Session 68: The long road and rescue Report

General Summary

28th of Anarire 1524 Fargrim was the first up at 5:30am. He prays and heads down for breakfast. Lily is up next at 6am. She mediates and then heads down for breakfast at 6:30am. At 6:30am Karl wakes up and head straight down for breakfast. It’s a warm, cloudy day today. Just before Karl comes downstairs, Fargrim gets a message from Erin via the ring. He notes that Lily Karl didn’t check in last night. Karl swears and immediately starts casting sending to Erin. Xeldarix comes downstairs with Simone, who still looks very tired. Fargrim reveals after Karl has already started casting sending the real reason Erin contacted him was to let the group know she arrived in Saarmen. Lily is worried about Simone. Karl casts sending a second time, commenting that realm magic is highly draining on the caster. He doesn’t know if diamond dust can help Simone. Fargrim promises to make her a good meal on the road.

Simone makes vague comments about Erin and Karl’s trust being important, but doesn’t know why. Karl promises to help Simone rest by using the mansion tonight. Afterwards Karl leaves before Lily, Simone, Xeldarix and Fargrim to go meet with Molly. They tie up some loose ends at the manor before following themselves.

On the way to the mage guild, Karl grabs some shopping and then meets up with Molly at 7:45am. After checking with the desk, Karl learns that only Steve is planning to travel today so he can’t piggyback off another Master going to Poden. He messages Poden and gets a teleportation time for 8:40am. As a result he has to wait, so he starts to read Falak’s diary again. Before the others arrive he learns that Hassan predicted Falak and he would have a daughter. Falak seems to want the child to be like Hassan rather than herself. Though she hopes for a son. At 8am Lily and Fargrim arrive. However, Lily goes off to see the apprentices to hire some to look into unicorn curses and how to break them. She pays them 200 gold each up front with a promise of 200 gold later. Jackson is taking lead on the project. Fargrim goes up to see Master Sparrow to see how the curse breaking is going. He learns Sam has broken them all himself since the students didn’t know the right spell for it. Lily then goes up to the practice room while she waits to play with the sphere. After seeing Master Sparrow, Fargrim joins Lily. Karl continues to read the diary. The page goes on to talk about where to raise the child. They were out at a cave, setting up their next con when the egg happened. So they have delayed that plan for now with discussions on if they stay here or rise trying to get to one of their lairs in the cities where they would have better resources. In the end they manage to get back to Brechlen, but the journey is hard with an egg. In the end Falak attacks the city while Hassan smuggles the egg in. Falak is badly hurt during this, but she flies to return later to rest and recover with the egg. She notes that she doesn't tell Hassan she absorbed more bloodlines tonight. It was not her intention, but things got messy near the end. Hassan nurses her back to health, caring for her and the egg. At 8:30 Lily has completed one solution for the puzzle where it starts to play a haunting melody. She continues to work on the puzzle and Fargrim makes his objections known. Karl continues to read. In the diary Falak writes about the sweet things Hassan does to make sure she is comfortable. He brings her books, flowers, chocolates for her recovery and while tends to the egg the best she can. In the end he goes to buy scrolls from the temple to aid her in her recovery. They discover that with the attacks they had done in the past had caused the watch to invest in poisons specifically designed to kill dragons and it had been keeping her weak. The bastards! She was now terrified that the egg might have absorbed some from her, but Hassan magically checks the egg to see it is fine. At 8:40am Karl and Molly teleport to Poden. There they head down to see Miss Berry in her office and Molly has to tell her story on how she came about the weapons and then lost them in the first place. Molly tells about the council of giants from her homeland and how they had taken her as an apprentice. There she learned to smith from a Fire Giant named Momir. There are some evil giants in her homelands that attacked the village near the council's location. She rallied a small group and defended the town with the giant's help of the council. There her hand was badly wounded, but they saved everyone. Homes were lost, but they could be rebuilt. The council knighted herself and those she rallied as the Giant Fighters. They were each given items to represent their honour in and out of battle during the recovery of the city. Molly wanted to go and find a way to heal her hand, but she was warned that part of it was cursed by the evil giant and might not be fixable. She wanted to go and help others and search anyway. She was given a tattoo (they all were) to show other Giant's that they had the council as their patron. When they met Laura, looking to get out of Unbrau, one of the fighters gave up their second weapon so she would have one too. They were getting ready to head back to see if the council would allow Laura to be an official part of the group when they stumbled across the dragon and tried to dispatch it. However, they were turned into fish and trapped there with their items stolen.

At 9am Lily solves another layer of the puzzle, only to be turned to stone. Fargrim quickly grabs his silver powder and casts Greater Restoration on Lily to reverse the effects. To try and make it up to Fargrim, Lily takes him shopping to get some more powder. Afterwards they head to the library so Lily and Xeldarix can continue to work on Elvish while Fargrim keeps a stern eye on Lily. At 9:30am Steve comes into the library, looking confused. There he learns that Karl has already left for Poden and rushes off to get Sunnis ready to leave. Lily and Fargrim head to the reception area to wait for everyone.

Miss Berry accepts that Molly and her group are the true owners of the items that were sold through the school. A total of 249,000 gold for the five items. The warhammer was 100,000, the belt was 100,000, the tantrum weapon was 5,000, the cloud giant weapon was 34,000 and Giant's dream was 10,000. Molly and Karl pay for the Giant’s Dream and Tantrum with the rest to be held until Molly can pay for the items. Molly is very grateful that Karl paid for the Tantrum and promises to work hard at the guild. Miss Berry agrees to try and sell the crystal ball for Karl after making him sign a contract that he will reimburse the buyer if it turns out to be another stolen item. The school buys the scrolls and Karl commissions a scroll. He also fills Miss Berry in about Falak and she promises to help if she can with the dragon issue. Then he asks Molly to wait outside so he talk about Xeldarix and can look over the school’s items for sale without feeling bad for not buying the other items. Karl asks that Xeldarix be allowed to enter the school again in case they need to teleport. Miss Berry says she will think about it, but wants Xeldarix to wear a containment item. Karl buys a scroll, a potion and a ring before leaving to get Molly and look at getting a time to head back.

At 10am, Karl returns to find Fargrim and Lily sitting in the foyer with Simone and Xeldarix. Molly follows behind Karl, looking happy and hopeful. Lily asks Molly to ask around to find out who might be good at paperwork and record-keeping. Also to continue recruiting when possible with a cap of 25 people. Anyone escorting the mages down to the fish should be paid 5 gold for their troubles and if they do have incidents in the sewers, if they find any gold or valuables, they should split the findings between themselves and the guild. The guild can take a quarter, and the rest goes to those involved. Molly then leaves to talk with the mages about their trips. Meanwhile Karl updates the group on what he learned before Lily and Fargrim leave to go get a carriage and horses while waiting for Steve. Karl reads more of the diary. Falak continues to write about her recovery. She starts reading, drafting and working with Hassan to strengthen the protections on the lair after that. It takes months for her to be back at full strength. She put up wards so things can't teleport in or out easily. She puts up wards to convince people to walk away from the lair. By the time Lily and Fargrim return Steve, his apprentice Renee, Gail, and Sunnis are waiting for them. While they sort out walking shifts, Gail whispers sweet nothings into Karl’s ear about if they dare to come back to Brechlen without Steve she will kill him. As they leave Sunnis, Simone, Karl and Renee ride in the carriage. Lily takes the reins of the horses while Fargrim and Steve walk. At 10:30am they head out. During the first 2 hour session Karl speaks with Renee, trying to get to know her. She seems to be going with the goal of being Sunnis’ guardian on the mountain so Steve may return to his family in Brechlen. They speak about the curse on Muden. She is of the opinion the curse has fey origins. They also talk a little about battle tactics. Afterwards he goes back to reading the diary. He reads through the anxiety of an expecting parent. Then the egg hatches and this half dragon baby girl is born. They called her Amira. Karl reads through Hassan making items to sell to satisfy Falak's need for a hoard. She often helps since she has a lot of magical essence. The child ages at half the rate as a normal human child. The water only separates the north area of the lair from the south, instead of being as high as Karl knows it to be. At 12:30 the walkers and riders switch, but Sunnis and Simone stay in the carriage while Lily continues to be the driver. While riding, Fargrim and Steve talk. They discuss the fact Steve is not moving permanently to the mountain, but instead Renee will take his place. They talk of Fargrim’s home and some of his past. Steve offers to be there to listen whenever Fargrim wants to talk about it. While Karl walks and Lily rids, they talk for a while. Lily requests that the next time Karl is riding that he identify some of the items from the tomb. Karl shares what he has learned from the diary about Falak’s daughter. They also talk about trying to detain Falak and their options for that. At 2:30 the group stops to have some lunch. Karl shares some meat pies he had purchased in the morning. They have a short rest so Karl may refocus some of his magic. At 3:30 they get back on the road. Steve takes the reins while Lily walks with Renee. Karl and Fargrim ride in the carriage with Sunnis and Simone. In this two hour period Karl identifies:

Ioun stone (absorption)
Elemental Gem, Yellow Diamond
Elemental Gem, Red Corundum
Elemental Gem, Emerald
Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments (3)
Oil of Sharpness
Quaal's Feather Token, Tree
Quaal's Feather Token, Whip
Bead of Force (8)
Charlatan's Die
Perfume of Bewitching

Just a few minutes before the rotation at the end of the second hour while Karl is halfway through his last identification process, Lily and Renee spot large creatures approaching. There appear to be five Griffons and three wyverns. Renee spots them and cries out a warning to the group. Karl hurls a streak of fire at the nearest griffon but he can’t seem to hit them with such a distance between them. Lily steps forward ahead of the cart to get between it and the flying creatures and raises her sword before casting a blessing onto herself, Steve, Xeldarix, Karl, and Renee. Simone seems to have a sharper eye as she sends out a frost at the Griffon closest to the carriage as she briefly sticks her head out the door before retreating. Renee looks annoyed at the creatures. She warns the group not to hit her before stretching out her arms and turning into a giant vulture. She takes off flying to the nearest Griffon. The wyverns fly towards the group. One at Karl, one at Lily and one flanks around the carriage but they haven’t reached them yet. Xeldarix readies herself. The Griffons fly towards the group. One goes for Karl, two for Lily, one at Renee and two more fly around the side of the carriage. Steve prays to Erik and summons a cloud to calling lightning down on the creatures that have approached Lily. Sunnis tells the group they can call upon her if they are in need. Fargrim exits the left side of the cart, to ensure the cart doesn't have an exposed flank. He casts Hold Monster on a Griffon and sends it falling out of the sky. Karl sends fire out to the Griffon that has approached him, warning it that it shouldn’t be here. Lily slashes at one of the Griffons in front of her, hoping that they aren’t the pets of Kurruk. Simone scares one of the Griffons away while hurting it with a spell as Karl tells her to get back inside the carriage and put her hood up.Renee as the Giant Vulture screeches and attacks the griffon in mid air, getting one hit in. The wyverns attack. One goes for Steve, hitting him hard enough to force his concentration. The other two tried to hit Karl and Fargrim, but couldn’t land a hit. Xeldarix flies up to attack the wyvern that is attacking Steve, getting three good hits in on the bad bird. The Griffons attacked their targets Fargrim, Lily and Renee. Lily and Renee were hit to the point Renee was forced back into her human form. Karl sees this and quickly casts Feather Fall to save her falling. Renee turns back into herself and falls from the sky but Karl's quick thinking saves her as she floats down. She looks around in a panic for a moment before relaxing. Meanwhile Lily sends back a Hellish Rebuke at the Griffon. The griffon that had been caught in the Hold Monster manages to resist the effects. Another Griffon is heading for the back of the carriage. Steve tries to hit the Wyvern with his Quarterstaff. Using the staff to heal himself when he hits the creature. Fargrim gets two good hits in on the wyvern trying to attack him. Karl sees the Griffon trying to get to the carriage and uses his wand to kill the Griffon before slipping it back up his sleeve. Lily calls for Sunnis’ aid, hoping for flying rocks as she kills one of the Griffons by channelling some divine light into her blade when she hits it. Simone pulls her hood up and disappears from sight. As Renee floats down, she holds up her hands. She extends her thumbs towards one another and points her index fingers up like someone considering the composition of the griffon above her before lightning shoots out from between her two thumbs.Renee sighs as she lands safely on the ground, the Griffon still flying for her. The wyverns continue to attack. One bites into Steve. Another bites and stings Karl, but Karl is thankfully able to resist the poison. The last one tries to hit Fargrim but can’t seem to hit him. Xeldarix continues to try and bring down the wyvern attacking Steve. Two griffons attack Fargrim, managing at least one hit on him, he swings in reaction, getting a hit back on the griffon. Another attacks Lily getting two hits in while Renee is hit once by her griffon. Steve sends out a spray of poison back at the wyvern, giving it a taste of its own medicine. Sunnis stands and peers out of the door of the carriage Fargrim went through. Shifting the box to one arm, she holds out a hand and closes her eyes. The ground outside the carriage starts to shake as 8 stones fly up and form a huge rock shaped creature. She sits back down as the creature attacks the griffon as it forms up. Fargrim kills a griffon attacking him before turning to swing at the wyvern. Karl talks a half step back and bring his hands up in front of him as a golden circle forms and starts rotating slowly. The sound of ticking echoes faintly. As a result all the wyverns are slowed and so is one griffon. He then calls for Simone’s help. She tries to magically insult them but they don’t seem affected by it. Lily continues to focus on and attack one of the griffons. Renee declares the griffon attacking her as her prey before attacking it with her scimitar. The slowed wyverns try to attack Steve and Karl but miss. However, one of the slowed wyverns does get a critical hit on Fargrim. Fargrim swings back as a reaction and hits the wyvern. Xeldarix continues attacking the wyvern attacking Steve and kills it. Xeldarix tries to push the wyvern as she stabs it in the neck so that it doesn’t fall completely on the horses. The animated stone and Renee are attacked by griffons, but the griffon near Lily is slowed and can only try to claw at her. Everyone gets hit at least once. This causes Lily to lose her focus on bless. Steve prayers to Erik and extends Erik’s touch to Fargrim, Lily, Xeldarix, Karl and himself to heal them a little. The animated stone swings at the griffon but misses. Fargrim attacks the wyvern, but misses one of his strikes. Karl throws a hand out and four golden darts streak across the field to impact on the griffon threatening Renee which kills it. Renee whirls round as magic flies over her shoulder to see Karl still in danger. She is confused why Karl helped her while he himself is being attacked. However the confusion fades with her human shape as she turns into a Direwolf and runs towards Karl. She flanks the wyvern and growls. Lily stumbles a bit as she attacks the griffon, but regains her balance to hit once, and her sword flares up again as she does so. She then hurried over to provide backup for Karl. With the horses starting to freak out over the dead wyvern that has fallen on them there is the sound of Simone saying as the carriage rocks a little. With some difficulty Simone sends off a chill touch at the wyvern attacking Karl despite the movement making it hard to aim. One of the slowed wyvern tries to attack Karl but misses. Xeldarix makes sure the dead wyvern makes it off of the horses’ backs before flying to Fargrim’s aid. The last griffon tries to defend itself against the stone creation, getting two good hits in. The slowed wyvern attacking Fargrim stings him and Fargrim can feel the poison flowing through him. Fargrim attacks as a reaction and gets a good hit in. Steve moves up to calm the horses that are uneasy with all the fighting. Fargrim attacks the wyvern in front of him, getting two good hits in. The animated stone continues to attack the last griffon, hitting it hard. Karl reassures Renee he can look after himself as he walks away from the slowed wyvern, firing a fire bolt at it as he goes. Lily attacks the wyvern near her, getting two hits in. Simone hits the wyvern near Renee with her Chill Touch spell. Renee aggressively bites into the wyvern and pulls it down to the ground. The wyvern gets straight back up and attacks Lily with its singer and poisons her. Xeldarix critically hurts the wyvern near Fargrim. The griffon continues to attack the animated stone. The wyvern tries to hit Fargrim but misses. Steve moves in to attack it with Shillelagh on his weapon and heals himself with the weapon as he kills the creature. With the wyvern near Fargrim no longer a threat he focuses his attention on the griffon. However the animated stone finishes off the griffon. Karl casually flicks three golden darts at the remaining wyvern, then brushes flakes of red-veined onyx from his face as he finishes off the last wyvern. With all the creatures down Lily voices wanting to harvest the wyverns. Steve offers to help her. The others start to move the bodies off the road. As this is starting, Karl is talking to Renee when she makes a noise in her direwolf form, her hair visually stands up on end and she lets out a growl as she turns to the carriage and the wyvern next to Fargrim as the creature bursts into flames, which washes over Xeldarix as it starts to radiate out. It washes over Steve and he seems to take some of it in. Fargrim takes the blood in and it continues to wash through the group. Simone is also hit and Lily takes in the last of it, just as the one at her feet explodes in the same flames. This one hits Lily first, before Simone and Karl take the last of that blast. Simone seems rather warm and feeling unwell after this. Renee's heckles go down and she calms before licking at Karl's hand. The group goes back moving bodies and Lily tries to harvest the poison sack with Steve’s help. However, Lily bursts the first one, getting it all over her and Steve’s hands. Karl and Renee, once she has turned back to her human form, have a bit of a heart to heart. They finish moving the bodies before Karl goes to check on Simone. However, she is asleep. Sunnis reveals Simone has drained her waterskin, talked to herself, put her earrings on before falling asleep curled up in the carriage. Karl does what he can with his ermine cloak as a pillow to make her more comfortable. Simone doesn't wake but does look more comfortable when Karl is done. Lily and Steve get the other two singer sacks, as well as the teeth and claws from the wyverns. On a successful check, the character harvests the creature's stinger that must be refined before producing 1 dose of Stinger Poison (see below). Refining the Poison: Once the stinger is extracted, an alchemist (or someone proficient in the poisoner's kit) can spend 6 days and 600gp worth of material to create Wyvern Poison (DC 14 Poisoner Kit or Alchemist Supplies check). Wyvern Poison (Injury): A vial of Wyvern Poison (DMG p258) can coat up to 3 pieces of ammunition or 1 melee weapon for 1 minute. Applying the poison takes 1 action. Any creature successfully hit must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This poison usually sells for 1,200gp, but the poison is often considered an illicit good (and may not be sold to normal vendors). VALUE: 600 gp WEIGHT: 7lb. EXPIRE: 14 days (11th of Deismir) Fargrim harvests some of the Griffons. Fargrim has a touch time getting the cuts looking nice, but he can have up to 20 pounds of griffon. Which is 4 servings. At 5:45pm the harvesting is done and the group is ready to walk for the last two hours. Lily rides in the carriage and everyone walks since Simone is taking up two seats.

