17. Festival of Lights Report

General Summary

The group arrives at the Beacon to find a ceremony being held inside; it lingers at the entrance, as Fionna is the first to muster the courage to approach a member of the cloth, inquiring about wheter they would be able to help to locate missing people through magical means. After pondering his options, the attendant instructed the group to wait before going up the row of stairs on the side of the entrance through which the catatonic Trygve had been previously hoisted through. As they wait, the group catches a glimpse of Lyssandra busy in her daily chores and oblivious to their presence and Sol questions the contours of this endeavour with Amelia, as it is apparent all others believe their friend to be dead and vanished; Amelia confides that despite what she has been told, she holds out hope for it to be a lie still. The attendant returns a few moments later, followed by two other members of the church – an acolyte of the church and a female faun, white of fur, cloth and hair, the latter with strands of brown peeking through, carrying a motherly smile and understanding eyes, with few features to indicate her age; she wore a translucent gown over her dress and kept her long hair adorned with a braid.   Alanna, as she introduced herself, approached the group to ask what was their need. An uncomfortable and not-so-cheerful Trygve stepped forward and explained to her that their friend Corvino had died again but was taking longer to return to them and they couldn’t wait much longer as they had places to go, and that their friends more knowledgeable of magic thought the man could probably be tracked down with magic, having brought his arm to that effect.   Accessing the situation, Alanna invited the group to follow her into a more private setting. Her attendant discreetly pleaded for her to focus on the preparations to the upcoming festival, which she silenced with a gentle phrase. With the exception of Sol, who saw the moment as something too private for him to intrude, the group followed the faun up the stairs, passing the broken door from the day before, to her private chamber, where stood an altar atop a well, Alanna’s private sanctum. Inside the group was granted privacy and further explained the situation, handing the mechanical arm to Alanna, who placed it on the altar in order to perform a ritual known to her. Her smile briefly abated at the knowledge she acquired, before explaining to the group the fate of Corvino ’s soul; contrary to what the man had confided with Fionna , his soul was not wisped out of existence with his death, but instead had become trapped in hell, a place in which the souls of the deceased where sent to atone before the Seven for the deeds done in life and as such he would not return. A shocked Fionna silently excuses herself and deftly abandons the building to sulk her sadness alone. The orc proposes that is the cause of his delay and that maybe he could be helped back, to which the faun responds that she has the ability to bring their friend back to life, but she would not feel comfortable to do so to souls being sentenced to such a fate. She re-joined the group before the orc could attempt some kind of persuasion, hugging his leg in a motherly embrace being answered in kind after the orc took a knee with tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. The faun then lost her composure for the first time, her face becoming rooted in confusion as the orc mumbled to himself out loud his thoughts about what he could’ve done and what he’d do to make sure this sort of thing never happened again.   With the embrace broken, Alanna returned Corvino’s arm and asked for their friend’s name assuring she would send a light in his honour during the festival, a gesture thanked for with a felt gentle head pat, before leading the saddened duo back to the entrance of the church. Trygve lingered for a while talking with her while Amelia joined Sol who asked how the endeavour went. Amelia stated that the orc had taken the news surprisingly well, the offset being the fate of Corvino’s soul, worse that what she had anticipated. Before leaving, the bard notices Lyssandra looking at the group close to Alanna, with a calm panic plastered on her face before vanishing away behind a pillar.   The group joins Fionna outside, sitting by the building with her head between her knees holding back tears. After a few words of cheering, the group agreed go each other’s ways for a while, joining for lunch at the Sellsword's Bazaar to discuss the current affairs. Amelia stayed with her friend, perhaps the most deeply wounded by the news, the orc decided to swing by the Snarting Bull, and the clockwork lost himself in his studies for the time. The girls talked about having a small ceremony in order to help put Corvino to rest or honour him somehow, Amelia arguing for one such in Novaria, while Fionna stating it would be best in the city he spent the most time, Koghollow; divided in opinions but joined in grief, they then pressed on to join their comrades at the Sellsword's Bazaar for the meeting to be. Upon arriving in the Snorting Bull, Trygve informed the owner he no longer needed to remember a message for Corvino, as his friend was dead and gone, then asking how long it would take until the inn re-opened. After a few felt words, Trygve handed the innkeeper 5 shillings for him to negotiate with the carpenter, in order to open that same day, and offering to buy another bull after knowing the guard had killed the escaped one. When questioned about his motives, the orc said he believed this building to be his friend’s favourite one and that he himself had quite enjoyed his time there. Afterwards he proposed a partnership of sorts, details to be discussed at a later date, when he returned from his job. Post pondering for a bit, the innkeeper accepted the idea and so both orcs introduced themselves to each other for the first time. Before leaving, Trygve assured Dhorum he’d send people looking for a night’s roof towards the Bull.   