20 Nightal 1381: the Winter Solstice

It begins with a pie. Specifically, an apple pie, just set out by Keket to cool after baking.

Everyone is over at Kek's place for Ani's birthday and (surprise) baby shower, as well as the traditional. Keket and the girls (sans Ani) are busily cooking, no small task when feeding a hundred hungry mouths.

(Guests: Raithen, Talrendis, Raynar, Kara, Desi, Eleine, Krista, Ysana, Yaphyll, the Oracle, Kira and Nala Sindrathil)

The halls are decked with lights, wreaths, and ornaments. A massive pine tree dominates the Great Hall, and beneath it is a mountain of gifts. The wind whistles outside, the blowing snow flails at the windows, but inside, all is warm, all is right.

When the time has finally come, a parade of children is led inside and seated, in a surprisingly orderly fashion. Then, to their amazement, platters, goblets, and baskets of food animate themselves, flying into the room, and setting themselves atop the tables.

Ani sits at the head table, forced to watch and not help.

Of course, no one may eat until they say Grace. After all, there is a High Priestess or two presiding. For this evening's benediction, Eleine will sing a traditional hymn.

After the feasting, there are gifts! The children rush the pile, tearing paper and shouting in glee.

Afterward, the party retires to a small sitting room, around a comfy fire. But, surprise! There are gifts here, too, and these ones are for Ani, including:

• From Keket:
  • Plenty of beautiful (and practical) clothes for mom and baby
  • Clever little toys, such as one that shows the motions of the planets
• From Raithen:
  • To the Ends of the Earth, by Raithen Nightsong: a hand-written and illustrated collection of short stories, inspired by real events, of a bold child adventuress
  • A beautiful sculpture of a sorceress riding a unicorn, rendered in silver and pearl
• From Kara:
  • A strange, mystical device that captures moving images and can play them back. She promises it won't trap anyone's "soul". Comes with digital frame.
• From Raynar:
  • Keket tried to convince him not to overdo it. He actually listened.
  • A magic wand and a tiny little wizard hat, from his own childhood, gifts fit for a witch-to-be.
• From Desi:
  • An adorable fencing gi and extra-short wooden sword. She demands Ani teach her the proper ways of a warrior.
  • A Chessen noble lady's dress, her own from her betrothal ceremony. It's her only memento of her past life.
• From Zahl: (not present)
  • A old, beat-up stuffed bear, with a simple note: "everyone was a child once."
• From Talrendis:
  • The Lantanese Falcon, a priceless ancient artifact of Yuireshanaar, representing the 40,000-year history of a nigh-forgotten people
  • The gift of song: Eleine has written a song ((Childhood)) to commemorate the occasion. Also, Talrendis gives Ani a magical music box which he made, with the special power to invoke visions of one's brightest memories from childhood.

As the music box plays, the PCs drift off into waking dreams.

• Ani sees visions of optimistic adventures through the tower, of mischief against the "old witch", of tussles with her sister, of approving pats on the head from a tall, old man...
• Raithen sees visions of meadows, of boys play-fighting with wooden "swords", of best friends, of young love...
• Talrendis recalls a time buried in memory, one he'd long since forgotten. It was on a night such as this. The lights were out, but he was wide awake. Through the door, he saw his mother, dressed in a nightgown, rushing downstairs to answer the door. "My goodness...it's you!" she breathed, trying not to wake the child. "You know you can't be seen here!"
  • "I know", he says, "but I had to come." The man peers into the room while Tal pretends to be asleep. Ysana grasps his hand, as they look upon the sleeping child.
  • "Your son," she whispers.
  • "My son," he breathes, squeezing her hand in return. They embrace.

Keket's vision of childhood seems to morph into something else, a vision, an extra-sensory perception of her brother issuing some dire warning, and imploring her to "walk the Golden Path". She collapses.

Moments later, Balthazar bursts into the room, informing her of what she'd already known: her brother, the Pharaoh, has disappeared, leaving his throne untended. Power has been seized by his mother's sister, who will surely bring ruin to the lands. Keket must go to Mulhorand to set things right.

The party loads up on Icarus and flies to Skuld, arriving from the east with the rising sun.

As the ship descends into the sandy streets before the pyramidal palace, thousands of awestruck peasants gather round to worship the living goddess who disembarks from it. None dare impede her progress, or even look her in the eye. Though the palace guards are under orders to bar her passage, they instead kneel before their eternal Queen.

Within the palace, the court of Sarahi, who is considered the living incarnation of Nephthys, is not welcoming to Keket. Some are so bold as to treat her with derision, although not to her face.

Sarahi sits proudly upon the throne, attended by her lapdog Hussam, the incarnation of Anhur. She declares that Keket cannot possibly be Isis, or the rightful Queen, as she abdicated her position and fled the realm, something the real goddess-queen would never do. She seems to dare Keket to oppose her, her eyes aglow with energy, seemingly ready for a battle. Keket leaves without direct confrontation, promising to return and end her tyranny.

Balthazar suggests that she claim the Menat of Isis, a relic of the faith that would prove her divinity. They journey to the Temple of Isis, easily gaining entry. Keket's nature allows her to access the ancient and priceless artifacts of her faith, and her magic renders her immune to the death traps therein that might have claimed an ordinary tomb-robber.

But before they can escape with the relics, they are confronted by Gaspar, a swordsman who Balthazar apparently knows, and fears enough to insist that Keket and the others flee to safety while he holds him off. They plunge into the depths of the temple, thousands of feet below the surface, to find tunnels leading to the other temples, and to the palace itself. They ascend a shaft, emerging from within the Palace, and fly out through the very throne room itself. They take to the sky and board Icarus as it departs from the city.

