Under THE BURNING SUN

1. Fire and Water

You are eleven: five boryot and two triads of xi-noqs, all of you powerful magic-users. Cryomancers, mystics, priests, biomancers, abominations, and Council of Eight warlocks, all imprisoned by the ignisaur sun priestess.

The waves clash against the hull of the ship, spraying you with salt water.

You were captured in your native lands of Veletia and Giz by Megeian soldiers and taken prisoners of war along with so many others. Whereas most captives face a life of slavery or sacrifice to the Burning Sun, you were selected for your magical prowess and taken to Aurin One-Flame. The soladins in her service placed you in runic cuffs which prevented you from using your magic, and she then sucked most of your powers into soul gems. What little you have left, the bracelets still prevent you from using.

The strong winds dry the sea water, but leave the coarse salt in your fur, hair, and antennae. For the xi-noqs and the ignisaurs, the breeze feels cold, but the thick-furred boryot do not seem to mind.

You were forced into a Sunshine Fleet junk where, still heavily guarded, you set sail across the Great Expanse. At first you did not know your destination, but you have heard the soladins bark orders to the sailors. You are heading for Shiver Retreat, a pirate town far outside Megeian territory.

Even the ignisaurs are afraid of Aurin One-Flame. Most ignisaur priestesses are revered and obeyed, but this one is feared and avoided. You have seen her incinerate one of the ship’s officers when he asked her the reason for their destination. A ray of what looked like sunshine struck the officer from Aurin’s golden mask and he was engulfed in flames. No one has questioned the priestess after that.

Whenever the soladins’ eyes are diverted, the boryot whisper amongst each other, and the xi-noq triads are often in telepathic communion with each other. They speculate on the reason for their imprisonment and destination, but no one knows for sure. Clearly your captor needs immense magical power for something, but why does she need you? Will she sacrifice you to the Burning Sun in some obscene ritual? Will she try to lure out demons of the Breach? Will she need you to operate a device of the Ancients? You can only guess.

Mostly, though, you stay silent, under the watchful eyes of the soladins. They are officers of the Sunshine Legion, and in this case, in service to the Church of the Burning Sun. To have them guarding prisoners must be demeaning, but you never hear them complain.

You have been on the seas for three days. For most of you, your first maritime voyage was in a similar junk transporting prisoners to Megeia. This is the second one, and the boryot especially have a hard time getting used to the ship’s rocking. While the xi-noq only need water and sun to survive, the five boryot also need food. They are hungry and weak.

The wind subsides but the ship keeps running, thanks to its engine powered by magical agura crystals. All around you, there is nothing but the endless sea. Above you, the sun, which, indeed, is burning. You prisoners, xi-noq and boryot alike, suffer under the relentless heat, but the ignisaurs delight in it, turning their faces toward the sun and muttering little prayers to it.

The bright light is reflected off Aurin One-Flame’s golden mask, almost blinding you. She takes a lens and lights a fire at a brazier in the prow by concentrating the sun’s rays onto coals.

A soladin brings a tied-up ignisaur out from the ship’s hold. He is thin and clad only in a loincloth.

“No, no, please,” he cries in fear.

“This is a great honor, for the sun will shine on you now and always,” the golden-masked priestess says calmly. The soladins tie the man to a stone pillar in the middle of the fire and the sailors add more coal as One-Flame begins to chant.

“Here under the Burning Sun, the never-changing, the ignisaur-protecting, the crop-nurturing, the water-boiling, the infidel-burning, we ask for your guidance in life, your blessings in our endeavors, your power to burn our enemies. Burning Sun! Accept this sacrifice on behalf of your devoted followers!”

The chant is mixed with the cries of the dying ignisaur. All of you know that could have been your fate, as well. And still might be. Perhaps this is what is in store for you at Shiver Retreat.

The victim is silent now, but you can feel the magical power from the sacrifice being absorbed into the priestess’ golden mask. Is this the blessing of the Burning Sun?

Just then the look-out yells that a ship is approaching. The sailors and soladins take positions to defend the junk in case it is an enemy vessel, but it is the strangest contraption you have ever seen. It is not really a sailing ship of any kind, even if it does have a small sail. Nor is it an airship, a boat, or a galley, or even a boryot snowship. It is shaped like a screw and surfaces from under the water.

A bunch of korallians and a nihteegri appear through a hatch, and point wands and bows at the Sunshine Fleet junk.

“Fair winds, mates!” a korallian pirate shouts from between her braided face tentacles.

“Sun be ever warm for you,” your captain says solemnly. “I would keep sailing if I were you.”

“Oh, we will. Once you give us your valuables.”

Then Aurin One-Flame cuts in. “Under the Burning Sun and in honor of the Emperor, I tell you this: Leave! Or burn to death!”

“The Burning Sun has no dominion on the seas,” the pirate quips. “It’s only Lanimora and the gods of the depths.”

As she speaks, a korallian hydromancer creates waves which move their submarine up close. The soladins throw javelins which the pirates deftly dodge, even catching some and throwing them back. One of them pulls out a magical cube which radiates a strange energy.

“You will soon fall asleep, mates,” the pirate shouts. “And when you awake –“

The pirate stops speaking as an intense ray of sunshine is reflected from the priestess’ golden mask and hits their ship. It blinds them at first but then the ship’s wet sail starts to smoke and their clothes catch on fire. Soon the entire submarine is burned to cinders and sinks in a massive cloud of steam. The ignisaur sailors run around the deck, protecting their ship from the fire.

