Session 43: Trial by Fire Report
General Summary
18th of Haelynir 1524 Continued After having helped Jarvis with the evil goats that were no longer inside the city walls, he heads back to the orchid before heading towards the maze with Simone in tow. There they find Lily and Xeldarix sitting. They discuss the confusing events that had happened with the goats. Fargrim offers to ask a reading question on Simone’s behalf before she goes to the temple, only she has no idea what to ask. Instead Lily puts forward a question about Xeldarix. Question: “When will the devils begin to realize they can scry on members of the forged to locate Xeldarix?” Answer: "The opportunity for the devils to hear what forces have to say about the company Xeldarix keeps is approached as those sent back in death reform and those who came but left in shame build up their courage to talk of the decision to do something without approval and have nothing to show for it. One of the forged is protected against the art of scrying as they lose their other means of temporary protection as the Seer enters the temple or they leave the tower of a dead mage. A turning point approaches in this new stage of the angel’s life as a force unknown to her comes and threatens to take all she knows from her, and they have the opportunity to start appearing at any stage in the next few days." Fargrim is very impressed and unnerved about this reading. They talk about the reading as they start to walk Simone up to the temple. Xeldarix asks about Karl, and is sad to learn he has left. Fargrim asks Simone if she is aware of what will happen while she is in the temple. Simone is not, but has been warned against taking people with her by the spirits. They hug and cry before Simone has to leave. Lily and Fargrim try to explain things to Xeldarix but she is just sad and confused by everything. She wants Simone and Karl back. In the end they take her back to the tower. When they get back Fargrim goes upstairs to find some books to research while Lily works on some basic language phrases and reads book with Xeldarix. When Fargrim returns an hour later at 2:30pm with some books, he is greeted by some of Xeldarix’s new vocabulary. Fargrim does a bit of reading while Lily teaches Xeldarix some basic counting with her dice. Afterwards Fargrim takes over and Lily has a break to work on her puzzle box for an hour. Lily is able to move a few bits and it briefly glows before going dormant again. They take turns doing stuff with Xeldarix and having breaks until just before bedtime. Lily scries on Lorenah just before bed using the scarf that Wave had given Lily. Lily's vision is pulled into the mirror with a shower of gold light. There, Lily can see Lorenah climbing a tree on the planes. After taking some time to focus Lily is sure that Lorenah is alone and in the plains. The mountain can be vaguely seen behind her. While this is happening Xeldarix has discovered that if she moves decorations, Jarvis uses magic to move them back. In the end Fargrim convinces Jarvis to stop reacting and Xeldarix grows upset that things are no longer magically moving. Fargrim is contacted by Karl via sending to check in and give an update on how far the crew have gotten today. After responding, Fargrim uses his own spells to contacts Karl via sending. Letting him know where Lorenah is. Two messages are sent to give Karl the information he requests. Lily takes Xeldarix upstairs so Jarvis can watch her overnight. Xeldarix doesn’t like this but compiles.
The crew and Karl get back on the road. Once they get close to their limit for hiking down the mountain for the day Aeryn can see that the outpost is still a few hours away. They decide to make camp instead of pushing on. Camp is set up, dinner is had and the officers decide to be the ones on watch throughout the night. Erin and Ten taking 4 hours each, Erdad and Enna for middle watch and Wave and Karl on last watch. The officers briefly discuss the known dangers of the mountain. Especially the gas that can be deadly when catching people asleep. They all settle down to sleep as Erin and Ten take watch.
Overnight Fargrim dreams. It’s hard to remember, but there are goats with fangs dripping blood and horrors attacking the town. 19th of Haelynir 1524 The night is still warm, indicating that the day itself will be another warm and drizzly day. However, it is well before the sun rises as Karl is awoken for his watch. The watch is uneventful and the crew get ready for another day of travel. It takes four hours before they reach the first outpost on the way down the mountain.