At 7:45pm the group discusses what they’ll do for the night. They decide to go a little off of the road, have Sunnis shift the earth to hide the carriage, Karl will summon his mansion and everyone including the horses will stay inside with the door closed overnight. Lily tries to heal Simone who is feeling unwell with her lay on hands ability, but it doesn’t seem to help. Most of the group stays outside to keep an eye on Sunnis as she continue to move the Earth for 20 minutes but Fargrim goes to start cooking. Then Lily helps Steve get the horses through the door. Renee walks with Karl and Sunnis. Sunnis stumbles a little upon entering the demiplane, but continues to walk unassisted. Right past the door of the mansion (on the South wall) is a large room, 40’x40’ with a 20’ foot high ceiling. The room appears to be a massive stone cavern, with stone tables and benches set around fire pits with low burning coals. In the NE corner is a wooden stable for the horses. On the East wall is the entrance to a large, fully equipped kitchen. On the west wall are eight doors for bedrooms. There are cots set up next to the south wall by the door. While waiting for dinner Karl explains the items he identified today. Afterwards Lily and Xeldarix do more elvish lessons, Fargrim cooks and Karl identifies more items:

Smoldering Chain Mail
Saddle of the Cavalier
Boots of False Tracks
Greatsword of Warning
Double-Bladed Scimitar of Warning
Ear Horn of Hearing

At 9pm dinner is served. Fargrim brings out dishes for those who eat. You smell cheese and griffon meat as he shows you Griffon Cordon Bleu served with a side of mixed veggies. The carrots, peas and lima beans are steaming hot, and the cheese slowly oozes out the side of the griffon. Griffon Cordon Bleu: Meat 1 (Griffon) Cheese 1 Flour 1 Herbs and Spices 1 Cooking DC 15 After dinner Lily does a commune outside and once complete she hurried everyone back inside. She tells them there are powerful elementals scouring the area. One minor awnshegh closer to the mountain. After that they start to get some rest with Steve and Renee taking the first watch. Karl stays up a bit to identify the last item. A Philter of Love. He contacts Erin to tell her a bit about his day. She’s doing well and has some souvenirs for Karl to sign. 29th of Anarire 1524 A warm and cloudy day. Fargrim is up first to start cooking breakfast at 5am. Karl gets up at 5:30am to start scribing spells, before leaving his room to go to the main area at 6:30am. As most people are finishing breakfast, Lily emerges and yawns before sitting down to eat. They talk about attuning to one of the weapons of warning. In the end Renee attunes to the double-bladed scimitar of warning. Renee takes time to attune to the weapon before they leave. While waiting Karl updates the group and what Erin mentioned the night before. Saarmen is not safe for the Forged. He asks Fargrim to ask Erin about what’s going on in Saarmen in more detail via the rings. The group then makes sure that everyone has the best weapon they could have at this stage. Lily then continues to teach Xeldarix elvish. Simone comes out halfway through the process for breakfast. At 8:30am attunement is finished and we can start to consider checking for dangers outside. There is nothing out there and the group starts to make their way out so Sunnis can uncover the carriage. Meanwhile Fargrim contacts Erin and finds out that there is a wanted poster for Karl, Lily and Fargrim. There is a missing poster for Simone. Fargrim puts Erin on going to talk to Michael and Thorry at the inn in the northern areas of Saarmen. Fargrim passes on the information and the group toys with the idea of funding a rebellion. At 9am the group sets off. Karl starts off walking with Fargrim. Renee takes the reins so Lily and Steve are in the carriage with Simone and Sunnis. Lily checks in with Simone to make sure she can. At 11am Steve and Lily swap with Karl and Fargrim. At 1pm the group can see a town not far away when they are almost directly North of the mountain. It’s Erlebach. A small town that was once bigger, but has suffered with the curse on the lands. They decide to stop for supplies after lunch. Karl asks Fargrim to warn Erin that someone is hunting her bloodline, but she is too busy to talk at this moment. Meanwhile Lily is trying to get the ghost around Simone to respect her space and not overwhelm her. Simone tells them this place is sad and many people have died in the famine. The ghosts want the nobles to pay, the cause of the curse to die and to see a green Muden again.