“Another ship!” the look-out yells pointing at the other side of the junk.

Indeed, another submarine has surfaced much nearer to you. Before the soladins manage to stop them, a group of korallian and nihteegri pirates jumps aboard and kills some of the sailors with cutlasses, crossbows, and magic. What powers Aurin One-Flame received from the sacrifice are spent, but the soladins rush to her defense.

The xi-noq prisoners have already telepathically decided this is your chance to escape. They exchange quick glances with the boryot who agree. If you make it to the pirate submarine, you can escape with them.

As you carefully get to your feet, a pirate trips one of the heavily-armored soladins who falls on one of the xi-noqs, crushing it. The two others in its triad are horrified, but the rest of you realize you must act now!

2. Shade and Sun

You are ten. In the heat of the battle, you could probably make it to the pirate submarine. You might even risk running to the ship’s engine room and steal the agura crystals. But you know Aurin One-Flame has some horrible plan and this is your one chance to find out what it is.

With martial and magical fighting happening all over the deck of the ignisaur ship, no one pays attention to you as you sneak toward the cabins. You have often seen the sun priestess enter and exit the biggest one, and know where to go.

The door is decorated with a golden symbol of the Burning Sun and locked with a magicanism. You have no way of operating it as long as you are shackled with these manacles that take away your powers. Otherwise, even a novice cryomancer could easily freeze and break the door, or a xi-noq mystic could force the magicanism to open.

Fortunately, the door itself is made of wood, and some of the boryot have enough of their physical strength left that they manage to pry it open. The magicanism remains unbroken, but the door gives in. All of you know well that magic is the strongest force in Agemonia.

Entering the cabin, you cannot see at first. There is no light inside and you have been sitting in the sunshine for so long that it takes your eyes a while to get accustomed. But at least it is pleasant to be in the shade for once!

You smell the pungent aroma of cactus wine and sweet incense and sense strong magic emanating from the back of the cabin.

As you start to see more clearly, you realize there is a table covered with papyri and a bowl filled with soul gems. Just before you were shackled, Aurin One-Flame sucked away much of your magical powers and placed them into these gems. But why? And why would she not take all of it? What does she still need you for?

The two xi-noq who lost a member of their triad only moments ago reach out in unison for one of the soul gems. They look at it for a while, perhaps somehow communing with it. There is no doubt in your minds that this gem somehow contains a piece of their triad, or all that is left of it, anyway.

The rest of you try to go through the papyri as fast as you can. A map indicates you are, indeed, heading for Shiver Retreat, a pirate town built on the islands to the west of ignisaur and xi-noq lands, to the southeast of the Republic of Benem, surrounded by underwater korallian cities. The inhabitants are said to be nihteegri and korallian, like the pirates who are fighting your captors right now.

Another papyrus details korallian gods of the sea. Bekora you have heard of, Veron’n’or of the hundred tentacles is completely alien to you, as are the medusa ruler Zorashaloss, Faarazua the Cutter, and Shan’n’aiz who brings the light and shows the way. You do not know much about the korallian religion except that they value the pursuit of wealth above all else. But surely more gold cannot be Aurin One-Flame’s true purpose?

On another piece of papyrus is a list of some thirty boryot and xi-noq names, and you find your own written there. But who are the others? Are they prisoners, as well? If the xi-noq among you didn’t have their bracelets, they could contact the Song of the Xi-Noq and find out more from others of their kind.

A third papyrus shows a map of Shiver Retreat and a fourth is a recipe for a very elaborate spell. It contains language and symbols none of you are familiar with but it does not seem to be related to the Church of the Burning Sun. Rather, some symbols indicate aox magic. Is seems to be a grand ritual of some kind, but not demon summoning. What then?

Before you have a chance to dig deeper into the strange papyri, a shadow appears in the doorway.

“Sun be ever warm for you,” Aurin One-Flame greets you menacingly. The sun is burning brightly behind her, but you can still see she is about to unleash punishing magics on you. You look around for places to take cover. The xi-noq are small enough to hide behind the bed and in the cupboards, but the boryot do not have that luxury.

The rays of the sun are reflected off Aurin’s mask. They hit one poor boryot, who howls out in agony. He is what the other boryot call an abomination, a shape-changer. It is clear he is trying to change, but the shackles are preventing it. This just makes it even more painful for him and he falls on all fours, whimpering like a beaten luawa.

Aurin steps forward and it is clear she wishes this fate on you all.

You look around for possible means of escape. There are no other doors and the small round windows are barred.

The biggest boryot cryomancer takes the lead. He picks up an astrolabe and says, “all toil as much as they are able and receive as much as they need.” The other boryot nod solemnly at him while the xi-noq and Aurin One-Flame are left wondering the meaning of his words.

He then throws the spherical magicanism at the solar priestess and charges at her.

“Flee!” he yells as both he and Aurin One-Flame grapple on the floor. As the rest of you run past them back into the sunlight, you hear him howling in pain as the insulted priestess tortures him with her magic.

The fighting on the deck is mostly over. The soladins have managed to regroup and the pirates have realized they are terribly outmatched. You follow the few remaining pirates to their submarine and scuttle in while a korallian hydromancer standing by the hatch pummels the ignisaurs with a strong shower of sea water, slowing their advance.

None of you have seen an underwater ship like this, but you climb in through the hatch using a ladder. It is cramped, but there is just enough room for all of you and the remaining pirates.

