Main Plot

• the inner circle of the Cult of Loki
  • mostly composed of people who aren’t really into the whole Loki? thing but are only there for selfish reasons
    • Vasily & General Bodrashov are plotting to take down the inner circle members who are especially dicks
      • Ileana?
        • destroyed (during the Meteor Incident?)
      • Vladislav Chernovsky?
        • his phylactery needs to be found
      • Jahan Mirza
        • is being sheltered by the efreet?
  • members:
    • General Alexei Bodrashov
      • is in the inner circle due to desire for power and influence
        • at least, that’s what he wants everyone to think
      • secretly plotting to bring down threats to Russian lands
        • alliance with Vasily
    • Vladislav Chernovsky?
      • is in the inner circle due to desire for power
      • participated in the Meteor Incident?
        • escaped
      • Miroslav? (Nestor?’s adventuring companion) is working with Chernovsky on “some sort of demon-containment device; a new sort of binding circle”
    • Ileana?
      • did actually want to bring back Loki?
        • why? it’s complicated
      • participated in the Meteor Incident?
        • destroyed (with the power of Anait’s Sunflare Staff + Nikolai’s antimagic field + forcecage)
    • Gloomfrost?, a.k.a. “Prince Morozov” (great wyrm white dragon)
      • unclear whether he cares about Loki?’s return
      • seems to have been friendly (?) with Ileana?
      • he’s the one ultimately behind the assault of Jotunheim? monsters on the clan of the Varangian? warlord Hakon?
      • participated in the Meteor Incident?
        • escaped
      • Saira? wants to kill him
    • Grand Vizier Khalid? (efreeti? high official, servant of the Grand Sultan? of the efreet?)
      • doesn’t care about Loki?, is in the inner circle for hope of gain (the advancement of efreeti? power)
      • did not participate in the Meteor Incident?, but was an interested party
        • wanted to take back the Armor of the Grand Sultan? from Siegfried Schtauffen
        • Khalid? is now pretty angry, probably?
    • Omicron? (spell weaver? god)
      • what does he (it?) want? who knows, lol...
      • doesn’t ever say anything (can spell weavers? talk??)
      • is clearly powerful, can do some unique magic; extent/limits of power totally unclear
    • Astrid (high priestess of Hel?)
      • co-founder of the Cult of the Fallen Trickster
      • she wants to bring back Loki? because the prophecy demands it and because of her duty to her goddess
    • Kajarinn? (storm giant? princess)
      • co-founder of the Cult of the Fallen Trickster
      • she wants to bring back Loki? so she can kick his ass (as revenge for Ragnarok and the death of her parents and most of her people)
    • Jahan Mirza (former archmage of the Cherkess court)
      • almost certainly has no particular interest in Loki?
      • is in the Cult, and the inner circle, because of his usefulness
        • the new and unique form of control magic he was developing (has developed?)
      • participated in the Meteor Incident?
        • escaped
      • the Cherkess court (specifically, Djansarai) has been informed of Mirza?’s current doings
    • Vasily
      • participated in the Meteor Incident? (opposed the other inner circle members)
• Sven’s dreams of doom
  • the field of fire?, and Zmei Gromovoi’s return
    • this seems to have been averted
    • the sapphires are now inert, and not gathering life energy
    • Jyrgal Abdul Qadir? has been defeated
    • none of Zmei Gromovoi’s known remaining children are very powerful
    • the field of fire? is quenched
  • Ymir’s awakening
    • see wiki entry for Ymir
    • Ilmarinen? and the teen druid squad? went on an expedition to Jotunheim? to look for clues about this
  • the Dark Devourer
    • this seems to have been averted
    • the Devourer? itself has been destroyed
    • the temple-city of the lizardfolk? has sunk into the pit in the center of the Pripet Marshes?; their ziggurats depopulated; their demonic allies driven from Midgard?
      • the remaining lizardfolk have retreated into small, isolated, hidden villages, deep in the Marshes?
    • the chaos ooze? that one of the lizard priests summoned has been destroyed, and the effects of its presence have receded
      • though some small and isolated pockets of weirdness still remain
      • all the planar artifacts that the chaos ooze? generated have been gathered up
        • the PCs have many of them
    • the tzakandi? parasite plague has been stopped, though with many casualties
    • most of the Devourer?’s creatures have been destroyed (though some remain, and hunting the last of them down is an ongoing project)
    • the portal in the center of the Pripet Marshes? will close in time, and the land will heal
  • demons under Kiev
    • they answer to Archbishop Satyros?
