A Mad Dash

General Summary

As the mass of elves pushed through the fence and the Dozharen city guards rushed to respond, the party, alongside Maethoril and Victor's man (a half-orc named Aberchak ) ran to escape the chaos as the city erupted into a full-on riot. Scrambling to get back to Victor's manor, they were stopped by a group of Dozharen but Aberchak was able to bluff his way past them. Unfortunately a much larger squad of Dozharen soon appeared blocking the path, and this second negotiation attempt was not as successful. As combat broke out, Precision was able to distract a number of them by knocking over a large barrel of rotting fish before jumping into the nearby canal to escape. The commotion drew the attention of a large group of angry Asterite elves, who upon recognizing Maethoril began rushing to free him. Erevan cleared a path for the party by wiping out the entire squad of Dozharen with a fireball and the party bolted towards Victor's estate. As they crossed the canal they were accosted by a group of thugs working for the Gessler family, taking advantage of the chaos in the city to hit back at Victor. The ensuing fight gave the Asterites enough time to catch up, and after an intense three-way close-quarters combat the party emerged victorious. They were able to make it back to Elan Manor without further trouble.
Meanwhile, Victor and Lethe were chatting comfortably in the manor. Victor revealed to Lethe that he too had an interest in the arcane, but never was able to truly master a talent for it in the way that Lethe seemed to. In his youth, Victor traveled a lot in pursuit of knowledge and power, and had amassed quite a collection of arcane tomes and artifacts. He told Lethe that he was interested in working with him further, and as a sign of good faith permitted Lethe to pick a spell from a book he had discovered detailing the rare magic school of dunamancy. Victor also promised much more where that came from; however, for anything further there would have to be an exchange of services. At that moment, the doors of the manor burst open as the party returned.
Victor allowed the party to use his guest suites and freshen up, inviting them all to dinner that night along with Maethoril and Kara Diamonti, as all parties involved had matters to discuss with each other. The party retired where they caught each other up to speed on what had transpired over the past few days apart. Before dinner, Maethoril approached Erevan and said that he recognized him, or at least recognized his bloodline. Maethoril had been the keeper of the Great Temple of Liaden in the elven city of Estariol, before it was conquered and destroyed by the Ajokai Empire. He was present when Erevan's father Erolith had sacrificed his life to allow Maethoril to escape the city with Princess Selani, the last heir to the throne of Déon. While they escaped the city with a group of refugees and made it to Eigentica, the princess was eventually killed when a group of bandits adorned with the sigil of a white rose slaughtered the entire group. Maethoril himself survived due to sheer luck, having been knocked unconscious and assumed dead. The elf said that he had been living with the guilt of failing Erolith and pledged himself to Erevan, hoping to find some atonement. He gave Erevan his grandfather's Dragonguard signet ring, and told him that he had constructed a memorial shrine to Erolith near Rantuhr's Point.
At the dinner, Maethoril at first refused to tell his Asterites to stand down but agreed once Erevan instructed him to do so. With that settled, Kara agreed to uphold her end of the bargain and give Lethe four days of free work on the arcaltium, after which the price would go back up to 1000GP/day. Victor, glad that situation was resolved, turned his attention to future matters. He said he had recently learned of an abandoned Räsgardian facility of some sort in the Ernleb forest that had been constructed before the fall of the Empire. Apparently, it has been long forgotten because he could find very little information on it, and no one had ever heard of it. The only reference was in a census taken around 75 years ago. Victor was very interested in whatever is in this facility, and offered to reward the party handsomely for investigating it. He agreed to allow them the use of his resources, on the condition that his man Aberchak accompany them. The party agreed to his terms, and after dinner bedded down in his guest suites.

Chapter Twenty-Six

"A Mad Dash"

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Previous Chapter: Settling Debts

Next Chapter: Don't You Forget About Me

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Ingame Date: 20-21^st of Rainseed, 1855
Real-Life Date: January 3, 2021
Protagonists:

• Precision
• Lethe Argie
• Erevan
• Aberchak Haverdak 

Featured NPCs:

• Victor Elan 
• Maethoril Oloxys
• Kara Diamonti

Locations:

• Einstap