Campaign 2: The Story So Far
The Adventure Begins
A new group of adventurers came together in the The Stratian Empire city of Port Horizonshroud after Rook and Elwyn had a chance encounter at the Millhouse, an inn where they were both staying. Both of them were looking for work and interested in the same job: a request to take down a griffon that had been harassing caravans coming and going from the city. Agreeing that they would need some assistance, the pair decided to recruit some allies. Elwyn turned to Tuppence, a pixie bard who had been playing gigs in the Millhouse the past few nights, and Rook turned to Embers of White Ash, a strong-looking beggar he had seen on the streets in town. With Tuppence and Embers on board, the group that would come to be known as the Silver Seekers was formed!Season 1: The Case of the Caged Creatures
Click "Show spoiler" for the full summary of Season 1.
Show spoiler
The Silver Seekers became embroiled in a plot by the Dragontooth Brotherhood to steal a clutch of dragon eggs from the Empire. They investigated a number of leads, which ultimately brought them into direct conflict with a yuan-ti woman named Kshura. They thwarted the Brotherhood plan and captured Kshura, who revealed that her true allegiance lies with a mysterious group called the League of Terrors. Finally, after nearly a month in the city of Port Horizonshroud, the group decided to head north to their newly acquired keep in Amberhearth, leaving the friends they've made in the city behind for the time being.
After completing the job with the griffon the Silver Seekers refined their teamwork on a few more jobs, eventually accepting a recon mission to monitor the arrival of a cargo ship called the Flying Ray. When the ship arrived in the Horizonshroud Harbor, they investigated its contents and found cages and tanks filled with strange monstrous creatures being unloaded and carted off into the city by mysterious robed figures.
When they returned to the Millhouse , they found its staff (Nora Frothtankard, Malt, and Tes) sitting outside, attempting to avoid a doppelrat that had somehow gotten loose inside. The Silver Seekers offered to get rid of the rat and ended up fighting off a swarm of its double. With their job complete, they inspected an alcove in the inn's basement cellar and found an open cage similar to those they saw on the Flying Ray. Noting that it would be difficult for a larger creature to place the cage in the alcove, the group began to suspect Tes's involvement, because of her smaller size.
After the party's wounds were treated by a priestess of Pelor named Maegan Brandyman, who turned out to be the granddaughter of a halfling priest who often visited Embers in her cell when she was in prison, Embers spoke to Tes in an attempt to confirm whether or not she was actually responsible for unleashing the doppelrat. Her involvement was then confirmed when Tes launched a daring attempt to flee from the Millhouse later that evening.
The Silver Seekers gave chase and managed to subdue Tes in an ally not far from the inn. There Elwyn cast a spell to help coax Tes into divulging what she knows, and Tes revealed that she placed the cage at the behest of her friend Molo. A fellow kobold from a sector of the city known as the Dens, Molo had recently fallen in with a group of shady people in robes, matching the description of the group that carted away the cages that arrived on the Flying Ray. The party promised Tes that they would find a way to keep any blame from falling upon her and her friend Molo.
With that, they returned to the tavern and were greeted by a loud Imperial Warden named Torinn Brenwarum, the previously anonymous entity who hired them to investigate the arrival of the Flying Ray. He revealed that the robed culprits are a gang known as the Dragontooth Brotherhood and asked the Silver Seekers to continue investigating, promising that the Imperial Wardens would pay for any actionable leads. Upon making his best case, Torinn left the party to enjoy a night in at the Millhouse.
During the night Elwyn was visited by her patron, a mysterious woman called the Masked Lady, and Tuppence had a strange incident involving her mother's pan flute, which started playing a familiar lullaby all on its own. Meanwhile, Embers reflected on passages of her martial arts manual, and Rook tinkered with his numerous magical devices. When morning came, the Silver Seekers resolved to head into the Dens to find Molo and get to the bottom of the Dragontooth Brotherhood's plot.
On their way to the Dens, the Silver Seekers encountered another monster on the loose. This one had an monkey-like form and seemed to be leading a pair of escaped apes on a rampage through the city. When the party stood in their path, the monster's sinister grin and evil intelligence revealed that it was no natural creature. After a hard-fought battle, the Seekers managed to subdue the monster and the apes, and turned them over to a pair of Imperial Wardens.
After a moment of respite at a local café, the Silver Seekers resumed their trip across the city, and eventually arrived at the ramshackle artificial tunnels that comprise the ward of the city known as the Dens. Following a map drawn by Tes, the group managed to safely traverse the tunnels without encountering too much trouble, but all of that changed when they delved into Molo's burrow and found it to be riddled with traps. When Embers and Tuppence progressed ahead of Elwyn and Rook, a kobold trap collapsed the ceiling between the two groups separating them from each other. A difficult battle ensued as kobolds attempted to prevent Embers and Tuppence from capturing their leader, Molo. However, Elwyn and Rook were able to execute a pincer maneuver and capture him anyways. Once captured, Molo revealed that the Dragontooth Brotherhood is planning a dangerous raid on a caravan coming into the city, and has been setting the monstrous creatures loose in the city as a way to keep the Imperial Wardens busy. Molo also explained that he heard some part of the Brotherhood's plan involves the city's leader, Governor Nayassa.
After returning to the Millhouse, the Silver Seekers asked Malt to go into the city for them to find Torinn so that they could report their findings to him. While Malt was out, Nora informed Rook that a mysterious cloaked woman had delivered a package addressed to him while he was out. Upon inspecting the package, he discovered that it was sealed with a familiar insignia featuring a potion bottle. Inside, he found several potions and a glass jar of a mysterious liquid, as well as a note expressing the sender's desire that these items would serve to protect Rook from danger in the future. Rook's investigations were sidelined, however, when Malt returned to the Millhouse bearing news that he had found Torinn unconscious in an alleyway.
The Silver Seekers rushed to Torinn's aid, finding him unconscious and badly injured. Elwyn's healing magic was unable to revitalize him, and the party determined that Torinn had been poisoned. They brought him to the Brandyman Church in hopes that Maegan would be able to stabilize him. Through prayers to her god, she was able to purge the poison from his system and restore him to consciousness. After bringing Maegan up to speed on the dangerous plots in which they have become entangled, the Silver Seekers finally returned to the Millhouse for a night's rest.
During the night, Rook and Tuppence were both visited by nightmares. Tuppence recalled the traumatic destruction that befell her village in the Faewild, while Rook spoke with a shadowy version of himself, who expressed concerns about Rook's safety and the trustworthiness of the Silver Seekers, among other things. Upon waking in the morning, the Silver Seekers spoke with Torinn about their course of action, and ultimately convinced him it was in his best interest to lay low for a while while they continued to investigate. With that out of the way, they set out for an auction house within the city known as the Highest Bid and operated by an air genasi named Squall, following up on a job offered to them by Malt which they believe may have some connection to the Brotherhood's plot.
Upon meeting the handsome Squall and his dashing and taciturn chief of security, an orc woman named Brakka, the Silver Seekers learned that a case of Dragon's Breath was recently stolen from the auction house. Through a combination of investigative prowess and creative interrogation techniques, they were able to determine that the case was stolen by the same yuan-ti woman who injured Torinn. They also learned the location of one of the Brotherhood's warehouses, so they laid plans to rendezvous with Torinn and invade the warehouse.
With Torinn in tow, they infiltrated the warehouse through its chimney, confronting the Brotherhood operatives and monsters within. After a hard-fought battle, the Silver Seekers emerged four of the six spheres of Dragon's Breath and an encrypted notebook containing the details of the Brotherhood's plot. Though the book was written in Draconic, a language none of the Seekers speak, a mysterious entity within Rook's mind awakened to help him read it. Oddly enough, this entity spoke in the same voice as the shadowy version of Rook that visited him in his dreams the night before.
The Silver Seekers then parted with Torinn, who took the captured Brotherhood operatives to the Imperial Wardens' barracks, and returned to the Millhouse to digest the information they obtained. After a night of performances, martial arts practice, and conversation, the party was awakened by a messenger drake from Governor Nayassa, summoning them to Harborwatch Citadel to discuss how to combat the Brotherhood's plot.
At Harborwatch Citadel the Silver Seekers joined Governor Nayassa for a council with several important figures within the city to compare notes about the Brotherhood's plans and prepare a defense strategy. During the council the Warden Commander Nathaniel Locke's behavior raised the party's suspicions, and believing he might be entangled with the Brotherhood in some way, they resolved to track his movements for the next day.
Embers and Tuppence followed the Warden Commander back to the Warden's barracks, and witnessed him holding a meeting with several Imperial Wardens during which they discussed how the Dragontooth Brotherhood had blackmailed or bribed the group of them. Meanwhile, Elwyn and Rook searched the city for signs of Smolder, the leader of the Brotherhood operation, and nearly fell victim to an assassination attempt. However, the mysterious cloaked woman who had been following Rook saved them using her unique rifle before disappearing once again.
After regrouping, the Silver Seekers decided to leave the city's defense up to Nayassa, Legate Kalea Bergcrusher, and the Imperial Wardens. Meanwhile, they would move to intercept the Brotherhood's caravan raid. The party spent a final night in the city before setting out on their mission, and during the night Rook left the Millhouse stealthily to try meeting with the mysterious woman who saved him earlier in the day. Despite Rook's best efforts, Elwyn spotted him and followed him in the form of a cat.
Rook was able to meet with the mysterious woman, who revealed that she goes by the alias of Knightmantis, and implored Rook to reveal his true identity to her. When he revealed himself to be Vertinor Orenglas by shifting into his true changeling form, much to Elwyn's surprise, Knightmantis fell to a knee and swore that she would do everything in her power to protect Rook.
With a final night of rest behind them, the party set out for the city's northern gate to start their mission. They met up with some guards appointed by Nayassa led by a warforged captain named Five, and together they set out into the tundra. They arrived at the location of the Brotherhood's ambush just before nightfall, but some recon revealed that the Brotherhood had intercepted some wyvern riders Nayassa had sent to warn the caravan, and had moved when they learned that the details of their plot had been discovered. The Silver Seekers and their accompanying soldiers rested for the night and then headed out to try to intercept the raid.
