Hallucinations: Session Zero

The world was a mess. Star liches, undead stars, had fallen to the earth and defiled it. The dead rose. The living were subjugated. Some blamed it on their own sins and petitioned the gods, the Lords of Light and Darkness, for relief. Others blamed those who lived atop The Red Giants, who none had seen. And others killed themselves deliberately, so they could be part of the new world order. 

And then the living stars, beautiful beyond compare, crashed into the planet, and sacrificed themselves, spilling their ichor and flame into the desecrated earth. The star-liches' power was no match for the inherent goodness of this sacrifice. The living heralded them as the answer to their prayers from the gods. The dead screamed as they disintegrated.

A new kingdom, Mamye, was founded. It was not very large and it hugged the coast, but it was home. Those to the north, in the Yuzney Zuby Mountains, refused to comply. The mountains were too cold for anyone from Mamye to care. There were rumors of creatures calling themselves the shuyao and vinteralva even farther north, but even the barbarians who refused to join with Mamye knew very little of them. 

Things began to fall apart for Mamye. A question of religious orthodoxy (Were the stars themselves the gods? Were they to be worshipped? Were the Lords of Light and Dark even real?) was hijacked by the schemes of politicians, and two cities were founded to represent this broach: Bohspat, who worshiped the old gods (originally sponsored by the crossroads city Novstrech), and Yakravat (sponsored by the port town Krasay Dok), who worshipped the stars directly. Founded upon the Pairvents and Tretiy rivers, these two economic and religious bastions have effectively ousted the capital Rabayda from its position as the most important city in the realm of Mamye.

But Karel Ladislas, from the mountainous barbarian town of Preydiri, and Zilya, hailing from Novstrech, didn't really care about any of that. Karel had come south because he had heard of Mamye's riches and the glory that could be gained from them, and Zilya only kept saying that she wanted money, fast. They had met up at Aloysius's Plate, one of the inns of Novstrech. They discussed breaking into one of the forgotten structures of old and looting it for all it was worth. Karel was excited! Glory was to be had! But Zilya was watching this strange newcomer with apprehension. She was desperate, so she went along with it. But did that mean she could trust Karel?

And then the earth quaked and shook. 

A few miles outside of Novstrech rose a gigantic cubic structure, shining golden in the sunlight. A low hum emitted from it. It was actively distressful for the Novstrans. The members of the old and new faiths resolved to go into the golden cube and stop the noise. Glory and political gain was at stake!

But Karel and Zilya? They wanted to know if that cube was solid gold or not.