      • or so he thinks; actually they serve some evil “darkness” deep beneath the Kievan catacombs
    • on Satyros?’s orders, shadow demons? possessed members of the Assassins’ Guild
      • Satyros? used the assassins? to purge Kiev of Vasily’s agents (and allies of the party, in general)
• The Prophecy of Loki’s Return
  • Koschei the Immortal? has been found and awakened
  • the Key? has been activated
    • the barriers blocking off Deep Shadow are gone
      • travel through the depths of the Shadow Realm? (to pass between planes, or even to go further (??)) is possible once more
    • the activation of the Key? was felt throughout Midgard?, by all spellcasters (though most would not understand what it was)
      • the sorcerers of the Cherkess royal court tracked the source of the event to the Cult’s base in Novgorod?
        • they purchased the plot of land on which the base stood from Prince Vladimir, then traveled there and destroyed the base with powerful battle-magic, leaving nothing but a crater
        • Rudolf Sikorsky? later took advantage of this event by convincing Prince Vladimir that it meant the Cherkess were no longer allied with Kiev (as the prince believed the PCs to be Kievan? spies)
• the Meteor Incident?
  • the alien meteor thing? fell out of the sky as promised
    • but was defeated before it could do much damage
  • Siegfried was not killed
    • Siegfried is now aware of the Cult of Loki, and is on cordial terms with the PCs
  • the Armor of the Grand Sultan? was not retaken by the efreet?
    • the Grand Sultan?, and Grand Vizier Khalid?, are no doubt very angry
      • Vasily has a plan to convince Khalid? that Ileana? and Chernovsky? wanted to destroy the Armor, rather than hand it over
  • Vasily and the PCs have thus made an overtly hostile move against (some of) the Cult’s inner council
    • Gloomfrost?
    • Jahan Mirza
    • Vladislav Chernovsky?
    • Ileana?
      • she’s destroyed!
  • Taras was killed by the alien monster!
  • Nikolai used his divine power to let his worshippers see him and his allies defeating the alien thing
• Zmei Gromovoi’s Journal
  • a lot of progress has been made
  • it’s currently located in the party’s Acheron cube base
    • it was at the Cult research base until the Cherkess destroyed that base
  • the PCs still have the two young brass dragons (sons of Mzistvala?) they kidnapped
    • this is in case they’re needed to interpret something else in the Journal?
    • Arsen’s enmity remains while this is true
• future knowledge (bad things that will happen if not averted)
  • the War of Air and Fire?
    • the djinn and the efreet? will go to war
    • the Cherkess will have to participate, on the side of the djinn
      • Cherkessia will become a battlefield in the war
      • Zmei Gromovoi will join the war on the side of the efreet?, and will strike a terrible blow at Cherkessia, resulting in the nation’s defeat and destruction
        • but this has been averted, since Zmei Gromovoi isn’t coming back now; yay!
  • Ymir awakens and his awakening results in the Varangian? lands and most of the principality of Novgorod being depopulated and turned into frozen wasteland
    • this is still unaverted (see Sven's dreams of doom
  • Prince Igor, a.k.a. Isidor, a.k.a. Ustyhrin-ja, rules over what’s left of the Russian lands with an iron fist, assisted by the Circle of Shadows?
    • nothing much has been down about Isidor yet
    • nor about Zarren, Isidor’s demonic cohort/ally (and leader of the Circle of Shadows?)
  • Said leads an uprising of sorcerers in Kiev
    • Archbishop Satyros? calls up the demons under Kiev to oppose this; the result is that Kiev is ruined and abandoned
      • this is probably averted (thanks to the PCs' actions, Satyros? has been recalled to Byzantium and not heard from since), but maybe not?
  • the Dark Devourer rises into Midgard?; is eventually defeated but wreaks terrible destruction
    • this is averted
      • the lizard priests defeated
      • the Dark Devourer destroyed before he could enter Midgard
  • an assault on Kiev by Siran’s armies of undead
    • this is averted; Siran is dead, her undead mostly destroyed, the goblins of the forest at peace with humans
• the Book of Bones
  • Ileana? had it, last anyone checked
  • fragment of Azrashak? is in it
  • Vladislav Chernovsky? also had access to it, clearly
    • he’s used some of the undead-creation techniques therein to enhance his golems

Personal Plot

• Nikolai’s godhood stuff
  • divine powers & advancement thereof
  • gathering worshippers
    • Jan Anderssen?
      • instructed to find ways to help Kiev win war against Poland? & Novgorod, to claim victory in Nikolai’s name
      • has been integrated into Vasily’s network of contacts?
    • Rostislav of Rzhev?
      • Rzhev? is a town in the principality of Novgorod
      • after solidifying and expanding influence of Nikolai-worship in Rzhev?, will mount expedition to Sigurd’s Keep
    • Hakon?
