Session 117: Farewell to Arms

General Summary

24th-27th Brussendar 836PD   24th Brussendar   With the Arch-Heart’s Shackle now secured as Raven and the Winter Troops shoot down the last of the Vermin Wrangler forces, the Unbroken regroup in the main chamber.   Raphael drops exhaustedly out of his Avatar of Winter form. The weary warriors take the moments to catch up with each other’s respective encounters, and heal the worst of their wounds. General Talos informs Raphael of his troop’s casualties, only half of the reinforcements have survived. They will help to bury them by the shrine to the Raven Queen outside in honour of their sacrifice, whilst the bodies of the corrupted will be burned and forgotten.   As the group clear away the dead, Enessa takes sometime to harvest the chitinous skin from the Hag, a trophy that can be fashioned into a form of protection. Arthur and Raphael investigate the rest of the Lock-Breaker’s belongings, finding a magical Amulet of Tharizdun. Keeper Vesyldir supplies them with a cobalt and lead lined box to safely contain the item.   Orlando sends to Queen Titania to inform her of the success at the shackle, asking when will Summer’s reinforcements arrive and that Simeon, her Knight, keeps Emberwind in waiting for her. The Archfey congratulates them, assures that her troops are on their way, and will await the party at their convenience. With no immediate means of teleporting back to the Summer Court, the party rest at the Shackle, while they wait for Summer’s reinforcements.   25th Brussendar   In the early hours of the morning, General Talos wakes Raphael and the group to inform them that the Summer troops had arrived, although gravely wounded and weakened. Raphael and Simeon speak with the surviving Summer Captain Eildi, assuring them that there is a truce between the opposing Courts to guard the Shackle. They detail how they were ambushed earlier by the Corrupted forces, many falling to another Gug that they eventually killed.   Despite some initial unease of the opposing Winter and Summer troops sharing camp and supplies with one another, things begin to respectively thaw and cool between them. Raven inspired by his new wonderous connection the Wildmother through his Circlet, speaks with the Unicorn mounts of the Summer soldiers.   After finishing their rests, as they start to prepare for the new day and decide how they will get back to the Summer Court, a large orange portal suddenly opens by Simeon. A familiar fey voice summons the Summer Knight and the Unbroken through the Gate, and they enter through, arriving in the Court of Queen Titania.   The Archfey of Summer congratulates her Knight, but notes his offer of service was temporary, does he wish to continue as her Champion?   Simeon considers his time as the Knight of Summer as his highest honour, but he feels that he is unworthy to continue holding the Emberwind, and the mantle it entails. He cannot fight like a Knight.   Titania challenges his excuse, “Being a Knight isn’t just knowing how to fight, it is to know what is right. And to be willing to fight for what is right is the true test of a Knight”. Simeon bows his head in reverence, as he holds out the sword of Summer, “If you believe me to make a reputable Knight for you, then I will continue to serve as you wish?”.   The Queen regards the Aasimar, the trickery Cleric of the Moonweaver, often used to deftly avoiding scrutiny is pinned down by the examination and insights of the Archfey. She considers that whilst he has served her well, his trickery and free will would chafe with the full obligations of Knighthood. She reaches out and takes the presented Emberwind.   The relieved Simeon steps back, and whilst the full flame of Summer now leaves him, there’ll forever be a warm ember in his heart. The Queen nods her head in thanks, “Before you completely leave my service, I have one last charge of you, my Knight. Answer me if there is another you know that could take up these arms of Summer instead?”.   Simeon ponders briefly, and the answer comes to him with a flash of platinum light, “In my travels, there is one I believe that could serve as the Knight that you deserve. Whilst she bears the blessing of Bahamut, the pilgrims’ oath has taken her along the paths that Summer’s patron, Avandra, carves for them. Ceridwen Brightflame would be a worthy Knight to wield the Emberwind, your highness”.   The gracious Queen gives her final thanks to Simeon and the Unbroken, and with the merest flick of her hand she dismisses them from the plane of the Feywild, back to where their Summer Ball invitation was first sent, Emon.   The group check in with their staff at the Keep, the same amount of time has passed between the material and fey planes, and they’ve all retained their memories. Now back, they start to prepare their next steps of information sharing and gathering.   Simeon sends to Ceridwen, informing her that she may have the attention of the Summer Court, and to ask for an update on the Platinum Dragon Shackle. She takes the prospects of being a Knight of Summer in her stride, and relays that the Shackle is still heavily secured.   Orlando sends on Raphael behalf to Zeni, similarly sharing and seeking updates on their respective Arch-Heart and Storm-Lord Shackles. Zeni relays her frustrations that they’ve yet to catch the Lock-Breaker known as Latara, but neither side has yet found the Shackle in Marquet.   A missive is sent to Allura to organise a debrief with the Tal’Dorei Council, which is arranged for the day after tomorrow (27th). In the meantime, the group take some time for themselves.   26th Brussendar   Arthur made himself at home in the Keep’s library, it’s not as good as Allura’s but there’s enough to make use and be another potential base at least. Despite his poor opinion, there were some choice spells he found amongst the collections that were worth his time to learn.   