The Hutaaka
===========
** 1029/12/16 ** 

Tess enquires further about the "darkness". The Humans reply, "There are 
things that come in the night, that not just rend the flesh, but rend one's
soul. Things that go through locked doors as if they were not there, or make 
the door not there ... In some cases no marks on victims, or in some cases 
wounds from weapons or terrible claws ... in some cases they are our own 
dead returned to attack us."

Tess is to go off alone to investigate the raising of the darkness at a 
shrine of the foul Hutaakan deity. Tess is told to head south to the stream, 
ford that, south along the edge of the forest, encounter a trail going east-
west, head west along that trail to the shrine. Probably no more than 10 
Hutaaka will be there. Observe the ceremony and disrupt if he is able.

Tess disguises himself as a Human and heads out on his own. It is a journey
of about 6 miles. Tess sneaks as he goes at full pace. Tess hears chanting 
in the distance, the language is strange, understandable, but strange - it 
sounds similar to Gnollish, but not Gnollish. Aldara observes from the sky, 
Tess moves in to observe. There are 15 beings that look like the statue, 
Hutaakans. They look somewhat Gnollish, but jackal-headed instead of hyena-
headed (Gnolls). They are wearing bulky, elaborate robes - not suitable for 
fighting. They are armed with maces, morning stars, quarterstaff ... no 
missile weapons.

One of the Hutaaka who is the chorus leader, says things, and others respond.
They move around a bit. They are within a defaced shrine. The shrine is only 
15 feet across - Tess can see into the shrine. The leader is standing in the
center of the shrine. They wave incense occasionally. The Hutaakans are 5' 
to 10' from the edge of the shrine.

Tess casts Arcane Sight silently and observes them for magic. The leader has
several magic items. They are all divine spellcasters - 1st level. The 
leader is a 5th level divine caster. The leader is female, the rest are 
about evenly divided between males and females.

The magic on the leader is: strong magic armor; a moderate magic rod, wand, 
or staff under the rope; and a magic thing in a pouch (moderate variety of 
schools) and another long item under their robe (strong abjuration).

Tess double-checks the nearby area to see that noone else is watching them. 
It is about mid-morning. They are taking quite a while to cast spells. Grey 
mentioned something about casters working together to cast spells. 

Tess waits. At lunch time some take a break. Tess listens to them talking 
about the Humans. The others continue the ritual in the meantime. They are 
complaining about the Humans having raised lots of nasty creatures to attack 
them and they hope this works. There break is only short, before they switch 
with the other guys. The leader doesn't take a break - he probably can't as 
he is the central figure of this ritual.

Tess decides to continue watching the ritual and not interrupt it. Tess 
spots humanoid shapes moving up towards the Hutaakans stealthily. The 
humanoid is hunched over, they have claws, their clothing is in poor shape, 
they appear to be human, and have a feral look. These creatures are wights. 
There are about 10 of them. They look ready to ambush the Hutaakans.

Tess casts Fireball and hits 3 wights. One of the wights is damaged badly, 
the other two not so much.

Tess moves up to attack a wight that was wounded and critically wounds it
with Sonnescheint glowing in his hand. The Hutaakan priests start turning 
the undead. The one Tess wounded dies, and the one wounded heavily by the
Fireball died, and 8 wights are still standing. 

The remaining wights flee. Tess chases the wights and kills them with 
Sonnescheint, getting hit twice and taking two negative levels in the 
process. 

Tess catches up with the Hutaakans who are hurrying back to their village. 
He explains that he is an Elf and comes from beyond the dogmen. The wights 
have taken up in the temple, The wights came forth to disrupt the ritual. 
The ritual was to try and set the wights to rest. With many a curious 
glance, the Hutaaka lead Tess back to their village - it is a fortified 
stone village, with many guards on the walls. The guards wear somber-colored 
robes, but the attire is more practical for fighting. Most of them appear to 
be craftsmen or scholars (mages?), all their warriors appear to be on the 
walls. Their defenses appear very similar to the humans. Their wall appears 
to be better, but they don't have a ditch with spikes. There are 2 dozen 
buildings inside the walls, single storey. Their villages is carved into the 
rock - the wall only covers one side, the rest is covered by the rock. They
do not have any siege weapons. They have somewhere between 50 to 100 
warriors, but nearly as many as priests as warriors. The rest are crafts 
people. They grow food in fields outside the walls.

Tess follows the leader of the priests, who is their high priestess, and the
nominal ruler of their society. They lead Tess into a larger building. It 
appears to be some kind of temple, with nice artwork (especially to an 
antique dealer). The artwork is mostly abstract, or pictures of a jackal-
headed creature glowing with light. None of the pictures are warlike.

The high priestess says the Humans released the undead. The creatures were 
contained in the temple before, and the Hutaakans kept them in check, at no
small cost to the Hutaakans, but the Humans attacked the temple and released 
them.  The Hutaakans say they are pacifistic crafts people. They are not 
warriors. They say that the Humans are wreckers.