They arrived just in time, converging on the caravan simultaneously with the start of the Brotherhood's attack. With the help of Five and their soldiers, the Silver Seekers were able to prevent the theft of the dragon eggs and apprehend Kshura with minimal Warden casualties. When they spoke with Kshura later she revealed her grand designs to rebuild the yuan-ti empire from days long past, as well as her involvement with a group known as the League of Terrors. A mysterious force then teleported her away, out of the party's clutches.
Returning to Port Horizonshroud victorious, the party met with Nayassa and Kalea, who were also successful in their defense of the city. Nayassa rewarded them handsomely for their hard work in service to the city, and Kalea offered hospitality if the group should ever find their way in her home city, Fymyr, the capital city of Sirgil. Finally, Nayassa arrested Warden Commander Locke for his treachery, appointing Five as acting Warden Commander in his stead.
With the case closed, the Silver Seekers took some time to unwind and accomplish their various goals in the city before setting out for their new keep in Amberhearth. Embers plucked up the courage to go on a date with Brakka, Tuppence continued to try to work out her connection to her mother's panflute and encountered another fae performer in the city, and Elwyn and Rook spent a lot of time together talking about their pasts and forming a deep bond with one another. Embers also managed to persuade Torinn to quit his job with the Wardens and accompany the Silver Seekers to Amberhearth in order to do some real good in the world.
And so, when the time came, the Silver Seekers left the familiar city of Port Horizonshroud behind and departed for new adventures in Amberhearth.
Season 2: The Road North
Port Horizonshroud to Twintowns
The Silver Seekers' journey north got off to a strange start when they encountered a pesky quickling bard named Thistle. The speedster unhitched and spooked their horses, forcing the party to chase after and calm the beasts before they could run too far. Tuppence then used her own magic to apprehend Thistle. When asked why he was causing trouble for the party, Thistle revealed that he was drafting off Tuppence's investigation regarding her village's destruction because his own village was destroyed by redcaps created by that massacre. Otherwise aloof and unhelpful, Thistle was soon released to dash off again. Some days later, Tuppence was visited by another strange occurrence—this time in the form of a nightmare. In the nightmare she saw a version of herself in a mirror and overheard a conversation between her mirror self and an unknown individual about a conductor and a concerto. When the unknown individual left the room, Tuppence's mirror self looked directly in the mirror and made an ominous proclamation: "You don't belong here. Don't you get it? You're not real. And I have work to do. So get out." And with that, the strange dream came to an end. A few days after that, unseasonably cold weather began to pick up, and Elwyn felt a call off the road and into the woods. Rook accompanied her and together found a vine-covered statue of a pair of dancers. The Masked Lady revealed herself to Rook and encouraged the pair to investigate the statue before disappearing. When the two uncovered the statue, they felt as if it were calling on them to do something, so the pair of them shared a moonlit dance before the statue. When their dance was complete, a birch staff topped with faerie crystal appeared in the statue's hand, and Elwyn claimed it as her own. As they continued north from there, the weather steadily worsened until the Silver Seekers were eventually forced to detour off the road north into the small settlement known as Twintowns, which is comprised of a pair of small towns: Glimmercairn and Rimestrand. There, they found shelter in the Broken Axe tavern.Twintowns
Click "Show spoiler" for the full summary of the Twintowns arc of Season 2.
Show spoiler
At the Broken Axe tavern, the barkeeper Hakkon helped the Silver Seekers fend off attacking bounty hunters. The party learned that strange frozen undead had been attacking the towns at night and set out to help both of the towns. In Glimmercairn they sent a group of murderous Fae packing back to the Faewild, and in Rimestrand they ousted a tyrannical mayor and his wolf cultists. Finally they descended beneath the church in the valley between the two towns to find the source of the frozen undead and the strange wintery weather. There they discovered an abandoned Eyes of the World laboratory where the frozen undead were being produced en masse in cloning vats. They followed the piping and wiring powering the vats downward and found the source of the cold-related phenomena: an ancient well called the primal nexus which was producing incredible amounts of raw elemental cold energy. The Silver Seekers fought a powerful creature that partially emerged from the well, restoring balance to the primal nexus and resolving all of Twintowns' issues. From there, they struck out again toward Amberhearth.
At the Broken Axe tavern the Silver Seekers met Hakkon Anvilheart, the halfling cleric who owned the bar. Some of the party was initially wary of Hakkon because he habitually wears his old imperial soldier armor, but he quickly welcomed them into the tavern and befriended Torinn. However, the party's rest was soon interrupted when a gang of bounty hunters led by a man named Byrant entered the bar and declared their intent to capture Rook. A fight ensued, with a number of the tavern's patrons joining in in hopes of claiming the bounty for themselves.
During the battle, Embers overheard Byrant call Rook by the last name "Orenglas" before being knocked unconscious by a stray ice knife spell from Elwyn. The Silver Seekers were able to put an end to the fight and revive Embers, but not before Embers remembered an incident from her time in prison when she met a man who called himself Bazel Orenglas. After putting the bar back in order, the group took to their room, where Rook revealed himself to be Prince Vertinor Orenglas of the former kingdom of Vahgma, and explained that he has been on the run from the Empire ever since his kingdom fell. Believing his father, Bazel Orenglas, to be dead, Vertinor was shocked to hear that Embers had met him in prison.
The next morning, the Broken Axe tavern was visited by a tiny fae creature named Brehn, who told them that he mines gems called wishstones that are created in the Faewild whenever someone on the material plane makes a wish. He presented three wishstones belonging to Mayor Tawyn Dazzleberry of Glimmercairn. Brehn implored the Silver Seekers to go to Glimmercairn and solve the mayor's dilemma, claiming to be too small to do it on his own. The party agreed and set out with Hakkon to meet with mayor Dazzleberry, leaving Torinn behind to tend the tavern.
Upon arriving in Glimmercairn, the Seekers found that the citizens of the town were in the midst of self-imposed confinement in their homes while a gang of violent fae known as redcaps roamed the town. The party snuck around town to the mayor's house, where they were welcomed inside by Tawyn and her wife Oda. Tawyn explained that the strange winter weather started about a month ago, and that it was accompanied by the arrival of strange cold monsters. Having good relationships with a few powerful fae, mayor Dazzleberry and a few other elders in town opened a faerie ring in the center of town in hopes that the fae would send them help to protect the town. Unfortunately, that help came in the form of the Marrowbow Gang, led by a particularly nasty redcap named Mavis Marrowbow. The redcaps protected the town from the monsters, but when the monsters stopped coming, the bloodthirsty redcaps grew restless and began to plan a raid on the neighboring town of Rimestrand.
The Silver Seekers agreed to help get rid of the redcaps, but mayor Dazzleberry advised against an all-out fight. After some consideration, the party set out to challenge the redcaps to a series of competitions, wagering the redcap's departure against the Seekers' assistance in the Marrowbow Gang's upcoming raid on Rimestrand. After a race between Embers and a redcap named Zoomshroom, and a wrestling match between Elwyn and Mavis Marrowbow, the Seekers emerged victorious and the Marrowbow Gang reluctantly returned to the Faewild.
With Glimmercairn's problem solved, the Silver Seekers turned their attention to their next problem: the graveyard in the valley between the towns where an ancient church has been encircled by a ring of fire every night as screams echo across the valley. When the party arrived at the church, Tuppence and Embers crossed the scorched line on the ground and peered within. There they saw a multitude of hairless frostbitten corpses shambling toward them. Reacting quickly, Embers grabbed Tuppence and dashed back across the scorched line, causing the wall of fire to flare to life between the party and the church.
Deciding that they needed more information, the Silver Seekers followed tracks from the church to Rimestrand, where they were met with a cold reception. A dwarf named Alberich with a pet dire wolf named Zal confronted the party for setting off his wall of fire early, leaving Rimestrand defenseless against a monster attack he is certain will come when night falls. Alberich welcomed the party into the town's feasting hall and allowed them to rest there while he deliberated with his cohorts about how to proceed. While Alberich was out of the room, a dwarf named Murdoch entered, using the pretense of delivering food to the Seekers as a means to inquire about the safety of his girlfriend in Glimmercairn. From Murdoch, the Seekers learned that Alberich and his flunkies recently seized control of the town from Alberich's mother, Gillydd Coldlake, and threw her in the stronghold's jail along with the town's former Warden captain and Hammerpriest. Murdoch seemed to have a bit more information to offer, but was interrupted when Alberich returned to the room. A brief and hostile conversation between Alberich and the Silver Seekers ensued, and fighting broke out when Elwyn demanded to speak with his mother.
The Silver Seekers managed to fend off Alberich and Zal, who turned out to be an otherworldly shadow creature despite appearing as a natural dire wolf. Alberich fled the Coldlake stronghold on foot, leaving the party behind to free Alberich's captives from jail. Gillydd Coldlake told the party more about Alberich's uprising before imploring the Seekers to help defend the down against the undead from the church, who Gillydd believes will attack the towns once night falls now that Alberich's wall of fire is no longer providing defense. The Seekers agreed, and set about putting plans in motion for the towns' defense.
While the citizens of both Rimestrand and Glimmercairn were busy building defenses, Embers spoke with Murdoch in hopes of finding out what else he knew about Alberich. Through Murdoch's story, the party was able to figure out that Alberich had somehow used strange magic to siphon skills and talents from all of the clan's members and used that to fuel his own power. The ceremonial stone slab ratifying Alberich's mayorship served as a sort of physical representation of this spell, and Alberich took care to hide it in an underwater cave deep in the lake. Using her druidic magic, Elwyn was able to retrieve the slab from its hiding place. Hakkon then smashed the slab with his magic hammer Traugrim, releasing strange shadowy wisps from within it. This broke Alberich's spell and returned the dwarves' skills and abilities to them. Hakkon then explained the history of his hammer, opening up to the party about the dwarven spirit trapped within it: Bardryn Anvilheart.