Raphael laid in a dark room to rest, still recovering from the transformation into the Avatar of Winter. But he found his time in the shadows rejuvenating, as unlocking the Exalted power of the Raven Queen’s former sword, Frostweaver, had grown his connection to her as well as his patron the Queen of Air and Darkness.   Enessa and Ussi having been away from Emon and the Keep for what’s felt like years in the fey, but only months here, decide to explore the surrounding forests to refamiliarize themselves. As she hunts through the refreshingly mundane woods, the fey touch of the Wild Hunt still courses through her, grounding her into the spirit of nature no matter which plane of existence.   Raven also feels the pull of the woods, and to bask in the gloomy twilight after the endless lights of fey summer. He wildshapes into his raven form, flying high above the tree tops, keeping level with the setting sun and rising moon of dusk. He finds a long-sought peace as he travels between the paths of the Wildmother and the Moonweaver.   Orlando spends his time repairing his guns, the exposure to the fey magics and valley sand had caused them to be more temperamental than usual. The ritualistic cleansing of dis and re-assembly had created a deeper magical bond between the creator and his creations.   Simeon, whilst proud of his brief service to Summer, was pleased to be in the familiarity of faith as he prayed in the Hallowed hall of the Keep dedicated to the Moonweaver. His Lady’s moonlight shining bright upon him, keeping him warm in his nightly reverence.   Inspired by the opportunity to have a quiet moment, Simeon passes by Orlando’s workshop, seeing the gnome burning the midnight oil as usual when he’s in the thralls of his crafting prayers. With typical trickery of no announcement, Simeon makes a spontaneously disarming offer to Orlando to regenerate his lost arm back. Despite this bolt from the blue, it seemed Simeon had been mulled for some time, and yet until now had not had the opportunity to enact.   Orlando, initially taken back by the lack of tact, recognises this as a well-meant gesture and ponders for a moment on replacing his mechanical arm. The gnome decides to reply in manner that Simeon would understand, he asks for Simeon’s hand, and with a beat he slaps it with his metal hand. Orlando playfully asks if it hurt Simeon, because it didn’t hurt him. The trickster agreed, although he seemed more stung by the simplicity of the prank.   Orlando then channels a warming balm through his prosthesis to soothe his compatriot’s hand. “I thank you for this offer pardner, but it is not for me. I’ve made my peace with what I’ve lost, and my arm is not what I would ask to return. I am not less because of it, in fact, I can be and do more with it. Hard lessons were learnt with its loss, and I would not risk to repeat them”.   27th Brussendar   All fully rested, the Unbroken travel into the city for the Tal’Dorei Council meeting. Raphael leads the debrief on the success of the Shackle, and current information on status of the others. In the 2 weeks that have passed whilst the party have been in the feywild, Seeker Odessa shares that they’ve had some success with the public information campaign hindering the activity of the Lock-breaker cults across Tal’Dorei.   Allura invites the Unbroken and the Seeker to her sanctum for a more in depth briefing on her research on the Shackles and the Aspect of Tharizdun. She informs them that the current Aspect is magically powerful, but omnipotent as it still relies on its cults and networks. If another Shackle is weakened or broken, the Aspect could reach its full power, reigning great destruction until only one more Shackle breaks to release the full form of the mad God through the divine gate.   It seems that the Marquet Shackle should be their next priority, but before they set off their plans to find another Shackle. Seeker Odessa raises an interesting development that is occurring in Kymal with the Dark Eyes cult, that could provide further leads and deliver a knock out blow to Lock-Breaker network in Tal’Dorei.   The Head of the Dark Eyes cult will be making a substantial pay off to members of the Myriad, Clasp and remnants of the Ravagers, in order to bolster their forces due to the pressures of the public campaign driving others away. Caravans of armaments, gold and residuum are underway, and if the Unbroken could intercept one, then they can infiltrate and sabotage the deal, knocking several of Tharizdun’s pawns off for good.   Whilst the Kymal deal is immediate, the higher priority initially steers the group to pursuing the Shackle. Just as they begin to debate and weigh the competing priorities, Allura receives a knock at the door, a “Lady Mab” is wishing to speak with Raphael.   The Winter Knight excuses himself to meet with his patron outside, shocked that she would be forced to contact him so mundanely. The Queen of Air and Darkness, icily remarks that his ally’s wards are very effective, and even block her magic to reach him. She reveals she has come to collect him, now that he’s unlocked the full power of Frostweaver, he must be taught how to wield it properly and how to control becoming the Avatar of Winter. She permits him to bid his farewells to his fellow members.   Raphael is uncertain how long it’ll take, but hopes he can come back in time to help with the next Shackle. The group wish each other mutual good luck with their endeavours. With not wanting to face another tough Shackle mission when being short a member, the remaining Unbroken decide to pursue the more immediate opportunity to blow up the Kymal arms deal.   The Unbroken reach Level 16!