Lily and Fargrim wake up and Lily can feel Xeldarix’s distress. Lily requests access to the second floor where Jarvis is making breakfast while Xeldarix huddles in the corner as a ball of feathers. Lily tries to calm her, but she is distressed and shows signs of also wanting Fargrim. Lily takes her downstairs. Fargrim helps comfort her while asking Jarvis what happened. It seems things were fine. About an hour beforehand she balled up and attacked Jarvis when he tried to help. He thought it best to give her space. They stay with Xeldarix for a while before Lily mentions to Fargrim that Jarvis may need to watch Xeldarix as there is something she needs help with. After they eat breakfast Lily asks Jarvis for paints, which he supplies. This seems to distract Xeldarix enough that she does not notice that her friends have left her. Fargrim and Lily head upstairs where Lily casts Greater Restoration on herself to end her attunement with Gus. He fights it, but in the end all that happens is an angry scream in Lily’s ears as the sword appears out of nowhere and clatters on the ground. Lily declares that Gus had gone too far and could go the next thousand years without a wielder. After talking with Jarvis and explaining more about the sword, he agrees to hide the item here so no one attunes to it until there are more people in town. Then he would be less comfortable with the item being. They return to find Jarvis trying to clean Xeldarix who has resorted to finger painting as the brushes themselves have been thrown around the room. Fargrim takes the time to read as Lily joins Xeldarix for some painting. After some time painting on paper, herself and Lily, Xeldarix grows tired. Lily gets her to lay down and Lily stays by her side reading. After a bit of time Lily does the ritual to make Xeldarix’s shortsword her new weapon since Xeldarix can’t use it right now. Until 1pm Fargrim and Lily read and relax while they have the chance. However, after Fargrim takes Lily upstairs for a quiet chat about what happens if Xeldarix ‘doesn’t come back’. In the end they come to the decision to try some Divine Intervention to ask for guidance. They hope that guidance means that Xeldarix won’t be changed by the will of a God during this time. They continue using their time to relax while Xeldarix sleeps. At 2pm Jarvis excuses himself as a stranger has entered the town with some pets that were like the three headed creatures from the day before. Fargrim and Lily wish him good luck and tell him to let them know if he needs help. Twenty minutes later he requests help as the human is upset about the destruction of his creation. Jarvis’ other avatars are currently too far away to help or watch Xeldarix. However, he offers to keep her locked in the building and to magically return her to sleep should she wake. With that Lily and Fargrim leave to go and help Jarvis. At the main gate they find a man poking around the remains of Jarvis. The pair talk with the man, finding out he created the creature they destroyed the day before. It is clear there is a difference of views and opinions. In the end, the man known as Tucker, agrees to control his pets and he is permitted to exist in the cottage between the fountain and the hedge maze. In the end, Tucker is left to tend to his pets, one that appears to be injured with an understanding of what is expected of him while he is in town. By the time Fargrim and Lily get back to the tower, scraps on the other side of the door can be heard as Xeldarix is awake and unhappy to have woken up alone. Fargrim and Lily are greeted with a hug as Fargrim tries to start showing Xeldarix boundaries with not always getting what she wants. The rest of the night is spent reading, doing activities, praying and working on puzzles. Lily practices some fine motor skills with Xeldarix like string and knot tying. However, Xeldarix is quick to get frustrated with this and instead Lily goes through how to use the dagger. When Lily gets the chance to tinker with her puzzle, she slides it and it briefly glows yellow before 722 silver pours out of it. It goes through the same ten colours Lily has seen it glow before but now yellow is missing. Xeldarix is once again taken upstairs to be looked after by Jarvis while the others sleep. Just before bed Fargrim prays. "Haelyn, please guide your humble cleric. There is one who sacrificed much for the good of others, her duty fulfilled. She now needs guidance on the road to recovery. It is complicated, physically, mentally, spiritually. Any guidance, for her, or for me to help her. I humbly ask this of you, oh Haelyn."
