Unicorn: 12/15/18

Darkness and Light, By Mark Kung
Calben | Fiego | Genevra | Karash | Xion

Neverwinter, Jewel of the North, was the site of a recent discovery of an arcane laboratory whose entrance lay in the Chasm, a scar in the land left over from the Spellplague. At first covered in an unnatural darkness and guarded by a cursed knight, it was cleared by our heroes and reclaimed by its original owners, Modrons from the plane of Mechanus and a mysterious mage named Luminosa. The people who had been exposed to the energies of the darkness seemed to be suffering from some mysterious illness. Luminosa cooperated with Neverwinter to cure it working with the fussy cleric, Genevra, and the quirky toymaker, Calben. The celestial couatl, Idero, was present but was not able to shed much light on the illness.   Consulting her god, Genevra was granted the insight that using the blood of a celestial being, like the couatl, to treat the illness would be effective, but did not grant the knowledge of how to perform such a transfusion. With trepidation, she realized that she would have to share this information with Calben, but was reassured by her deity that this would result in weal, overall, so she broached the idea with the gnome. Together they devised a test to transfuse Idero’s blood into her to try and cure the affliction and remove the necessity of the Luminosa’s gauntlets.   Meanwhile, back in Waterdeep, Fiego received a dream sending from Luminosa. She warned him about the strange illness among people exposed to the laboratory’s darkness and requested that he bring himself and anyone else who may have been exposed to Neverwinter so they could be tested. The bard agreed to contact Xion and Karash, who had both come into contact with the strange darkness below Neverwinter. The three of them set out in a De Gryphon wagon.   On the way there they stopped in the small town of Leilon, home to a community of humans and uncharacteristically non-hostile kobolds. While there, they learned that the odd pairing came about because of a kobold adventurer, Deekin Scalesinger, a bard that played a part in breaking his people free from the despotic rule of an evil dragon. He established a community that was at peace with their human neighbors, which turned out to be the source for the kobold contractors hired by Lord Neverember to repair the Chasm. Fascinated by the tale, Fiego bought a book detailing the life and adventures of Deekin.   When they finally made it to Neverwinter, they noticed a lot of anti-kobold sentiment around town. They also noticed they were being tailed by mysterious people in cloaks, but didn’t have time to do anything about it.   Entering the laboratory, they were greeted by Luminosa, Genevra, and Calben. They were able to explain the mysterious affliction to the Waterdhavians better than Fiego did with his limited understanding. The three of them were tested, but found to be free of the affliction.   Luminosa made a request of them, that they speak on her behalf to the authorities of Neverwinter to help her establish her laboratory as an official presence and cede some of the land in the Chasm to her. Fiego agreed to at least open the conversation. They warned her about the mysterious cloaked people before they left. On the way out, they were approached by a curious cat man, a tabaxi, a journalist who wanted the story about what was going on with the Chasm. Knowing that they were not at liberty to divulge that knowledge, Fiego quickly diverted the journalist and the ever loquacious Calben, giving the tabaxi a calling card.   Young Ari, the guard that had helped our heroes before, invited them to his family pub to celebrate, and the group readily agreed. Calben, in particular, was honored to be thus invited as family establishments are especially significant in gnomish culture and so he brought a house gift of various roots and tubers. A fun time was had by all, except possibly for Genevra who was distrustful of Luminosa’s motives and annoyed by Calben’s antics.   After a night of revelry, our heroes made their way toward their lodgings for the night, but were stopped by a figure in the street. A man in a cloak asked some pointed questions about Luminosa, a topic which the group knew was supposed to be kept secret, by his side was a rather large animal that kept itself to the shadows. Our heroes dissembled, uncertain as to the man’s motives. The ever friendly Calben approached the man, who introduced himself as Ethan Gyles, and asked why he wanted to know. The man said that it was “a family matter” and then cast a spell to force the truth out of the gnome.   Taking this as a hostile action, our heroes drew their weapons and warned the man to release their friend. When he did not they attacked, but Fiego discovered his weapons seemed not to affect the man at all. In response, the man signaled to his beast and it revealed itself as a construct of metal, with six glowing eyes. It released a blast wave of energy that shattered windows down the entire street, stunning Xion and knocking Calben and Genevra unconscious. Idero, roused from drunkenness, silently warned the heroes to flee, as he recognized what the man truly was and did not think they could survive the encounter. Karash revived Genevra with a potion and shot arrows at the beast. Fiego roused Calben with a barked Healing Word and threatened the man, but was lifted out of his saddle with contemptuous ease. Calben decisively offered himself in exchange for the lives of the group, a bargain which the man accepted, teleporting both of them away before the rest of the group could respond. Our heroes were left, battered and bruised, on a destroyed street, missing one of their own.   Appearing in a seemingly abandoned building, the man interrogated Calben about Luminosa, even employing mind reading magics in order to glean more information from the wizard. After learning everything he knew, the man was true to his word and left him alive to find his way back to the rest of the group through the darkened streets of Neverwinter. Alarm bells rang out in the night after the explosion ripped through the street.   The next day, our heroes returned to Luminosa’s lab to confront her about the being who had attacked them the night before, whom Idero revealed was a fiend of some sort, an entity from one of the Hells. Genevra, especially, challenged Luminosa to be truthful, having never trusted her.   Resigned, Luminosa revealed that she was, in fact, a fiend, a Raskshasa to be precise. Her head and her backwards hands were those of a tiger’s. This shocking visage was accompanied by an equally shocking tale. Her true name was Aganashti Vapazakshas and she was a member of Hell’s royalty. One day she happened upon a tome that, when read, granted her the free will to act outside of her race’s alignment. Knowing how this would be viewed by the other devils, she fled and had been on the run ever since. Now that she returned to Toril from Ravnica, her family could once again find her. Fiego, enchanted by the idea that an evil being could break free and possibly become good, swore to support her in her endeavor to remain free willed.   Still mistrustful, Calben asked that he be allowed to bind her in a summoning circle and she agreed. Once that was accomplished, our heroes left to process all they had learned.