Discovering Lonaira

Discovery, Exploration

The party is intersepted by a company of Drow warrriors mounted on Hippogriffs. They demand to escort the party to there master. After two days travel the party find themselves on a mysterious island named Lonaira.

As The Path of Nightshade put Gilderoy away, and exit the tower of Solanna Bael, there are hundreds of Drow waiting outside, many mounted on hippogriffs. They are the guardians of the tower, they greet the party and request to take them to their master. They have been tasked to make sure the secrets of Solanna Bael are not discovered by the “wrong hands”.   The speaker is Zaim DoEtt. He declares "If you want to bring your ship, we will escort you, but the captain needs to come with us as collateral to make sure you follow." Bobushio offers to let other soldiers onto the The Dragons Redemption ship. Zaim also takes a moment to look Gilly with amusement "I can tell that you have imprinted on a hippogriff." Gilly recalls back in Kucca after the battle with Vozgan she took care of a baby Hippogriff with the caretaker there.   During the journey a tiefling on the ship introduces himself as Sand, son of Brander, Sandon Branderson. Black, slicked back hair and glasses. He writes constantly, and wants to write tale of the Ship and her crew.   While traveling over The Sea of Koshira the visitors tell the tale of a monster that lives in those waters named Koshira. He is the reason that sailors don't tread through those waters. Even with the whole crew on look out no one is able to spot the creature in the ocean from overhead.   After a night of revelry the soldiers reveal the destination. Bobushio's discerns they are going to an island with a volcano on it. They also befriend the soldiers and discover are not evil, they’re just dedicated. They don’t want to see what we got from the tower. Doctor Tick is happy to teach them about medicine and play many amusing songs to keep the mood light and happy. It takes two days to travel to a tiny island off the east coast of Val Xora.   Gerrig Grimhelm is constantly on watch to keep an eye on Gilly. Rosco Urnon is not even subtle about it.   As they draw near the island, many get some pretty heavy Deja vu from Nepttin and Nerezza, but not Thuniel. It’s easy to pick up the illusionary nature of the island, and as they draw near, it’s evident there’s not enough space to land on it. As they cross this threshold, suddenly reveals that the volcano is an illusion, but in reality there’s a wizard tower and plenty of space for the hippogriffs and the Drow to live. It’s all clearly very Elven, ancient architecture, but well tended.   On a high platform they are met by an extremely tall elven man with long white hair and no eyebrows. Zaim introduces us to Randolfo the Magnificent.   The island is beautiful, windy, and noisy. Randolfo nods to as Zaim introduces the Path of Nightshade. Randolfo leads them into a beautiful open room that is enclosed by magical windows to keep out the noise and wind. There are pillows for sitting, but he’ll summon chairs for anyone who wants them.   Randolfo just sits and watches the party for an uncomfortably long time. Bobushio is weird back. After some time he welcomes them to Lonaira (shorthand for “horrible island” in elvish), the name is meant to keep people away. He is unnecessarily long winded in his explanation and relation of stories. This is the headquarters of a group of protectors of the secrets of Solanna Bael called The Lamplighters. Our one mission is to bring to light the truth of what has happened, of how magic was broken by the terror Hrothbert. "We have dedicated ourselves to rooting out the truth and making sure it is not lost. Recently, we have felt a surge of interest and activity around the six grimoires, and magic has been restless of late." Randolfo exclaims. He describes their job is to root out those with evil or dishonorable intent amongst Hrothstorians. They are the gatekeepers of the secret, making sure only the worthy get the information.   He then reveals this Randolfo is a simulacrum. He does recognize the tokens from Wobu, and that helps him gain trust for in the group. He descibes that some of the other simulacrum didn’t work out well in every case. He’s been here for 2500 years and never met anyone who was able to fix magic. He’s met many people who have come out of the tower, but none of them had a Suit of Armor that has been lost for hundreds of years (Gilderoy). Where did you get him?   Gilly describes the An abandoned Arevon Castle in Wet Rock. It seems like maybe another Hrothstorian was able to assemble a couple of pieces of Gilderoy and hid him there. Randolfo knows the history of the castle, the feud that led to the tragic deaths before the marriage that led to the curse and the subsequent problems with the castle.   Bobushio asks if Randolfo thinks the Tower knows about what he has been telling them. He does not think so. Randolfo seems very impressed by us, though he is cautious. What is going on here is very impressive and seems like it could influence a lot, if they actually did something with it. Bobushio reads his surface thoughts and it seems like Randolfo is excited by our potential. But he’s also cautious.   Bobushio brings up Ukaru and asks what Randolfo knows about him. Randolfo turns the question back on him. Bobushio says that he knows that Ukaru sacked the pirate nation, he thinks he has a Grimoire, he has an army of Warforged, etc. Bobushio keeps reading the thoughts and it looks like Randolfo is connecting the dots.   