Session notes 29-4-2020 & 6-5-2020

13th of Vilrand - continued
 
I forgot to mention that, before we left, the Lieutenant told us that we should be present at the headquarters tomorrow morning. And we also got a fancy bag with which we can send letters or notes to Barry Olden, it prevents us from waking him up with the Sending spell Thalmiir uses.
 
After we left, we made out way back to the Crossed Candles, now a familiar sight here in Apelés. Burga seems happy to see us again, and she is unapologetically curious about our adventure and what we did. She asks all kinds of questions about our uniforms and our task. It is all fun and games, but darn is she curious. We chat a bit and have a drink. Thalmiir and I repair Ferrums stuff from the acid-attacks, I start with his axe, while Ferrum takes off his breastplate.
 
Burga does have some other news for us. Most of the military force has moved out of the city and there were still a lot of rumours going around about the strange explosion from a few days earlier. But that was that, during this conversation I noticed someone come in who nearly blinded me because of the illusion magic surrounding him. He directly approaches us.
 
It was Merril Tasker, the wizard that we have been messaging after Thalmiir learned his name from Oghma. He told us that he was thankful of us retrieving Beomore, and asked us about his behaviour around us. He had been acting, strange, and wondered if it was just Beomore being himself or if he was only like that around him and the other wizards. We assured him that he was just odd, probably because he is a living relic. Which Merril could only agree on. Furthermore, he asked about Ferrums issue, the whole reason we contacted him all those months ago.
Explaining how we had dealt with the situation seemed to disappoint him a little bit, but also somewhat relieved with a peek of curiosity when taking in Ferrum who had just come down to give Thalmiir his breastplate.
 
We sat down a little more and talked about the south and what is going on there. Things have been getting weirder and weirder around there, with the Undead Kings army getting closer and closer. Merril suspects that they are around a month away from the city, kind of scary that they are already that close. Concerning that, he asked us if we want to get to Sarton, he can teleport us there if we want, we just have to send him a message. He could use our help with constructing a Mythal (Concentration crystal) which would help the wizards focus their attention on the undead king instead of keeping the volcano at bay. We could help find things for him to do that, but we will wait until we know what the task from the military is before we decide. Merril understood this. We chatted a bit more, about the weather in Sarton and the strange occurrences at the front. After a while Merril left, drifting through the door into the night. Burga was immediately on our tails with questions and curious looks, but we were all quickly off to bed. We had an appointment early this morning none the less!
 
 
 
14th of Vilrand
 
This an early and cold morning, it rained a lot last night and it is still drizzling as we are waking up. We can see the sun is starting to rise through the window as we enter pass past Burga, neatly dressed as always. We really wonder how she manages on so little sleep. Ferrum is late so we chat a bit as we prepare to go towards the headquarters of the army.
 
We arrive at the headquarters just after the sun has risen completely, with a mention of Oldens name, we are escorted inside where we try to make ourselves look neat. Walking through a few corridors brings us to a large room with a round table. On it is a large map, some parchment scrolls and a few blocks and figures. Before we could look at it, Olden arrives. He tells us that we should just stay still and answer when asked a question, all will be okay, no stress. We sat down and waited for the others to arrive.
 
Several people started to arrive: A half-elf lady, a half-orc man, and a human man and woman. They all have the same outfit as Olden, so I assume they are lieutenants as well. Finally, an older man walks in, and all the lieutenants stand up, we -awkwardly- follow their example. This is the colonel. His name is Andrew Smith, and we are introduced by Olden. After our short intro, we are informed that we are from now on 'squad red' and are addressed as such. Like one person. If one of our group causes a problem, it is squad red's problem. And if we are a problem, that will be lieutenant Oldens problem. We report to him, and follow his orders. We should be fine right?
The conversation continues and it becomes clear that we -the lieutenants included- are send out to Sarton. We may travel there on our own account, but the lieutenants will leave tomorrow by horse. We state that we have our own means of travel, and no more questions are asked. Colonel Smith will make sure that we have someone to report to is we need it, otherwise, we can just wait until Lieutenant Olden arrives.
 
Ferrum also asked about the uniforms, and when to wear them, and if he may modify them etc. But they are mostly formal wear, and should not be worn in battle or anything similar according to the colonel. Good to know, glad we asked before we did anything.
 
Outside, Lieutenant Olden approaches us. He was curious about our means of transport how we got it. In return for that info, he gives us some in return: It can be tense in Sarton at the moment, stay defensive, do not stir up anything. It may be less, inviting, than Apelés, but stay kind and open. We are going there to help nonetheless. Also, until he arrives, we are free to do what we want, we can stay in contact via the bag. Which we had not even tested yet! He was very surprised about this, as we usually overwhelm him with messages, even in the middle of the night. We joked around a bit, wished him a safe and fast journey, and then went our separate ways.
 