The group heads into town and arrives at 1:30pm. Lily and Fargrim can see the farm lands are really struggling but people are out there working hard. There is a watch building on the way in but it's small and looks a little run down. A guard sits out the front and gives the group a friendly nod as they travel in. They head down the main strip, it's a mix of houses and shops. Many of the shops are boarded up. They find a blacksmith, a general store, and a herbalist. Down one of the side streets they see a small temple, a guild hall and tavern. Lily keeps an eye out for threats and spots a halfling that might try and make the group his mark. Lily stays to watch the carriage as she sends Fargrim, Steve and Karl in to get supplies. Simone and Sunnis stay inside the carriage. Robbie's Bucket is the name of the general store. The general store is a wooden row house with a tanned wooden roof. A female halfling owns the store. The store contains curtains draped over the walls and all sorts of kooky crap on the walls.Karl buys rations and a small metal flask with a rune on it. Meanwhile outside Lily talks with the halfling that was watching the group. Lily pays him for some information. Afterwards the group moves to see what the herbalist has. It’s called the Winged Poppy. The herbalist is a plaster single storey building, with large windows and finely-crafted furniture that looks a little dinged up. It contains a set of gold scales and meticulously organised drawers of herbs. There is a female gold dragonborn inside the shop, hanging herbs. She has a missing right arm. She wears white robes with leather pauldrons. She is a little surprised to have customers but shows them her wares. Karl buys potions of healing, greater healing, and superior healing. He pays 1200 gold for the lot. Karl patiently waits for the lady to count the coins. Once the coins are all counted, Karl leaves and they head out to check the temple. However, they don’t enter when they realise it’s a Ela temple. They instead head South and start off road to the mountain. Karl and Lily walk while Steve drives. Fargrim and Renee ride with Simone and Sunnis. At 4pm they swap so Karl and Lily ride while Fargrim and Renee walk. At 6pm the group stops and prepares for a night's rest the same as the night before. Sunnis hides the carriage and Karl summons the mansion. Lily uses her wand to see that the flask is indeed magical before doing her commune ritual. Lily gets mostly the same answers as yesterday except there are more celestials around now. Karl identifies the flask to find it is a Bottle of Boundless Coffee. Lily also asks Karl to identify the flower Xeldarix had given her when the bookshop situation happened the other day. Once identified Karl tells Lily what it does. Flower Beacon. Upon eating this flower it sets out a signal that the creator can sense even if on another plane to use a target for teleport or planeshift. It will allow for a small opening in protected and warded areas for them to enter but not leave through. While Fargrim works on dinner, Lily and Xeldarix do some elvish lessons while Karl scribes. At 7:20pm dinner is served up the same dish as the night before. Except he puts in a little bit more effect tonight and discovers the effect when he manages to make it delicious. Delicious DC 20: For the next 24 hours you may make one extra attack when you take the attack action. After dinner Lily and Xeldarix play cards while working on language lessons, Karl goes to his room to a ritual to contact Erin, and Fargrim cleans up while waiting to see if Karl goes crazy from his ritual. In his room, Karl contacts Erin via sending first to make sure she has a moment to talk in private. She does, but checks in to make sure that it’s safe for Karl to do so. Erin drew the watch’s attention with some of her questions about the Forged and they wanted to talk to her. However, they got violent and Erin ran. The city is in lockdown and Erin had to flee to the sewers. At the moment she is injured and recovering. However some dispelling points around the city has been giving her grief. Their forces have equal martial forces as spellcasters. They seem to roam in groups of four, two of each type. Specialised weapons for taking down targets. They seem to have poison based weapons. The crimes the Forged apparently commited are: kidnapping, attacking a temple, murder of a paladin and summoning a devil. Karl tells Erin about his trip while they have time. When the spells ends Karl goes out to reassure everyone he was okay and let them know about Erin’s situation. He also tells them what she has discovered so far. Afterwards the group fills Steve and Renee in with some of the details that gives the conversation more context. Renee is annoyed she wasn’t made aware of the possible legal problems of the party. Not because of their nature but because she likes to be prepared for problems. The group talks about different things they could do to shake things up in Saarmen. Afterwards Fargrim heads to his room, Lily does a little bit of Elvish language practice and Karl scribes for an hour before heading to bed. 30th of Anarire 1524 Another warm and cloudy day has Fargrim up first to start making breakfast at 5:30am. He makes a porridge for everyone this morning. Lily and Karl both get up at 6am to have a 6:30am breakfast. Over breakfast Fargrim tells the group a little bit about his past and situation. He’s from Kopingdahl. He deserted a war that the nobles were waging against the elves up North. Lily and Karl are very supportive of Fargrim to help him in anything he needs. The group gets a bonus from eating the porridge: Use a bonus action to take the Dash Action. Can used twice before it disappears. The group gets ready to head out. By 7:30am the carriage is unearthed and the group is ready to go. Karl and Lily walk with Renee driving. Fargrim rides with Steve, Sunnis and Simone. Karl asks Fargrim to check in with Erin. Fargrim reports back that the city is still locked down tight and hasn’t been able to get back to the boat yet. Lily suggests Fargrim tell Erin about praying to Xeldarix for help. In the end Erin is apparently resting but okay for now. At 9:30am they switch so Karl and Lily ride with Sunnis and Simone while Fargrim walks with Steve. Just before they get going and start heading up the mountain the group warns the druids about the hazards they might face here. As 11:30am rolls round the group arrives at the first outpost. As they look around Lily realises something is wrong and strange with the wind. As the group puts up their guard Renee warns them that the Weapon of Warning is telling her they have aggressive company. Out of the left back building a large air elemental comes flying out of the building at Lily and Xeldarix, engulfing both of them in it's shape. Then it tries to hit them both but only hits Lily. The air around this creature is stormy and makes walking through the area rather difficult. Another air elemental flies out from the same building, but flies over to the back of the carriage. Karl moves away from the carriage while facing the air elemental as he lets loose a magic missile at the creature that approached the carriage. Xeldarix swings her sword at the bad air around her and moves out from it slightly. Sunnis curls up around the chest.Steve runs over to sunnis' defence and assumes the shape of an Earth elemental. Earth Elemental Steve lays into the air elemental with a speed unexpected of a bulk his size. Afterwards it reacts and throws Steve back. Another air elemental flies out of the first building on the right and engulfs Karl. He and his familiar are hurt. Aeryn is actually thrown back along the roadside, badly hurt. Then it tries to slam into Karl twice but he shields to protect himself. Another one flies out of the first building on the left hand side and heads for Fargrim, managing to slam him once but can’t throw him. Fargrim reacts with a swing, hitting it back for its efforts. Renee hops off the carriage and moves up to the air elemental that has Fargrim. Renee fires a Lightning Bolt off at the creature and at the one around the back of the carriage. However Renee is then rebuffed by the elemental she is next to and flung 15 ft back into the carriage which hurts. Simone moves and casts Mind Spike at the elemental attacking Karl before moving back to her seat. Lily backs out of the air elemental in order to attack it, then summons a hollyphant spirit. She gets two good hits in. Another air elemental comes out of the last building on the left. It flies over to Renee and Lily. Slamming into them, hurting both of them. Renee is once again thrown by an elemental into one of the horses which has one of them hurt and both of them extremely unsettled. Another air elemental flies out of the first right hand building to attack Xeldarix. It can’t seem to hit Xeldarix with it’s slam attacks but it does fling her away from the fight up the road. Fargrim focuses, fueled by his meal from the night before, unleashing a series of attacks, getting 2 hits in. One last air elemental flies out of the first building on the left and attacks Xeldarix. It gets one good hit in but can’t fling her. One air elemental moves up to attack Lily, getting two slams in and tries to fling her away but she stands her ground. The elemental around the back of the carriage continues to attack it. The back of the carriage is damaged to the point where Sunnis and Simone are visible as the creature destroys the back wall of the carriage. Karl sees this damage and sends a stronger magic missile which kills the elemental responsible. He then calls out to Sunnis to shield or wall herself off from the interlopers. The ground trembles for a moment before a wall of Sand springs up to cover the back of the carriage in response to Karl’s request. Xeldarix flaps her wings against the wind and moves a bit away to better attack the creature, getting three good hits in. Steve moves to attack the air elemental but can’t hit it.The air elemental moves a little to get Steve and Karl. It would of hit Karl with a slam but he shields the attack. Karl is also flung away by the creature but Steve avoids attacks and stands his ground. Fargrim is slammed and then flung into the stone wall, so he doesn't go far but is knocked prone. Just before Fargrim was flung away he was able to get a hit in with his reaction. Renee lets loose another bolt of lightning hitting two of the air elements. Simone moves back to the carriage door and sends out some frost to the elemental attacking Karl before ducking back into her seat. Lily struggles against the wind to back up a bit and continues to attack. She channels some divine radiance into the two strikes, hoping to down the elemental, but it isn’t enough. This elemental moves to slam Lily and Renee. Before engulfing Lily who then flung into one of the building spaces. An air elemental flies over to Karl, slamming into him once. Fargrim tries to hit the air elemental attacking him but can’t so instead he heals as many as he can, including himself. An air elemental strikes Xeldarix twice before failing to fling her away. Another air elemental slams Renee twice, knocking her out before moving towards the carriage. Karl pulls a wand from his sleeve and fires it at the air elemental threatening Sunnis and destroys it with a magic missile. Xeldarix checks on Lily before sending some healing light to Renee and attacking the elemental she finds herself in. She gets two hits in. Steve lumbers over to one of the air elementals and slams into it. It swings back at Steve and hits him once. Another air elemental tries to attack Fargrim but misses. Renee slowly gets up and fires off another lightning bolt to hit two of the air elementals again. Simone continues to try and help Karl where she can with attacking the one nearest him, but misses it. Lily stands up and makes her way back towards the fight and points at Renee, turning her into a Giant Ape. It has a yellow streak of lightning on its back. An elemental slams into Renee’s new form, slamming it twice. The air elemental with Steve and Karl does a slam against both of them before trying to send them flying. They’re both hit and Karl is sent flying. Fargrim tries to attack the one attacking him but gets one hit in that shines with the light of Lily’s Hollyphant spirit. The elemental with Xeldarix hits her hard with a slam. Karl holds his arms out and golden darts flash out into the air around Steve but the elemental persits. Steve slams back and gets one hit in. Another air elemental tries to strike Steve but misses. Xeldarix slashes at the elemental some more as she tries to convince to leave but it falls on death ears. The elemental attacking Fargrim misses it’s hit and he withstands the winds to avoid being flung to the side. Fargrim reacts and slashes at the elemental. Renee as a giant ape with a yellow stripe punches the air. It doesn’t hurt as much as she would like but does get one good hit in. Simone continues to try and help Steve but wonders where Karl went since she missed him being thrown away. Lily moves in to help Xeldarix bring down her elemental but can’t seem to hit it. However she does resist the elementals' attempts to rebuff her. The elemental slams into Renee Ape and tries to throw her but can't manage it. Another air elementals keep trying to hit Steve but with no luck. Fargrim slashes at the air elemental that has been attacking him and kills it with his second slash. The air elemental with Lily and Xeldarixl tries to hit both Xeldarix and Lily but only hits Lily. Lily loses her focus as she’s hit and Renee turns back into herself. Xeldarix focuses to heal Lily while trying to fend off the elemental with two hits. Karl sends another wave of magic missile at the air elemental near him and Steve. Steve's first slam goes into air4 after the whirlwind of magic missiles pile into it but can’t hit with his send hit. The air elemental tries to hit him back but misses with both hits but it does force Steve away from it. Renee stumbles as she shrinks, but brings her hands up and unleashes a blizzard in front of her. This hits two of them and kills one of them. Simone finishes off the air elemental that forced Steve away. Lily pushes through the whirling air to get to the next elemental and attacks it, getting two good hits in. It tries to rebuff Lily but to no effect. Lily grits her teeth and sends out a bit of healing magic towards the horse that had gotten hurt earlier in the fight. The air elemental reacts by hitting Lily twice, though she uses her sword’s magic to increase her defence against one hit, and flinging into the building, hitting the stonework. One of the remaining air elementals flies at Karl but he shields himself from the attacks and is able to stand his group against being flung around. Fargrim turns up next to the wall of sand where Karl is and calls down a flamestrike on the creature. Karl sends out another round of magic missile at the creature but it’s still standing. Xeldarix heals Lily and slashes at the elemental, demanding that it not hurt Lily no more. Earth Steve rumbles and dashes as fast he can to get back to. It tries to rebuff Steve but to no effect. Renee throws a flame at the air elemental near her. Simone can’t see any enemies from inside the carriage so she gets out to look around and fires a chill spell off to the north to help Lily and Renee out before ducking back inside the carriage. Lily comes in to try and finish off this elemental. She channels divine power into it, but just can’t finish it off as she’s thrown away from the creature again. The wind elemental hits Renee, knocking her out again, before moving onto Xeldarix to fail to hit her and fling her away. The air elemental with Steve slams into him hard but he resists being thrown away. Fargrim makes it all the way over and gets two hits in to finish off that elemental that just hit Steve. Karl thanks Fargrim as he runs around the wall of sand and finishes off the air elemental near Xeldarix, Lily and Renee with a magic missile. Xeldarix flies over to Renee and makes her hands glow before healing her and using her healing touch. Renee and Lily calm the horses. Sunnis drops the wall of sand to reveal a very badly damaged carriage. The bad wall has a big hole in it. Karl notes he could maybe. They decide to stop and rest in one of the remains of the building. They talk about tonight and if there are no more fights Karl will still be able to conjure the manor to keep them safe. After a short rest the time is 12:30pm and the group gets back on the road. The back of the carriage will be okay as long as the carriage isn't jostled excessively. At the moment they have a very open back window. Lily uses her sleeping bed roll to cover the whole for the moment. Steve will walk with Karl and Renee will drive with Xeldarix on the roof, while Lily and Fargrim ride with Sunnis and Simone. During the next two hours Karl talks to Simone through the curtain about what things she’d like to buy for her house as he tries to keep her mind off the armies of elemental air coming to try to kill them. He stays within ten feet of her. She mentions wanting a pet since Karl brought it up a few days ago. She wants a painting room with all the equipment. She's not sure what else she needs. Maybe getting someone to ward her house so she can have it as a safe space. At the halfway point Fargrim and Lily swap with Karl and Steve. At 4:30pm you have completed your 8 hours of travel without further incident. Sunnis moves out to kneel to slowly make the space in the mountain side. After 10 minutes the mountain side is opened and the carriage is able to be moved in. 10 minutes after it is covered. Karl conjures the door after the mountain side is opened. Once everyone is inside Fargrim approaches Sunnis to ask a question about if the Mountain feels like home. She says it does. She just needs to get to a point to secure her prisoner while will be held underground. It is 5pm. Lily and Xeldarix work on Elvish, Fargrim starts dinner and Karl sits with Simone while he continues scribing. Fargrim comes out with army style pork and beans. It’s at this point Karl mentions that the manor always has a fully stocked pantry. After dinner Lily does her commune ritual. She learns that there are several Awnsheghlien in the area. So many elementals and there is something rather large closer to the top of the mountain. Lily quickly gets them back inside. They suspect that the large creature is Fikra. Karl does a sending spell to Erin and learns she has been captured. She has indicated something is strange as she has never read her rights. The group discusses a jail break once they finish their mission here on the mountain. At 7:30pm Simone does a card reading for the group. The question is: How can the Forged safely and quickly transport Sunnis and her prisoner to their new home on Mount Archestul? “Your needs and desires are on the rise as other forces act against the forged which creates opposing needs. Safety for Sunnis is slow and steady. Any acts made to speed up the process will create noise and draw enemies near. You have more time than you think though acts of love and healing will be needed for all once Sunnis have secured her position.” Karl then sends a message to Anita to request she try and find out some information for Karl about Erin. Simone asks what will happen to her with the group needing to rush off. Karl reassures her that they will take her back to Brechlen where Abigale and the Giant Fighters can look after her. The group ends up discussing saving Erin in more detail, the sphere with the lich and Morningsteel. Karl also tops off Lily’s ring of storing with feather fall. Afterwards Fargrim heads for an early night, Lily and Xeldrix practice Elvish and spar while Karl scribes more. 31st of Anarire 1524 Fargrim is up first at 5:30 to start breakfast for the group. Everyone else joins him at 6:30am for breakfast. Fargrim has given it a bit of extra attention giving everyone +5 temporary hit points. While eating Fargrim asks if he should try and message Erin but Karl reminds him she was captured and likely didn’t have the ring on her. As a result they will need to target who they talk to with the rings to prevent someone overhearing them. Simone does a reading for the group with the question: 'Why did the Unchained capture Erin?’ “Understanding why may not bring you comfort but it will bring you knowledge and hopefully wisdom. Lord Morningsteel views the forged as a poison to his goals and with his diviners and mind readers saw an opportunity to take someone with information about you. He doesn’t truly understand who he has, but if permitted he will take advantage of what could be a turning point for him in his fight against the forged.” Once this is done they head out. Karl plants a tree token so he can use the wood to repair the carriage with his fabricate spell. Meanwhile Lily does a quick ritual to try and get a bit more information about the creatures in the area. She confirms the large creature is Fikra and she suspects the awnsheighlien is the circus master. Karl repairs the carriage and it looks like it wasn't broken before. Lily drives while Karl and Fargrim walk, and Steve and Renee ride. Karl focuses on brooding while they continue going up the mountain. 