5th Shift (1/11/18):

Octavius 10, 340 EE.

The PCs gather up supplies from the Iosyne Commissary before embarking on their temporary exile and investigation into the ancient creature that violated their minds and got several villagers killed. Happy gets a voucher for a suit of leather armor, while the rest either keep or leave behind the chain shirts, pilums and gladius they are issued by the Tribune. Timon does some shady dealing to the side, with some valuables exclusive just to him. They head to the village gate, where Sthenelaus informs them the Tribune expects them to stay away for a fortnite while he cools down the villagers, already grieving over the loss of Elfchin. They meet up with Happy's father, 'No-Neck', their chaperone, and they've been given a llama, cart and rations for a few weeks. They exit and trek off across the Flats, towards the Alpha Dig site where they plan to spend the evening en route to the Nine Idols' Rest.

Once arriving at the Dig, as evening falls, they notice a fire is lit and another torch or two are lit inside one of the supply tents. The place has been occupied by a giant hyena and a gnoll drifter. After Timon and Lucretia sneak down the ramp to the Dig to check it out, they are noticed by the animal, and attract the ire of the gnoll, who is armed with pistols, and fires off a shot at them. Thanks to Lucretia's master of the gnoll tongue, and Klytus's handsome bravery in the face of danger, a truce is met, and several of the PCs are invited to share the fire. The gnoll introduces itself as a bounty hunter, seeking out the 'Son of Vozz', and the PCs tell him of their own plight over the sharing of rum and pipeweed. The gunslinging gnoll tells them he ran across their ancient quarry at a safe distance, but his pet and companion didn't like the scent of them. The PCs offer a friendly parting, and the gnoll sleeps in the campsite, where they sleep up on the ridge.

Octavius 11, 340 EE.
During Timon's watch in the early morning, he sees the gnoll and his hyena depart the campsite. After waking the group, they look over to make sure nothing important was disturbed or stolen, and nothing was apart from a little animal spoor and fur on some of the blankets. After taking some breakfast rations, they set out northward from the Dig, with the winds picking up and whipping salt and dust around in increasing anger. After several more hours, they arrive at a cliffside face where they believe the transport lift to the Nine Idols' Rest is located. They find a wooden cage suspended 150' up the sheer face of the Saltspines, but no way to get it down until Timon discovers a mirror. After fiddling with it, Happy eventually signals up the mountainside, and another mirror wielder up top responds with a few flashes. The cage is lowered, and they decide how to divvy up weight to ride it back up.

Timon, Lucretia and No-Neck will take the first ride, while Happy and Klytus calm their llama and prepare some ties and a blind so it won't be afraid if they send it up alone. After the cage ascends about 75', half way, the group is attacked by a trio of what look like giant whip scorpions, two of which vault from the cliff-face onto the rising cage, and the other races down to face the PCs on the ground! Happy quickly smashes that one, but the others hassle the three in the cage, dropping Lucretia before Happy and Timon can dispatch them all. At the last minute, the final surviving insect is blasted by a flash of energy once the cage has hit the top of the cliff, and it plummets to the Flats below. With the PCs divided, they hope whoever made that attack is a friendly...

PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 1200
Class Unlocked: Gunslinger

NPC

Empress (dire hyena female): This large hyena has a thick head, rheumy red eyes, and a mouth filled with sharp, powerful teeth. A long mane of black, bristly hair rides down its shoulders and all the way to where its tail begins. It has a patch of fur singed off its left flank that appears to have been branded and tattooed with a series of pawprints.

Gnazz Blytebrow (gnoll male): A tall figure wearing a ragged duster and a broad-brimmed leather hat wrapped in a band of what looks like leopard fur. Its own face bristles with whiskers and you can see the gleam off sharp teeth, and even sharper eyes of a greenish-brown hue that study you with a predatory instinct while it takes drags off a long pipe with some sweet-smelling odor. Its arms hang slack by its sides, and it has several bandoliers visible through the front of its jacket. 

4th Shift (11/1/17): A New World

Octavius 9, 340 EE.

While awaiting the Tribune's justice in two of the barracks that have been set up as brigs, Decius and Timon decide to break their way free of the tent, while Lucretia visits Kai to find out what in the world has happened. Klytus arrives and speaks with Polyphetes in yet another tent, and the cursed head informs them that it desires a body, living or dead. Its thralls set about deciding on what would be an appropriate body, and Sennia, sister to Klytus and Timon is brought up. Polyphetes then recommends Nausicaa, another of the local Imperial soldiers who has spurned him in the past, she would be most physically fit to host the head. They decide Klytus will try to smooth talk her, but as he tries to enter her tent, he triggers an alarm and enrages her. In a fit of rampant man-hate, she grabs her weapon and follows Klytus out into the street.

Decius and Timon finally break free, and along with Klytus and Polyphetes they begin to transport the head, but even more possessed by Laothoe than normal, Timon decides to betray and kill Decius to use his body as the host. They shatter the jar on the poor boy and finish him off. In the confusion, Lucretia springs Kai and they notice that the boys in the neighboring tent have broken free, and start looking for them. Nausicaa catches up with the trio of Laothoe's thralls, and a melee begins behind one of the local businesses. A brief, brutal battle in which Klytus is laid low, but Polyphetes manages to outfight and kill his fellow soldier, lopping her fierce head clean off! Timon decides to take the head from its shattered casing and plant it on the she-brute, and Laothoe comes to life, animated and eyes aglow an even deeper red!

