Chapter 4, Session 9: Lycans, Lightning and Libraries

General Summary

I need to remember to put myself and my friends first, we need eachother. We're a group.

• Thordak comes to a realisation after Persicorum survive The Isle of Erathis .

The session opened with Amrys, who was left in Moonbrook Wares to clean the house and watch Kodo's Fire Ferret and Mimsi's Broken Mimic as well as the raven PawCaw. Amrys found a small amount of alcohol but was shocked to see only rotted and moulded food in the kitchen as the pets killed rats throughout the house. Soon though, Amrys discovered claw marks following the wall in a deliberate fashion and he discovered a hatch hidden in the wall, upon investigating it, Amrys discovered a grey robe with a crimson lined hood and a pair of beautiful longswords with basket hilts as well as a penned letter.
The letter was addressed to Thordak and Amrys learned that Nirya Moonbrook was filed with grief but did not believe Thordak to be dead, though she has decided to 'Run with the Pack' and expressed that she left behind her old Inquisitor equipment as she did not feel worthy of it... but she also felt that the Inquisitors were no longer worthy of her as she was disillusioned with them.
After her writing, there is a new set of writing on the letter, different to Nirya's handwriting. The writing claimed a gate stood open and others stared through, but who lie the keys?
On continuing his investigation, Amrys discovered a path of blood, unnaturally fresh and glowing slightly. He chose to follow this trail and it led him to a pack of werewolves lying in wait who attacked their prey...
Amrys fucking rekt them.
However, as the fight continued, a pack of wolves then arrived to attack the now wounded Amrys and he made a lucky escape with very little health left using the abilities he was gifted by The Thin Man, it seemed this fiht and escape impressed someone as Amrys then heard a slow clapping all around him upon escaping... to which he VERY badly breakdanced before returning to Lakefort . Upon returning to Moonbrook Wares he rested and awaited the party's return.
The rest of Persicorum were based in The Isle of Erathis, with Fen, Olympia, Mimsi and Kodo sitting inside metal plinths whilst Thordak was inside the temple of Erathis. 
Whilst Thordak was inside the temple the rest of the party were consistently struck by lightning summoned by a storm above them as a sign of Erathis' trial beginning. Throughout this fight Fen and Olympia were especially harshly targeted by the lightning bolts and they found themselves badly wounded (this was especially dangerous for Fen as his Reaper dog seemed ready to pounce on him in his moment of weakness until Olympia used spells to defend him). At this time, Kodo and Mimsi were also tempted by a different aspect of Erathis's test as Erathis summoned key pieces of information that was pertinent to them in order to tempt them out of the plinths though none of them took the bait. 
Meanwhile, Thordak took on Erathis' trial in which he asked the god of knowledge a question and was posed a question from the god relating to his adventures and friends so far, the God seemingly was trying to send Thordak a message about his growth and adventures so far. 
Thordak proved his attentiveness by answering every question correctly and he learned the following information:

• Lyren Killian became a Masked Brigade captain for The Inquisitors and was present in A'mlon when the party fought the Inquisitors (he was notably the Masked Brigade member that turned a blind eye to Kodo, Olympia and Mimsi). 
• Thordak learned that Nirya Moonbrook did not have a history before she joined The Inquisitors but ensured that when she was a part of them that she was an incredibly brutal and skilled hunter who did not hate Aist Mages but did enjoy the thrill of hunting and killing them. However, upon having a daughter and then a grandson, she changed as a person and devoted herself to 'getting better' and raising a family. Though she always felt that hunger and need to hunt so she found a new way to live a double life, by becoming the 'Lady of the Woods' and luring the foolish and the wrong-doers into her traps. 
• Thordak learned that Archania Weave continues to reside inside The Chaos and is being warped and shaped into a construct-like creature by it in a similar fashion to the Siblings of the Chaos. 
• He then learned that the Utrunks could be saved and redeemed specifically through his actions, though he also learned that, if he were to go in the wrong direction, then he would still succeed but it would spell disaster for the clan and for those closest to him. 
• Thordak discovered that Bazzle Strum-Strum was currently in the city of Eastbourne and was investigating a building called 'The Hook and Knife' that was based there... he also was notably missing an eye and had a ruby embedded in the socket in it's place. 
• Finally, Thordak learned that his father Shagthok was known to have done 'SOMETHING' so incredible that he changed the opinion of the God Pelor who blessed him, and all of Orc Kin, with his favour. Thordak also learned that Pelor viewed Shagthok as a huge disappointment and that Thordak's abilities do not stem from favour from Pelor but, rather, him being the child of a God's champion. Through his bloodline as opposed to being chosen himself. 