2 hours pass without issue. Fargrim and Karl can ride in the cart while Steve and Renee walk. Karl and Lily talk through the grate for the driver. He asks her about her ideas to do with Erin’s situation. Scrying and sending an air elemental to get her things are considered. At 12pm they reach the second outpost. Karl takes Sunnis over to see the obelisk and tell her about it. Which leads to a shorter discussion about Anubis. The group then takes a 15 minute break here to have lunch. At 12:30pm the group heads off. Renee drives while Karl and Fargrim walk, then swap so Lily and Steve walk the last 2 hours. Just before the group would normally look at stopping for the night, Renee spots something. She asks the group about Kurruk when the sword warns her they are not friendly. Off in the distance there are four female giants and one male giant with a mask on his belt. Steve moves up and warns the others that the group can’t let these giants near the carriage. Lily adopts a defensive stance and then raises her sword, which briefly flares with light as she calls on a blessing from Xeldarix. She blesses herself, Xeldarix, Renee, and Steve. The Giantess flies low and scoops up a rock before she disappears in a spray of mist and appears higher and closer to the road. She hurls the rock at Steve which hits him despite the distance. The male giant disappears from sight. Karl casts Fireball and hits three out of the four giantess’. One of the giantess falls from the sky but casts featherfall to save herself. After having a moment to gather herself she casts fly on herself again and continues to fly towards the group. Fargrim hops out of the cart and moves to see the giantesses. Having already heard the boulder, he knows they mean business. He gives Steve a little bit of healing. Renee hops off the cart and raises her hands to the sky as clouds forms over the giants. It hits two of them. Xeldarix flaps her wings and flies forward a bit towards the giants and is ready to dodge if any rocks come her way. Another giantess scoops up a rock and throws it at Renee and it hits her. Another giantess flies in, scoops up a rock and flies up, using her movement and action to dash. Simone puts up her cloak hood. Steve moves up and conjures a perfect mote of sunlight in his hand before blasting one of the female giants with pure sunlight. Lily meanwhile sends out a burst of fire at the two giants that Karl hit with his. She also asks Xeldarix to keep an eye out for the invisible giant. A giantess flies down and grabs a rock before flying 20ft and throwing it at Karl which almost hits him, but he quickly throws up a shield to save himself. One of the giantess drop but casts feather fall on herself. The Giant appears on the other side of the carriage and moves his hand as if slapping someone twice. One misses Fargrim but the other hits Renee. Karl chants a discordant word and holds his hand out as the air around the giants warps. Their minds muddle. One of the giantesses recast fly on themselves. Fargrim calls down Haelyn's flames to strike down two of the Giantesses. Renee bends down and touches the ground “Spirits of the mountain, aid us.” a spectral diamond dragon climbs up out of the ground and flies 120 feet straight up. Xeldarix points up at the giant that is now visible before attacking at the giantess near her, getting three good hits in. As a result it loses focus on flying and casts feather fall to save themselves. Then casts Misty step to get away from Xeldarix who is falling her. She appears in front of Steve and attacks with her Morningstar. Her muddled mind makes it hard so she only gets one hit in. Regardless Steve loses focus on his sunbeam. One giantess flies down to grab a rock and continue down the road and back up to 10 ft above to road while throwing the rock at Lily. From the carriage Simone fires off a chill touch at one of the giantess’ she can see. Steve is hurt and sees the opportunity to attack the giantess on the ground. He changes into an earth elemental. It gets one slam on the giantess. Lily fires off another fireball at two giantess’ that are still flying. She then moves to take cover around the back of the carriage while requesting help from Sunnis to animate some rocks. One of the flying giantess flies up 40ft feet to the cliff side and collects a rock to throw at Steve. The male giant tries to strike Fargrim with a Telekinetic strike but misses both times. Karl walks to the front of the horses and intones a draconic phrase before calling out in a loud voice. “This is not your mountain! Leave, and find a different mountain, far from here!” as he casts Mass Suggestion on the giantess where all but one fail. Sunnis peers out of the carriage and reaches out a hand and two stones start to hover. The Giantess starts to try and talk to her companions in a language the group doesn't understand. Fargrim checks in with Karl as they speculate over what the woman might be talking over. He takes the moment to go and heal Renee a little. Renee thanks Fargrim before she runs to the mountain wall and disappears into it as her dragon flies skyward. The dragon flies toward the flying giant exhaling a blast of force. Xeldarix looks confusedly at the group, as usually when Karl speaks like that, the fighting stops. She prepares herself in case the fight is not actually over with the giantesses. The one giantess who wasn’t charmed by Karl yells at the others while swinging at the animated stone in front of her, destroying it. One of the charmed giantess moves up to the carriage, no longer seeming interested in fighting. Simone is just as confused as Xeldarix asks Karl what to do. Lily can understand the giantess’ discussions. They intend to leave as Karl suggested but they won’t leave without the box. She drops concentration on the blessing, and focuses on the ground below the carriage, and brings up stone walls that completely cover the back, sides, and top of the carriage. Steve moves to catch up to the one that moved up the carriage. Another charmed giantess lands on top of the carriage. However, the giant doesn’t seem amused by the change of heart his companions have had and attacks Karl, getting one good telekinetic strike in. Karl grunts as something slams into him. He pulls a wand from his sleeve and unleashes a magic missile which kills the charmed giantess next to the carriage. Karl throws the wand away as it crumbles to dust and walks over to stand over the fallen giantess and makes a final offer to the giants. They can leave with her body or all be turned to dust. One of the charmed giantesses moves to stand where the other had fallen with two attacks against the stone wall. She's working her way through the wall but it still stands. Fargrim is not going to allow the giantesses to break down the wall. It's clear nothing short of death will stop their aggression. Fargrim once again calls on Haelyn to strike down these aggressors, burning two of the giantesses with a Flame Strike. Renee steps out of the stone and gathers the moisture from the air around her, raising her hand to blast it in a freezing cone up at the giants attacking the carriage. The dragon flies up to the giant and attacks it, getting one hit in and using it’s breath weapon. Xeldarix flies in to fight now that it seems to be continuing, attacking the giantess that stands over the body of a dead giant while trying to get to the carriage. The uncharmed giantess flies down to attack Lily, getting two good hits in. Lily manages to maintain her concentration on the stone wall encasing Sunnis despite the heavy-hitting giant, and she turns to finish off one giantess before turning to the giantess that attacked her and getting a good hit in there with a bit of extra smite. Lily heals herself a little. Steve charges the uncharmed giantess and slams into her. The giantess on the roof of the stone shelter continues to attack the stone. The giant attacks the dragon, annoyed at the summoned creature. He nearly brings it down but not quiet. Karl moves away from the carriage as the air starts to shimmer around him, waves of heat rolling away and distorting the air. Karl staggers as the fireball leaves his hand, his eyes burning with light as the fireball seems to be the most powerful he has ever used. It kills the one on top of the carriage but not the uncharmed giantess yet. Fargrim positions himself at the edge of the cart, hitting the only remaining giantess with a scared flame. Renee fires off another Lightning Bolt at the giantess but she still stands. The dragon continues to attack the giant. Xeldarix flies over and finishes off the giantess. Lily braces herself and stabs one of Giantesses through the heart. Life drains from her but no blood burst. Steve begins to circle around back to the front side of the cart, preparing for whatever the Giant does next. The giant slaps the dragon and looks down at the people below and smirks. Then gestures to Fargrim but the telekinetic strike misses. Karl calls Steve and Lily over and prepares to cast fly on them. Fargrim goes over to give Lily some healing. He asks the group how they’re going to bring the giant down. Renee looks up and her eyes goes white and a storm forms around the giant. Xeldarix flies up and dashes towards the giant. With Xeldarix now further away from the dying giants, Lily goes over to Karl and gets ready to fly up as soon as he releases his spell. Steve moves next to Karl and as he approaches Karl makes them be able to fly. The Giant watches with amusement as those below run around. He gestures at Renee and Xeldarix before flying higher. However, it only hits Renee. Karl calls for Simone’s help but she is stuck inside the stone structure unable to open the door.Karl points up at the giant with one hand while touching the rod hanging from his belt with the other hand, hitting the giant with his spell. Karl pulls a potion from his belt and drinks it, disappearing from sight. Hearing that Karl is asking for Simone, Lily drops her concentration and the walls disappear. The heavy body of the giantess falls onto the carriage top and Simone screams in fright. Fargrim blesses himself, Karl and Renee. Renee continues calling the storm.Xeldarix continues dashing to the giant in the sky. A door from the carriage slowly opens as an unseen Simone steps out quietly to cast a spell up at the giant. Lily flies up towards the giant, and slashes her sword through the air three times, sending out small waves of flame with each slash. The large earth elemental, floats to the sky, keeping pace with Lily and generally being a ridiculous sight. The giant tries to spam into Xeldarix before sending a mental slap to a lily. Then disappears in a spray of mist, appearing 60ft higher in the air and continues to fly up. Karl looks around for Uqaviel with the Star and calls the group back down when he sees what the giant is doing. Karl walks over to stand invisibly next to Fargrim and puts a hand on his shoulder and warns his friend not to jump. Fargrim asks Karl about his plans. Renee heals herself a little while rolling her eyes at Karl. Xeldarix looks down as Karl calls up to her, then sends a blast of light at the giant before flying down a bit. Lily dashes down to the ground near Fargrim and Renee. Steve comes back down, he doesn't make it all the way down but is angling himself behind the cart. The giant sends two strikes at Xeldarix before floating down a little. Karl plans with the group to use the Dust of Disappearance to turn everyone invisible while pretending to teleport away to Saarmen. Fargrim plays along. Renee climbs up on the seat of the carriage and tries to coax the horses closer. Xeldarix gets closer and asks about what they are doing and Karl clarifies. Simone also quietly asks if she should attack him if he gets closer with her ranged spells. Lily looks up at the giant and attempts to encircle it with bands of energy, but the giant is able to shrug them off. Steve floats down to behind the cart and Karl asks him to move since he’s too far away to ‘teleport’. When Steve moving in Karl throws up the dust and they all disappear. The giant high above them also disappears. Then there is a tense three minutes before the group reappears and the giant doesn’t seem to still be around. Now they seem to be okay, they look over the bodies. Lily talks with Fargrim to get a heart from one of the giants to be placed in his bag of colding. They start to look over the bodies to see what they have. Lily finds: 166gp, 2 huge morning star, 1 small, palm-size, golden statuette of a goose Fargrim finds: 1510 cp, 1 huge morning star, 1 pouch of eagle feathers Karl finds: 199 sp, 1 musical wind instrument (pipe, flute) (huge in size), 2 huge morning star, 2 Embroidered silk handkerchief, 1 Carved bone statuette, 1 Small gold bracelet (small for a giant), 1 Silver ewer, 1 Gold locket with a painted portrait inside, 1 Copper chalice with silver filigree, 1 bag of dust and 2 potion bottles. Lily checks and sees the dust and potions are magical. They also take all the jewellery. She then starts to carve out the heart of one of the giants. Karl believes their robes to be of very fine quality so they take those as well. He estimates jewellery most items to be worth 50g and those robes might be worth 1000g. Lily takes two vials of blood and a vial of mist, along with some hair and toenails as well, and brings the heart to Fargrim. Fargrim takes the eagle feathers and collects the copper for the party's collection. They bury the bodies and then the process of hiding the carriage begins. Karl sets up the mansion so it was ready to go. At 5:15pm everyone may enter the manor with everything done. Lily takes a look around for anything watching the group before heading in and is very confident there is nothing watching. Fargrim starts to sort dinner. While waiting Lily identifies the potions and Karl identifies the dust. Dust of Dryness, potion of poison and a greater healing potion. Karl then goes around to check on everyone. He gets Simone to start painting them some bows in case of these sorts of troubles in future. Simone paints two very nice bows. One looks like a bow of fire and the quiver looks like a barrel with water in it that the fire arrows go in. The other one looks like a highly elegant bow with lots of little details worked into it. These arrows are more traditional. She finishes the bows and starts the arrows as dinner is ready. While Simone does this Karl casts Sending. Lily practices Elvish with Xeldarix. Karl stands up, picks up the chair he was sitting in, hurls it against the far wall with a yell, and then firebolts it. Spectral servants rush over to put out the fire while Karl sits down in the next chair. Simone lets out a noise of surprise and covers her head. He tells the group Erin has a collar on her. She’s blind and deaf with some difficulty tracking time now. He starts working on scribing spells while waiting for dinner. He believes his latest spell will be able to help with rescuing her. At 6:15pm Fargrim brings out a big pot filled with big chunks of fish and noodles. After dinner Fargrim tries to approach Karl but Karl is absorbed in his work. So Fargrim heads to his room. Lily heads to bed with the idea of being up early. Karl continues scribing until he is ready for bed. 32nd of Anarire 1524 It is the 32nd of Anarire. The Last day of the month. Another warm and cloudy day. Lily is up first at 4:30am to meditate and get ready. However, Fargrim only gets up at 5:30am. Lily gives Fargrim a quiet nod, but then goes to talk to Xeldarix privately for a few minutes. Afterwards she return to talk with Fargrim and Renee before continuing Xeldarix’s elvish lessons. At 6am, when breakfast is halfway through being cooked Karl wakes up. He scribes a little before breakfast. There is a bit of small talk at breakfast, but Karl is clearly still upset about Erin’s situation. He shares the information Anita got for him. At 7:30am the group heads off. Fargrim and Lily walk while Renee drives and Simone, Sunnis, Steve and Karl ride. Karl reads more of the diary to try and distract himself. Half an hour into the first section Lily tells Karl to send Erin a message about having a code word or phrase in case they try to use an illusion of the group to trick Erin. Karl reads: Once the child is old enough, Falak leaves town once a month to satisfy her dragon urges and needs to raid and kill. However, this starts to become a slight problem as her bloodline grows as a result. For the remainder of the month she is a doting wife and mother. Hassan makes his daughter a necklace that allows her to appear human with a disguise self spell and hide her nature from those who might divine it. This allows her to start making trips to the surface with her parents in public rather than in secret under close watch of her dragon mother. At 9:30 Karl and Steve swap with Lily and Fargrim. Closer to 10:30am Renee is warned by the sword that enemies are approaching. Lily sees the wind outside really starting to pick like a storm has started to come out of nowhere. An air element appears over the side of the cliff near the carriage. Renee summons a crystalline dragon next to the air elemental and keeps driving. It flies at the elemental and attacks. Another air elemental flies up. Coming down the side of the mountain, following the carriage is the giant. It sends a slap at Karl and Steve. He hits Karl but not Steve. Karl duplicates himself with a mirror image to make it less likely to be hit again. He asks for someone to Earthbind the Giant as he moves away from the edge of the path. Lily summons her sword and jumps out of the carriage. Lily jumps from the carriage but slips. She stumbles, hurting herself. A larger elemental appears. Simone flinches at the air pushes the carriage around slightly. Xeldarix flies over to the larger elemental, just barely making it close enough to slash at it with her sword despite the turbulent winds, getting three good hits in. Sunnis tries to bind the giant, but he resists. Steve walks over and casts sunbeam, hitting one of the air elementals. Fargrim asks for Haeyln to guide the group in battle while blessing himself, Steve, Lily, and Karl. The air elemental being attacked by the dragon tries to hit it back but misses. Renee hits the two smaller air elementals with an ice storm. The dragon continues to attack the first air elemental, doing lots of damage. The other air elemental moves up and attacks Steve, hitting him hard once and then flings him off the side of the mountain. Karl sees Steve get tossed and reaches out to grab him, casting feather fall on him. Steve manages to catches the edge of the cliff. The giant continues to try and hit Fargrim and Karl. However, the hit for Karl hits a mirror image and Fargrim is missed entirely. All three shifting Karls grin up at the giant as he drinks a potion and disappears in a flash of golden flame before drinking another potion to give himself fly, moving away from where he was before. Lily reaches out to the giant and conjures bands of golden light that erupt from the ground and begin pulling the giant down to the ground. The giant fails and starts to float down. The tempest spins up faster and a slash of wind comes out of the element hitting Xeldarix, Fargrim and Karl. They all stand their ground, but it hurts though Fargrim loses focus on Bless. Simone sends out her chill touch spell which hits the giant. Xeldarix continues to attack the tempest since she sees it as the biggest threat.The hollyphant spirit helps Xeldarix with a burst of light. The tempest will use a legendary action to attack Xeldarix, hitting her hard. Sunnis moves out of the carriage to the side where Lily is. Then the giant lights up as she focuses. Little amethyst stones seem to grow on him. The tempest attacks Xeldarix again with another legendary action but misses. Steve tries to pull himself up but the wind around him is so stormlike that he can’t pull himself up. It’s taking him everything just to hang on. Fargrim calls down a flame strike on the air elemental that attacked and flung Steve. The air elemetal with the dragon continues to try and destroy the dragon. It gets two good hits in but it still stands. The Tempest will do one last legendary action to attack Xeldarix. Renee fires a firebolt at the air elemental attacking her dragon. The dragon backs her up by biting and breathing force on the air elemental. The other air elemental moves up and attacks Fargrim, getting two good hits in. As the frustrated giant slowly floats down he sends out a strike to Lily and Fargrim, hitting Fargrim and he’s looking really hurt at this stage. Seeing the giant as a problem, Karl turns him into a sperm whale. Lily raises an eyebrow at Karl's addition to the state of the giant, and continues to concentrate on the earthbinding spell anyways, just in case, but shifts her focus to the nearby elemental. Lily swings her sword into the elemental twice, getting between it and Fargrim, and channelling divine fury into the blows, allowing Fargrim to move away as a reaction. The elemental rebuffs Lily and sends her 15ft back. Another slashing blast is sent out from the tempest, this time hitting Xeldarix , Renee, Sunnis, Simone (not that the creature knows) and Lily as it destroys the front of the carriage and as a 10ft area space. Everyone but Sunnis is thrown back into the mountain. Some people fly and hit one another as they land on top of one another. This includes the horses which kill them. This also destroys Renee’s concentration. Simone stands (not that anyone can see) and finishes off one of the elementals. Xeldarix flies off to the side and sends a burst of light out at the big elemental, spreading out from the others. The gems on the sperm whale making it stand out fade. Steve fails once again to climb up but doesn’t fall down. Fargrim, bloodied and bruised, asks haelyn for help, casting heal. The last smaller air elemental flies and slams into Lily, hitting her twice before flying up above her. Renee throws a produced flame up at the elemental that attacked Lily. The giant makes angry whale noises. Karl fires off some magic missiles which kills the last air elemental before yelling at Steve to fly. Lily gets up, then focuses and glowing gold spectral wings appear on her back, unfurling and lifting her into the air as she mirrors Xeldarix’s movement, spreading out from the group, then tosses a burst of fire at it. The tempest sends out another blade wind that hits Lily, Fargrim and the whale. Lily manages to stand her ground but Fargrim is thrown back into the whale. Simone casts more chilling magic at the tempest while it uses a legendary action to move. Xeldarix flies to the other side of the tempest and slashes through it’s windy form. She gets two good hits in. Tempest will use a legendary action to attack Xeldarix in retaliation. Steve turns into a wind elemental and flies at the tempest to slam into it but misses. Once again the tempest uses its legendary action to attack the attacker. Fargrim gets up and moves away from the whale, narrowly missing it’s bite at his retreat. He heals himself, Sunnis and Lily. Renee heals herself a little. The giant makes an angry whale noise and tries to reach to bite Fargrim but cannot. Karl hurls a volley of golden darts at the elemental before drinking a potion. Lily dashes in towards the elemental, flying up a bit as well. She also calls the hollyphant spirit closer to the tempest. The tempest moves away from Xeldarix, it's flyby ability helping it avoid aoo. It hits Lily twice, causing her to lose focus and fall before trying to fling Lily and Steve. Steve holds his position while Lily is thrown off the side of the mountain. Lily uses the ring to cast feather fall to kind of catch herself. Simone casts another chill touch and seems to hit a vulnerable spot, hurting it badly. Xeldarix flies to catch Lily, then dashes to get back onto the trail and set her down. Steve tries to approach the tempest but he is pushed 20ft back again. He approaches a second time to try and attack but misses. The tempest uses a legendary action to attack back and has more success as it hits Steve. Fargrim moves up, and after seeing lily fall off the cliff and then rescued by Xeldarix goes to cast heal. Renee asks Sunnis to Earthbind the tempest as she casts an ice storm on it. The tempest does another two legendary attacks at Steve. Karl pulls out a wand a fires a volley of missiles at the storm which almost brings it down. Lily smiles gratefully at Xeldarix and Fargrim, then walks over to get a clean shot on the elemental before unleashing a wave of cold energy which finishes it off. The group takes a moment while the giant is a somewhat helpless whale to heal up and plan. They decide to try and banish the ginat. If that doesn’t work they will slow the giant, unpolymorph him and earthbind him in order to try and talk to him. However, as they enact this plan it becomes obvious that the air prince will kill those who fail. Literally giving them iron lungs so they cannot breath. Fargrim prays to Haelyn to try and help the giant, but the prayer doesn’t seem to reach Haelyn. This however does inspire the Earth Princess after the group knocks the giant out unconscious. She places the giant in a crystal and buries him in the Earth until she can better focus on him while containing a prisoner. Lily moves over to check the carriage, but finds it is now beyond repair. The spear seems to be okay thanks to it's magical nature, but the one painted bow stored inside was badly damaged. In the distance Karl can hear a dragon roaring and it does not sound happy. Karl quickly passes it on to the group that it is likely Fikra is upset about something. Fargrim sends a message to Fikra and learns the children are missing but he isn’t clear on if it is the hatchlings or not. Lily turns into white imp and turns invisible to fly ahead of the group as they slowly start their walk up the last leg of the mountain.

