FRIDAY, JANUARY 2ND - KINGDOM of KESHANAR 5E - SESSION 0
My players decided to get back to D&D 5E and they chose the Kingdom of Keshanar, a recently funded Kickstarter 5E setting created by Dave Hadden and the fine folks at Orthane Productions. The three players decided that they would be siblings, children of a trade advisor to Pharaoh living in the City of Keshanar, the capital of the Kingdom of Keshanar the most powerful empire in the southern hemisphere of the world of Orthane.
The oldest of siblings is Kharu El-Semat, a Tiefling male who is the result of an affair his father had with a fiend disguised as a human merchant for a neighboring city. When he turned twenty his father brought him home to raise. Kharu loves his books and is studying to learn his father's business so he may one day take over when his father retires and become an advisor to Pharaoh Ra-Solari. He is a first level Warlock, having secretly entered into a pact with a Djinn. He spends more time than he would like trying to keep peace with his half sisters and keep them out of trouble.
Khephri El-Semat is the middle child. She is half-elven and a follower of the goddess Bastet and an aspiring member of the paladin order of her temple. She harbors some resentment toward her father and older brother, feeling as the oldest legitimate child of the household it should have been her that was chosen to follow in her father's footsteps, not Kharu. She is willful, rebellious, but loyally protect her family and serve the will of Bastet.
Lastly is Zafira El-Samet, the youngest child and sister to Kephri. She is a divine soul sorcerer using her magic to protect her family and household. She is quiet and introspective. Secretly she feels intimidated by the drive and ambition of her two older siblings and feels overshadowed by them in the eyes of her parents. She has a tendency to be a bit manipulative, pitting the two older children against one another in an effort to raise her own stock with her father.
Our campaign begins with the siblings being called into the study of their father, Semat, who advises them he will be leaving for an extended period of time on business for the Pharaoh. He leaves Kharu in charge in his absence, much to the annoyance of Khephri. Their father tells them that he expects them to take care of their mother, maintain the household, and to conduct themselves in a way that reflects their family name and station. He gives each of them some coin and tells them to that if they choose to go out that evening they should enjoy themselves, stay out of trouble, and be home in time to see him off in the morning.
The three make their way to The Night Key, one of the city's oldest taverns and their favorite drinking establishment. They arrive to find the mood a bit subdued to what they are accustomed to at night. The tables are occupied by pilgrims and members of the Solcore Guard, those tasked with maintaining order in the city. The party takes a seat at their usual table and order drinks. As they settle in to enjoy their beverages Khephri overhears pilgrims at a nearby table talking.
"Not one cat in the streets, not even the black one from the Temple of Isis, I swear", one says to his friend.
"The Pharaoh would not have invited us here on the eve of some disaster, no?" replies his companion. "That cannot be what the missing cats mean surely."
Sharing what she overheard with her siblings Khephri asks them if they recall seeing any cats on their walk to the tavern. Both Kharu and Zafira say they do not recall, but surely the cats are not gone as they are a fixture in the city and a sign of the gods favor. Kharu walks over to the door and looks out into the surrounding streets, seeing no cats he comes back to the table, assuring his sisters that surely the pilgrims exaggerate. Khephri, not willing to take her half brother's word, goes outside to see for herself. Looking about she sees no cats at first, but as she starts to turn to go back in, she catches a glimpse of a large black cat wearing fine gold chains around its neck move into the archway of Apep's Maw across the street. The Maw, as it is known, is massive sinkhole nearly sixty feet in diameter that opened centuries ago following a fallen Pharaoh's schemes resulting in an incursion of demonic forces and a seven day battle known to the inhabitants of the city as the Endless Night. The maw is now a site of worship where pilgrims travel to toss in tablets of dissolution, a ritual to remove burdens like sickness or regret, believing at the bottom of The Maw is the mouth of Apep, the god of destruction and chaos.