With the towns' defenses in place and Alberich's spell broken, night fell on Twintowns... And with it came a fierce winter blizzard. The blizzard brought hordes of undead known as "frostbiters" to Rimestrand. The Silver Seekers fought long and hard against these frozen monsters, and eventually their teamwork, battle prowess, and ingenuity won the night. With the threat quelled for the moment, they rested before setting off for the cathedral to discover the true source of the towns' problems.
Upon arriving at the cathedral, the Silver Seekers found a hidden tunnel beneath the altar. Descending the ladder downward, they discovered an abandoned cloning and warforged assembly laboratory belonging to a group of mages known as the Eyes of the World that was being powered by strange elemental cold energy. Having shut down the overclocked cloning device that was producing the frostbiters, the Seekers investigated the remainder of the laboratory and found that it connected to tunnels descending deeper under the town. They followed the tunnels and ultimately found themselves in a vast chamber containing massive dragon bones, treasure, and an ancient stone well filled with the same elemental cold energy. They investigated the room, learning that the well is actually something known as the primal nexus and that their old foes the League of Terrors were involved in unleashing its power on Twintowns. However, as they discovered this, white-furred tentacles erupted from the nexus, dropping the temperature in the room drastically and forcing the Seekers to fight for their lives.
When the tentacles were defeated and retreated back within the nexus, the elemental cold energy pumping throughout the facility seemed to stabilize. The party severed the connections between the nexus and the cloning facility above, then searched the rest of the room to claim the treasure for themselves. Returning to the surface, they found that the strange winter weather had subsided. With that, the people of Twintowns were out of danger so the Seekers began making preparations to continue their journey. After one final night in the Broken Axe tavern and a number of final heartfelt conversations with Hakkon and Bardryn, the group hit the road once more.
Twintowns to Fymyr
The Silver Seekers decided to stop in Fymyr on their way to Amberhearth to do a little research and spend some time relaxing at Rom Con, the world's biggest romance novel convention which will be held at the Argent Athenaeum in Fymyr. On the way, Vertinor and Elwyn discussed what to do about Vert's identity now that bounty hunters are on his trail, and decided that he needs to adopt a new disguise. The Silver Seekers survived a tense encounter with a saber-toothed liondrake and met a few well-intentioned rangers tracking animals exhibiting strange lifecycles as a result of the recent unseasonable weather. Additionally, there was a night where Elwyn was approached late at night by a being calling herself the Weaver. The Weaver put on a friendly guise, but seemed to be undermining Elwyn's relationship with the Masked Lady at every turn. When Elwyn asked the Weaver to leave, she disappeared into the forest, but not before leaving Elwyn a small brooch. With that, the party finally arrived in Fymyr.Fymyr
Click "Show spoiler" for the full summary of the Fymyr arc of Season 2.
Show spoiler
The Silver Seekers arrived in Fymyr with the goal of attending Rom Con, Alen'dal's premiere romance novel convention. They checked in at Tasha's Taproom where they met the owner, Tashawn Frothtankard. As a cousin of Nora's Tashawn (or Tasha for short) was happy to provide the party with room and board. There they also encountered Yurdahd and Yursohn, a pair of couriers for the Argent Athenaeum's Imperial Repository program. Yurdahd offered to show the Seekers around the city, and also agreed to help them with some research.
The group used the time before the start of Rom Con to spend some time in the library researching various topics of interest. During that time, the Silver Seekers noticed they were being watched by a mysterious woman, but before they could do anything about it, they accidentally opened a history book that sucked them and the woman into its pages. There she revealed that her name is Esme, and she had been watching the party in hopes of getting them to help her witness the events of the demiplanar history book they now found themselves trapped inside. After tense negotiations the Silver Seekers agreed, and together they enacted events during Emperor Stratos's war with the dragons thousands of years ago.
Esme agreed to dine with the Silver Seekers and talk more about her motives in Fymyr. Over the course of the evening, Embers developed and interest in Esme and the two ended up sharing an intimate evening. Caught off guard, Esme revealed that she is really a dragon from another part of the solar system, and that she and her traveling companion Yurp crash landed in Fymyr accidentally. Their true mission on Alen'dal is to research the Starless Night, an event 25 years earlier where the moon shattered and Alen'dal was shrouded in magical darkness. The Silver Seekers agreed to help Esme look for her ship and missing traveling companion.
The Silver Seekers spent a day enjoying Rom Con, but the festivities were interrupted by Kshura and the League of Terrors, who were apparently after Esme. The Seekers managed to fight Kshura off, but not without significant damage to the library. They spoke with Silvered Seneschal Adrex, the head of the library, and managed to smooth things over by agreeing to look into the attempted kidnapping of Esme. However, their involvement in the incident brought Arbiter Dolotos, a member of a shadowy group of individuals known as the Scarlet Claw who directly serve Emperor Stratos and enact his will throughout the Stratian Empire, to their doorstep. After searching their hotel room and failing to find any trace of Esme there, he left in a huff.
The party then set out to locate Esme's ship and traveling companion. They discovered that the ship was being held in a warehouse within the city and was set to be shipped to S.T.A.R at the Fymyr Airfield in the near future. Meanwhile, they found out that, as a sentient ooze, Yurp was being held for research by Fymyr's resident ooze specialist, Dr. Skorstein. The Seekers broke into Dr. Skorstein's lab and managed to rescue Yurp, but decided that there was too much heat in Fymyr for them to liberate Esme's ship. Meanwhile, Tuppence made the big decision to leave the Silver Seekers to strike out on her own.
After a series of heartfelt goodbyes to Yurdahd and Esme as well as a final day at Rom Con that involved a ballroom encounter with Kshura, the Silver Seekers (minus Tuppence) set off on the final leg of their journey to Amberhearth.
Upon arriving in Fymyr, the Silver Seekers found it to be a massive city half built into a mountain, Mt. Skorstein, and completely equipped with modern amenities such as electricity, plumbing, and trains. However, the modernity of the city didn't stop its tavern and inn keepers from remembering Embers of White Ash, who the party soon discovered was banned from almost every single establishment in the city. At their wits end and poised to do some hard negotiating, they entered a lavish hotel called Tasha's Taproom. It initially seemed as if they might be turned away, but it turned out that the Taproom was owned by a cousin of Nora's named Tashawn Frothtankard. He mentioned being one of the few family members who is still on good speaking terms with Nora, and kindly offered the Seekers free room and board as a favor to Nora.
It was at Tasha's Taproom that the Silver Seekers first encountered Yurdahd Theyrad, an orcish cleric of Bahamut who works as a courier for the Argent Athenaeum and the Imperial Repositories. He and his son Yursohn were in town waiting for Rom Con to resume. Yurdahd told them that the con was delayed due to a meteor that hit one of the Athenaeum's towers, and offered to serve as their guide and liaison in the city. With that, the party set off for the library, but their train suffered a brief delay as they witnessed Emperor Stratos himself leaving the city on an outbound tain.
Once they arrived at the Argent Athenaeum, the Silver Seekers paid the requisite fee and got their pictures taken by a surly steward named Marble so that he could create library cards for them. And with that, they set to work researching a variety of interesting topics including the League of Terrors, lesser known deities, the prison where Vert's father is supposedly incarcerated, Stratos Technology & Aerospace Research (or S.T.A.R) and their interest in the Spellscar Desert, and the history of the yuan-ti. However, over the course of a week of research, the Seekers began to notice someone watching them.
The Silver Seekers were unable to confront the woman who was watching them, but toward the end of their research there was an incident where a book was slipped into the stacks Yurdahd was bringing to their study room. The book, which was titled Aro's Demiplanar History, flew open on the table, sucking the Seekers and Yurdahd into a demiplane along with the woman who was watching them. She introduced herself as Esmeir (or Esme for short), and claimed that she orchestrated this encounter to get the party's help. Apparently, she had witnessed Emperor Stratos in public during her time in Fymyr, and found him different from what she had heard about in stories. Curious, she tracked down a book that would allow her to witness the events of the past firsthand, but she had been unable to complete the trials involved on her own and hoped the Silver Seekers could assist her. After some tense and mistrustful negotiations, the party agreed and together with Esme they witnessed events from Emperor Stratos's ancient war with the dragons from the perspective of one of Alen'dal's first wizards: Aro the Amazing.
Having earned her trust, Esme agreed to tell the Silver Seekers more about her objectives in Fymyr back at Tasha's Taproom. However, Nihidon cautioned Vert not to trust Esme, warning him that she is actually a dragon in human guise... With many mysteries still surrounding their new friend, the group headed to Tasha's Taproom, where an... interesting evening ensued. The Seekers met Yurdahd's son, chatted with Tasha and Malt, and tried to suss out Esme's motives. All the while Embers began to take an interest of another sort in Esme, and eventually the two left the rest of the party to seek some time alone. Afterwards, having been thoroughly caught off guard, Esme shared the full breadth of her mission in Fymyr with the Seekers: she and her traveling companion, a sentient ooze named Yurp, came to Alen'dal from elsewhere in the solar system to investigate the Starless Night event from 25 years ago. But their ship was damaged by mind flayer nautiloids when entering the planet's atmosphere, and they ended up crashing into one of the Argent Athenaeum's towers. Esme managed to escape, but Yurp was captured and her ship was taken, leaving her stranded. She also noted that her interest in Emperor Stratos comes from the fact that he is spoken of in legends on her own planet, and that he too is not from Alen'dal. The Silver Seekers agreed to help Esme with her plight, but reeling from information overload they decided to start tomorrow during the first day of Rom Con.
