Session 45: Homeward Bound to Brechlen Report
General Summary
22nd of Haelynir 1524 Continued
After what was a bit of a stressful day, the crew get ready for nightfall and a long rest. Karl and Fargrim share a tent while Lily shares with Xeldarix and Uqaviel sits out the front of that tent. Before bed Karl set up an alarm in certain points to help with the security overnight.
Lily joined Ten and Erin on the first watch. While on watch, Lily hears a twig snap which revealed some lions had made their way into the camp. There were 19 lionesses and a male lion. They try to pounce on various crew members. Lily summons her hellhound spirit as she defends herself. The crew also defend themselves and manage to kill four of the lions. Fargrim is woken with a start from the fight, thankfully sleeping in his armour he is able to run out into fight and offer his support. Uqaviel just watches as Xeldarix continues to sleep. Karl wakes and crawls out of bed, raining down fire on the first lioness he sees.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries that had been captured work on getting themself free while their captors are distracted. However, Erdad sees this and tries to get them to stop. Lily joins in by casting lighting at the mercenaries, but takes a more violent approach then Erdad did on the matter.
Erin and Wave use their new spears to bring down some of the lions. Ten uses his spirit guardians to protect himself and deal with the rude lions that knocked him over. The male lion lets out a mighty roar and frightens many of the crew. Those unaffected are quickly able to dispatch most of the lions.
Wave calls out to alert everyone to the prisoners making a break for it. Three of the mercenaries are forced down to unconsciousness. One of them has died in their attempts to escape. Erin reminds them they only still breath thanks to the mercy of the Pirate King and Karl declares they still have his mercy for now. When Wave asks about Lorenah, the mercenaries claim she is bound in a cage unguarded.
The leader of the mercenary group assures everyone this wasn’t planned. His pets merely came looking for him and they thought they could get away. Tomorrow the mercenaries will take people to their came. The crew spends some time removing the dead lions from the camp.
Everyone heads back to sleep to try and get some rest.
23rd of Haelynir 1524
In the early hours of the morning, Karl and Fargrim are woken up for their shift. Karl hears something large moving around near the camp. He sends Aeyrn out to look and sees a large creature. Fargrim offers to go and check it out with his darkvision.
Fargrim sees elephants around and tries to lead them away. Using his light spell, Fargrim gets a better look at the larger elephant which turns out to be a mammoth. It’s hugh, spiky with blood on it and an intelligent glen behind its eyes. He sends a message to Karl. They back and forth via message and agree to try and lead it away, but let Erin know about it.
Karl flies behind Fargrim and is suddenly overcome with the urge to land next to Fargrim. Both of them are confused by this but Karl notices that Fargrim is being kept within trunks reach of the mammoth. This makes Karl very nervous and he takes the risk to ask the creature directly if it can understand him. It nods. With a bit of a back and forth with limited capacity while the elephants encircle the pair.
Karl casts a spell to communicate with the creature and it reveals it’s name is Manny and it wants blood. It is willing to not take all the blood from the camp if a sacrifice is willingly given. Karl pretends to go with this to get Manny to follow them but instead message Erin to prepare for an attack. However, Karl pushes his luck and Manny seems to realise something is up and Fargrim feels weakened by the sensation of his skin burning where the trunk touches him.
The elephants attack and everyone springs into action. Erin runs in to attack some of the elephants. Karl puts up a wall of force to get Manny off Fargrim and give them some space. Fargrim summons his spirit guardians while Lily sends out a fireball on a group of the creatures and the crew rain down arrows on the creatures so four of them die.
Ten is quick to follow up with this and electrocute an elephant while he summons his spiritual weapon. Wave uses his usual charm and annoying demeanour to engage Manny into a duel which works. Meanwhile some of the elephants start to gore at the crew. Erdad kills an elephant and snarls at the other elephants. Karl sends Lily a message warning her that the creature is an awnshegh and that they need to get Xeldarix away from it to stop her being possibly affected by a blood burst.
Meanwhile, Manny runs towards Wave and turns into a large brightly coloured snake. This shocks both Fargrim and Karl. Fargrim calls down Haelyn’s fire on the elephants. Lily runs over to Uqaviel and asks him to take Xeldarix away in case of the burst, which he does do. The crew continue their attacks on the elephants and kill 4 of them. The snake version of Manny strikes out at Enna while Fargrim does his best to combat the elephants trying to get through Karl’s wall of force. While everyone attacks the snake manages to turn it back into a mammoth even if they aren’t sure that’s actually better.
Erdad and Karl bring down one of the elephants together. Karl takes the moment to say something to Fargrim if he’s badly affected by the black blood of Azrai. Fargrim encourages Karl to stay back as he does his best to deal with one of the remaining elephants. As the crew lets loose a series of bolts, Manny falls and a burst of black lightning erupts from the mammoth as it’s filled with arrows.
