Session 78: The Water Prince Report
General Summary
20th of Deismir 1524 continued As Fargrim enjoys his bath, there is a popping sound as Karl, Lily, Xeldarix and Uqaviel all end up in the bath with a bit of a slash as three other figures follow the group through the rip and into the private bath area Fargrim was using. The large creature with tusks thrusts his sword down into the water where Xeldarix's limp body floats, but thanks to Karl’s aura they miss and turns invisible. Fargrim scrambles out of the bath and summons his spiritual weapon. Karl drops his polymorph and shifts back into himself. He banishes all but one. As a result the creature targets Karl, but misses. Uqaviel grabs Xeldarix and pulls her out of the water and into his arms before bringing his wings up to shield her. Lily also turns back into herself and uses her blindsense to locate and point to where the creature is for the group. Fargrim uses his spiritual weapon to attack it. Karl just dispels the invisibility. The creature is briefly visible as it attacks Karl and disappears again. Uqaviel summons a chakram, his hand shaking as he throws it. The weapon flies but wobbles a little, only just clipping the creature and doesn't seem to have the same heat as usual. However it still knocks the creature over, though it falls to the ground and doesn't return to Uqaviel. Lily marks the hunter as her prey before striking it with her smiteful blade, telling the creature that Xeldarix isn’t returning to hell. With a flick of his wand, Karl kills the predator and it explodes as the creature is sent back to hell. The bodies explodes without hurting anyone with his crossbow and dagger falling to the bottom of the tub. With the fight over, Fargrim loses it at the party. The group apologises as Karl gets the weapons out of the tub and Lily explains that the fiends thought it was their lucky day to come across Xeldarix in a weakened state. Karl helps Uqaviel cover Xeldarix’s wings with a cloak since she is not conscious enough to hide them. Lily and Karl give a very short explanation of what happened in the astral sea. Lily pays for the damages and gets Fargrim another bath. Fargrim reminds the group to think things through better next time and they agree they could have thought things through a little more before getting Xeldarix to take them back to this plane. Lily heals Karl and clears the wound aggravated by poison. Karl contacts Erin and she is on the way to meet the group. When they finally leave the building, Erin and Ten meet them outside. Fargrim stays behind to finish his bath.
At 8am Fargrim finishes his bath. Then heads to the manor after contacting the group.
At 8am Erin, Karl, Ten, Lily, Uqaviel and Xeldarix arrive at the manor. Lily and Uqaviel take Xeldarix up to bed and Uqaviel stays with her. Karl goes to talk to Caramella. She confirms Simone has left for the day. She confirms possible meals with Karl. Fargrim contacts the group and Karl identifies some items while waiting for Fargrim. Infernal Dagger. (2d4 + 6) slashing damage, and the target must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking (4d10) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. On a failure, the target is also poisoned for 1 minute. The poisoned target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Infernal Crossbow. Attunement Required Ranged Weapon Attack: range 100/400 ft., one target. Hit: (2d10 ) piercing damage, plus one of the following effects: 1. Acid. The target must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking an additional 17 (5d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. 2. Blindness (1/Day). The target takes 5 (1d10) radiant damage. In addition, the target and all other creatures within 20 feet of it must each make a successful DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or be blinded until the end of the wielder’s next turn. 3. Concussion. The target and each creature within 20 feet of it must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 13 (2d12) thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. 4. Entanglement. The target must make a successful DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained for 1 hour by strands of sticky webbing. A restrained creature can escape by using an action to make a successful DC 17 Dexterity or Strength check. Any creature other than an weilder that touches the restrained creature must make a successful DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or become similarly restrained. 5. Paralysis (1/Day). The target takes 22 (4d10) lightning damage and must make a successful DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The paralyzed target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. 6. Tracking. For the next 24 hours, the wielder knows the direction and distance to the target, as long as it’s on the same plane of existence. If the target is on a different plane, the wielder knows which one, but not the exact location there.
Fargrim arrives after Karl identifies the crossbow. They talk about the weapons and how Karl wants to get better with a blade since he has a rapier that could be good, but he’s untrained. Karl gives Fargrim back his tuning fork. As the group talks about the Astral Sea and Captain Celaser’s departure from the guild, they consider asking the Winter’s Light to join them. This leads to guild discussions and how the guild should be acting more independent of Lily. Fargrim contacts Simone. She is very excited everyone will be able to attend the party tonight. She says “A cold heart still beats” to Fargrim and isn’t sure why. It is something for the group to puzzle over. Fargrim, Karl and Erin will go shopping while Lily will go to see Simone early to search the manor.
At 9am Lily arrives at the Dread estate. She goes to see Simone, who is happy to see her and nervous about the party. Lily talks Simone through what she’s trying to do with her position and offers some suggestions to try and make it more enjoyable for her. There is a festival on the Equinox that is approaching. She has put forward a community event to paint the district with murals, with free food and activities. The Lady of Longrove is backing the idea but other nobles are concerned this will promote graffiti. Lily suggests contacting the people at the Temple of the Lady Xeldarix for hiring people to help clean up any graffiti that does happen. They should be paid a fair wage for their work. When Lily asks about sweeping the manor for secrets, Simone mentions Tatiana is coming at lunch to prepare for tonight since her target will be present. Simone gives permission for Lily to poke around and shows her some of the secrets she already knows. Simone shows Lily the secret entrance to the sewer in the library. The basement with the magic water that flows in a loop to the garden and the secrets Lily found in the study. Lily starts to search the manor. She finds There are a few hidden nooks inside with strange crystals in them. They have a very small hole from the nook that would allow someone to see the crystal but Lily does find a way to open each of them. The nooks just seem to be well hidden cubbyholes that would have a full view of the room. The crystals are round. At 9:30am she sends a message to Karl about these.
Fargrim and Karl go shopping. They look over and buy a few things. Karl will wear his magical robes. Erin has Karl help her find a dress that will match his robes. Fargrim will get a fancy stylized tabard that is white with a yellow trim to wear over his armour, white with the symbol of Haelyn emblazoned on the middle (a sword in a sunburst). He will spend time and money having his armour polished, and his hair and beard properly cared for and braided.
