Session II.5: The Festival of Mothers, Part 2

General Summary

Premise

The Festival of Mothers is truly a sight to be seen, and this year, there's even more reason to celebrate. You've hitched a ride to Cynhall to see the city during the Festival, but perhaps you've bitten off more than you can chew...

Session Events

A man named Vorth Hillpelt, co-owner of the Gracious Raven Grocer, was making his way south from Adria toward Cynhall, bringing new goods to the store to sell during the Festival. Along the way, he picked up four new adventurers: Grunk, Korrina Spiros, Alice Blackhawk, and Cassius Montassar. Vorth offers them free travel to Cynhall in exchange for protection along the way. The roads leading to Cynhall are fairly safe, but you never know what kind of wild animal or nasty bandit you might run into along the way. It ends up being a good trade; over the course of the week, the group runs into several small obstacles, such as wild wolves and a few bandits looking to rob the cart. The four get to know each other a bit better, but none of the travelers seem very open or forthcoming with personal information. Still, they seem to be competent protectors, keeping the cart and goods, the horse, and Vorth safe. On the final day of travel, the group wakes up early in the morning, the horse continuing to make its way south toward Cynhall. After a few hours of travel, the cart pulls to the side of the road for a short break. Vorth unlatches the horse from the cart, leading it a bit into the trees to a stream to take a drink. The group follows them in, taking a short moment to rest and relax. While Alice and Korrina sit quietly, Cassius goes to investigate a strange looking patch of leaves and sticks...only to nearly fall into a hole dug into the ground. He's able to catch himself at the last moment, and as Alice hurries over to pull him up, three dog-sized spiders scuttle out from the underbrush, attacking the group. After a short battle, the group is able to protect the horse and Vorth from the attacking spiders. Alice urged the group to try and stun the spiders long enough to escape, but Korrina is unable to restrain her magic in such a way. Even after two of the spiders are downed, Cassius attempts to finish them off, with the justification that they were dangerous and needed to be eliminated. In the end, Alice is able to convince him to let it go, and the group makes their way back to the main road. The horse is hitched to the cart once more, and they continue on their way. Vorth tells the group that they should visit the storefront for the Gracious Raven Grocer in order to collect payment; the amount of times they've risked their lives to protect him and his goods deserve a reward. By the time they make it to Cynhall, the Festival is already in full swing. The four adventurers leave the cart by the north gate, and head to the West Square in the Merchant Ward. It takes them some time to find the store due to the large crowds, but eventually they're able to maneuver through the throngs and make it to the store. There, the group finds a rather unpleasant and bristly woman running the shop. Even so, she seems a bit thankful that the group was able to protect her husband (or her goods), and pays them each 10 gold for their services. With nothing left to do at the Gracious Raven Grocer, the group leaves the store. As they step out, Korrina and Grunk notice a figure a bit away from the group. They appear to be standing still, the crowd of people moving around them as they stare directly at the group. They find it a little strange, but move on, looking for an apothecary to obtain some spell ingredients. They're able to find a stall, where Cassius purchases the materials required to cast the Find Familiar spell from a rather nervous looking individual. He tries to up-charge him for the materials, but eventually settles on a lower price in order to get rid of the group quicker. As they go to leave the stall, Cassius, Korrina, and Alice notice that same individual from before; they seem to have followed the group, and are once again staring at them. For a while, it's just a stare-down. A wordless conversation ensues, and Alice prepares for something, though she's not sure what. The group notices the stranger look up toward the clock tower. Shortly after, an explosion rings through the market square, fire and heat and chaos erupting around them. The stranger approaches the group, introducing themselves as Sarza. They state that they must protect the innocent people here, pointing out a mage further down the market that seems to be a part of the attack, setting fire and destroying numerous buildings and stalls. Sarza soon turns to cast a spell, stating that they can protect the people, but that the party must deal with the threat. They erect a shielded dome around the area, containing the threats and the fire while allowing the innocent civilians to disperse. Alice, with Korrina on her back, rushes the mage with her superior speed. Seeing her approach, the mage turns to two nearby corpses, their bodies reanimating with necrotic magic. The fight is long and arduous; Alice falls unconscious twice, and Sarza channels their healing magic through their shield to bring her back to the fight. The mage creates two more ghoulish minions to attack the party, and tries to stop Sarza's efforts to protect the city. Korrina, with few spellcasting options, taps into the power imbued in the tome that she carries with her...or perhaps it's something else, giving her power through that tome. Whichever it is, she does obtain that power, but not without a cost. Suddenly, her eyes open wide, panic clear across her face as she quickly flees the scene. Eventually, through the combined effort of those that remained, the mage and his ghouls are defeated. Alice immediately chases after Korrina, with Cassius, Grunk, and Sarza following slowly behind. After taking a few moments to collect themselves, Sarza states that "Fate has more in store for [them]", and that they must continue on. Judging by their calm but serious demeanor, it's almost as if they know more than they're letting on. Either way, Sarza offers to heal the party before they go, holding their hands out for the others to take. Korrina and Alice link hands, and Cassius joins to complete the circle. Sarza's eyes flare a bright white, before quickly becoming pools of darkness. Dark tendrils emerge from Sarza, snaking their way through the air and impacting with Cassius, Grunk, Alice, and Korrina. Their senses are immediately blacked, the darkness suffocating. Just before it becomes too much, a clear and calm feminine voice rings through each of their minds.