Enna kills an elephant and it leaves one remaining. Erin does her best to try and bring it down. With Karl and Fargrim’s help, it falls down. Fargrim starts to really feel the effect of whatever Manny did to him at this point and does not feel able to complete his watch. However, before Fargrim can get far there is a smaller blood burst from one of the elephants, but it doesn’t go beyond Enna who is ensuring the elephants are all dead.
Those not on watch get some sleep.
A few hours later when enough rest is had. Karl checks on various people. Lily still has a tail and whiskers, but no cat ears. Xeldarix has ears again but still has feathers in her hair line. Uqaviel looks normal if he keeps his mouth shut. Fargrim has little tusks like a half orc. Fargrim seems to be restless in his sleep. Lily is meditating in hers and Xeldarix’s tent when Karl comes to visit. They discuss Gus and how he’s now back at Jarvis’ tower which reminds Karl to send a message to Jarvis. Karl asks Lily to help with removing some of the ivory from the dead elephants. While doing this they notice the strange groove is gone where the mercenaries said their camp was. Lily sends Xochitl to go and look. The little black bat does see their tent. They decide getting Fargrim to pray for “Zone of Truth” would be helpful with talking to the mercenaries. Lily goes and checks on Fargrim. He wakes up and prayers for a short time while Lily checks on Xeldarix. They join up with Karl to harvest 27 tusks. When Fargrim shares his concerns about something Uqaviel said when they discussed where Xeldarix might be getting her powers from. Fargrim theories she might be drawing power from the temple of Avani that she helped hallow. Karl realises this means she might have worshippers. They agree this will cause issues if Xeldarix can’t conceal her wings which is something Uqaviel is working on. After this the group moves to question the mercenaries with Fargrim’s assistance to ensure truth is told. The party learns that the enchanted area was the result of a caravan that creates an area of safety for rest. The camp would be impossible to find without resisting the effects of the trap. Whoever activates the trap designates who is unaffected by it. The leader is the son of Lord Jaylen Blooddrop of Saarmen who is the Master of the hunt for the Lord of the city. Also they learn that Morningsteel killing the unicorn was no accident. As the group leaves enough clothes and weapons for the mercenaries to get by, they walk off and continue heading to Brechlen. When far enough away, Karl tells Fargrim about the magical items they have picked up on the journey, giving him details about the fight with the hags. Meanwhile, Xeldarix talks with Lily as she tries to stay away from Uqaviel. She is unhappy about the idea of trying to conceal her wings since it makes her feel bad. Lily works through the thought process with Xeldarix as she tries to grasp the difference in places and why her wings have to be hidden. She pouts as if she thought Lily would take her side instead of Uqaviel’s.
As the day goes on, Lily gives Xeldarix a piggyback. She tries a fireman's carry but Xeldarix doesn't like it. Meanwhile, Fargrim goes to talk to Uqaviel about where Xeldarix draws her power from. Fargrim is worried he has done something wrong with the hallowing and has been fooled by Xeldarix. Uqaviel is interested to see the temple.
At 1pm, just as Brechlen is in sight about about a twenty minute walk away, Karl doesn't notice the circus that is set up outside the town under he's walking next to the ticket booth. He was just so lost in his own thoughts of home. As the party looks at the ticket booth for one moment they saw a Brecht man looking at them blankly but as they continue to look they see an illusion give way to a zombie manning the booth. The sound of circus music can be heard from inside. Seven of the crew, Wave and Enna are heading for the ticket booth. Fargrim tries to stop them and Karl reacts with using his wand on the zombie to dispel the illusion. Fargrim immediately contacts High Paladin Salma. She requests they investigate the matter and confirm what has happened. Lily gets Xeldarix to conceal her wings. Erin sends her crew and officers away to the city to get situated at the Golden Tankard Inn. Everyone else stays to investigate the circus. The zombie at the ticket booth taps a sign that has the price of entry and Karl pays for everyone. Inside the area you see clowns and jesters. The clowns seem to be zombies entertaining children while the jesters are ghouls that seem to be playing tricks on people as people laugh at it even if it happened to them. No one seems upset.
1 is a food stand with a zombie handing out food for a copper.
2 has music coming from it but there is no one in there.
3 has a sign for a fortune teller.
4 seems to be side games.
5 is a card game.
6 has a sign for an artist drawing.
11 had a skeleton lifting weights that with the illusion on looks like a strong man performer.
12 is the big top.
13 is another music tent but there is no one in there.
They search for whoever may be running the show. They find the man in question inside the large tent that has a sign out the front. It says “Preview of tonight's big show!” Inside there are three undead elephants juggling and tossing zombies that have curled up into a tight ball. There is a Vos man with a cane and top hat almost conducting the event with an audience of at least 30 people cheering the performance on. This man looks Vos and is heavily tattooed to give himself a skeleton look.
The group sits to watch the show. Meanwhile, Karl surreptitiously casts telepathic bond. After fifthteen minutes the act is wrapped up and the Ringmaster invites everyone to return tonight and to bring as many people as possible. Most of the people leave, but the party stays to talk to the man.