When Lily arrives after her long flight, she sees the Masesians frantically running around into and out of buildings and a red dragon flying around roaring as is frantically searching the forest areas of town and the maze from above. Lily does a lap around the exterior of the mountaintop, keeping an eye out especially for air elementals or the artificer. No air elementals. The artificer is among the Masesians of the search party with the Circus Master, Kareem. Lily then flies to the one building near the temple that hasn’t been explored by us to see if it seems like anything is going on there. Lily goes to talk to Kareem and the search party. Hearing all this, Lily get Jarvis to send a message to Fargrim. ‘Everyone we know on mountaintop is helping search. Could have been taken by Falak or as hostages by air creatures to swap for box. Plan.’ Then Lily leaves to investigate where the hatchlings went missing and does find some evidence to follow. She follows it before redirecting the search time to the area before heading back down the mountain to meet the group on the way up.

When Lily returns she catches the group up with the information. They continue walking towards the town together. They head for where the search team was last directed to help them. When they arrive, Lily notices that the artificer is missing from the search group. Steve offers to try locate them and Renee will fly him around. However, this doesn’t work. Sunnis has a similar ability but it can track where they have been. Sunnis focuses and red gems appear in the air near the ground heading SE. Halfway through following the gems, they disappear. Sunnis is able to lead the group to where they were going but her connection to the hatchlings was cut. She ends up at Tucker’s hut. Lily moves up to look at the door. Fargrim uses his wand to help her pick the lock. However she misses a trap. A spray of acid comes out the door and hits everyone. Karl throws himself over Simone. Lily can hear the door is still doing something so she tells everyone to move away. Karl quickly throws up a wall of force between the group and the house. Kareem layers his own wall of force to protect the group. Another spray of acid comes out and hits the wall. Once it seems to have stopped Lily goes round to check and sees that it has reset itself. Some healing is done at this stage among the group. The discuss alternative ways into the building. They decide to have Simone paint a door on the side of the building to get inside. Once complete she will stay outside with Jarvis unless the group sees a need for her to join them. The group sneaks inside via this door into a bedroom. There they find an invisible door to a demiplane. After taking some healing potions, the group moves in. Lily hears some noises inside and that is what they head for. The group readies some spells before they open the door. Inside Tucker drops a black cat and a red hatchling is in a cage far too small for it. The two creatures don’t move as the barrage of spell knock Tucker out. Fargrim stabilises him while Karem runs to his daughter. Karl looks at the cat which is actually Raillath with the star before rushing to pick him up. Lily goes over to help Kareem with the cage and Fargrim does a medical check on Raillath, a little shocked to see he isn’t a girl. Karl uses his wand to remove the poison from Raillath system which has an immediate effect. Lily searches Tucker for a key when she is unable to pick the lock. She also finds:

There are two healing potions
4 books on his belt, one looks to be a spellbook
2 flasks
and a key

The key opens the cage to Mahdia. Karl uses the wand on her as well. Lily takes the other items from Tucker before healing Fargrim with Tucker to head back outside. Once outside Karl and Kareem are grabbed by Fikra. She calms seeing the hatchlings and the family is reunited. Karl apologises about the danger but Fikra dismisses it and has her husband take the hatchlings so she can deal with Tucker. Karl tells Simone to go with them as Fikra flies off with Tucker. With this matter taken care of the group heads up to the temple and the Heroes Gate where Sunnis will look to see if that is where she wants to set herself up. Hero's gate is a monument building with records of those who tried to trial and failed, but went on to do great things. Every attempt was documented. Steve and Renee join the group there. Lily takes a moment to heal people up a little. The group tries to get some rest while Sunnis does her ritual. Forty minutes into this some of the group hear screaming outside. The group debates going outside to help or staying inside to protect Sunnis. Eventually they decide to peek outside. Once they do, they see outside, across from the building is a giant bird that has two people trapped on the ground beneath its feet and pecking at the ground near their heads as they scream. There is also one looking over the edge of the building down at the group from the roof. Xeldarix tells the birds to go away. One flies down as it responds to Xeldarix which becomes the main target of the group but doesn’t seem to give her a favourable response, and attacks Fargrim. Xeldarix attacks it back to try and defend her friend, as Fargrim slashes back as a reaction. Renee summons a dragon spirit. Lily blesses the group. The group can hear more screaming from the roof. Hearing their plight, Fargrim doubles his efforts to attack the bird. Karl moves up a bit closer to the door and starts throwing fire. Steve summons a moonbeam on the bird. Xeldarix then scoots out the door and flies up a little off the ground next to the bird, hitting it with her sword a few times while waiting for someone to tell her if she should go help the people. Renee shoots some flame at the bird and the summoned dragon attacks the dragon. The bird screeches loudly and destroys the summoned dragon. The bird looks disappointed as the dragon disappears. The bird far away with the two people flies up into the air with them so they are 60ft above the ground. Lily tells Karl about the problem with the people as she fires a gilding bolt at the closest bird. Another bird from the roof flies down so two are at the door. It attacks Lily and is shredding her, grabbing her in its talon. Fargrim slashes twice at the new bird. Karl turns this new bird into a dolphin which forces it to put Lily down. Steve stays by Sunnis and moves his moonbeam so it doesn’t disrupt the polymorph. Xeldarix flies up onto the roof. She heals one of the people she finds up there. Renee readies a cantrip if something comes inside. The remaining bird at the door attacks Lily, grappling her as it is very close to knocking her out. The bird with the two people flies higher. Lily grunts as the bird grabs and bites her, then she focuses and turns the bird into a dolphin which is successful. Fargrim goes outside and wants to take a turn looking around to see how much chaos is going on out here. He sees the two dolphins and the bird far away with hostages. Like Lily he calls on Karl to do something about it. Karl directs Lily inside to be healed while getting Fargrim to move dolphins before calling up to ask Xeldarix about the roof situation. He casts feather fall into Lily’s ring for later use. Steve heals Lily with Heal. Xeldarix tells Karl she is healing people up there. The bird with the hostages glares at the party and starts to fly towards the living areas of town with its two victims. Lily asks the group what they can do about those hostages as she is running low on magic, meanwhile, begins working on moving one of the the dolphins to the other side. Fargrim joins them to discuss as Karl instructs them to move so he can use force cage. Xeldarix continues to take care of the people on the roof. The group asks Sunnis for help and she creatures a rock creature to assist them which gives chase on the last bird that is still a bird. Lily agrees to polymorph the last bird once the force cage is up. She fires her bow at the last bird to try and draw it back to her, but it continues to fly off. Karl casts his forcecage now so the two dolphins are trapped. Xeldarix finishes healing the people on the roof before flying down to guard the door with Fargrim while Lily and Karl give chase. Karl turns himself into a giant eagle and Lily hopes on. They start to fly after the last bird. As this happens one of the large birds in the cage stops being a dolphin. After a few rounds, Karl and Lily are close enough Lily tries to bind the bird to the earth. Golden bands wrap around the bird and begin to pull it downwards gradually. This bird glares at Lily and Karl, looking the giant eagle dead in the eye and drops one of its captives who hits the ground hard and doesn’t move. While this happens Fargrim is slowly trying to kill the unpolymorphed bird in the cage until suddenly there are two large birds in the cage and seem to be squishing one another to death with their size. Karl flies closer to the evil bird and scoops up the dead body. As the bird lands it keeps the masesian trapped in it's talon and screeches at the pair that gave chase. Lily closes her eyes briefly, praying for strength for a moment before attempting to turn the roc into a killer whale. Unfortunately, her spell is unable to take effect, and the bindings on the bird dissolve away. Fargrim continues to try and end the suffering of the birds with his sacred flame. Lily steers Karl round for another go at polymorphing the bird. The bird lets go of it’s final hostage to fly at and attack Lily, grabbing her off Karl’s back. Lily winces at the claws and beak, but focuses enough to transform the roc into a killer whale. As she drops, she casts feather fall from her ring to soften her own fall. Karl flies down to her and she gives him a diamond to give to Xeldarix as he flies the dead body back to the group. Xeldarix takes the diamond. She kneels down and closes her eyes. She starts to glow and slowly the glow fades and the fallen individual starts to glow before finally they take a breath. Meanwhile Lily jogs back to the group. The birds in the forcecage are slowly killing one another with their size, which is making Xeldarix very uncomfortable. The group uses their cantrips to try and help the creatures die quicker. When one of them dies a wave after wave of radiant actinic energy rushes out of the dying bird. Karl breathes in the energy and his eyes glow with radiant light for a moment. Lily winces involuntarily a little as the blood washes over her, but then she lets out a small sigh of relief as her bloodline changes away from Azari. Afterwards the group heads inside to watch over Sunnis as she finishes her ritual. At 4pm the ritual is complete, a shutter is felt through the ground as the stones of the building around Sunnis start to move, forming a stairs downwards. Sunnis has connected herself to the mountain space and leaves to secure her prisoner. She sends her champions off to rest and tells them to return afterwards with everyone who helped in the journey. It’s at this point the group remembers the people on the roof and Xeldarix goes to get them down. They escort them and the recovering Masesian who died back towards Jarvis’ tower. They go via Fikra’s house, chatting about plans for the next day as they go. They arrive at the household of the red dragon and knock. Kareem opens the door and updates the group on an attack on the town by a storm dragon that he and his wife had dealt with. Simone, the hatchlings and Fikra are asleep in the nest. The group shares their update before heading for Jarvis’ tower. They politely knock and enter the tower. They inquire about what Jarvis needs to recover after many of his bodies were destroyed by the storm dragon. They start to relax for a bit, Karl starts to identify the spellbook and Lily looks over the potions. However Lily finds the potions are the Sryndim poison. Afterwards the group takes a short rest. At 6pm when the group is finished. Karl starts to scribe while Lily and Xeldarix head downstairs to look at the teleportation circle. Not long after heading down, Uqaviel brings Xeldarix back up and puts her next to Karl. She seems dazed. Lily crawls up the stairs and lays next to Xeldarix where the pair have a nap. Fargrim heads towards the house Jarvis had assigned the group after giving Karl instruction about when the bring the sleepy pair.

At 7:30pm when everyone else arrives Fargrim is just finishing up making his meal. A veggie soup followed by a small salad is served for dinner. Fargrim starts setting the table and brings out a big bowl of mashed potatoes. Then the main course is glazed griffon prepared with the Cleric's Secret Recipe. Everyone gets advantage of perception (sight based checks) for 24 hours and one extra attack. After dinner the group swings by Fikra’s again to collect Simone to go see Sunnis. She is extracted from the huddle pile in the nest and the group heads off to the Heroes Gate to see Sunnis. Fargrim contacts Steve via the ring to get him and Renee to meet them there. At 9:30pm everyone arrives and heads down to Sunnis’ lair. Her symbol is carved into the stone of an hourglass in front of the stonework that has the names of everyone who tried to help her. The stone shifts as the group arrives to form a set of stairs heads down and starts to spiral round. As they head downwards the stone walls start to have a curtain of sand that flows down from an unknown source. Gentle glowing crystals line the stairs and eventually you are brought down to a chamber where Sunnis kneels among some crystals. This is a massive cavern shaped like the bottom of an hourglass with a hole in the centre where sand flows from the roof and down through the hole without end. There are a few Earth elementals around. More gentle glowing crystals are all around the room to give light. Sunnis thanks each of them for helping her. She gifts Simone, Steve, Renee and Xeldarix the carved in stone feat and allows each of them plus Fargrim, Lily and Karl to unearth a hidden aspect of potential in themselves. Steve's skin turns to Amazonite, Renee's skin turns to Unakite, Simone's skin turns to opal, and Xeldarix's skin turns to a Black fire opal. Each person becomes proficient in a new skill. Sunnis mentions contacting Zaaman Rul to try and get a handle on the fire elementals here. Maybe even offer him a safe hiding place. At 11pm the group gets back to their house and go to bed. 1st of Deismir 1524 At 5:30am Fargrim gets up first to start breakfast. Karl and Lily get up at 6:30am just in time for Fargrim to serve up breakfast. Karl reveals Erin isn’t doing well, but they haven’t gotten anything from her yet. Simone confirms Erin is indeed hurt. They discuss their plans for the day. This includes the demiplane, saying goodbye to Fikra and the hatchlings, and heading to Brechlen to drop off Simone. Karl explains what the books do that they found the previous day. 3 books. Contain knowledge concerning a certain skill and topic. Using the book for 5 minutes is equivalent to rolling a 15 on the related skill.

