SS.2.3 A Father's Gift
Session Preface:
The cloakless form of wingbearer Vicna collapses to the ground, blood pooling from his lacerations and puncture wounds against the dark stone floor of the once grand entrance hall. Feathers drift around you, slowly floating back to the ground in the wake of the flurry of spells and blades flying and clashing and echoing through the vaulted chamber. As you catch your breath, Parathrax, your chest heaving against your armor, you find yourself between the familiar but still striking blurry visages of your brother and a dilapidated form of your father. While your healing and the opportunity to dole out a bit of pain himself have clearly reinvigorated his spirit and liveliness, his physical form is still a far cry from your memories of your platinum order General. Vorothruun, as the eldritch energy swirling around your hand and forearm fades, your mirror images flicker and eventually fold into your singular form. Before you stands what you considered in your youth a different mirror image, that of your brother and father, weapons in hand, side by side. You watch as your father shifts his weight and after a sputtering cough, puts his arm around his favorite son, patting him on the shoulder and tending to a wound that cut between the plates of blood-smeared platinum armor. A smile breaks out across his face as radiant light pulses from his hand and flows into your brother’s wound, sealing the open gash. At no point in this process does his gaze or attention move towards you. Endriel, aware of the somber and intimate tension between these dragonborns, as tangible as the tension in your bowstring, you remove the arrow from its nock, return your bow to your quiver, and step back from the others. Turning quietly on your heel, you politely occupy yourself searching the camp and chapel for clues as to the people and purpose of this peculiar place. The feathers settle finally. The air is still and the monastery is quiet. In the wake of your infiltration of the and subsequent defeat of both the Feathered and the Whipmistress and her followers, each of your thoughts subsequently return to the purpose that has brought you here and the journey set before you.Session Summary:
Following the battle with the Feathered, tensions strained conversation as Vorothruun, Parathrax, and Parathraaj discussed how Parathraaj was captured as well as Vorothruun's reason for returning, amongst other verbal barbs and condescending questions. During the conversation, Endriel continued exploring the monastery, observing more about the worshipers of Loviatar and finding a small collection of notes, journals, and letters amongst the belongings of the members of the Feathered. In the library, Endriel also discovered a regional map of the Nether Mountains. Over the course of the journey back to Avraathe, strained and tense conversation stuttered between extended miles of awkward and poignant silence. Upon arrival, the party makes plans for Parathraaj to return to Avraathe, gather his blade for Vorothruun, and to return to meet them at the unoccupied western tower where they waited. When he does so, he also shares his Ring of Indomitable Defense with Parathrax and 5 Platinum Bolts of Penetration with Endriel in addition to giving Vorothruun the Claw. Upon unsheathing the blade, the dark maroon ruby set into the hilt of the blade hovered above the sword hilt underneath Vorothruun's hand. Simultaneously, the eye of the Rod of the Pactkeeper warped and expanded, creating a ring in which the gem socketed into magically and effortlessly. Upon further study, Vorothruun determined the rod now adds a new element to the eldritch energy with which he cuts down those who stand between him and the rest of the Crown. It was during this moment of focus and clarity Vorothruun relived a vision from his dreams in which he floated over the Sword Coast and found himself amongst the clouds along the coast, looking down over a renovated and rebuilt Neverwinter. After this revelation, Parathraaj expressed an attempt at a heartfelt goodbye, quoting a passage from "Exile," a favorite of the two sons in their childhood, about the importance of friendship and relying on those around you, before departing back into Avraathe to clean up the mess the doppelgänger left behind. In his absence, Parathrax and Vorothruun share a reflective moment about the purpose of their respective journeys away and potentially or eventually back to Avraathe, their home full of corruption like a sickness. Over the course of the following days, the three adventurers journeyed through the rolling hills between the Nether Mountains and High Forest, following an extension of the River Rauvin. During their trip they spent a night in the ruins of Rauvincross, bringing back a bittersweet blend of nostalgia and wondering to Parathrax as he considered his current journey as well as the possibilities that might have been should he have continued serving in the Platinum Order. After an additional couple days wandering their way westward between hill and wood, the party discovered the small community of Jalanthar, an outcropping of stone cottages with mud-sealed timber roofs covered in turf. Half-buried in the ground, these homes from a distance were easily mistaken for small grassy knolls. The party stayed a single evening in The Crowing Cockatrice, the sole destination for travelers in the village. A low-walled, poorly built oval stone keep in the heart of the village, the inn featured a central yard covered by a rickety roof made of old shields and bits of rusted armor, pounded flat and held up with a profusion of props and cross-braced poles to form a stable. The innkeeper, Myles Heldruin, a young and eager to please individual, made sure to provide only the finest of experiences for his newest guests including clean linens, buckets of hot water, and room temperature porridge in the morning. The party the made arrangements to travel the rest of the way to Everlund with a barge on the agreement that Parathrax and Endriel would help transport goods while Vorothruun would simply do well to leave everyone and everything alone in exchange for a few extra coins and an intimidating glance. Upon arriving in the Bell Market of Everlund, each adventurer took advantage of the warm winter morning to take care of a few transactions such as selling a few miscellaneous acquisitions from their endeavors as well as purchasing a handful of everbright arrows from Guildmaster and proprietor of the Bent Bow, Boldor Steelshield. After finishing their business, the three heroes visited Moongleam Tower and prepared for their journey to Neverwinter. Following a brief conversation with Moonlord Daviana Yalrannis, the captain and master of protecting this Harper stronghold, Endriel led Vorothruun and Parathrax up to the fourth floor towards the teleportation circle. Predictably, the brusque but reliable Nespril Menk was found sitting behind his desk working through a myriad of ledgers and records. When Vorothruun expressed a desire to visit with the archmage of the tower, Krowen Valharrow, to share knowledge, he was bureaucratically denied access, much to his chagrin and exasperation. Following this fruitless encounter, the party one by one passes through the teleportation circle. As the bright swirls of light and magic wove and shone around each member in turn, they found themselves in a small and cramped attic, presumably and hopefully somewhere above the streets of the City of Skilled Hands, Neverwinter.
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