The man insists that anyone living who joins the circus while living stay that way. Can leave when they like and he just collects the trash left behind by life.
Lily gets the sense the Ringmaster is hiding something and omitting facts. He’s also trying to gauge the reaction of the group with his statements. Afterwards they leave and head for Brechlen.
As they approach the city Uqaviel gets less inky and wispy and just looks like a very poor Khinasi man with blazing eyes. The group heads to the manor so Karl can refresh telepathic bond before they split up. They knock and enter to a stout halfling in a maid outfit hurrying along. She has tan skin and brown eyes. Her very long wavy dark brown hair is styled in elaborate braids. She looks like a young adult. The party learns this is Caramella Barrowes. The maid and cook Lyra had hired.
They get a tour and are shown to their rooms. It seems that instead of having a normal bed, Karl has a boat bed with sailor ships. Fargrim has a rock in his room and some beard crowns. In the kitchen Karl recasts Telepathic Bond. Uqaviel is unwilling to leave Xeldarix to see the temple, so he will visit it with her tomorrow.
Erin, Karl and Fargim all leave together. Karl and Erin discuss how the hunt for Lorenah needed to continue and Xeldarix’s wellbeing. Then Erin splits off at the mage guild to go check on her crew, while Karl and Fargrim continue to the Sailing Song of Niera temple.
The temple of Niera seems to be alive with activity. There is a paladin by the donation box but he's the only one not running around. Karl makes a donation and the pair go up to see the High Paladin since the paladin on the door was unable to tell them anything about the current situation. Karl slips Fargrim a gem.
The pair inform Salma of what they know about the circus. Salma tells the pair about the issues within the city. The pair learn that the temple is kept busy thanks to aberrations that attacked the lords and ladies of the town last night. This aberration makes strange music and attack High Priestess Trulacht, Priestess Segar, Lord Conradin and Lord Hunchon. Lord Galloway was also supplying forces to protect the nobles. Karl asks for Saryea to help with the circus since the temple cannot spare much to deal with it. Salma agrees as it seems Saryea has received some complaints about her duty. Karl and Fargrim make their exit at this point.
As they make their way to the temple of Avani and talk about how they could handle the circus tonight. They also talk about the Avani temple and Karl’s interference there. When they arrive they find people working on restoring the temple as the sounds of construction can be heard. Inside there are a few pews near the front. This room is clean. The floor is repaired and so is the floor above. Any graffitied paintings have been removed. There are 4 alters at the back. One big one in the centre and a little one off to the left by the secret entrance downstairs and two the right. Each has some lit candles.
A few people sit in the pews but many are working on the building. Two people kind of float near the altars, giving people instruction or council. There is a sign as you enter "food and a place to sleep for some help restoring this temple. Let's do it for her."
A woman, named Colleen, inside asks after Xeldarix when she sees Fargrim whom she seems to recognise. She informs them when asked about the Avani Priestess who came and was redirected to Lord Galloway. Colleen says she is welcome, but she is not welcome to take over however. Xeldarix is referred to constantly as Lady Xeldarix. Colleen reveals some pray to Xeldarix due to appearing in their time and need. Karl elbortates to Fargrim about some of the deeds she did when the defeated people against the splintered thieves guild. Fargrim is suspicious of the whole affair.
Karl asks if anyone praying to Xeldarix noticed a difference around the 16th when she teleported the crew out. Colleen tells them that on the 17th they felt connected to Lady Xeldarix. Some even had visions of colour. They felt warmth and love. Some small blessings have been granted. After learning all this Fargrim and Karl leave.
Lily takes Xeldarix to her room while Caramella sets up a bath. Lily warns Caramella about Xeldarix’s wings and Uqaviel which causes them both to appear, giving the halfling a fright. After some preening and a bath Xeldarix drops off to sleep for a nap.