The hydromancer is the last to climb in and she closes the hatch after her. One of the pirates pulls a lever and another pushes a valve wheel handle. You hear clinks as the ignisaurs shoot at the submarine’s hull, and then feel the entire ship start to descend at an alarming pace. Are you sinking?

“Worry not,” says the nihteegri captain. “The Starfish can travel beneath the waves just as easily as on top of them. Now, let’s get all of us back to Shiver Retreat!”

Shiver Retreat? That is where your ignisaur captors wanted to take you. That is the last place you should be going! Or is it? What is your plan? You have lost two boryot and a soul gem is all that is left of one of the xi-noqs. The manacles prevent you from using your powers. Should you just ask for a ride home?

“By Lanimora,” the hydromancer says, “can’t you see they need some refreshment? Come, join us in the mess hall!”

The mess hall is a fancy name for the cramped dining table you all huddle around.

“Can you tell us about the korallian gods of the sea?” asks Yuduk, your only living abomination.

The hydromancer grimaces in embarrassment. “Well… There’s Bekora, the forefather of all korallians. And… that’s about all I remember, I’m afraid. We mostly worship Lanimora in Shiver Retreat.”

“But isn’t she a nihteegri goddess?” Yuduk asks.

The korallian shrugs. “Is this really the most pressing issue for you?”

“Perhaps not,” speaks the unbroken xi-noq triad in unison. “We need our shackles removed and we need to connect to the Song of the Xi-Noq.”

“I think we can help you not on either account in Shiver Retreat,” says the captain who now joins you in the mess. “There’s a witch-smith in Durgane called Mad Cap Forgeron. He might know how to get those bracelets off. Durgane’s a province of the Republic of Benem, but ruled by witches and their Venorian allies, and polluted by fungi. This song I know not of.”

“The witches might recognize the ritual we saw in the papyrus,” a boryot warlock says.

“There’s a korallian city below us,” says the hydromancer. “They can take care of the manacles and you can ask about the gods there, if it pleases you. Just be prepared to pay.”

“We must return to Giz,” says Zhin, the xi-noq carrying the soul gem. “The mystics there will easily rid us of the shackles and there our third can join the Song of the Xi-Noq. It is a collective memory shared by all of our kind that must hold knowledge about the other captives.”

The rest of you ponder in silence as the captain orders a barrel of tentacle to be brought to the table and the hydromancer starts to pour you drinks.

3. Body and Mind

You are eight. Three boryot, and five xi-noq. And a soul gem carrying the spiritual remains of one more xi-noq.

No one really wants to enter the korallian city at the bottom of the sea, but a good case is made for visiting Durgane and the witch-smith. In the end it is deemed too dangerous and Zhin makes a very convincing argument for the Song of the Xi-Noq. The boryot, who are not in telepathic communion with all other of their kind, find the concept hard to understand, but the korallian hydromancer has experienced telepathy many times and tries to explain it.

“It is like sharing in the thoughts of another. Or forcing them to think what you think.”

“Oh no, we never force our thoughts on others,” Zhin explains. “We share our memories and listen to the ages-old song of our kind. It would be a grave injustice to force another triad to do what our triad wants.”

You agree to sail south to Giz. The jungle islands are mostly conquered by the ignisaurs, which is how all the xi-noqs in your group got captured in the first place. Most xi-noqs have escaped into an enclave in the Breach, but there are still some secret villages hidden by the rainforests.

In the Starfish’s round windows you occasionally see korallian hunters, sunken artifacts of the ancients, or schools of brightly-colored fish. On your left is the Megeian coast and you even see a shipwreck of a Solar Fleet junk, but otherwise make sure you stay clear of any ignisaur encounters.

The voyage takes several days. You manage to recuperate your physical strength and even get to know the crew. They hold vigil for those who died in the fight against the soladins and pray to the nihteegri goddess Lanimora. The food is mostly fish, which neither the vegetarian boryot or the plant-like xi-noq can eat. But you survive on water and kelp biscuits, which is still more than you had as prisoners. Sometimes you celebrate with a flagon of tentacle, a sour alcoholic drink they love in Shiver Retreat.

Eventually you reach a beautiful coral reef and start to ascend. On the surface you are greeted with the beautiful songs of flying lizards and the lush green of the jungle. Large ophira butterflies fly from huge flower to huge flower.

Beyond the white sands of the beach, the tall grasses, bushes, flowers, the trees, and the vines mark the edge of the jungle. Somewhere in there, the xi-noqs assure you, is a village.

“If we did not have these manacles, we could easily find it,” Zhin says.

The crew of the Starfish decides to gather some spikefruits, plango-plangos dripping with juice, clams, eggs, and fresh water for the submarine while you explore the jungle, armed only with a few spears the pirates could spare.

You follow an animal track into the woods and soon the sun completely disappears behind the heavy roof of leaves. Sounds of animals big and small fill your ears and a thousand intoxicating scents fill your nostrils.

Suddenly, a monstrous felid rushes at you, its long canines piercing Yuduk’s flesh. The two other boryots manage to stab at the predator, forcing it to back off, growling and hissing. The xi-noqs bind Yuduk’s wounds with herbs and leaves while the boryots keep a look out for the beast. You can sense its eyes on you even if you cannot see it.

You continue on your way and finally come across a stone head covered in the aerial roots of a tree. Such ruins of the ancients can be seen all across Agemonia and the boryots think nothing of it.

