1229 AD Part 3: The Autumn That Never Ended

Autumn 1229

Adventure of the Tomb

A Monkish Mystery

Before I begin recounting what happened to Jabril in autumn, I want to talk a bit about the Tomb of Alexander. As we know, according to his legend, Alexander sought the oracle of Zeus-Ammon at Siwa Oasis when first he conquered Egypt, and was proclaimed the rightful ruler by said. Thus, it is no surprise that his wish was to be entombed in that same temple—which is part of why Jabril settled here in the first place. However, Ptolemy I Soter, his general, took his body from his funerary cart as part of his struggle for legitimacy against the other generals, and had it interred at Memphis. Ptolemy Philadelphus, his son, had the body moved and reburied in Alexandria, on the advice of yet another oracle (Hellenes and their oracles, I swear). There it remained for over a thousand years, and was a site of quasi-pilgrimage well into the medieval era by scholars and Hellenophiles. The location of that mausoleum has been lost in the present day, but it’s not precisely clear when it was lost. For our purposes, the tomb still stands in Alexandria, but as in real life, there is folklore that claims his body was spirited away to a “true” tomb in some place or another, depending on the myth. 

After the Pact of the Pyramids, as the pro-Nile contingent informally called themselves, was formed, Jabril was glad to return to Siwa and rest. However, his rest did not last long. As autumn came, his interest was piqued by rumors of a trio of Coptic monks having visited Siwa village, claiming to have discovered the location of Alexander’s true tomb hidden within the oasis itself. Despite being a genuine, if somewhat transactional, worshipper of Mercury, Jabril was no Romaphile. While he respected the longevity of the Empire and its enduring legacy in Europe, there was something that felt cheap and barbaric about Roman culture pre-Christianization to him. In his admittedly limited reading on the subject, the average Roman seemed terribly bloody-minded and so often obsessed with war. 

Despite this, he acknowledged the poetry and arts the Empire had produced, and of course the foundational legacy of the Cult of Mercury. But still, he often found himself drawn to the Hellenes instead. Alexander, whom he had grown up knowing as Dhu al-Qarnayn (“the two-horned one”, so named for the ritual ram’s horn crown of Ammon he had received in Siwa), was of particular fascination for Jabril. Certainly, he had been a warlike conquerer: and yet he seemed to have the soul of an explorer and a poet, so entranced was he by the novelties he encountered. It would be arrogant to say that Jabril saw something of himself in the great emperor, but he had never been a humble man. 

So, it was no surprise that upon hearing these rumors, he sent his temple turb to the village, to bring these monks before him, that he might interrogate them. Within the space of a day, Ahmad, now greying a bit as he aged, had gathered the three and brought them to Aghurmi, with the usual story that Jabril was a wealthy and eccentric date farmer who had renovated and settled the temple fort in a fit of pious curiosity. Upon seeing the three holy men—each of them nearly indistinguishable from one another, with identical threadbare robes, greying hair, and scrunched, wrinkled faces—Jabril began to doubt they had found much of anything, but offered them hospitality much the same. 

His interest returned, however, when it emerged that the monks had taken a relic from the purported tomb—according to them, a rock-cut cave hidden by time and sand in the more barren eastern side of the Siwa depression. After a generous donation to their monastery, Jabril found himself in possession of the curious thing, as well as the location it had come from, according to the monks: a linen bag, remarkably unaged by time, and clearly marked with symbols in Demotic, the language of the ancient Egyptians.

Upon first touching it, he felt a small burst of power against his Parma, and upon finally having a moment to himself, was able to gauge that the bag was protected by a minor enchantment, likely similar to the Hermetic Art of Mentem. What effect it had, he did not know, for the monks seemed to be unharmed—though in his questioning of them, they seemed convinced that the tomb held Alexander’s body despite not having had much evidence to go on. In his investigation, though, he realized he had unintentionally triggered another effect, and with haste hurled the bag from himself, whereupon it seemed to ignite with flame, rapidly burning to dust. 

More and more curious seemed this tomb, and so without delay, he set off towards the location given by the monks.

First challenge: Sta+Parma Magica (rolled 8+2+2=12, success), Per+Magic Theory (rolled 7+0+5=12, success), Qik+Awareness (rolled 8+0+2=10, spent 1 confidence to succeed). Three successes. 