Act 3

Keket seeks to "walk the Golden Path", something her mother once abandoned her life in the palace to do herself. She opened herself to the wisdom of Isis, and found she could somehow recall images and sensations from her own mother's journey. She knew where to begin.

In the forsaken depths of the desert, Icarus lands, the party watching Keket incredulously as she disembarks into the forbidding wastes. Guided only by her intuition, with no easily explainable logic, she seemed as likely to be on a holy quest as to have lost her senses.

Nevertheless, her intuition is soon vindicated, as the party is confronted by a band of Illythiiri, whose chieftain knew of Keket's mother, and had promised to guide her daughter when she inevitably came by the same path. They follow the tribe through the wastes and to their mountain home, where they are offered water and shelter.

From there, Keket undertakes a dangerous vision quest, armed only with her wits and a single dagger, trusting not to magic, but to her survival skills. Unwilling to see her endanger herself, the party trails distantly in Icarus, monitoring her progress. Lacking the lifelong training and physical assets of an Illythiiri huntress, Keket collapses after two days, but is soon whisked away by a mysterious blur.

Luckily, Kara had planted a tracking device on her, which allowed Icarus to pinpoint her location, hundreds of miles away, on the Raurin side of the mountain range. They set out to catch up with her.

Arriving at the site, Raithen and Talrendis descend to infiltrate the cave in which her last known coordinates were recorded. They find her being tended to by a mysterious Mulan man, who effortlessly gets the better of them and knocks them out.

When Keket awakes, she realizes she has been reunited with her brother, who now wanders the desert in search of enlightenment. He, too, has walked his mother's path, albeit with considerably more ease than his sister, and commiserates with her that it was disappointing, giving few answers and offering only more questions.

Keket introduces the party to him. He doesn't seem to comport himself like a king, seeming to be easily distracted by his own thoughts, his profound, if irrelevant, musings on philosophy. He is uninterested when they remind him of the situation back home, and Keket seems to be no aid in getting his attention.

Instead, inspired by the stars on this clear night, Keket realizes something very important. The puzzle box she had been working to solve for the better part of a year was a puzzle of runes, which she knew were based on the constellations. What she had failed to take into account was the drift of stars over time--imperceptible in one human lifetime, but noticeable on a scale of tens of thousands of years--which would slightly alter the runes and their intended meaning. With this new information, she easily deciphered the code, and finally solved the puzzle.

The puzzle box began to emit a brilliant pillar of light, shining skyward, and seeming to light up a star that was never there before. Even Horus-Tep was puzzled as to the meaning; that is, until they were joined by a visitor.

Balthazar, having returned from his battle and tracked Keket to this remote location, was soon called upon to explain himself. His mysterious opponent was one matter, and the Pharaoh's accusations were another.

He explained:

He, and his brothers Gaspar and Melchior, are members of the Medjai Was Tiet, the Order of the Risen Scepter. Sworn adherents to Osiris, they are eternally resurrected in new forms, ever sworn to uphold their most sacred duty: protecting the secrets of Mulhorand.

:Balthazar explains how the ancient ways are sacrosanct, and even the Pharaoh himself cannot supercede them. For this reason, Melchior, the Pharoah's personal guardian, would have been tasked with destroying him, should he fail in his duties. HT confirms that the battle was indeed joined, but Melchior was no match for himself.

:As for Balthazar, he has ever been the guardian of the Queen, and defended Keket's mother in his current incarnation. Though he doesn't readily admit to it, it seems clear from the results of history that he failed to execute his duties when her mother fled the palace on her vision quest, and when later her daughter abdicated herself. This would explain why the other Medjai are willing to come to blows with him.

Of course, as a defender of ancient Mulhorandi secrets, he must be able to identify the things he is meant to protect. He reveals that he is aware of the true nature of Keket's puzzle box. It is the Beacon of Light, an artifact used in legend by Ptah, the Traveler, to guide the Pantheon through Wildspace on their quest to free their chosen people. Among its legendary powers is the ability to locate the Ship of the Gods, of which it was once a part.

HT was, naturally, aware of this, and admits to having been the designer of the plan which allowed Raynar to uncover the artifact, knowing he would pass it on to Keket when his own ability to comprehend it failed. Now, with it solved, his grand plan can continue. He insists upon following its lead, chasing down the star that it illuminated. Raynar, reminding him that, as amazing as it is, Icarus cannot reach the stars, nonetheless humors him, if only to see his hopes crushed on realizing how out of his grasp the stars might be.

Icarus ascends, bearing the Pharoah to the heavens.

Act 4

The party soon realizes that the star was not a star at all, but a satellite, well within Icarus' ability to reach. It turns out to be some sort of waystation, an almost mundane revelation, given its majestic and alien design, its ancient age, and its rather notable position, hovering in the sky.

Hacking into the station's computer, Kara is able to secure Icarus a full refit of energy and supplies from the station's store. This inspires Raynar, realizing that Daedalus might receive the same benefit, if it can somehow be coaxed back into the air in the first place.

Keket and HT are both disappointed, having hoped they had discovered the fabled Ship of the Gods. Undeterred, they activate the Beacon again, sure that the next step will be the treasure they seek. Instead of leading them to another destination, the Beacon leads them to dozens, all satellites, encircling the entire world.

Clearly, they have quite a journey in front of them.