Session
Recaps

Session began with a flashback to 100 years before present, in which a prince interrupts his father’s international party to beg the king not to act. In response, he is thrown out of the palace, where he flees on foot into the grasslands. As he flees, the grass turns into desert and the Wastes spread.

In modern day, the posse stumbles upon an oasis already occupied by a Haenryeong camp. The Haenryeong turned hostile without conversation and fought the posse until four were dead (two Haenryeong soldiers and two Sumaq travelers). Only two were left breathing, an elder Deinothere rider and an injured soldier.

During the fight, one of the Sumaq pulled a gun on Erdem while he was chasing the Deinothere rider. Upon an attempt to de-escalate, she fired upon Erdem and the party multiple times before killing the other Sumaq and then herself.

The posse was able to loot a significant amount of supplies from the ruins of the camp, including a child with white-streaked hair who had been sheltered by the Sumaq, runic stones that burned when anyone without white-streaked hair touched them, and a letter written from the Hwangjae of Haenryeong to the King of Averon.

The posse set up their own camp nearby and settled in for the night. During watch, a single oviraptor was spotted running by; aside from that nothing interesting happened.

Hawk dreamt of a woman he called “Madam,” and who called him “Marshal”. Madam told him that the child they had discovered was “his successor,” and warned Marshal that the Wastes are going to be a different palace in the morning.

You awoke the next morning to find the injured soldier dead. Hawk offered the old man the choice between life (or a chance at it), and suicide, and he took the latter, leaving no survivors from the Haenryeong caravan. You buried the Sumaq, sewed a pouch for the magic stones, and left. Hawk gave Erdem instructions on how to bury him properly if he dies, and Caranta told the posse that the Devaraja will be hard to find given he travels often, so you should stop in town before reaching Suryavat to confirm his location.

You travel for 2 days with little interesting occurring, besides spotting one of the Kharassan lakes on the horizon (which Amythaon poses you visit and Sǝma abhorrently dissagrees with). When you set up camp that night, Amythaon begins praying, and the baby begins sobbing. Kori brings the child to Amythaon, and, while he soothes the kid, both their white streaks glow and a small amount of rain falls on them. Only Kori, Amythaon, and Caranta see this, the rest must be told of it after. Amythaon interprets it as a sign, and suggests traveling throughout the night, which you do.

The next day, you come across a Nokáru camp that has been razed to the ground, its ceratopsians scattered, and its inhabitants executed (among them an old man and two children under 10 years old). You loot the camp and find a letter in Kharaset, which Caranta is able to translate.

The letter's contents summarized are thus: The Kharassa are hunting the people who "stole" the baby that was being transported from Haenryeong to Averon. They want the infant brought back to the lakes at any cost, and emphasize that outlaws can (and should) die in this process. Additionally, they want any person with white-streaked hair to be detained and brought to Azat.

Hawk decides to use eye-black to dye Amythaon and the child's hair black. The next day, you name the child Ñaṅ and run into another destroyed camp, this time a Saffekh one. In the ruins, you find a small diictodon with a journal in Wayraqi on its pack. The diictodon attempts to lead Sǝma and Kori toward one of the lakes, but you pick it up before it can get you too far.

After 9 total days traveling, you reach Surythara; a small fishing group greets you. After Caranta tells the eldest that they are a Sangha, he agrees to take you to the nearest temple for aid. He took you up the river, to Jalavethāśrama. The high priest there agreed to shelter you for 7 days while sending an Oviraptor to Suryavat to hear the Devaraja's wishes on the matter.

Later that day, while you met to discuss, you were interrupted by a Sumaq woman named Inkasisa, who wanted to see the Diictodon. She recognized it as another Sumaq named Amaru's bond, named Capacti. Amaru was a painter from Suryavat who was traveling to Minressa to learn new techniques when he was presumably taken by the Kharassa. Inkasisa revealed herself a translator and translated the Seorai letters for you, which definitely drew suspicion and made her alarmed. She said she was going to travel to Haenryeong to investigate, even with warnings from you. That night, Kori invited Sǝma to go swim in the river, and the two have a near-croc encounter.