Lucretia catches them up, as does the soldier/engineer Alektryon, but then she is quickly possessed by the head, and brought aboard their nefarious plans to escape Iosyne. Kai, feeling helpless, rushes off to warn his family of Flintcoats and have them abandon the place, fearing an outbreak of possessions that could turn all the other locals! His uncle and father reluctantly agree. As dawn breaks, the possess try to creep out of the village by way of the water duct leading up into the Saltspine north of the village. Laothoe orders Lucretia to stand at the base of the duct and ward off whoever follows them, but she's soon overcome by Alektryon, Thaumatus and Tribune Crathis. The two soldiers pursue the suspects up the covered structure, and eventually Timon is left behind to hold them off...and he poses quite a distraction until he's captured by Alektryon. The Tribune manages to convince the restless Flintcoats to remain in the village, as the immediate threat has been stymied.

Octavius 10, 340 EE.

Eventually, after being detained once more, Timon, Klytus and Lucretia come to their senses, as the effect has either worn off or Laothoe is too far away to influence their thoughts and actions. After the Tribune is able to interview Kai, Praetex, and several others involved, he decides that Timon and his own man Poly were not themselves when they murdered Decius and Nausicaa. But the village, still grieving over the loss of Elfchin, is furious, in particular the chirurgeon Ventor Sylo, whom Decius was apprenticed to. Crathis decides that the PCs should leave Iosyne for a time until all can be explained and the populace cooled down, and orders them to redeem themselves by trying to get more information on or locate the ancient creature which took advantage of them. He equips them all with better weaponry and standard Imperial armor, and assigns Kai's father Ned Flintcoat as a chaperone should they find themselves in such dire straits again. The PCs prepare to depart, with plans to visit the scholars at Nine Idols' Rest, who dwell in an old Huguelid reliquary in the north of the Saltspines, and may have information on their quarry.

PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 1000 each
Class Unlocked: Aristocrat

NPCs

Alektryon (human male): Slighter in build than his fellow Imperial soldiers, Alektryon is in his early 30s, with greased black hair that he colors with sand from the Flats, green eyes and some notable scarring from bu rns on his left cheek and ear. He wears a gray, tattered duster above his breastplate, covered with pockets and a few bandoliers upon which he carries a number of implements. He wears a gladius at his hip, but otherwise avoids the regular complement of Imperial weaponry.

Crathis Kallimachos (human male): The Tribune is a dour and hawk- faced man who always seems to have a bit of spittle hanging from his stiff lower lip, an aqualine nose and a squared off chin bearing a prominent scar. He’s balding on the crown of his head, but keeps the rest of his hair feathered back in some estimation of the fashionable styles of urban Ekrysia. He bears his pins of rank upon an ornate, daily-polished breastplate, and whenever leaving his tent he is fully armed with hasta, gladius, and several pilum strapped across his back; all of his weapons seem to be of exceptional quality, and kept in the same condition as his armor.

Nausicaa (human female): The only female Imperial attached to Iosyne, Nausicaa is every bit a brute as some of her male counterparts, accenting her uniform with steel bands at her shoulders and forearms, and fond of wearing a pair of silvered brass knuckles which she can brawl with to great effect. A lasso is slung by her hip and a specially inscribed gladius which reads ‘Manhood’s End’ in the Imperial script.  Her hair is worn in a thick, knotted braid that hangs past her rear, her head otherwise shaved. She has a sharp chin, piercing brown eyes and angular cheekbones which have been smashed a number of times, but none of these seems to have impacted her raw, natural good looks, which have stirred the longings of not only her fellow soldiery, but many of the local miners.

Ned ‘No-Neck’ Flintcoat (dwarf male): A stocky, blocky-skulled dwarf who lives up to his nickname, Ned’s neck literally seems to sprout out from his shoulders. It’s often difficult to tell, since he always insists on wearing his battered family breastplate and helm on digs, which don’t seem to slow him down in the extreme summer months as they would other miners in the community. Despite his lack of throat, Ned possesses one of the richer singing voices in Iosyne, and if he’s feeling cheerful, he’ll serenade fellow workers with a deep, smooth mix of dwarven and Imperial staples throughout most of a shift, well past the tolerance of many. No-Neck also carries a hybrid pick/battleaxe, and is usually the first to run at trouble if a predator is attacking a dig.

3rd Shift (9/14/17): The Night's Not Over

Octavius 8, 340 EE.