After travelling for eight hours the crew is forced to camp once again on the mountain trail itself. Karl makes sure to check in with the crew and help them set up camp in order to keep morale up. He uses his blood ability to detect life around him, but can’t sense any enemies around. Karl messages Steve to let him know how they are progressing and gets well wishes in return. After that he goes to sleep, but is awoken by Ten a few hours later yelling for everyone to get up as they are attacked by undead. Zombie beholders, skeletons and ghouls come up and the path and attack. Karl is able to block some by sculpting a wall of fire around Ten and Erin, but they both end up running over to the wrong side of the wall. Ten does so for glory and Erin can’t leave him to fight alone. Sadly, a crew member named Boyd is disintegrated and this terrifies a number of the crew who run and hide in their tents. Eventually Karl is able to lead the rest of the crew to victory. However, the loss of a crew member is heavy on the survivors. Erin talks to the crew, makes a speech about their lost friend and encourages them to rest where a proper wake will be held in the morning. She directs Karl to share a tent with Johnny, who was sharing with Boyd, so he would not have to be alone in this time of grief. She will be on watch if anyone wants to talk but after that she sends everyone back to bed. 20th of Haelynir 1524 When Karl is woken up a few hours later for his watch, it is still warm and looks to be another warm and drizzly day. However, it is well before the sun rises as Karl is awoken for his watch. Erin seems to already be up and sitting with some of the crew near the edge of the ledge/trail with some of the crew. The morning watch is quiet. Karl observes many coming out of their tents slowly. By the time the sun starts to rise they are all quietly sitting with their captain. She talks with some of them quietly. Once everyone is up she holds a wake for their lost Boyd Overboard. While travelling throughout the day Erin and Karl talk about the incidents across Muden and the prophecies from Simone about all the different travellers in the area. Over the course of the day Karl doesn't spot anything too concerning except the fact it becomes more and more obvious as the day continues that Erin likely did not sleep or trance after the attack last night. Thankfully Aeryn has Karl's back and sees that they will make the second post by the time they are done walking today. However, just when you are about half an hour away Aeryn sees that the post is not empty. There is a tribe of Salamanders that are doing something there in one of the buildings. There are eleven in total. They seem to be doing a ritual or ceremony of some sorts. The crew stops walking and they decide to go around the outpost. Karl turns into a giant eagle and spends an hour and a half taking people down two at a time. When Karl is nearly done taking everyone he sees an explosion of fire spreading across the sky. His giant eagle brain knows this is bad, but it’s only when he is human again and Aeryn confirms a large fire bird has appeared that Karl knows exactly how bad the situation is. Karl immediately contacts Steve to tell him about this horrible mess. Via sending Karl confirms his need for back up in this situation. At 4pm Sam contacts Karl to say they are nearby. After talking with the crew it is decided that Karl, Erin, Enna and Ten with 11 crew would go to meet the Masters and deal with the problem, while Wave and Erdad remain to set up came and keep the other 12 crew safe. Karl is introduced to Trinity Barnes, the new head of Evocation until Master Shyr can return. Trinity is a halfing wearing good-quality robes, carrying a number of books and parchments, and has a pair of spectacles hanging from a chain around her neck. She has pale skin and brown eyes. Her wavy silver hair is tied in a long braid. She walks with a pronounced limp. They discuss the issue and Karl sends a message to Lily and Fargrim, requesting back up. He makes small talk with the Masters while he waits.
