1. Journals

Rhogar''s Birthday

Session

KINGSTON

The weather is bad, it is below freezing and sleet is raining down. We word of recall to Lasthaven. 

We then head to the orphanage and take Rhogar aside, privately wishing him a happy birthday. Codex hands him a card and the staff of striking. Rhogar’s reaction is guarded, but Codex is sure that he was touched by the card and gift. 

We teleportation circle to the Kingdom of the Tiger, entering into a guarded location. 

We meet Uramoto Yoshinaka, who says he will be Able’s personal bodyguard for his time. He will take us to the palace to meet the Khan (though he stumbles over the term Khan, which Codex, Simon, and Maud catch).

We pass through a town, and we notice there no visible damage to the town from the Astral Tempest. We also notice that there is no evidence of anyone sick, or anyone begging.  Different culture. 

At the entrance to the palace we meet Nobira Ume, official representative of the Khan and Nara Saito, the Khan’s Handmaiden. 

They take us to the Khan, who is in a throne room and wearing extremely formal attire, including a jade crown. Nara then speaks, saying the Khan greets us, and then proceeds to speak for the Khan. It is strange. 

We are taken to a guest compound to rest, before a dinner later tonight. We are taken by Uramoto Yoshinaka, and when we are in privacy of the guest compound, we ask what has happened. 

We are told that the God-King gave his life to protect the Kingdom of the Tiger from the Astral Tempest, and his physical body died.  His spirit remains, and the Khan will soon be ascended to Godhood when the funeral is held for the physical remains, in about two weeks – Shieldwall 17.

We learn that the Voice of the Khan Tashiro Natsuki is also one of the Judges to the Southern Kingdom Council. 

We head to the library and learn about the seven Southern Kingdoms

Kindom of Anar – capital of Kyngstowne, which is also where the seven judges meet. Judge is Peter Faithkeeper, a priest of Pelor.

Iaun – Elven Kingdom, Judge is Aubron Qina. 

The Emerald Oasis Kingdom – they call themselves Samarhd. Judge is Pranav Adhya. Samarhd worships many gods, but do not believe someone can be mortal and a god at the same time.  They are a republic and the people choose rulers by vote.

Barakor – Dwarven Kingdom (Shield or Hill Dwarves). The judge of Barakor is Thandoki Jadebender. His left side is nonfunctional after he was hit by lightning from a Drow mage. 

The Nomads, judge is Ishkibal. Most of the time he abstains from most votes. Some debate on whether or not Ishkibal is a name or a title.  They keep their physical appearance hidden. 

The Island Nations, Judge is Allegra “the Shadow” Phillips.

The Kingdom of the Tiger, Judge is Tashiro Natsuki.

We then go to dinner with the Khan and some nobles.  Able offers gifts of jade to the Khan, who graciously (silently) accepts, but some of us note that there are many nobles that do not approve of the gift, thinking we stole them, and a few of us note that many of the nobles have concealed weapons. 

After dinner we are escorted to private chambers, and the Khan meets us and speaks.  She tells us she is in mourning and not permitted to speak publicly, but is breaking it to speak to us for a few moments. 

She lets us know that she is aware that there are some nobility that do not approve of her becoming the God Empress, and Ban-Chao is going to be busy protecting her. 

We then go to see the body of the former God-King, laid in state.  The spirit of the God-King was waiting for us, and we speak to him.  We ask if the world should be saved, and he says that so long as a sentient being (Tiamat) is suffering, we should seek to end that suffering. He also tells us that it was Anton that caused the Astral Tempest to occur, he wanted to try to challenge and kill the weakened Tiamat to assume her power as a deity. 

We say goodbye and head to our compound.