At 10am Karl arrives at the mage guild. He starts off with checking on Peter, who has finished his report and is doing as well as a damaged simulacrum can. Then he goes up to see Master Barnes. He fills her in on his adventurers in the Astral Sea. The conversation turns to Erin, who is still struggling with her predicament. At 10:30am as he leaves, he gets a message from Fargrim.
Fargrim goes straight up to see Uqaviel and Xeldarix when he arrives at the manor. Fargrim talks to Uqaviel and finds out he has been feeling off since the fight with Kriesha’s angels. The angel fills Fargrim in on what happened while they were away in the Astral sea. Fargrim tries to sense good and evil, but just finds what he usually would. Nothing different. Upon inspecting Uqaviel, Fargrim sees where he was impacted by the first icicle in his side, there is an ice patch on his skin and it is weeping blood. He pulls up his shirt to show how part of it is slowly moving up his torso. Apparently Xeldarix healed Uqaviel after the fight, but he had been so distracted with looking after her since he hadn’t been paying too much attention to it. Fargrim tries a few times to remove the possible curse but without any luck even with enhancing his ability. Fargrim notes Uqaviel’s apathetic trains of thought and tries to cheer him up while he contacts High Paladin Salma. She will bring her best, but makes it clear they do not have the same skill as Fargrim or the Chanty in this situation. Then Fargrim messages Lily and Karl to update them on the matter.
As Lily continues searching the manor, Fargrim and Karl reconnect via the stones to talk about Uqaviel. Fargrim accuses Uqaviel is hiding his injury from the group. Karl promises to swing by after lunch to identify the curse. Karl drops off Eric Humphries’s spell book to Master Burke since Master Dale is holding a lecture before heading to the forge. Fargrim will stay with Uqaviel quietly and await the person from the temple of Neira and/or Karl to get a second opinion.
After getting permission, Lily goes up to explore Simone’s old room. Lily finds four crystals in this room to make sure they cover more of the room. There is also something hidden under Simone's old bed. It was stuck up in the frame under where Simone's pillow would be. It seems to be a stick doll that smells funny. At 11am Lily goes back down to see Simone as she finishes up a meeting where Vuru is seeing the guest out which allows Simone and Lily to talk privately. However, as Simone touches the doll she falls into a bad fit. Lily is able to catch what she says.
"The Dreadful Guardian leaves gifts for the ward. The spirits come in droves to the witch's doll. Made with herbs and spice to eat away at the ward so only gifts remain without the Dreadful girl's personality." "Dreadful allies will come unseen and the nobles will see the mad child for all the Dreadful guardian said she was. Overwhelm doors will slam, rooms will freeze and brains will ache. The puppet lord will move as intended and attempts to steal the ward away will strengthen." "Forged by trials and forged by name, they will be tested. Fingers will be pointed and frames will be hung. Reasoning done by those of standing is better than clear and rational explanations." "The cold heart beats. Isolated by his own actions and the wrongs done to him. Soon it will harden and stop as sadness and despair overcomes him as he feels unloved and unwanted by the heavens above and his duty below."Lily takes a moment, trying to run calming things through Simone’s hair before sending off a series of messages to both Karl and Fargrim with what she has put together for these prophecies. “Confirmed that Dread Allies will be at party to cause problems and frame us.” “Nobles will be heard over rational arguments.” “Uqaviel has the cold heart, needs to not be overcome with despair, needs to feel appreciated.” Karl is overjoyed with the news and Fargrim promises to cheer Uqaviel up.
Karl arrives at the forge at 11am. He has a back and forth with Erin via the stone where they decide to go to the ship after lunch since a royalist has arrived and is annoying Enna. At 11:30am when Erin arrives, they discuss an exit strategy if things do actually go horrible at the party tonight. After a little bit of shop talk, they go to see Karl’s parents and have lunch. They are filled in on some of the safer and happier elements of Karl’s most recent adventures and the guild that Lily runs. They finish at 1pm when Clara pulls Karl aside to ask about Erin since she noticed some odd things during dinner. Information is disclosed and Erin is offered a safe place to stay if ever needed. Karl also warns them about the possible issues tonight that might spread lies about Karl and his friends from the party tonight.
After trying a different method, Fargrim finally makes some headway with Uqaviel’s injury. At 12:30pm Caramella comes up to tell Fargrim the High Paladin and the surgeon have arrived. Fargrim goes down to tell them that they are no longer required in the same fashion he had originally contacted them about, but they should probably still look over Uqaviel. He will not move from Xeldarix’s side currently, but will not reject someone examining him. The High Paladin, the surgeon, Fargrim and Uqaviel talk a little before the surgeon pulls Fargrim aside for a quick chat. The group should engage Uqaviel where possible and don’t just leave him by himself to just sit anymore. Or give him something to do that is productive when he is alone. Gentle and frequent is the best method with someone who is mentally unwell like Uqaviel is right now. He still has an ice symbol on his chest which is concerning since the curse might just be suppressed for now. At 11:45am, Fargrim gets a message from Lily. He then continues talking with the surgeon and Salma until lunch is ready.
Vuru asks Lily to watch over Simone while they goes to inform their guards that the Lady will not be accepting any other visitors before the party at this stage. Once they return, Lily and Vuru move Simone to the couch to continue sleeping since she is yet to stir. Lily takes the crystals and doll to hide in a desk drawer. Once all this is taken care of, Lily stays near Simone and listens to whatever the spirits are trying to tell her. They say:
- No rest for the weird. They come."
- "The fox jumps over the lazy dog."
- "Eyes everywhere and nowhere."
- "I forget what strawberries taste like."
- "Is it night or day?"
- "This isn't very lady-like."
- 4-530 mingling inside - two main spots - 1 hour and 2 hour circles
- 530-700 dinner - 2 hour circle
- 700-900 mingling outside - three main spots - 2 hour circle and 2 x 1 hour circles
At 1pm Lily arrives at the manor. There are sandwiches and cookies available in the dining room. During lunch they talk about seerers and the angel Nisroc. Lily reveals what she has done to help out Simone for tonight which will go a long way to keep the event going as smoothly as possible. At 2pm Lily and Fargrim finish lunch. Fargrim donates 200 gold to the temple as Salma and the surgeon leave. Fargrim heads out to get his armour and such. Lily heads upstairs to see Xeldarix and Uqaviel.