The next day, Yurdahd, Yursohn, and the Silver Seekers set out for the Argent Athenaeum and partook in the festivities. Embers went to get some of her books signed by author Alice Rosedancer and ended up having the "define the relationship" talk with Esme while waiting in line, Yurdahd and Yursohn checked out the con's various artists and commissioned some artwork while discussing plans for the future, and Vert, Elwyn, and Tuppence started checking out the library area for clues about Yurp and Esme's spaceship. They eventually reconvened for lunch, and decided to attend a cosplay contest together where Vert, Yurdahd, and Yursohn performed surprisingly well. However, their fun was interrupted when Embers and Elwyn spotted an old foe in the crowd: Kshura of the League of Terrors. The party pursued her to a more deserted section of the library and confronted her, learning that the League of Terrors is desperate to capture Esme for one reason or another. A fight ensued, and the Silver Seekers were able to prevent Kshura from capturing Esme, but Kshura managed to escape by disintegrating a hole in the library's roof and ascending to a cloaked nautiloid waiting above using some sort of tractor beam. To make matters worse, with the exception of Vert, Embers, and Esme, the whole party was rounded up by the library's metallic guardians for damaging the library.
The metallic guardians brought out Senior Steward Ilanis Irontome and Silvered Seneschal Adrex Esstyr, the dragonborn head of the library, to interrogate the Silver Seekers about their conflict with Kshura. Fortunately, with Yurdahd's help Elwyn and Tuppence were able to persuade the Silvered Seneschal that they were merely preventing a kidnapping attempt by the League of Terrors. The wizened dragonborn Seneschal then revealed that they were tasked by Kalea Bergcrusher with researching the League of Terrors, but had not come up with much information. Adrex then asked if the Silver Seekers would continue to pursue leads on the League of Terrors and the individual they attempted to kidnap. As a reward, Adrex offered substantial monetary compensation, and the option to set up an Imperial Repository in Amberhearth once the party settles in there.
Meanwhile, Esme, Vert, and Embers fled the library, and noticed Kalea, her dragon Cryleid, and a group of winged and heavily armored dragonborn arriving on the scene as Imperial Wardens closed the convention for the day and escorted people off the premises. Vert recognized these armored dragonborn to be the part of the organization known as the Scarlet Claw, a shadowy group of individuals who directly serve Emperor Stratos and enact his will throughout the Stratian Empire. After sneaking past these new arrivals the group reconvened at Tasha's Taproom, where they spent the night resting and planning their next steps.
The next morning, the Silver Seekers were awakened by a ruckus outside their hotel room door as Legate Kalea Bergcrusher and the Scarlet Claw, led by a winged dragonborn named Arbiter Dolotos, barged in. Arbiter Dolotos insisted on having his agents search the room for invisible creatures, as he grilled the party on the events that transpired the day before at the library. When his search turned up nothing, he and his retinue stormed out leaving Kalea behind to vent her frustrations with him to the Seekers. When they were finally left alone, the Silver Seekers decided to split in two groups to search for Esme's missing companion and ship. Vert and Esme decided to lay low and use their time to seek information from Fymyr's less reputable citizens, while Elwyn, Tuppence, and Embers returned to the Argent Athenaeum to try to get more information.
Vert and Esme used the information gained from Fritz back in Twintowns to impersonate the bounty hunter Byrant and use his identity to get information. They met with an informant named June and learned about an Imperial Warden storehouse where debris from the meteor crashing into the tower is being stored. However, according to June, the Imperial Wardens are set to move the debris by armored car and then by train out of the city to the S.T.A.R base at Fymyr Airfield. When the pair left the bar to go meet up with the rest of the party again, they noticed that they were being watched by an individual who turned out to be none other than Alberich Coldlake. By tailing Alberich while invisible, Esme managed to overhear a conversation between him and the warforged bounty hunter who is pursuing Vert, implying that they are now working together to track the party.
Back at the Argent Athenaeum, the rest of the Silver Seekers decided to pay a visit to Dr. Skorstein, a resident researcher at the library who apparently took the lifeform found at the crash site into her custody. At Dr. Skorstein's lab, the party was told that she would be unable to meet with them and were turned away. However, they waited for an opening and then snuck into the lab anyway. Inside they encountered a variety of ooze-like creatures including a gelatinous cube and an ochre jelly with the consciousness of a chicken. They managed to locate Yurp and break him out of the container that held him, and narrowly escaped an encounter Dr. Skorstein on their way out. However, they were unable to rescue Yurp's high-tech gear.
Afterward, the Seekers regrouped and talked about what they had learned and achieved. Ultimately, they decided that between Arbiter Dolotos, Legate Kalea, the League of Terrors, and the Argent Athenaeum, there was too much heat in Fymyr to attempt to reclaim Esme's ship. With that choice made, Esme and Yurp thanked the party for their help and decided to fly across the sea to Freydin in search of answers about the Starless Night, which was their original mission on Alen'dal. The group then reunited with Yurdahd and Yursohn for one final day at Rom Con before leaving Fymyr. Embers managed to get a message to Kshura via messenger drake, and the two met up at the masked ball at the end of Rom Con's final day. During their dance Embers learned more about Kshura's position within the League of Terrors, and the complications the yuan-ti are facing within the group. Embers tried to persuade Kshura to leave the League and try other ways to achieve her goals, but Kshura declined. Finally, the Silver Seekers met with Adrex to share some information about the League of Terrors and inform them that the would-be kidnapee's trail had gone cold. Adrex was disappointed but not surprised, and offered to establish an Imperial Repository in Amberhearth nonetheless. They also agreed to attempt to reach out to the yuan-ti and other groups who might be targeted by the League of Terrors.
Meanwhile, Tuppence, who had been considering her place in the group for some time, decided to part ways with the Silver Seekers in order to pursue leads in the mystery of what happened to her village. She left a note for the Seekers and set out on her own.
With heartfelt goodbyes to Esme, Yurp, Yurdahd, and Yursohn behind them, the rest of the Silver Seekers departed from Fymyr on the final leg of their journey.
Fymyr to Amberhearth
The journey from Fymyr to Amberhearth began as a somber one as the Silver Seekers reeled from Tuppence's departure, but it prompted them to have an open discussion about their various goals and ambitions for when they reach their new home. The gloomy atmosphere was eventually broken, however, when Elwyn's messenger drake egg began showing signs of hatching. The Silver Seekers eventually decided to name the small creature Cupcake, in honor of Tuppence's desire to name it something that rhymes with "drake." After that, the party continued their journey north and encountered a friendly tribe of centaur nomads. After spending a night swapping stories around their fires, the Silver Seekers pressed onward. However, the farther north the group went, the more rumors they began to hear about Amberhearth's fate. Eventually they met a cantankerous old dwarf who lived through the disaster at Amberhearth and Vert convinced him to share his story. Apparently giant anthills had suddenly erupted from the ground, bringing powerful winds up with them and forcing the citizens of Amberhearth to evacuate the city. As unbelievable as it sounded, that's exactly the sight that greeted the Silver Seekers when they arrived at Amberhearth to see for themselves. Meanwhile, Tuppence resolved to return to the Faewild to seek out Zia Wild-dance, the Court Virtuoso for the Court of the Sky and her mother's bardic mentor, in hopes that they will have some answers for Tuppence. While on her way out of the city she met a friendly shaggy-furred dog named Bandana and convinced him to join her on her journey. Some time later after leaving the city Tuppence and Bandana encountered the quickling Thistle, and learned that he actually pursued Tuppence's lead in Daegu for her. There he learned of a local legend about a cottage that appears deep in the woods on the night of a full moon. According to the legend, unsuspecting travelers who enter the lodge meet a fae cat spirit of some kind, and if they bargain well she will grant them their wildest dreams. After some discussion about the legend and about Tuppence's plans to return to the Faewild, Thistle decided to join her merry band. Together they completed the trek back to Twintowns and convinced Tawyn Dazzleberry to open the faerie ring portal to the Faewild for them to return home.Season 3: Hearth and Home
Ants and Allies in Amberhearth
Click "Show spoiler" for the full summary of the Ants and Allies in Amberhearth arc of Season 3.
Show spoiler
Upon arriving at their new keep in Amberhearth, the Silver Seekers met a Thri-kreen ranger named Charm and her dwarven beekeeper friend Dotdraek "Dot" Marbleshoulder. Charm, Dot, and Knightmantis had been using the keep as a base of operations as they scouted out a way to deal with the and and wind problems plaguing the city. The party joined forces with them to investigate, learning that the queen of the ant colony was actually being controlled by a strange kobold mind flayer belonging to the League of Terrors. After some deliberation, the group settled on a plan of attack: Elwyn would wildshape into a giant ant to carry crates containing the other party members down to the queen's chamber. The ruse worked and the Silver Seekers were able to successfully infiltrate the queen's egg chamber, but the fight was a difficult one. Ultimately, the party managed to free the queen from the kobold mind flayer's clutches, capturing the creature for later interrogation. The creature, whose name turned out to be Snork, revealed hat he had served a master named Cephalossk, a psionic scholar who has been working to unbind the elemental Nexuses—including the Cold Nexus in Twintowns and the Wind Nexus in the underdeark beneath Amberhearth. Snork also revealed that Daegu, an ancient dragon known as the Decayed Death, is a high ranking member of the League of Terrors. However, before they could get more information out of Snork, an ominous voice spoke a word laced with deadly magic through Snork's tattoo, and Snork withered and rotted before their eyes.
In the aftermath of these events, Knightmantis opened up to the Silver Seekers, revealing that she is actually a changeling and Vert's half sister, Estelle. Meanwhile, people began to flood back into Amberhearth, and the Silver Seekers were invited to sit in on the next meeting of the city's Community Council. The party also met a woman named Nadia Avaline, who accidentally teleported onto the party's dinner table one evening. Nadia revealed that she is the youngest daughter of Queen Dawn Erindora and King Thaddeus Constantine of Freydin, and that she suffers from a rare disease called teleportitis before explaining her intention to set up a magic item shop in town. Later, at the Community Council, the Silver Seekers met a variety of community leaders who voted to grant the Seekers a permanent seat on the council.