“The village is here,” Zhin says. It presses the soul gem against the stone head and the gem lights up with an azure light. “Our magic powers are constrained by our shackles but most of Soa’s powers are in this gem.”

The boryots no idea what the spirit inside the soul gem does, but soon six xi-noq appear, one triad of hunters holding blowpipes, another of sentinels with curved swords.

“Blessings of the Trinity,” Zhin greets them.

“And to you,” says one of the sword-wielders. “Why did we not sense your coming?”

Zhin explains all about the shackles and the ignisaurs, and the guards decide to take you to their village.

A wall of vines and leaves hides the village from sight, but the plants move as the guards approach them, like a curtain being pulled aside. Beyond, you witness beautiful gardens, nests inside trees and on branches, cocoons where future xi-noq gestate, and temples and shops and portals.

The sentinels take you to see a triad of mystics who place their fingers on your shackles, making them grow bigger and bigger, until you can easily slide your hands out. You’re free! You feel your magical energies returning, and can sense the magic of the xi-noq village all around you.

The five xi-noqs all reach out, hold hands and close their eyes, communing with each other and the soul gem telepathically, and then connecting with the Song of the Xi-Noq. They stay motionless for a long time, and the three boryot look at each other with some worry. Is this supposed to happen? But the mystics and the sentinels are calm, even content.

Eventually the five open their eyes again and let go of each other.

“What happened?” asks Blokar, the boryot warlock.

“Sia has returned to the Song of the Xi-Noq,” says Zhin, tears of happiness on its face.

“And the list?” Yuduk says.

But Zhin is too overcome with emotion to reply. The other triad all say together, “All the xi-noq on that list were powerful sorcerers who got captured by the ignisaurs. Triads of mystics, biomancers, warlocks, and the like.”

“By Velyuk,” says Blokar excitedly, “it is clear then. The sun priestess was collecting magic-users for her ritual. Thirty or so of us, with a large part of our souls stored in the soul gems. I have served for two decades in the Tower of the Blue Circle in Velek and in all that time no warlock in the Council of Eight has conducted a ritual this massive.”

“Nor have we biomancers any use for a ritual like that,” the triad again say together.

“I’m sorry,” Blokar says. “It is difficult to understand when all three of you speak in unison. Can’t just one of you speak?”

“We did not mean to offend you,” the triad says. “But we have always spoken this way. Many xi-noq triads have individuals within them, ours does not. We are Ra.”

“I am sorry,” Blokar says. “Intolerance is a Sin in the eyes of the Church of the Reformed Hearth.”

“May we all learn from each other,” the Ra triad says.

That night there is a celebration in the xi-noq village. Sweet plango-plango fruits are served, as is xoa, a hot blue drink that soothes the nerves and gives energy and focus. The xi-noq play instruments and the boryot tell stories. All of you sleep well with full stomachs for the first time in ages.

The next morning over salted rice and fruit, you ponder upon what to do next. Aurin One-Flame has more of your compatriots in captivity and is planning an aox spell of immense power in Shiver Retreat. The boryot feel compelled by the virtues of their religion and the xi-noq by the Song of the Xi-Noq to go and stop the ritual and free the captives. However hard it may be.

You are taken to see a triad of priests, who are what passes for leaders in the village, and they tell you they have a teleporter which can take you to Shiver Retreat. You send word to the pirates on the Starfish that they can sail without you.

“And even though we are not a rich village and we must do our part in preserving the xi-noq lifestyle, we would grant a boon for you,” says one of the priests. “We have a large golem here in the village, built by the ancients, and maintained by us. It could be a powerful weapon of war and the xi-noqs in your group can control it.”

“Or we could send with you the sentinel triad whom you have already met,” speaks another priest. “They are capable warriors and it seems like you could use their help.”

“But if you prefer speed over might,” the third priest adds, “we could give you five magicanisms, each of which can teleport one person wherever they can see.”

“Whatever you choose, you will go with the blessings of the Trinity,” the third priest concludes.

You look at each other. A choice is again upon you, albeit a more pleasant one this time.

4. Wind and Sea

You are nine. On top of the three boryots and five xi-noqs, you graciously accept the company of the arcane golem whom the villagers appoint as your guardian. It towers over the tallest boryot. Its white metal parts are cool to the touch, and its crystal eye shines with a friendly blue light.

Xi-noq sentinels would have been useful allies but somehow you have a feeling the metal creature will prove useful. If it doesn’t rust in the sea wind. Cubes of Teleportation, precious as they are, would perhaps be more useful in a maze rather than the magical confrontation you are heading for.

You say your goodbyes and the sentinels take you to a part of the village you have not seen before. Secluded by shrubbery is a runic platform, marked with magical symbols. Teleporters are rare magical devices which are found here and there around Agemonia, always greatly treasured by the local populace. They are believed to have been created by the Ancients, the mysterious people who disappeared millennia ago. No one remembers who the Ancients were anymore, but in the ruins of their great civilization their legacy lives on.

“I, too, am a… magicanism of the… Ancients,” the arcane golem speaks with a metallic voice.

A triad dedicated to the teleporter starts to operate it as per the wishes of the entire village, shared through the Song of the Xi-Noq.

“In the Veletian cities the skolders oversee the teleporters,” Blokar says, feeling the magical currents with her hands.

“The skolders?” the Ra triad asks.