Karl and Erin approach the ship and arrive at 1:30pm. An older triton kneeling respectful as a younger triton paces the deck. The older triton will often reposition himself to stay close to the younger which just enrages her more. The older triton wears little. Has a kilt but is often bare chested. His skin is silver-blue with deep blue hair. His eyes are an unnerving pure black. He is 72 years old, 5’ 4”, 110 lbs. He is defensive as Karl approaches and does not seem to remember meeting Karl before. This is Kosines Sesteath. Enna is enraged to see Erin and is ready for a fight. Karl convinces them to take to Erin’s quarters. When they are in the cabin, with Kosines and Ten standing outside, Karl tries to cast hold person on Enna and Erin so he can say his piece. Only Enna is affected. He’s very stressed out about everything going on right now. Once he’s said his piece, he drops the spell and Enna comes out swinging at Erin, knocking her down and pulling her up by the shirt while yelling at her about how worried she was. They go back and forth with their arguing as they exchange blows and end up crying and hugging it out. This ends drinking at the table with Karl as they talk about more pressing issues then hurt feelings about decisions others have made.
Lily goes up to see the angels. Uqaviel says Xeldarix is reliving memories as nightmares. He will not stop this as she needs them to return to her old self. Lily turns the conversation to Uqaviel himself as she comments on his current state/condition. Uqaviel dispairs as Haelyn won’t hear him and Xeldarix hates him. He admits the later is his own fault and believes she will hate him more when she recovers from how he fogged her mind to get her to be more easily persuaded to return to this plane. Lily does her best to put his mind at ease before having an escape plan for Xeldarix if the party goes poorly. The teleporting and non-teleporting sort. Then she leaves for Simone’s estate. She messages Fargrim to ask him to take Xeldarix to Simone’s estate when he leaves to join the party. She can sleep more there.
Fargrim goes to get his armour, however it won’t be ready until 2:30pm. Afterwards once he has it, he hurries back to the manor. Once he is there, after consulting with Uqaviel, he wakes Xeldarix. She is emotionally highly distressed and prone to tears. The idea of Fargrim being alone is still very fresh in her mind which just brings on the tears. However, they get her up and moving. She's slow, easily distracted but will go where led. They arrive at 3:50pm.
The conversation on ship moves to being about Enna’s family and the possible power vacuum left behind by the lack of rulership. After beating around the bush, Karl admits his motives are selfish for asking since he was envisioning an army of tritons rising up at your command and sinking Xenophoros’s ship. And the Brechlen navy being tricked into ambushing Harek’s fleet. And the forged kill Ranbur. And then Kegsteeler is left all alone to die. Enna tells him that the prince would be the better horse to back for an army. While they talk about different ways to install a council for the triton kingdom, Karl confesses how he really became the Pirate King which makes Enna laugh. As they talk about the caves and the goblins eating their own slaves, Karl checks the room for sensors and destroys it with his Mindspike spell. Afterwards Erin excuses herself out to the balcony for some air as Yura tries to message her again after that. While Enna and Karl talk about Yura and Erin, Kosine drops down behind Erin outside and is kicked off the balcony and into the bay as a reflex. Enna and Karl bond a little as they come to an acceptance and agreement about Erin being better for her training even if it strained things for a bit on ship. Karl promises to help Enna if she ever does want to do something about the issues from her home kingdom. At 2:30pm Erin starts to get ready for the party while Enna values some jewelled items for Karl. Karl takes a short rest. The three pieces of jewellery from the minotaur chest are worth 1600, 900, and 600 gold. Afterwards they head for the party.
At 2:45pm Lily arrives at the Dread estate. Abigail has Simone up and dressed. She's currently putting some light make up on her. Simone looks so tired but Abigail is doing she can to hide the bags under her eyes and put a bit of colour into her face. Lily gets out her disguise kit to help with this. At 3pm Sam arrives and Lily takes him through where and when each circle will need to be there. A little later Lily messages Karl about setting up alarm locations when he arrives.
At 3:50, everyone arrives at the party! Fargrim and Xeldarix are greeted by the guards who ask for their names. It takes Fargrim a moment but eventually he gives his and Xeldarix’s names. As the group meets up they arrange for the sleepy Xeldarix to borrow a bed upstairs away from the party. Simone heads to the entry area as 4pm approaches. Karl and Erin take care of the alarms as required. People start arriving such as; Anita and Wade, Galloway, and Tatiana. In the first hour Fargrim wonders with truesight, Lily moves to keep an eye on Tatiana and go to talk to Wade and Anita, making some small talk and paving the way for trying to convince Wade to move to Brechlen. At 5pm Simone moves away from her greeting space in the entrance to a side room. A few of the nobles including Locktree and Anita go in there to talk with her. Karl stays up on the balcony with Erin, trying to appear nonchalant, because inconspicuous is impossible, Fargrim hangs around the dining room, and Lily chats a bit with a few nobles that she doesn’t know. At 5:30pm the Forged, Simone and her personal guards, the higher nobles of each district, Wade and Anita and Lord Crichton who just arrived are seated for dinner in the dining room. The other minor nobles are taken to the upstairs balcony to be served dinner. Simone is the head of one end of the table while Lord Crichton is the other head of the table. Erin sits herself and Karl near Locktree so she can continue talking shop with him about sailing, Fargrim and Lily are nearby on the other side of the table. As a whole you're close to Simone's end. Abigail, Elliot, and Galloway are the closest to her. Bread, salads and other small food are brought out to start with before the main course. As the main course comes out, Locktree is very engaged with Erin about the benifts of Brechlen as a port to manage the navy. Karl will extoll the virtues of Brechlen as a wonderful place to live. Wade does seem interested in this, but it was not something he had considered before and wants to talk about it more since he’s on the fence. Lily will talk with someone, not Crichton, about this interesting adventure she was on recently where she rescued some nobles from a nearby town. Fargrim is quiet, trying to listen for suspicious conversations. As dessert comes out Karl is going to walk around the party and briefly say hi to everyone he knows, Fargrim identifies a lady with a Neira amulet symbol and Lily stays out of trouble. As