Upon their arrival in Amberhearth, the Silver Seekers decided to first visit their keep, the Amberhold, in order to rest and set up a base for reconnaissance. There they discovered their new home already inhabited by a pair of beekeepers named Dotdraeck Marbleshoulder and Charm, as well as by the mysterious vigilante known as Knightmantis. After a tense initial standoff, the party quickly allied themselves with this group, and together they set about investigating the situation with the ants. While Embers, Elwyn, and Charm captured and interrogated a soldier ant, Vert—in the disguise of a tiefling woman named Rhyme—and Knightmantis checked out the mines outside of the city for possible entrances to the ant hill. Embers, Elwyn, and Charm learned that the ants had come to Amberhearth after finishing some project elsewhere, and Vert and Knightmantis discovered that the dwarven Shovelsharp clan had evacuated their homes in the mines just like the citizens of Amberhearth. They also discovered tunnels descending deeper into the earth, which seemed to be the source of the powerful winds.
Now convinced that the winds and the giant ants may be two separate issues, the Silver Seekers decided to send Elwyn on a solo scouting mission while transformed into a giant ant using her druidic shapeshifting powers. Elwyn managed to charm her way past the soldier ants guarding the ant hills to gain an audience with the queen. But upon descending to the deepest reaches of the ant hill, she discovered a disturbingly warped kobold tending to the queen. She also noticed something strange about the coloring of the carapace on the queen's head, and realized that the kobold creature might have attached something there to control the queen and her colony. Quickly extricating herself from the dangerous situation, Elwyn returned to the surface to find that Knightmantis and Charm had been spotted as they crept closer to the ant hills and were under attack.
Together the Silver Seekers fought their way out of the situation and returned to the Amberhold to plan. They decided that Elwyn would carry them down into the ant hills in crates, where they could pop out and surprise the queen and the kobold creature. Embers descended to the cellar's storage room with Charm to find appropriately sized crates, and happened upon a locked secret door in the wall of the chamber as she searched. Deciding to keep that to themselves until the ants were dealt with, Embers and Charm returned to the party with crates in hand.
With a plan in place, the Silver Seekers set themselves to a night of rest. However, Elwyn was visited by the Masked Lady as she sat atop the keep looking out over the city. Elwyn vented her recent frustrations with the Masked Lady and her secrets, and the Masked Lady apologized for not being able to heed Elwyn's calls recently. After a heartfelt conversation, the Masked Lady revealed that her true name is Eilistraee, and that she is the Weaver's daughter. She promised that Elwyn is destined to do great things, and that the work she envisions for Elwyn is good. With Elwyn satisfied for the moment, Eilistraee departed.
The next morning, the group put the plan into action. Things didn't go quite as smoothly as planned, but with a combined effort from Elwyn and Charm, the crates were successfully delivered to the queen's chamber. Elwyn revealed herself and attempted to dispel the magic shrouding the queen's head. While not completely successful, the attempt to dispel magic revealed the shroud to be a creature. The party managed to ward off ant reinforcements and knock the kobold unconscious, but not before taking significant damage. In a desperate moment, the Weaver appeared to Elwyn and offered her aid, but Elwyn refused, instead mustering her strength to rip the shroud creature from the queen's head with her bare hands.
The Silver Seekers made quick work of the creature who was controlling the queen's mind, and convinced the queen to let them leave with their kobold captive. They imprisoned the kobold, whose name turned out to be Snork, in one of the cells in the basement of their keep and then awakened him for interrogation. Snork cooperated, for the most part, and the party learned that until recently he had served a master named Cephalossk, a psionic scholar who has been working to unbind the elemental Nexuses—including the Cold Nexus in Twintowns and the Wind Nexus in the underdeark beneath Amberhearth. They also learned that Daegu, an ancient dragon known as the Decayed Death, is a high ranking member of the League of Terrors. However, before they could get more information out of Snork, an ominous voice spoke a word laced with deadly magic through Snork's tattoo, and Snork withered and rotted before their eyes.
In the aftermath of these events, Knightmantis opened up to the Silver Seekers about her origin and mission. She revealed that her name is Estelle, and she is the first daughter of Vert's mother, Bailey. Estelle was raised in a noble house in Viduun while her mother worked for the house as a spy. When Bailey married Vert's father in Vahgma, Estelle was summoned to come live with them. However, Estelle ended up not getting along with either parent and soon set out to find and live with Bailey's sister, Isabella. Estelle discovered that Isabella had infiltrated Viduun's highest echelon of society, and was impersonating Mira Durthane, the wife to Viduun's Chancellor. Estelle lived there for a while before she happened to overhear a suspicious conversation between Isabella and some unknown individuals. Wanting no part of that, she left Viduun. It was around then that she learned that some members of Vahgma's royal family may have survived and resolved to find and protect them.
Overjoyed at having discovered a half-sister he never knew he had, Vert embraced Estelle. However, Estelle expressed her regret and guilt about not being in Vahgma when it fell. Embers revealed that Bazel Orenglas may actually be alive in Mt. Verengar Penitentiary, and Estelle promised to do whatever she could to help rescue him.
Sometime later, as people began to flood back into Amberhearth, the Amberhold received two strange visitors. The first was a bubbly centaur farmer named Lalthirah, or Lally for short. Lally explained that she is a representative for the Farmers' Guild in Amberhearth, and that she holds a seat on the Community Council that rules the city. On behalf of the council, she extended her gratitude for the Seekers' help dealing with the ants, and offered them a chance to attend the next Community Council meeting in the first week of the month of Eye. The second visitor was a human woman named Nadia Avaline, who accidentally teleported onto the party's dinner table one evening. Nadia revealed that she is the youngest daughter of Queen Dawn Erindora and King Thaddeus Constantine of Freydin, and that she suffers from a rare disease called teleportitis. Because of her status as the youngest child in the royal family, and because of her condition, she works with her Aunt Harmony to expand the customer base of Harmony's Wild Magicks, a magic item shop based in a town called Redwater. The Silver Seekers offered her a room in the keep while she gets set up in town.
It wasn't long before the month of Eye arrived and the Silver Seekers found themselves in attendance at the Community Council meeting. There the Silver Seekers met Lally's fellow council members: Emmeline Foxridge (matriarch of Amberhearth's most wealthy family), Rurik Shovelsharp (leader of the Miners' Guild and the Shovelsharp Clan), Valrayas Du'oth (leader of the Merchants & Traders' Guild), Heskan Kimbatuul (head priest at a temple of Pelor called Cultivation's Altar), and Lavinia Cherrycheeks (Warden Commander of the Imperial Wardens in Amberhearth). The council thanked the party for saving the town by securing property for Nora to run a tavern in the city and by promising to throw a festival once the town was rebuilt. They then voted to give the Silver Seekers the seat on the council that formerly belonged to Lord Mystralath. With that, the council members brought updates and concerns to the table, such as the need to recruit new Imperial Wardens to combat the threat of the gang known as the Clowder, and the matter of Nadia's magic item shop proposal. At the end of the meeting Emmeline announced her intentions to resign from the council and appoint a successor by the end of the year.
After the council meeting the Silver Seekers spent a week preparing for their upcoming trip to the underdark and pursuing their own interests. Embers approached a tailor about designing a new outfit and then spent the rest of the week researching magical tattoos and how to remove them, Elwyn got in some face time with Emmeline Foxridge and met a few other members of the Foxridge family, Vert worked to make contacts in the city (including a criminal named Five-fingered Fred) through his various personas, and Charm worked with Torinn to learn the art of intimidation. Finally, the party decided to visit the Amberhearth branch of Harmony's Wild Magicks before departing.
The Shallowdark and Erudition
Click "Show spoiler" for the full summary of The Shallowdark and Erudition arc of Season 3.
Show spoiler
After some downtime in Amberhearth, the Silver Seekers descended into the tunnels of the underdark beneath the city in search of the drow city of Erudition and the Wind Nexus that was responsible for the winds assailing Amberhearth and the surrounding area. Along the way, Elwyn had another encounter with the being known as the Weaver, who explained that she hopes to make amends for past wrongs she committed against the people of Erudition. When the Seekers finally did reach the city, they found it in dire straits, with the winds and airborne stone rapidly eroding the stalactite city. Just as the party arrived, one of the stalactites that make up the city broke from the ceiling of the cavern and began to fall, but Elwyn opened herself up to the Weaver's aid, channeling the Weaver's power to conjure sturdy massive webs that reaffixed the stalactite to the roof, saving the people within.
After making their way to the city, the Silver Seekers were initially greeted with hostility by Erudition's guards, who are known as the Stoic Sentinels. However, a prominent scholar named Shava Daevyr came to their rescue, turning the Sentinels away before explaining the current situation in Erudition. Decisions in the city are made using a Public Forum, where Advocates are appointed by someone called the Ancient Mother to argue all sides of the decision. The choice is then made by a vote of the informed population of the city, collectively referred to as the Jurist. However, with the bridges between the various stalactites of Erudition out of commission and dangerous winds making climbing difficult, communication between the spires is currently slowed to a halt. Though Shava has been appointed to act as an Advocate in the debate of whether the city should ask for divine aid in escaping its dire situation, the communication issues have prevented Erudition from holding a proper Public Forum so that the Jurist can make an informed decision. Shava asked for the Seekers to help her travel to the spire known as Independence so that she can speak with the Ancient Mother about a solution to the issue.
After ferrying Shava to the Independence spire, the Silver Seekers decided to visit the Erudite Collective in the remote Ingenuity spire in hopes of finding a way to descend the chasm. Upon arrival, the party learned that the Collective was working on a solution to that very problem: two apparatuses capable of scaling vertical walls even in high winds. However, just then the Ingenuity spire came under attack. The Silver Seekers fended off feral mind flayers and serpent-like underlings belonging to the League of Terrors, but not before they managed to do severe damage to the Collective's research and development operations. Elwyn and Charm attempted to psychically interrogate a feral mind flayer they managed to capture, but its master Cephalossk spoke through it instead, boasting of the League's power before ultimately psionically detonating the feral mind flayer's head and ending the communication. The party then set to work helping to recover from the damage done by the attack, and together they managed to put the project back on track.