At 2:30pm Fargrim and Karl return to the manor. They go up to see Lily and Xeldarix. They tell Lily about what they discovered. Fargrim needs a nap and with him staying here, Lily wants to go with Karl to look into the puzzle box. Lily leaves Xochitl as a little white bat to watch over a sleeping Xeldarix. Karl and Lily leave to go to the mage guild. Upon arriving they go downstairs to find Steve doing paperwork. They discuss what has happened since they last saw one another. They also show Steve the puzzle sphere. Steve believes it should be okay to use it as long as they have a safe room and a Master of the guild present with them. He encourages them to go see Master Barnes as it could be a good chance for him to get to know the new head of his school. The pair tell Steve about the circus and he starts to look into finding someone to watch his kids so he can come help. It turns out some of the troublemakers that tried to steal Karl’s spellbook had also tried to sneak into the restricted material at the guild and were being punished for it. The pair head upstairs to Wellmore’s old office. The door is open to the old office of Edlin Wellmore. Glancing inside, it is completely redecorated. There is a halfling sized desk by the window. So someone can look out the window while they work. There are some papers on the desk. There are more book shelves, but they never go over a certain height, so they are more like half shelves. In one corner there are a bunch of bean bags, blankets and pillows. A couch. On one wall there are some hand drawn pictures that look to be done by children pinned up. Trinity Barnes is humming to herself as she picks up a book from the shelf. She invites the pair in and they tell her about the puzzle. Trinity has heard of the creator of the puzzle. Trinity requests to look at Karl’s wand that allows him to dispel magic. As he passes it to her, there is a moment where it looked like he might not be able to let go but in the end does so and is pale until it is returned to him when some of his colour returns. They also tell Master Barnes about the circus. She offers the pair a theory about the biggest threat to the circus being strangely busy during their time in town. Possibly a coincidence or just a sign of good planning. They invite Master Barnes to join them while looking into the puzzle. She accepts and wants to read over the draft Karl has started of his report. While working on the puzzle Lily is unable to make any headway, but Karl is. With a flash of blue light, Karl is turned to stone. Master Barnes goes to get Lily some diamond dust so she can reverse this problem of a student being turned to stone. About five minutes after Master Barnes has left, Lily notices the door to the room open and closed by itself. She can hear someone walk behind her and she casts Faerie Fire but there is the sound of someone dodging out of the way of the light. Two young men who appear to be apprentices become visible as they attack Lily. Lily defends herself but another more powerful caster appears. They want Karl alive and request that Lily stand aside or for Lily to give them the woman with wings be given to them. Lily continues to fight to try and remove these threats. Despite them having the numbers, Lily is able to knock all three of them out while suffering great damage from their spells.
Back at the manor Xeldarix wakes up screaming Lily’s name, which in turn wakes up Fargrim. Uqaviel has her restrained while Fargrim runs in. Fargrim manages to calm down the immortal and teaches her about trusting people to look after themselves. They also talk about Xeldarix’s lost memories and how she needs to focus on getting better. In the end she is calmed and Uqaviel takes the moment to work with her while Fargrim observes.
Lily calls out for help and sees Master Barnes limping more heavily than usual as she is running back towards Lily. Her veins appear to be on fire. She gives Lily what she needs to fix Karl. Lily casts Greater Restoration. For Karl a moment later Lily is standing in front of Karl looking rather hurt and Master Barnes is leaning against a wall swaying slightly and he sees that she’s hurt too. Lily explains what happened while Master Barnes rests on the floor by the wall. Master Barnes explains a pit fiend was waiting for her in her office. She was able to deal with it but to great harm to herself from over channeling too much. They check the bodies. One of the apprentices is alive. The wizard seems to have no face. The body itself feels weird. Karl tries to make sure the wizard is dead but the body explodes with his attack. At this point Master Sparrow, Master Burke, Master Dale, and Steve come running in. Karl heals the apprentice that’s still alive. His name is Ash. Steve heals Lily and she leaves, quickly heading back to the manor. Meanwhile Karl, Ash, Steve and Master Barnes heads down slowly to Steve’s office. There they question Ash. They learn the man who exploded never game his name to the apprentices, but did come with a letter from Wellmore. This letter has been burnt though. According to Ash it said they needed to capture Karl or the darked skinned woman with wings. If they got either of them they had to take them to a meeting point and be teleported to Wellmore. This man contacted Ash and the other apprentices about six days after Wellmore fled the city. Karl tells Ash about the price of working for a fiend like Wellmore was. He then talks about redemption as Ash stops answering question which does get Ash to open up about how the fiend got into the guild. They were summoned by the man and placed in a crystal. One had been hidden in the office of each Master. Steve had made some tea for Trinity to help with her leg, which she sipped while they questioned Ash. It turns out any of the apprentices can release the fiends but only the man could control them. Master Barnes casts Detect Magic to look for the crystal in this office, but seems to be heavily affected by the tea. Through this she finds it and the door to get to Sunnis. Steve wants to take it to the place for dangerous items the guild has. They decide the guild needs to be searched, but Master Barnes continues to deteriorate under the affects of the tea. Karl neutralizes the poison running through the Master and the effect is immediate. She is back with it and furious at what had happened to her. Karl notifies the other Master’s about the crystals. Meanwhile Steve goes over and discovers all of his teas have been tampered with. Ash pleads innocent to knowing about the tea. They discuss searching the building. Karl stays in the office with Master Barnes and Ash so they don’t see him in case they try again or trigger the fiends. While the search happens, Karl tells Master Barnes about Xeldarix being the true target. Then sends a message to Lily.
Upon arriving at the manor Lily quickly heads up to see the others. Lily tells Fargrim what happened while Xeldarix fusses over Lily. After some time Lily gets a message from Karl about searching for invisible people at the guild. Uqaviel is unwilling to leave Xeldarix and help, so instead Lily will send her bat instead.
Karl and Master Barnes discuss a few matters and try to get to know one another a little one. She tells him about her injury from overchanneling and how magic has been unable to fix her leg. She limps normally, but when she overdoes it, the leg really plays up. Saryea enters. She overreacts to seeing Karl’s new scars and threatens Ash. Ash reveals there four apprentices are still at large. However when Karl pushes for more information Ash gets defensive. They take all Ash’s things but he tries to Misty Step away with an item. Karl counters this magic and they decide Ash is no longer cooperating. Ash is bound and gagged after his escape attempt.