the dinner winds down, some of the higher nobles are ready to leave, including Lord Crichton and he asks the Lady Dread to see him out. Karl and Lily keeps Simone in sight, as Fargrim approaches the Lady with the Neira symbol. Lily sees Simone grab at her neck, so she approaches to see if there are any invisible creatures nearby. Simone's head snaps straight up to look at the sky, her eyes starting the glow as the ground starts to quake. Door start slamming open and shut. The area immediately around Simone becomes noticeably colder as frost starts to spread from her feet. Lord Critchton yelps with surprise and starts to call for the guards. Abigail runs towards Simone. Lily reassures Simone and channel’s Sunnis’ power into the seer. As lily approaches the frost tries to spread to her legs, she resists it and Simone is able to overcome whatever was happening to her. Simone's muscles loosen up so she's no longer locked in a ridge position. She sways slightly and states she doesn't feel good, as Abigail reaches her to help steady her. While looking closely at Simone's shoulder Lily sees a mark that suggests a dart or injection has occurred. Crichton is very freaked out by the whole situation as the guards finally arrive. Fargrim asks the lady of Neria to help. She promises to if the afflicted requests it, but she has confidence in the people helping the Lady Dread. Karl grabs Erin's hand and heads for the entrance, pulling the Star of Mo-Pelar out from under his cloak to look through it. Fargrim casts True Seeing on himself again. Fargrim and Karl briefly catch sight of a man in the ethereal plane running out of the garden and through the wall. Meanwhile Lily tries to sense for fiends, celestials and undead. However, Anita is in the area and throws Lily off with her presence as a fiend. Crichton believes Simone to be a danger to the other nobles at the party and tells the guards as much. Lily stays by Simone’s side, cursing the fact she had used up all her healing touch earlier in the day. Karl however, tosses the wand of Neutralise poison to Lily to help Simone. He calls out that Levi, Dread’s poisoner, was behind it as he gives chase to the man that is fleeing in the ethereal plane. Lily is not paying attention to Karl at the moment, so the wand hits her on the back. Some of the guards come over to look at the mark and agree the lady has been attacked. Crichton looks sceptical. Simone sways and holds onto Abigail who supports her. She is protectively holding onto her ward. She and Lily take Simone to a side room to use a potion and give Simone a moment to recover in privacy. Fargrim sees the lady is correct about the Lady Dread not needing her help. Karl’s search is brought up short as the direction Levi ran was into another noble’s property. He is forced to give up the chase. Simone sits for a few minutes before sheepishly returning to the party. Lord Crichton leaves without even glancing at her, looking annoyed. Fargrim tries to address the party to reassure the crowd and control the narrative, but isn’t very successful. This inspires Simone to attempt to do the same thing, building on the angle that Fargrim was going for. This receives a much better reaction from the crowd. More drinks are brought out and the evening continues. Fargrim continues to talk to the lady of Neria. He learns this is Priestess Topaz Segar, Lady of the Port District. She was the Chanty's right hand before she turned her attention to politics to try and help the city. The title of Chanty is explained to Fargrim as he asks. It's a title specific to Priests and Priestesses of Neira. The title has many origins and it honestly shows her age more than anything else. There was an old practice of nobles paying well to ensure they had good funerals delivered by the Priestess to try and pay pennants for their sins and atone through giving to the temple. The more modern meaning is she leads our masses and will lead many of the prayers and songs that happen during them. Simone spends an hour mingling on the balcony before spending a few hours in the inner garden. Then by 10pm she is back up on the balcony. The party is finally starting to wind down and as nobles slowly start to leave. By 11pm everyone has finally left and Simone looks tired despite the potion Lily gave her. Lily pays Sam for his services while Karl identifies the doll Lily found earlier in the day. Doll of the weak willed. When exposed to this doll for a long period of time and sleeping within 10ft of it for consecutive nights, the target's power will be lowered. This will be more susceptible to:
- The effects of poisons.
- Following instructions given.
- Visions and dreams.
- Illness and disease.
- Fatigue.
At 7am Karl wakes up. He checks in with Erin, who is happy there was no crisis at the party. After preparing his spells for the day, he heads downstairs. They head downstairs and enjoy breakfast. Caramella has prepared muffins and quiche. Simone and Abigail join them. At 8am Lily and Fargrim wake up. They both prepare for the day and come downstairs at 8:30am for breakfast as Karl finishes his. Lily goes and asks Caramella if she can take a hot chocolate up to Xeldarix at some point. While at the table together, Lily shares that she scried on Levi before bed. He's still in town. Seemed to be going to be at her black market contact. They don’t want to discuss too much without Xeldarix and Uqaviel. Karl does bring up he wants to learn teleport off of Master Barnes. The group goes upstairs to Lily’s room so Uqaviel can participate in the talk while watching Xeldarix who does not want to be in the talk at all. The group talks about their next steps. These are things that are brought up:
- Uqaviel issue with an unfair trial, his desire to get proof of his innocence
- Saarmen is still under threat from Morningsteel, they need a way to lure him out of his safe place
- Michael is the mirror which is to do with some fae
- Ten and the Dwarven axe with the Thane key
- Erin’s sight and cursed choker
- Sunnis’ message for Ben-Hadar
- Xeldarix continuing her training so Uqaviel’s mission is complete
- Karl has a place of power that he should take.
Karl walks Erin to her ship. They talk about the delay. Erin doesn’t complain and knows she has to accept Karl will have priorities other than her and her priorities. Erin suggests when they can, lay low so that way Karl’s enemies have a chance to forget about him or at least get distracted. Karl reveals he can make his own demiplane and they’ll have to go shopping for furniture for it. After they get to the ship, Karl grabs the bag he left here yesterday before heading out for the mage guild in an invisible fashion. He arrives at the mage guild at 11am.
Fargrim heads to Longrove. He stops in at the Broken Wand to try and pick up on the local gossip and rumours. He learns:
- There's a mad hermit who lives outside of town and supplies Ela's temple with food. This is used to feed the temple and their guild. Since the temple of Avani opened up they have been using this resource less to get new members.