The Silver Seekers spent the night resting in the Ingenuity spire before all but Vert and Knightmantis returned to the Independence spire to attend the Public Forum and support Shava. Before the forum, Shava told the party that Elwyn's mother, Elentari, visited Erudition in the past with the goal of uniting the drow with the rest of their elven kin. At the forum itself, Shava and the other Advocate argued the pros and cons of accepting divine aid, but eventually the time for testimonies and arguments from the crowd arrived. When all arguments and counterarguments had been offered, Elwyn stood and gave her own persuasive speech, prompting murmurs from the whole crowd. But as the Advocates made their final remarks, a portion of Independence's wall collapsed under the force of the wind outside. Elwyn strode alone toward the hole in the wall, calling on the Weaver for a miracle in an attempt to seal the gaping hole, but the people did not have enough faith in the Weaver for her to fully block the wind. Shava gave an impassioned plea for the people to put their faith in Elwyn, and with the faith of the people behind her Elwyn managed to use the Weaver's power to seal the hole enough to restore safety and order to the spire.
With the Public Forum over, the people of the city began to cast their votes and the Silver Seekers returned to Ingenuity to board the completed apparatuses and descend to the Wind Nexus. Their descent was fraught with danger, but they managed to reach the bottom of the chasm, where they were met by Kshura, the one-tentacled mind flayer known as Cephalossk, and an unknown yuan-ti with the head and torso of a human but the lower body of a serpent. After a difficult struggle, the party managed to sway Kshura from the clutches of the League, disarm the force field surrounding the nexus, and drive Cephalossk and the yuan-ti away. Vert and Knightmantis then attempted to alter the seal on the Nexus and transfer it to a new construct, just as the ancient artificers of Vahgma had done. After a difficult struggle, Vert managed to contain the power of the nexus within a construct controlled by the consciousness of Nihidon, but not before Nihidon revealed his true identity as an ancient vampire dragon with a grudge against Emperor Stratos and extracted a vow from Vert that he would help Nihidon kill the emperor.
With that, the winds finally abated, and the Silver Seekers ascended the chasm back to Erudition, where they spent some time resting, recuperating, and pursuing their individual goals. Embers and Kshura visited the Adran Zauviir Gymnasium where Embers humiliated Stoic Sentinel captain Theren Mysek and trained with a halfling monk named Myria Brandyman, Vert and Knightmantis enjoyed some time together in the city, and Elwyn spent her time with Shava Daevyr talking about the Weaver and the Masked Lady. During this time, Elwyn learned that the Masked Lady is hailed as a hero by the people of Erudition for slaying Lolth's son Seldafein when he turned on them in the ancient past during his followers' and Eilistraee's followers' flight from Lolth and the deepdark. Shava also gave Elwyn a sealed letter that the Ancient Mother had been holding on to for over a hundred years. In it she found a simple note from her own mother, Elentari, asking Elwyn to find her in Lumera, the drow city beneath Vahgma.
As the Silver Seekers prepared to return to Amberhearth and the surface, an important meeting took place far away in the Faewild. Tuppence has found Zia Wild-dance as instructed by the ghost of her mother, Blade. Zia informed Tuppence that as court Virtuoso for the fae Court of the Sky, it is their duty to train members of a group known as the Faerie Orchestra. The Orchestra and their songs are vital to the Faewild in many ways, but Zia explained that one of their greatest duties is to perform a song known as the Concerto of Cleaving every 1,000 years. If the song is not performed, the plane of dreams, which sits a hair's breadth away from the Faewild, would engulf and destroy the fae plane, and the Concerto provides the magic to maintain that distance. However, an illegitimate court comprised of outlaws and misfits known as the Court of Outcasts has been systematically attacking and killing the members of the Faerie Orchestra, including Tuppence's own mother. To make matters worse, it also seems that the Court of Outcasts has kidnapped the future conductor of the Orchestra, Tuppence's friend Indy. Without the Orchestra and its Conductor, the plane of dreams has already begun affecting the Faewild, and it's only a matter of time before the plane and everyone in it are consumed. With that Zia tasked Tuppence with reassembling the Orchestra, beginning with a talented faerie dragon singer known as Nymlyliam who lives in Amberhearth.
Freshly geared up with magic gear from Harmony's Wild Magicks, the Silver Seekers set off with their companions Knightmantis and Nadia to descend into the underdark. As they progressed deeper and deeper into the dark subterranean realm they encountered a group of angry wind weasel spirits from the Elderhaven Reaches, a suspicious mushroom person who communicated via spores, and a chamber of swirling wind filled with creepy floating fungus spheres. But the most ominous event of the journey occurred when the Weaver appeared to Elwyn and once again asked for Elwyn's help. She explained that the people of Erudition used to live in a settlement down in the deepdark where the Weaver is revered. But at one point they decided to leave, and the Weaver reacted in a manner that she now regrets. She hopes to save the people of Erudition as a first step toward reconciling with her sisters, but needs Elwyn's help because of limitations placed on deities that require them to have the faith and trust of mortals before they can intercede. Elwyn was skeptical, demanding that the Weaver first make up with Eilistraee before Elwyn will even consider helping. Deflated, the Weaver departed, but not before leaving a final message for Elwyn to contact a priestess named Shava Daevyr upon reaching Erudition.
When the Seekers finally did reach the city, they found it in dire straits. The city is carved out of massive stalactites clinging to a cavern ceiling above a deep and chasm, and, unfortunately for Erudition, the Wind Nexus happens to be at the bottom of that chasm. As a result, the bridges between the various stalactites in the cluster that makes up the city have fallen, and the winds and airborne stone have rapidly eroded the points where the stalactites cling to the ceiling. Indeed, as the party took in the scene, one of the smallest stalactites in the cluster broke from the ceiling of the cavern and began to fall, hundreds of voices screaming as they plummeted to their impending deaths. In that moment, Elwyn opened herself up to the Weaver's aid, channeling the Weaver's power to conjure sturdy massive webs that reaffixed the stalactite to the roof, saving the people within.
With the city safe for the moment, the Silver Seekers used magic and climbing skills to climb across the roof of the cavern and down the webs to the stalactite city. Their arrival in the stalactite known as the Wisdom spire was met with hostility however, as Captain Theren Mysek of the Stoic Sentinels (Erudition's law enforcement) attempted to arrest Elwyn for using divine power in Erudition. He explained that it is a crime of the highest order to use divine power within the city, because it gives the gods an opening to demand things in return. Naturally, Embers was opposed to the idea of Theren arresting Elwyn for effectively saving people's lives, so she dealt him a swift stunning strike instead. Just as things were about to escalate, a drow woman named Shava Daevyr intervened. Much to Theren's chagrin, Shava cited laws and legal codes that excuse Elwyn's actions. Theren stomped off with his fellow Sentinels, and Shava invited the party to her office to talk.
Upon arriving at Shava's office in the hollowed-out geode stalactite, Shava explained the current situation in Erudition. Decisions in the city are made using a Public Forum, where Advocates are appointed by someone called the Ancient Mother to argue all sides of the decision. The choice is then made by a vote of the informed population of the city, collectively referred to as the Jurist. However, with the bridges between the various stalactites of Erudition out of commission and dangerous winds making climbing difficult, communication between the spires is currently slowed to a halt. Though Shava has been appointed to act as an Advocate in the debate of whether the city should ask for divine aid in escaping its dire situation, the communication issues have prevented Erudition from holding a proper Public Forum so that the Jurist can make an informed decision. Shava asked for the Seekers to help her travel to the spire known as Independence so that she can speak with the Ancient Mother about a solution to the issue. Meanwhile, the Silver Seekers have resolved to visit the Erudite Collective, Erudition's research and development group, at their headquarters in the remote Ingenuity spire in hopes of finding a way to descend the chasm beneath the city to deal with the wind nexus directly.
When they arrived at Ingenuity, the Silver Seekers were met by two members of the Erudite Collective: an alchemy scholar named Ael Do'lyl and an artificer named Krammek Forgefury. The pair explained that the Erudite Collective has been prototyping a means to descend the chasm despite the fierce winds and dangerous buffeting rocks. They've designed an apparatus modeled after a monster known as the cave fisher, which is a large lobster-like creature that clings to cavern ceilings and dangles a sticky invisible filament to ensnare its prey. Ael Do'lyl and their team of alchemists have been working to replicate and produce the sticky substance that allows the creatures to cling to walls, while Krammek has been forging a sturdy mechanical vehicle. When all is said and done, they plan to apply the sticky substance to the vehicle's legs and pilot it down into the chasm. The Silver Seekers volunteered to be the pilots for the excursion, but the League of Terrors attacked before they could set to work helping the Collective finish their prototype.
The Silver Seekers fended off the feral mind flayers and their serpent-like underlings, but not before the League of Terrors managed to severely damage the prototype apparatus, the alchemical compound, and the notes and schematics for both. In the aftermath of the attack, Elwyn and Charm attempted to psychically interrogate a feral mind flayer they managed to capture, but its master Cephalossk spoke through it instead. Cephalossk offered the Silver Seekers a chance to back down and boasted of the League's power before ultimately psionically detonating the feral mind flayer's head and ending the communication. The party then set to work helping to recover from the damage done by the attack, and together they managed to put the project back on track.
After a restful night's sleep in the Ingenuity spire, during which they spent some time discussing recent developments, the Silver Seekers decided to return to Knightmantis in the Wisdom spire and Shava Daevyr at the Independance spire. At Knightmantis's request, Elwyn ferried her to Ingenuity so that she could speak with Vert about what she learned. While working with the scholars in the Wisdom spire, Knightmantis discovered that the nexus was previously covered by a lot of rock and earth, which may have been an important component of the seal since wind and earth are opposite elements. She also discovered a link between the primal nexuses and Vahgma's ancient guardians, theorizing that perhaps Vahgma artificers of the past merely altered the existing seal on the nexuses to create the guardians. With that knowledge it might be possible to do something similar with the wind nexus to stop the galeforce winds that are assaulting Erudition. Meanwhile, Elwyn carried Charm and a number of scholars from Ingenuity to Independance for the upcoming public forum. In a conversation with Charm before the rest of the party arrived, Shava asked that she consider entering testimony in the forum.