Alice: "Champions of Light..."
Cassius: "A Spiral of Conflict..."
Grunk: "Her Fonts..."
Korrina: "...She will strike Him..."

When the darkness retreats from their very beings, Cassius and Korrina are overcome with the exertion it put on their bodies, falling unconscious. Grunk and Alice are able to hold on, noticing a new pain in their bodies: a searing, burning pain in their chest, one that's not only superficial and on their skin, but sort of sinks deeper into their chest, their hearts, their souls. Through the loose leathers that Grunk wears, he can see a strange new mark on his chest over his heart, running from nearly his collarbone to the bottom of his chest muscles. As a note, each of the other three would notice the same mark on their chests, his was just obvious as it wasn't covered by clothing.

Alice immediately confronts Sarza about what happened. She only receives vague answers before the stranger passes out from exhaustion. Alice picks up an unconscious Korrina, and Grunk lifts both Cassius and Sarza into his arms, and the two start off to seek shelter to recover from the battle. The two don't make it terribly far before they hear the telltale sound of people in armor approaching. A group of ten guards appear, three of which are wearing much more elaborate armor: silver, with ornate gold and blue filigree. They claim that there were reports of mage activity in this area, probably responsible for the destruction. After asking for the names of the people present, one of the guards in the fancy armor starts to flip through a tome that was attached to his belt. Seeming unsatisfied, he states that the group will be provided with someplace to stay, but that they must come with the guards for questioning. Uneasily, Alice and Grunk, still carrying the other three unconscious people, are led out of the Merchant Ward and toward the Royal Ward. They're taken to the guard barracks, which is just outside the main walls of the castle. The guards attempt to lead the group downstairs - at this point, it's clear that they're being detained, even if they did state before that they were going to be questioned. Alice, exhausted from the day's happenings, complies. She's led to a double cell for herself and Korrina. The cells themselves are acceptable enough - not completely void of comfort, but nothing fancy. As the door to the cell is shut, runes engraved into the floor just outside the bars of the cell flare to life, glowing light purple. Grunk, on the other hand, is not one for following orders. He refuses to do as the guards ask, and tensions quickly rise. He sees no reason to be detained, while one of the guards wearing the nicer armor states that they're just trying to be careful and err on the side of caution. As tensions rise, other guards are able to retrieve Sarza's unconscious body from Grunk's arms. As Cassius slowly comes to, the guards are also able to detain him, and both Cassius and Sarza are brought downstairs. One of the guards is able to grab Grunk by the wrists, and starts to drag him down the stairs. On the stairs, Grunk breaks free of his grip, shoving the guard down the stairs. As he turns to go back up, he's greeted by the sword of another one of the guards in the nicer armor. At this point, it's clear that reasoning with Grunk won't work, so the guards will do whatever it takes to detain him. Grunk responds by grabbing the knight, carrying him back upstairs, and throwing him at the group of guards that had gathered in the room at the sound of the ruckus. As he emerges into the room, he's once again greeted by more guards. Soon after, he too is restrained, and brought down to the cells.

Repercussions

Cynhall is attacked by unknown assailants, some of which are clearly magical in nature.
Cassius, Korrina, Grunk, and Alice are detained. Their wounds are treated, but are being questioned regarding their involvement with the attack.
Sarza is unable to escape. They're detained alongside the party.