- The Lord of Brechlen (Crichton) has been through three food tasters this month. Not a very secure job. Three cooks too, I s'pose.
Lily takes Xeldarix to the boat and they fly away from the city. By 11:30am they are passing over the skydock that goes down to the caves Molly’s team has been sent to continue working in. Lily continues and maps the new skyrivers she hasn’t used before on the way to Saarmen. At 1:30pm she reaches a dock that it a little North of Saarmen
After about twenty minutes of wandering around Fargrim spots a large dead tree that has grown inside a temple structure. The temple doesn't really have doors. It's like Greek temples with many pillars and a few closed rooms but mostly open space. There are various benches in the courtyard that surround the tree. There are a few people around. Some sit on the benches and others stand. A Brecht man sitting at the base of the tree with an Erik symbol. Fargrim asks if he is the Old Father, which gets a laugh. The man explains that the Old Father is Erik. They talk about Farming and how it’s not going well. Apparently the druidic magic isn’t working as well as it should. They have had to focus their energies just to get Longrove to produce as well as it does. Fargrim says he has rumours about the cause, but this man believes rumours to be unhelpful and should be treated with care. Fargrim shares the information about the unicorn. It concerns him, but to act on it without proof is treason. Fargrim wants to confirm the rumour with the man, but the man has no way to do so. He knows the land is suffering a blight, but cannot find the cause. Fargrim promises to come back with proof and donates 100 gold to the temple before leaving. He goes component shopping before heading to the manor.
Karl arrives at the mage guild, dismissing the invisibility. He sends a message to Poden to get a teleportation time before going up to try and see. He’s cleared for 11:30am. While waiting he races up to try and see Master Barnes, but she is not in her office. Looks like she is teaching for now. Karl leaves a message for her before waiting in the portal room. When his time comes, he heads to Poden. Karl goes to see Miss Berry and June. He describes the construction where the parts came from. Miss Berry looks over the parts and gives a cost for them to be paid out for. 500 gold per smaller eye and 3500 for the larger one. A total of 8500 gold. Karl looks over what is currently available for sale from the university. He buys a Insignia of Claws +1 and a Potion of speed. Karl gets a variety of gems for the sale minus the items he bought.
- 10g x 10 (100g)
- 20g x 10 (200g)
- 50g x 4 (200g)
- 100g x10 (1000g)
- 200g x10 (2000g)
- 500g x8 (4000g)
At 1pm Fargrim arrives at the manor. Caramella is doing the laundry. Fargrim has a bit of small talk with her before having some private time to pray and do a few rituals. Casting Commune Fargrim asks:
- Is there physical evidence that Morningsteel killed a unicorn? Unclear
- Is Uqaviel on the right track with his growth and experiences? Uqaviel is where he needs to be physically, but is struggling.
- Do you want Uqaviel to simply clear his name? No.
When Karl returns to Brechlen, he finds Master Barnes is supervising an open study session. Karl goes to talk with her. Karl asks a favour of her, to copy down a spell into his own book. Teleport specifically. Master Barnes allows it. He will work on it in study for an hour and a half. Then at 3pm they move to Master Barnes’ study to continue working. Once they move to the study, Karl explains the full situation that led to the Astral Sea and what their group is doing now. Master Barnes makes them tea while they talk. An 8:30pm finishing time is negotiated with the promise Karl will eat dinner when they are done before getting some rest. He updates Erin on what that means for their timeline via the stones.
Lily brings the boat up against the dock North of Saarmen. Lily tries to find a spot in the woods along the coast where Saarmen is just barely visible. She can’t really find a good spot. She settles for a good spot that's relatively close to somewhere she can see Saarmen. By 2:30pm she has located the best spot she can.
At 2pm Fargrim arrives at the former temple of Avani. He notices the tone to the temple is a little sad today. Especially those who Fargrim knows follow and pray to Xeldarix. A few pictures have been placed on the altar to Haelyn. They seem to be hand drawn pictures. One has a bean on it with arms and brown around a smile on it where a face kind of looks like where it is. It's holding hands with a smaller bean. Another picture is of 6 beans. Two beans have wings. Fargrim sees these pictures and is pleased but concerned. He seeks out Selise. She is praying, but Fargrim interrupts her. When he asks about the mood of the temple is due to some of the more devoted had a shared dream last night of loss and sadness. It has been a hard feeling to shake during the day. He also learns Phobe drew the pictures that were on Haelyn’s altar. Apparently that altar looked lonely and she didn’t want Fargrim Fargrim’s one to be left out since all the other children were drawing for the other alters. Phobe is downstairs, helping with the kitchen. Fargrim volunteers to go down and help to spend some times with her. He learns that the picture of the two people was him and Phobe. Fargrim works with Phobe until 4:30pm.
Xeldarix and Lily use the birds to do a bit of scouting and find out about the area. By 3pm Xeldarix has discovered there is an elf that sails by the shore and dives into the water sometimes. The birds lead the pair to the shore where this happens. The drop a pebble about 300 ft out into the water from the shore. They’re not super sure how often the elf comes. Once a moon or so. He was here in the last moon. Lily talks to the the nearby dolphins that she summons. She gets them to discover what is in the spot the birds had indicated. There is a temple under water with dangerous creatures around. Sharks guard the area. They head back to the camp and arrive at 3:30pm. Lily summons a bird to go and scout in the Saarmen. She asks it to fly to the city to see the current situation as far as guards and patrols go, and fly back after 30 minutes. It returns at 4:20pm. Lots of guards. Less in areas outside the main city walls. Afterwards they practise archery and sneaking for a bit. However their practice is interrupted by an attack which even has Uqaviel involved. Daffodil in his ghostly form with a scythe who fights Xeldarix and Lily while Uqaviel is facing off against another angel above. Lily and Xeldarix quickly dispatch Daffodil, hoping for the last time. The angel looks down towards Lily and Xeldarix before teleporting away, leaving a rift open for a moment and something comes through. Three large gargoyles with four arms each fly through. With the bigger threat gone, Uqaviel comes down and assists the other two with dispatching the planar intruders. Just after 5pm, Lily updates Fargrim and Karl on what has happened. For Fargrim Lily tells him about the angel and reminds him to pack extra hot chocolate on the boat for Xeldarix, and for Karl to ask about places of power and mention the attack. Karl advises Lily to grab something from the temple if she does go to investigate it. Karl asks Master Barnes and the realm magic can bound a creature there as a guardian. This information is relayed to Lily.