William, Ferrum and I make our way to Anrath, as Liya and Thalmiir are going to find a shop to sell the coins from Old Apelés. As we were browsing at Anrath's Arsenal, I realised we did not make clear where we wanted to meet again later the day. Not very clever of us, but we always found one another again, if it would be at Burga's tonight or tomorrow noon for the teleportation, it should be fine
Anrath had some nice things to show us, some fancy shimmering amulet, which would aid in making you not stronger but healthier. Ferrum and William seemed quite intrigued by it, but sadly it was worth 8000 GP and that was a bit over our budget. Still, we thanked her and decided that we should go get some enchanted weapons, as Ferrum had learned that there are monsters out there that can really harm our fancy, non-enchanted metals fairly quickly. So we decided to pay the Bearpickers another visit. As Galgia had said her husband Zarian was an enchanter.
 
Arriving there, we see grandma Bearpicker in the corner of the shop and give her a nod, as we wait for Galgia to arrive. As she recognises Ferrum and me, she asked about the alchemy and how it went and if we had used it yet? So sweet of her! We chat a bit and explain the reason for our visit, after which she calls her husband. Zarian is a bit older, and a bit hard of hearing we think, but a kind man. He seems excited about a new enchantment he has learned, which can be placed on all weapons. He is willing to test it out on our weapons for 500GP a piece. It was at this point that we came a bit closer and discussed this deal. We all were very curious to see what this enchantment did, and Ferrum quickly convinced us that we really really needed this. So I pitched in some money for both of them, so they could have their halbert and great axe enchanted. Zarian happily takes the money and goes to work. He seemed quite eager to try this and we take the first loud words of the giants enchantment as our cue to leave. We can pick up the first weapon in three hours.
 
Once again, The Crossed Candles is our place of reconciliation. Liya and Thalmiir have been at the Keepers where they dropped off the cursed weapon and got good money for it! The coins they tried to pawn as well, were worth quite a bunch. Overall, they made quite some money, whereas we had only spent it. When we tell them about the enchanted weapons, Liya is also interested in having her bow magically enhanced. Ferrum is fine with running to the Bearpickers later in the evening, eager to pick up his great axe.
 
The rest of the evening is calm for most of us. Ferrum has a nice run and returns with his now enchanted "vicious" axe. I can see why we was excited to get it! Tomorrow we will pick up the rest.
 
15th of Vilrand
 
The morning went by so quickly, we ate something, said goodbye to Burga for now -Oh boy was she curious to know what we were going to do, just saying "going to Sarton" was really not going to cut it for her-. After that conversation and once again packing all our stuff, we picked up the last things at the Bearpickers: William's and Liya's weapons.
 
It was at the beginning of the afternoon that we met Merril again, who teleported us to Sarton. It was really strange, a lot of white light and magic vibes, but the somewhat chilly weather of Apelés was soon replaced with a slightly dark and humid room, somewhere in Sarton.
 
Merril welcomed us in Sarton and immediately guided the way outside. Leaving the small underground chamber was pleasant, especially when that was followed up by a beautiful view of a strange city, build on a volcano. It consists of, several layers build into the mountain itself, with varying styles and sizes of houses and pipes protruding out from the mountain at every corner. Far in the distance, we can see the woods, meadows and farmland and further even the shimmer of lakes and the silhouettes of the mountains that Liya explains are called the Dragons Spine.
 
We arrived on the third layer, and with a ticket from Merril in our hand and Liya paying for us, we were allowed on some kind of trolly that would bring us to the top layer (called Hyrist). Before we were allowed to enter the top floor, the fifth I think, the tickets were checked and we were let off the mechanical system. I have never seen something quite like it, and I have been checking it for some trace of magic but there was none there. Really odd. Merril explained to us that magic is a bit iffy here, most people do not like it. So we should keep a bit of a low profile, especially with the current tensions concerning the war. We heed his warning.
 
The introduction The Circle and their headquarters was, different than I had expected. The tower we entered was not very tidy, but impressive nonetheless. The members of The Circle were different as well, much more approachable and open than I had expected. The whole building seemed much larger than it was on the outside. A large staircase is spiralling up, there are bookshelves reaching to the next floor and papers and books everywhere.
 
We were introduced to Orlando Tritusk, a tiefling wizard focussed on necromancy, he seems to be around 60-ish, however, he explained that he is actually 31, and the reason he looks old was some kind of spell mishap. What that was about and what had happened, he did not explain but he was very eager to learn more about us. We thought Burga had a lot of questions, but Orlando asked the hard questions: what are you looking for, why are you adventuring? -He was looking for a new coat, when we mentioned Bombix, he stated that Bombix owed him 5SP or something- Still, when he asked me the questions, and I told him about finding some info on 'alternative deities' he seemed not weirded out at all, so that is a start! Perhaps they have something lying around in that tower somewhere!
 