“Skolders are priests of the Reformed Hearth and leaders of boryot society,” she explains. “They follow the teaching of Velyuk the Old who taught us of the seven sins and the seven virtues and reformed our church. Without him, we would be living our lives in greed and violence like the korallians or the nihteegri.”

“Or the ignisaurs,” the Ra add, speaking out loud what everyone was thinking.

“Or the ignisaurs,” Blokar agrees.

“Or the ignis… aurs,” the golem confirms to general chuckles.

All of you step on the teleporter. The runes carved in the stone platform light up with an azure glow which suddenly engulfs your fields of vision. The light turns white and you have a brief sensation of falling. When the light dies out, you see that you are no longer in the xi-noq village.

You are on top of a tall, basalt column.

Beyond the column is the ocean. The wind is so strong you fear falling off the cliff and into the sea or the rocks below.

This rocky column is part of a series of cliffs joined together by rope bridges and natural arches. They slope downward as this is their highest point. You can see islands down below, some of them with buildings. There are even boats and ships there.

Here, on top of this column, there is little else but mossy rock, nests of angry birds, and this teleporter platform. An elderly korallian waves at you from one of the other columns where there is a small hut at the base of a lighthouse.

“Fair winds, mates,” the old man yells, his words almost drowned out by the wind, which is not fair at all, but deadly. “You’re not supposed to be there!”

You tell him you are coming down, and walk over the rope bridge to him. He explains only the Shiver Retreat council can approve the use of the teleporter.

From the man’s hut there is an elevator of sorts leading down to an island that is almost at sea level. The lift must be operated manually by turning a heavy crank. Not interested in debating with the lighthouse keeper, you lower yourselves to Shiver Retreat.

Some of the city is erected on cliffs, shoals, and islands, but mostly the houses are built on wooden posts protruding from the sea. They are connected by bridges, ropes, rafts, and piers, and the people seem just as adept at rowing a boat as they are walking on foot. The sight of another submarine and some diving bells makes you understand there are korallian buildings under the surface, too, who knows how deep. This city is not spread out horizontally but vertically!

The nihteegri citizens swim almost as readily as the korallians and use long, curved tubes made of reeds to breathe underwater.

Almost all the citizens are korallian or nihteegri which makes you stand out as you walk around. There is little use in trying to disguise yourselves as the boryots are much bigger than anyone here, and the xi-noqs much smaller. And even if they were not, the antlers and the antennae would give you away. But the golem draws the most eyes as it walks slowly, wooden piers creaking under its heavy metal feet. Children run after it and then quickly scatter away when the creature turns to face them.

There are no forests or fields here as the city mostly survives on piracy. What you do see are rope-makers’ and sail-weavers’ shops, harbor guards and dock workers, priestesses of Lanimora and warlocks, fishmongers and weapon smiths, taverns, and bazaars for selling stolen goods. When you were on the basalt columns, you could see well-tended orchards up on the cliffs.

But where are Aurin One-Flame and her two dozen captives? You see no sign of them, but sense strong magical reverberations from inside one of the massive rocks.

The Solar Fleet ship is in the harbor next to pirate ships with soladins guarding it. You question the harbor guards and they tell you ignisaurs have rented one of the cave docks. The sea continues into the caves, but the bottom is shallow, the waves nonexistent, and the edges of the cave provide natural walkways which make them perfect for loading, unloading, and repairing ships. And who knows what else.

One of the caves is guarded by soladins who stand on piers by the entrance, armed with their gilded bardiches. That is where you sense the strong magic coming from.

You realize your captured compatriots are inside, as is Aurin One-Flame who is about to perform the ritual. Or has she already begun? You also clearly sense the foul stench of evil aox magic, like a constant dull backdrop to everything else.

A tall wave erupts from inside the cave, overturning some of the smaller boats and throwing the soladin guards on their backs. With the wave comes an explosion of invisible but horrible aox energy. Memories of your worst nightmares quickly flash in front of your eyes and then disappear. Children begin to cry and sea birds fly away in terror.

“Aox should… be cleansed,” your golem reminds you.

Then the feeling disappears and the sea is calm again. Whatever that was, it means things are in motion!

You must quickly enter the sea cave and stop Aurin One-Flame and whatever evil sorcery she is attempting! But how?

5. Gods and Mortals

You are nine. The boryots are Yuduk the shapechanger, Blokar the warlock, and Alyuk the cryomancer. The xi-noqs are the triad of Ra who specialize in plant magic and the two mystics, Zhin and Lor. The ninth is the golem.

The Ra triad has obtained breathing tubes for everyone.

“By Velyuk, this is a foolish idea,” says Alyuk.

“We’ll get in undetected,” Blokar explains.

“No we won’t,” the cryomancer disagrees. “Can you not feel something is afoot in the water? The wave of aox we just felt started under the surface. If we dive, we’ll have to face that evil magic at a great disadvantage.”

Blokar is not sure and looks at the little Zhin for confirmation.

“Zhin believes Alyuk may be right,” it says. “There could be a portal to the Breach open in the water.”

“We would be sucked right in,” Blokar understands. “What other choice do we have?”

“We could storm the guards,” Yuduk says. “I’ll turn into a beast, Alyuk can freeze them, the xi-noqs can make them smaller. We could take them.”

“But at what cost?” Blokar asks in horror.

“The cost of inaction may be higher,” Lor ponders.

“All life should be protected,” the Ra triad says in unison.

“May I… speak?” asks the arcane golem with its voice that sounds like it comes from the bottom of an iron barrel.

The boryots and the xi-noqs turn to look at the magicanism.