Fargrim puts on his armour and after checking in with Lily, heads off with a small white bat who will help him see people unseen. Lily is going to stay with Xeldarix and rest. It doesn’t take long for Fargrim to reach the guild. After talking to the lady at the reception, he heads down to check the druid area for Karl and anyone unseen. He finds Steve’s son Reed is arguing with Eva about the fact they are no longer going to the circus. After a discussion with them, assuring them that the circus is bad, he goes back and knocks on Steve’s door to find Karl inside. Fargrim is brought up to speed with the situation and he goes straight into bad cop mode. Karl is quick to remind Fargrim he is here to search the place for people unseen and he goes to work. As he heads upstairs he sees the old Wellmore office has changed and has been damaged in what was probably a bad fight. He runs into Steve and learns that they have found the crystals with the fiends. Master Burke offers to helps Fargrim with his search while Steve goes to update Karl and Master Barnes. From hearing that there were more hidden fiends then Ash was aware of and what that would mean for Brechlen if they got out, he relents and agrees to give them information about what they were up to and who was involved. He writes it down for Karl. Steve and Trinity review it and Trinity is visibly disappointed to see her efforts haven’t been as effective as she hoped. It’s revealed that the restricted and protected item area is no longer secure, Karl suggests using a demiplane until Steve can send these crystals to the plane of fire. As Fargrim returns and the discussion mentions the circus, little Eva is outside the door. Fargrim takes her out of the room and tries to reason with the four year old, but it ends with her running off. Fargrim goes to tell Reed about Eva and what is really going on with the circus. After Fargrim returns to the room with Karl, Steve and Fargrim go upstairs to seal the gems away in the practice room. Meanwhile, Karl continues to talk to Ash who eventually reveals that the rings allow for the apprentices to communicate telepathically and he tells them the plan failed the moment he was revived in the training room. Their escape route was in Wellmore’s home. Karl immediately steps outside to message Lily.
Meanwhile, while lying down with Xeldarix, Lily hears Caramella cry out in pain but is cut off. Lily goes to check it out after convincing Xeldarix to stay with Uqaviel. Looking over the railing and downstairs, Lily sees a young man dragging an unconscious Caramella away. She throws fire at him and he disappears with a Misty Step. Lily goes and gets Caramella and carries her up to be with Xeldarix and Uqaviel once she has confirmed she is still alive. Lily then begins a careful search and attack of the intruders in the manor. In the end she has very little problems gathering up the four home invaders, just in time to have a warning magically sent by Karl. Xeldarix has healed Caramella.
Karl and the others take Ash back to the manor. When they arrive, Fargrim calls out and Xeldarix goes running downstairs to greet the returning pair with a hug and wings out. Ash is caught staring and Karl encourages him to ask his questions. Ash asks if she is the woman they were sent for and comments how she doesn’t seem like the thing that was described to them. Xeldarix heals Ash as well. Lily is brought up to speed with the whole thing while preparations are made to take the prisoners to the watch. Alphonso is very happy to see everyone again. He is happy to pull the cart to take people where they need to go. Xeldarix and Lily stay at the manor to get a short rest while the prisoners are taken away. Karl, Saryea and Fargrim all go together. Though Fargrim does cast sending to touch base with Steve who will arrive while they are gone. Once confirmed on seeing Steve when they have dealt with the prisoners, they leave to meet up with Galloway who is waiting for them at the rebuilt Watch HQ. When talking, Galloway learns that Simone is not with the group and is very unhappy about the whole situation, but he gloats about having High Priestess Fulda under lock and key in his jail. He takes the prisoners and the group returns to the manor.
Steve arrives at the manor and checks on Lily before waiting with Caramella for everyone else to return. Once they do they all head up to Lily’s room to discuss the circus. They decide to go early, scope it out and try to meet the wife to get a better idea of what is going on there. Then if need be, maybe confront the ringmaster before the performance starts. They have three hours and Karl needs a rest before they go, plus dinner is being cooked.
At the end of Karl’s short rest, he gets a message from Sam that Erin is at the guild looking for him. Karl directs Sam to send her to the manor and he greets her at the door. Karl fills Erin in on his horrible homecoming that he’s had. Erin comforts him as Saryea walks in and is confused as to why the random Captain that the group hired a few weeks ago is here.