      • Brunhilda?’s husband
        • Brunhilda? is back
      • rivalry with other Varangian? clans
      • threat from Jotunheim? monsters (resolved for now)
        • demon giants from the far east, led by one named Chagantai? (who escaped), led the assault
        • Gloomfrost? was the giants’ patron, and the instigator of this invasion
  • Iron Triad
    • Zorayan’s relationship to Nikolai
    • Secrets of the Iron Triad
      • Zorayan: Odin?’s handmaiden and student of magic
      • Karayan: Loki?’s protegé
      • Arakel: warrior in Freyr?’s service, general of celestial armies
  • celestial servants and allies
    • Gierahod? (valkyrie?)
    • Firre? eladrins?
• the Spell Keepers of Odin
  • the remaining members of the order have undergone the ritual to become oathbound spirits
    • bound to Sigurd’s? Keep
    • stripped of their personalities
    • empowered to protect the Keep’s archives from those who would loot it
  • Leonid Fokin? has been killed
    • former Spell Keeper?
    • lately member of the Cult of Loki
    • friend and ally of the party
    • death looked like natural causes, but actually an assassin of the Assassins’ Guild of Kiev poisoned him
      • The assassin was possessed by a shadow demon?, taking orders from Archbishop Satyros?
      • Satyros ordered Fokin’s death personally
• the von Scherbach family?
  • all threats to the von Scherbachs? seem to be neutralized
    • the Order of the Iron Mask? is disgraced and destroyed
      • Gunther Holz? is dead
      • Argyros of Antioch? (Franz Romberg) is dead
  • Johann Grimm is dead
    • he left to Albrecht his lair in Germany?, and his guardian construct, Icarus (now stationed in the party’s Acheron cube base)
• Albrecht’s quest for wishes?
  • Albrecht wants to be strong like bull; inherent bonuses are the only remaining way
  • genies? seem to be the best source of wishes
    • efreet? are dicks, fuck ‘em
    • djinn are possibly not dicks?
      • Albrecht has had Juliane looking into whether any djinn may want to negotiate for wish-granting
        • she found a couple of promising candidates
        • the nature of genie wish magic means that a djinni will want, in exchange for wish-granting, something (some service or task, most likely) that advances his status in his society
    • other genies??
      • the marid? (in the Realm of the Deep?)
        • neutral good-ish
      • the dao? (in the Realm of Earth?)
        • totally evil
      • the qorrash? (several places)
        • basically neutral

Miscellaneous

• the Skidbladnir
  • acquired by Vasily on his journey through space-time
  • has a permanent portal (“stargate”), linked to its twin in the party’s Acheron cube base
    • operated with gate key
    • crafted by the Cherkess court, as reward for party’s critical assistance in the effort to clean up the monster invasion?
      • which the PCs themselves caused
        • unbeknownst to the Cherkess
        • as a result of the mission they undertook at the behest of the demon Axacrusis?
  • magical properties and enhancements
    • planar drive
    • fog generator (for stealth)
    • other cool stuff (see entry on wiki)
  • crew: all hand-picked by Vasily
    • several of them are assigned to long-term projects for Vasily’s organization (“Fox Imports”)
      • crafting useful items, including unique Cherkess itemry
      • building a library of arcana, history, and prophecy
  • patrols the skies above northern regions of Russian lands
  • brass colossus is on board
    • also acquired by Vasily on his journey through space-time
    • normally inert (contains no animating spirit)
    • Neek? (Taras’s fire mephit companion) can operate it (with decent but incomplete proficiency)
    • full stats on wiki
• Novgorod has declared war on Kiev
  • Novgorod allied with Poland?
    • also some connection/alliance with Germany?, through Poland? (at least some groups/factions in Germany?)
    • Bratislaw Wronowicz? and the Aerial Hussars? possibly will participate in this conflict
    • Count Rudolf Sikorsky?, advisor to King Leszek? of Poland?, has been one of the main architects of this alliance/conflict
      • he convinced Prince Vladimir of Novgorod to go to war, cleverly using a series of coincidences / events / actions of the PCs to sway the prince
    • Isidor has apparently been also partly responsible for encouraging Prince Vladimir in this direction
• Kai’s plan for the party’s cube base? in Acheron: bring it to life
  • artificial life form, composed of animate plants from Midgard? fused with creatures native to Acheron, will be grafted into the cube
  • PCs had to collect certain creatures from remote parts of Acheron (done)
    • on one of these expeditions, the PCs found an outpost of maugs?, construct servants of an ancient race called the rilmani; in the process of getting the creatures needed, Vasily convinced the maugs? that their rilmani masters (whom the maugs? hadn’t heard from in a long time) wanted them to make war on agents of chaos; Vasily named V. Chernovsky? as such an agent of chaos
      • the rilmani are a race native to Acheron, who believe in balance and order (see wiki entry for details)
        • the rilmani “One Mind”, a telepathic technique for exerting control over Acheron creatures; Vasily is researching how to duplicate its effects
  • no serious progress has been made yet
  • Vasily wants to make the cube, once brought to life, have a limited (dog-like) intelligence, and loyalty to him
    • also (secretly from Kai) to make it have a “kill switch”
• “Ambassador” Said
  • he’s a shady fellow
  • married to Tatiana Dolgorukaya?