Kai's attempt to shatter the jar containing the ancient head fails, but his companions Timon and Klytus have a strange reaction, suddenly very hesitant to damage the artifact, and in fact quite adamant on protecting it. The dwarf believes them compromised or cursed, and ties to knock them out and get them away from the source, but the tables are turned when they manage to knock HIM out and save the head. They tie him up, and after an hour or so see if he's come to his senses...believing he was trying to steal it from them. He seems to be agreeable, so the trio marches back across the Marrow Flats towards Iosyne. Kai fakes being disoriented, and eventually he is untied, since he is slowing down the group too much. He takes that opportunity to snag the everburning torch and flee from the group, then tries to slow them down with his sling. They instead light another torch and run off towards the village, outpacing the dwarf. When they arrive, Timon and Klytus conceal the jar and warn the guard on duty, Polyphetes, that Kai is on a murderous streak and to lock up Iosyne.

Meanwhile, Lucretia had been returned to the village, where she was healed up by Ventor Sylo, and released to her mother Gavia. She dines with her mother and brother Aulus, the latter of whom is suspicious of the events that brought her low, the former judgmental. She does tell her mother they uncovered a suspicious artifact in the mines at Foothold. At the same time, Timon and Klytus bring the head to Ventor Sylo, where they are sent to have injuries looked over, and while Ventor seems unimpressed, his aide Decius falls under the same compulsion that seems to have taken over our heroes! He tells them he's going to go off and let their family know they are okay. Kai arrives at the gate of the village, and has words with Polyphetes, warning him of the artifact his companions were carrying. The guard decides to go check for himself...

Octavius 9, 340 EE.

But when he arrives, Klytus has hidden the object under his cloak. Poly does a brief inspection but returns to the gate, telling Kai he'd better just sleep outside for the night. Desperate, the dwarf begins striking the gate with his hammer, causing a ruckus, at which point Poly calls out another solider, Sthlenelaus, and they open the gate, disarming the dwarf and marching him off to the brig. After a scuffle with Aulus, in which she learns her companions have returned to Iosyne, Lucretia sneaks out her window. Ventor returns to the hospice with Aristan and Themis Bassa, who promptly march Klytus and Timon back to the inn where their mother awaits. Decius swears he will keep the head hidden and protected. En route, they run across Kai and the soldiers, and an argument breaks out. The dwarf is then herded into an unused, locked barracks building. Lucretia speaks to him briefly through the bars, after which she learns about the head being in Iosyne, and she sneaks off to confront the Bassa brothers about it, heading to the inn once they are asleep.

She breaks into their room and wakes up Timon, roughing him up a bit until he coughs up the info, and then she blocks off the door so he and Klytus can't follow, heading back to the hospice which she threatens to burn down. The brothers howl out the window, and Polyphetes hears them from the gate, rushing off to intercept the girl. Timon climbs out the inn window to tail them. Lucretia turns back home once she hears the shouts, but Poly and Timon proceed to the hospice, where the soldier witnesses Decius talking to the head, and is he himself compelled! With Timon, they decide to move the head to another of the unused barracks, and then remove Kai from the area, since he's still unaffected and might wish harm upon the artifact. Decius recommends just killing the dwarf, but Timon refuses. They sneak into the brig house and march Kai out, but en route they are caught by another of the city guard, the veteran Thaumastas, who marches all three back to two different brigs, and then heads off to notify Tribune Crathis!

PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 800 each.
Classes Unlocked: Adept, Expert, Fighter

NPCs

Aristan Bassa (human male): A big, bald bronze man with a big beard, Aristan wears a cross-stitched wool apron over his tunic and leather breeches while tending bar at the Iosyne Bath and Tap, the one notable business in the village. A gladius, given to him by the Tribune, is displayed at his belt prominently, and his considerable arms are inked up with legionary tattoos, giving the impression that he was of some standing in the Ekrysian military himself.

Aulus ‘All Morning Long’ Tertula (human male): Deriving his name from his tendency to burn himself early during his dig shifts, Aulus is a bookish waif of around 4’ height who seems every bit his mother’s son. He has a messy mop of strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and heavily freckled cheeks which also bear acne scars, and some of the softest hands in the village, due to an obsession with personal cleanliness. He rarely goes on a dig without extra cloths and water, and even in the hottest months he’ll wear hats and gloves to protect his skin from the sun and salt.

Decius Iustinas (human male): A slight young man with a bowl of flat hair matted around his eyes and ears, Decius bears the sash and station of a soothsaying like his master Ventor. He has a short nose and a slight hair-lip which he twitches often, to give off a rather humorous impression of a sneer. He carries a sharpened pair of scissors which he uses to cut out cloth gauze for the hospice's patients, and a medical pamphlet sticks forth from his breeches.

Gavia Tertula (human female): Gavia is a woman in her mid 40s with a slender frame, and brown hair put up in a bun with a few strands lazily whisking above her brow. She has shimmering azure eyes, and oversized spectacles, one of which is fixed with a magnifying glass she can impose over the lens. Her sensible duster is slung tight around her figure, and strapped in by the bevy of bandoliers she wears that contain drafting tools, scroll cases, and other implements of her engineering train. She also commonly has a quill tucked in one ear and ink stains on her fingers or cheeks.

Polyphetes (human male): With arms as broad as most of the Iosyne villagers’ bodies, it’s no secret that this soldier is the singular strongest person around. His dark brown hair is cropped short in the front, shaved on the sides, and left longer in the back, and he seems overly fond of showing it off, along with his chisel-shaped face, and not wearing his regulation helmet. Polyphetes carries the standard hasta and pilum typical of an Ekrysian soldier, but has replaced his gladius with a broad two-handed sword engraved with floral patterns that he calls ‘Crocus’.

