Dinner With Benjy

We had a long conversation over dinner with Benjy and his wife Tella. I must admit that I have never been good at understanding these historical matters and did (at some point) doze off. Perhaps it was the fine meal that Benjy conjured for us. For what it is worth, Carlagnios also did not seem pleased with an evening of chatter.

"Have you ever seen an adult dragon?" asked Benjy. "Or an elder dragon? I once saw a chromatic dragon passing through."

"We have found several dragons in our encounters," Garg answered. "Carlagnios always gets sad and funny when we kill dragons."

Carlagnios scowled and muttered something about others not knowing the difference between dragons that breathed fire and dragons that spat acid.

Benjy began to explain some of the history of the Siege World. "The 'Wayfarers' all came at once, when the 100 left. They were the Dragonborn, the Dwarves, the others like yourselves.

"The Exodus of the 100 came just after the First Apocalypse. Most of the damage here (the lava, the buried buildings) was done in the Second Apocalypse, when the 100 were not here to stop him.

"Lord Chimera is an incarnation of a demigod. Every 5 years, he takes a student for his services."

Kale interjected, "My master has had interactions with the Chimera."

"Your master? Where are you from?"

"We are Wayfarers as well." Kale proceeded to explain where we came from.

"Interesting. Perhaps your world isn't one of the original worlds..."

"What do you know about the Lover of the Raven Queen?"

"The Lover was a mage who become a god. He has an oracular gift. He can see different futures. Every time a choice is made, he can see all the possible futures from all the choices.

"He ended up coordinating his actions with his selves from the different worlds. He would flip a coin to decide each action and coordinate his actions with this new and future selves. He flipped a coin every day for 10 years. By evaluating the prophecies, he was able to transcend from a paltry mage to a greater being.

"But a god has no gaps, and he had them. The Raven Queen took him and filled in the gaps.

"As part of this ritual, some of him died, and it left him mad

"The Early Centenarchy -- the rule of the 100 -- was a peaceful time. They met and passed laws at a building called the Centenarch -- their seat of power. Passage of laws required a majority. During this time, they also brought in the Cthona."

"Seat? It was a chair?" asked Carlagnios, waking up briefly from a short snooze.

"Furniture?" asked Tiny, who had also fallen asleep.

Benjy ignored them and continued. "During the Early Centenarchy, the 101 appeared. He was like Robin Hood -- an outlaw. Sadly, he was married to one of the 100 at one point, and then he was imprisoned three times and spent 1000 years in captivity. The name of his wife was Ana Logrid Polliz. She was a mage of some repute, but there were stronger mages in the 100.

"Early during the first war, the 100 hid the Centenarch, in case a crackpot got ideas. Rumor has it that there is a hall of maps in the old city that might have the location, and there are dungeons beneath the city.

"During the First Apocalypse, all crops were destroyed and there were worldwide clouds. The 100 left soon afer that because they realized that they couldn't win."

"Speaking of the city," Kale mentioned, "do we need to be in a guild?"

"No, you just need to hire a guilder."

"What do you know about the Aspect of Gamerat?" asked Bran.

"It was involved in the relationship between the Lover of the Raven Queen and the 100. The followers of the Raven Queen still have a template in the city. The Lover tolerates worship of the Raven Queen."

"What magics have survived since the early times?" asked Kale.

"Sometimes, we'll find bits of Animata rituals. But usually it's considered bad taste to summon an Animata. Many have lost loved ones to Animata."

Kale cringed. "What about the markers throughout this world?"

"It is a system of beacons that was introduced in the Late Centenarchy. The flying Animata guard these."

"What about the towers in this city?"

"The 100 built the towers with help from the Lover of the Raven Queen."

"Why is the top of the tower in the mage's school missing?"

"It happened between the First and Second Apocalypse. They used to use the Cthona for their larger magics. But the Cthona left the world when the 100 left. They took their loyal servants with them."

"What happened in the Second Apocalypse?"

"The Chimera raised the lava over the world. A god can't be contained in one world, but his agent could be."

"Do you know the Owl?"

"The Owl was one of the greatest, most ruthless generals."

"Do you know of the Lens?"

"The Lens allows someone to commune with the Lover of the Raven Queen. But teaching someone to use this would drive a mage mad."