Here Kitty, Kitty

Into the War Zone

In the morning, Lethe examined the items he had stolen from the monastery library. He found one of them to be a collection of long-forgotten ritual spells: Amanuensis, Arcane Mark, Comrades' Succor, Dowsing Rod, and Wizard's Curtain. Another scrolls turned out not to be a scroll at all, but several loose papers wrapped around an immovable rod. As the party prepared to head into the city, they were visited by Trinn. She told the party she had possibly found a way to mitigate the curse, but needed a plant called aconite for it. She knew that Virren Lunamir had a large variety of magical and medicinal herbs in his tower, and asked the party to bring some back if they were heading there anyway. The party agreed to this and left the Déonian safe zone.
The party moved stealthily through the ruins of the city. After a time, Aberchak became aware of an approaching Ajokai patrol and the party took refuge in a burned-out house to avoid them. As they observed them, the party saw the Ajokai soldiers to be strange creatures; humanoid, but with large horns jutting from their heads and long, thick tails. The party also noticed them transporting what appeared to be a prisoner, a catlike humanoid creature. As the party hid, several arrows began to rain down on the Ajokai patrol as a number of similar feline figures began ambushing them. The tide of battle quickly turned south for the ambushers as the Ajokai commander revealed himself to possess magical abilities, and decimated their ranks with a series of fireballs. One of the fireballs went wide and crashed into the house the party was using for cover, forcing them to reveal themselves. In a split-second decision, the party elected to help the feline figures and together managed to make short work of the Ajokai soldiers.

The Rebels

In the aftermath of the battle, several of the ambushers rushed over to the imprisoned figure to free him. Once loose, the figure thanked the party for their assistance. He revealed himself to be Sokamoto, a high-ranking general within the Ajokai army who was currently leading a rebellion. He said that the Ajokai forces had been mentally linked to their Empress, but that connection was severed when Teldyrn was brought into the Feywild. He had taken advantage of that severance to rise up against his fellow general, an individual he referred to as the Third Champion. He stated that he had long since become disillusioned with the Empire—particularly their treatment of his fellow tabaxi—but unable to do anything about it while the Obsidian Empress maintained domination over him. He and his forces retreated into the sewers, and invited the party to accompany them to their hideout for safety.
The party accompanied Sokamoto and his troops below the city through a twisting maze of sewers, eventually emerging into a large cistern which had been transformed into an ad-hoc command center for the rebels. They were approached by a massive, hulking, lion-like feline figure who identified himself as Sokamoto's second-in-command Khoman. After an exchange with Sokamoto explaining the situation, Khoman escorted the party to an area where they could rest if needed while Sokamoto tended to his own wounds.
After a brief rest, the party spoke with Sokamoto about their mission to reach the Cerulean Summit. Sokamoto told them that their safest bet would be to travel through the sewers as if they traveled topside they would have to pass directly by Goldenblood Keep, the large castle originally belonging to Erolith that the Third Champion had turned into his base of operations. Sokamoto mapped out a path for them and bid them luck as the party headed into the sewers.

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Here Kitty, Kitty"

---

Previous Chapter: There Wolf, There Castle

Next Chapter: The Cerulean Summit

---

Ingame Date: Indeterminate
Real-Life Date: August 15, 2021
Protagonists:

• Lethe Argie
• Erevan
• Aberchak Haverdak

Featured NPCs:

• Trinn 
• Sokamoto 

Locations:

• Teldyrn