At 5:30pm Fargrim arrives back at the manor. Simone is back. She's drawing in the sunroom. Caramella is cooking. At this point Fargrim thinks to check in that Karl is coming for dinner. Karl tells him he will be home late. At 6pm dinner is served and Karl’s is put in a warmer for him when he eventually comes home. After dinner Fargrim and Simone talk about Phobe. She will try to go and see her when she can. Then Fargrim relaxes and waits for Karl to return.
Xeldarix learns the chicken and turkeys are birds and doesn’t want Caramella to serve that anymore. Lily gives Xeldarix a mini agricultural lesson, which interests her while Lily prepares and cooks up the rabbit that they caught. Lily request Uqaviel draw a sketch of the angel. He’s not very good at realising what features are helpful for people to recognise one another. At 6pm Lily and Xeldarix finish eating and move their camp. They head to the edge of the forest to the south of the city and arrive at a new spot at 9pm. Lily organises a watch cycle that involves herself, Xeldarix Ohtli, Xochitl, and Uqaviel. Then before bed she tries to scry on Wellmore but is not successful.
At 8:45pm Karl arrives at the manor. Caramella has dinner in the warmer for him. After eating, he goes up to find Fargrim. He asks Karl to see if his family will go and check in with Phobe, just to give him some more connections. Fargrim also fills Karl in on his interaction at the Old Father temple. Fargrim seems to think the temple can do something if they have hard proof about the source of the famine curse. Karl is willing to go by and tell them about the Captain of the Mercenary Company (Cardinal Blooddrop company) that told the group about this. Afterwards they head to bed. 22nd of Deismir 1524 Lily is up at 4am to take her shift for overnight watch. At 6am everyone is up and Lily is able to meditate on her spells. She ritually communicates with the plants to ask some of the trees if anyone interesting has been through this area recently, aside from herself and her companions. They tell Lily about the buck that had some really impressive horns since they are very big. They know nothing about any elves in the area. Afterwards she repeats the process and does the same with animals about the city of Saarmen. Lily learns that things fly there that aren’t birds. Xeldarix is trying to talk to the birds. However, the flock of birds seem more interested in nesting in her hair than talking. After a bit of breakfast Lily will lead the group back into the woods and to the north to get to the spot she had marked on the coast with some help from Xochitl.
At 6am Fargrim and Karl get up for the day. Karl spends five minutes preparing spells and Fargrim prays to Haelyn. Afterwards they head downstairs to get breakfast. At breakfast they discuss their plans for the day. Karl needs to finish scribing at the mage guild. Fargrim wants to go back to the temple of Erik. They’ll go together and leave shortly to try and get there early so Karl can get to the Mage Guild early. They arrive at 7:30am. The man Fargrim spoke to the day before is named Pieter. It seems there was a misunderstanding between Pieter and Fargrim the day before. The priest cannot help with the famine since it is resisting their magic. All he can do is speak with the Lady of Longrove. He merely warned the day before that rumours are dangerous. Karl mentions one of Simone’s prophecies, but doesn’t have the details onhand. Karl leaves and heads for the mage guild. He arrives at 8am and words for 7 hours. Fargrim heads for the docks and arrives at 9:30am. He helps Ten with restocking the medical bay before getting a sense of ship morale. He talks with various crew members. They are restless, Enna is pissy, Kosines is protective and Erin is just doing the best she can.
At 11:30am Lily’s group arrives at the shore. Once there, Lily ritually casts water breathing on herself, Xochitl, Ohtli, Xeldarix, and Uqaviel while still in the tree line, then looks to see if anyone is watching the water here today. Thankfully no one seems to be watching the area. They head out into the water after Lily ritually casts water breathing on the group. As Lily rides Ohtli she sees how the light from the sun refracts off the scales of a school of swimming sea trout that swims near the shore as you make your way out. The shore shelf drops off after 100 ft and from there it goes down deep. As the group descends, the sun looks more and more muted. Yellows, greens and blues around the area become more pronounced as the red colours fade away. Eventually the yellows and greens disappear leaving everything in shades of blue. As they descend they don’t realise a shark is stalking them until it tears into Lily’s side. The group quickly tries to defend itself as the shark is very focused on Lily. In the end she gets the killing blow on the creature. Lily reaches forward to stab the shark right as it comes in for another attack, sticking her sword into its mouth and through the roof of its mouth. Xeldarix then heals Lily up. Continuing down, the seabed isn't visible, but there is a faint light somewhere down in the depths. The lower they go, the colder it starts to get. It takes nearly half an hour, but slowly Lily is getting close enough to kind of see what is emitting the light. Below Lily can see a temple. The temple contains three main levels and a domed chamber at the top. Around the temple there look to be collapsed and broken buildings. There is another large structure nearby, but not as large as the temple. They check out the surrounding buildings first before the temple where the light is coming from a golden orb on top of the temple. As Lily approaches, it's hard to make out with the limit of darkvision in the murky water. However, one of the buildings looks to be an Amphitheatre. Three large sections of stone bleachers are all that remain of a prominent Amphitheatre, however it looks like someone sitting in the theatre would be looking at the temple. Lily goes to explore parts of the temple. She finds a shard that glows during her search. Without fully explaining all the levels to the temple, they go up and have Xeldarix mentally poke whatever is in the golden opaque room on top of the temple. It also has telepathy and is very unhappy they are there. They are warned to leave or die. The Master will have not be pleased with visitors. They start to move away and Lily contacts Karl with her stone while doing so.
At 1pm Karl gets a message from Lily. She updates him on her find and the fact that she suspects that Morningsteel has control of the source. There is a powerful guardian here that warned them away. They make plans to make sure they can teleport there and take advantage of the situation there.