They had been keeping the restless dead rested by prayers. There are 
hundreds, or maybe only dozens. There is also the beast ... something worse 
than those creatures ... which stalks us ... it climbs in through windows, 
dissolves doors, and steals people in their sleep. They're not sure where 
that creature dwells. It leaves large tracks, but they are too scared to 
follow it.

The restless dead exist because they are angered at the Humans. They believe 
there is a method of laying the creatures to rest. There is a book called 
Knowledge of the Elders. The book is in a vault, and they have magic to 
enter the vault. The vault is in a separate shrine. They have not been able 
to get the book from the vault.

The priestess says they taught the Humans what they needed to know about the 
arts and civillization, and the Humans only cared for war. The Humans were 
disciplined by being shackled. The Hutaaka and Humans retreated from the 
Gnolls to avoid the bloodshed. The high priestess' name is Kforedz. Tes 
offers to help recover the book, but not fight the humans.

** 1029/12/17 ** 

Tess rests until morning, and hasn't yet reovered from the wights blows. He 
spends some time in the village. The Hutaakans seem to be arrogant, stuck up, 
and haughty. Tess doesn't have fur, therefore he must be close to being Human 
and primitive. They are very pious, and called to prayer several times a day. 
Tess asks over the communicators how long it should take him to recover - 24 
hours. Tess recovers after further rest.

** 1029/12/18 ** 

Tess talks with the Hutaakans and gets a potted history:

"And the great Pflarr stood on an island in the sky, and command the dust and 
the jackals to form together to form his children, and commanded them to 
worship him. They built a great temple on the lake and dwelled there. The ice 
receeded from the lake that they might prosper ... By his will the walls 
encircling Hutaaka were breached, and they went out to dwell in the barren 
lands. Guardians in the likeness of Pflarr were set to prevent others 
entering them. They constructed  aqueducts to help grow the sacred waters 
[it's a spring to the south that Tess hasn't seen yet]. And they went forth 
and spread their knowledge."

"The lands beyond are not as blessed, the wise are treated poorly, and they 
ape our forms and tongues. The stars have changed and the omens are bad, 
blasphemous beastmen [the Gnolls] have come forth, they take what they may to 
the vaults of the Hutaaka and bore with them a portion of the people of the 
lowlands that they may not be utterly overcome. Their sight still reaches 
beyond, and the wise bid them not return. These days of calm shall not last, 
and in time they shall be swept away."

"They no longer knew how to extend their sight beyond the walls of the 
valley. They have been blessed by security in the heart of the wall. All has 
falled beyond to darkness and decay. The wise have rendered enchantments to 
render them unseen until they wish to be seen. Though the Human gods are not 
as great, the Human priests tell the peoples of the Traldar to work alongside 
the Hutaaka to gain of their wisdom - not as many need to farm, they can help 
enlarge and beatify the temple. In the times now past there were glories of 
this mortal sphere not to be matched. They believe the greatest works of the 
world are in their vaults." They recounted further myths with pride and
sing praises in Pflarr's name.

"The stars have changed, omens are of terrible portent. The Traldar have 
angered their gods, and been abandonned by them. We know not what to do with 
people of the easterlands, and will not regard to their duties. Some have 
taken to the hills and plunder. All of the lands are in flame by the 
disrepesct of the easterners, restless spirits [undead] are seen to rise 
again. The older Traldar are less barbaric, but the younger are more warlike. 
The godless ones demand to rise beyond their castes, the barbarians will
not tend to the land, seeking only to hunt."

"All the lands are now in flames, the young have rested leadership from the 
old and have taken up arms against the Hutaaka. The Hutaakans campaign beyond 
Lake Mensia and they have been able to reclaim some lands for cultivation and 
repair some of the aqueducts, but it is more difficult as the magic knowledge 
has been lost. The gates have been shuttered and the east is aflame. The 
guardians will no longer allow the barbarians passage. Outsiders have come 
from the north with tales of beyond. The Hutaakans decide to keep hidden. 
Terrible beasts are in the mountains, pestilence had been brought by those 
from the north. The outsiders have died of the pestilence. The barbarians 
blame the Hutaakans for the pestilence that afflicted them." Outsiders came
with disease, which killed them, and afflicted both the Hutaakans and the
Humans. The Hutaakans weather the disease better with their priests healing,
and the Humans blame the Hutaakans for the disease.

"They have scried the easterlands, and the barbarians have destroyed the 
Hutaakans buildings. The easterlands are the other end of the valley. We fear 
that we fade and change, and He [Pflarr, their deity] will not reveal his 
purpose to us. The barbarians changed. The One [the monster that is worse
than the undead?] has been disturbed again. A ritual of binding was
undertaken to contain him, but failed." The One is the monster they referred 
to earlier. It can sneak up onto a second story building, and disintegrate 
everything inside, including the furniture (acid?).

"He [Pflarr] is displeased with us. A great shaking of the world [an
earthquake]. The temple has been distorted, Some of the wise say we should 
seek knowledge among the barbarians, others say we should seek revenge on
the barbarians."