“I am not… life,” it speaks. “I can… be sacrificed. If I draw the… guards after… me, you can enter… the… sea cave.”

“But you’re one of us!” Yuduk protests.

“I was made to… serve.”

No one is keen to part with your magicanical companion, but you are in a great hurry to save many others. Eventually you agree to the golem’s suggestion.

The golem approaches the soladin guards from the left and attacks them. One of them falls into the sea and desperately starts removing his gilded armor before he drowns. The others chase the golem away from the entrance.

You are in a boat and, given your chance, row it into the mouth of the sea cave. Strange echoes inside sound like the wind is singing and sighing. It is a foreboding, ethereal sound, and it gives you a bad feeling about this whole enterprise. Strange shadows dance on the cave walls and the stench of aox hangs heavy in the air.

“Perhaps we should turn back,” Alyuk says.

“Yes, I think you’re right,” Yuduk says.

“This is a psionic defense,” Zhin explains. “Can’t you feel it? That’s why we feel bad about entering.”

“I didn’t know ignisaurs are capable of that,” the warlock Blokar says, having studied all kinds of magics in the Council of Eight.

“Neither did I,” Zhin replies eerily.

“Then who or what was it?” asks the Ra triad. No one has an answer.

You force yourselves to climb out of the boat and onto one of the piers constructed inside the sea cave. You follow it further inside the cave to witness a horrific sight. On the cave dock stand two dozen boryot and xi-noq, their wrists manacled and their eyes empty. They’re the ones you came here to save!

At the opposite end of the cave from you stands Aurin One-Flame, soul gems floating around her gold-masked head. Through the soul gems, she directs the immense magical powers whirling around in the cave into the captured sorcerers and through them into a powerful spell.

In the middle is a basin which is meant for a ship, but instead of a vessel you see a giant monster, something ages-old and evil from the unfathomable depths of the sea, pouring out aox everywhere. Its claws and mandibles reach out. You can feel how it tries to magically dominate you and everyone else. Aurin One-Flame’s magic holds it at bay for now, but it is far from subdued.

“In the name of the Burning Sun, the never-changing,” the priestess chants, “I command thee, Faarazua the Cutter! Submit to my will!”

Whether the ignisaur sun god is stronger than a korallian sea god, you have no idea, but with the ritual, the soul gems, and the captive sorcerers, Aurin One-Flame certainly has a strong chance. But how could you eight have a chance against either?

Just then the huge monster raises its massive body from the basin and lunges at its captors.

“If we had gone to the korallian city like I said, we would know more about that creature,” Yuduk whispers. “Now we have no choice but to rush her. I’ll lead the charge.”

“No, she’s too far away. Maybe we should have researched the ritual, but we could still try to take control of it,” Blokar replies.

“The Cubes of Teleportation would have helped us get to the priestess,” the Ra triad adds. “Still, we could sneak closer and grab the soul gems.”

“Stop second-guessing,” little Zhin snaps with surprising aggression. “We are here and we must act now!”

“Can’t you release them of their shackles?” asks Lor of the triad.

“Maybe,” they reply.

Another wave of Faarazua’s painful aox energy hits you and everyone else in the cave. Yet Aurin One-Flame remains standing and chanting.

6. Big and Small

You are eight. But not for long. You decide to release as many of the captives as you can and let them join your ranks.

Zhin and Lor are xi-noq mystics who have the ability to bend space, making things grow bigger and smaller. They sneak to the nearest captives, a pale xi-noq and a tall boryot woman, and place their hands on the manacles. The captives pay them no attention, so enthralled they are with the ritual taking place.

The shackles start to grow, and soon Yuduk and Blokar can easily slip them out. Streams of magical energy are still flowing from Aurin One-Flame to the soul gems, from each gem to one of the captives, and from the captives to Faarazua, the korallian god of the deep, to capture him. Even though the two are now free, the magic still flows through them.

They turn to look at their would-be liberators, and realize what has happened. The boryot is the first to act: she pushes her palms against each other and the stream from her to the monster is cut. She is still weak as most of her energy remains inside the soul gem.

The xi-noq follows her example and does the same.

“Thank the Trinity,” the xi-noq says weakly. “We were powerless to stop the binding of Faarazua. Now, please help the rest of my triad!”

“We must stop Aurin One-Flame before the ritual is complete!” says the boryot. “I am Ghulov of Gorskow.”

“And this one is called Nnan,” the xi-noq introduces itself.

But your two mystics are already moving on to help the next captives.

Meanwhile the complex spell intensifies as do Faarazua’s attempts to stop it. Another massive wave of psychic energy hits all of you, and you feel a powerful need to escape the cave dock at once. The Ra triad holds hands in communion, protecting itself. Blokar and Alyuk have enough mental control to withstand the psionic attack. But it is too much for Yuduk. His face distorts, his fangs and claws grow, and he roars ferociously. He bites Blokar viciously before running out of the cave. You hear his howls echoing against the cave walls.

Alyuk runs to Blokar to tend to her wounds with his cryomantic magic.

“Are you at peace?” he asks her.

“Yuduk was the one most interested in the korallian gods,” she replies, “but they were too much for him. But no, I am not at peace. The pain is still too great.”

They comfort each other for a brief second before getting up to help the other captives.

