Session 18: Freedom from the Depths. Report

General Summary

The session started off with Edward plunging into the catacombs in which the entity known as The Guest was imprisoned. He delved deep but with his mind focused, it was as if the dungeon itself shifted to align his path with where he wanted to go. Before long he stood before the Guest. It looked up and moved, agitated and beckoned him with its voice. The figure remained as when they first met it, pale as paper, its hair a pale golden draped over its face with only one perfectly red eye showing. Edward bore the key, the two gems retrieved from below and with them in hand he reached out to the darkness which enveloped the entity each time that he approached.   This time it gripped something firm. A handle of sorts. Upon pulling it out, he found himself a sword which coalesced from pure darkness, turning into a black blade. The guest was now freed and it had fulfilled its bargain, freedom in exchange for empowerment and thus Edward found himself with an enchanted blade which coalesced in his hand upon demand. Satisfied with what he had been given, he made his way back to Wrynna.   In the meantime, Wrynna attempted to calm the restless miners. Some were vocal in being ready to leave the place and leaving Edward behind and though Wrynna attempted to calm them down, nothing seemed to work. So she relied upon herself and her brush and did the one thing she knew. She drew. And she drew upon the walls pictures of the trials which they underwent to get here, the city below, their encounters with the Lurkers, Mathew and the Dreamwing. So enthralled were the miners and such was the narrative woven that no one realized that Edward had rejoined them.   After a standing ovation and some rest, they began making their way back. Though given their lack of rations rest was simply a time used to recover the use of their legs as they made their way back up the path and past the stone arch which connected the chasm over the city below. On the tunnel upwards they felt an oily substance and decided to set it to the flame. It reacted violently and began coalescing around all of them, threatening to envelop the group. Though they fought it valiantly, the group broke into a run as it saw the thing dissolve one of them, clothes, flesh and bone alike.   So they ran. They ran until their feet could bear them no longer, incurring in further exhaustion. But exhausted as they may have been, they forced themselves on, forcing an upwards march until their end, be that safety or darkness. In the end, on the verge of consciousness and life alike, they broke through the door to the Smoldering Embers where they lost consciousness.   Upon awakening they were welcomed. Varivera had a warm meal and a place at the Smoldering Embers inn for them to recover. But before they went, there was something for each of them. To Edward, he gained the begrudging respect of his commander, Sabriol Silverblade who begrudgingly came to respect the man, and though they did not become friends, he knew not to treat him as disposable any longer. For Edward proved himself not only reliable but skillful. The following weeks, Edward was not viewed with suspicion, but admiration for braving the depths of the forbidden paths within the mines and returning with whoever he could save.   As for Wrynna, she was reunited with her parents who met her with open arms and tears of joy. Even her father, whose demeanour had been ever stoic and whose focus had been the family legacy as far back as she could remember, found himself softening enough to embrace his daughter. From that moment onward, Wrynna's place in Plungehome changed. She did not magically become skilled at whatever was requested of her, but when she made mistakes she was not laughed at but laughed with. Rather than being shoved around, she was requested, and her company was something cherished. Some for her stories, some because they knew that even if she was not the strongest, or the most skilled, she had her heart in the right place and was willing to bleed to prove it.