Sennia Bassa (human female): A wiry lass of 13 summers, Sennia has a wild and dark beauty about her that catches the eye of a lot of Ekrysian men, who eagerly await her coming of age. This is not lost on her parents and siblings, who expect one day to marry her off into quite a merger or dowry that can improve their lot in life. With dark auburn curls and naturally long eyelashes, she has a natural predisposition to flirtation which often rubs other local girls and mothers the wrong way. She wears very simple cloth dresses with golden trim that only seem to accent her attractiveness.

Sthenelaus (human male): The youngest of the Imperial soldiers at Iosyne, Sthenelaus is a lithe young man of seventeen summers whose hair is tied into a topknot, shaved on the sides behind where it runs into thin sideburns. His skin is among the bronzest-tinged in the village, and he’s extremely toned and athletic, an expert at the javelin throw and perhaps the locals’ best fighter at range. He cuts a few corners on his uniform to remain light on his feet, but makes up for this with agility.

Thaumastus (human male): The oldest of the Imperial soldiers stationed in Iosyne, Thaumastus has a dozen visible scars that tell a dozen stories of the border skirmishes he claims to have partaken in. Most notably, the bridge of his nose has been sliced nearly in half horizontally, the result of a duel against a Lennish captain on the Western border. He wears his uniform proudly, perhaps even moreso than the tribune, and the square cut of his graying hair and goatee is as rigid and professional as his work ethics. He favors a tower shield and a long twin-bladed thrusting hasta named ‘Double Eagle’.

Themis Bassa (human female): A bulky, short middle-aged woman with large forearms and square shoulders, she is adorned in a broad cook’s apron of wool, stained with all manner of spices, seasonings, drinks and blood from chickens and other small animals she has slaughtered. She has two large knives tucked into protective sheathes and slung over her shoulder in a sash, and a string of garlic and mushrooms around her neck for ease of use. Her hair is gray and thinning, and her cheeks red and pock marked with scars from a childhood illness.

Ventor Sylo (human male):  A broad, middle aged man with a hook nose and fierce blue-black eyes, the gentle and sedate smile upon Ventor’s face seems a strange contrast. His hair is quite long, but recedes on the top to form a skullet, and he seems to try to draw attention away from this with two tattoos on his forehead that resemble crows, as well as a few ivory hoops in his ears. He wears a dun-colored cloak over an orange tunic, and carries a cudgel he claims was from a lightning-struck tree.

2nd Shift (8/23/18): Getting a Head

Octavius 7, 340 EE.

Timon carefully checks over the pack before grabbing it, and it turns out to contain a pair of small-sized reading spectacles and a roughed-up book that seems to be a manual on how to speak the Draconic language. The PCs double back to the larger, salt crystal strewn cavern corridor and discover a smudged chalk mark near the southern exit, and a broken ribcage from some create to the east. They end up heading southward, where they pass a large stone seal which seems unusual for these caves. Kai identifies it as human masonry, but not anything recent. Further along, they find another seal, broken, in a chamber with a small pool of water gathered. An alcove off this chamber leads to a triggered pit of stone spikes, in which they find the body of Eleon 'Elfchin' Strachys, along with a pile of treasure beneath him which must have been what was hidden in the trap.

Kai decides to get a glimpse through the second broken wall-seal, and so he smashes it repeatedly with his warhammer until it falls down. Several of the PCs seem jumpy to leave the caves, now that they've found what happened to the foreman's son, but they reluctantly follow the dwarf. In this sealed area, they find a pair of shambling, upright corpses which are carrying a head in a jar on some palanquin...in a chamber with a carved alter and lit by an unusual torch. They decide to destroy the two corpses, and a dangerous melee ensues in which most of the characters are either laid low or severely beaten...the PCs persevere only through chance and the use of fire and oil they can muster on the undead things.

After the fight, Timon goes out to find Praetex Protho, and it turns out the salt storm has arrived, the veteran digger and his llama Raf are pinned down in Piss Pot Alley. Timon brings him back into the caves, showing him the battle site and the female head in the jar, and they decide to take a day to care for the wounded while checking occasionally for threats or the storm to clear.

Octavius 8, 340 EE.

Once the sands clear, the group moves out to the tents at the Foothold dig site, and they begin to clean up the damage from the salt storm for whoever has the next shift there. They decide for the moment to leave the corpse of Eleon and the jar in the caves, and embark on another 8-hour rest to continue healing Klytus and Lucrezia. At the end of this rest, three of the other miners from Iosyne show up, and aren't happy about the news of Eleon's passing, though they insist the PCs be the ones to tell foreman Straps. Gross accompanies Kai, Timon and Klytus back in the cave to retrieve Eleon's body. He seems curious about one of the items they found in the pit trap, the buckler with the cat symbol, and tells them it's the symbol of Favhik, god of thieves, and that he can get them more info if needed. They find Elfchin's body, but it's strangely been moved to a different location than where Klytus left it.

