1227 AD: A Bouda Comes to Dinner

 1227 Adventure Oracle

Cabal Legacy—10% (83, no adventure)

Seeker—10% (35, no adventure)

Regional Produce—10% (2, adventure!)

Multiple Sites—10% (62, no adventure)

Road—10% (32, no adventure)

Tribunal Border—30% (66, no adventure) 

Unsafe—10% (9, adventure!) 

Regio—30% (60, no adventure)

Another year where it’ll be hard to study, given that Tribunal is happening a year early thanks to the Grand Tribunal in 1228 (which I may have Jabril attend, I'm not sure). He's a year away from turning 35 and dealing with his first Aging roll, so it's imperative that I get CrCo up or save up build points and base incomes to pay for a solid longevity ritual. Still, I'm excited to finally get an Unsafe adventure, and I'm interested to see what Regional Produce will--haha--produce, given that last year was our first "off" year for the jameed/pearls combo. 

Regional Produce rolls

Difficulty--9, very hard! Ease Factor 18, which is...intimidating, to say the least. I predict a lot of confidence will be spent at the very least. 

Origin--23, faerie. Very interesting. At this EF, it's recommended to be a faerie lord. That being said, the 4e Levant book specifically discusses how rare faerie auras and fae in general are in the Levant, but perhaps some reading in the 5e Nile, Africa, and Cradle books will yield some inspiration.

Timing--4, Summer. 

Complexity--5, Complex. 2 challenges. 

Type--2, Social, and 94, my choice. To the surprise of no one, I'm choosing Magic for our second challenge. I mean, I'm playing a wizard, after all.

Despite my fear of the ominous 18, I'm opting in. 

Omens--2, not that bad. A fairy-tale ending, if you will. 

Unsafe rolls

Difficulty--4, average, EF 12. I guess it's not that unsafe, now, is it?

Origin--5, nobility. At this EF, it's recommended to be a landed noble or influential knight, which I replaced with an important qadi before. I might try and figure out what the equivalent rank would be among the Berber. 

Timing--1, Spring.

Complexity--2, simple. One challenge. 

Type--93, character choice. I actually think I want to stretch Jabril's Social muscles again. 

I'm opting in, although this feels very sidequest-ish. 

Omens--2 again! 2 adventures with 2 botch die. 

Spring 1227

Dinner at Aghurmi

In the early spring, strange news and rumors floated to Jabril’s fortress in Aghurmi. The zaggaleh spoke of a stinking, hairy giant of a man, who came up the Garamantian Road from the south, demanding to know the maker of Siwa’s fine jameed. He claimed to be a wizard and a blacksmith, and proved this—or so the gossips said—by crumbling a solid chunk of iron ore in his great fist, only to open it and reveal a sleek dagger in its place. Jabril knew of no covenant to the south of him, and the Suleimanites’ influence was spotty at best in the great desert, so this unknown mage sparked a great curiosity in him. Summoning Ahmad and his temple turb, he commanded them to seek the stranger and invite him to Aghurmi to meet the man he sought, and enjoy his hospitality.

Some hours later, the turb returned, and produced the rumored stranger, bringing him to the largest of the outbuildings within the walls, where Jabril preferred to receive his visitors. Tall he was indeed, towering over the tallest of them even with a twisted, hunched body, and covered in thick, coarse black body hair with a beard and tangled mane to match. Jabril could not help but wrinkle his nose as the man stepped forward and offered an awkward bow, as the movement seemed to shake loose an acrid, sour stench from his body like that of a camel. But for all that he seemed a mad hermit—the impression only intensified by his odd, stuttering, high-pitched voice—Jabril noticed that his eyes, yellow and slit-pupilled like a beast, gleamed with an alien intelligence. This was no man: which was all the more reason to be polite.