You stay five days at the temple before the Devaraja's reply arrives: he sends four Spinosaurus riders led by a (hot) white-haired woman. They bring supplies for the temple, and, after interrogating Caranta, offer to escort you to Suryavat to see the Devaraja.

You left from the temple toward Suryavat with the Devaraja's guard. That night, you make camp with the Chantarans (and their bizzare tent setups). Sǝma, Hawk, and Kori try dried fish for the first time to varying results. Caranta attempts conversation with the head of the guard, and after a drawn-out back and forth, you all give up your names. Hers is Jayasundarī, and she is very forthright with her doubt of the Devaraja: apparently he believes that the posse's arrival is a sign from the gods that will save them. She also warned the posse about a curse that has befallen the capital of Surythara in the last two weeks, one that she cannot quite describe aside from a general lethargy. After dinner, Sǝma finds Amythaon and asks him what exactly the white-streaks mean. During his watch, Amythaon approaches Jayasundarī's Spinosaur and attempts to goad the creature into attacking. Instead, it stares at him, reminding him of something.

Hawk has a dream that night with Madam, who confirms that the two-week long curse is actually a 17-day-long one, and that her prior statement that the world would be a different place when Hawk next woke up was related to that. She warns him to keep Lady close.

The next day Amythaon gets chewed out by Jayasundarī for feeding her Spinosaurus but manages to talk his way out of any real consequences. After another day of travel, you make camp and (some of you) enjoy fish again. After a bit around the fire, two Saffekh approach; a man and woman of similar age to Hawk. They request room around the campfire; Jayasundarī initially declines, then with the posse's argument agrees to allow them to sit, though they must make camp elsewhere. The man introduces himself as Kadar, his wife as Raasha; the two are kind and he is quite talkative. After a lot of rambling, he requests a story of Sǝma. She tells one of the once-beloveed Sultan At'isi, who began the drought when manipulated by demonic advisors. One of his nobles, Ikram, tried to caution the Sultan, but At'isi heard none of it and stripped Ikram of his titles and banished him to the Wastes. Notably, the story included the Sultan binding the Tyrannosaurus in the depths of Azat, which explains why the beast only exists among the Kharassa.

That night, Caranta has a dream in which their Sauropod almost walks over them, then knocks them aside with her tail. Amythaon has a dream in which he is back on the deck of his ship with his captain. That morning, during the final watch, Caranta and Sǝma talk about a vision Caranta had relating to the Tyrannosaurus in Sǝma's story. The two agree the Tyrannosaurus must be related to the rain in some way, though they don't go into specifics.

You ride all day, reaching Surythara by mid-morning. Jayasundarī does not want anyone to stop, and you end up riding all the way through the night to reach Suryavat by dawn. True to Jayasundarī's warning, the city is indeed cursed. Erdem notices the magic feels stagnant and thin. Kori notices her bond with Lucho feels frayed. Jayasundarī takes you to the palace bathhouse and requests you clean yourselves before seeing the Devaraja. The Outlaws in the posse are shocked, but everyone ends up bathing in the scented freshwater. Once you are done, she takes you to the temple nearby to meet the Devaraja.

The Devaraja immediately zones in on Caranta, claiming he knew a survivor from Caranta's temple was alive and would save him, and he had been hopeful it was them. He tells Caranta to call him Suryavarman, his first name, then asks them to introduce him to the posse. Surprisingly, he speaks Nokáru Dustmark, Minyr, and Orvalk. He calls Amythaon "Brother" and recognizes Sǝma's last name (Al'Katar). He then describes a scar that has appeared on his bond and a vision he had the night the curse descended: “I saw this vast unraveling. Something eating magic from the inside out. It has been 100 years since the last rain. I fear something worse than drought is on the horizon.” When told about the Haenryeong's plans, he requests to read the letter and is unworried about the potential military threat to Suryavat. He is far more interested in the section on the white-streaked people; apparently he has heard from the Sultan of Thara that bounties for white-streaked individuals were being passed from Averon to Zan'tharan traders. He gave you a royal seal to use if you wish to seek out the Tharan Sultan.