Khephri crosses the street to follow the cat, not telling her siblings what she sees or where she is going. Kharu and Zafira enjoy their drinks and discuss their father's pending departure and what they will do while he is gone. They both mark the absence of their sister and bemoan how she will no doubt land them in some sort of trouble that will disappoint their father. Unbeknownst to them, Khephri has found the cat in the courtyard that holds The Maw and she moves to touch the cat, thinking to pet it as she is naturally fond of cats. The cat moves to her, rubbing against her leg and allowing itself to be touched. As she scratches the cat's head, Khephri notices a small scroll tube dangling from its collar. Moving to retrieve it, the cat giving no resistance, she removes a small message and as she unrolls it to read it she is overcome with a vision.
In the vision she sees a river of black under a gray sky split by red lightning. The landscape is teeming with the bloated bodies of what look like maggots with humanoid faces. A drop of glowing, radiant blood falls from the sky into the river and begins to grow into a small pool on the surface of the river. In the pool or radiance Khephri sees the City of Keshanar, the pool appearing to form a portal of some kind. She sees a tall man with the head of some unknown animal, but instinctively she knows this being is the god Set, walks into the river and stares intently at the pool. He crosses his arms as if waiting on something.
The vision ends, leaving Khephri confused and shaking her head to clear her thoughts. Seeing the small scroll still in her hands she opens it and reads the message.
"Greetings,
If you are reading this, then that means you can see Cataphene, and I have a proposition for you.
I am equally considered by the disappearance of our almond eyed friends. Please follow Cataphene to my tower so that we might combine our efforts to stave off whatever calamity approaches, but do not come until the four legged man approaches you.
Sincerely,
Asrilene the Sight
Member of the Hexarch Council, Soothsayer of His Radiance and Most Reth, Ra-Solari the First, Pharaoh of Keshanar, Chosen of the Phoenix, Keeper of the Phoenix Covenant, Sun King, and Commander of Keshanar's Hearts and Forces
Khephri recognized the name Arislene. Her father had mentioned the Pharaoh's reclusive arcane advisor several times. He seldom agreed with the Sight, being a practical man and more at home with finances and trade agreements than a belief in magic or prophecy. Her heart raced, thinking that the disappearance of the city's cats held some ominous meaning she could not fathom. And the vision she had seen, what did Set have to do with Keshanar? He was imprisoned by Ra in the Underworld for the slaying of Osiris and could not escape. Why now did he spy on her city.
She looked down at the cat, Cataphene the message had named him, and she asked out loud "What do you think?"
"Who are you speaking to?" a voice asked, shaking her from her musings.
Turning toward the sound of the voice Khephri saw a centaur in glistening plate mail, worked intricately with gold, silver and mithral approaching her. A four legged man! Just as the scroll had mentioned.
"I was speaking to cat friend here," Khephri replied motioning to the black feline at her feet.
The centaur, a member of the Mafdet Centaurian Guard, the Pharaoh's personal guard, looked to the ground questioningly, then back up to the half elf. He cocked an eyebrow at her. "What cat?"
"Right here," Khephri replied looking at the cat. "This is Cataphene."
The centaur shook his head, seeing no cat and thinking this girl was into her cups and had wandered over from the nearby tavern. "It is late and there is a curfew tonight. You should be on your way."
As he turned to go back to his post, Khephri looked down at Cataphene and whispered, "Why can he not see you?"
The cat looked up at her with large blue aquamarine eyes. Then wandered back out into the street. Khephri followed than motioned for the cat to stop as he moved away from the tavern and toward the area of the city where the Pharaoh's palace stood.
"Wait," she said to her feline companion. "I must get my brother and sister."
The cat followed her into The Night Key where she found her siblings and she told them of Cataphene and the message from the Pharaoh's seer and showed them the scoll. She did not mention the vision, but absently reached down to scratch the head of the cat. Kharu and Zafira looked down, but could not see the cat. Thinking their sister may have had too much to drink they thought perhaps they should go home, but the disappearance of the cats of the city weighed on them. They decided to indulge Khephri in her insistence to go and see Asrilene in her tower. Stepping into the night with Cataphene leading the way, the three followed their guide to the tower that stood nearby the royal complex. They saw the Dusk Guard, who people referred to simply as "Duskers", the animated dead used by the city to clean the streets at night while the majority of the population had made their way home.