Once Thordak completed the task from Erathis, he was left with a parting message and resolved to care for himself and his friends rather than worrying about the world. When he returned, he noticed his friends injuries and told them what he discovered before resolving to return to Moonbrook Wares to check in on Amrys and ensure all is well there. 
The party soon returned to Lakefort where they found Pets4u's owner Tocoloco who rushed to the party to offer them an item he forgot to sell them earlier that day. For 25 gold pieces each, the party could purchase a jewelled necklace that acted as a secondary spa and protective space for their pets so that when they were adventuring, the pets didn't become an inconvenience to them and there was significantly less risk of their pets dying during a combat. 
Despite an altercation with Olympia, insulted by him charging 25gp for these items, the party soon purchased enough jewels for all of their animal companions and learned that they could not use these jewels on humanoids.  When the party returned to Moonbrook Wares they discovered that Amrys had set up a watch, home alone style, with the animal companions and he notified Thordak of the hatch in the house where Nirya kept her equipment and the letter that Thordak read to himself... He also warned the party about the Lycans in the Woods and his own badass role in defeating them. To which the party seemed unbothered for the most part as they concluded that they did not have enough health or resources to deal with them yet (Fen, Amrys and Olympia all too damaged for a fight).
After the party told Amrys the information they'd learned in The Isle of Erathis they discussed what their next steps were going to be and came to the conclusion that they were going to try Thordak's grandmother as there was a chance she was in the woods outside of Lakefort where she had chosen to 'run with the pack'. He then tried to wear the Arch-Inquisitors cloak that she left in the house but found that it caused a deep discomfort on his skin and so he asked Fen to Identify it. The wizard succeeded but suffered severe acid burns from the item in the first place... he learned that the magical robe required a certain moral character from those that wished to wear it and that the item damaged those who didn't wear it.  Additionally, the party learned that the swords left behind required the user to be able to dual wield them to gain access to their full range of abilities.
Now, with the evening left, the party decided to go about their own business and prepared for their long rests. As part of their winding down in the evening, Amrys offered to cook for the party in order to give Kodo a break and he prepared his dragon meat into steaks... that went not incredibly... the party ate their meals with Olympia deeply enjoying their charred and blackened toughness whilst the party did their best to be complementary and all ate their meals despite Amrys soon learning how unenjoyable his dish was. 
With that, the party took a long rest (apart from Grendel whom Amrys and Fen convinced to stay awake for the rest of the night watching the Reaper dog, giving them another point of exhaustion), though things were exceptionally tense between Fen and his dog, leaving the party very concerned about the wizards well being. 
However, that night, Fen would experience a vision in which he spied down on The domain of the Lady of Pain as she raged about a group of 'fools' who freed 'Vorugal the Devourer' and then further raged about them saving the Reaper. This culminated in Fen watching the Lady of Pain task her revenant champion Drahz Grymhook with tracking down Persicorum and ensuring the Reaper was returned to her cages... and to ensure that Fen was returned as well as punishment for freeing Vorugal.
Upon seeing this, Fen spoke to his reaper dog and they came to an agreement... a devilish pact of sorts that altered Fen's appearance and empowered him for now and in return for protecting his dog. This left Fen with a pair of flightless Devilish wings and a scaled red right arm as the fiendish pact had empowered his form. The party reacted with shock to this but Olympia did admit there was a dark attractiveness to it. 
The next day, the party set out for the Lakefort forests together and, though Amrys could no longer find the crimson trail set out for him last time, he did manage to navigate himself and the rest of Persicorum into the same centre glade where the lycan's attacked the day before. As they reached this spot, the party heard that same aethereal, slow clapping that Amrys heard the previous day. To which Amrys got Olympia to perform for. A performance that was so potent and filled with creative magic that she felt the universe bend to her whims in a moment of inspiration... Though the clapping figure didn't give a response beyond laughter. At which point the voice spoke to the party and expressed her interest in their foolishness in trying to find Nirya Moonbrook ... a creature that she believed belonged to her and not Persicorum.  However, she did offer them an opportunity as, along with the sound of flesh tearing, four paths opened into the forest. If the party could walk along them and destroy each part of her heart then she would let them leave and may even offer them a meeting with Nirya if they impress her. 
As the trial began, the party broke into two teams and began to run into the forests with the sounds of monsters beginning to follow them.

Rewards Granted

The party retrieved the Arch-Inquisitors Robe and the Moonbrook blades. 
The party bought several jewels of protection for their animal companions. 
The party learned a variety of different pieces of information about their allies and the world.

Missions/Quests Completed

• Finding the location of Lyren Killian
• Finding the location of Bazzle Strum-Strum
• Finding the location of Archania Weave
• Finding more information on the Utrunks clans origins. 

Report Date

05 Sep 2021

Primary Location

Lakefort

Secondary Location

The Isle of Erathis