Week 4: Tusks!

The party awoke at the Pearl and had breakfast with Aura Lee (Darvis’ mother). She mentioned that Sindra was friends with Ammon and might know how to get in touch with him. They also met Kintiro, the Puppet Master of the Moru Kel puppeteers’ guild. Following breakfast, they headed to the Dormitory of Skura where they said hi to Zuri and then met Faron. Faron works with the Sisters of Skura and offered the group a tusk reading if they helped her visit the Mouth of Skura (a sacred site west of Moru Kel). Faron also told them that the Rahlos (Kada’s parents) might have information of interest to them

The group headed west, where they were attacked by an enormous kernu. After besting it, they continued on to their destination. Faron told them a story of Whiro the Great receiving a tusk reading, which led to his sacrifice that saved the city (see the end-story at Whiro for details). The party took a bath in the waters of Danya’s Bath near the Mouth and gathered flowers from the Starflower Grove before entering the caves.

In the caves, they first fought 3 cave spirits that engaged in much mental trickery, and then found 2 maw demons in a test of their bodies. Defeating both, the proceeded to the Moon Heart — a giant, glowing quartz echo of the moon, that felt both warm and cool to the touch. Faron proceeded to give a tusk reading for each of the traveling companions:

• Aiden: THE WAXING MOON OF EARTH. PASHAN. You have been touched by a powerful being, an agent of Pashan, called Ty-Abo the Rooted, one who speaks the language of all that grows, withers, and returns to the forest. You are in the blooming of youth, a carefree time of wildness and living in the moment, but the seed has already been sown that will come to fruit in the long term. There is a greater plan for you in the long term. And you are not the only one in the city of royal birth to have been touched by Ty-Abo.
• Effi: NEW MOON OF EARTH, INVERTED. THE CROWNCAP MUSHROOM. You have suffered a great loss. There has been death, which you narrowly avoided. But you have not moved on yet. You are stuck. You must face darkness three times, for you are destined to..carry a . . . lantern? Some kind of very bright light, too bright to see what it is.
• Vel: I cannot read you. The necklace you wear protects you from such vision: I know this because I helped Sister Sulon make three of them. I mainly handed her scarab-beetle powder, silver dust, and whatever colored vial she asked for. I don’t know what half that stuff was, but I do know what the pendants are for. They’re to protect you from someone who has hurt you in the past.
• Kyamu: THE SCHOLAR OF FIRE. THE APPRENTICE, sometimes known as THE CHILD. You have spent most of your life without the company of your kind, except the one who raised you. But I see that two powerful beings have been around you for a long time. They have visited you recently, each seeking your allegiance. You have chosen wisely; Mir is a being of love and life. But I see that both of these beings have been around you for a long time. I doubt the other one, the flashing, angry one, will let you go without a fight. Beware, it is deceptive and clever, and you have much to learn . . . I don’t know what the other thing was, Kyamu. I’ll have to ask Sister Sulon. It was bright but shimmering or shifting, with sparks of color. I’ve never heard of anything like it.
  Oh, and there’s one more thing. I saw another presence around you, more recently, and . . . well..you went to the Symposium, right? I had my first kiss on the fairway at the Symposium, with a dashing guy named Tovin. He smelled so good. We courted for six months, and then he broke it off. I thought I would die of heartbreak, but I didn’t. Sometimes things really aren’t meant to be.
• Saleen: THE FATES OF FIRE. SAWEL. A most fortunate tusk. Not the luck of Katya but the windfall of Sawel. I smell a field of wildflowers. I hear the buzzing of bees and wasps. I see blue skies and feel the warmth of the sun on my head, neck, and shoulders. I taste mead. You bring good fortune with you, almost as though you were touched by magic . . . yet I sense none around you. That’s all I can see. (she frowns, then shrugs and moves on)
• Darvis: THE RUNNER OF WATER. THE FERRYMAN, WEIGHER OF SOULS, WHO THE DWARVES CALL THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAVE. You have carried great resentment from childhood, but now you are a man. You have learned empathy and care with feelings. You have found a cause and serve loyally. I see we share a special devotion to Skura. This will bring you great happiness. One day you will be asked to lead. You will want to refuse, but you must accept, even though it will bring you much sorrow and loss of hair. 
• Dyta: THE PUPPETEER OF AIR. THE RAVEN, ALSO THE TUSK THAT REPRESENTS THE ISWARI SPIRITS CALLED VAHNA. Everyone sees that you are clever, quick, and witty, yet you are slow and quiet on the inside. Your fate, more than the others’, is linked to the fate of Moru Kel. The city is a part of you.
• Tobias: THE RUNNER OF EARTH. THE WHEEL. Your brother is thinking of you, Tobias. He’s sitting on the floor. It’s dark. The room seems to be swaying, moving. There’s a fearsome sound coming from above, as if from an upstairs room . . . like a horn but as deep as a big drum. There are others near him; I can feel them. They’re all prisoners; their hands are tied. Your brother’s feet are tied, too; he’s tried to run . . . recently. There’s a man — a guard, I think — standing under an open trap door. Now he’s looking this way. He has long black hair and . . . he’s coming closer(she makes a face) ooo . . . he stinks! And I wish that deafening droning and bellowing would . . . oh, it stopped. I don’t think the smelly man likes your — OW! He kicked me! I think he’s going to do it again . . . no . . . he hears something at the trap door. Something’s there, blocking it. It’s a huge man coming down the ladder backwards. He’s turning around — oh, he’s not a man but some kind of troll . . . like your friend, here (she gestures at Vel) but without the fur and much, much uglier. He’s holding the horn that was booming like thunder. It’s long, with a curved mouth like a serpent at the end, and blood red. He’s angry . . . at the smelly man. He has him by the throat. Oh! I’m losing it! He said “the kids must remain in one piece”. That’s all; I lost contact. 
• Kowara: THE SCHOLAR OF WATER. THE GRYPHON. You are a good judge of character and perceptive. I believe you could learn to read the tusks, if you’d care to study with the Sisters of Skura. I see another path open to you, as well, another kind of magic, and a great battle with fire. Oh, and you’ll be tempted by some spiced mutton next week. Skip it.

Following the tusk readings, the group returned to Moru Kel where they discovered that the Dormitory had been attacked, seemingly by shadow hounds. Sister Mira — Faron’s mentor — was dead with her throat ripped out. And Zuri clung to life, but had lost an eye . . .