After the conversation, Amythaon lingers to speak to the Devaraja. He and Suryavarman confirm that the gift the white-streak bestows is not universal: Amythaon's manifests as a closeness between him and beasts, Suryavarman's manifests as far slower aging (he's 51 years old what). The two speak briefly about Minressa: the Anax, Menecertes, is supposedly over a hundred years old. Suryavarman argues that if Menecertes were to be that old, he would need to be like Suryavarman, but the Haenryeong report mentioned nothing of Menecertes as a white-streaked person despite mentioning far more hidden individuals. He tells Amythaon there is a reason he called him "Brother," and then thanks him for his service to Suryathara.

You rest the rest of the morning after discussing plans forward. While the other members of the posse relax, Caranta ventures into the temple to see the sauropods. There, they find the Devaraja's Argentinosaurus, Ananta, who seems lethargic. After unsuccessfully attempting to diagnose the root of the issue (it's the curse, but you cannot say what exactly), you have a conversation with Jayasundarī, who confirms that the ailment is some form of bond scar that appeared when the curse did. You told her of the threat to Suryavat and the Devaraja and she requested to read the letter for herself. You noticed that while she seems to take the threat seriously, she downplayed it to you. Nonetheless, she agreed to do something about it and left.

Kori had a dream while sleeping in which she awoke in a chaotic camp to find herself face-to-face with the same Tengerai woman as before. This time, however, the woman confirmed with you that she is not a figment of your imagination but, in fact, a real person also dreaming. She said that an Averonian raiding party attacked her camp a few days ago and injured her. She's never seen them so far south before; they must've come through Ravelo lands to get there, and they brought a Valecourt with them. You confirm it's likely her white-streaked hair that is attracting them, but fail to mention anything else you know.

After napping, the posse splits into groups. Sǝma, Kori, and Caranta set out into the city to find Capacti's family. You ask around quite a bit before letting the Diictodon lead, and finding the house. There, you encounter (presumably) Amaru's mother and sister, who pulls you aside after you deliver the news. She eventually confirms Amaru has a white-streak and that her family has been paranoid about it for a long time. She then asks if you will escort her to Azat. You caution her many times but she seems set in her desire to find Amaru or prevent such an event from occurring again. After finally acquiescing, she gives you Capacti back and tells you that you cannot leave without returning the Diictodon.

Erdem searches for Jayasundarī, eventually finding her in her quarters. She answers you at the door and you give her the Seorin letter. You notice while she reads that she is blocking the door, has been recently crying, and has an open letter on her desk. She reads the letter and sarcastically congratulates Erdem on telling her nothing new before she closes the door. Erdem knocks again and she answers with a far more callous demeanor, telling Erdem that she doesn't care and the Devaraja doesn't either, so he should can it.

Hawk and Amythaon take the child to the Devaraja and discuss with him the possibility of leaving Ñaṅ there. He assures he will do all in his power, but the conversation you have reveals he is not nearly as powerful as initially believed, and has placed quite a lot of responsibility for his (and thus the city's) protection on Jayasundarī. He also mentions his belief that the curse befalling Suryavat and the emergence of the posse both occurring on the Centennial of the drought is a sign from the gods. He assures you a naval assault is impossible, though a land assault would mean the inhabitants of Suryavat would flee north into Thara. You agree on a plan in which Ñaṅ will remain in Suryavat for a short time before a temple is chosen for her to be sent to. Then, she will disappear into the ranks of temple initiates. You confirm the child likes him and the gems do not burn, then request medical supplies and leave.

Erdem seeks out the Devaraja after and has a short conversation with him in a private tea room. You share a vision that you had with him and he seems drawn to a part of it in which a Krah who lived a hundred years ago appeared to be shaken off an Azhdarchid, who instead chose Erdem. You discuss the divine power of the Azhdarchid - a messenger, and to Orvals a symbol of divine justice. The Devaraja believes that the Azhdarchid choosing Erdem is of great importance and its return leading to rain meaning that Erdem's duty is to bring about this. He cautions you against aligning yourself with a strict interpretation, instead saying that the uncertainty of visions is the way the gods prevent one from a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sǝma, Kori, and Caranta have a breach day. Erdem visits the beach later and notices the curses' strength appears stronger the closer he gets to the coast. Caranta takes Sǝma to a flower garden that evening, where you have a short discussion on the grandeur and excess of Suryavat and the suffering in the Wastes.