Mute rides off with the still-unconscious Lucrezia on the back of his llama, while Gross and Man Handler take another. Praetex takes the remains of Eleon on Raf, and orders the three conscious PCs to 'stay behind and finish cleaning up the site' before marching back to Iosyne, knowing full well they probably want to examine the head in the jar even further. Kai decides to start smashing the glass when suddenly the woman's eyes flutter open, glowing red and flashing white...

PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 600
Classes Unlocked: Rogue, Warrior

NPCs

Manius ‘Mute’ Mutilus (human male): Noted for his distinct greased moustaches, Manius strikes a unique figure, lithe and fit and very much aware of this. His long hair has a silken texture to it that he carefully maintains, and his facial hair is arranged into the most ornate of displays, with a carefully trimmed goatee and a moustache that tapers off into six points, giving the impression that he has whiskers. He is the best dressed among the salt pickers by an order of magnitude, with a fancy tunic and breeches beneath a forest green duster that some claim is enchanted. He also carries a silvered rapier in his belt.

Meleagros ‘Gross’ Krispos (human male): Born with a deformity, Gross has a nose that looks like a pig’s, only split in half, and the misshapenness doesn’t end there…his left eye is fatter and lower on his face than the other, and his right ear is also unusually small compared to its partner. Due to these mutations, the man is the most mocked in Iosyne, to the point which he seems to be used to it, shutting up and doing his digs and bottling up as much of his petulant personality as he can. The sharp daggers he brings along on his jobs seem like they’re intended for his tormentors, but so far have only been used to skin some wild animals and fend off a couple giant blood-starved fleas out in the field.

Ravilla ‘Man Handler’ Mutilus (human female): Ravilla could not cut a more opposite picture to her husband Manius, with thick arms and muscular legs and one of the most advanced physiques in Iosyne. She is obviously a foreign-born woman, with dark chestnut skin and curls in her raven-black hair, and has almond colored eyes. Unlike her husband, she prefers to oil her skin and avoid wearing a duster, constantly showing off her muscles as a threat to others who tangle with her family. She is sparse with her words, and wields not just one pickaxe, but two, ‘One for digging, the other for death-dealing’.

1st Shift (7/18/17): The Secret of Pisspot Alley

Octavius 7, 340 EE.

On their way back from the Alpha Dig, while a storm seems to be brewing on the Marrow Flats, the PCs and several other salt miners run across Praetex Protho, one of their seniors, urgently riding his llama Raf to the Foothold dig site. Eleon 'Elf-chin' Strachys, one of foreman Straps' sons, has gone missing, and did not return to Iosyne with his crew. Praetex picks the PCs to go along with him, some more begrudgingly than others, and they trek three hours to the East and the Foothold.

While rummaging through the empty camp, the PCs are assaulted by three raggedy humanoid rodents, who use daggers and light crossbows, but not very effectively. They manage to nick a few of the PCs, but are slaughtered within a few rounds. After being picked over, the PCs decide to go into the dig tunnels themselves, and more thoroughly search through the tents at the site. The South Tap and Dankel's Ditch appear empty, apart from a few oddities discovered by Kai, like a bloody boot, an abandoned mining pick, and a chunk of silver ore.

Praetex instructs the PCs to explore Piss Pot Alley, the third of the dig tunnels that has long been abandoned for use a a latrine, and Klytus becomes nauseous. Despite that, Lucretia discovers a natural illusion in the rock face that leads to a hidden network of caves, and soon they find tracks leading off to one of the exit tunnels. With Timon sneaking in the lead, the PCs press on and find several low-ceiling caves and corridors, plus a large untapped salt lode that could be very helpful to Iosyne's yield. Timon crawls into a very low cavern and finds a suspicious pack hanging from a stalactite...and decides to reach for it.

PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 600

NPCs

Praetex Protho (human male): Praetex is a tall man with an unusual beard, braided off a half dozen times on his chin, and each braid ending in a stone arrow-head that he carved himself from rocks in the Flats. He shaves his head apart from some stubble, and has a solid physique for one early in his 30s. He possesses naturally sharp teeth, or files them in secret, to create a frightening effect when he smiles, but is otherwise in a jovial mood most of the time, and really fond of bad jokes.

Calendar & Timeline

Cycle of Months

The Ekrysian Empire uses a calendar similar to that of modern times, save that the months are aligned more centrally to seasonal changes, and there are only 364 days counted as part of them, the 365th being given to the 'Primus Imperium', an anniversary of the day the Empire was first founded centuries ago, which is accompanied by much revelry and memorial.

Ianarus (30 days, midwinter)
Secundus (31 days, winter's end)
Tertius (30 days, spring)
Quartius (31 days, mid-spring)

Quintilus (30 days, spring's end)

Sextilus (30 days, summer)
Primus Imperium (1 day)

Septimus (30 days, midsummer)

Octavius (30 days, summer's end)

Nonius (31 days, fall)

Decimar (30 days, mid-fall)

Undecimar (31 days, fall's end)
Duodecimar (30 days, winter)

Cycle of Days

Ekrysians also use the seven-day week cycle, with six-day work periods and the seventh day devoted to worship, family and rest.