A few hours later when enough rest is had. Karl checks on various people. Lily still has a tail and whiskers, but no cat ears. Xeldarix has ears again but still has feathers in her hair line. Uqaviel looks normal if he keeps his mouth shut. Fargrim has little tusks like a half orc. Fargrim seems to be restless in his sleep. Lily is meditating in hers and Xeldarix’s tent when Karl comes to visit. They discuss Gus and how he’s now back at Jarvis’ tower which reminds Karl to send a message to Jarvis. Karl asks Lily to help with removing some of the ivory from the dead elephants. While doing this they notice the strange groove is gone where the mercenaries said their camp was. Lily sends Xochitl to go and look. The little black bat does see their tent. They decide getting Fargrim to pray for “Zone of Truth” would be helpful with talking to the mercenaries. Lily goes and checks on Fargrim. He wakes up and prayers for a short time while Lily checks on Xeldarix. They join up with Karl to harvest 27 tusks. When Fargrim shares his concerns about something Uqaviel said when they discussed where Xeldarix might be getting her powers from. Fargrim theories she might be drawing power from the temple of Avani that she helped hallow. Karl realises this means she might have worshippers. They agree this will cause issues if Xeldarix can’t conceal her wings which is something Uqaviel is working on. After this the group moves to question the mercenaries with Fargrim’s assistance to ensure truth is told. The party learns that the enchanted area was the result of a caravan that creates an area of safety for rest. The camp would be impossible to find without resisting the effects of the trap. Whoever activates the trap designates who is unaffected by it. The leader is the son of Lord Jaylen Blooddrop of Saarmen who is the Master of the hunt for the Lord of the city. Also they learn that Morningsteel killing the unicorn was no accident. As the group leaves enough clothes and weapons for the mercenaries to get by, they walk off and continue heading to Brechlen. When far enough away, Karl tells Fargrim about the magical items they have picked up on the journey, giving him details about the fight with the hags. Meanwhile, Xeldarix talks with Lily as she tries to stay away from Uqaviel. She is unhappy about the idea of trying to conceal her wings since it makes her feel bad. Lily works through the thought process with Xeldarix as she tries to grasp the difference in places and why her wings have to be hidden. She pouts as if she thought Lily would take her side instead of Uqaviel’s.
As the day goes on, Lily gives Xeldarix a piggyback. She tries a fireman's carry but Xeldarix doesn't like it. Meanwhile, Fargrim goes to talk to Uqaviel about where Xeldarix draws her power from. Fargrim is worried he has done something wrong with the hallowing and has been fooled by Xeldarix. Uqaviel is interested to see the temple.
At 1pm, just as Brechlen is in sight about about a twenty minute walk away, Karl doesn't notice the circus that is set up outside the town under he's walking next to the ticket booth. He was just so lost in his own thoughts of home. As the party looks at the ticket booth for one moment they saw a Brecht man looking at them blankly but as they continue to look they see an illusion give way to a zombie manning the booth. The sound of circus music can be heard from inside. Seven of the crew, Wave and Enna are heading for the ticket booth. Fargrim tries to stop them and Karl reacts with using his wand on the zombie to dispel the illusion. Fargrim immediately contacts High Paladin Salma. She requests they investigate the matter and confirm what has happened. Lily gets Xeldarix to conceal her wings. Erin sends her crew and officers away to the city to get situated at the Golden Tankard Inn. Everyone else stays to investigate the circus. The zombie at the ticket booth taps a sign that has the price of entry and Karl pays for everyone. Inside the area you see clowns and jesters. The clowns seem to be zombies entertaining children while the jesters are ghouls that seem to be playing tricks on people as people laugh at it even if it happened to them. No one seems upset.
Lily takes Xeldarix to her room while Caramella sets up a bath. Lily warns Caramella about Xeldarix’s wings and Uqaviel which causes them both to appear, giving the halfling a fright. After some preening and a bath Xeldarix drops off to sleep for a nap.
At 2:30pm Fargrim and Karl return to the manor. They go up to see Lily and Xeldarix. They tell Lily about what they discovered. Fargrim needs a nap and with him staying here, Lily wants to go with Karl to look into the puzzle box. Lily leaves Xochitl as a little white bat to watch over a sleeping Xeldarix. Karl and Lily leave to go to the mage guild. Upon arriving they go downstairs to find Steve doing paperwork. They discuss what has happened since they last saw one another. They also show Steve the puzzle sphere. Steve believes it should be okay to use it as long as they have a safe room and a Master of the guild present with them. He encourages them to go see Master Barnes as it could be a good chance for him to get to know the new head of his school. The pair tell Steve about the circus and he starts to look into finding someone to watch his kids so he can come help. It turns out some of the troublemakers that tried to steal Karl’s spellbook had also tried to sneak into the restricted material at the guild and were being punished for it. The pair head upstairs to Wellmore’s old office. The door is open to the old office of Edlin Wellmore. Glancing inside, it is completely redecorated. There is a halfling sized desk by the window. So someone can look out the window while they work. There are some papers on the desk. There are more book shelves, but they never go over a certain height, so they are more like half shelves. In one corner there are a bunch of bean bags, blankets and pillows. A couch. On one wall there are some hand drawn pictures that look to be done by children pinned up. Trinity Barnes is humming to herself as she picks up a book from the shelf. She invites the pair in and they tell her about the puzzle. Trinity has heard of the creator of the puzzle. Trinity requests to look at Karl’s wand that allows him to dispel magic. As he passes it to her, there is a moment where it looked like he might not be able to let go but in the end does so and is pale until it is returned to him when some of his colour returns. They also tell Master Barnes about the circus. She offers the pair a theory about the biggest threat to the circus being strangely busy during their time in town. Possibly a coincidence or just a sign of good planning. They invite Master Barnes to join them while looking into the puzzle. She accepts and wants to read over the draft Karl has started of his report. While working on the puzzle Lily is unable to make any headway, but Karl is. With a flash of blue light, Karl is turned to stone. Master Barnes goes to get Lily some diamond dust so she can reverse this problem of a student being turned to stone. About five minutes after Master Barnes has left, Lily notices the door to the room open and closed by itself. She can hear someone walk behind her and she casts Faerie Fire but there is the sound of someone dodging out of the way of the light. Two young men who appear to be apprentices become visible as they attack Lily. Lily defends herself but another more powerful caster appears. They want Karl alive and request that Lily stand aside or for Lily to give them the woman with wings be given to them. Lily continues to fight to try and remove these threats. Despite them having the numbers, Lily is able to knock all three of them out while suffering great damage from their spells.
