1239 AD: Sorcerers’ Skirmish

 1239 Adventure Oracle

Cabal Legacy—10% (71, no adventure)

Seeker—10% (71, if you can believe it, no adventure)

Regional Produce—10% (11, no adventure)

Multiple Sites—10% (88, no adventure)

Road—10% (36, no adventure)

Rival—30% (10, adventure!)

Unsafe—10% (59, no adventure)

Demonic Interest—30% (56, no adventure)

Hermetic Politics—10% (99, no adventure)

Protector—10% (73, no adventure)

The Levant finally rears its ugly head! 

Difficulty—7, Hard, EF 15. Getting a lot of those this decade. 

Origin—13, peasants! It’s recommended to be a farmer at this EF. I’m not sure how to work that in but we’ll see. 

Timing—1, Spring. 

Complexity—9, very complex, 3 challenges. More challenges is always good in my opinion: more story, more potential rewards, more xp.

Type—54, Magic, 99 and 91, both my choice! Social for the first—I enjoy the added challenge of the Gift penalty—and Combat, since it gets rolled so infrequently. 

Opting in. 

Omens—8, oof. Almost a guaranteed botch if I threaten one. 

Spring 1239

The Poison Tongue

A False Uprising

Spring came around once more to Siwa, although here in Egypt, it was marked only by the largest of the several date harvests that occurred each year, as dates ripen fairly irregularly. With it, though, came an unusual spate of disrespect towards Jabril. A handful of the covenfolk openly scoffed at his orders, nearly driving him into a rage, and many of the zaggaleh, who he had become at least somewhat friendly with, refused to speak to him. 

Matters came to something of a head in late April, when the camp turb captured two of the zaggaleh attempting to cut down the palms from which he gathered his Herbam vis. Upon questioning, the men evinced a surprisingly bitter hatred of Jabril and him alone, even seeming to regard the covenant itself as a positive force. Jabril could tell, observing them, that this was no natural dislike, but supernatural. With some examination and time spent, he noted that it was not a Hermetic effect, although close to Mentem effects he had seen cast, and saw that the hatred seemed to dissipate after a day or so. 

The local settuten that he had met had not demonstrated any capability with this kind of magic, nor had he wronged any sahirs that he knew of. No, this was something from within his own house. He vaguely recalled that there was a Northern European tradition of sorcerers called the nemthenga, able to use potent but highly specialized vocal magic to turn men against one another. While he did not recall any whom he had wronged, it was possible that one or more of the new Crusaders in the Levant was part of this tradition. Still, his idle speculations were not enough to provide proof of manipulation, and so he resolved to find whoever had done this. 

Calling asps across the valley, he questioned them on passersby throughout the last month or so, specifically those who had interacted with the zaggaleh, who the asps recognized by their clubs. Soon enough, he was able to find a description: a pale man, accompanied by a small group of armed warriors, who had paid the Zenata to camp within Abu Sharef. 

And so Jabril set out to treat with the Berbers himself. 

First challenge: Int+Awareness (specialty, rolled 4+2+4+1=11, spent two confidence to succeed), Per+Magic Theory (rolled 3+0+6=9, spent two confidence to succeed), Com+Animal Ken (specialty, rolled 7+1+4=12, spent one confidence to succeed). 3 successes. 

An Unexpected Memory

It was a delicate matter, approaching the Zenata. In years past, yes, Jabril had fought with them, but as his covenant had become more of a feature in the valley, an uneasy and largely unspoken peace had taken hold. Besides, beyond his dimicatio more than a decade ago, the Zenata were the only group he had matched wits with that had nearly (and near-lethally) bested him. This was why, rather than beat them into submission for harboring his enemies, Jabril approached the encampment near Abu Sharef with some minor gifts and a polite mien. 

He made his usual rituals of greeting to the cameliers who rode out to meet him. As with Egyptian Arabs, the etiquette among Egyptian Amazigh required a great deal of indirectness and lavish compliments. With the help of his trusty bracelet, he was an expert at these, and made his way smoothly through each successive rung of the Zenata hierarchy: first the guards, then the young warriors of the clan, then of course their mothers—legally ignored but in practice quite powerful—until finally he was led in to meet with the elder of this particular band, a different one than he had previously encountered. 