Journey to the Tomb

The journey to the tomb, as with many of his trips outside his protected zones within Siwa, proved somewhat eventful. The wild beasts that roamed the oasis were out in force this autumn, and he found himself more often than not having to chase off scorpions and cobras from his campsites. Moving past Abu Sharef, he noted with displeasure that the Zenata seemed to have once more adopted an aggressive posture around the ruins, but elected to avoid battle this time, and began to sneak past quietly. 

Unfortunately, the desert tribesmen were by this point wise to his tricks, and quickly spotted him from the tower in the abandoned town, with an armed contingent quickly moving out to meet him. Jabril found himself having to drop into a dead sprint to the east, away from Abu Sharef, pursued by bowmen atop camels. His efforts at maintaining his fitness throughout the last few years, however, paid off, as did the more rocky and difficult terrain as he crossed to the east. With a few great leaps and a zig-zagging route, he soon found himself outpacing his pursuers, and was now left alone to the southeast of Alexander’s ancient campsite, near the edge of the valley. 

Night had nearly fallen when at last he beheld his goal: a barely-visible opening in the cliff face, beyond which lay only darkness. He elected to camp for the night in sight of it, spending another night beneath the wondrous stars of the desert.

Second challenge: Pre+Survival (specialty, rolled 9+0+3=12, success), Dex+Stealth (specialty, rolled 0, botch threatened! Botch dice 0, 9, 6, 7, botch!) Str+Athletics (rolled 1, reroll 5 for a total of 12+0+2=14 for a success). 2 successes, 1 botch. 

Jabril and the Serpent

In the morning, Jabril, having learned some caution from previous adventures, took the time to call asps from the surrounding desert and sent them into the cave ahead of him, with the hope that they might trigger any traps left untouched by earlier visitors. His efforts were rewarded, as the snakes triggered a pitfall and another fell curse before he and his scaled coterie reached a widening of the carved cave passage. 

Here, the smooth stone walls gave way to carved and painted ones, filigreed in faint gold, the paint still showing some muted echo of past grandeur. The images, drawn in Egyptian style yet with a curiously Garamantine cast to their features, depicted robed priests preparing a body for burial: armed soldiers in battle with a great, wormlike beast in the desert: and a tomb, guarded by warrior-sculptures. He knew not the relevance, but surmised that the last at least promised further traps. 

At the end of the chamber lay a stone door, weathered by the years but still sealed, with no discernible lock. With some investigation, he found small gaps in which something could be wedged, and, after traveling out of the tomb to gather loose animal bones from a recent kill by one of the roaming wild beasts, he used meticulous ReAn spontaneous magic to shape a wedge. It took time, but with a careful examination of the door, he was able to find the perfect point and used his bone contraption to lever the door open. 

However, Jabril was unprepared for the rush of magical energy that struck him as the door opened. It overwhelmed his Parma, and his vision began to grow cloudy and dim as he felt himself being pulled away. Although he did not know it yet, the force of the trap had inflicted significant Warping on him, and he had entered his first Twilight. 

Jabril dreamt for what felt like an age of traversing vast, cyclopean, reptilian coils in an infinite, lightless cavern. He did not know where he was or how he had come here, but something about the writhing beast beneath his feet felt oddly familiar, and safe. For eons he walked, until at last he beheld a flattening of the coils, which grew as he approached into a head: that of a massive asp, larger than even the Great Pyramid, gnawing bloodily on its own tail. Finding his way to one of the creature’s terrible, staring eyes, he began to speak with it, asking it why he was here, what it was and what he was supposed to do here. After a long period of silence, a hiss that quaked the earth responded to him: the beast spoke of endlessness, and the depths and heights of possibility, and the nature of power and responsibility. He began to understand, dimly, that it was repeating his own thoughts and unconscious desires to him, and then with a start, realized the truth. The serpent was him. An ouroboros, his sigil, continually feeding into itself and still growing, growing, growing ever larger. He could become as vast as this representation, as powerful, as much a master of himself and his domain. All he had but do was feed and grow, and there were no limits that could not be conquered. 

Upon this realization, he awoke with a start, finding himself supine before the door of the tomb. The selfsame door stood ajar, revealing a dusty, half-broken place, seemingly recently disturbed as if by a great wind or explosion. He lifted his hand to the door to steady himself, and was shocked to see that the black ring that had formed around his wrist years ago had grown, covering his entire left hand from the wrist down in pristine, ordered, black scales, like those he remembered walking upon. His nails were changed too, sharpened and pointed like claws. The skin felt cool to the touch, but not alien. It was his hand, just different. Twilight had marked him indelibly. 