Back at the manor Xeldarix wakes up screaming Lily’s name, which in turn wakes up Fargrim. Uqaviel has her restrained while Fargrim runs in. Fargrim manages to calm down the immortal and teaches her about trusting people to look after themselves. They also talk about Xeldarix’s lost memories and how she needs to focus on getting better. In the end she is calmed and Uqaviel takes the moment to work with her while Fargrim observes.
Lily calls out for help and sees Master Barnes limping more heavily than usual as she is running back towards Lily. Her veins appear to be on fire. She gives Lily what she needs to fix Karl. Lily casts Greater Restoration. For Karl a moment later Lily is standing in front of Karl looking rather hurt and Master Barnes is leaning against a wall swaying slightly and he sees that she’s hurt too. Lily explains what happened while Master Barnes rests on the floor by the wall. Master Barnes explains a pit fiend was waiting for her in her office. She was able to deal with it but to great harm to herself from over channeling too much. They check the bodies. One of the apprentices is alive. The wizard seems to have no face. The body itself feels weird. Karl tries to make sure the wizard is dead but the body explodes with his attack. At this point Master Sparrow, Master Burke, Master Dale, and Steve come running in. Karl heals the apprentice that’s still alive. His name is Ash. Steve heals Lily and she leaves, quickly heading back to the manor. Meanwhile Karl, Ash, Steve and Master Barnes heads down slowly to Steve’s office. There they question Ash. They learn the man who exploded never game his name to the apprentices, but did come with a letter from Wellmore. This letter has been burnt though. According to Ash it said they needed to capture Karl or the darked skinned woman with wings. If they got either of them they had to take them to a meeting point and be teleported to Wellmore. This man contacted Ash and the other apprentices about six days after Wellmore fled the city. Karl tells Ash about the price of working for a fiend like Wellmore was. He then talks about redemption as Ash stops answering question which does get Ash to open up about how the fiend got into the guild. They were summoned by the man and placed in a crystal. One had been hidden in the office of each Master. Steve had made some tea for Trinity to help with her leg, which she sipped while they questioned Ash. It turns out any of the apprentices can release the fiends but only the man could control them. Master Barnes casts Detect Magic to look for the crystal in this office, but seems to be heavily affected by the tea. Through this she finds it and the door to get to Sunnis. Steve wants to take it to the place for dangerous items the guild has. They decide the guild needs to be searched, but Master Barnes continues to deteriorate under the affects of the tea. Karl neutralizes the poison running through the Master and the effect is immediate. She is back with it and furious at what had happened to her. Karl notifies the other Master’s about the crystals. Meanwhile Steve goes over and discovers all of his teas have been tampered with. Ash pleads innocent to knowing about the tea. They discuss searching the building. Karl stays in the office with Master Barnes and Ash so they don’t see him in case they try again or trigger the fiends. While the search happens, Karl tells Master Barnes about Xeldarix being the true target. Then sends a message to Lily.
Upon arriving at the manor Lily quickly heads up to see the others. Lily tells Fargrim what happened while Xeldarix fusses over Lily. After some time Lily gets a message from Karl about searching for invisible people at the guild. Uqaviel is unwilling to leave Xeldarix and help, so instead Lily will send her bat instead.
Karl and Master Barnes discuss a few matters and try to get to know one another a little one. She tells him about her injury from overchanneling and how magic has been unable to fix her leg. She limps normally, but when she overdoes it, the leg really plays up. Saryea enters. She overreacts to seeing Karl’s new scars and threatens Ash. Ash reveals there four apprentices are still at large. However when Karl pushes for more information Ash gets defensive. They take all Ash’s things but he tries to Misty Step away with an item. Karl counters this magic and they decide Ash is no longer cooperating. Ash is bound and gagged after his escape attempt.