The three looked at the tall, slender, pale stone tower, but found it was hard to focus on the structure. Try as they might, when they tried to look upon it they found their gaze diverted away. Powerful arcane enchantments redirected their attention to other nearby structures as if to hide the appearance of the tower from onlookers.
Following Cataphene through the front gate, which opened of it's own accord at the cat's approach, the party made their way to the tower's single smooth polished stone door. As they neared the door opened, allowing light to spill out from within and framing an impeccably dressed humanoid with the head of a tiger.
"Ah, Cataphene!" he said, "You have returned and brought guests for the mistress I see. Please! Please come in!"
The party entered, looking about at the entry, rugs and tapestries covered most of the surfaces, and a desk stood nearby with scrolls and books piled upon it.
"Come," the man said, "I will take you to the Seer."
He led them up a set of winding stairs that led to a richly appointed room with white marble floors covered in thick carpets. In the center of the wall, directly across from them, was a portrait of Toth and Isis standing back to back in the center of a circular clock, evenly demarcated by representations of Othane's four moons. At a desk by a large open window the three saw a Sphinx, Arislene, the Soothsayer of the Pharaoh. The Sphinx looked at the party as they entered, standing to her four paws, wings tucked against her sides and moving with a mercurial grace that defied her size, the moved from behind the desk to approach her guests
"Well, look at what the cat dragged in," she said with a smile. "Hello Cataphene. Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"
The Sphinx locks eyes with the cat, the two staring at one another as if having an inaudible conversation. After a moment Arislene looks up at the party and smiles again. "He is a cat of few words under normal conditions, but I am afraid I cannot understand of what he is trying to say the past few days. Where are my manners? I am Arislene. And you are?"
Khephri introduced herself an her siblings to the Seer. She told the Sphinx how she had seen Cataphene after discovering all of the city's cats have disappeared. She mentioned reading the scroll and the vision she had had when she opened the message. Kharu and Zafira stared at their sister, this being the first she had mentioned of the vision and their confusion was obvious to their hostess.
"A riddle for you if you will indulge me - it's something of a tradition among my kind. What animal works well in groups, is easy to train, is reliable to the minute, and rarely vain? It listens to you every word and moves in time with the rest of the herd?"
The three looked at one another, shared confusion on their faces.
"Cats?" Kharu muttered unsure of his answer.
"No, the answer is not cats," the Sphinx replied. "The fact that all of them have acted in unison gives me concern. Have you tried to get more than one cat to cooperate in a common endeavor of your devising? Let alone hundreds of them? I can speak from some experience here. We do not herd well."
The siblings asked the Seer what they should do, wanting to help, but having no idea how to proceed.
"When one is trying to find a cat, they should get a dog. I would recommend Noble Hounds in the Sand Flea Market. They sell hunting dogs that should be able to track down our missing cats."
Agreeing to go to the market the next morning, the siblings took their leave and made their way home. They settled in for the night, each pondering over the events of the night and how they were now caught up in some mystery that seemed to bode ill for the city and its inhabitants.
The next morning they rose early to see their father off. He bid each of them goodbye, and before climbing into his carriage, turned to them again.
"Remember that Kharu is in charge while I am away," he said. "Take care of your mother, look to the household, and be home before dark. There is a curfew in effect at the decree of the Pharaoh. The Solcore Guard will be patrolling the streets each night."
The three agreed, though Khephri did so reluctantly. They watched as their father's carriage departed, then the three set off for the market, intent on finding Noble Hounds and securing a dog to help in locating the cats.
This is where we will wrap part one of our recap. The second part will be up in several days. Stay tuned to see where the adventure leads. What does the disappearance of the cats mean? We shall see soon. Thanks for reading.