To Jabril’s surprise, his opposite number, called Youssef by his subordinates, appeared to be close to his own age: perhaps late forties, with a great, bushy, salt-and-pepper beard and the hard eyes of a lifelong warrior. There was something familiar about those eyes, but he could not quite place it: not until, in a flash, the man stepped forward, drawing his blade and placing it at Jabril’s neck, demanding a reason as to why he should spare the life of his sister’s killer. Then he recalled in a flash the eyes of the Bride of Ayyur who had captured him nearly a decade ago and tortured him—and who he had repaid by turning her own men against her. There was a momentary satisfaction to know that his deviousness had borne deathly fruit, but then came the question: how now to escape the consequences? 

Even a deranged serpent has not lost its greatest weapon: its forked tongue. Jabril was most skilled in its use, and with a lick of his lips, set to work crafting an intricate and bitter tale of betrayal and vengeance, and tragic misunderstandings. He and Youssef’s sister both—and now Youssef himself, it seemed—had been misled by one of Jabril’s cruel rivals. A despicable poison-tongued wizard from the far north, who had caused the Bride to raid those who were under Jabril’s protection, then pushed him to seek the most terrible vengeance against her, unfairly! If he had but known she was being lied to—said Jabril—he would have stayed his hand, made common cause with her against their true enemy. He understood Youssef’s need for vengeance, but would it not be better served by striking at the spider that had ensnared them all? 

He was gratified to feel the knife pull back from his throat, and see Youssef’s eyes narrow in thought. Here came the greatest test: Youssef had seen the man who Jabril now claimed was the architect of all their woes, and Jabril had not. It was the crowning achievement of the liar: to lie with enough confidence and sheer bravado that any mistakes were subconsciously brushed off by the victim. He described the sorcerer in detail as Youssef earnestly questioned him—he had a scar here, no there, changed by magic no doubt, his hair was red, now blonde, certainly bleached by the hot sun. Despite his inconsistencies, his steady tone and gaze seemed to convince the Amazigh chief, who finally sheathed his blade. 

Though still bitter, Youssef now proposed they put their past behind them for the moment and join forces to lay vengeance on this rival sorcerer—who, Jabril learned subtly, had introduced himself as Arminius. Jabril gladly agreed, and, after some discussion of the plan, the two, surrounded by armed Zenata warriors, entered Abu Sharef. Jabril was to focus on Arminius, while the others neutralized his bodyguards. 

Second challenge: Sta+Etiquette (rolled 6+2+2-3=7, activated Bracelet of Trust to erase Gift penalty and add Mag 3 and spent one confidence to succeed), Qik+Folk Ken (rolled 3+0+4-3=4, failure), Pre+Guile (specialty, rolled 8+0+4-3=9, spent two confidence to succeed). Two successes, one failure. 

A Bitter Brawl at the Salt Lake

Entering Abu Sharef, Jabril immediately split off from the main group of Zenata warriors and climbed up to the upper skyline of the ruins, where he could prowl mostly unseen, careful not to let his shadow fall on the sunny streets below. Soon enough, as he shadowed the Amazigh, he beheld the camp of his foe: several large tents near the lesser temple, subtly marked here and there with the symbols of the order. Unlike him, the Zenata did not favor stealth, but speed and ferocity, and as soon as they saw the nemthengacha’s grogs standing arrayed around the tents, they fell upon them with terrible battle-cries and glittering blades. 

For his part, Jabril waited atop the ruins until he saw the pale northern magus emerge from his large central tent. Blonde, sunburned, and supremely tall, Arminius cut a grand figure as he began hurling spells into the melee. This was marred somewhat when Jabril leapt from atop a nearby building onto his shoulders and began slamming into his face and shoulders with bare hands. The two fell to the ground, beginning to brawl, but Arminius was quick and wily, able to slip out of Jabril’s grasp and make some distance between them. Then it became a dirty fight of hurled spells, the crackling of the Parma as it deflected blows from both sides, and Jabril’s swinging fists as he dipped and dodged like an expert boxer. 