Standing, he banished such thoughts for the future, and examined the tomb before him. Naught but wreckage and dust greeted him: not even a body: except one papyrus scroll, still intact, which lay half-buried in the sand. Picking it up, he found a text that seemed written in Demotic, and then Tamazight and Latin, seemingly condemning the inhabitant of this tomb to a curse eternal. With no sign of said inhabitant, Jabril pocketed the scroll, reasoning it would be helpful in the future should he wish to study the other languages therein, and returned to Siwa changed.

Third challenge: Com+Summon Animals (specialty, rolled 4+1+6=11, cast Momentary Command to add mag 5 and succeed), Int+Finesse (specialty, rolled 4+2+5=11, spont cast ReAn to add mag 1 and succeed), Com+Animal Ken (rolled 2+1+3=6, spent 2 confidence to succeed). Three successes. 

Result: Partial success. Jabril walks away with 3 rewards+4 xp for his successes and 9 xp (becoming 16 overall) and confidence from difficulty + number of challenges. 5 xp goes to Awareness, increasing it to 3, 5 goes to Parma, increasing it to 3, 5 goes to Stealth, and 1 to Athletics. 

Unfortunately, he also takes a loss. I roll a 6, meaning more Warping. 3 Warping points, meaning his Score increases to 1 and he has to roll for Twilight! Unfortunately, I threaten a botch and although I avoid it (8,8, 1, 3), the resulting score of 3 has no chance of beating a roll of 6 on the Twilight side. Jabril enters his first Twilight! 

Firstly, I roll to comprehend, rolling 7+0+2=9 versus 4+1=5. Luckily, he is able to comprehend his experience. Secondly, I compare the two to figure out the time it takes. His score is higher than the Twilight roll and his base time is only a diameter, so his Twilight only takes a moment in the real world. 

Exiting Twilight, however, he finds himself marked, taking 9 additional Warping Points (unfortunately increasing his score to 2) and gaining a beneficial Twilight Scar. I decided to roll a d3 for the additional benefit, and roll a 2: new mystical virtue! Minor in this case thanks to gaining less than 10 Warping. Jabril gains the Lesser Benediction virtue: the new scales on his hand heat up when in the presence of those who wish him ill will. This is identical to the pricking thumbs Lesser Benediction from RoP: Faerie outside of flavor, and may situationally give him a bonus to his adventure rolls. 

It’s not all good news. With his Warping score having increased so rapidly, the next Twilight will be likely much harder. I don’t know that I really like that this loss become a positive, but the increased character development is neat. The adventure takes 16 days, and I spend all three rewards plus 4 Mythic Pounds to gain two Level 10 tractati in Demotic and Tamazight (the scroll).

The Adventure of the Kidnapped Redcap

Berber Blues

No sooner had Jabril returned to Aghurmi than he was met by visitors. The covenant of Venti Rosa had arrived yet again at Siwa, and yet again they requested his help. It soon emerged that shortly after entering the Siwa depression, the caravan had accidentally wandered too near the site of a pitched battle between rival bands of the Zenata. A coterie from one of the warring sides had taken notice of the juicy prize, and left battle to attack the caravan. Though the Redcaps and their grogs were by and large able warriors, they were caught by surprise when one of the Berbers revealed themselves to be a hedge mage. Some of the grogs were killed and two of the Redcaps taken as captives, likely to be sold into slavery, before the one Gifted Mercere, Robert, drove the raiders off. With Robert not being quite as intrepid as Jabril, he had come to Aghurmi to ask for the beast master’s help in the matter. Jabril was beginning to feel run down after the adventures of the past couple of seasons, but he was nothing if not a friend to Venti Rosa. And so, only a few hours after returning to his home, Jabril set off again into the desert. 

The first task was to find the specific band of Zenata that had taken his sodales, and hopefully gauge the strength of this hedge mage in the process. Not wanting to strain himself summoning asps as was his wont, he instead called out to a few of the vultures who circled the valley regularly, and inquired of them whether they had seen human warriors on camels bearing men with red caps alongside them. Unfortunately, though Jabril did not know it, vultures are often servants of the Red, the terrible force of decay and destruction that lurked in the deserts of North Africa, and delight in leading people astray, or into the hands of their allies. 