Solis (1st work day)

Lunis (2nd work day)

Bartis (3rd work day)

Mercedius (4th work day)

Iuppus (5th work day)

Alurus (6th work day)

Satarus (7th work day)

Cycle of Years

Years are denoted with an 'EE', or 'Ekrysian Eternum', which begin with the first year (1EE) as opposed to a zero (OEE), memorializing the foundation of the Empire and, in a nationalist sense, meant to disregard most that had come before. While it's not morally approved by the Senate or the Emperor, scholars do tend to use negatives on the role of years, for purposes of research and dating ruins, artifacts, and historical records. It's also important to note that the cycles of days, months and even seasons often run in contrast to those calendars used elsewhere in the world, such as the agreed upon Accordant Timeline (AT) used by the nations of the Accord, the Marchland and independent city states across the continent of Euristaz.

Timeline of Iosyne

167EE. A team of Imperial explorers and surveyors first uncover the Huguelid Ruin in the northeast of the Marrow Flats, half-submerged in the salty soil. Only three survived the experience, but over the ensuing century, scores of archaeologists and looters would arrive, picking clean much of the old city, and clearing out many of the threats that must have taken out the original explorers.

191EE. Another Huguelid ruin is found in the Saltspine Mountains, and a team of scholars is sent in to explore and catalog the place, which would eventually be known as the Nine Idols' Rest.

265EE. The year Castle Autarkes was built along the coast of the Scything Sea. No precise date is given, so it isn't clear whether construction was started or ended at this time. The castle was named for a famous Imperial myrmidon who helped quell the Molphagoras Uprising far back in 53EE.

278EE. Prospectors establish a tent town in the foothills of the Saltspine Mountains, near the border of the Marrow Flats. Once it's uncovered that the rock salt crystals these pioneers were digging up were no coincidence, plans are put before the Senate to establish a more permanent settlement that can be responsible for exploring and tapping the resources of the Flats in their entirety, and in the meantime help bolster the Ekrysian economy since they can rely less on imports.

283EE. The Senate approved the plans, and Iosyne was built of stone deeper into the flats, still using the Saltspine mountains as a natural shield against the more volatile storms in the region. The earlier residents of the hamlet had a much harder time dealing with salt storms, and often had to shovel themselves out of several feet of dust and salt, or find shelter in a nearby cavern. Damian Drastor is the first Tribune assigned to Iosyne.

286EE. A pair of lepers carrying the Violet Fever attempted to find refuge in the new village, but were burned alive by Drastor and his soldiers, in an act that caused a lot of horrified chatter among the residents for decades, even though the Tribune tried to rationalize and justify it.

288EE. The last officially recorded sighting of the blue dragon that purportedly lairs in the Old Azuredark caverns. The creature briefly terrorized several communities along the Eastern coast of the Empire, including the freshly founded town of Ykklesias, before retreating to its hidey-hole somewhere in the Marrow Flats. There have been plenty of 'reported' sightings in the ensuing decades, until around 330EE, but these were never confirmed, rarely investigated, and might have involved a different dragon entirely, the original's mate, perhaps even its offspring.

290EE. A tower is built south of Iosyne, to oversee a new prison labor camp that will be populated by thieves, rapists, political criminals and Accordant spies. It is later named for the first Imperial officer assigned to govern it, Haulix Hekaline.

294EE. Damian Drastor disappears somewhere Iosyne. His true fate is still unknown. Gallus Rex, a former myrmidon and war criminal, is pardoned by the Emperor (a distant cousin), and named second Tribune of the village. It was at this point the locals started to believe that they were having shady officials dumped upon the post to get them out of the way of big city life and social intrigue. To reinforce this suspicion, Gallus soon drinks himself to death after raping one of the miner's wives. Or at least that was the official story. At any rate, the position would not be filled for several years, it was left upon the local soldiery to report back to the Empire and distribute pay to the workers.

299EE. Tiro of Thessalon is named third Tribune of Iosyne, and sure enough, he's a former Senator with a nefarious past that involved gambling on illicit activities like gladiatorial slave rings, which had by that point been outlawed through the Empire. Tiro certainly had his problems with the locals, not to mention the other Ekrysian officers stationed at Castle Autarkes, Ykklesias, and the Haulix Prison Camp, but would end up serving in the role for quite some time.

308EE. Two of Iosyne's most reliable salt mines are starting to 'dry up', and have to be filled in and abandoned. A new location is briefly established south of Drastor's Delve, but soon infested with predators, in particular gnoll scavengers who sic pet jackals and death dogs on the hapless diggers. A few patrols are stirred up form Castle Autarkes, at the insistent nagging of Tribune Tiro, but they are unable to solve the problem, and tell the miners to just find someplace else to work.

313EE. Alpha Dig site discovered. Within weeks, it becomes the focused source of much of the salt flowing into Iosyne and beyond to the Empire. Soon after, the Foothold camp is established, but its yieldings are fewer and further between, even though the salt is higher quality once refined. Tiro also commission an encampment to be assembled far south at the Brack Tarn, to study its waters and potential as a backup water supply if a purification process could be perfected.