He asks what they know about the books. They tell the story in brief, and they are using the Tower for their resources. Moz Moonbeams him with his consent, just in case. He says, it seems like we need information on two more books. The party takes some time to sort out all the infromatino they have about the Grimores   The temple in Woodbridge might also have one. We need info about the books of the Shadow and the Fury.   The Mockery - Vosgan’s book which brought up an army - Currently at Tower   The Traveler - The Changelings -   The Devourer - harvest life and power and control water - seaside cave? Nerezza had (two personalities, like when Hrothbert took the other being into his mind)   The Keeper - Create warforged - Ukaru   The Fury - Wrath gave him the loom to weave the power of convergence - Possibly in Woodbridge   The Shadow - Cradled corruption to release the sunderer -   Randolfo feels like he seems to know more about the Shadow than he can remember right now. He seems overwhelmed and almost giddy about how much knowledge is being laid out here. He says his network has a few leads right now. The war has caused some turmoil and issues. He has gained information though, through the turmoil. They have been looking into Ukaru because he seems to know more than he should. Randolfo has a Lamplighter who is undercover in Ukaru’s area. Then a little corgi comes around the corner and someone says, “Cheddaaaar!”     Gilly remembers Ricky a member of The Silver Corps in Ethios he had a pet corgi named Cheddar who knew Aela. He comes around the corner and is dressed in different armor, as well as roguish robes. Gilly thought he was human, but he is clearly Drow. Bobushio asks if we can do Moonbeam and Moz obliges.   Ricky says his name is not Ricky, it’s Raymond. He has been undercover to gain information about Andran The Silver King for a very long time. Aela and Brerenax are doing well, but they aren’t in contact with each other much.   We discuss how much we trust the Tower or not. Randolfo does seem genuinely to want to undo what Hrothbert did. He tells us that trust needs to be gained, but he feels that our goals are aligned. He has leads that might give us more insight in the war.   Randolfo himself isn’t quite sure what the war is about and why it’s happening. He thinks Ukaru might have a book, but he can only do so much without an army. They mostly just find information, and see if people are gaining too much information for the wrong reasons. He is willing to give us information that might lead us to Ukaru’s book if he has one. There are two places where more power than normal is accumulating, points of contention. They are weak leads, but they’re something.   Raymond says, In Ethios, he received intel of two things. One is in the city of Ravenbluff (capital city of Val Xora). They think Ukaru is influencing Ravenbluff a previous ally of Ethios.   Lead one: shipments of ale that has become the hot item of the city. Everyone is obsessed with Red Claw ale; everyone is addicted and dropping all of their money on this ale. Production of weapons, food, etc that would be shipped to Ethios are faltering because the city is addicted and distracted.   Lead two: there are rumors that someone is trying to create supersoldiers for Ukaru. The rumors are in the city, but the operation likely isn’t there.   Option three: go to Neptin and find Nereza’s book and bring it back to Lonaira.   Thuniel thinks the Red Claw epidemic seems like the biggest threat at present and talks everyone into it. Gilly just wants to try the Red Claw.   Ethios, Anderin co-rules with an Ancient Silver Dragon, Hadaronos The Shining Tempest.   Ravenbluff is ruled by an ancient Bronze Dragon, Talzedir The Burnished Justice. It’s known as a breadbasket, and it’s full of windmills and fields. Predominantly features a massive monument of the dragon called The Great Guardian. It’s a good place to live and work.   Bobushios sends ISAC to scout a full map of Lonaira. We get a feeling that Randolfo never leaves, but most of The Lamplighters have other lives and jobs and things that help them infiltrate and gather data. Randolfo invites the part to stay as long as needed, but time is of the essence. He also invites Gilly to have her hippogriff brought to be trained and housed. Gilly decides to have it brought to the Tower. She contacts Gorlag via Moz’s Sending spell and requests that the hippogriff be transported the Greywater and be put in the care of the Tower. He is hesitant, but will do it. The handler will be there until Gilly comes to get it. Gilly is uses the portal on The Dragons Redemption.   Bobushio and Thuniel stay at the island while Gilly and Moz go to get the hippogriff. Moz lets the tower know they are coming the next day. They arrive and find out that the orc who brought it has not left its side. It’s white and gray, and it’s not full grown. It’s a rebellious teenager. The young orc with it is the same who took her to see the hatching and said he’s train it for her. Gilly names it Highwing. Highwing is pissed off until Gilly steps up and can feel a connection. The young colt settles almost instantly. This griff is big enough for Gilly, but not for an orc.   Next time, Moz wants to ask Randolfo what he knows about Kalashtar.