Session Journal - Envoys, giants, and miasma

We are planning what to do now that we've stopped the beasts that attacked the tower. The plan is still to go to Swanport and accept the mission, formally, from the viceroy. Since we asked for reinforcements, the cavalry is arriving - Esylt, Rithari, and more of our companions are arriving.
 
Finneden tells Rithari that since she is here, the party will not need his help anymore. Which is great because he was on his way to investigate the rumors of animals of unusual size - he had heard rumors about apes and stags. I ask about caimans, and he said no. He also mentions to Rithari that she will become the herald between the forest elves and the Wolf King. "He will communicate with you," he tells her before leaving. Pretty ominous.
 
Rithari takes a moment to investigate the creatures that were killed. The majority were young ones. We tell her that we did clear out most of this nest, but that we did not have the time or tools for a thorough investigation of the underground cave system.
 
We tell Rithari the mission, since she was not around when The Lady originally asked us. I'm worried about her reaction to all this. I remind her that Jak had decided to not join us on this mission because he found it morally questionable.
 
As we speak, the ground starts to vibrate. Seraphina says to get off the ground. She casts fly on all of us, and we all fly up. (Luckily, this is just us in the party, since the survivors were cleared out to a bit further out.) From above, we look for where the earth is moving. We do not see holes in the ground, but we hear a thump in the distance like a boulder dropping on the ground. Then we hear a bunch of those. The noise is coming from the forest in the north. As we look for it, most of us see 4 huge figures walking on all 4s, with lots of hair. They are giant apes! They are not in a hurry, but they are coming quickly. I start to retreat to the forest. Seraphina approaches one of the beasts from the air, and is picked like fruit. Before the beast can eat her, she lightning teleports. The beast is now confused and possibly mad. I cast an ice storm close to them, to try and intimidate them into returning to where they came from. It works.
 
Having saved the inn from giant apes that could have trampled it and caused mass panic down the road, we make our way to the next inn. It is a nice enough inn. We order rooms, food, and The Lady buys us drinks. She sings and performs, and we have a lovely, restful night.
 
We wake up to fog. Everyone is worried it is miasma. The Lady verifies that it is not magical, so the thick fog simply makes it difficult, instead of being murderous. We need to cross the river, and the best way is to use a ferry. The other side has a new road. This slows our progress. As we make haste, we notice There some shapes in the fog, off the path. Originally we thought they were wolves, but they are on 2 feet. I alert Rithari. She believes they are some sort of fiend, gnolls.
 
Rithari recommends that we slay them. These are creatures known for the evil things they do. She is going to scout them while The Lady inspires us. Rithari goes to look. However, we are seen, and Rithari is shot at. We engage. Once the Lady shoots at them, I use a fireball and blow them to smithereens, including the pouch of a beautiful green gem. It is a green magicite. Note to self, do not pick up any gem with bare hands, ever.
 
We track these gnolls back to where they came from. The whole area smells like miasma. We find a farmstead covered in fog. The Lady looks around and ascertains it is not all miasma. There is a barn that is heavily damaged. To her, there is a greenish glow to the fog of the opening from the barn to the pasture. We need to mark this on a map and let authorities know. There are bodies of humans and gnolls. There are 3 knoll bodies, and by the house there is a woman. There is also an older human male with a great sword. It has the symbol of the legion. He was a knight, and was rewarded with this land. The whole family was slaughtered a few hours ago. I check for survivors. Seraphina is looking for deeds or anything that will help identify them. There are 3 dead children, broken dishes, broken windows, etc. We piece together a story - the gnolls happened upon the house at dawn, and there was a big fight. Seraphina sends a message to her mom to find the name of this family.
 
I help The Lady create graves. Rithari and Honorous find a sphere made of pottery in the kid's room. He brings it to us, and we don't know anything about it. It was likely thrown into the room. They are creating the green gems! They were throwing pottery with fog to gain magicite. They found a way to turn it from drust to miasma. Seraphina is sending the message to the viceroy.
 
There were 5 bodies, and 1 gem. Who was the magicite? 2 kids beds, and on the other side of the kitchen, there was another bed. A farm hand or servant. How did they get the magicite from the barn since the barn was still full of miasma?
 
The process is that if someone dies in a miasma, their body will turn to ash and their heart will become magicite. Fresh food and water is in there, so the animals probably panicked and left. Only destroys a body if it cannot mutate you. Note to self, never ever pick up any gems in the land with your bare hands!
 
We set out again after making a sign for miasma at the barn door. We get to the next inn, and Luna, the owner of the chain of taverns is there. She seems to be discussing with the proprietor. We are at the vine rest house. Luna is a Duskhan woman with an eye patch. We stay at the inn.
 
Luna approaches Seraphina and they make small talk. A congratulations on her engagement, talk about possible further negotiations, introductions. She seems to like Honorous, and compliments him. It goes great. He is smitten by her, and she takes him to her room. He wakes up happy, but alone the next day.
 
We set off and arrive on the same day at Swanport. Seraphina puts Honorous' sword into her bag of holding so that the guild does not find out about it. I follow suit and put my own cloak in my bag.
 
The Lady asks me about joining a guild, such as the Sorcery guild. It seems like a good idea, but while she meets with the Viceroy, I'll stay at her mother's house (Lady Sevine's) to read and have tea while I wait for her. With sorcery, they learn to do ritual magic. There are spells that can be cast as a ritual spell instead of having to memorize it. Once her meeting with the Viceroy is done, she'll introduce me to the Archmage/Sorcerer Supreme.
 
Viceroy Julius asks Seraphina to explain why she thinks miasma is being weaponized. She describes the day's events to him, including the testing that Rithari did. She submits drawings and answers questions. She shows him the green magicite. She describes the miasma as green through magical senses. The magical effect of green is associated with evocation or poison/acid. However, he seems dismissive of what we found, saying that gnolls are too chaotic to be good in packs, and says that they can be led by a strong leader, but would not organized.
 
Next, they discuss the mission. But she says that there is a suggestion. He says that he was suggested that the emergence from the emissary will be close to Veriway. And that is the best place to look for him, and gives us a chance to spot him before he reaches the fareworld, where the elves may oppose us.
 
He also tells her that the flame elves have always been an enemy of Dusk, because they sent an army to attack them. They then discuss a Sorcoress. Seraphina is unsure if we will have the power to kill the sorceress, although they are not certain we'll meet her. The mission is to deal with the alliance, but if the sorceress steps in, we may need to deal with her. Seraphina wants to know if she should stay the night. He invites her to dinner and a show at The Swan.
 
I'm worried because the talk about the alliance was the big news 5 days ago. Seraphina talked about it, then we ran into Finnegan who also talked about it. Then we finally set off to engage in the mission to stop the alliance, and were distracted by the cruthicks. Then the giant animals showed up, right after we heard the rumors that they exist. We still do not know what causes these, or how much impact they will have. Then there is e talk about gnolls weaponizing miasma to create strange green magicite. Even if the gnolls are not the ones organizing (and they certainly seemed organized in that raid against the farmstead), someone is smart enough to weaponize miasma for the harvesting of magicite, and that will not bode well for us. Are all these related to the possible alliance? Are the giant animals something that the envoy leaves in his wake? Or are they a threat that will allow us to finally share a common purpose with the forest elves?