' gel does not lose its efficacy. The healers' gel, on the other hand, gradually dries out and crumbles away as Iseus and Purros recuperate.
During this time Kurpat investigates ant religion. They worship Iota Sigma, an ant who died upon the web. He taught the people the secret of recycling, but was captured by the spider who crucified (not cross--web; "araneified"?) him. Iota Sigma then recycled himself and returned to his disciples.
Upon his death, Iota Sigma’s mother took him down from the web and helped him recycle. So the queen of the ants is revered, and the king is revered as Iota’s voice on earth. Ants believe that certain ants come back, and they rise into the same positions, etc.
The ants in their worshipping burrow have carved in stone an ant with his six legs splayed across a web. (This symbol recurs throughout the ant realm--a circle bisected four times by lines running as if between the opposite pairs of corners of an invisible octagon that is standing on point. In some instances, as here, the web is occupied by a representation of Iota Sigma (cf. a Catholic crucifix); elsewhere the symbol is more abstract--merely the web itself (cf. a Protestant cross).)
Marcus explores, but doesn’t go too far from the anthill because the ants insist it is dangerous. He asks where the spider is. Response: We do not know, but it comes out when it is only too late.
Claudius explores the ant caves. He discovers that sun does not move, but the clouds in the sky do. Claudius attempts to count the ants. He never sees more than several hundred at once, but there are a lot more than hundreds. Probably a lot more than thousands. He does not find anything that looks like a farm. He is discouraged from going cerain places, and Claudius makes note of them. There are lots of them.
People wandering about the ant kingdom observe that military activity has increased, with more soldiers and supplies moving around. Ants are even more disciplined than the Imperial troops; their army is organized in the Roman manner--Marcus finds that there are 12 legions. The marching songs of the ant warriors are all in ¾ time. The soldiers have marked themselves with the sign of the web (sans Iota Sigma icon). Claudius inspects it; it is not a pigment, it is something like a tattoo or a carving/engraving/etching upon their outer shell.
Marcus asks an advisor of the king where Jetsam is. "It is one day’s march away. We don’t travel that far, but we might have to travel to the legendary sea because the water is dwindling. The sea is kind of west." (Which is mostly away from the building.) "We have not counted how large Jetsam is. They may be larger, but we are more valiant, and have faith in Iota Sigma."
On the sixth day, the group (sans Aurelia) is together. The magi plan and strategize for a time. Aurelia bursts in, with a web symbol on her arm and asks, "So. When are we going crusading?" The magi deliberate. Aurelia mentions to them that a tunnel exists beneath this realm and Jetsam; the tunnel was carved by a legion of ants led by someant-or-other "the Mad" (but not Herodotus the Mad, author of the Book of the Monolith), who disappeared down it and were never seen again; the tunnel was subsequently sealed off. Most of the magi find the idea of a clandestine mission down the tunnel preferable to accompanying the overland assault upon Jetsam soon to be launched by the Flotsam army--for one thing, it seems to resonate with the snippets of prophecy the magi have gleaned thus far--so Kurpat and Claudius go to the Court to ask leave to use it.
Kurpat successfully obtains four soldiers and "provisions." The tunnel will be left unsealed behind the magi for four days and four nights before being resealed, "lest what befall you befall us." The magi descend to the place where the tunnel is sealed by a sign of the web and some scribbles, and the dirt is very firmly packed. A minor court functionary gesticulates and consumes a little of the earth, altering the scratchings. All the ants make the gesture of the web. Then the worker ants who are standing by dig for a bit, and the corridor is opened. The tunnel is very wide.
The leader of the soldier ants, one Beta Omega, steps forward: "I have been ordered to follow your orders." Marching order is settled. The magi march for a long time, when they are suddenly brought up short by an earth-shaking noise. One of the ant warriors vanishes in an instant, dragged into the earth. Beta says, "It’s a dragon!"
The "dragon" soon turns out to be some species of worm, fast-burrowing and carnivorous. Aurelia zots it with lightning and fire; Kurpat slices into it with his scimitars; and Iseus zaps with his Pila of Fire. Sorely wounded, it burrows into the earth to retreat.
Somewhat shaken, the party proceeds down the corridor for a while. A second worm bursts unexpectedly into the tunnel, seizing an ant before the magi even notice it. Another battle ensues. Purros turns the tunnel to stone--walls, ceiling, and floor, for its entire length--and slows the worm down as others begin their attack. Finally, the worm is killed--but Beta Omega is lost, leaving only one ant warrior behind.
Finally the end of the corridor is reached; the magi discover its nether end to be sealed with hard-packed earth. Iseus and Kurpat, taking turns at casting spontaneous Perdo Terram magics, bore their way through, while Marcus casts an Intelligo Animal spell to determine the distance to the closest ant beyond the barrier (currently just over 60 paces).
Updated on 25 August 1999
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