The next stop was a pub that Liya visited a lot when she lived here, the Dragons Clockwork, on the second tier of the city. Before we left the wizards to their work, we got the following tips: return tomorrow for Roberta, she might have some tasks for you if you like; buy some lighter clothes for the weather here; keep your tickets safe! After this, we let Liya lead the way through the large city. She guided us back to the trolly system and told a bit about where she lived, and where they sold maple beer et cetera. It was calming and interesting to see where she came from, never expected that we would ever come here, Sarton felt so far away from Baferton where we first met! After a while, we had found our way to the Dragons Clockwork, where we are enjoying some maple beer now. Liya knows the inn owner well, Falcon, and they catch up a bit. Strangely, the fire is on here, even though it is quite hot, it looks very cosy though, which is really nice.
 
The maple beer tastes really nice- and it had to- our expectations were really high after travelling with Liya for more than five months and hearing about the beer every single day. It is somewhat aromatic and spice, but with a hint of flowers. Hard to put down, but really nice, worth the wait! As Ferrum, curiously, put it: "Like a plantar pissing on your tongue". Not sure where that saying comes from, hahaha.
 
While Liya was still catching up with Falcon, Ferrum is staring into the fire and Thalmiir takes Wulfric aside for a talk, William and I are the only ones left at the table. We are both a bit lost in thought, perhaps thinking about the questions Orlando asked us. Still, we chat a bit, until the others return for the next stop of today: Liya's house.
 
Oh Thalmiir gave me the helm of comprehend languages! (its a really warm to have on here, but it is cool to understand all the languages spoken here) About that, William, Ferrum and I really higher the average hight around here, most people here are dwarfs, halflings and gnomes.
 
 
It was a short walk to her house, which is just outside of the city. When walking out, the appearance of pipelines was higher at first, but then slowly decreased. There were some ticking and other sounds coming from them, but slowly the metal and stone made way for grass and forest. I can see why Liya likes it. During the journey, Liya told us a bit about a friend from her past, Evan who was also an archer. She might want to look him up tomorrow.
 
 
Meeting Liya's family was so nice! They are very very kind and generous, we got dinner from them and a place to sleep. The house is not very large, the ground floor is the brewery and the storage, and the first floor is mostly the living space. But oh is it cosy and homely. We are introduced to the family by Liya. Mother Rosy and father Grayham have a lot of questions for us, our journeys and adventures. They are naturally happy that Liya was able to sell some beer, but wondered what else she had done in those two seasons. During dinner, a large plate of food and small bread surrounding it is server while we tell our stories. Kate and Ewald -who is actually called Shaun-, brother and sister of Liya also want to hear of our endeavours. Kate asked me a lot of questions about Mina, but after a comment on magic and how that does not exist, I decided to just state that I had tamed her instead of summoning.
 
 
16th of Vilrand.
 
I do not remember much of the rest of the evening. Beer was served, and I was very very tired. Starting the day with a freshly made breakfast was a soothing way to wake up from such a deep slumber, and a good source of energy for the rest of the day. It is still early in the morning when the family Armsrun starts their work in their brewery again, and we are back on the road towards Sarton. The city looks different in this light. We now see the pipes running over the walls and the crests on the walls. With the elevator platform, we make our way all the way up to the last floor. Here our cards are checked and once again we are allowed on Hyrist. The tower is even more of a mess today. We enter and wait to see if someone is here to greet us. As we all enter, suddenly we hear a large bang on the second floor, and see a lady fly across the balcony. As we go towards her to help, she is already standing there dusting herself off. The second floor was clearly neater than the first. That was, before a closet or bookshelf had flung itself across the room, taking the lady with it. The half-elf introduces herself as Roberta, the one we were looking for.
 
She is looking into creating Mythrils, the crystals with which a mage can keep concentration without doing it themselves. It would help the mages here greatly, as they would not have to worry about keeping the volcano at bay themselves. For this, she needs quite some items. Mumbling she starts looking around at the papers, walks down and starts looking between the books and stacks of papers there. We follow, somewhat awkwardly as she states that there should be a recipe or a list of things here that she had already found are needed in the creation of the item. Continuing her search she states something about a phoenix and the blue hue of the crystals. We offer to help her, but she would prefer some time to figure it out herself, so she can properly prepare us for a possible task. If we return in an hour, she will have things ready for us. It is not clear at all what this is all about. Very chaotic, but she mentioned something about planes of existence and portals, but I know little about this. Thalmiir had teleported Ferrum somewhere with a spell so maybe they know more? I am not sure, guess we will just see?
 
We thank her and take an hour off, everyone wants to go their own way for a bit. I think most of us are just going to explore the city for a little bit, like Apelés there is a lot to see.