Arcane / Alchemy
Arcane / Engineering (Artificer stuff)
Medicine / Dragon biology

Fargrim’s breakfast gives everyone five temporary hit points. On the way to the hut, they discuss how they might get to Saarmen and what precautions they might take. At 9am they arrive at the hut. They go in through the painted door again and check out the bedroom before heading into the demiplane. Xeldarix and Fargrim get into an argument about ‘popping’ which ends in her sulking. Karl identifies the door to the demiplane and sees it will last 24 hours from the casting point. Simone confirms there are no traps in the demiplane. The group checks out the lab area of the demiplane first. They search the area carefully:

A ring
Potions x9
A bag
A set of three needles
Scrolls x3
Interesting looking horseshoes
A wand
A helm
Goggles
Robes
Oil
A circlet
A fishing hook
A gem and coin bag (45pp, 3490gp, 4644sp, 482cp, 10 gems)

They check out one of the four mystery doors. Inside there is a massive bath area. There is steam throughout the area with towels and bathing products, robes and the like. The second mystery room is a library/den area. Most of the walls are covered in shelves and books. There is a fire with a couch, rug and several nice chairs to sit in. There is a writing off to the side. Lily finds:

2 pens (one green and one black)
A bookmark
Tucker's sketchbook
A bloodstone gem

Karl finds:

A volume of verbose romance fiction
A book with a cover made of skin and fittings of bone that is cold to touch
A book on bloodlines

As they leave that room, Lily notices that the demiplane door is gone which means they are stuck here now. This leads to discussions of planeshifting again and the revelations that Fargrim does not have a tuning fork for Cerilia. Which means only Xeldarix can get them out. The group continues to one of the remaining doors. A large kitchen with a nice dining area. Looks like a professional area. There is a strange creature in the kitchen. It has a spider head, and 8 tentacles like a spider and octopus got put together. Its main body seems to be a slug as the way it gets around but no slime. It looks at the group and then starts to get out 6 saucers and cups after counting the group visibly, including someone who is not seen. It then starts to put leaves in a tea pot before putting it on the stove before going over to the table and pulling chairs out for the group. They consider staying for the tea but in the end leave as they want to be effective with their time. The creature visibly sags and takes the pot off the stove. The last room is a large bedroom. A nice 4 poster bed, big walk in wardrobe with so many nice clothes. The items in the room suggest that Tucker was a changeling. Lily takes a random outfit. Then the group prepares to have Xeldarix take them back to Jarvis’ tower. They use the Enhance Ability wand and a strength potion while others are polymorphed into smaller sizes. Xeldarix goes and gets the strange creature and planeshifts everyone back. However, Xeldarix lied about being able to easily take the creature. Upon arriving Xeldarix collapses, holding her head and suddenly starts crying and screaming. She does not appear to be hurt physically. This causes Lily great pain as well as the polymorph effects are dropped. Fargrim goes up with Uqaviel who has taken Xeldarix upstairs, He heals her with a greater restoration, but while she looks less tired she is still in great pain. As everyone else makes their way upstairs something forces itself into their minds. Karl helps Simone to refocus before it overtakes him. Fargrim, Lily, Uqaviel and Simone watch as Karl and the creature collapse while a funny sound is heard from the basement. Fargrim, Lily, Uqaviel and Simone feel like their heads are splitting but are able to push through and stay standing. You see a series of flashes:

the ship the night the knights attacked and Xeldarix telling people to hold on to one another,
you see another flash of Xeldarix holding onto Lily, Lyra and Simone before popping to the secret Library and the struggling to move,
you see a man you don't recognise instructing Xeldarix to move squads around but the moment she tries to protest he silence her somehow and she pops away with these people and is left injured as they leave to do whatever they need to do
You see a devil berating Xeldarix after she teleporting him out, saving his life, beating the crap out of her for daring to use her old powers

Then the flashes build up momentum until you can't pick out scenes anymore. Xeldarix collapses and it stops. Karl and the creature are still out cold as their noses and ears bleed. Simone is at Karl's side, trying to shake him awake but is out like a light. She heals him a little. Lily heals the creature and speaks to Jarvis, but gets no response. They agree to head back to the house, but Lily finds she can’t lift the strange creature. It is too heavy. They instead lay out bed rolls for those out cold to lay on while they wait for them to recover. Lily spends the time pulling out and checking the items they found for magic and putting them aside for Karl to look at when he wakes. She starts identifying the potions. They contact Steve and finds out he intends to make his own way back when he is done helping Renee set up. After an hour Lily has identified:

Potion of storm giant strength
Potion of longevity
Potion of supreme healing
Portion of speed
Potion of vitality
Potion of invulnerability

Karl wakes up after that hour with his head killing him. The creature also stirs. Jarvis is also aware again but his voice is distorted. Karl starts identifying things while they wait for Xeldarix to wake up.

A ring - feather falling
A bag - of devouring which Karl promptly destroys.
A set of three needles - Chime of Opening x 3
Scrolls x3 - Create Bonfire, Raise Dead, Protection from Plants
Interesting looking horseshoes - Speed
A wand - magic detection
A helm - of comprehend languages
Goggles - of night vision
Robes - of serpents
Oil - of sharpness
A circlet - of human perfection
A fishing hook - “Hook of Fisher’s Delight”
Emerald Pen
Scribe’s pen
A bookmark - Bookmark (dagger)
A bloodstone gem - Spell gem
A volume of verbose romance fiction - Duplicitous Manuscript
A book with a cover made of skin and fittings of bone that is cold to touch - Libram of Souls and Flesh

Meanwhile Fargrim communicates with the cook creature and learns its name is Bucca. It can speak but finds it hard. Once all the identification is done, Xeldarix seems to wake up. She gives one word answers but is overall quiet. Fargrim asks some pushing questions towards Xeldarix which has Lily mad at him. She seems to be smarter since she says planeshifting instead of ‘popping’. Still only talks as much as she has to and is rolling her eyes a lot. At 2:45pm the group arrives at Fikra’s house to say goodbye. They also give them some of the items found in the demiplane. Karl details everything they found, taking care to point out the power of the dagger’s enchantment and what everything does. The group only keeps:

A set of three needles - Chime of Opening x 3
Scroll - Raise Dead
A wand - magic detection
Emerald Pen
Scribe’s pen
A bloodstone gem - Spell gem
A volume of verbose romance fiction - Duplicitous Manuscript

Simone takes the time to say goodbye to Raillath. Then they head back to the tower. There is a list on the table for things Jarvis needs. Bucca decides to stay in the town rather than go with the group. Everyone else teleports back to Brechlen. They arrive at 3:45pm. Most of the group goes up to see June while Xeldarix waits downstairs. Upstairs the group gives June the giant’s heart, wyvern parts, and cloud giant mist. June reveals she has had the druids working with the dragon’s blood to make some potions. Karl commissions a necklace for Anita as a wedding present as well. Though June is still making a belt for Lily so it will have to wait a bit. The group then connects Xeldarix downstairs and heads for the inn to see how their guild is doing. They speak to Molly and Flux to pick up the report for what has happened while they have been away. They confirm that they need to continue freeing the fish even if they can’t offer them work with the guild at this stage. Lily also checks in with Dywane. The druids have started giving lessons. Lily stores items at the guild and drops off some books in the library. Karl gives Tatiana the books and evidence relating to Lord Dread and the Unchained to look through. Afterwards the group leaves with Abigail in tow to head for the watch. Once the group arrives Xeldarix and Lily wait outside and everyone else heads inside.

Lord Galloway is happy to see Simone is back safely. He grills Abigail to try and judge if she is qualified to look after his god daughter. Galloway gives the group a folder of possible staff for Simone to hire since Tatiana will conduct the vetting process. Simone is given the key to her estate. Karl gives Galloway more information about the group targeting Simone. Galloway confesses there have been issues as one of the fish was actually the person who was meant to have his position but went missing. Galloway tells Karl and Lily they have been approved for their licences to act on behalf of the city. Fargrim has not due to giving false details. Unbrau has no records of Fargrim. When Galloway asks, Fargrim avoids giving actual answers and instead focuses on matters that don’t concern the paperwork. Telling Galloway everything but what he wants to know. As Galloway presses, Fargrim becomes very agitated but in the end gives the correct information. However, Galloway is disappointed in Fargrim for lying to him which ends up setting Fargrim off to yell at Galloway before storming out. Fargrim has to pay a 100 gold fine for lying on legal paperwork. Galloway recommends to Karl that he leave as well to be there for Fargrim. Abigail and Simone follow as well. The group will stay at Simone’s estate with her tonight. For now they head off to do a bit of shopping, but realise it is really late. Instead they just go to Simone’s estate. The group explores the bare estate. Karl goes out to find a street vendor to get them some food. Fargrim naps until food is back. Lily tries to find secrets until Karl returns with kebabs. Over kebabs the group discusses their plans for tonight and possibly tomorrow. Lily will cast windwalk on the group so they may go meet up with Erin’s crew. Lily wants to make contact with the temple of Ela to try and get their help for getting in to see Erin. Lily also convinces Simone to focus on hiring people from her temple. Simone does a reading for the group. “What magical protections stand between us and rescuing Erin from Morningsteel’s clutches?” "Time runs shorter than first predicted for Erin as outside forces interfere and come up against their dispelling zones. Once they are alerted to your presence they will be activated where she is kept and around the city. Don’t trust everything you see as Ela and the thieves that serve her aim to mislead you and keep their front as a temple of the city. You should be as misleading as they are because if they find out anything they will try and take advantage. The cells are not a place of shelter with magical torture and eavesdropping enchantments are placed on it while more mundane means mostly keep people inside. If magical restraints are in place removing them can do more harm than good." They contact Michael and ask to meet within him in an hour. Karl and Xeldarix go with her to make sure that the temple of Ela doesn’t try anything shady. Fargrim, Simone and Abigail stay behind.

While they walk Karl updates Lily about her licence with the city and explains what happened in Galloway’s office. They discuss what little they actually know about Fargrim and what he has been through. Xeldarix acknowledges that war is bad. When they arrive at the meet location Xeldarix takes Karl to hide up on a roof while Lily waits for Michael. When Michael arrives, Lily explains their problem and what she would like to do with the temple. This includes information about the Unchained, their connection to the Ela temple in Saarmen and summoning devils. Michael will ask his temple for help and meet the group back here at noon tomorrow with news, or so he hopes. However when Karl catches Xeldarix rolling her eyes, as she has been most of the day, he confronts her about it. She confesses her new insight and memories are bothering her. She doesn’t want to talk about it. Her anger is very hard to control at this stage. When they jokingly say that Xeldarix could just beat up Ape Karl, she loses it. She doesn’t want to hurt her friends and the fact that this offer is tempting feels very wrong. She isn't sure she will stop once she gets started. Taking the hint, the pair don’t press her on it anymore and head back to Simone’s estate.

While the group is gone Fargrim and Simone talk. They talk about the incident earlier in the day and Fargrim ends up having a few ideas about easier ways to get Erin back. They talk about Brechlen being Karl’s home and Lily's as well. However, Fargrim and Simone do not feel at home in the city. They have a good heart to heart about that. Fargrim offers their estate to Simone to stay at when she doesn’t need to be here for official business.

About 40 minutes after leaving Lily and Karl return with Xeldarix in tow. They update Fargrim on what happened while they were out with Michael. Fargrim shares his new ideas with the group. Karl contacts Enna to see where they are. They’re in Holstadt. The group decides Karl and Fargrim will go ahead there once they know if the temple of Ela can help them. Afterwards the group gets ready for bed. 2nd of Deismir 1524 Karl and Lily get up at 5:30am to prepare spells while Fargrim gets up at 6am. Lily goes to check on Simone. Simone is sound asleep. Abigail is quietly reading while sipping a hot chocolate. Lily leaves her to sleep once. When everyone is up, Karl goes to wake Simone to take everyone out to get pastries. Xeldarix had spent the night in the public gardens across the road but joins the group when they left. Over breakfast Fargrim pushes Xeldarix to talk about how she is doing but gives minimal input. She finds out she’s not allowed in the Poden University which makes her angry. This leads to more questions and answers that Xeldarix doesn’t like. In the end she leaves the bakery to sit outside and wait for the others. While she’s gone, the group discusses the changes in Xeldarix. Fargrim gives Simone his lucky stone before the group parts ways for the day.

Lily and Fargrim head back to the manor to wait for the bank to open and check in with Caramella. Simone and Abigail go with them but Simone sets up for a bath before starting her day. Then Lily and Fargrim head for the bank before they go component shopping. Lily also sells some of the art objects and trinkets found in Hassan’s tomb. She gives Fargrim and Xeldarix 400 gold each for their shares. Afterwards they head to the Mage Guild for Fargrim to check in with June about a tuning fork for this plane. Annoyed by the interruption, she redirects him to the front desk where he and Lily pay for one together. Then they head to the inn to return things Lily noticed in the report would actually belong to others. Fargrim’s Gauntlets and Xeldarix’s robes. They arrive at the inn at 10am. Lily gives the shares to Emilia and the Giant Fighters for their efforts with the tomb. Then she goes to see Rini about the gauntlets. However, her reaction tips Lily off to something being wrong and they hold off giving back the item as they’re not sure Rini is actually being honest. Lily takes Fargrim aside to talk to him about it. Lily reveals this woman has been lying a lot and Lily feels like she is continuing to lie to get what she wants. They agree to put the gauntlets aside so no one is using them and Tatiana will try and investigate to figure out who they really belong to. Fargrim goes to stop with Rini while Lily goes to see Molly about this. Then Lily and Molly go to meet up with Fargrim and Rini. Fargrim learns: Rini was hired by a temple and ran into the dragon mid job She hasn’t been in the sewers much but has a few times for a job. She is sure she’ll be down there more working for the guild. She didn’t grow up in Brechlen but travels. This includes the Vos lands. She’s a ranger. Molly and Lily tell Rini about this outcome. Fargrim and Lily go to leave to head for the meeting, but after sharing some of what he learned with Lily he changes his mind and heads back to talk to Tatiana.

Karl heads to the forge to see his family. He updates Clara and Peter on selected parts of his adventurers and about the guild they started up. Karl works with his Mother to use the fabrication spell to make four full plate mail sets for the Giant Fighters. However, due to the distraction of an apprentice Karl messes up the last one. This apprentice (Luke) is charged with fixing it. Clara and Karl have a heart to heart when she notices Karl is upset. She comforts him and even extends an invitation to Erin to come for dinner which cheers Karl up a little. Karl works with Clara on the Fire Giant armour until 11am. Afterwards Karl leaves, goes component shopping and heads to the watch to meet with Lord Galloway. At 10:30am Karl arrives in Lord Galloway’s office. He warns Galloway against doing an inquiry into Saarmen since the Unchained and Witches of Willow have agents in the King’s Court. Lord Galloway mentions if Lord Orac does take back his position he could affect Simone but declaring she is unfit for her position and freedom. Lord Galloway wants to get her established before that to make it harder for her to be forced back into the hospital. Karl lets Galloway look through the rod with the star so he can see what Simone sees all the time, which scares him. Karl offers to meet with the Lord of the city with Simone to try and help her face the ghosts so she is less likely to have an issue during her meeting with him. The date of the 7th will be set for the meeting. Karl heads for the manor after that, arriving at 11:30pm.

Lily arrives a little late for her meeting, but Michael is waiting patiently for her. He has a stone that allows her to talk directly with Fulda. Fulda agrees to help Lily if she ‘finds’ information to prove she is innocent and free Quill from jail. Fulda promises her days of kidnapping people are done, especially innocent people. Together they form a basic plan and Lily is given a time to meet with the group that will go with her as a part of her cover. Afterwards Lily heads back to the manor and arrives at 12:45pm.