318EE. After repeated threats and attacks over the years, Tribune Tiro and the other local Ekrysian officials manage to pinpoint the location of Vozz Rotboot and his clan of gnoll bandits, hiding in a series of subterranean caverns below the Saltspine, in the northwest corner of the Flats. A war party of two dozen soldiers and miners marched upon the place, slaughtering all the gnolls and pets they came across, in a bloody conflict now known as The Boot's End. There is no telling if all the bandits were accounted for, but to be sure, an agent of the Adeptus Sorcere used magic to blast rubble over the cavern entrances. The death toll was 10 men, 26 gnolls, over 30 jackals; the severed, stuffed head of Vozz Rotboot himself now hangs over the hearth in Castle Autarke's rec room.

325EE. Gavia Tertula first arrives at Iosyne, and immediately begins to make some improvements to how the hamlet is protected and the salt is processed. She brings with her the plans for the protective pylon system, which can screen the walled-in structures against harsh sunlight or salt storms, and with the help of local laborers and masons, she has the Rainfall Duct built into the Saltspine in 18 months. She is rewarded handsomely for her ideas, and likely could have retired early, but instead chose to stay on with Iosyne and continue to develop the community, even if she had to shrug off repeated marriage propositions from the Tribune.

329EE. Aylish pirates sack Ykklesias, killing three dozen men, occupying the town for about a week, and eventually stealing off with half as many women and children. The soldiers at Castle Autarkes weren't warned in time, or simply responded too slowly on purpose. At one point, the buccaneers might have sent scout runners to survey the environs, and one was purportedly captured and killed by the Krispos family on a dig, or so they claim.

335EE. The Commissary of Iosyne is bought out by the Dewfoots, a small clan of Ambruzzi expatriates who decided the err on the side of caution and pledge loyalty to the Empire now rather than later. Under Lily Dewfoot, they stock the place up as never before, and offer all manner of goods both useful and leisurely to the rugged locals.

337EE. After nearly four decades, a senile Tiro of Thessalon steps down from his office of Tribune, and bids a fond farewell as he is carted off to his home city, presumably to pass away at his family's estate or a mental home.

338EE. Crathis Kallimachos, the fourth Tribune assigned to Iosyne, takes up his office, replacing Tiro, and urges Simo Strachys to take over as head Foreman of the mining operation.

339EE. A merchant and two hired guards are murdered en route to Iosyne along the Salt Road, their horses and good stolen, and their corpses strewn out together in a ditch. Thravian Sura ran across the scene while on a water-survey, and discovered that they had been maimed and pierced by claws and spears. More disturbingly, carved in the Gnoll tongue (which only Thravian seems to speak), across the three corpses' torsos, was "SON OV VOZZ RETURN ALL UR FAVORZ, WAYSTE ALL UR KNIGHTZ".

340EE. The present year.

The Village of Iosyne

Statistics

Iosyne
LN Hamlet

Settlement Modifiers
Corruption: No adjustments.
Crime: -3 Sense Motive checks to avoid being bluffed, -3 Sleight of Hand checks to pick pockets.
Economy: -1 Craft, Perform and Profession checks made to generate income.
Law: +1 Intimidate checks, +1 Diplomacy against the Tribune, +1 Diplomacy to call on guards.
Lore: -1 Diplomacy to gather information, -1 Knowledge checks to research requiring library.
Society: -2 Disguise checks, -2 Diplomacy checks to alter mood of non-government official.

Quality: Insular
Danger: -5
Government: Colonial
Population: 75 (62 humans, 6 dwarves, 4 halflings, 3 oreads)

Notable NPC: Crathis Kallimachos (Imperial Tribune)
Base Value: 200gp
Purchase Limit: 1,000gp
Spellcasting: 2nd level
Magic Items: 200gp base, 2 minor items.

Important Features

1. Salt Road Gatehouse: This is a 10' x 10' x 10' brick building which grants all access in and out of Iosyne, via a thick pair of wooden double doors which are opened throughout the daylight hours, then closed and barred shortly after nightfall. At least one solider from the Imperial garrison is present at all times, watching for merchants and drivers in off the Salt Road, who are then welcomed and ushered in to the Stables and Shipping Area. The village builders had the foresight to install two murder holes in the gatehouse, as they did at several other points along the village walls, but these usually have to be covered up in the case of a salt storm.

2. Iosyne Stables: The stables are large enough to host up to two dozen oxen, llamas, or horses, some of which are owned by the miners, the others belonging to traders. Hay is shipped in as often as possible to provide bedding and freshness, and the rainfall duct provides plenty of nourishment; offal and refuse are buried outside in pits around the Salt Road as it winds westward. As well as they're trained, if the stables become too heavily stocked, they can create a lot of noise and smell, especially when the tarps are up to protect the community from a surging salt storm. In rare cases, excess animals can be penned up out in the Gatehouse or in a makeshift pen outside the village walls. Some of the young men and women of Iosyne who don't accompany the miners are expected to tend and clean the pens, but there is no 'official' stablemaster as of yet.