As Lily heads up to the surface, she is attacks by three more sharks. They attack both Lily and Xeldarix, but the pair is able to dispatch them and continue to the surface. They fly up to the skydock and arrive at 1:40pm. They brainstorm what to do next and decide to try and find Yura’s rehabilitation centre. They scry on Mimi a few times and Lily takes a guess on the area she might be in. They head North just past Holstadt to try and find Mimi’s location. Lily has found a possible location. Xeldarix talks to the birds and learns a strange woman with horns comes by. Lily detects magic and sees the whole cottage is protected. At 3pm she contacts Karl again, suspecting that Yura comes here to see Mimi.
At 3pm Karl finishes writing out his new spell as Lily contacts him. They go back and forth about the protections and locations. Lily wants Anita notified about the location so Mimi can be saved. Karl thanks Master Barnes for her time and goes to quickly talks to Master Dale and learns he can learn how to make tuning forks. However, this would be best saved for another time. On the way to the ship Karl buys more scribing supplies and checking on healing potions. The temple of Neira has a number for sale. Karl arrives on the ship for 4:15pm. Erin and Karl catch up in her cabin before going out on the deck to help with the ship getting underway. Though Karl has to destroy another scrying sensor before she dives into the bay to go and talk to Brutus. Karl protects the boat from scrying and then once the boat is underway starts scribing Control Weather by 5:30pm.
While Lily and Xeldarix forage for dinner, Xeldarix talks to Lily about growing chocolate and the need for a greenhouse at the manor which can be home to bird friends! She is very excited about this idea. Lily tries to temper the excitement with practicality and the need for enchantments but her heart is set. However, by 4pm they haven’t really found anything. Lily takes some time to summon dolphins to learn about underwater caves that might be safer to stay the night in. However, after being dolphins and playing with them for a while to get this information, Lily and Xeldarix learn that dangerous creatures hide in the caves. They try to find somewhere to rest for the night and forage again. They find berries, some wild veg, mushrooms and a rabbit or two by 6:30pm. Lily will prepare everything, then once everyone who wants to eat has had a chance, she’ll just relax until around 10:00, then organise watch shifts again before bed.
At 6pm Erdad is bring up dinner for the officers where Erin, Karl, Fargrim, Wave, Enna, Erdad and a human Vos man sit at the table. Gustano is one of the fish the adventurer’s guild rescued and has been hired on as their Bosun. They have a pretty quiet dinner, but Erin ends it with talking finances and shares to make sure everyone is on the same page. Fargrim pulls Karl aside to talk to him about how the group has been using the ship and how they should not take a share. The pirates need to be allowed to be pirates. They agree to go non-stop to the water prince and not allow side quests to distract them. Karl messages Anita about Mimi, but she is upset her hiding place for Mimi was found and now she needs to move her. At 10pm, just as Fargrim and Karl are settling into their beds, there is a sudden impact to the board, which causes Fargrim to fall out of bed and spill onto the floor, followed by a loud roar. Erin and Karl are first on deck and a minute later Fargrim joins them. A large bronze dragon is flailing by the side of the boat. It is damaging the boat, roaring loudly. The dragon believes his egg is on the ship. Karl convinces him to shrink down to humanoid size, which he turns into an older man that has similar colouring to Pemri and Brygo. The dragon, especially once in human form, it becomes very obvious the dragon is very unwell. His eyes have a black ooze to them. He is also sniffing and coughing like he has a cold. Fargrim tries to remove the curse upon the creature’s eyes but startles him, causing him to sneeze lightning at everyone before collapsing. Ten is extremely excited about the new person on the ship and wants to keep him. While Karl tries to identify the effects on the dragon, Fargrim just removes the curse after many attempts before Karl can complete his ritual. The dragon starts to snore with a blocked nose that whistles with every breath. Occasionally lightning dances out. Ten gets Fargrim’s pillow and blanket for the dragon so he can sleep on deck. Karl, Erin and Fargrim head back to bed. However, he is disappointed to see his blanket and pillow are gone.
Lily is briefly woken up during Xeldarix’s watch by a burst of fire and Xeldarix putting it out. The fire was mad and she got rid of it. A fire elemental was confused and trying to burn down the forest. 23rd of Deismir 1524 Lily gets up around 4:00 for her shift keeping watch, then she’ll get ready for the day around 6:00. It's a bit of a misty morning, but overall not a bad day. She then will have Ohtli fly back up to the skydock to wait in the boat, while she’ll take Xeldarix and Uqaviel to the city.
At 6am both of the heroes are woken up. Karl is brought coffee by Erin and a smile, while Fargrim is awoken by Ten who wants to give the dragon his bed. Karl promises to help with the damage done to the ship last night. At 7am training begins. Erin runs everyone through cardio, katas and sparring. By 8am Fargrim and Karl are done and Erin goes again with the second group. Fargrim grabs some breakfast while Karl meets up with Gustano to look at repairs.
Fargrim heads down below and sees that Ten is tending to the dragon who is awake. There is a slight disagreement between Ten and Fargrim over informing the King and Captain on the dragon being awake. Fargrim believes it should be done and Ten believes it should wait until the Captain is done training the crew. Also the King is busy with repairs. Fargrim looks over the dragon and sees he has a cold or chest infection. Once he is comfortable and sleeping, Fargrim checks in with Ten about the Lessor Restoration prayer. Ten has already used it and there has only been a little improvement. At 8:40am he head up to watch Erin train the crew to wait for her to be done.
Karl and Gustano work together to repair the boat. Gustano uses his knowledge and skills while Karl speeds up the process with his magic. The new Buson doesn’t seem as picky as Enna was about magic being used in the process. Gustano will need to speed the day sanding and varnishing, but overall he’s happy with the progress.Just as they are finishing up, Karl gets a message from Lily, checking in on if she has contacted Anita. Karl relays that Anita was annoyed since she was the one that hid Mimi and not Yura. They also discuss the dragon attack last night before Karl heads down to watch the end of the second training session.
Lily tells Xeldarix that it seems they messed up with Mimi. They look at their next course of action which is to fly by Saarmen. They agree if it looks bad they will fly away. Once they finish up their breakfast they leave the same way they arrived and take the long way back to the boat just in case.
Karl and Fargrim talk while Erin finishes up her training. There they talk a little about the messages that Lily has passed onto Karl and about Agam, who is the dragon with Ten. Once Erin is done, she is also filled in with these details. They go down to talk to the dragon, who is rather grumpy. He still believes his egg to be here and wants to find it before his clutch mate realises it is missing. In the end they leave him in Ten’s care to get more rest. Karl spends his day scribing so he can have access to control weather the next day to help their speed on the water. Fargrim communes with his god on a few matters before getting Wave’s help with getting a new place to sleep while the dragon has his bed. He asks:
- Is there a Bronze dragon egg onboard the boat? Unsure.
- Is Fargrim a good bean? Yes.
- Is there a chance of mutiny on the ship? No.
At 11:30am they arrive back at the boat and start flying back to the skydock that was just past Saarmen. They spend some time flying around the NW point of Saarmen to try and find the brainwashing facility. However, after a while Lily puts a hold on this and flies to Archestuel to see how things are going there and see Sunnis. Lily arrives at 5:30pm and talks with a number of people.
- Jarvis is concerned about Raillith being a troublemaker, especially with his new found ability to be a cat.
- Fikra is trying to guide Raillith the best she can, but his trauma does impact that. He his advanced in shape changing, but still does not willingly talk unless in his sleep.
- Sunnis is asked for advice about Uqaviel. She recommends he get back to his nature. If his nature is fire, a volcano may help.
- Sunnis is asked about volcano locations and gives some.
- Sunnis says she might be able to help with the people trapped in stones.
At 6pm Fargrim and Karl take part in the officer’s dinner. They discuss the situation with Agam and the egg. They decide that Ten should stay with the dragon instead of taking a shift. So Karl volunteers to take Ten’s shift, much to Erin’s dismay. After Dinner Fargrim helps Ten with the dragon and prays to Haelyn.
At 9:30pm Lily arrives in Brechlen. They talk to Caramella about a Greenhouse. Xeldarix gives 1500 gold towards this project before they head to bed. 24th of Deismir 1524 At 5am Fargrim gets up to start his day and spend a fair amount of time memorising spells before going to training.
At 6am Lily gets up to start her day. She meditates before seeing if Simone is up. She’s putting up private Sanctum for the day which Lily waits for her to finish before talking with her. Lily suggests that one day they go visit Raillith, which Simone is really happy with that idea. However, she knows that she can’t right now since she is still under heavy scrutiny. Simone also agrees to do a reading for Lily after breakfast. They have a 7am breakfast of waffles.
At 8am Fargrim goes to tend to Agam and detects that he is still diseased and channels a lot of magic into him which eventually clears the illness completely from the dragon.
At 8am Lily has Simone doing a reading for her. “Where would Mimi have been taken for re-education after being tortured if Anita had not intervened?” “Those who lack limbs, voices, hearing and sight travel many miles to a hidden location. Cliffs are sheer and hold many dangers for those of their own minds or now are agents in waiting. Those who attend have no memory and cannot act as guilds, but instead be led to a trap.” Lily thanks Simone for her time as she gets ready to leave for her work day. Lily scries on Levi to see him on a ship. Lily uses the stones to update Fargrim on this. Afterwards Lily and Xeldarix talk to McGregor about the greenhouse. He is confused about it but will work on it. Lily and Xeldarix will leave via the boat for the dock North of Saarmen.
At 10am Karl gets up and gets a late breakfast. Fargrim comes up to updates Karl on the status of the dragon. Karl casts Control weather to help them sail a little better since they need to take a long way around the bay due to the Kraken being in the area.
At 11am Lily and Xeldarix they arrive at the skydock. They summon birds to scout on the temple of Ela. They see it has many people guarding one elf. Afterwards Lily scries on Yura to see that Morningsteel is upset as something has gone missing. Yura sees the scrying sensor and tries to compel Lily to make her way to Yura, but is able to resist. It however, does shake Lily with the level of magic needed to do that. Lily also uses Augury to see if it was a good idea for Xeldarix to touch the shard they took from the temple. The answer is Both. Fargrim and Karl send messages to Lily.
At 12pm Fargrim wakes the sleeping dragon. Agam is much better but wants a foot and head massage. Fargrim however does really poorly and angers Agam. He talks with Karl and leaves. It seems the illness made him believe the egg was here but it is not. Afterwards at 1:30pm Karl and Fargrim message Lily. They talk about what Lily has learned today and decide that it would be for the best for Lily to rejoin the group. Lily will explore the leylines up to the East side of the bay and aim to be at the Dwarehame arm mouth.
Lily continues exploring from 1:30pm til 5pm and maps out the leylines of the area. Lily has some rations for dinner at 6pm before getting some rest at 8pm so she can be up early for the possibility of the boat coming past.
Fargrim and Karl have a pretty standard day on boat as they ready themselves for Lily’s return. 25th of Deismir 1524 At 2am Lily wakes up and contacts the boat. They arrange for her to get on boat for 3am. There she meditates and relaxes until training at 7am when everyone else is up. At 8am while they have breakfast, they catch each other up on what has happened since they split up. At 10am Lily notices Ten seems to be in a slum since he misses his dragon friend. So she calls down lightning on him. Karl notices this and helps out until Ten falls down unconscious. When this happens runs light up across his body. Fargrim opens his chest panel to see his heart is also glowing like the runes. In his panic he heals Ten. Ten is disappointed and believes he has been rejected by Cuiracean. The rest of the day passes without incident. 26th of Deismir 1524 The day continues much like the last until 11am when the ship is attacked by another pirate ship. Working together the group is able to dispatch them without too many issues. There is a bit of a blood burst here or there. They then loot the ship.
- Indigo (200g)
- Cloth (50g)
- Frying Pan magical
- Amulet magical
- Amber (80g)
- Amethyst (110g)
- Azurite (9g)
- Coral (90g)
- Hemalite (7g)
- Obsidian (12g)
- Red Garnet (110g)
- Silver Pearl (538g)
- 8000 gp
Notes
| Name | XP | Running Total | Level at end of the session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fargrim | 8,185 | 210,396 | 16 |
| Karl | 8,185 | 210,396 | 16 |
| Lily | 8,185 | 210,396 | 16 |