Vert and Knightmantis opted to stay in the Ingenuity spire to work on the apparatuses and the nexus spire, while the rest of the Silver Seekers attend the public forum. Nihidon spoke to Vert during this time, explaining that Vahgma's ancient guardians required constant concentration from their controllers, otherwise the power of the elemental planes constantly pushing against their will would overwhelm and burst forth. He offered to lend his mind and willpower to control the power of the wind nexus in such a way, if Vert would use that power to fight the Empire. Vert then caught a glimpse of Nihidon's deeper mind, experiencing a time of tranquil solitude that was destroyed when Emperor Stratos came to kill Nihidon sometime in the past. Offended by Vert's prying, Nihidon withdrew.
The rest of the Silver Seekers arrived at the Independence spire in time for the forum. Shava greeted them, imploring the whole group to enter testimony. In particular, she asked for Elwyn to testify, claiming that as a drow her testimony would carry extra weight. But beyond that, Shava claimed that her work is an extension of Elwyn's mother's own work. Shava told the party that Elwyn's mother, Elentari, visited Erudition in the past with the goal of reuniting the drow scattered throughout the underdark. With that, drow began to gather in the space where the forum would be held, and the Advocates took their places to make their arguments. Shava and Efferil T'siir both argued the pros and cons of accepting divine aid for hours, but eventually the time for testimonies and arguments from the crowd arrived. When all arguments and counterarguments had been offered, Elwyn stood and gave her own persuasive speech, prompting murmurs from the whole crowd. But as the Advocates made their final remarks, loud cracking and smashing sounds signaled a portion of Independence's wall collapsing under the force of the wind outside.
Chaos erupted as wind and rock burst into the spire, threatening harm to the innocent spectators of the forum. Embers and Charm leapt to help the fleeing masses, and Elwyn strode alone toward the hole in the wall. Elwyn called on the Weaver for a miracle in an attempt to seal the gaping hole, but the people did not have enough faith in the Weaver for her to fully block the wind. Shava gave an impassioned plea for the people to put their faith in Elwyn, and Embers and Charm managed to aid in that effort. Embers even managed to convince Advocate T'siir to try, albeit somewhat reluctantly. With the faith of the people behind her, Elwyn managed to use the Weaver's power to seal the hole enough to restore safety and order to the spire. All around the forum space, the people of Erudition looked to Elwyn with faces full of hope and belief.
Elwyn and Embers helped deliver notes about the forum to the other spires so that the people can make an informed vote, then returned to Ingenuity to regroup with the rest of the party. With the apparatuses ready, the Silver Seekers took a short rest and then departed to descend the chasm. However, their path downward was blocked by enlarged feral mind flayers with giant runes carved into their flesh. Fortunately, the apparatuses withstood the assault, and the party arrived at the bottom of the chasm safely. There they were greeted by three figures: Kshura, the one-tentacled mind flayer known as Cephalossk, and an unknown yuan-ti with the head and torso of a human but the lower body of a serpent. With a wall of force guarding the nexus and funneling the wind upward the Silver Sekers prepared to face Kshura once again.
The Silver Seekers broke into groups to confront the problems before them. Elwyn and Embers engaged with Kshura, facing her without aggression and trying to sway her from the League of Terrors. Vert and Knightmantis got to work assessing the primal nexus and the force field surrounding it. And Charm focused on the floating many-eyed minions that Cephalossk summoned to keep the party busy while he battered the nexus with his psychic energy in an effort to completely undo the seal. After a difficult struggle, Embers and Elwyn were able to convince Kshura to defect from the League and managed to remove the deadly tattoo placed on her by the League, and Vert and Knightmantis were able seize control of the force field protecting the nexus. With that, the party brought a full-force onslaught down on Cephalossk. They nearly succeeded in killing the mind flayer, but he was eventually able to flee through the portal at the back of the chamber.
With Cephalossk gone, the wall of force protecting the nexus broke, fully unleashing the gale-force winds and partially releasing the giant four-winged beast within the nexus. Vert and Knightmantis hastily began working on the Vahgma-style guardian construct they planned to use to quell the winds of the nexus. However, a misstep from Knightmantis while altering the existing seal resulted in the nexus rupturing, causing large chunks of rock to rain down on the Silver Seekers from above. After a difficult struggle, Vert managed to contain the power of the nexus within a construct controlled by the consciousness of Nihidon, but not before Nihidon revealed his true identity as an ancient vampire dragon with a grudge against Emperor Stratos and extracted a vow from Vert that he would help Nihidon kill the emperor.
With that, the winds finally abated, and the Silver Seekers ascended the chasm back to Erudition. The city did not escape totally unscathed, with one of the stalactite spires having fallen into the chasm when the nexus ruptured below. However, the massive webs spanning the chasm to catch the fallen spire and give Erudition's people a path to evacuate seem to have saved the city from too much harm. The party took some well-deserved rest at an inn known as the Fancy Flumph before setting out to accomplish various personal tasks within the city. Charm found a gambling den called the Lucky Xorn and made a profit at its various game tables and copper slot machines. Embers and Kshura visited the Adran Zauviir Gymnasium, where those in Erudition who seek to perfect their physical forms come to train. There, Embers got another chance to humiliate Stoic Sentinel captain Theren Mysek, as well as to meet Myria Brandyman, the author of the martial arts manuals Embers used to learn to fight. Meanwhile, Vert and Knightmantis spent some time together in the city, talking about what transpired at the nexus and about future plans. Knightmantis warned Vert to be careful with Nihidon, and explained that her next plan is to return to Viduun to investigate their aunt's connection to the League of Terrors. Finally, Elwyn spent time with Shava Daevyr, talking about the Weaver and the Masked Lady. She learned that the Masked Lady is hailed as a hero by the people of Erudition for slaying Lolth's son Seldafein when he turned on them in the ancient past when his followers and Eilistraee's followers fled Lolth and the deepdark. Shava also gave Elwyn a necklace of magical prayer beads dedicated to the Weaver as a gift. But more importantly, Shava gave Elwyn a sealed letter that the Ancient Mother had been holding on to for over a hundred years. In it she found a simple note from her own mother, Elentari, asking Elwyn to find her in Lumera, the drow city beneath Vahgma.
As the Silver Seekers prepared to return to Amberhearth and the surface, an important meeting took place far away in the Faewild. Tuppence has found Zia Wild-dance as instructed by the ghost of her mother, Blade. Zia informed Tuppence that as court Virtuoso for the fae Court of the Sky, it is their duty to train members of a group known as the Faerie Orchestra. The Orchestra and their songs are vital to the Faewild in many ways, but Zia explained that one of their greatest duties is to perform a song known as the Concerto of Cleaving every 1,000 years. If the song is not performed, the plane of dreams, which sits a hair's breadth away from the Faewild, would engulf and destroy the fae plane, and the Concerto provides the magic to maintain that distance. However, an illegitimate court comprised of outlaws and misfits known as the Court of Outcasts has been systematically attacking and killing the members of the Faerie Orchestra, including Tuppence's own mother. To make matters worse, it also seems that the Court of Outcasts has kidnapped the future conductor of the Orchestra, Tuppence's friend Indy. Without the Orchestra and its Conductor, the plane of dreams has already begun affecting the Faewild, and it's only a matter of time before the plane and everyone in it are consumed. With that Zia tasked Tuppence with reassembling the Orchestra, beginning with a talented faerie dragon singer known as Nymlyliam who lives in Amberhearth.
Season 4: Dreams of Sorrow and Defiance
Click "Show spoiler" for the full summary of the Dreams of Sorrow and Defiance arc of Season 4.