The stranger introduced himself as Izemrasen, speaking Arabic with a thick Amazigh accent. He had come—or so he said—from the Tuareg outpost in Ghat, far to the west, where once the Garamantians had established a mighty fortress. A lamentable tale was his, for since his early days, he had possessed a ferocious hunger that, in times of paucity, almost seemed to take him over like some foul demon. Despite a prodigious talent for the shaping and summoning of earth and metal by sheer will, he could create nothing edible, and even trading his crafts, could only afford enough to keep the worst of it at bay. That was, until the first jameed arrived marked with the sign of the ouroboros. He waxed on poetically about the delicious little balls and how only a few were enough to satisfy him for a day. Such was the intensity of his passion that as he spoke, Izemrasen’s bestial eyes filled with tears, and his great gnarled body seemed to tremble with emotion. But last year, alas, the supply had faltered, and his great hunger had returned. So he feared that without finding the yogurt’s maker, the worst of it would overtake him and he would again be driven to madness and horrendous violence. 

As he listened to this strange tale of woe, Jabril had been carefully plumbing the recesses of his memory for anything in his training, Hermetic or Mercurian, that could explain what precisely this creature was and how to proceed with it. He recalled Heliobus mentioning, during his first journey to the Pyramids as a gauntleted magus, that he should be careful crossing the desert alone thanks to the bouda that often haunted it. Werehyenas, some might call them, fae creatures that took the form of great ravenous hyenas, but could shapeshift to twisted human forms and often claimed to be blacksmiths or wizards. Jabril knew little enough about the fae, but enough that this tale sounded to him awfully like a faerie tale: and it was better to give the creature what he wanted rather than push against the narrative. Realizing there was a form of supplication in the creature’s plaintive tale, he decided to take the role of the wise and powerful desert sorcerer, and cast Woolen Steed of Araby on his hyena pelt to float dramatically a few feet above the ground, legs and arms crossed in a display of disciplined power. 

To his amused satisfaction, Izemrasen almost immediately took to his knees, begging the “mighty wizard” to help him. Jabril stroked his short beard, then, with a dramatic flourish, declared that he was welcome for dinner, and perhaps, if there was truth to his skills, the wizard would deign to teach him to make jameed. 

What followed was a test both of Jabril’s composure and his patience. His servants brought dried jameed balls, mansaf, kishkieh, rashoof, and mukhshi baitenjan, bowl after bowl after bowl of food. For hours Izemrasen ate and ate, spraying mouthfuls of crumbs across the table and moaning constantly with pleasure at the taste of the food. Jabril felt his gorge rising, but kept a a refined and imperious expression plastered on his face regardless. He understood that his role here was to seem untouchable and dignified, the very model of a magical aristocrat. 

It seemed like days, but after a few hours, the great eater collapsed in exhaustion, falling into a deep slumber that lasted three days. Jabril waited patiently, tending to his covenant while he did so. At last, when the bouda awoke, they began to work on teaching him how to make jameed. 

First challenge:  Per+Folk Ken (rolled 1, reroll 7 for a total of 16+0+4-3=17, spending 1 confidence to succeed), Int+Neo-Mercurian Magic (rolled 9+2+1-3=9, cast Woolen Steed of Araby to add mag 3 and spent 2 confidence to barely succeed), Sta+Etiquette (rolled 1, reroll 6 for a total of 14+2+1-3=14, spent 2 confidence to succeed). Amazingly, three successes on our least good type of challenge. Thank god for 1s.

The Impossible Student

Now Jabril felt somewhat comfortable dropping the act just a touch and returning to his normal self, as it was the magic the creature was after now. He had thought a great deal on how to approach this training while waiting, and thought it would be best to first gauge his student’s capabilities. And so he commanded Izemrasen to demonstrate his abilities, providing him stone to shape. 

First, the bouda created a small sculpture, detailed and fine in its make. But upon picking it up, it shattered in Jabril’s hand, filling his palm with painful stone shards that pierced his Parma. Realizing that this perhaps was not the way, Jabril then tried to explain how he created jameed in a way Izemrasen could understand, carefully going over the principles in language as simplified as he could manage. Day by day he sat down patiently explaining the principles, and day by day grew more and more frustrated as his student could not understand. 

Finally, he hit upon an idea. Despite knowing the bouda did not understand, the next day, he pretended that he did, despite his clumsy answers and awkward phrasing. Placing a bucket of milk before his student, he commanded him to shape it into jameed. As Izemrasen attempted it, Jabril subtly shaped the milk precisely into a ball of jameed, and did so again and again as the bouda excitedly tried again. Izemrasen enthusiastically thanked him, pouring strange coins into his hands as a reward. Jabril continued playing his part with an amused smugness as the bouda left, chattering about how he would never be hungry again. He was convinced that he had fleeced the fae, but wisely made sure to tell his merchants to make sure to send a great deal of their jameed to Ghat. 

Of course, like many faerie tales, Jabril later found that it was the creature that had tricked him, stealing valuable books from his library and making off like a bandit. So it goes. 

Second challenge: Pre+Parma Magica (specialty, rolled 0, botch threatened! Botch die 2, 0, botch!) Com+Magic Theory (rolled 4+1+4=9, failure), Dex+Finesse (specialty, rolled 8+0+5=13 for a success, spontaneously cast ReAn for flavor and to add mag 1 and spent 2 confidence to succeed). 1 success, 1 failure, 1 botch.

Result: A partial success with one fully successful challenge, one botch, and only one success on our last, which means a painful 2 losses, although we still gain 2 rewards and +2xp for succeeding on the first. We gain 11 exp from the difficulty and number of challenges (meaning overall 16 exp, our biggest haul yet) and 11 confidence points. 4 xp goes to Neo-Mercurian Magic, bringing it to 2, 5 goes to Parma, 5 goes to Magic Theory, and 2 goes to Etiquette. Rolling on the Loss table gives us a 10, my choice, and a 4, meaning loss of BP (in this case a punishing 9 BP). 

I don't really want to take 4 Warping Points or a massive wound (at this EF, it might kill Jabril outright), so we're taking an overall loss of 18 BP. After the bouda leaves his oasis at last, Jabril finds to his displeasure that his Muto and Leadership tractati, On The Works of Mutant and Command, have been stolen by the creature, and resolves to better protect his library in future (this is slightly over the amount of BP we should lose, with a total of 19, but I think it fits). He trades the faerie vis encased in the bouda’s coins with Venti Rosa for two new tractati, both level 9, one on Infernal Lore and one on Muto (spending both rewards of 9 BP). He also trades his Animal tractatus for a Corpus one. Overall, the adventure took 22 days.

Summer 1227

A Reason for the Ransom

As summer came, Jabril hoped for a break in the constant happenings, but life moves on regardless of our desires. In early June, a young member of the zaggaleh came from Siwa with dire news: one of the elders of the town, Gwafa, had been taken by the Zenata on a visit to the date plantations. The local band that camped near Abu Sharef was now demanding an exorbitant ransom for the old man, who was as close as the village had to nobility. Bound by his agreement to aid the villagers, Jabril reluctantly left later that day for Abu Sharef. 

As he approached the Berber camp a day later, he found himself accosted by a band of their warriors. And yet, for once, he found himself tired of combat. Today, he had no wish to kill again, and so instead he searched his memory for the proper greeting rituals from years spent around the Amazigh of Siwa. With a cold, but polite affect, he performed the appropriate greeting, and complimented the skill of the guards before him, quietly activating his bracelet as he did so. Though they made no indication as to whether or not he had done correctly, they did lower their weapons and led him to the largest tent in their encampment, where he met the leader of their band, a tall, imposing older men still ferociously armed to the teeth. 

Introducing himself as Aznag, the old man was aloof, but hospitable enough, offering Jabril food and drink while they spoke. Examining his behavior closely, Jabril realized that this was less a matter of money and more a matter of respect. Siwa had always refused to pay tribute to the nomadic tribes, and Jabril himself had treated them more as a nuisance rather than a group worthy of respect. Perhaps there was a way out of this that did not require money or death. 

And so Jabril began to spin the old man a tale: of how the people of Siwa whispered the names of the Zenata in terror, and spread stories of their power and violence. Jabril himself had survived only by virtue of luck and magic against them. Unfortunately, the town had little enough gold, and Jabril himself was in hard straits, having been nearly eaten out of house and home by a bouda (at this, the old man nodded sympathetically). If, perhaps, Siwa paid them a token sum now, and promised more in the future, Jabril delicately asked, would they release the elder? 