This story is quite different from the Song of Halav that the Traldar know.
The Hutaakans have some of their older books here. Much has been lost. They
will look up to see if their histories speak of Halav or Petra. Tess asks 
about the armor that he is looking for. It was worn by a champion of their 
god. They don't know where the armor is. The armor was very shiny.

They give Tess a rod to open the vault to recover the book Knowledge of the 
Elders from the vault. There are 2 command words on the rod. The words are 
written in arcane language. They have tried, but don't know how to use it 
(they don't have Wizards it appears). The rod appears to operate knock and 
continual flame - 1 use each - it is a spell-completion item like a scroll. 
3 female priests are coming with Tess. Tess disguises himself as a Hutaakan,
to try and avoid angering any Hutaakan undead. They set off to the vault.

They get to a shrine up against the western wall with stairs leading down.
They are nervous and stay upstairs. The floor is grubby, branches, and other
detritus all over the place. Tess clears the area and finds a trapdoor. Tess 
casts Knock from the rod, and the slab opens revealing narrow stairs. Tess 
wedges something to try and make sure the slab with no opening mechanism
won't close later. It is musty, Tess heads down the stairs.

It levels out. There is a small square chamber. In the chamber is a mostly
skeletal body slumped against the far wall. Collapsed shelves. And a book
on one of the shelves. Tess casts Arcane Sight. In response, the skeleton  
gets to its feet, rumbling, "You've disturbed my slumber." The skeleton is
a spellcaster.

Tess says, "I have come to recover the holy book to help restore the
temple." The skeleton hisses. Their is a glimmer on the shelf next to the
book. The skeleton asks for a limb for the book.

Tess backs out to let it rest in peace. Tess buffs silently. Then returns 
and strikes the skeleton down in one blow with True Strike. There is a 
magical ring (strong transmutation), the book is non-magical, and a non-
magical necklace. Tess spends some time to examine the book before 
heading up. The book Knowledge of the Elders is a book of religious rituals.
Tess puts the ring and necklace in his possum pouch and heads up, giving
the book to the priests, but not mentioning the other items.

We head back to the village. They cluster around to look at the book. Some 
of them didn't expect us to make it back. That evening there is a low key 
formal celebration.

** 1029/12/19 ** 

In the morning, the high priestess announces that she has deciphered the 
book. There is an hour long ritual that must be performed at the temple to
pacify the dead. The Hutaakans tell Tess that undead wander around the 
outside of the temple. The ritual needs to be performed at the main altar, 
which is underground. They know roughly where the main altar is.

Tess asks them to wait for him to return before going to set the dead to
rest. He says he will return in two days. Tess arrives back at the Human
village safely. The Humans are shocked when Tess arrives, and believe that
he is undead. Tess shows that he is alive, by showing that he bleeds. They 
refuse to let Tess in. One comes out to check Tess is alive and then they 
let him in.

Guri-Ben-Kal doesn't look too happy. Tess describes the tale of helping the 
mutts versus the wights, explaining that he helped them to find out about
their defenses. Tess lies about the Hutaakan defenses and numbers, inflating 
them a little, to discourage the Humans from attacking the Hutaakans. They 
say that Tess was sly and sneaky. They seem happy with the knowledge he
gained.

Tess tries to convince them to allow the mutts to deal with the undead and
then not attack the mutts. Guri-Ben-Kal responds poorly as does the crowd
- they favor fighting. Stephan tried as well previously, and they weren't
listening.

Stephan and Tess talk. The Humans say they have a ritual to appease the
Hutaakan dead and the Human dead too. They have to fill the golden altar 
bowl in the temple with water from the Singing Pool. Stephan shows Tess 
where the creature attacked recently. The tracks are a 6' wide dried up 
slime trail - it is heading north. Tess and Stephan chat as they follow the 
trail. The Humans claim that all the crafts are due to their own work. Most 
of the Human stuff is actually stolen from the Hutaakans - probably a fair 
bit from the dead. No wonder there are restless undead. Stephan says that 
the Song of Halav was first written down by Thyatian traders 800 years ago, 
and it was a long oral history at that stage.

The tracks head on for miles, back to the big, somewhat ruined temple, 
perhaps to winding passages below the temple. The Hutaakan ritual would 
require  multiple priests, so the Human ritual would be easier. The Human 
ritual was stolen from the Hutaaka. It's quite possible that the Human
idea for pacifying the undead is incomplete given the state of the rest of 
their things.

Tess makes sure Stephan gets safely back to the Humans. Tess goes back to
talk to the Hutaakans. They say that ritual the Humans mentioned might work. 
They give Tess a rough map of the temple. 

** 1029/12/20 ** 

The Singing Pool is the holy spring from which the waters of the valley
spring. This is further on from the shrine where Tess fought the wights. 
Tess goes to the Singing Pool to get water. The spring is down a moderately 
long canyon. There is a spring at the end - nothing magical and no undead. 
Around the pool are natural (?) stone pillars carved into strange shapes. 
The wind makes a singing noise. The surface of the water is mirrored. Tess 
fills up a pottery jar with water from the pool and then returns to the 
Hutaakans.

** 1029/12/21 **