Then the Ra triad notices something is wrong with Aurin One-Flame. Her golden mask shines with an almost crimson hue and her body is changing. It is not entirely unlike the change Yuduk just went through, but not the same, either. The sun priestess’s hands twist and grow into claws, and even though her body is hidden by her robes, strange bulges seem to develop there, too. Then another set of thinner claws breaks through and then one more!

But she does not stop. If anything, she grows stronger from the change, and even Faarazua seems to realize it may have met its match. But it also realizes the magical binding has changed as many of the sorcerers holding it in place have stopped doing so. It struggles and fights in the pool, its tail killing a group of xi-noqs. Some of them had just been released, some were still shackled. One of them was Lor.

When Zhin sees its final mate being crushed by the monster, it stops releasing captives, and runs to Lor’s smashed corpse with tears in its eyes.

“Lor,” it yells in pain, and tries to commune with its dead mate. The monster of the deep keeps roaring and Alyuk has to carry Zhin away to safety.

Neither Zhin or Blokar are fit to continue releasing the captives, but Alyuk has found a safe place for them between the pier and the cave wall. The Ra triad takes the newly released captives there. Ghulov and Nnan, like the other released captives, are still weak, a part of their soul and magical power trapped in the soul gems.

“I am glad to be free but you should have stopped the ritual,” Ghulov says.

“But how?” the Ra triad asks.

“The golden mask is the focus of the spell. If we remove it, Aurin One-Flame will no longer be able to continue the ritual and her connection to Faarazua would be severed.”

“No,” Alyuk replies. “We must escape this cave. If we all die, this was all for nothing.”

“And leave the soul gems to the ignisaur?” Nnan asks in disgust. “We would never be whole. We must grab them first.”

“Zhin will not run,” Zhin says. “Zhin has lost its triad and is now a sha nnuq. Zhin has no purpose if not to save others from Aurin One-Flame and Faarazua. We must take the soul gems and return the souls of the dead to the Song of the Xi-Noq.”

“There is another way,” Blokar says with strained breath. “At the Council of Eight we spend decades studying ritual formulas and spells. I am not the only warlock here. We could take over the ritual from the priestess and control the monster ourselves.”

This is a strange suggestion, but then eyes turn to a xi-noq who wears a necklace of circles similar to the one Blokar does. “It is true. We are a warlock triad and initiated in the same mysteries as Blokar. We have observed the ritual from the start and if we, all of us, pooled our wisdom and power, it could be done.”

“Even with most of our power in the soul gems?” asks Nnan.

“We do not know,” the xi-noq warlock admits. “Maybe.”

You feel a burning pain as a wave of aox energy hits you from Aurin One-Flame.

You look through the planks protecting you to see the eight sorcerers still in captivity have been sucked dry. They collapse on the pier, wrinkled husks of their former selves. But the magic still flows through them to Faarazua who coils in on itself, perhaps almost subdued by the spell.

This is your last chance to act.

7. Ends and Beginnings

You are fourteen. You watch in horror as the solar priestess Aurin One-Flame is finishing her spell of control over Faarazua the Cutter, a god of the deep. You can feel the gigantic monster’s psionic attacks diminish and turn into a subservient hum. Is it already too late?

“I am a skolder of the Church of the Reformed Hearth,” says Ghulov of Gorskow. “I do not fear the Burning Sun nor Faarazua. I will run to the ignisaur and grab her golden mask. Who will join me?”

“We are acolytes of Aiun-Woan,” speaks Nnan. “Aiun-Woan is part of the Trinity and there is no force greater. Our triad will join you.”

Together the three xi-noqs and one boryot run to the hideously transformed Aurin One-Flame. She seems completely focused on finalizing her control over Faarazua, but as the four reach her, she grabs Nnan with one of her huge claws. The two other xi-noq try to release it, but the mutated Aurin has too many claws now. She snaps Nnan in two like a reed.

Ghulov manages to get her hands on the sun mask which glows with a crimson radiance. All the magic of the ritual is controlled through it and its power is immense, too great for Ghulov. As she reaches for the mask, the power to control a god is directed to her body. She burns to death almost instantly, but not before wrenching the mask off Aurin.

“You fools!” Aurin One-Flame gloats, her face now revealed to her captives for the first time. It is distorted and now, somehow, centipede-like, much like Faarazua. She does not seem to care. “The Burning Sun is never-changing and all-powerful! You think you can stop me now when I control Faarazua the Cutter?”

But the ashes of Ghulov do not reply, nor do the remains of Nnan. The transformed priestess is holding the two living xi-noqs in her claws and they cannot reply either, for they now feel Faarazua’s might. As do all of you.

The desire to worship Faarazua is overwhelming. It is a god, after all. You are in its presence. Whatever its will, you should obey. You want to obey. Many of you get on your knees or start to chant or pray according to your own customs.

Clearly, even Aurin One-Flame feels this way. “Oh, Faarazua,” she cries, “I see the error of my ways. You are much more powerful than the Burning Sun! If you would have me, I would be your high priestess!”

Faarazua raises much of its considerable body from the water, its dozens of feet and claws still, as its head slowly approaches Aurin One-Flame. The head alone is bigger than the priestess. The ignisaur spreads her claws in an act of surrender to the great power, releasing the two xi-noq. By way of reply to her offer of service, Faarazua opens its mouth, grabs her with its mandibles, and eats her whole. The two xi-noq acolytes get on their knees and start to worship the monster.

Faarazua seems disinterested in your subservience. Or perhaps it is Zhin the lone mystic and Blokar the warlock who alone are able to resist its powers, who instead use all of theirs to command it to leave you alone.