Fargrim puts on his armour and after checking in with Lily, heads off with a small white bat who will help him see people unseen. Lily is going to stay with Xeldarix and rest. It doesn’t take long for Fargrim to reach the guild. After talking to the lady at the reception, he heads down to check the druid area for Karl and anyone unseen. He finds Steve’s son Reed is arguing with Eva about the fact they are no longer going to the circus. After a discussion with them, assuring them that the circus is bad, he goes back and knocks on Steve’s door to find Karl inside. Fargrim is brought up to speed with the situation and he goes straight into bad cop mode. Karl is quick to remind Fargrim he is here to search the place for people unseen and he goes to work. As he heads upstairs he sees the old Wellmore office has changed and has been damaged in what was probably a bad fight. He runs into Steve and learns that they have found the crystals with the fiends. Master Burke offers to helps Fargrim with his search while Steve goes to update Karl and Master Barnes. From hearing that there were more hidden fiends then Ash was aware of and what that would mean for Brechlen if they got out, he relents and agrees to give them information about what they were up to and who was involved. He writes it down for Karl. Steve and Trinity review it and Trinity is visibly disappointed to see her efforts haven’t been as effective as she hoped. It’s revealed that the restricted and protected item area is no longer secure, Karl suggests using a demiplane until Steve can send these crystals to the plane of fire. As Fargrim returns and the discussion mentions the circus, little Eva is outside the door. Fargrim takes her out of the room and tries to reason with the four year old, but it ends with her running off. Fargrim goes to tell Reed about Eva and what is really going on with the circus. After Fargrim returns to the room with Karl, Steve and Fargrim go upstairs to seal the gems away in the practice room. Meanwhile, Karl continues to talk to Ash who eventually reveals that the rings allow for the apprentices to communicate telepathically and he tells them the plan failed the moment he was revived in the training room. Their escape route was in Wellmore’s home. Karl immediately steps outside to message Lily.
Meanwhile, while lying down with Xeldarix, Lily hears Caramella cry out in pain but is cut off. Lily goes to check it out after convincing Xeldarix to stay with Uqaviel. Looking over the railing and downstairs, Lily sees a young man dragging an unconscious Caramella away. She throws fire at him and he disappears with a Misty Step. Lily goes and gets Caramella and carries her up to be with Xeldarix and Uqaviel once she has confirmed she is still alive. Lily then begins a careful search and attack of the intruders in the manor. In the end she has very little problems gathering up the four home invaders, just in time to have a warning magically sent by Karl. Xeldarix has healed Caramella.
Karl and the others take Ash back to the manor. When they arrive, Fargrim calls out and Xeldarix goes running downstairs to greet the returning pair with a hug and wings out. Ash is caught staring and Karl encourages him to ask his questions. Ash asks if she is the woman they were sent for and comments how she doesn’t seem like the thing that was described to them. Xeldarix heals Ash as well. Lily is brought up to speed with the whole thing while preparations are made to take the prisoners to the watch. Alphonso is very happy to see everyone again. He is happy to pull the cart to take people where they need to go. Xeldarix and Lily stay at the manor to get a short rest while the prisoners are taken away. Karl, Saryea and Fargrim all go together. Though Fargrim does cast sending to touch base with Steve who will arrive while they are gone. Once confirmed on seeing Steve when they have dealt with the prisoners, they leave to meet up with Galloway who is waiting for them at the rebuilt Watch HQ. When talking, Galloway learns that Simone is not with the group and is very unhappy about the whole situation, but he gloats about having High Priestess Fulda under lock and key in his jail. He takes the prisoners and the group returns to the manor.
Steve arrives at the manor and checks on Lily before waiting with Caramella for everyone else to return. Once they do they all head up to Lily’s room to discuss the circus. They decide to go early, scope it out and try to meet the wife to get a better idea of what is going on there. Then if need be, maybe confront the ringmaster before the performance starts. They have three hours and Karl needs a rest before they go, plus dinner is being cooked.
At the end of Karl’s short rest, he gets a message from Sam that Erin is at the guild looking for him. Karl directs Sam to send her to the manor and he greets her at the door. Karl fills Erin in on his horrible homecoming that he’s had. Erin comforts him as Saryea walks in and is confused as to why the random Captain that the group hired a few weeks ago is here.
Notes
| Name | XP | Running Total | Level At End of Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fargrim | 1,420 | 87,390 | 11 |
| Karl | 1,420 | 87,390 | 11 |
| Lily | 1,420 | 87,390 | 11 |
Karl Moller
Level 7
Human (Brecht)
Neutral Good Wizard
(Sage)
(Sage)
46 / 46 HP
Lyra Ulvendatter
Level 8
Elf
Chaotic Neutral Ranger
(Outlander)
(Outlander)
/ 53 HP
Lily Wulfsdotter
Level 7
Rjuven Half Elf
CN Druid
(Urchin)
(Urchin)
72 / 72 HP
Fargrim Hammerland
Level 8
Dwarf
Lawful Good Cleric
(Soldier)
(Soldier)
59 / 64 HP
Report Date
02 Oct 2021
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Comments