Fargrim heads back to the inn and wants to speak with Tatiana. However, she is busy. While waiting for her, Fargrim talks to a Tiefling he hadn’t met before in the magical mansion. His name is Hope. Fargrim learns he is not doing well after feeling abandoned by his friends and has lost his way. He’s a cleric of Learme. At the moment he wants to please others and reconnect, but has been hit hard by depression as he tries to process what has happened to him. When Tatiana comes out, Fargrim excuses himself to quickly talk to her and tell her the things Rini had told him. And to ask about Hope. Afterward, Fargrim goes back to give Hope some money and a little hope to keep moving on instead of feeling hopeless. It seems to find its way inside Hope. Hope is very touched by this and wants to help Fargrim but is asked instead to look after himself so when Fargrim returns they can catch up. Afterwards he heads up to the manor for 12pm. There he gets some lunch and hears that Karl is in the library sleeping. Fargrim shakes him awake. They share their days and what they got up to, including being invited to go up to the castle with Simone next week. Karl checks to see how Fargrim is doing given what happened at the watch the previous day and Fargrim shares some of what he went through. After a howl Fargrim hears someone at the door. They head over to see Lily has returned. The group takes time to discuss their plans. However, as they start to discuss Fargrim and Karl leaving now, Xeldarix finds out she is not going with Lily and is very upset with this turn of events. Karl quickly touches base with Enna to find out her location as Lily prepares to turn them into wind. They fly off towards Holstadt. Meanwhile Lily goes to see Simone about a reading later and Caramella about getting help changing her hair. Both of these things are agreed to. The question for the reading is: What does Lily need to know in order to successfully infiltrate the temple of Ela in Saarmen? “Your method of infiltration and the temple helping you will seem like a betrayal or a backhanded assistance but be optimistic about the opportunity and trust their redirect. In order to break free the Pirate Queen you will need to play along with and participate in your role without signs of weakness. Avoid conflict with the temple you’re going to. Be diplomatic and the bigger person in the situation as wounded pride and the need to be right will only set you back.” Abigail reveals Simone had a really bad turn at the temple earlier in the day and had said some strange things like:

The blood burned
The gods are all watching behind hidden eyes.
Nic being sent away soon.
The original has returned.
The void tainted is in danger.

Afterwards Lily dyes her hair and has it cut shorter with Caramella’s help. At 3pm Lily leaves to go and buy some things for a divination spell.

Karl and Fargrim head for Holstadt, but seem to get lost on the way with Xeldarix and Uqaviel in tow. Fargrim however ends up pointing them in the right direction.

Lily asks in her question for her divination "What should I watch for when looking for the pirate queen in Saarmen?" A voice neither male nor female replies "The inquisitor who is there for personal enjoyment rather than anything the Pirate Queen has to say as she continues to pledge ignorance despite losing nearly everything to protect her King." Lily then decides to have a quick nap before dinner.

At 6pm Fargrim and Karl arrive in Holstadt. They head for Erin’s ship and find it in the docks there. As soon as they reform, Enna and Erdad take Fargrim and Karl into Erin’s cabin for a chat about what has happened. They update the officers on the situation and the plan moving forward. The crew makes plans to sail within the hour. Fargrim sends a message to Lily to let her know where they are and the fact they are departing. Lily replies with a signal to pass onto Erin when they can. After an hour they set sail for Saarmen.

After dinner Lily does a couple of little things before getting ready for an early night with the idea of an early rise.

Karl has to try and wrangle a disgruntled Xeldarix to stop her being in the way of the crew. She runs off to hide somewhere and the crew can sail without issue. 3rd of Deismir 1524 At 1am, the pirate crew, Fargrim and Karl has arrived about an hour out of Saarmen, just keeping the city in sight. They are released to get some rest. Fargrim prays for Erin before going to bed. "Haelyn, our comrade has been captured by villainous men, who turn laws into chains and cities into prisons. Captain Erin is being held in Saarmen by Lord Morningsteel and the Unchained.... their vile machinations choke the land of life itself, and bind cities to their will. A collar has been placed on her to rob her of her senses. Haelyn, give her the strength to fight, and free her from her bonds that she may escape the tyranny of evil men. That justice may be done in your name, oh Haelyn."

At 4am Lily gets up. She gets on her light armor, and packs up what she’s bringing to saarmen, then goes to the bathroom to begin applying the makeup part of her disguise. Nothing major, just trying to make herself look closer to middle-aged. She briefly takes off her amulet, as she’s inside the manor that she hopes is warded with private sanctum, so that she can cast guidance on herself as she works. Lily catches up with Lyra and Lila before they head out for their hunting. Lyra is directed to the adventurer’s guild if they need a change of pace for work and stuff. The money the group leaves helps, but Lyra is trying to make sure they can keep this lifestyle if something happens to the group. Before leaving, Lily shares an early morning breakfast with Simone and Abigail. Some small talk happens and as Lily leaves, Simone has a fit. "The pirate queen's scorned mate will return. She will steal her life and freedom if successful. Giants sail tall." Is said during her fit. With this new revelation, Lily quickly heads for the temple of Ela. At 8am Lily arrives at the temple. Michael is there and shows Lily the Carriage of Greater Steed that will take them to Saarmen. However, Lily has an alternative plan. She will Wind Walk the group there. Michael invites Lily inside to meet the rest of the team that will be going with them and to make sure everyone knows the plan. A Priestess is going with them, as well as Michael and Alavin. Michael and Alavin will be acting as guards for their two priestesses. Michael will guard Lily. Lily meets Priestess Suru, a Khinasi woman who wears a veil with a Shayla. Suru is being sent to find support in the temple against the cult within Brechlen, or that is what their story will be. Lily, whose name will be Emma Braun, needs training on interrogation tactics. Lily will rescue Erin and ‘find’ information to free Fulda/Quill and Suru will establish a contact within the Saarmen temple that her temple can trust in this fight. Suru gives Lily one Sending spell in her ring so she can warn Suru when she is executing the escape. Afterwards, once Lily is changed into her new priestess robes, she turns everyone into wind and they head Eastward to Saarmen.

At 8am Karl and Fargrim are up early to prepare their spells for the day. Afterwards they head up on deck to see who is on shift. They find Enna and Bartharm arguing on deck. However, upon seeing the pair approach it comes to a stop and Bartharm leaves. Karl ritually casts many spells to make sure all the crew, officers and he and Fargrim can breath water for the day. Afterwards Karl and Fargrim go on duty for now as Karl is waiting til later in the day to contact Lily.

At 10:30 Lily and co are approaching Saarmen. Lily will take the group down about a 15 minute walk away from the city and begin to transform back into herself. The group follows suit. Suru leads the way as they wander and ask for directions. By 11am they had located the temple. At this point Lily gets a sending from Karl checking in. She updates him, gives him his orders and warns him about possible issues with Lorenah. The group agrees to get lunch before going into the temple. They find an inn in Raven Gate. The Blade of Lightning. The Blade of Lightning in Raven's Gate is an adventurers district of shadowed alleys and busy shops. The street outside is lined with a low stone wall. The inn is a large building of timber and brick walls, with finely-crafted tables and chairs. It is fancifully decorated, and brightly lit by magical candles and crystal chandeliers. Lily offers to pay for the meals. Lily and Alavin order the griffon and rye, Suru gets the wyvern (but requests it rare) and whisky, Michael will get the Pork and cider. While waiting for their order and eating once it comes, Lily tries to pick up on the local gossip. She hears:

The trees of the Kostwode forest have gained sentience and speech.
Strange shadows are cast in the town square at night.
Bizarre monsters have been encountered around the Archestuel Mountain.
The wizard Wima the Possessed has been driven insane by her research.
Recently they were in lockdown and the crier had said it was dread pirate that caused it all but they got her. Evil woman should have been more considerate since people couldn't go to work or leave the house for nearly 24 hours. So rude.

Karl shares the information he gets from Lily and convinces Enna to sail them as close as she can before he turns into a giant eagle to fly towards Saarmen.

At noon, Lily and co arrive at the temple. Suru takes the group through to meet the heads of the Saarmen temple to Ela. They are taken to an office and introductions are made. Yura is the leader of this temple and main inquisitor. A tiefling with the ability to use Truesight. As a guard comes in, alerting them to spellcasting above the temple, Lily gets a message from Karl announcing he is here and ethereal. Of course he is.

Karl flies down to the roof of the temple, dropping his polymorph and laying down on the temple roof. There he casts Etherealness. Then he sends a message to Lily as he sinks into the building. He hears his cover is blown. She tells him to just leave. However he does poke around a little before actually following that advice, disappointed in the outcome. Karl crosses the street and fades into one of the alleys and then just...sinks six feet into the ground so he's completely invisible. And wait.

Lily plays along with the surprise and offers to help look for intruders with her Blindsense. Suru back her and this seems to convince Yura to allow it. They are warned about the fact their magical spells that they might have active will be dispelled shortly as the search begins. Suru had some unnamed protections on, but doesn’t argue with them being removed. As they are taken to the secret spaces the sound of a bell, chimes and a shattering of glass. Lily helps search the area and there are six people locked up down here in various stages of torture and limbs being missing. Erin is one of them. The rooms seem to be kept at extremely low temperatures currently.

At 1pm Karl comes out from his hiding place to watch the area around the temple and wait. He seeks there are many squads of the watch in the area. Not knowing if they have a means to see him, he hides and watches in hopes that they will leave.

Lily requests to stay with Yura to start torturing people while the others get settled in the city. Yura allows it and dismisses Suru, Alavin and Michael. Lily tries to keep Michael with her, but when Yura questions this Lily lets it go. The first man brought in is a Bard that has sung about a lord and a missing gem. They want to know where he found this out. The man insists it's not about the lord of the city. It's just 'the lord' as a generalisation. He claims it was just a fun story about a cheeky halfling stealing and a gem from a dream he had. Apparently many of the lyrics line up with an actual theft and this was never told to the public.

At 2pm Karl continues to watch the last few patrols as they are slowly lessening in numbers over time in their patrols of this area.

The next person brought in for a chat and toture is a woman who is working for an escaped creature within the city. Her name is Mimi and she was working for Anita. They promise to send her home once they are done with talking with her and have helped her recover. She seems to be broken by the process and has turned against Anita. She tells Yura everything she wants to know about Anita’s activities and the things she did for Anita. When Yura is done, she tells the guards to take Mimi away and arranges for her to go to the recovery centre. Lily learns the people generally do go home after they have been healed and spent some time in a re-education program. This sometimes involves planting hidden commands in them that they have no idea that makes the city an unaware willing army. The percentage of people like this is unknown.

At 3pm Karl watches the last group leave and send Lily a message to check in about if he should re-enter the temple now. Lily responds that he should go to Anita instead since she is in danger. He’s told about someone he has no idea who they are. Who the hell is Mimi? She also tells him to message Michael to warn him that Lily will be with Erin soon. Then he heads to Wade Locktree’s manor. There he finds Anita. He didn’t realise she would be able to see him, but she can. Anita moves so they have privacy. She talks to him and he writes back on paper so they can have a conversation. Apparently Anita is very aware of Mimi’s situation. Apparently Mimi is feeding the church set information and Anita is going to rescue her when she is moved. Karl mentions trying to make a manor available for Wade to buy so Anita and he can move out of Saarmen. Anita can’t be away from Wade for long or she becomes ill.

Erin is brought in as the next person to torture. She is still actively fighting her captives as much as she can in her poor condition. They unmute and remove the deafness, but keep her blind. She insists she was looking for her next bounty and as such had to ask around about them. She doesn’t know the people on the posters. Lily is forced to help with the torture and volunteers to try something new. Through this she signals Erin before getting ready to use the security rod. Erin mentions she works for the Pirate King in hopes of playing along. This lowers Yura’s guard as Lily uses the item to get them out of there, angering Yura.

After the conversation finish, Karl start to walk out to sea to try and find the boat. As he gets a little bit out he hears the bells from earlier and he feels the power of them on the ethereal plane. Karl continues to run from the city. He ends up going to the left shore of the arm. Then turn into a giant eagle to fly back to the ship. Thankfully his sense of direction really helps him with this. At 4pm Karl returns to the boat. Enna and the crew seem to consider shooting Karl down, but resist the temptation. Karl updates everyone on what happened and has Fargrim contact Lily.

Lily takes herself and Erin to a ship, sailing quickly and smoothly through a tranquil sea, lots of breeze, and with a galley full of food below deck. As soon as Lily and Erin appear on the ship, Lily takes a look around to make sure it worked, then uses her Sending to attempt to send a message to Michael. The message gets through and Suru is apparently ready to enact her own escape plan. Lily starts Erin’s care by giving her water and healing her while waiting to hear from the others. Then she looks over Erin to see she is in a very bad condition but no longer life threatening at this stage. This includes her gills that were burned shut and have healed over. Lily and Erin decide to wait for the other before looking at surgical options. Erin is taken to a bed to try and get some rest while they wait. At this point Lily hears from Fargrim, checking in on her. She advises them to come join her and asks if she has to eat the flower Xeldarix gave her. After getting Erin some fruit and helping her she gets a follow up sending to eat the flower after waiting for a minute. Lily goes out onto the deck to do this, leaving Erin to try and rest.

Karl is incredibly relieved to hear that Lily got Erin out safely. The crew are given orders to sail to Brechlen as Fargrim and Karl look for Xeldarix who is still hiding. They find her lounging on the balcony off of the back of the ship that connects to Erin’s cabin. Xeldarix demands the wand be used to make her stronger or she will not be taking them. Fargrim sends another message to Lily with instructions about the flower. In the end Uqaviel stays behind due to weight and that way if something comes through, he can sort it out before flying to Brechlen himself. The wand is used on Xeldarix, Karl turns Fargrim into a mouse and Xeldarix planeshifts them.

On the deck of the shift Xeldarix staggers out of a tear in the space with a firm grip on Karl. Karl can see Lily on the deck of a ship on a calm and gentle ocean. She is alone. Karl sets Fargrim down, drops his spell and checks on Xeldarix to make sure the shift didn’t hurt her. She claims to be fine. Karl and Lily don’t think she is lying. Lily updates the group on Erin’s condition. Karl goes to check on her while everyone else heads below deck where all the food is.

Karl enters the cabin and sees the full extent of the damage done to Erin. He sits down carefully next to her, allowing her to continue to try and rest while he identifies the choker/collar. The necklace of evils. Just as the three monkeys should not speak, hear or see such things the wearer cannot speak, hear or see unless activated by the person who put it on the wearer. This person can designate others who can also interact with the item when he puts it on the wearer. If removed by force or magical means the person becomes cursed with the loss of these things. If they fail a wisdom save they also lose their minds to madness. Currently active: blindness Afterwards, Karl leaves as quietly as he came to head downstairs to see the others.

