Bars, Books, and Birds

General Summary

The party escorted the injured Sheriff Wilford back to Bountyfair, where he was healed by Alvin Onas. While at his house the party showed the ring they found in the tomb to Alvin, and demonstrated its power. Alvin told them he believes this must be an ancient ring of pure arcaltium, similar to the rings used by the Eloqui Order but far more powerful. He told them something like this requires an expert and suggested they seek out his old friend Weltread, who could be found in the capital city of Alcaster, usually hanging around the Fountainpool Inn. He allowed his ward Ciana (who knows Weltread as he is a good friend of Alvin) to join the party, and the group headed out of town to Hildegard.
At the eastern gate of Hildegard, the party was stopped by a racist guard who did not want to allow the elves through. The party spent a long time concocting a plan to circumvent him and eventually settled on going through a different gate, which allowed them through unmolested. Lethe used his familiar, the Arch-Hoot Ferdinand, to drop raw fish and poop on the racist guard's head. They then got on a boat and sailed downriver to Alcaster.
At the Fountainpool Inn, the innkeeper said Weltread left that morning to handle a droghbird contract. The party decided to give Weltread time to return and killed time until then. Erevan went down to the docks looking for shady individuals who might help him learn more about magic. At Blackcat & Butterbean's Rare Goods and Trinkets, he was told the only real place to find magical knowledge would probably be the Great Arcaneum, which Lethe was already at. Blackcat offered to sell him some magical items, but Erevan turned him down and headed to the library.
Meanwhile, Lethe was exploring the library. He discovered that the fourth floor was locked. He distracted the librarian by chatting about romance novels while his unseen servant stole the keys. When Erevan arrived he had him create the illusion of smoke on the second floor to distract everyone while he snuck up to the fourth. Past the locked door he found the way barred with iron, but was able to use magical to steal five spell scrolls.
Back at the bar, Precision and Ciana spent time hitting on boys at the bar. The two of them teamed up on a red-headed farmhand named Folsten, who was super into Ciana in particular. He ordered them an Ajokai Stout and Precision lost interest, instead dancing with a grumpy dwarf who may or may not have been interested.
When Lethe and Erevan returned to the bar, the party set out to find Weltread. They headed to Kottelson Farm and then further into the Tasrand Forest where they found him fighting off a group of droghbirds. Weltread's reunion with Ciana was cut short as the revelation of the ring from Hayward's Tomb made things deathly serious. Weltread said he works for an organization that has a vested interest in that ring. He kept things cryptic, but was very clear that being in possession of the ring was incredibly dangerous, and seemed to imply that the party's fate was now bound with the ring. He said that the situation was dire, and told the party to head to Derokesh on the island of Kassoth to meet with his organization. After resting the night at the Fountainpool Inn, the party boarded a boat at the docks (while there, Lethe purchased one of Blackcat's loot boxes) and set sail downriver.

Characters Interacted With

• Lethe chatted up Alethea, the librarian at the Great Arcaneum. He told her he would read the Dusk saga and let her know if he was Team Eustace or Team Jacolby.

Chapter Two

"Bars, Books, and Birds"

---

Previous Chapter: Shoulda Put A Ring On It

Next Chapter: Shippin' Up to Roselawn

---

Ingame Date: 15-18^th of First Bloom, 1855
Real-Life Date: February 22, 2020
Protagonists:

• Lethe Argie
• Erevan
• Precision Merchantel
• Ciana

Featured NPCs:

• Alvin Onas
• Wilford Cuspinham
• Alethea
• Folsten and Thørn
• Kristofer Weltread
• Blackcat

Locations:

• Bountyfair
• Hildegard
• Alcaster