Lily wakes up to feel once again Xeldarix is distressed. The floor is not sealed as it usually is when Jarvis watches Xeldarix. She heads up stairs with Fargrim to discover a man with dark skin, bare feet, a worn and tattered toga, gold jewellery including a sun pendant and inky, black wisps coming off him sitting next to Xeldarix curled up in a ball of feathers. Jarvis is nearby and does not seem to be able to communicate or function well. Immediately Lily draws her sword and is on the offensive. The man is unphased by this display and explains he has been sent by Haelyn to help them with the guidance they requested. Fargrim straightens up and is grateful to have this man here while Lily is still unsure. Instead she focuses on calming Xeldarix and taking her downstairs. This angel’s name is Uqaviel and after being asked he fixes Jarvis. He reveals that he showed Jarvis a few things which did not react well with him. Jarvis needs some time to recover but will be okay. Over the course of the day Uqaviel observes things to try and gauge how he can help. Fargrim tries to show Xeldarix the value of cleaning, Lily does some painting and knife practice with her. Meanwhile in their down time Fargrim reads and shows his good priestly practices, and Lily plays with her puzzle. She seemed to have a breakthrough as it glowed yellow and 722 silver appeared for Lily. This made her very excited. At 4pm they receive a message from Karl requesting help. Uqaviel volunteers to watch Xeldarix while they are gone. Lily is unsure about this, but Fargrim reassures her that it’s okay. Xeldarix is unhappy to be left behind, but does stay. Lily makes Fargrim a giant eagle and they travel down to Karl. At 5pm they arrive. The situation is explained and they go to deal with it. They try to sneak into the outpost, but the salamanders on watch make this hard. Trinity and Karl are both able to put up walls of force to keep the fight contained and delay all forces from joining the fight as they try to deal with the biggest threats. The fight is long and hard. Everyone tries to focus their attacks on the phoenix, while Erin runs in to try and deal with the salamander forces to stop them protecting the phoenix. Lily and Karl hit the phoenix with everything they have while Fargrim tries to hold it, but the phoenix keeps resisting it. The salamanders continue their attacks as they try to get around the walls of force. Erin is getting badly hurt by being close to the salamanders as they learn hitting the creatures in melee hurts the attacker. The Masters continue to provide support and the phoenix is brought down and turns into an egg on the battlefield. However, the blast from the phoenix when this happens badly hurts a lot of people. At this point Lily is rather badly hurt and as a result Xeldarix appears in the battlefield after teleporting in, she seems slightly larger than usual and filled with rage. Uqaviel teleports in, seeming to follow Xeldarix, and four stone boulders take the opportunity to come with him. He turns and threatens them, and they leave. At this point there is a blood burst from the chief salamander, which hits Xeldarix, Karl, Erin and Lily. Karl tries to focus Xeldarix on attacking the salamanders, hoping her immunity to fire could be a boon for them. Xeldarix hugs Karl and gives him temporary health points as she goes off to hurt the people Karl wishes her to. However, it’s at this point they learn that she is no longer immune to fire. Uqaviel's eyes lazily follow Xeldarix before he moves over and grabs Karl by the chin, looking him up and down with open disgust. "Such a waste..." He mutters as he lets go. The inky wisps of smoke coming off his back grow and become wings as he flies up to sit on the wall, watching Xeldarix as she slashes wildly with her dagger without any of the trained form she had before. Karl shrugs off the comment the best he can and takes control of the situation, directing Masters and his crew. Lily continues to try and hit hard with as many as possible with her spell work. Fargrim focuses on one of the salamander priests and uses the blessings of Haelyn to hit him and make him easier to hit. One of the Salamanders grapple Xeldarix with its tail. This ends horribly as she panics. Xeldarix screams and screeches in the salamander's grasp. Her screams grow louder and louder before suddenly there is a bright flash and a blinding light similar to the light the others have seen before radiates from her only this time it is more intense. This new blast of energy sends Ten, Erin and Fargrim down into unconsciousness and dying. It does also kill all the enemies around her as well. However, upon seeing Fargrim down she grows more distressed and runs over to him. Lily is quick to heal Fargrim, but he was blinded by the blast and needs to use a lesser restoration on himself to be able to help others. Karl looks around frantically and scoops up Erin before running over to Steve for help. He does thankfully heal Erin before running off to see who else needs help. Xeldarix shrinks to her normal size as she cries helplessly at everything going on around her. Lily is quick to comfort her after healing Ten. As the dust settles, the Forged, Master’s of Brechlen and the Crew of Masela’s Fury take stock of the world around them.
Notes
| Name | XP | Total XP | End of Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fargrim | 6,525 | 84,985 | 10 |
| Karl | 7,010 | 84,660 | 10 |
| Lily | 6,525 | 84,985 | 10 |
