Tenth Month of 1,266
- Golden plains and foothills were the first thing I saw upon coming out of between. There were wind-worn stone formations, and oddly shaped lakes that came from seemingly nowhere.
- It was later in the day than when we had left Capella.
- Dayadir was in the middle of a scrub desert with cracked earth. There were many brown and tan, domed, two-story structures. We saw large courtyards within high walls, with wells and ornate gazebos.
- The dragon landing plaza had a massive Sakarian dragon symbol set into the brick pavers, the first such symbol we had seen since coming here. The sight was slightly unsettling. K’brin looked deeply disturbed.
- Everyone had to pull up their face coverings because of the dust being kicked up as we landed in the plaza with the symbol on it. V’dos was chosen to stay with the dragons.
- A banner with the red, black and white heraldry of Terenmor was hanging from the plaza gate.
- Most of the people we passed by were dark-skinned, wearing loose clothing and covering as much of their bodies as possible. Head scarves were common.
- It seemed that color corresponded to class. The more colorful and fancy your threads, the richer you were. The poorer people often lacked shoes. Women’s hair was usually kept in buns or braids, and men kept theirs up in short ponytails
- K’brin asked where we could find Lorekeeper Vanavar. We were directed to a dwelling with a round, blue window on the front door, creating a “spectral moon” symbol.
- As we walked along, we passed shops lining both sides of the street. Occasionally, there were open spaces with wells and greenery, as well as living quarters.
- Repeating diamonds and zig-zag shapes were a common decoration. Interestingly, there was a lot of stylistic dragon art, with dragons in various forms of flight.
- We found the house that had been described to us and knocked. Answering the door was an older man, with soft white hair, a beard, and a slow gait. Vanavar Zorhani Kallumi Riyadi, as he later introduced himself, was dressed in a long, white tunic, and was wearing an interesting disc of intertwining dragon’s heads with five small pendants hanging from it; the pendants appeared to represent different phases of the moon.
- Findmar and Vanavar talked and exchanged their secret Lorekeeper handshake.
- Vanavar seemed rather resigned. I used my Talent to dig a bit deeper and got a “so, it has come to this” feeling from him.
- Findmar brought out a small Kameni Egg. He explained that he always had many with him to give to potential allies, and I could see it shook K’brin. The scope of what we had unleashed was becoming clearer to me with everything we learned.
- ‘Zana was given an Egg and cried at what she saw on it. Vanavar seemed… resolute.
- There were two tapestries hanging from the wall that caught my eye. They had decorative text on them instead of imagery. I asked Vanavar about them.
- The first one read, “History is the tale of small moments — chance encounters — casual decisions — sheer coincidence — that seem of little consequence at the time, but somehow fuse with other small moments to produce something momentous.” Vanavar explained it was one of their great wisdoms.
- The second one read, “Victory carries a moral burden the vanquished never know.”
- Vanavar was reluctant to help us find the Tomb. Visitors were once reverent and respectful, but it was closed to pilgrimage when dragonriders tried to destroy it.
- The Tomb was also in forbidden lands; there would be violence if we were discovered there by the Terenmori. Vanavar questioned us and seemed to be looking for something specific in our responses that we couldn’t quite figure out.
- He pulled several small pendants from a wicker basket. They were small crescent moons – a recurring theme, I noticed – and had a blue gem on them. The symbol represents the “spectral moon”, an invisible and magical moon, passing in front of the larger, visible moon. The amulets would protect us from the sand demons in the desert. There were many demons in the Badlands, most evil, others just selfish. I put on a pendant because I had seen enough in this world to believe that there was every possibility the danger was real and I was taking no chances!
- We floundered around far too long, trying to suss out what Vanavar was trying to get out of us. Did we need to appeal to the virtues the Terenmori valued, did we need to assure him we would do whatever it took and kill if necessary, or assure him we would avoid violence at all costs?
- We swore that we would treat the Tomb with the reverence the last group of dragonriders had not. He heard enough of what he was looking for to give us some maps of the area, pointing out likely spots for the Tomb to be found. We would be heading towards the Uldrizishi River, not far from Kedresh. Patrols originated from there, and it also had the most Eldritch, so K’brin warned me not to use my Talents anywhere near there.
- Feeling the passage of time more keenly, the closer we got to being stuck here for a TUrn, we quickly made our farewells and headed out to search for the long lost Tomb of the Navigator.
- K’brin spotted an escarpment that seemed likely and we made our way there. Then it happened. V’dos reported that a patrol had found us, a wing of five dragons.