Fargrim, Lily and Xeldarix get some food. Karl arrives a short time later to tell them about the collar and the dangers of removing it. Lily suggests they leave the item for now and focus on her other needs before asking about Anita. Karl shares his conversation with Anita, his plans to get them to move to Brechlen, and the fact he needs to go to a meeting with Simone within the next week. Lily shares information about the people she saw tortured today and the fact it meeans that there is an army of brainwashed people in Saarmen. The group decides to stay here for some rest so Fargrim can regenerate Erin’s limbs and take them back to Cerilia tomorrow. Though they need to do the surgery first for her gills. Karl heads back to the cabin ahead of the group to wake Erin. Karl wakes up Erin and explains what they are going to do before calling the group up to join him. They ask Erin to allow the poison to affect her to knock her out for the surgery. She agrees. Lily uses Swiftsleep which knocks Erin out. It's slow and careful work. A few minutes into the third cut/gill Erin is starting to wake and cry, moving as she's coming round. Xeldarix had healed the first two as Lily worked. They give her something to bite on as they continue. She is able to keep herself still throughout the remainder of the surgery with Fargrim helping to hold her down. Afterwards he casts Regeneration which heals and restores her missing limbs. Afterwards she goes limp. The group takes a short rest. Fargrim sends Uqaviel a message to update him. At the end of the short rest they review how Erin is feeling. They look over the collar again. It seems to have been welded on in some fashion. They make some plans to investigate this further. Fargrim performs a Greater Restoration on Erin, taking her down by one point of exhaustion, before sending a message to Enna to update her on Erin. The group separates to reflect on what has happened in their own ways before getting some rest for the night. 4th of Deismir 1524 People start waking up for the next day. Erin is not awake when Karl wakes up. Xeldarix is very awake when Lily wakes up. Fargrim wakes up to discover Lily and Xeldarix in the same hammock in the galley. Fargrim mocks Xeldarix for this which causes her to be aggressive about it and he backs down. Karl gently wakes Erin up and she decides to go to breakfast with everyone else to make sure her legs are working okay. Erin is very slow to move. It in general seems to be harder for her right now, but more so because she is blind and that slows her again. But can walk with Karl's help. Slowly everyone rolls out of bed and breakfast is had in the galley. Though the moment bacon is being cooked, Erin requests to be taken back to the cabin due to a loss of appetite. Erin sends Karl back down once she is settled on the bed so he can enjoy breakfast with the others. Once Karl returns the group discusses getting back to Brechlen. Karl sketches the runes for the circle there so Fargrim can memorise them. They both do their best. Karl heads up back to Erin while Fargrim does this and Lily sits with him a little longer. By the time Fargrim and Lily finish and head up to the deck, Erin and Karl are up there. Karl has webbed hands and gills now. Erin and Karl go for a swim while the others watch before the group gets ready to leave. Once they are, Fargrim planeshifts them out. He does his best to focus on the circle Karl drew…

The first thing the group notices is the oppressive heat and sun. There is shattered wood around them. Must have been furniture once. The circle beneath their feet flickers but there is a massive crack running through part of it. The building is stone but much of the wall and roof is missing. The building is round. Destroyed books and bookshelves line the perimeter. To the south east there are stairs heading down along the curve of the building. The group immediately starts to clear the floor away from the broken circle so Karl can draw a new circle to get them back to Brechlen. This is mostly because Karl isn’t sure how safe it is to use an already broken circle. Lily looks through the holes to see a ruined city surrounded by desert. There is an oasis outside full of green looking water. Fargrim is more focused on the stonework, which he thinks is Southern. Lily hears a roar from the city and lets the group know they are not alone, causing them to work quicker. As it gets closer, through Xochitl, Lily sees a Huge lizard with 8 legs heading for the tower before it starts to climb the side of it. She informs the group and at it’s current pace it would arrive in just under a minute. They get ready to defend Karl so they can get out when he is done. Lily summons a gem dragon to help them while they continue to clear the floor. Erin gets nervous with not knowing what is happening and Xeldarix moves her for protection and to stop her ruining the work Karl is doing. The group works together to clear the area while the lizard climbs from the ground floor to the third floor by the time the group is done. Karl continues to work on his spell while the others gear up to delay the creature. Fargrim, Lily and Xeldarix move up to get a better look as the lizard climbs up to floor 4. They seem to be an 8 floor tower. As the creature moves up to floor 5 and seems to hear the group, Fargrim casts Hold Monster on it, which works. However, with the creature so close they can now smell it. The slime covering the creature's scaly skin has a caustic reek that can be detected miles away. Within 60 feet of the lizard, the stench has a ruinous effect on the creature's opponents (or any creatures). Lily peeks over and sends three bursts of flame at it, and her dragon flies down and bites the lizard, then breathes cold at it while Fargrim backs off. Though Karl has to tell Fargrim to move as he steps on the circle Karl is working on. Xeldarix uses her bow to fire at it as well. However after this moment the creature moves and roars, throwing off the magic that Fargrim cast on it. The creature makes a dash for the top of the tower and gets as far as the 6th floor. Lily focuses and summons a bunch of divine energy around herself, along with a hollyphant spirit to fly around. Xeldarix fires more arrows as the dragon is stunned by the smell and falls to the ground. Fargrim moves off Karl’s circle and blesses the group. Lily looks down at the creature making its way up the tower and focuses, drawing out the green and black undertones beneath her skin. The lizard moves up into the spirit guardians that Lily summoned and gets within 10 ft of the group below their current floor. Fargrim casts Freedom of movement on himself. Xeldarix shoots another volley of arrows before switching to her shortsword and flying lower to help block the creature’s path. Lily slashes her sword in the creature’s direction, sending out a volley of flame bursts, commenting how resilient the thing is. Meanwhile Karl continues his casting, updating the group on how much longer he needs. The dashes up and clambers on the edge of the floor and roars loudly at the people before it. Fargrim reacts by calling down a Flame Strike on it. Erin collapses into a heap where she sits next to the circle. Xeldarix eyes the creature in front of her and growls, warning it to back off before slashing at it. Light erupts from both Xeldarix’s sword and the hollyphant spirit as she attacks. The smell starts to overcome Lily, so Xeldarix gives her a boost to overcome it. Lily hears Xeldarix and refocuses herself, glaring at the beast ahead of her, weighing options briefly before lunging forward to stab the creature. With the lunge, she channels some divine energy into her blade, but the smell has seemingly managed to distract her a bit, making the strike less effective. As Karl is almost done, he checks on Erin and a minor amount of panic goes through him as she doesn’t respond to him. With the lizard so close now, they can see while it is taking damage from the spirit guardians it is also regenerating. It glares at everyone in front of it, only missing Xeldarix as a bright flash comes from it's eyes. Lily, Fargrim and Lily feel their strength start to drain and feel a bit sickly. Fargrim calls down another flamestrike. Erin stirs and starts to dry reach as she pushes herself up, reaching and calling out for Karl. Xeldarix slashes at the creature and asks Karl about his progress. Lily steels herself and attacks the creature, once again trying to fend it off and weaken it. Lily makes up for her previous attack with a powerful blow against the creature. Karl starts to cough and gag before steeling himself thanks to Lily’s support, marking the last time, straightening up and throwing his arms open as a portal appears in the air in front of him. He calls out to the group it is time to go as he grabs Erin’s hand, pulling her up into his arms. He gives her a kiss with the promise of being right behind her before he throws her through the portal. Erin’s protests are cut off as she disappears through the portal. The lizard bites and claws at Xeldarix before hitting Lily with it’s tail. Fargrim turns and runs towards the portal, going through to safety. Xeldarix attacks the creature a few times before disengaging and going through the portal. At which point the lizard collapses. Lily nearly succumbs to the stench of the creature, but Karl helps her focus so she can push the creature off the ledge and run through the portal. Karl follows after her and the portal closes behind him as they are now all safely in Brechlen now. Erin is screaming on the other side for Karl and trying to get help for the group as she blindly feels around, her form is shifting slightly into shark form. She's calling for Steve to help and Rebecca looks very confused. Karl quickly runs over to calm Erin, apologise and reassure her that everyone is now safe. Erin is furious with Karl for that stunt while Xeldarix looks bored with the whole situation and leaves. The group heads out, realising they smell rather bad and head for their estate. Karl tries Prestidigitation but it doesn’t have the same effect as usual. It is 7:30am. Karl updates Enna via sending. The group discusses the effect from the lizard that has them feeling weaker. Karl tries a neutralise poison wand on himself but to no effect. At 8am the group arrives at the estate. A round of baths are had for everyone before Erin settles in for a longer soak. However, during this Fargrim discovers Xeldarix is missing. Lily goes out to look for her but once she finds the building she is in and realises she’s just gone elsewhere for a bath, she heads back to the estate. Karl tries to identify the effect on them, but doesn’t get anything. They take a short rest. During this rest Karl reads more of Falak’s diary. As he reads, Karl shares the information with the group. Hassan is ageing and Falak is doing what she can to make sure he is happy. He's resistant to ideas to extend his life. A hangover from his culture that annoys Falak to no end with his stubbornness. Their daughter is the jewel of her mother's eye though. One day, they were leaving the lair. Falak has flown Hassan over water to the dry section in the north area of the cave (where the broken boat was for Karl's reference which is not dry as far as he knows). Amira flies herself over. As they get to that area, a group of adventurers appear and fire spells and bolts at Falak and Amira as they scream about dragons. Falak immediately shields Hassan and positions him behind a pillar where she watches her daughter get a bolt through the heart which results in a blood burst. Falak attacks the adventurers, knocking them out. But it's too late. Her daughter isn't moving and she knows what that blood burst meant. She chains the adventurers up before looking to do what she can to bring her daughter back. Falak and Hassan fight over bringing back their daughter. It goes against Hassan's beliefs but in the end he bow to Falak's will. A scroll of resurrection isn't in the city. Falak gets a gentle repose scroll instead to keep her daughter from decaying while she flies to different cities to get such a scroll. Each time Falak returns empty handed and has to get another scroll of gentle repose Hassan's health is slowly becoming poorer as he is left with the dead body of his daughter. Eventually Falak gets the scroll she wants and casts the spell... but it doesn't work. Hassan comments that Amari held his beliefs. She would not want to come back which has Falak snap. However, after she realises she has hurt Hassan, she stops. She gets him healing potions but a rift has been created between them. Falak buries herself in her work, making a tomb for her daughter so that way she will never fade or be raised. She makes a room so she can rewatch the happy memories as an illusion with Hassan. However as she works, Hassan's health continues to deteriorate. By the time they finish their short rest, Xeldarix had returned. It seems she had gone shopping. This included getting Uqaviel new clothes too. Little bows for Xochitl to wear were also bought. Xeldarix’s new outfit is gold, red and black with her hair pulled up into a high ponytail with a ribbon. Karl checks on Erin, but she wants to stay in the bath while the group heads for the temple of Neira. At 11:30am the group arrives at the temple, they go to see High Paladin Salma. They ask after Simone and Salma update them on her condition, including the refusal of some of their help with medicine. The High Priestess Chanty Emma Trulacht herself has been giving Simone some of her time seeing her personally. Afterwards they go to see Simone and an acolyte that will look the group over to check about their weakness. Karl is looked over first before Fargrim. While Fargrim is being looked over Karl and Lily wake Simone to talk to her. Just as Fargrim comes back out, Chanty Emma Trelacht comes into the infirmary. The group introduces themselves to the Lady Trelacht. They discuss the group’s guild, including the fact she had to raise someone who died recently, and Lord Galloway’s fate. Some people want him sent away to the army while Lady Trelacht is trying to keep him in the city. During this time Lily notices one of the ghosts through the mask is paying more attention to their conversation then seems right. Karl gives Lily a vial of Etherealness Oil where she goes and applies it. While she is gone, Karl fluffs the conversation the best he can. As they talk more about Simone’s condition, Karl promises no more rituals that leave her weak like this. Lady Trelacht promises to come visit Simone more in future and gives Karl a letter to give Lily. Meanwhile Lily sneaks up on the figure in the ethereal plane. She hears his story of how he died to the bearded fiend before she allows him to leave the building once she has judged him to not be the threat he might have been. However, she is still stuck in the ethereal plane until the oil wears off. On the way back to the manor Karl buys Erin a cane and some nice clothes. As the group arrives back at the manor they feel slightly stronger with one point of strength returned to them. Lily reads the letter and sees she has been invited to dinner. Karl goes up to get Erin and lunch is had at 2pm. Simone does a reading for the group over lunch. "How can we protect Erin from the effects of the collar?" “When the collar is removed, the pirate queen will cry as she is plunged back into despair where her mind will actively be working against her. The source that placed it upon and named others can remove it which will protect her from the curse of the collar. There are three people who can do this in Saarmen. Taking shelter in a dreamless sleep will protect the queen from her festering mind.” With this not great news, Lily lends Erin the ring so Karl can cast Summon Greater Familiar into it so Erin can cast it herself. This way she can look through it’s eyes. At 2:30pm Erin goes outside to attune to the ring with Karl while Fargrim and Lily head to the guild.

Karl and Erin talk and some comforting happens as Erin comes to terms with what is happening to her and what could happen to her if they try to take this collar off. Once the ring is attuned, Karl takes the hour and a bit for the ritual into the ring.

On the way Lily, Fargrim and Xeldarix talk about Xeldarix being unsure about seeing her devotees since she believes they will like the dumb her more then the new her. It ends in Lily jokingly prodding Fargrim into talking about stonework to try and annoy Xeldarix, but she just activates her earrings with a smile. This continues all the way to the inn and guild. They catch up with Molly and find out Flux has done a report up until yesterday night. Today’s entry is still being written. Molly is told about the dinner with Lady Trelacht and they check in with the lady about the state of dress expected for the night. After checking in about Hope and Jarrdad, the pair head upstairs. They get the report from Flux and go to mingle with those around. Fargrim checks in with Hope, while Lily meets Vuru, Alanis and Inden. Vuru is desperate to see Simone is okay, Alanis seems a bit apathetic and Inden is a bundle of energy that desires to be back in Poden. On the way back Lily does a bit of shopping while Fargrim accompanies her.

Erin summons a blue and gold macaw familiar that has a fey twist. It swears like a sailor and Erin names him Kai. Karl spends the remaining time until the group returns scribing.

At 5pm Lily and Fargrim return. Everyone is introduced to Kai, a handsome motherfucker by his own declaration. Lily gets ready to head out to her dinner. Fargrim and the others relax until dinner is served. At the estate dinner, Fargrim and Karl have small talk about how to help Lily with the guild and making sure the groups can be better prepared for their missions. They also discuss their plans for the next day. Then they retire for the night. Karl had intended to cast “Contact other plane” after popping out to get some blood, but Erin stopped him.

Lily enjoys a nice dinner with Lady Emma and Molly. She is introduced to sweet wines as they discuss the guild. Lily learns that the Lady is leaving for Blackgate soon to see the King. Lily warns her about the enemies there. By the end of the night everyone has recovered another strength point.

Notes

Name	XP	Running XP	Level at End of Session
Fargrim	12,000	158,515	14
Karl	12,000	158,515	14
Lily	12,000	158,515	14
Simone	12,000	75,835	10

Session 68: The long road and rescue Report

General Summary

Notes

Karl Moller

Lyra Ulvendatter

Lily Wulfsdotter

Fargrim Hammerland

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