Aznag hemmed and hawed, blistering this way and that about proper payments and respect, but Jabril knew he had convinced him. With an hour, after a discussion of precisely how much, Jabril left with the elder in tow, relieved to have finished this short adventure.

Challenge: Int+Etiquette (rolled 3+2+1-3=3, used Bracelet of Trust to ignore Gift and add mag 3 to succeed), Per+Folk Ken (rolled 3+0+4-3=4, spent 2 confidence to succeed), Com+Guile (specialty, rolled 6+1+3-3=7, spent 1 confidence for success). Three successes. 

Result: complete success! Jabril gains a reward +2xp, plus 5 for the difficulty and challenge rating (becoming 10 overall) and 5 confidence. 5 goes to Guile and 5 to Etiquette, putting us respectively 1 and 3 points away from an increase. Given that our reward is small, with the low EF, I’m banking it for now. 

Autumn 1227

Jabril took the precious little study time he had before winter Tribunal to study Corpus at the Hill, spending 2 pawns of Corpus vis. 

Study xp: Rolled 4+3+2=9, bringing Corpus to 7. 2 exposure exp to Magic Theory. 

Winter 1227  

This season, Jabril once again traveled to Domus Pacis for Tribunal, and spent much of the time there trying to solidify the pro-peace alliance that had so far kept the Levant from going to war with the Suleimanites. Two things of note occurred: a new Gifted Mercere, Robert, joined Venti Rosa, and a new covenant, Ikhmindi, on the Upper Nile in Nobatia, was formalized, being peculiarly made up of Ex Miscellanea and Jerbiton Aithiopes, natives of regions south and west of Nubia. Jabril was pleased to see another native covenant establishing itself on the Nile, but had little time to meet the unusual magi before leaving Tribunal to meet with Heliobus for his next initiation. (A quick note: I am using the Mythic Aithiopians from the Nile book because I find them quite interesting, and I wanted another background covenant in the Nile region)

This time, Heliobus chose to initiate him into the secrets of Performance Magic. Uniquely among mystery cults, the Neo-Mercurians had perfected the ability to weave spells seamlessly into the rites and rituals of the cult, rather than having to use some awkward mundane method like music to access Performance Magic. Unlike his previous initiation, this one required less of a mystic ritual and more of a material sacrifice. Together, Heliobus and Jabril made their way to Cyprus, where they met the wandering flotilla-covenant of Favonius. There, Verecunda of Verditius, one of the cult’s Theban members, agreed to aid in the initiation. 

Initiation Script for Performance Magic (Neo-Mercurian Magic): First, Jabril gave up one of his enchanted devices (in this case his armor) to Verecunda, who stripped it of its magic and used unique Verditius abilities to draw out the vis once used in it (+3 for sacrifice of something of great value). Secondly, Jabril paid a price five times that which Verecunda would normally ask to use said vis to craft him a set of robes and vestments visibly marking him as a member of the Neo-Mercurians (+1 for sacrifice of material wealth, spending 300 Mythic Pounds). He spent an additional 9 pawns of Aquam to pay Verecunda to enchant the robes with a similar effect to his now-destroyed armor, although this was not part of the initiation. Then, for the rest of the season, Heliobus taught Jabril more of the rites and rituals of the cult, during which the ability to use Performance Magic was taught to him so subtly he did not even realize it until it was complete (+3 for sacrifice of Mystagogue’s time). The script has a sympathetic bonus of +2, as it blends magic and commerce seamlessly, creating an overall bonus of +9, which with Heliobus’s improved Pre+Cult Lore of 6 is enough to reach the target value of 15. 

Jabril traveled home at the end of the season with yet another step into the Neo-Mercurians, and a fresh new understanding of their secrets. 

Teaching xp: 1+3+3=7 xp to Neo-Mercurian Magic, getting us closer to 3.