During lunch at the Sellsword's Bazaar, the party informs Kushala of Corvino’s fate and Trygve orders a large amount of drinks for the group, despite Sol’s constant reminders that he doesn’t drink; when the drinks arrive, Trygve is left with 3 cups of ale, Sol with 1 and the remainder of the group with 2 each. The orc first toasts to their friend’s memory before downing his first cup, then he declares the group as shit for a mercenary group and unleadable despite his best efforts, the only option remaining being for it to be disbanded, while emptying the cup’s contents over the table. As he grasped his 3rd and final cup, the orc then proposed the creation of a “whatever- something-the-hell-this-is” group where all decisions where made by vote, the majority winning, and inviting their new companion to join the mission. As he accepted the invitation, Sol remarked the name for such an assembly would be an “Adventurer Party”, causing the orc to shudder.   Taking notice of the time past, Kushala feels the creeping feeling of the impending doom that awaits his tardy arrival at the hospital, rushing there. Despite being late, the face that greets him is not that of an angry dwarf woman, but the cheeky grin of Agate, who revealed herself to be a medic and delighted to have some interesting company on her shift. The duo then discusses some ground rules to their methodology, surmised as “whatever, they’re good we’re good”. Kushala spends the remainder of the day healing drunkards and patching up who they assume to be unruly patrons of the neighbouring Bazar. When asked if she didn’t fear Ireola making her work overtime or making demands, Agate shared with the naga a neat little trick she called “leave work 5 minutes early”, which had made her life increasingly easier. Kushala could not employ this tactic however, as he needed to speak with the doctor and inform her that he would not be returning due to other appointments. Before leaving Kushala , the gnome asked him to go visit Lyssele, who was somewhat sulking and angry with Trygve for a reason she did not fully understand, something about an appointment.   The following day the group is engulfed in a shopping spree around town, working out what possible items they might need for the upcoming expedition. Amelia takes note of the more important items, and Fionna finds out a somewhat run-down tracker’s nest, where she purchases a falcon and training lessons. The purchase happens without issue, though the classes prove rather unsuccessful at first, with the bird, now named Pip, constantly trying to fly to freedom or excreting his annoyance with proud defiance. Later that day, Sol declares he will be skipping the festival, as it was nothing new to him, taking the time to focus on bettering himself; the other members of the party head towards the locale of the main ceremony, being led by Trygve through roads and back alleys towards one specific spot, shared with many young kids, that allows access to house roofs, serving as a vantage spot to see the festivities.   The procession then begins, with music signalling the movement of the procession – leading the procession is Alanna wearing a fine ornate white dress and hallowed by 8 glowing orbs of light, holding hands with the Guest of Honour, a guarded yet relaxed Nur'zi, who dons equally white clothing exposing his neck, completely devoid of any traces of the monstrous maw it once held. The procession is followed by the remaining leaders of each Church – the undine leader of the Church of Smiles, whose singing reverbs and emboldens the encompassing tunes, the Uvarin's Paragons being represented by a tall orc wearing a very ostentatious and impractical armour, the Circle of Tranquility embodied by a beautiful hamadryad , the stoicism of the Church of Melancholy ever so present in its dwarf representative’s simple and humble clothing, and lastly a weathered down halfling garbed in tattered robes akin to a peddler, representing the Church of Empathy in its most noble and pure message.   The event carries without a problem until a man within the crowd shouts at the procession, demanding the that the monster (Nurzi) go back to his cave. As the procession halts, and before another word is said, Alanna quietly draws a globe from her hallo onto her hand, leaving it to slowly float towards the angry man, who finds himself unable to muster his hatred and mesmerized by it, along with some small children that try to grasp the light.The procession towards the assembled podiums then resumes, with each congregation leader taking place in their respective podiums, each being then visited by Alanna who bears them the gift of another light globe; she gifts a globe to Nur'zi lastly, then making a heartfelt speech about the importance of acceptance, the need to overcome the fear that is both baseless and biased, and the plea for other to not judge any race, nor individual by the actions of some; she then gave a small prayer for those who had left this life, mentioning the names of Olzur, Sylnia and Corvino, and offered to the Seven the lights that would light their way to a peaceful afterlife, and the people of Ivaenlis to better, more hopeful times. As the magical echoes of her tender voice melt into the silence of the night, the gifted eight balls of light shot up into the night sky, expanding over the skies of Novaria, heralding an aurora of countless lights that followed suit all over the city, ending the religious portion of the festival, and breathing a new life into the hearts and minds of every citizen, along with the party, who spend the night enjoying the many festivities the event has to offer.   When Fionna and Amelia return exhausted to their room at the Peregrine’s Rest, they find it covered in much faecal matter, along with an angry, smug, proud falcon who had been left behind; Amelia made Fionna clean it up alone.   When the following day turns round, each person takes some time to themselves - Sol going through his cycles, Trygve grooming the horses in the morning and practising with his new weapon in the afternoon, Fionna gritting through more lessons with her foul mooded feathery half, Amelia paying her respects to her Faith and Kushala peddling his medicine on the fighting grounds of the Bazaar, where he is assaulted with a punch by a disgruntled customer calling it snake oil, only to end with a broken wrist as it connected with the steel-like skin of the alchemic savant. Seeing a man hitting his friend, Trygve tries to intimidate him, but has the man ignore him completely from the snake-induced pain, then passing out, and afterwards thrown to the curve.   