And so, following the treacherous directions of the vultures, Jabril found himself walking almost directly into an ambush. He had grown wiser in his time in the Oasis, though, and was able to pick out the telltale signs of a Zenata ambush before they fell on him, partially thanks to the sudden warmth emanating from his left hand. A terrible battle ensued: Jabril initially able to easily dominate the raiders, he nevertheless found himself on the back foot when the hedge mage revealed herself. She was marked as was the Bride of Ayyur, or settut, he had defeated to claim Aghurmi. As such, he attempted the successful strategy he had before and summoned a slithering mass of asps from the valley, setting them on the settut. To his dismay and horror, the settut turned even his most loyal allies, the asps, against him, and he found himself swarmed by them, stabbed by the warriors, and knocked to the ground, falling into a horrible unconsciousness from the pain. 

For the first time, Jabril had been properly defeated in combat.

First challenge: Com+Animal Ken (rolled 0, botch threatened! Botch dice 2, 0, 5, 4, 4, 1, 9, 7, botched!), Perception+Awareness (rolled 1, reroll 4 for a total of 10+0+3+1=14, adding a +1 bonus for his Lesser Benediction, success), Pre+Summon Animals (specialty, rolled 0, botch threatened! Botch dice 2, 5, 8, 1, 6, 2, 5, 0, botched!). One success, two botches. 

Prisoner of the Red Sorceress

Jabril awoke to a stinging slap hours later, and immediately grimaced from the sharp pain he felt from the wounds scattered across his chest and legs. Forcing his eyes to open, he found himself bound by the hands and feet with tight ropes, lying on his side in a filthy, dim tent lit only by a handful of candles. To the left of him lay two forms, roughly beaten and unconscious, but likely the Redcaps he sought from their appearance. Before him stood a tall, clearly Amazigh woman with flowing robes and long, uncovered black hair, covered over in fetishes and amulets. This, he surmised, was the settut who had defeated him. In a proud and imperial tone, she demanded from him the arcane secrets he held, as spoils to the victor. 

Choking down the rising fury in his throat, Jabril realized that he had very little to his name in this situation. But what always had was his cunning: and so, drawing on his knowledge of local folktales, he praised her powers and diminished his own, claiming to be merely an apprentice of the great sorcerer of Aghurmi, himself a servant to the terrible, conquering Order of Hermes. He wove a tale portraying the Order and his “master” as prone to incredible violence and feats of power at the slightest provocation, and, feigning obsequious worry, mused at whether or not she could keep herself safe against such foes. 

This, at least, seemed to instill some caution in the hedge witch, who lowered the hand prepared to strike him again and questioned out loud what use a slave with such connections could be to her. With some fast talking and quick insight, Jabril sensed the depth of the greed that gnawed at her, and in some ways diminished her natural caution. And so, activating his bracelet, he told the witch of the great wealth of the order, and how if he and his allies were safely returned, surely she would receive a great reward. Here, the settut smiled a hungry smile, and agreed to such an idea, although he would of course remain bound on the journey back. 

So great was Jabril’s deception that the Bride did not see the need to accompany her warriors as they took him and the Redcaps back to Aghurmi. This provided an opportunity, which Jabril eagerly snapped at, filling the ears of her soldiers with a constant and eloquent rhetoric, arguing that they did not need her and the reward could be theirs alone if they would but turn. This took much of his remaining stamina, as he talked incessantly for days of travel—but by the time they arrived at Aghurmi, he was already unbound and on a camel of his own. Despite his temple turb surely outmatching the Amazigh fighters, he carried through with the promise of a great reward from the temple stores, after the extraction of an oath to slay the witch. He watched them leave satisfied, having hopefully and cunningly solved the problem of the settut cleanly. 

But once they were out of sight, he nearly collapsed from the pain of his wounds, and Robert rushed to treat him. His last thought before slipping into a much more restful sleep was that perhaps it would be wise to bring the turb along next time.

Second challenge: Int+Guile (specialty, rolled 9+2+4-3=12 for a success), Qik+Folk Ken (rolled 3+0+3-3=3, activated Bracelet of Trust to erase Gift penalty and add mag 3, and spent a confidence to succeed), Sta+Artes Liberales (rolled 7+2+2-3=8, spent two confidence to succeed). Three successes. 