A well-timed Pilum crackled the skin across Arminius’s arm, causing him to yelp and lose his defensive posture for a moment. Jabril quickly followed up with a solid blow to the jaw, knocking his foe back to the ground. He leapt on the Nemthenga, roughly twisting his arms behind his back and shouting for him to surrender in Latin. It took a few moments and a few more skull-rattling blows before the other magus relented, calling for his men to stand down in German-accented Arabic. 

What came next was no surprise: the Zenata had no mercy for traitors, and slew the grogs even as they surrendered. Arminius survived only thanks to Jabril, who hoisted him to his feet and told Youssef firmly that he would see to his punishment. The chief bristled, but acquiesced, and let the two go, Jabril veritably dragging the younger sorcerer back to Aghurmi with his hands tied and mouth gagged. 

In the morning, once their wounds—Jabril’s only a few light bruises, Arminius’s somewhat worse—had been seen to, Jabril hoisted him atop a camel and made for Bahariya with his temple turb in tow. There, before a bemused Balthazar, he explained the whole situation—that this magus had illegally attempted to interfere with his covenant and that in self-defense, he had captured him and brought him here—and asked for an investigation and judgement. 

Some days passed while Balthazar interrogated both, and, finding Arminius to be wanting, nevertheless cautioned Jabril against such a brutal solution in future, and levied only a light punishment—eight pawns of vis to be paid to Jabril—against Arminius in addition to a binding oath to stay out of the Nile Tribunal. Despite the expected frustration, Jabril actually found himself pleased by the outcome. This way, the Nilotic magi seemed to come off mercifully, and the Levantine like needless aggressors. 

He returned to Siwa pleased—although somewhat disturbed to know that the brother of one of his enemies remained alive within the oasis. 

Third challenge: Dex+Stealth (specialty, rolled 1, reroll 9 for a total of 20+0+4=24, success), Str+Brawl (specialty, rolled 5+0+3=8, cast Pilum of Fire to add mag 4 and spent a confidence to succeed), Sta+Athletics (rolled 1, reroll 4 for a total of 10+2+3=15, success). Three successes. 

Results: Near-total success. Jabril brutally defeats his Hermetic foe and gains a modicum of justice. It is worth noting that Jabril is not a good man. I don’t think he’s bad necessarily either: but in the way he’s developed as a character, there’s a true ruthlessness to him that I think even manifests in regards to himself (see the Duel on the Nile). At the end of the day, he will do quite a lot to win, no matter the cost. 

Anyway, he walks away with 3 rewards+4 xp for his successes, in addition to 10 confidence and 10 xp (total of 17) from the difficulty and number of challenges. He trades the vis, as well as a number of items scavenged from Arminius’s camp, to commission a unique but mundane item from Sjjad ex Jerbiton, the merchant adventurer of the Tribunal: a staff carved of red coral collected from the southern mouth of the Red Sea, banded at several points by iron, and crowned with an emerald. I spend two rewards on this: for reference, this is equivalent to 14 BP, or 42 effect levels on an enchanted device, or 14 Mythic Pounds worth of Superior Quality Goods. I think it’s a fair trade. This beautiful item is his future talisman, but there is a fly in the ointment: Jabril has spent so much time rounding out his Arts that his Magic Theory is too low to attune it yet. And so, he spends the rest of his reward BP, as well as the princely sum of 124 Pounds, to acquire an excellent Magic Theory Summa of Level 8, Quality 15, which will allow him to reach the requisite Magic Theory in five seasons of determined study (overall cost 3x(Level+Quality) for a total of 69 BP, nice). Although it’s disappointing to not be able to attune a talisman this decade, a few years of determined work will produce an extremely powerful one from this object. 

5 xp goes to Brawl, 5 to Guile, 5 to Awareness, and 2 to Creo. Overall, the adventure takes 19 days. 

Summer-Winter 1239

With his difficulties in the past for now, Jabril settles in to study Magic Theory for the next three seasons, determined to improve. 

Study xp: 45 xp to Magic Theory, bringing it to 7. 

Aging roll: rolled 2-1=1, no apparent aging. 

Next time: another decade update! Jabril has officially been here for two decades, can you believe it?