The Right Hands

The Parchwood was a dense and hostile forest, full of foul beasts and creatures. We encountered these shamblin' mounds of plant life, one even swallowed Lady Brightflame whole! Along with some owl bears, prickly savagers and a group of trolls. There was a particularly gut wretchin' troll that would spew venom from its own self-inflicted wounds. Although it soon found that Bayou's lead was a far deadlier poison!

Ussi was felled in the troll fight, but he was not lost to us for long as that evenin' Lady Enessa was visited by an Exarch of Melora! Promisin' if Lady Enessa would not curse the gods, and keep her mind open then Ussi would be able to return to this world. Lady Enessa and I were on watch and she asked if she had erred in makin' that promise?

I shared that in my own personal experience, even Gods can have empty words. It’s important to have faith in yourself and others, before sharing it with the Gods. But I don't deny to keep an open mind, even if your heart is closed. I've seen Melora, much like Bahamut, follow through for others before, so I hoped she would again, this time for her. And in the morning, Ussi was returned to us, a little different but it was good to see a miracle for someone in need.

Unfortunately, that conversation opened my mind to a lot of the reasons why I've kept my heart closed to the Gods. The memories of Kraghammer, and that blasted tingin' sound of metal in my head kept me from restin' properly. I don't know if that knock down in Westruun caused some damage that Lady Ceridwen's healin' hands couldn't quite rectify, but the beat of metal seems to be getting louder and faster...

We eventually found Lady Vex'ahlia de Rolo, and her bear companion, Burt Reynolds. Simeon healed her injuries, and she informed us that the Grey Hunt was fighting these savagers when they suddenly disappeared as if by magic. We killed the remaining savagers, and Zeni detected a portal that connected to the Feywild. It seemed our search and research had become inter planar!

The Feywild was a beautiful but bizarre place, a mirror of our world that was overrun with vibrant natural life. Oh how Jolene would love this place. In time, we found the rest of the Grey Hunt, who had been turned into shadow hounds by this arch fey, the Lord of the Hunt. To avoid a similar fate to ourselves, Sabali volunteered us to a wager to hunt a fomorian and a druid who had been corrupting their forests.
 
In a race against the clock, we managed to track them down and fell them in time to win our wager with the Fey Lord. Enessa was granted a magical bow as part of her wager with the Lord, it seems our party grows ever more in magical patronage. The Grey Hunt were released from their shadow forms, and we were granted leave from the feywild. Although when we left some of us didn't even remember going, fortunately the de Rolo's were experienced with this side effect of the fey and their healers restored our memories, for which I am truly blessed.

I don't know what it was, but it seemed like fate had granted Bayou and me it's favour. With each hit, and foe slain, those shackles of self-doubt were beginnin' to loosen. I was startin' to believe that maybe my hands were the right ones to hold her. It would have been cruel to have lost those moments of belief to fey magic.

Returning to Whitestone, we were honoured with a state dinner with Lord and Lady de Rolo, and the high society of Whitestone. The de Rolo's generosity continued, with magical gifts for Miss Zenirith and Miss Wind. But I got the best gift of all, Lord de Rolo himself and his son gave me a tour of their workshop! Have you ever had the honour Sprocksmith?

It was the size of an entire guildhall, expensive masterwork tools strewn across the tables, and even some customised machinations that I had never seen before. It easily surpassed what we had in the guild, and I dare say even the work rooms of the high society Dwarven houses of Kraghammer. Master de Rolo Jr keenly showed off his own project that was based off trying to use the steam from the winter pipes to generate power.
 
The young de Rolo, had certainly inherited his namesake’s ingenuity. A bright future awaits him, Whitestone and maybe even Tal'Dorei with his talents. Although before I could fully explore the workshop and compare notes with 'Percy', Lady de Rolo playfully chided us "boys to play with our toys another day. His Lordship has royal duties to attend to... Oh, and a dinner party ”

It was just but a peak of the workshop, but every small second was a privilege. Later on, Lord de Rolo sensed he had sparked my curiosity and imagination. Whilst he couldn't give me a more in-depth tour of his work at the moment, he could recommend someone who regularly does work for the riflemen. Someone who has a 'magic touch' for craft, and would be, he suspected, a person that could help me find an answer to the question that brought me here. Tell me Sprocksmith, have you ever heard of Gardain Greybeard?