    • she’s now the last of her family; her grandfather (Dmitriy Dolgorukiy?) has passed away, and her father (Yegor Dolgorukiy) was killed by the PCs
    • she now owns the Dolgorukiy trading company?
    • she sits on Kiev’s City Council?
      • but actually her husband takes her place there, usually
    • Tatiana? is still geas’d, probably
  • hasn’t actually appeared in public for some time; no one but the PCs (and, apparently, his wife) know this, but his public appearances have been via simulacra (i.e. the simulacrum spell)
    • Said apparently has been doing research on simulacra
  • Assassins’ Guild gave Boris assignment: kill Said!
    • the hit came from the Polish ambassador (on orders from the highest levels of the Polish government)
    • the party kidnapped Said to investigate
      • “Said” turned out to be a simulacrum
      • party tracked down actual Said to an undeground dungeon? near Oleshie?
      • party negotiated with Said (see forum post? for results)
  • does not appear to have any ties to Isidor, Satyros?, or any other bad guys
  • future knowledge: in the dark future (a century hence) visited by the PCs, Said had led an uprising of sorcerers in Kiev, which precipitated the events that led to Kiev’s fall
• Cherkessian succession
  • Amir is frail, and not long for this world
  • Amir has no legitimate children, and has named no heirs
  • a successor will be chosen, according to Cherkess tradition
    • a handful of people of particular influence will likely have the most say in choosing whom to place on the throne
      • Minister Narek, overseer of foreign trade
      • Kasim, commander of the battle-mages of the court
      • Djansarai, commander of the Citadel Mage-Guards
      • Saikhat, high priestess of Satanay? (Cherkess goddess of magic)
      • General Aziz ibn Kamal, djinni warrior and hero
• Saira?
  • extremely old silver dragon?
    • really more of a “shadow dragon?” now
  • older sister of Ivan Kerensky
    • has taken the name “Anastasia Kerenskaya?” for dealings with humans, in her brother’s honor
  • left Midgard? almost a thousand years ago, to explore the Shadow Realm? (and realms beyond??); just recently returned
    • has apparently been changed by her experiences, gaining powers of shadow
    • her very presence distorts the fabric of reality now
      • weakens the barriers between realms
      • causes intrusions of Shadow, with attendant effects and planar properties, and weird phenomena
      • drives ordinary mortals violently insane
  • has taken up residence in the Mountain of Ultimate Winter?, in Ivan Kerensky’s former home
    • Saira? has granted the PCs access, and Nikolai and Vasily have visited a couple of times, combing through Ivan Kerensky’s vast libraries for useful knowledge, spells, etc.; however...
    • the effects of Saira?’s presence are progressively making the place uninhabitable for mortals (and indeed most creatures)
  • the PCs were the first denizens of Midgard? she met, and she’s now on friendly terms with the party
  • intends to subjugate all of Jotunheim? to her power (in service of her greater plan)
    • plans to kill Gloomfrost? (to establish dominance and eliminate threat to her rule)
  • has a grand (and difficult-to-understand) plan to alternate the very nature of the multiverse
    • see wiki entry for details
    • has invited the PCs to take part in her grand design
    • intends to make the same offer to the inner circle of the Cult of Loki (except Gloomfrost?)
• threat to Kiev from the goblins of the forest
  • this seems handled for now
    • Siran is dead
      • the deathbringers? (the undead creatures who inherited command of Siran’s army of undead) are destroyed
    • most of the undead in the forest are destroyed
    • Korelek is dead
    • the remaining goblins are now led by the high priestess of Volos? (and the priests in general)
      • through Nestor?, and Sviatogor?, the “avatar of Volos”, the goblins are at peace with Kiev
  • Kiev’s crusade against the goblin/undead menace in the southern forest (completed)
    • PCs participated in this
    • upcoming victory celebration in Kiev, with PCs in attendance as heroes
• Vahan?, priest of Tlepsh?
  • he consumed the fire weird’s heart
  • now he’s returned to Cherkessia and announced that he’s an avatar of Tlepsh?
    • what does he really want?
    • Cherkess authorities not really doing anything about this for now
      • they’re thinking about it
• the PCs’ Acheron cube base got attacked by Geryon?’s minions
  • Geryon? is a demon lord, a deposed ruler of Stygia? who’s scheming to get his power back
  • the PCs defeated and captured Amon? (Geryon?’s right-hand-demon and leader of the expedition) and his dudes
  • Nikolai wants to possibly leverage this into having a whole demon lord owe him a favor
    • help Geryon? take back rulership of Stygia?
      • with a planar bomb?
        • because planar bombs? are awesome
    • then Geryon? is Nikolai’s bitch?