3. Salt Shipping Area: The most important area of Iosyne, this is where the rock salts off the Marrow Flat digs are broken down, refined, packaged and loaded onto the wagons which will carry them far and wide across the Ekrysian Empire. Roughly 70% of the Empire's salt is supplied from this very location, so the workers are kept busy all year round, and a steady stream of Imperial coin is arriving to fill out the laborers' pockets. There are a few warehouses and lots of stacks of wooden crates that are wheeled in by merchants for distribution. The local engineer, Gavia, is currently building a small mill wheel which can help with the refinement, and machinery has been requested that can one day expedite the export process. In any case, there are usually around a dozen villagers here at any given time during the daylight hours, with at least one Imperial soldier in attendance.

4. Imperial Garrison: A network of medium-sized tents are propped up along the eastern and southeastern inner walls of Iosyne, and in these reside the small detachment of Imperial soldiers under the guidance of Tribune Crathis. They've got their own food supplies, armory, a kitchen tent and gaming den, and there is enough space that most of them can sleep in their individual structure until such a time that the ranks swell up. The locals have discussed the establishment of more permanent buildings for the Imperials, but they have held back, since they might require room for more salt miners, in which case the Imperials will have a small fort or tower constructed nearby.

5. Protective Pylons: A series of thin but strong stone support turrets, these are laid out so that they increase in height closer to the center of the village, all topped off by a series of hooks. In the four corners of Iosyne, there are massive tarps of greased leather which can be slid along hooks on the walls and stretched with poles to attach to the pylons, creating a taut tent covering to the entire community, which can offer shade in the harsh summer months, and even more importantly, create a line of defense against the frenzied salt storms which can arrive at a rapid pace through the Saltspine valley in which the village is located. This covering is consistently maintained by engineer Glavia and several of the locals that she has trained for that purpose. To lose it would seriously hamper the operation's production, and endanger the residents.

6. The Bath and Tap: A two story structure, the Bath and Tap dominates the roof-line of Iosyne, and stands slightly taller than the surrounding walls, but not so much that it can't be covered by the tarp in times of desperation. The bottom story features a large tap room suitable for up to 50 customers, a sizable kitchen, and a set of baths out back that are fed by the rainwater duct. Upstairs are over a dozen single and double occupancy rooms, most of which can be rented by merchants and visitors, although a few are used by the Bassa family themselves. Themis Bassa is quite a cook, and keeps the seats filled, especially for suppers, while her husband Aristan tends a bar that is as well-stocked as it can be through imports, and regales the customers with friendly banter and rumors from abroad.

7. Rainfall Duct: A low, covered stone structure, the Duct is about 5' wide and 10' high, and set at a slope, where fresh rainwater pooled up in the nearby Saltspine mountains can make its way down into the mouths and bellies of the villagers. The duct is large enough that a man can fit in there to clean it and deal with any problems, and often the runner Thravian Sura does just this to visit the pools and check the water levels up in the heights. The Duct feeds into a narrow channel around the interior walls and through the center of Iosyne, which can later empty out in a ditch south of the village if it is ever too overfilled. The engineer Gavia is constantly thinking up new ways to use the system, from hooking it up to the Bath and Tap to building a water wheel in the Shipping Area. Villagers are not permitted to use the channel for waste, under punishment from the Imperial soldiers, but a few small fish miraculously end up there from where a mountains stream might feed one of the highland pools, and the children enjoy pursuing these endlessly about the village.

8. Iosyne Commissary: The general store of Iosyne, the Commissary is run by the Dewfoot halfling family and sells mostly domestic goods, clothing, rations, and other supplies that the villagers can't or don't provide for themselves. It's a large building with a second story balcony, and the halflings only occupy 1-2 small rooms in the back for personal living space, so the rest of it is choked out with all the items locals might need. While a lot of Iosyne's tools and weapons are created or repaired by the dwarf Gori Flintcoat at his home-forge, the Dewfoots still have their share brought in as a backup. Taslo has also hinted that his mother keeps a closed off-chamber on the second story, full of rare baubles, charms, and other exotic items, at higher premiums, that might interest certain parties, if they can 'convince' her to grant them access.

9. Office of the Tribune: A trio of tents sectioned off for the Tribune himself. One is used as his private bedchamber and living quarters, which nobody is allowed to enter. Another serves as his personal armory, in which he cleans his armor and sharpens his weapons. The last is a 'war room' of sorts, in which Crathis keeps maps, compasses and Imperial correspondence, and often meets with his subordinates to plot out duty shifts, local patrols, and disperse pay. In addition, there is a large, covered object just east of the Tribune's tents, which is only attended to by Crathis and Alektryon, and seems to be some sort of anti-siege device, though it's never shown to the public and does not appear to be functional for the time being.

Other Businesses: The Flintcoats have converted the lower story of their residence into a foundry and forge, just north of the Commissary, in which Gori and several of his younger family toil away to produce many of the tools and weapons used in Iosyne. The dwarves' sleeping quarters are accessed above in a loft by ladders. Ventor Sylo, along with his wife and apprentice, offer hospice and healing to the best of their abilities, right out of their own home in the northeast corner of the village. Gavia Tertula has part of her home set up as an engineering laboratory, with a lot of charts, blueprints, books, tools and devices strewn about.