The god of the deep pulls itself back into the water and turns toward the cave entrance. Only its large chitinous back is visible as it swims out of the sea cave and into Shiver Retreat’s harbor. You feel yourselves released from its mental grasp.

Alyuk does his best to close wounds with his cryomantic magic, the recently released soul gems restoring his powers. The lonely Zhin examines the gems of the dead xi-noqs, but finds them empty of their souls. As it had already resolved to do its best to return them to the Song of the Xi-Noq, it collects the stones nevertheless.

Blokar, now cured of her wounds, climbs to the pier where Aurin stood and grabs her golden mask. Seeing the burned remains of Ghulov, she says, “be at peace now in the Garden of the Ancients.”

Faarazua has broken some of the piers and posts as it left and you follow its trail outside where you hear chanting. You stand on the half-broken pier at the cave mouth near your destroyed golem and the corpses of the soladins. You see Faarazua in the middle of the harbor with korallians and nihteegri from all over Shiver Retreat surrounding it, standing on piers and bridges, or sitting on boats and rafts, some even swimming toward it.

“Faarazua! Faarazua!” they chant.

You see Yuduk the shapeshifter, too, on his knees. Even the ignisaur sailors on the Sunshine Fleet ship seem to worship it.

But you now have your strength back, and four warlocks who know what they need to do. With their guidance you release the Shiver Retreat warlocks from Faarazua’s telepathic hold and together you manage to magically force the weakened god to leave. A few ships are overturned and several korallians swim after it as it dives deep back from whence it came.

The citizens of the pirate town slowly regain their wits, looking around in confusion.

One of the pirate warlocks, an elderly korallian woman whose face is covered in tentacles, looks at Blokar and his xi-noq colleagues for answers. They quickly explain Aurin One-Flame’s plan and how you managed to thwart it. The old korallian tells you that her name is Sseva’zor and she is a member of the town council, and then she orders for the ignisaur sailors and Yuduk to be arrested.

“Why arrest Yuduk?” the Ra triad asks in unison.

“Being an abomination is a crime, and he attacked Blokar,” Alyuk says.

“He has also murdered two of our citizens since his escape from the cave,” Sseva’zor adds.

One of the boryots you released says he is a skolder and promises to take the tied-up Yuduk under his care and return him to Veletia.

“You have been found guilty of the Sin of Violence and of being an abomination. As we return, you will be punished under the auspices of the Church of the Reformed Hearth.”

“My liberty was short-lived,” Yuduk quips as he submits to the skolder. You notice his fingers are still purple with korallian blood.

“What of the ignisaurs?” asks the Shiver Retreat warlock.

You are not sure what punishment would be best for the sailors. Some say they should die, others that they were also victims of Aurin One-Flame.

The ignisaur captain asks to speak and is granted leave. “Fair winds, mates,” he says in the Shiver Retreat fashion. “We were taught to be loyal servants of the Burning Sun even if we saw the horrors committed in His name. Today we have learnt that Faarazua is stronger than the Burning Sun, but the folk of this free town possess even more power. What god do you worship here?”

“We worship Lanimora, the nihteegri goddess of the sea,” Sseva’zor explains.

“Then we, too, would take Lanimora in our hearts, and seek refuge here in Shiver Retreat. Perhaps one day we will be able to pay off the sins of our past.”

The old woman smiles and stares at the ignisaur captain intently for a while. “I have read your mind and found you to speak the truth. The council will deal with your request but in the meantime you are granted liberty of the harbor.”

“Thank you, thank you!” the captain replies.

That day and the next, the dead are mourned, the broken boats and piers are repaired, and plans are made. As news spreads, the locals realize you have saved them from a life of servitude to Aurin One-Flame and Faarazua. Many come to offer their thanks, share their houses, their food, and their cups of tentacle, a tasty mix of spikefruit juice and korallian booze.

As the sun sets and the moons rise, a great feast is set up on rafts and boats, and you are the guests of honor. Tentacle flows freely and they have even managed to obtain boryot blackbread and vevak cheese as well as some hot, blue xoa which he xi-noq love to drink. The various fish dishes on offer do not fit your diets, but the ignisaurs eat them gladly. But plango-plangos, spikefruits, nuts, kelp biscuits, chew pitch, and other local delicacies fill you up nicely.

“Listen to my story to tell it,” Blokar begins, “and tell the story to teach it.” She starts to tell a story of her captivity, and then others take turns. You swap stories of your adventures and of your homelands and a local minstrel has already composed a song about how you saved all of Agemonia!

The following day is for goodbyes by the teleporter high on the cliffs. The old teleporter keeper welcomes you to the platform.

The skolder takes Yuduk the Cursed back to Veletia for justice.

The tragic, lone figure of Zhin the Sha Nnuq will leave for Giz, carrying the depleted soul gems. With it are the Ra triad and the two remaining acolytes who mourn for Nnan. You sometimes wonder if Zhin and the two acolytes could ever form a new triad, but are unsure how it works.

Some of you have decided to stay. Blokar and the xi-noq warlocks feel they should stay here to help protect Shiver Retreat and strengthen the Council of Eight in the town. Alyuk the cryomancer admits he has fallen in love with Blokar and wants to be with her wherever she is.

After two flashes of the teleporter, Blokar, Alyuk and the triad of xi-noq warlocks are left in Shiver Retreat. You walk down the bridges and stairs about to become official citizens of the famous pirate town.

You are five.