Result: Mixed success. We have more successes than botches, but two botches on the same challenge means three losses vs two rewards+2 xp, making this a Pyrrhic victory at best. Jabril gains a total of 13 xp and 8 confidence. 5 goes to Artes Liberales, 5 goes to Summon Animals, and 3 goes to Guile. The rewards are banked. 

Now to deal with the losses. I roll a 2, 8, and 9, meaning one loss of BP and two wounds. Let’s deal with the wounds first. I roll 9+12=21 for the damage, and 1, reroll 5 for a total of 12+5=17 to soak on the first one, meaning Jabril luckily takes only a Light Wound from the first. On the second, I roll a 5+12=17 for the damage, and 2+5-1=6 to soak, meaning Jabril’s injuries increase to a Heavy Wound. He is literally 1 point shy of being incapacitated. He pays Robert ex Mercere of Venti Rosa 20 Mythic Pounds (1 BP=2 Mythic Pounds=3 points of casting total) for a healing ritual, while an additional 12 are spent bribing the Zenata to leave Venti Rosa in peace, all from the covenant stocks. We have a lot of money saved, so this is more humiliating than it is crippling, which arguably is worse in Jabril’s eyes. It takes 17 days to resolve the quest.

The Serpent Scrutinized

Return of Scipio

It was only a week after Venti Rosa left that Jabril received yet another visitor at Aghurmi. To his surprise, it was the inimitable Chief Quaesitor Scipio ex Guernicus, who he had met last season at the Pyramids summit. Though at this point craving solitude in his laboratory, Jabril remembered his hospitality, and ordered one of the outbuildings made up as a guest room, and a feast prepared from the plentiful stores. For his part, the older magus refused to explain his reason for being at Siwa for the first couple of days, only asking to be toured around the various sites that Jabril had claimed and asking various insightful questions about the nature of the auras, the vis sources, and, occasionally, the regio Jabril referred to as Siwa’s Shadow. 

Magi are by nature suspicious and secretive folk, but despite this instinct, Jabril remained pointedly open and honest in this case, figuring it was better not to keep things from a Quaesitor. Besides, Mercury forfend, he found himself trusting the old man’s honor and even liking him somewhat. But it didn’t take a genius to figure out what Scipio was truly interested in, as he began asking more and more questions about the regio. It was clear that the Guernicus had learned of its infernal nature, and was concerned that Jabril may have been corrupted. 

Rather than dubiously answer questions, Jabril chose instead to show Scipio. And so they traveled to Bilad al-Rum, where Jabril, with some careful spontaneous magic, once again carefully opened the door to the other side. Stepping through, he walked Scipio precisely through his process, demonstrating the still-lit temple flame, and the infernal power outside the temple. Rapidly, it became clear that they were not alone. A lone ghul had seen their presence within the temple, and was rapidly approaching. Jabril took the opportunity to attempt some ceremonial ReVi magic, commanding it to flee, and summoning up all the force of his body and magic to penetrate its resistance. With some effort, he drove the creature away, and the two returned to the proper side of Siwa. 

Although difficult to read, Scipio seemed satisfied that Jabril was not infernally tainted, but cautioned him against trucking with the demons. If a way could be found to seal the regio permanently, he said, that would be ideal. Jabril privately felt that it would be better to cleanse it once he could practice more PeVi, but for the moment, made some non-commital noises of agreement. 

At last, after another day spent in Jabril’s hospitality, the Chief Quaesitor left, leaving the exhausted Jabril to at last rest and relax. 

Challenge: Com+Magic Theory (rolled 3+1+5+1=10, added Reputation for +1 bonus, success), Int+Finesse (specialty, rolled 9+2+5=16, success), Sta+Penetration (rolled 1, reroll 9 for a total of 20+2+0-3=19 for a success). Three successes. 

Result: Complete success! Scipio is successfully convinced that Jabril has not trucked with the Infernal. Jabril receives 1 reward+2 xp, for a total of 10 from virtues and difficulty, and 5 confidence. 5 xp goes to Penetration (we need another magic ability given how often I’m having to use it), bringing it to 1, and 5 goes to Magic Theory. Small as it is, the reward is banked. Overall, the adventure takes 10 days. 

The endless autumn finally does come to an end, and an exhausted, changed Jabril retires to relax at his temple home for the last few days before winter.