The next day Trygve goes to fetch the horses and carriage, making a quick detour to let Lyssele know he’d go out of town for quite a while and him meeting her family would have to wait. The dwarf woman is first guarded, but a verbal push on the back from Agate forces her to speak her mind, apologising to Trygve for her attitude towards him, which confuses the orc. It is then revealed the orc misunderstood the meeting they had previously set, leaving Lyssele to wait for him an entire afternoon. Too shocked to react at his own failure, the orc just stood slack-jawed for a while, before attempting to tell what he thought they agreed to and apologising profusely, vowing to make it up to her with a lavish dinner when he returned. Seeing the innocence in the green giant’s eyes, she agreed, seeming somewhat bittersweet at the whole situation.   The party gathers at the front of Lazarus ’s loft, where it is greeted by their employer duo. After brief pleasantries and a small discussion about pay upgrade, the caravan leaves Novaria, moving south towards Oldwell. The voyage is mostly uneventful, mostly made in the company of leaving wagons and caravans that travel the path, filled mostly with villagers returning home from the festival, until the group of travellers make their stop at the Crow’s Nest, where Amelia and Fionna talk with Lazarus about his knowledge of primals, picking his interest with information he wasn’t privy to. Upon discovering that their employer is able to read primal , Kushala lent Lazarus Corvino’s mechanical arm to be examined by him. Reading through the arm at some cost, the scholar finds the tale of Corvino, the Cranky Crow, that Hallie had once told; this version however, had a different ending: rather than the crow encountering and scaring away the dog named Tesla, he instead is found by 2 dogs named Kieran and Saydra, whom he befriends, living happily forever. The discussion then moves on to a more recent event, in which the girls detail the event with the menhir, corpses and monster that emerged from it, mentioning that Corvino probably kept a description of the event in his diary, which they could not decipher as it was completely written in primal, save for a few choice words, also telling him about the dreams Corvino had confided in them. Eyes glinting, sparking and excited with curiosity, Lazarus asks to see the dead man’s diary, putting the all the information he uncovered in its proper order, realizing now the entire paradigm he hypothesized had been turned on its head with new probabilities. Maintaining his composure, a very excited Lazarus asks the party to lend him this diary and to change the ultimate destination the party would take, which was altered from the original return to Novaria to travelling to Dragonstrand instead to meet with a contact of his, where a new contract would most likely be waiting for them. After some more conversation regarding Primals, Archons and their history, the group retires for the night, resuming its path the following day. The travel proves to be Fionna’s ally, as she finally triumphs over Pip’s stone-beaked reluctance to follow commands, even if only out of boredom or the desire to avoid the constant “nagging”.   Seven days passed since the caravan left Novaria, its path leading to a small town named Beldale, where the group decided to sleep the night and restock for the road left ahead. As the group passed the town’s entrance, it became evident the city guard is more akin to a band of hired swords garbed alike rather than a city guard proper. Trygve took notice that other wagons would hand over money to the guard as they entered the town, an action his caravan would not take, then signalling a soon-to-be-confused Sol about the course of action they should take, who then became confused as he saw no meaning in the orc’s somewhat discreet gesturing. As the former mercenaries take care of the wagons, as Fionna travels through her surroundings, she picks up the chatter of the town, hearing about a woman who refused the proposal of a man and whose mother was gravelly ill, being refused business by the town’s herbalist.   Fionna takes this information to Kushalla, who becomes gravelly insulted by the malpractice taking place. Together they find out the woman, named Stella who offers everything she can give as long as they help her mother. Upon closer examination, the naga discovers what he suspected from the start – the woman had been poisoned, being a few days away from expiring. When the initial approach proved ineffective, Fionna left to get Amelia to help with her healing magic; upon returning, Amelia at her side, the woman had been cured – Kushala, through a stroke of genius, managed to develop a measure to counteract the poison using the patient’s own healing capabilities. Elated at her mother’s miraculous recovery, the woman offers every scrap of currency she can muster, failing to hold back grateful tears. Upon being informed her mother’s condition was no accident but foul play, Stella quickly proclaims the culprit to be Aurelien to be, if not the poisoner, the one who ordered it, most likely as spite for her refusal of his advances. She informs her saviours that Aurelien is the man who turned the small town into a hub of trade with his underhanded tactics and having hired goons that basically pose as guards and that believes everything is either owed to him, or his own right. As soon as possible, she would take her mother and travel far away, where her nightmare would not follow. The naga refused to accept any sum higher than the cost of the materials he used to save his patient as pay, while Fionna in turn gave a shilling out of the compassion for the situation these people found themselves in. Bidding their goodbyes for the moment, the girls talk about whether it is in their right and in their timeframe to step in and confront Aurelien regarding both his actions towards Stella and his seemingly tyrannical grip over the town on their way to rejoin the party; Kushala in turn, grows angrier with the unknown herbalist by the minute.