Show spoiler
The Ascent Home
During the Silver Seekers return to Amberhearth, Kshura shared important information about the League of Terrors with the party. She explains that the League is comprised of yuan-ti, giants, dragons, and mind flayers. There may even be other groups involved, such as the mysterious figure known as the Dreamer, who Kshura has heard mentioned before. The yuan-ti, who are now led by a general named Ilsish, mainly act as spies and infiltrators, and have infiltrated most governments and important organizations to some extent. However, Kshura fears that they will become disposable foot-soldiers when war inevitably breaks out, and is worried about the safety of her sister Elu. The giants are led by a fire giant warlord named Helblindi, who is supported by a death giant seer named Angrboda and a fire giant paladin of Surtur named Imd. The mind flayers are led by Cephalossk, who answers to something called the Eldest Brain, and are responsible for originally bringing the League together, and currently have a blockade of their strange ships around the planet of Alen'dal. Meanwhile, the dragons are two ancient beings known as Niras (also known as Skyvenom, Mother of Calamity, and Poison of Karnus) and Daegu (known as the Decayed Death). Somehow these two dragons escaped Stratos' wrath, and now seek to reclaim their rulership. Finally, Kshura offered some ideas about seeking allies, such as the elven Astral Armadas, the thri-kreen of the Spellscar Desert, Emperor Stratos, or the rebellion against the Empire. She also mentioned that the League's motivations are not as unified as they seem, and it may be possible to drive a wedge between them somehow. After a strange encounter with a samurai crab in the dark wet tunnels of the shallowdark, the Silver Seekers finally emerged onto the sunlit surface.Homecoming
Upon returning home, Embers and Kshura went into town to find Kshura a place at an inn. There they discovered that Nora Frothtankard, Tes, and Molo had arrived in Amberhearth and were beginning to set up their new inn. Kshura offered to trade labor for room and board, and Nora told Embers that she is considering renaming the tavern. Meanwhile, Charm reunited with her friend Dot and told him of her plans to return to her colony in the Spellscar Desert in hopes of turning them away from the League. Early that same week, Torinn introduced the Silver Seekers to their new recruits: a hobgoblin priestess of Tiamat named Isi, a young human sorcerer named Eustace Goodgrapes who is only just discovering his powers, and a myconid warrior who is full of enthusiasm to experience new things. While they are all a bit rough around the edges, Torinn is working on training them up as quickly as he can. Meanwhile, Embers and Vert met with a contact from the criminal organization known as the Clowder, and called in a favor to arrange a meeting with someone higher up in the organization. But the party's downtime was interrupted by the shocking and abrupt return of Tuppence and her dog companion Bandana. While the party was pleased to see Tuppence, she brought with her the unwelcome news of an additional objective. With her home plane of the Faewild in danger of being engulfed by the plane of dreams, it is imperative that Tuppence find new members for the Faerie Orchestra in order to play the Concerto of Cleaving and separate the two planes once more. As a first step, Tuppence returned to Amberhearth in search of a faerie dragon named Nymliliam. Nymliliam, or Nym for short, was once the friend and companion of Lord Mystralath, the former owner of the party's keep in Amberhearth. However, Nym apparently left Amberhearth some time ago. Following clues left behind in the town, the Seekers determined that she must have retreated to the fae parallel of the party's keep in the Faewild. The Seekers agreed to help Tuppence find Nym, on the condition that they avoid spending more than 24 hours in the Faewild, lest they fall prey to that plane's time-warping magic.Dreamsorrow Hold
The Silver Seekers used a faerie circle of mushrooms to transport themselves to the Vernal Grasslands in the Faewild. There, they found their bearings and struck out for the fae version of the keep. On their way there, the party was beset by a mysterious fog that separated them from one another, a dense forest that confused all sense of direction, and strange nightmare creatures that seemed to draw energy from nearby sleeping pixies. But when they finally arrived at the keep, they found it shrouded in purple fog and beset by a thunderstorm created by Nym's powerful sorrow. Undaunted, the Silver Seekers entered the keep known as Dreamsorrow Hold. There they found that Nym's powerful sorrow had done more than simply shape the weather outside Dreamsorrow Hold itself. It also gave rise to three binding rules that limited Tuppence's power. Unable to sing, play her instrument, or fly within the keep, Tuppence and the Seekers began to search for ways to break the hold of these rules. After some exploration, the Silver Seekers encountered powerful manifestations of Nym's loss, loneliness, and anger. By using the words of a riddle scrawled on the keep's front entrance to deal with each of these manifestations, the Silver Seekers removed the limitations on Tuppence's magic one by one. As they did so, they also found pieces of a song titled Requiem for Remembrance. Upon finding all of the pieces of the song, Tuppence realized that it was actually still incomplete. She weaved the three sorrowful parts together with hopefully connective tissue, relying on her own experience overcoming sorrow and loss with the help of her friends as a guide for completing the song. When she finished her performance, the ghost of Tuppence's appeared from her pan flute. With a tearful goodbye, Blade Wiseacre moved on to the afterlife, entrusting the fate of the Faewild to her daughter. Completing the Requiem for Remembrance also opened the way forward to Nym. When the party descended to face her, they found an enlarged Nym in the grips of a powerful nightmare. They managed to wake her by performing the Requiem together, but when she woke Nym screamed "I DON'T WANT TO FEEL IT!" and attacked. As the party battled with the faerie dragon, a dark version of Tuppence appeared from the roiling purple fog and tried to hinder the party by playing a counter version of the Requiem for Remembrance. However, a well placed Hold Person spell from Elwyn prevented this alternate version of Tuppence from interfering. Meanwhile, the Silver Seekers attempted to soothe Nym's pain with words and displays of empathy, ultimately culminating in Tuppence pulling the small form of the faerie dragon out of the enlarged projection with a kind and empathetic remark. However, just as Nym seemed to be free from the grips of her sorrow, the purple fog enshrouded her, transforming her into a aberrant nightmare dragon with a large eyeball in its throat. The alternate version of Tuppence fled with a fearful look in her eyes, leaving the Silver Seekers the nightmarish dragon creature. It was a fierce battle, but in the end the Silver Seekers managed to defeat the monster, and rescue Nym. Nym awoke slowly and spoke to Tuppence about her grief. Tuppence asked Nym to join her in performing the Concerto of Cleaving, and Nym, who seemed to already know something of her duty as a member of the Faerie Orchestra, agreed. As the party left the keep, they found it floating high above the Vernal Grasslands on an earth mote with a rainbow arching across the sky. Mysteriously, Tuppence also seemed to have gained some powerful new faesong armor.Greymantle Penitentiary
With their mission in the Faewild complete, the Silver Seekers returned to Amberhearth. There, they unwound from their ordeal and began planning their next steps. Nym revealed that Lord Mystralath was from somewhere among the stars and expressed a desire to visit his home world some day. To that end, she explained that a crystal seed found among Mystralath's treasure could be planted to grow a vessel capable of leaving Alen'dal. Elwyn planted the seed in a grove which she enriched using her druidic magic, and Vert bought some magical rope from Nadia that will alert him if anyone unauthorized enters the grove or the Seekers' keep. Meanwhile, Embers met Kshura for lunch, and the two shared their feelings and histories with each other. When night came, Embers and Vert then went to meet the leader of the Clowder, who turned out to be a tabaxi woman named Flames to whom Embers drunkenly gave some bad advice in the past. Finally, Elwyn was visited by the Masked Lady, who unwittingly set of the keep's new alarm. Elwyn and the Masked Lady spoke of the Weaver and reconciled over their differing dispositions towards the goddess. Ultimately the two were able to draw closer than ever before, despite their conflicting opinions. Before long, it was time for the Silver Seekers to begin planning and plotting their next mission: an attempt to break into the Empire's famed Greymantle Penitentiary to rescue Vert's father, Bazel Orenglas. With Embers' prior knowledge of the prison, some help from the Clowder, and an ample amount of preparation and planning the group finally felt ready to set out. They teleported the fae version of their keep to a faerie ring in Twintowns before traveling north to catch a train from Fymyr to Greybarrow, the town at the foot of the cliff upon which Greymantle Penitentiary rests. Along the way they caught up with old friends and allies in Twintowns and met some new friends in the form of a Tabaxi clan known as the Bright Tundra clan. One of the clan's elders, a man named Rustling of a Deer, read Elwyn's fortune and produced chillingly accurate results. On the train from Fymyr to Greybarrow, the Silver Seekers learned that their ally Adrex Esstyr, the Silvered Seneschal of the Argent Athenaeum, had been arrested on the grounds of treason against the Empire. Resolving to rescue him if they could, the party added another list to their numerous problems to solve in the prison. Upon arriving in Greybarrow, the Seekers met with an associate of the Clowder's named Two-faced Marlow, who helped them with their disguises. Elwyn disguised herself as Elina Ironpot, the prison's new head chef. Vert disguised himself as Grimm Greymantle, a veteran soldier who has served a number of rotations on the prison's guard staff. And Embers disguised herself as Sergeant Baela Silverblade, a disgraced officer from the Empire's army who was sent to the remote prison to serve a term as punishment. With their disguises in place and Tuppence secreted away in a crate of supplies bound into the penitentiary, the Silver Seekers set their plans into motion. Once within the prison, they began to sow rumors about a being known as the Wyrmblessed Crusader who, seemingly omnipresent and omnipotent, was coming to free the prisoners from their shackles. As tensions in the prison rose, the party tested its defenses and gathered as much intel as they could. But things reached a tipping point when the warden Erias Greymantle brought in an outside priest to examine the prisoners, guards, officers, and staff under the effects of a Zone of Truth spell. Not feeling confident about her ability to beat the test, Embers set a daring plan into action. She lured Captain Ethra Greymantle into her private officer's chambers and got the jump on her, stealing the captain's high-access keystone, immobilizing her, and shoving her out a window into a howling blizzard. Embers, Vert, and Elwyn then made for the high-security area below the main prison area while Tuppence began to sow chaos in the prison yard. The chaos and the discovery of Captain Ethra's bound form outside the prison kicked the facility into high alert, and Tuppence was forced to improvise Adrex's extraction. With quick thinking and no small amount of luck, the two managed to make their way past magical defenses, guards with augmented sight, and warden Erias Greymantle himself to rendezvous with the rest of the party. Meanwhile, Embers, Vert, and Elwyn set about dismantling the prison's power generator and magical defenses. One of the defenses they dismantled even allowed an earth elemental with a taste for gems and precious metals that the party had lured into the area to break into the dragon Ignyss's hoard to distract her. With that done, the Silver Seekers made their way to the highest security area of the prison, where they were sure they would find Bazel's cell. But instead, the Silver Seekers found themselves face-to-face with a large mirror—a magical artifact set into a frame of dragonbone. Embers managed to guess some of the mirror's command words, the motto of the Greymantle clan in the dwarven tongue, but accidentally triggered an effect that sucked Elwyn and Vert into the mirror itself. Inside the mirror, Elwyn and Vert encountered the mirror's other occupants—the Stratian Empire's most dangerous enemies throughout its history. Meanwhile, Erias Greymantle chose that moment to attack the party, and a heated battle ensued. Ultimately the Seekers managed to free Vert, Elwyn, Bazel, and a number of the other prisoners from the mirror and drive back Erias. This bought them the time and peace to regroup before making their final push out of the prison to escape. Through a combined effort of the Masked Lady and the Weaver's powers, Elwyn managed to grow a large tree right outside the walls of the prison and create a portal in its trunk back to the forest outside their keep in Amberhearth. Erias and Ignyss fought desperately to keep the party from escaping, but ultimately they failed and were later executed by Emperor Stratos for their failure. With that, the Silver Seekers had made it home with Bazel Orenglas, deposed king of Vahgma in tow.Season 5: From Festivals to Fulaerith
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments