Eirlyssia Tsurovitchna
Eirlyssia Tsurovitchna
Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
Pink hair, purple eyes, freckles, grey skin.
Apparel & Accessories
Constantly has her patron, Mortalis, an evil, sentient scythe, her Wand of the War Mage, and a Blood Shard on her person.
Mental characteristics
Education
As a noble, she had access to a very decent private education, up until she ran away at the age of 13.
Employment
Constantly did odd jobs while she was on the run, whatever she could find in whatever city they were currently in. Now she's part of a group of adventurers on a complex quest filled with multiple enemies, trying to stop the rise of the demon lord Nar'can'us.
Mental Trauma
Was betrayed by her mother, when she tricked Eirlyssia into accepting an evil patron, G'vath'haz, the Exemplar of Chaos and Despair. This forced Eirlyssia and her father into going on the run, to escape her mother's plans. Plagued by her new evil patron, who eventually gave up their location to her mother. Her father sacrificed himself to let Eirlyssia get away. She managed to obtain a new patron, an evil sentient scythe named Mortalis, who may be slowly turning her to his will. But she fully believes with the help of Mortalis she can rescue her father and take down her mother once and for all.
Morality & Philosophy
Believes heavily in the idea of justice, though justice to her might be a bit more heavy-handed than someone else's idea. Is incredibly frustrated by the lack of consequences for the rich and powerful.
Has no problems with things like torture, if it's to get information from someone that she believes has evaded justice for their actions. But when it comes time to kill someone, unless she's inexplicably angry, she doesn't believe in prolonging the process.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
She is driven by the need to rescue her father from her mother's clutches. She is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve this, unless it will directly hurt her party.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes: A good romance novel, a hot cup of tea, windy days, fresh bread, marigolds
Dislikes: Losing arm wrestles, womanizers, mushrooms
Social
Contacts & Relations
Allies:
Denorel - barkeep
Ba'ken - big dwarven guy, extremely helpful
Hardra - Goelle's wife
Dorelle
Goelle
Teysca - Goelle's daughter
Damielle - blacksmith from Ravenslaught
Pardwen - drow Ravenslaught prisoner (possibly has a crush on Talis'Vole) (now a cook for us at the keep)
Kharan and Eyarin - friends of Goelle's
Eir'Treeg - orc bringing us to Teysca
Du'Rose - Elder in tent with Goelle
Talios - Silver dragon/hand maiden from Oros who thinks Chaedove is Vores reincarnated
Tor'kayen - old man
Princess Dariel - of Oros
Iskald - bard
Auruman - crazy spirit person who apparently hired us the first time before we lost our memories (DEAD - also, EVIL, also, APPARENTLY NOT DEAD DANG IT)
Major Domo Chompy - assigned by Ba'ken, to run the keep (gold dragonborn)
Talis'Voe - assigned by Baaken, taking us through the mountains as trophy hunters to get to Azargaol
Pretty Boy Devil Guy - Elegant's nickname that we shouldn't forget
Dartelle - Captain of the guard - where? Ours? Did he die?
Ny'ell - a beautiful air genasi bard amazing at singing, to be on the lookout for with some connection to Elegant
Bolren - name on the rusted sword found on the skeleton in the river
Norav - dragonborn, Dan'or'avil's less scary alter-ego
Varn - crazy Smeagol old gnome in anvil tunnels (actually Orthek, DAMN IT)
Wolf - dragonborn met on the road to Pyrenol (has a dragonbear named Aed)
Tanav - Dan'or'avil's twin brother that Dan'or'avil killed
Comdatios - Minister of Internal Affairs in the capital
Danros - contact at the airship warehouse
Kaima and Zorelle - Chompy's wife and son
Vorestheira - cult of Vores - so far seem to be the good guys
Zora - healer for HQ
Garen - "troubleshooter" of Vorestheira (DEAD - actually not dead but wants people to think he is)
Talios - captain of the guard in the central city (DEAD - killed by Dan'or'avil - Eirlyssia framed)
Mama Vei - Cook at temple, very cheeky
Tilly - "the most beautiful blond-haired half-elf you've ever seen." Mud's friend.
Gorred - sweet bugbear baker.
Colven and Andere - tattoo artists in town. Colven's talent may be quesitonable.
Corvath "The Undying" - Mud's weird vampire giant patron - "ally" might be a strong word.
Endry (half elf), Lorren (drow), and Kye (drow?) - part of Charlie's angels, beautiful mercenary women, who definitely played us, but fair.
Car'nan Hertes - incredibly attractive fire genasi, who is dating Ny'ell but may be a womanizer. Also seems threatened by Elegant.
Count Peyton - noble that Ny'ell is playing for.
Charred Leadros - fiend, in charge of Charlies angels. From Geyt. Questionable past and morals that need to be discussed at some point. Brother to Djolinn and Yll'Sid.
Brother Corbert - lovable curmudgeon who taught Saanes scrying at the temple.
Ta'los - Owner of tailors shop in main city.
Master Zubert - master tailor from the same tailor shop. Knows of Saanes's family. Most likely a vampire?!
DJolinn - Corin's exemplar. Has two brothers, Leadros and Yll'sid.
Korbec - Goliath smith from Pyronslept who's covered in scales.
Inoni - air genasi who captains the Winged Folly (The Flight of Fancy).
Agrino Pellotosi - chef on The Flight of Fancy.
Reyan - Night guard at Count Peyton's. Asked Mud about me. Cute. Wholesome. Good dancer.
Carlin - Head Butler for Count Peyton. Has a blood fury tattoo. Quite the psychopath who enjoys murder and is involved in some sort of illegal activity.
Taria - name of servant who went missing at Count Peyton's that Malzod knows something about. Early 20's human woman, attractive. Murdered by Ny'ell, it would seem.
Marta - kitchen servant at Count Peyton's.
Cybil - nice, blind, meat pie maker in Ketter. Hit on our party. Hilarious.
Juliana - Cybil's daughter, runs The Vials, the apothecary in Ketter.
Helena - partner to Juliana, runs the blacksmith's shop in Ketter, and runs the "secret" fight club in town.
Kila Tofriga - Warden at The Gilden Prison.
Gailey - Scribe at The Gilden Prison.
Ceryen - Inquisitor mage for The Gilden Prison.
Sentinel Mightstra - Right hand to the Warden at The Gilden Prison.
Galvid - friend of Mud's and the Warden's. New bodyguard for Malzod.
Enemies:
Narcanus - crazy evil demon lord that the Cult wants to resurrect
Tarranvar - leader of cult of Narcanus (DEAD - soul inside Mortalis)
My MOTHER (Mirella Tsurovitchna) - financing the Cult, holding Chompy's family hostage, and SLEEPING WITH DAN'OR'AVIL GROSS
Sevette - Dolene's brother, possibly evil, some relation to Cult
Varesh - in league with Auruman, was in charge of creating dragonbears and was part of the group that dropped survivors on rocks, dracolich
Ahzek Auruman - BETRAYER (DEAD - so, turns out, not dead)
Orthek the Vile - Another leader of Narcanus Cult
(travels with a group of 10) VARN IS ORTHEK???? Apparently a shapeshifter of either the fae wild or the shadowfell, from Geyt
Narcanel - first demon lord to try to rise up against Tezeen'itch, the true creator of magic/demons and devils
Daren - creator of Dan'or'avil/Norav (not his real name)(DEAD - soul in Mortalis)
Dan'or'avil - evil form of Norav and somehow CONSTANT ANTAGONIST
Malzod "The Handless" - Middle age to older human wizard, black goatee, slicked back hair, very stylish, missing a hand, well-tended robes. Runs a school where he trains solely humans because he's a racist prick. Absolutely terrible to Tilly.
Yll'sid - Evil brother of DJolinn, who wants The Black King's Axe that he claims is his.
Religious Views
Believes that the gods exist, but assumes they want nothing to do with the lives of people.
Relationships
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A half-drow warlock with a fervent desire to rid the world of the Cult of Nar'canus, and save her father. If it means watching the world burn in order to do that...so be it.
View Character Profile
Alignment
Chaotic Neutral
Age
26
Birthplace
City of Mathyr, in the Province of Inselaloma, country of the Ma'arl Dominion
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
Part owner of Ravenslaught
Gender
Female
Eyes
Purple
Hair
Light Pink
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Grey
Height
5'11"
Weight
140lb
Related Reports
Session: June 3rd, 2024
I appreciate Saanes's friendship. While I feel like I'm on okay terms with most of the group, Saanes makes me feel like I'm actually a friend. That's a rare thing in my life. Everyone chastises me about my decisions, and they're very quick to judge - especially Zun. But no one ever asks me how I am, or what led me to those decisions. So I appreciate that Saanes asked me those things. He asked me what my next steps were, and how I was doing...you have no idea how refreshing it was to have someone ask me how I was doing.
I was also able to admit to him that I'm worried Mortalis might become a problem. It felt good to get those words out to someone who isn't going to judge me for it, or say a pointed "I told you so" like I know Zun would. Saanes just listened, and that's a gift.
Our trial was also...easier? Than I thought it would be. The Magistrate seems kind enough - firm but reasonable. Much like the inquisitors from the royal prison. She had a mage with her named Dor Tegan, some sort of cleric I believe, who also seemed to be nice enough. Since they cast Zone of Truth and then a Silence spell, we were only able to see each other's 'interrogations', but not actually hear anything that went on. Though they did inform us first that Lodern had caught up to Cordyn and killed him, which was both strange and surprising to me. Why is Lodern taking that upon himself? He doesn't have Mother to work for anymore...so bizarre.
They seemed mostly uninterested in Zun, which is not entirely a surprise, seeing that Zun wasn't actually upstairs with us when anything happened. Mud's questioning also seemed to go smoothly enough, though he did let us know what he had said so we could continue on those lines. Elegant's was interesting - not for the questions they asked, because I don't know what those were, but because Dor Tegan was watching Elegant extremely closely. Not in a suspicious way, more like an intrigued way? It was strange. Saanes's questioning seemed to be a little more difficult, as it seemed like they were asking different questions than what they'd asked the others so far.
When it was my turn, I was quick to ask Dor Tegan about Elegant, but he mostly brushed it off. Tried to make it sound like he was just a fan, but I could tell that was by no means the full truth. But they began my questioning, and I'll be honest - I'd been really worried. I considered being as tight-lipped as possible, or being as deceptive as possible...but if I learned anything from my time with the inquisitors back at Count Peyton's, it was that being purposefully deceptive to people whose job it was to get information never led to anything good. So, in what felt very uncomfortable, I decided to go for honesty. And, I think, it served me well. At the end of my session the Magistrate said that things were actually appearing to be in our favour, which is certainly more hopeful than I'd anticipated.
She dismissed us, saying she'd let us know the verdict tonight. I told Elegant Dor Tegan wanted to chat with him, which I don't know that Dor Tegan appreciated, but they went off to talk by themselves afterwards so...you're welcome, Dor Tegan. Broke the ice for you.
I'm hoping tonight I can convince people to attempt to free Norav from Dan'or'avil's mind. Saanes is certainly on board with it. I just have to cast Sending to try to get Dan'or'avil to agree to meet me in a Dream spell, so I can try to both distract him and ask my burning questions while the others try to Dispel Magic on Norav. It's a long shot, I know, but if it works...it could certainly help us in the long run!
The Journal Entry’s title
Begin writing your story here...
Session: May 20th & 27th, 2024
It feels strange to feel this hollow after I technically achieved everything I set out to. We killed Mother and G'Vath'Haz, we saved Father and Chompy's family, we found the crystal rod...all of it. I should be happy, I think. But as I sit here late at night, locked up in one of the rooms of the manor with my party, I have a hard time feeling that way.
It isn't just because Mud stole my opportunity to talk with Mother from me, though that's part of it. That leaves a strange, unfulfilled revenge. I wanted her to know it was me. I wanted to tell her how angry I was, and I wanted to see her face when I killed her - when she realized everything she'd worked so hard for was worth nothing in the end. And I didn't get that. So that does leave a certain hollowness. I also thought that G'Vath'Haz would have more to say. He worked so hard to ruin my life for his own enjoyment while we were together that I thought perhaps he would have angry words, or maybe he'd be shocked. But he really only seemed to care about Mortalis.
Perhaps the situation with Cordyn is part of the contributor. I watched him kill Father in front of me - and he would have succeeded if Elegant hadn't been there to heal Father immediately. The anger I felt...it was strong. So to run out after Cordyn and have guards try to stop me at every single step of the way was incredibly frustrating. I know they didn't understand what was going on, and I know my two second explanations as I tried to track Cordyn down weren't enough to convince them. That's not what bothered me the most. No, there were two factors that contributed to my displeasure. One was having to surrender during the fight with him. I knew it was highly likely I'd be outmatched - I'd just come out of two fights back to back after all, and that bastard hadn't done anything except attempt to kill Father. But when he didn't take either type of damage at its full amount when I hit him with my strongest spells...I knew I was done for. Surrendering to him, the smug smile on his face in that moment - I wanted to kill him so badly. And then after that, as he left to go to "town", I knew immediately he was running. He was going to go, lay low somewhere for a while, then most likely come back either after I'd left the manor to try to take it over, or hunt me down first and kill me. Thank goodness a guard listened when I tried to send them after Cordyn...but I have a sneaking suspicion with only one guard going after him that the guard is never going to be seen again.
Then to become a prisoner in my own house...I had thought that might occur with Mother, but not after she was dead. I'd never really thought I'd have to prove that I was Eirlyssia, so I didn't have anything particularly prepared for that, and it cost us. Now we have to wait to stand trial. I don't want to go to a trial. I want to be done with this. I want to have Father rule over Inselalona, much kinder than Mother ever was, and then we can move on. Don't they understand how evil Mother was? They can't possibly have liked her. They can't possibly have missed the abuse and the suffering she caused to those around her. I didn't do anything wrong here - I did the world a favour. But for some reason, I am forced to prove it.
And then, after all that, my conversation with Mortalis didn't go as I would have liked either. He basically told me in no uncertain terms that he doesn't really need me anymore. He did what I asked of him, I did what he asked (got him a body), and now our contract is complete. The pact still stands, he's still my patron. But now we can't really work together...he's just out there, doing his own thing. Pretty much like Zun had said. And I HATE that. I hate that Zun was right, that Mortalis basically did discard me as soon as he got what he wanted. I liked the partnership that Mortalis and I had - I liked that he needed me. I thought we were going to take on the world together. But I was just a pawn, as always. And when I tried to express my displeasure, he had the nerve to threaten to take away my invocations. I felt sleepy for the first time in months - he reminded me in no uncertain terms he can take away anything he's given me, just like that. I do not like being threatened. I got the short end of the stick here, I was the one discarded, and yet he has the audacity to act like I'm simply being a brat about things??
Zun talked to Garrin. It was good to hear that Father is doing well and got there safely. That at least is no small thing that I can be happy about. But Zun also mentioned how he talked to Garrin about me setting Mortalis free - a fact I'd tried to hide from Zun for this very reason. Garrin thinks that Mortalis is either going to join Cor'nate, or more likely, kill Cor'nate and become the new exemplar of Slaughter and Ruin. Interestingly, he thinks that if we destroy the blade with the anvil and hammer though, we could destroy Mortalis. My only concern there is that Garrin made the comment whoever kills Cor'nate becomes Cor'nate...and I don't entirely trust Garrin. He's left too many details out until it's too late. And I fear this is another one - can he become the new Cor'nate if he kills Mortalis? I think I'm going to insist I be the one to destroy Mortalis, if it comes to that. And I am considering it...Mortalis said he doesn't know what's going on with me anymore at all times. Which means he won't know if we plot against him. Now that our relationship has run its course on being interesting...maybe it is time to take him down. Devastate Dan'or'avil and kill Mortalis - two birds with one stone.
I don't know where this leaves me. I feel a little aimless. I'd waited 16 years to get my revenge, and now that I've gotten it, and my patron doesn't need me, all at the same time...it feels like everything I'd built myself up to be is gone. There's still more enemies to kill - Dan'or'avil, Azhek, Malzod, Cordyn...now possibly Mortalis. So I suppose I should just put my strength into accomplishing those tasks. If I throw myself into them, maybe I won't be reminded that I don't really know who I am anymore.
Session: May 6th & 13th, 2024
Technically...most things went according to plan. But we're almost near the end of it and I feel surprisingly empty. I suppose I should back up though.
My birthday party went exactly as we had hoped it would. Zun managed to spike the punch, the two nobles I'd pointed out to everyone earlier did start fighting each other, and the guards did indeed try to get Mother out of there. I managed to get Father alone, and gave him the bloodshard with Teleport in it, and strict instructions to use it if he felt threatened at any point. Zun went down to the basement to join Lonaya's team, and the rest of us followed Mother and Terri. Elegant even managed to Dominate Person her.
It fell apart a little when she and Terri got ahead of us, and the Dominate Person immediately dropped. I had to ask Father where they were, and with his help, we managed to find the secret bookshelf that led to where Mother was holding Chompy's family. Mud charged in ahead, as he usually does, and promptly threw a dagger at Mother, who turned out to be Chompy's wife under an illusion, who then died in front of her son. Luckily I was able to run in and stabilize her, but I was real nervous there for a minute. Mortalis and G'Vath'Haz went off somewhere, deciding to fight each other, which was fine with me.
Terri of course was very focused on Elegant, gross, which allowed me to focus on Mother. I'd had a plan. I wanted to put her in Mental Prison, get her nice and scared, and then have someone push her out of it. Make her take a massive amount of damage so she'd probably be at half her health, and then she and I could have a little talk once I'd shown her that I wasn't a pushover anymore. I told Mud as I could see him getting ready to attack, that all I needed him to do was push her out. That was it. She was my kill, and this was my moment, and just push her out of the Mental Prison.
But he didn't. He ignored my instructions, and instead got her to within an inch of her life. So when she was pushed out of Mental Prison, she just...died. Just like that. He took that moment from me, and I know he was just trying to help...to fell a great enemy, but I can't help but feel some resentment toward him now.
I got worried for a moment when G'Vath'Haz took over her body, but he didn't put up as much of a fight as I thought he would either. I thought perhaps, that he too would have words for me. That we could duke it out verbally while my friends and I destroyed him - this entity that had haunted me for so many years. But he seemed...uninterested in any of that. And instead, after a few hits, when he tried to escape, Mortalis absorbed him. And just like that, the two beings I hated most in this world were dead.
I'd waited 16 years of my life to confront them. I had so many words that I'd prepared, things I wanted to say...I wanted to yell at them, I wanted to show them how far I'd come in spite of them...and I didn't get that. They just...died. All that anger and pain and fear I held onto for so long now has nowhere to go. It feels hollow. Empty. And maybe that's why people say revenge isn't all it's cracked up to be, I suppose. Maybe this is how everyone feels when they get their revenge. I just thought it would be...more.
On top of it all, I let Mortalis take Terri's body. I don't feel particularly great about it, and I know I certainly won't after the verbal lashing Zun is going to give me when he finds out. But way back when, when Mortalis and I first started experimenting, I promised him a body to use, to see if that could make him more powerful. And he did his part in this fight - we were successful largely in part to him. So how could I go back on my end of the bargain and not let him have that? But now, he's no longer with me all the time. I don't know exactly how it works. He said he has things he needs to go and do, but that I can contact him anytime I want. And then he thanked me and left. I'll have to contact him tonight - I have many questions that need to be answered.
But again, that moment has also left me feeling a little hollow. I got so used to having him with me all the time. And, in the long run, I think this is good. I've made him stronger, and he's still my patron, my ally. We need someone like that on our side. But I'd gotten used to having him around, and now I've lost that too. So many of the things that made me, me...all gone in a matter of minutes. What do I do now?
Session: Apr. 22nd, 2024
I finally got to use Mortalis to interrogate someone. I've been itching to see how it actually works, and I was not disappointed. It's certainly not a method I'd use on just anyone - it seems incredibly invasive and painful, if the blood coming out of Terri's eyes was any indication. Also a very creepy, black eyed stare, kind of thing. Luckily it was just Terri, and I made sure Elegant healed her, so I don't feel a lot of remorse there. She's going to be dying tomorrow night anyway, I already promised Mortalis that he could have her. Someone that loyal to my mother would never change her ways, so the easiest course of action is to just get rid of her. Plus, I've really been meaning to feed Mortalis and haven't had a chance, so this would help there. Though, to be honest, I'm hoping to feed my mother to him as well. Hopefully he can be nice and full, and get some good practice outside of the khopesh tomorrow.
Terri did have a couple helpful things to "say". We found out the crystal rod (aka the lock to Shahavar), is in the basement, something about a secret shrine behind one of the shelves outside of the pantry. That's going to make things much easier for Zun when he heads to the basement and joins Lanea's party. We also found out a helpful confirmation that Mother (and Terri) still suspect absolutely nothing about our group, which is amazing. I honestly didn't think we'd get this far without being detected, but Lanea's group pulling the focus off of us has really helped us out. I fear for their safety a little bit, but I'm grateful nonetheless.
Eventually Zun had to stop me in my interrogation, informing me that Terri was losing too much blood. A little disappointing, since there were more questions I wanted to ask her. Humans are so fragile, myself included. It's a real flaw. So I let her go. And with a series of quick thinking, we healed her, and then modify memory'ed her. Poor Elegant. We had to convince her that he just couldn't get it up in their little lovemaking session, and so Zun was escorting her out. The only thing we missed - the tear in her jacket where I stabbed her in the shoulder. We all forgot it, and of course, she's sharp - she noticed it almost immediately. I'm really hoping that doesn't come back to haunt us. But either way - we finally got to pull it off, and almost everyone got to use something that spoke directly to their strengths. It was satisfying.
What was unsatisfying was my message to Dan'or'avil. The last time he and I spoke over Sending, he was very reasonable. Cold, calm even. So this time, I wanted to know what he had done to make Mother decide to kill him. Sent him a simple message, had a friendly tone and everything, just asking what happened. His answer was a very angry "I'll be happy to tell you when I rip your soul from your screaming body". That is not the cold and calculating villain I spoke with last time, that is a man having a temper tantrum. He honestly irks me so much. He acts like I took Mortalis from him - a lie. Mortalis sat in Azargaol for who knows how long - Dan'or'avil could have gone and gotten him at any time. I found Mortalis fair and square. And now Mortalis and I are achieving things that Dan'or'avil never even dreamed of trying...Mortalis deserves to be with me. Not someone as volatile and boring as Dan'or'avil. And I will happily tell him that the next time we speak. I've had enough of his angry threats and temper tantrums.
Session: Apr. 8th, 2024
I don't like not being in full control of a plan. I also don't like when the plan consistently changes - the small sham of a plan we have, anyway.
We finally met with Lanea and her group. I must say, the town is...different than I remember. Rougher around the edges. We went to have a chat with them about breaking into Mother's, so I could establish whether their plan was actually more than just "burn it down". Turns out, that was Lanea's plan, but her companions had a completely different plan. They weren't even going to tell her until it was too late. I actually felt a little bit bad for her - she found out at the same time we did that her companions had lied to her. They were planning to break in through the dungeons, set everyone down there free, set a small fire as a distraction, then loot the treasury and head out. They weren't even going to help Lanea kill Mother. They were going to leave her behind if she decided not to leave with them.
Together we were able to form a little bit more of a plan past that, because I also don't want her crew getting in our way. Instead, they're basically going to do what they'd originally planned, and they'll look for the crystal rod while they're in the basement. I gave them permission to loot the place. I think Lanea is going to help us. I made sure to stress that getting Father out is one of our top priorities, and they agreed to that, so hopefully that remains the case. We're going to try to cast some form of Suggestion on Mother so she removes her wedding ring - the thing keeping Father under her control. With that, we should be able to get Father out, and break into Mother's room to get to the hidden cell in her chambers and get Chompy's family out too. Once they're all out, I'll be able to breathe a lot easier. Then it's just about confronting Mother, something I'm going to relish.
The next debate is what we do about Terri and Cordyn. They'll probably both have to die. Terri is fiercely loyal to Mother - and there's no pretense that she doesn't know who Mother truly is. She knows, and they're both two peas in the same pod. She absolutely will not let us kill Mother, which means we need to kill her first. Then there's Cordyn - he seems like such a nice man, but he's Heir Designate in my place because he's being bribed into silence - and he's okay with that. He knows very well that it was just Father and I on the run together, and he's willing to doom Father to a life of suffering in exchange for inheriting a province. That doesn't strike me as someone who's going to give up quietly either.
My other question is whether we abduct Terri tonight so we can find out where exactly the crystal rod is, and what Mother's planning during my 'birthday party'. I'm itching to question someone, to try out the new technique Mortalis told me about. He said if I stab someone, he can sift through their thoughts. That's amazing. I'd love to be able to use that on Terri, and finally feel like we have the upper hand in something happening here. Because so far, it's just been one revelation after another, and I always feel one step behind. But we'll see if my companions go for that. They're unsurprisingly against anything involving Mortalis or risk. Sigh.
The only other things of note that I learned:
1. Lanea's patron is Talyrion the Scholar - the same ancient elf that Saanes's book is from.
2. Something happened between Dan'or'avil and Mother. I don't know what. I first got an inkling when Dan'or'avil called her a bitch. But then when talking to Father, he said Mother plans on killing Dan'or'avil. I must know what occurred between them for that relationship to go so hard and fast downhill!
Session: Mar.25th, 2024
Do you ever spend most of your life thinking something is one way, and then you suddenly find out you were very, very wrong? That's what the conversation with Father felt like. It was both a relief and revelation. He told me how he met Mother and why he stayed...I'd never heard that part of the story before. Even when we were on the run together, he didn't mention it. More importantly, he didn't mention I had a half-sibling. The entire time we were on the run, or most of it anyway, he knew. He knew she existed and he didn't tell me.
Apparently he came to town as a flower salesman. Mother acted taken with him, and he bought it. By the time he realized, it was too late. Like she does, she ensnared him, and then threatened his friends when he tried to leave. More than threaten, I suppose - he said she killed one of his friends. He said he tried to give me a good life, and he's not wrong. He did his best, that much was obvious to me, even as a child. I could always tell that things were...strained...between the two of them. Mother was vicious to him sometimes...but he was never vicious back. He was always kind or apathetic to her, even when I wished sometimes that he would fight back.
He said he got a woman from his town pregnant. That's who Lanea's mother is. Who Father truly loves. Or did, anyway. I didn't get a chance to ask him if he still loves her. I don't think Mother has any idea that Lanea exists. Certainly right now, Mother thinks that she's me. Which is another question I want to ask her - why pretend to be me? And why get Lodern's attention for it?
The things that Elegant reported back about Lanea and her conversations at the Wailing Shack leave me with some concerns. I need to know who her patron is. If it's G'Vath'Haz - we've immediately got a problem. I also need to make sure that her plan involves more than just burning the manor to the ground. There are too many things my party needs to accomplish before the house can simply be set on fire. And I hope she's amenable to that. I also need to make sure she's on board with Father being the number one priority - that is why I'm here. I've been consumed with thoughts of revenge as of late, but I can't let myself forget that Father is my number one reason. Even if I could get him completely free of her, and she stayed alive...I would still consider that a success albeit a frustrating one.
In some ways, if Lanea can be trusted, it's actually a boon to me. I've been trying to figure out what to do with Father after we free him. Our group needs to go take on Dan'or'avil and Azhek...I don't want to risk having Father with me when that happens. He needs to be somewhere safe. Staying with Lanea and her mother actually sounds like a really good, quiet, out-of-the-way spot for him to be. I would actually feel safer having him there, with people who care about him.
I just still can't believe he never told me any of this. He said he loved me. And I believe that he does, but then why did he keep these secrets from me?
Session: Mar.11th, 2024
The good news - I was worried about breakfast for nothing. It ended up being a mostly mundane meeting, with Mother being completely civil, albeit a little awkward when the small talk ran out. The only thing interesting about the situation was when Lodern interrupted to tell Mother that myself and my group were at a dive bar in town. THAT certainly piqued my interest.
During that time Saanes, Mud, and Zun got a weapons demonstration for the guards on their close quarter bows, but it didn't sound like anything particularly interesting came of that. We all thought they were going to be magical, but Mud and Zun both got to shoot them and said they didn't think anything seemed out of the ordinary. So perhaps that's...good?
We decided once everyone was back together again that Elegant would use Etherealness to go into town and check on whether I was actually somehow in a random dive bar. I did have fun getting to use Alter Self to look like Elegant while he was gone, and thankfully, nobody came to check on Elegant during that time.
His return proved to be most interesting though. Apparently there IS someone, another female half-drow, calling herself Eirlyssia. She has a group of four backing her up, just like I do. Apparently she certainly looked quite similar to me, though not identical. Even more interesting, she was talking with her group about storming the manor. Well, burning the entire manor down. How they plan to do that, I don't know, but she did make it clear it was going to happen during my "birthday celebration", according to Elegant. She even mentioned casting Modify Memory on Lodern, which means we can't trust either of his reports that we heard.
What I don't like is the fact that she has a patron, seems to be keeping secrets from her group, and wants to get a note to father. Especially given that her name is Lanea - the same name as my grandmother on Father's side. This would imply that I have a half-sister I have never known about, and one who is planning to do something very similar to us, though by more forceful means.
The others want to contact them, to work together, since we seem to have the same goal. I don't like it. How long has she been pretending to be me? WHY is she pretending to be me, and not just herself? Why is she trying to contact Father? And the worse notion - if she has grandmother's name, is she closer with his side of the family? Did she get to know them growing up? Obviously, being named after grandmother, my father knows all about this. And that means he has some damn explaining to do.
Session: Feb. 26th, 2024
Last night was an incredibly frustrating evening. I had so many good plans, so many ideas that could have given us some kind of edge...and nothing. Not a single one worked.
When we learned of Lodern's involvement, Zun contacted Garrin immediately. But all Garrin really had for us was that we were probably all going to die, and he was sending a team to us as fast as he could. That was it. For someone who sent us on this quest, with an awful lot riding on it, he seemed a little less urgent than I think should have been required. Then Mud suggested contacting Corvath, which was also a good idea. I realized very quickly though I had severely overestimated how much he knew about the happenings on that island. I had to use all three of my spell slots just to be able to explain to him who my mother was and how to get to us through Dan'or'avil's. I guess I just assumed someone who wanted Dan'or'avil dead so badly would have known his enemy's living situation a little better, seeing as they were on the same island. Would also have known who his enemy was now running with. But, I suppose not. He also said he would "do what he could" which was the statement of the evening. One interesting thing though - when I mentioned G'Vath'Haz, he said he used to know him as a small fiend. Which would imply that G'Vath'Haz has gotten significantly stronger over the years. Food for thought, anyway. When things calm down I'll want to ask Corvath some more about that.
Then Saanes and I shared a brilliant brain wave where we proposed the idea of stealing a guard to figure out what their special weapons are, and what Lodern's planning. Honestly, I was quite impressed with us. But that also amounted to nothing. We sent Lycos out to try to spot a guard stationed near us, and strangely, there wasn't one. The nearest guard was at Mother's quarters, and that would have been a poor choice. We got a small look at his weapons that way, and it was interesting that they seemed to have a close quarters short bow, and only five arrows. The five arrows are what caught my attention, because that number is so under the typical. What can those bows do that they don't need arrows to keep shooting??
When going over the plan with Mortalis, he actually brought up some new and intriguing information - he can read someone's thoughts via possession if I stab them with him. I have absolutely no idea why he didn't mention that before, as that could have potentially helped us out many times. If you combine that ability with Elegant's healing and Saanes' Modify Memory? We could be on to something! I'm actually very excited about this possibility, and I wish we'd been able to try it out. I finally thought I was going to be able to give Mortalis the blood/life energy I'd promised, but that wasn't meant to be either.
Since the guard plan didn't work, everyone else headed off to bed (though not without Mother sending her maid to try and seduce Elegant - barf) and I decided to try a couple other things, also to no avail. I sent Father a Message, which just got blocked. Obviously my Message from dinner flagged something for Mother, and she's being frustratingly cautious. I then tried to cast a Nightmare on her, which she saved. Instead of being this terrifying thing to start her day off poorly, after one satisfying moment of fear, she looked straight at me and just went "Oh well DONE, darling". Ugh. So infuriating. And then, in her typical style, she immediately turned around and cast a Nightmare on Elegant. That is SO like her. I try to do something, and she immediately punishes those around me for it. It was a nightmare about Ny'ell dying too, which really got Elegant spooked, but luckily I was able to send him in a Dream to talk with Cor'nan, who assured him that Ny'ell was safe and currently with him.
The morning, unsurprisingly, brought Mud doing his morning workout in hopes of getting invited to train with the guards, which worked amazingly well. He took Zun along, and from what I heard, the guards are impressive. Impressive enough that Zun couldn't keep up with their workout. Which means it's worth noting that they're going to be a tough bunch to beat, and I'm grateful that we've got magic on our side. But when they came back, Mud said they were invited to attend weapons training, so that bodes well. If we can't steal a guard, we'll befriend them instead.
Past that, Elegant and I (as his executive assistant) got invited to breakfast with Mother, and Saanes, Mud, and Zun left to check on some fabric meant for Elegant's new clothes. I'm equal parts nervous and excited for this breakfast. Will she show her hand? Will I get to see Father? And how well will I be able to keep my face calm?
Session: Feb. 19th, 2024
I'm shaking as I write this. She knows. All of them know. I knew there was a high chance of that happening, but I had really hoped we'd be able to get the jump on them. They don't know that we know, so that's a small advantage, but it's one I'm not sure is going to be of real use to us.
I suppose I should back up. We got into the house just fine. Not much seems to have changed, other than some tasteful renovations, and the fact that Mother is using the bedrooms on the main floor now instead of our rooms on the upper floors. I wasn't surprised by where we were put, it was all standard procedure. Zun, Mud, and I did a thorough check of the rooms; we didn't find anything suspicious. We also went on a little walk to the kitchens, but that just got us some ale and a couple baths for Zun and Mud. I did notice that Dolores is still there as the kitchen mistress, which was interesting, but she and I were never close. She arrived when I was 12 after the last kitchen mistress passed away, so I didn't have a lot of time to get to know her. I also asked after Kyel, but the staff gave me some vague answer that his family might be part of the servants at the stables.
I had hoped that all of us would get to go to dinner, but it turned out that only Elegant and one other could accompany him, so we decided it would be best if Zun went. Mud, being Mud, wanted to be extra cautious and decided to accompany them as well, just to be able to check the people and the room. And I just sat with Saanes. I debated scrying on the dinner, but Saanes cited it as being risky, and it's not like he was wrong. If she noticed someone scrying on them , it would have put them on high alert immediately. So I opted to send Father a message instead. I just...I couldn't wait any longer. I haven't seen him in over 2 years now, and I've missed him so much. And now he's finally in the same house! All he replied with though was to tell me that it wasn't a good time. I was hoping that the dinner conversation would be distracting enough that I could get away with it. When Elegant and Zun came back, apparently that was not the case, and I made things worse. Sigh.
When everyone came back to the room, it turned out that several interesting things had happened. Mud decided to "get lost" and wander the mansion, which yielded him little. I literally could have told him where things were, but whatever. Now he's on the guards' radar I'm sure, since he got caught. Zun and Elegant came back saying that someone named Cordyn, who's the head of the city guards, is now the heir delegate, and that she plans to legally adopt him. I have never heard of this man before, and our scrying only showed us that he seems to be dedicated to his job, and is not Dan'or'avil in disguise. It's...strange to me. When I lived there, she tried to teach me all of her manipulation tactics, how to be cruel to others, how to be just like her. But from what Zun and Elegant said, and what we've seen, this man seems to be both normal and a little boring. He does not strike me as someone she'd want to take over for her when she dies. He does not seem nearly cruel enough.
They also said that both Cordyn and Mother said the way I'd originally disappeared was that I'd been kidnapped by a group, and so she sent a group of people after me, and that one of the kidnappers had essentially rained down hell on them. They said they managed to kill most of the kidnappers, but at a heavy cost to themselves, and then they retrieved one of them. But...it was just Father and I. Father was the "kidnapper" they caught. I guess she wouldn't want that news getting out, and it would make sense to make the story more sensational...but I still find it strange. Especially given that Cordyn was there, but didn't seem to be lying about there being a group of kidnappers. Another mystery that needs to be solved.
Then, even worse, it was confirmed that Father is wearing one of those awful collars that Tilly had. Which means if we kill Mother...we kill him. And we have no idea if what she has is a bracelet like last time, or, given that Father's collar was significantly different looking, what she wears might be some other jewellery entirely. We don't even know if she has it on her person, or in her room, or somewhere else. I would have no problems just chopping off her hand, but I don't know if that would also kill his hand. We know the pain transfers, and I'd feel bad about that, but it would be worth it for his freedom. I don't know if losing a hand would. I'm hoping I can message Father in the evening and get more information from him.
The final thing of note was that one of Mother's direct messengers came to speak with her, and it was interesting enough that it drew them out of the dinner. So when everyone got back to Elegant's room, we decided to try a little scrying. Dan'or'avil's didn't work, and Mother's didn't work, but neither of those were really surprises. BUT...the tiefling's worked. Oh did it work.
Turns out the tiefling was someone named Lodern, which raised immediate red flags, because that's the name of a tiefling on one of the wanted posters that Garrin gave us. Also a red flag because we know he's a mercenary for hire. And he was conversing with Mother. Then it came out that Lodern had been pretending to be Kyel the entire time, which was what I was afraid of. The entire time we were trying to be cautious, he was right there watching us. Not only that, but he saw me practicing with Mortalis, and told Mother he and I are stronger than she thought. So she knew the entire time I was Eirlyssia...pretending to be Kyra was practically for nothing. She said she's going to try to convince me to come back, and then dispose of my party, which is EXTREMELY concerning. She also said they have an easy way to control me, which has me nervous. I'm hoping it's the obvious "stay in line or I'll kill your father" and not something like the collar that Father has on. Or even worse, G'Vath'Haz.
Then there were the parts we don't understand - Lodern is working on "contingencies" with other men he's hired, who don't totally know what they're working on, that are apparently going to be ready to go tomorrow morning. Don't like that one bit. And apparently the guards have all been given some kind of interesting weapons in order to deal with us, which, again, is very concerning. We truly are at a disadvantage here.
Session: Feb. 5th, 2024
The nerves are getting to me. I'm trying very hard to appear calm and collected on the outside, but inside I'm screaming. We left Chaedove's home (which, slight good news there - it looks like it was decisively abandoned and not hastily abandoned), and headed into town to grab our carriage. It was easy enough to find, and only required about a 15 minute wait on our end, which I appreciated. The closer we get, the less I want to wait, even though I'm nervous as the hells.
We attempted to do some group planning, but as Elegant pointed out, there are just too many factors at play to really figure out a good strategy ahead of time. Ideally we'd be able to get Mother alone, kill her, and before anyone has realized, go free the hostages. Then I can deal with whatever madness is leftover so I don't leave an entire province in chaos. Perhaps Father would be willing to preside over it...gods know he'd be a significantly better option for them. But being able to go with that plan requires many things to fall into place - it means Dan'or'avil can't be there, we actually get Mother alone, we're able to actually use the distraction of guests as a help and not a hindrance, not all the guards or servants will be against us, G'Vath'Haz isn't able to somehow overpower me and Mortalis, we find the hostages, etc. Also depends on whether or not the layout of the house has changed at all. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see, which I am not a fan of. We agreed we'd take at least a day to take stock of the situation and figure out where we stand.
When we got into the main town, it was apparent they were setting up for some celebration, though none of the townsfolk seemed particularly excited for it. They also seemed to be a bit off-put by our carriage. I'm hoping that means that people aren't content about the way things are being run, and that killing Mother and putting someone new in place will be easier than I think.
When we arrived home, there were a couple new very gaudy sphinx statues out front, which I thought was interesting. She'd always had the lions, but this was a strange addition. It was just as well taken care of as I remembered, though I'm wondering if she's still getting Father to do a lot of the grounds work, or if that's too much of a risk nowadays.
And then...there she was. In all her snake-like glory. She was as charming as ever, being the doting noble she wants people to think she is. She and Elegant didn't talk about much, she just welcomed him and said we'd be welcomed to get settled before meeting 'her and her husband' for dinner. I felt my breath catch when she said that - Father will be at dinner. I'll actually get to see him. It's been two years, and that feels like an eternity. I have Subtle Spell too...so I can send him a message at the dinner table without anyone knowing. I can actually see his face while I'm talking to him. What a joy that will be!
We were led to our rooms shortly after, and Mud asked the servant what was on all of our minds - what was the celebration about? Apparently, my birthday. It's almost laughable that she forces the townsfolk to hold a celebration for her "missing and presumed dead" daughter every year. Though, it was strange, because Mother's Chamberlain said I had been executed recently, and this servant was saying I was presumed dead, which are two very different states of being. But when I asked, he kind of danced around the subject.
It worries me a little, the timing of it all. I hadn't been paying attention to the fact that my birthday was coming up. We've had a lot going on, and it's never been something I particularly cared about. But the fact that she would ask us here, for that "celebration"...knowing I used to travel in this group...it seems suspicious. I don't know for sure that she got us here just so she could pull something on my birthday - though that would be just like her. Find a way to make my birthday all about her getting what she wants. It just seems too coincidental, and it has me even more on edge than I originally was. I'm hoping I might be able to sneak around the house tonight, or have some practice with Mortalis...I need to do something to make me feel like I'm being productive in the situation. I waited 15 years to get my revenge; I can hardly believe the time is finally here.
Session: Jan. 29th, 2024
Zun is a bit of a mystery to me. He's mentioned off-handedly a couple times that Courmivoun used to make him fight in what sounded essentially like gladiator rings, which would have made me assume he wouldn't like brawl-type fighting anymore, but the man really seeks it out. He is not one to shy away from any kind of competitive fighting, and the tavern brawl (planned, luckily) was no exception. It was actually quite fun to watch. Whatever Sessalie puts in her alcohol - it's potent. Magic wasn't allowed, so obviously I didn't participate. Not that brawls are really my thing either...I don't really see the need. But regardless, Zun made it all the way to the end, and made a lady friend (*wink wink*) I assume he had a very good time with overnight.
It actually worked to my advantage, because that was one less person to catch me as I was leaving. I tried very specifically to wait until Saanes had to trance, and Zun returned rather...tired, and both Mud and Elegant were already sleeping. It was surprisingly easy to sneak out over the city wall. I was really hoping that someone was going to try to kill me while I was out there, but no luck. However, two interesting things did manage to happen. One - I talked with Norav. THE Norav, the one that Dan'or'avil still has trapped inside his head. It was strange though...every time I tried to explain something and he got agitated, the dream reset itself. Dan'or'avil has some kind of spell set up in there that's going to make things a little difficult for us. Two - I managed to get some practice in with Mortalis. We went after a deer this time, since there was sadly no one with murderous intent, but it was fascinating (if not a little disturbing). Mortalis actually manifested himself outside the khopesh first, THEN went after the deer and sucked the life from it. Usually I had to give him blood/life force first to give him the energy to get outside the weapon. But not this time. He just went for it. Which implies to me that in the future, perhaps at Mother's, I can just let Mortalis loose and he can just drain people dry, nothing required from me. That's everything I hoped setting him free could do. I want him to be able to essentially have his own turns in combat so we can work together as a team in a way that still retains my own autonomy.
I managed to sneak back inside, no questions asked, and by the time the morning rolled around, no one was any the wiser. We headed down into the tunnels, hopped on our boats, and "set sail" into the darkness. It was...an odd experience. Not really anything to do but chat and plan. But plan we did, on a few fronts.
1. We want to see if Saanes can dispel whatever enchantment/spell is on Norav in his weird dream state. I'm thinking the plan would be I cast Dream into the blood shard. Then I cast Dream on Dan'or'avil, in the hopes that I can distract him while we try to free Norav. Then Elegant will cast Dream on Saanes, and Saanes will go in and cast Dispel Magic. It would probably end the Dream spell too, so I don't know that we'd get to see the fruits of our labour, but it's really worth a shot. We want to try testing it first, and Mud actually volunteered for testing, which shocked me. He's gone from the half-orc who was terrified of magic, to a half-orc using magic runes, magic weapons, and volunteering for magic testing. It's fascinating.
2. We have the crazy alcohol that Sessalie made - 24 bottles. Apparently it essentially puts the drinker into a blind rage and makes them take half damage. We originally thought about giving it to the guards, but making them stronger seems like a bad idea. Maybe Zun and Mud could take some?
3. We still have vials of Fool's Love. If we could sneak them into some cups, we might be able to take a few people out of the picture. I'm wondering if we could get them into my mother and a random man's cups, and it would be an easy way to get Mother alone in her room. Well, plus one random man.
4. Saanes has Mass Suggestion, which would be able to work on up to 24 people, which is amazing. If there are party guests there, which we imagine there will be, he might be able to just get them all to leave and go to safety.
5. We want to have me try casting Dream to either Chompy's wife, or any servants I know that I was close-ish with, to try to get some idea of what we're working with. Where the hostages are, where Father is, if there's been any mention of the crystal rod, etc.
6. Mud suggested outing myself to Mother as a way to get her alone. I'm not sure that I love that idea, but it's certainly on the table.
On top of that, we did try Scrying on Dan'or'avil and casting Sending to Father, but both of those met some kind of barrier, which is infuriating. It would be extremely helpful to know where Dan'or'avil is right now, so we know if we have to prepare for him or not. I'm hoping talking to SOMEONE who's already at the house could give us some insight there.
When we finally left the dark tunnels, we emerged into a house that had obviously been long-abandoned. Which would have just fine if it weren't for the picture we found - it was Chaedove's family. Her, her husband, her son, all smiling and looking happy. It killed me inside a little. The amount of guilt I carry at knowing that Father and I were responsible for her family dying...it's heavy. And I know it's not my fault - it's Mother's. She's the one that sent them after us. She knew there would be risks with that. She's the reason we had to fight back in the first place. But I still can't help but feel that twinge of guilt that twists up inside me. It also has me asking why. Why is Chaedove's house my mother's escape route? Just how connected was she with Mother? Or did this happen after they died and Chaedove left? I've got to know. Maybe the answer would help relieve the guilt.
We're less than 48 hours away now. I don't know if my nerves can handle it.
Session: Jan. 22nd, 2024
I can't believe we're so close. To getting Father back, to saving Chompy's family, to getting the crystal rod that Garren wants, to finally killing Mother - and hopefully G'Vath'Haz. This has all been the culmination of years of suffering and dreaming and anger...soon to be realized in one fell swoop.
I don't know how we're going to do it. We don't have any sort of concrete plan yet. Mud purchased 12 bottles of the extremely strong alcohol that Sessalie makes, and we know we have two vials of 'Fool's Love'. That, so far, is the extent of the planning we've done, which I'll be honest, makes me a little uncomfortable. I'm hoping Saanes comes back to help with that. He's got more of a strategist's mind than the rest of us do. Because I worry...there's no way they won't find it suspicious that the group Eirlyssia was travelling with is suddenly down Eirlyssia and up one random half-elf female. Not unless Dan'or'avil actually told my mother that I died in that botched rescue attempt and she believed him. But that also wouldn't make sense, seeing as his words were "Tell everyone Eirlyssia was never there. I will find her and I will kill her, regardless of what her bitch of a mother wants". Though who really knows what's going on in that psychopath's head, I suppose. All I know is we need to have something more than just "We'll get the guards drunk and figure it out from there".
We won't even have Kyil with us, though that's probably for the best. I offered him a position with us because I was nervous for his future with Mother. But he said his wife and daughter also work at the house, and there's no way he could get them out or leave them behind, which is completely fair. So when we came across the broken bridge to Mathyr (which was suspicious since it had obviously been sliced), he said he'd just stay behind with the carriage and wait until the bridge was fixed. Also of note - he was always going to be staying behind in Mathyr to pick "something up" and take it back to Mother via above ground travel. He genuinely didn't know what he was getting, something that I don't love. But regardless, we parted ways with him (I left him with a sheet of the common alphabet for him to practice with) and continued on foot into Mathyr.
Mortalis and I had what I think was a very good conversation along the way. Unsurprisingly, he was not happy with what he'd heard during that argument on the carriage, and was unimpressed with both the group's lack of trust for him, and my lack of trust for him. Which is fair. I imagine, if you're a patron, having a warlock that isn't willing to go all in with you is essentially useless. And I did acknowledge that fact to him, which he appreciated. I asked him if he understood the concepts of friendship and attachment, and it was fairly obvious he did not. Then he brought up the very correct point that the party would be significantly safer if I left them behind here and just went to Mother's just him and I, and that we could become more powerful together if we weren't hindered by the rest of the party. He wasn't wrong. But by some miracle, I managed to convince him that having both him and the party are my best chance of success. I didn't think he'd accept that, but he did. In exchange for him being reasonable, I did agree that I would try harder to work with him in the last few days that we have before getting home.
It's risky, which I don't love, but I don't see any other way around it. I'm going to have to find times to sneak away from the group and practice with Mortalis. Tonight I actually think I'll have a great chance while the typical evening-time fights break out at the Weeping Wench where we're staying. Zun is very clearly going to get involved, and Mud is very clearly going to try to keep him alive. I don't know what Elegant will do, certainly not join the fight, but I don't think he'll care too much if I wander off citing that I just want somewhere quiet. Normally I'd practice at night when everyone is asleep, but we're all sharing a room, so I fear it would be too obvious. Unless perhaps I just never go up to the room. But, I also usually keep watch for everyone, and I'd feel a little bad just disappearing while they slept. So I guess during the fight is the best time after all.
We shall see. Everything is going to culminate soon. I've got to get busy casting some Sendings tonightl. I have to ask Dan'or'avil if he really did tell Mother I'm dead, tell that man I met from the Lock Keepers about Dan'or'avil and Azhek to get SOMEONE on their tails, and ask Father if there's anything we need to be aware of when getting home. There's an awful lot of details to wrap up before everything either ends in complete success or in utter shambles.
Session: Jan. 8th, 2024
It felt very familiar to be on the road again. I've spent 15 years doing it, after all. It was very...nostalgic. Though this time it's for a purpose I've been waiting to accomplish for years. As much as I knew I'd be heading back here, it feels strange to finally have the time arrive. I spent so long being angry...so long trying to stay away...it feels bizarre to be willingly walking back into Mother's hands. However, it's not as if I'm unprepared. We haven't really begun to plan what exactly we're going to do when we get there, and that's a requirement, but still. We're strong. We work together well.
We're already a week into our trip too. That's what's making me a little on edge - we're that much closer to this happening. We've only got a week and half left, give or take.
Part of the trip has been spent getting to know Kyil a little better. He's the...butler? Servant? Who's been assigned to help us out on our journey back. We very quickly realized after a couple days of silence that that wasn't self-imposed - my mother cut his tongue out. Which, sounds about right. She fed my nanny to wolves, after all. Apparently he can't read or write either. The good news is he seemed very confused about who Orthek was, when we confronted him with the name - though I'm hoping it's not just that Orthek is being a fabulous actor in this case. I also haven't checked in with Mortalis yet to see if he senses Dan'or'avil's presence from him. Mortalis told me a while ago he'd be able to sense that, so I'm hoping he would have warned me, but I still figure it's good to check in.
The only that makes me question Kyil a little is that I don't remember him at all. According to him, he's been serving Mother for as long as he can remember, and he's in his forties. That would imply to me he was there while I was there...but I have zero recollection of him. Which, I could of course, just be forgetting him - we did have a lot of servants after all, and I was only close with a few of them. But still, it makes me a little uneasy. However, assuming he is who he says he is, I want to ask him a few things. Like, why he stays with my mother if she's so awful? And if he knows anything about Father and Chompy's family being held there. And if the reason he freaked out so hard when I spoke into his head was because G'Vath'Haz or Mother has done that before and he associates it with something bad. Many things to discuss.
The journey itself has been rather unremarkable, other than one strange stop. There was a statue of The Black King, and a plaque reading 'The Black King's Final Show'. When Mud activated the axe, it started an illusory play. A THREE HOUR LONG play that Yll'sid had created; a very obvious vanity project. There was no sound, but it seemed to detail the story of he and his wife drifting further apart as he grew crazier, then they both took lovers, then the wife's lover tried to kill Yll'sid, and he had them both killed. An interesting final moment was Yll'sid's lover handing a bag of gold to a masked figure though. Curious, but no point in dwelling on it, since it currently means nothing to me. I'm hoping us activating that didn't somehow apprise Yll'sid to our location, though.
Other than that, I got to cast Sending to Rayan, he's doing well. I miss having him around...he was a nice distraction. And then Mortalis and I got some good practice in! I gave him the usual half litre of blood, then tried a healing potion to see if that would fully restore what I'd lost. Sadly, it only seemed to half return, as I felt woozy after just giving another quarter litre. However, Mortalis was able to almost fully become a humanoid! A bit concerning was when he said he'd missed that feeling though...as if he'd been humanoid before. I'm wondering if it's the part of the god in him that's remembering that, since he's a combo of their personalities? That, or Mortalis has been lying to me the whole time, which I don't love. We'll see I suppose. He was even able to pick a pillow up - he had full use of 'hands', which is also exciting. A little concerning that he did the 'hold onto the thing just a little too long to the point that my discomfort became greater' as he usually does...but he was probably excited too. So I can't hold it too much against him. I was excited too. Just have to make sure I don't offer any sort of indication I've been practising again to the group. After our last conversation I'm very aware they would not enjoy that. Sigh.
Session: Dec. 18, 2023
Well today really was a day full of information and conversations. I thought the revelations that Cor'nan gave us were going to be the most informative part of the day, but it turns out the entire day continued on that way.
Rayan showed up at Elegant's door to inform us that a body had been found murdered in the woods just outside of Ketter. I was immediately suspicious that it was the man Malzod had follow us, and sure enough, Rayan informed me I was suspect number one because I was the last one seen talking to him publicly. I asked Rayan if we could go somewhere private to chat, and he took us to the gardens following Cor'nan, and the watchful Mud. In a secluded area I told him all about Malzod - him threatening Galvid, asking us to kill Cor'nan, that the murdered man was most likely done in by Malzod, and I told him a small bit about Dan'or'avil. I knew it would be a lot, but I definitely short-circuited his brain a little. Poor guy. His main suggestions were to run away, and to not bring up Malzod's name when being interrogated, neither of which were particularly helpful. But he seemed genuine, and definitely concerned for my well-being. At the end of the conversation, when I apologized and said I'd do my best to protect him, he kissed me. I'm still reeling a little. It's been a very long time since I was somewhere long enough, with someone I trusted enough, for that to happen. And of course, now we have to leave.
Because while I was meeting with Rayan, Zun and Elegant were meeting with Count Peyton and Betan, my mother's Chamberlain. According to Zun, Betan explained that my mother still wants Elegant to come and play, to which Elegant agreed. After he left with Carlin and Cor'nan, Count Peyton apparently questioned them on my legitimacy. I guess it spooks the servants of the house that I don't sleep. There's also been rumours that I'm not who I say I am, which is interesting. The only person who knows that is the Inquisitor. Which means either someone was listening in or Carlin has been spreading rumours. Neither of which is a great option. Luckily Zun was able to dissuade Peyton that I was shady, but it still concerns me that people think that of me. They're not wrong, of course, but it doesn't help keep a low profile at all.
On my back with Mud, after talking with Rayan, we ran into Carlin and Cor'nan going to the rooms in front of us, and I swear to the gods I thought Carlin was going to kill Cor'nan right there. I came up with some lame excuse about needing to ask Carlin a question, which caused him to fall back and join me, where I proceeded to ask him what the hell he thought was doing. But he just acted like he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, and told me he was treading carefully. Luckily he left, to which we all breathed a sigh of relief.
I ended up meeting separately with Betan to discuss details for our journey, all of which are strangely convoluted and shrouded in secrecy. Why, I have no idea. Neither did Betan. Whole journey should take 2.5 weeks, I think he said. I asked him how he liked working for her, but he made it sound as though she was a typical noble. A little shady occasionally, but otherwise tough and fair. So perhaps he is actually just a servant and not really knowledgeable of what she's capable of. Weirdly, he informed me that her daughter had been kidnapped years ago, and then more recently executed. I'm assuming he's referring to the execution that just happened with the Vorestheyra, but that leaves me with some questions. Has Dan'or'avil not told my mother that I'm still alive? He certainly made it sound as though he was going to spread the information. But then again, he said he was going to kill me regardless of what she wanted, so maybe he hasn't told her I'm still alive. That way he can kill me and she's none the wiser. A concerning thought.
The last information overload of the day was meeting with someone the Inquisitor had sent to chat after I requested it. Another Inquisitor, it seemed, though this one was part of the Kidon Order that Cor'nan is a part of. He informed me they would not pursuing Malzod further, as they still need him. Which makes sense with what Cor'nan said, about needing to use him to get into the Iglvdruum. It's infuriating though, as Malzod really needs to stand trial for everything he's done. It also means us killing Malzod would be very frowned upon, which is also annoying. The Inquisitor then told me that Ny'ell was going to be released, in part because Cor'nan apparently begged my mother to use her power to do so. I don't like that she's connected there. It worried me there's going to be some kind of favour owed, or something along those lines. I am grateful, but I absolutely hate that part of the success came because of Mother. The other interesting part was that The Inquisitor didn't think Malzod was the one who killed the body in the forest. Which is strange, because I was sure, since it was the man Malzod left to watch us, and we got him to lie, it would have been Malzod. It was certainly gruesome enough. The body apparently drained of blood, limbs everywhere. But if Malzod didn't do it, who did? Did Malzod get Carlin to do it for him, maybe? Or is there some third party I'm not thinking about at all? Sigh.
I told the Inquisitor a little about Mother financing the Cult, along with Dan'or'avil, and he said they had an agent over there who would try to look into it. He gave me their insignia, along with a code word to use if I met them. He also mentioned they might look a little into Ahzek, once I mentioned him. The Inquisitor asked if I knew anything about where Tarranvar had gone, which I could very safely answer, since Tarranvar's soul is in Mortalis. Obviously I wasn't going to tell him that, but I could at least confidently say that Ahzek killed him. I'll be curious to see where this goes. Just another secret organization that is supposedly our ally, working in the name of justice. Fingers crossed their idea of justice is akin to ours'.
Session: Jan. 1st, 2024
I don't like leaving killers alive. I don't like being lied to. And I certainly don't like being called selfish when I'm just trying to keep my party alive. Yet all of those things happened.
I tried to convince the party that we needed to kill Carlin before we left Count Peyton's. We know he enjoys killing, we know he's a psychopath, and we know he plans to kill Cor'nan. Yet, for some frustrating reason, they all said we should just let the authorities deal with it. They had me message the Inquisitor I'd met with last night, who said he'd look into it. It's not that I don't trust the Inquisitor, but the Inquisitor isn't there all the time. He's not going to be able to watch over Cor'nan. Also leaving Carlin alive to just continue being a psychopath who works for Malzod seems like a terrible idea. If we can't kill Malzod yet, then killing someone who's willing to do his dirty work for him seems like the next best option. But nooooo...If Cor'nan winds up dead, I plan to fully blame the rest of the party for that.
Then immediately after that, I found out from Mortalis that Dan'or'avil mainly became Dan'or'avil BECAUSE of Vores??? The magical dragon queen that everyone was so excited about? The entire reason we were told the Vorestheyra exists? SHE was super high up in the Cult of Nar'can'us and is actually the one who brought Dan'or'avil to it? Which then of course involved a confrontation with Garrin, who had obviously been lying to us about the true purpose of the Vorestheyra. Which, apparently, is to find the reincarnations of Vores and kill them before they can take up her purpose of ruling over Pyrenol and bringing back Nar'can'us.
Obviously that caused us to ask about Chaedove, to which he said they'd given her the choice of being executed or working for them, quietly, and staying holed up in the Vorestheyra headquarters forever. According to Garrin she took the latter option, and the note from her was indeed real. But when I asked if we'd be able to see her, he said probably not, which is not an answer I am willing to accept. It also means that the note Dan'or'avil sent us when we got onto the airship was 100% truth. He said the Vorestheyra had been planning to execute Chaedove, and were holding her in their headquarters now, and were keeping the truth from us. None of that was incorrect. I find it a terrible place to be when I can trust what my enemy says more than someone who claims to be my ally. Garrin said THEY were even the ones who set up the assassination attempt at her coronation. Apparently the Cult tried to intervene, but the assassins (including the one who SHOT ME) were all theirs'.
And then the party has the nerve to turn around and judge me? I'm not even keeping secrets from them! Well, that's mostly true. I haven't fully told them about what I've been practising with Mortalis. As we left Count Peyton's to start the journey to my mother's, I foolishly asked Elegant if healing magic replenishes blood lost. Mortalis mentioned it had been a while since he'd been fed, and he's not wrong. I was hoping I could just use my own blood and get Elegant to heal me. I thought they'd all be curious enough to see if it worked for science. But they weren't. They were horrified. They did agree that I could drain the blood of anyone we killed, but Zun tried to make me agree not to feed Mortalis my own blood anymore, which I skirted around.
What hurt the most though was him calling me selfish. He told me that I was trying to gain more power for myself, and that's why I was doing this. I don't know how to make him see that this is all for them. For my father. To make sure that I am never so weak again that those I care about can just be taken from me. Saving Father, and killing Mother and G'Vath'Haz are MY responsibilities. And I am so grateful that they've agreed to help me in that. I never thought I'd get to the point where I had a party willing to take that on. But this is my task. This is everything I've been working towards for the last 15 years. The responsibility here is not equal. I have the burden of this to see it through, and that means I carry the task of keeping everyone involved alive. That's what a leader does. That's what a friend does. They shouldn't have to get hurt or, gods forbid, die, because I wasn't strong enough to keep them safe.
He thinks that I don't trust them enough to take care of themselves, but that's not true. I know they're strong. I do. But they don't know what we're up against. Mother and G'Vath'Haz...the cruelty that I've seen them display...the fact that they both worked so hard to take away any ounce of free will I had, and revelled in my suffering...the party doesn't understand that. And why would they? They didn't live it. They've never met Mother or G'Vath'Haz. But I know who we're going to fight. Does it not make sense to do everything in my power to ensure we succeed? Why is it selfish to get stronger? Isn't that what they're all trying to do too? I have to assume they're going to go into this fight at peak performance, and that's what I must do too. That means becoming as ingrained with Mortalis as I can, without losing myself.
But when Zun asked if I wanted to trust them more than Mortalis, I said "I think so?". And I just know that Mortalis is going to have words with me about that. Which is fair. I'm just so confused. I want to get stronger with Mortalis, but if I do, I risk the party losing all trust in me and leaving. But if I choose them, and stop working with Mortalis like I have been, I become useless. I'm a warlock. I need a patron to be able to do anything at all. And Mortalis is the best shot I've ever had of finally being able to take down Mother and G'Vath'Haz. I can't lose him. But I don't know where that leaves me. I literally feel like I'm being pulled in two directions. I wish things could just be simple for ONCE in my life.
At least there's Rayan. He's been the one consistently good thing since we've been at Count Peyton's. Though, of course, now we're leaving and I might never see him again. He got me a necklace, this cute little ruby like heart. I gave him a poison scabbard as a thank you, more attempts to keep him safe. I'm so scared that Dan'or'avil or Mother will find out about Rayan and use him against me, so it's probably for the best that I leave him behind anyway. Forming lasting relationships is something I don't have the luxury of until our enemies are gone. But I was so grateful for the time he and I shared together, however brief. I plan to cast Sending to him as I can while we're gone...it would be nice to have a friend. I did warn him that I might die, which perhaps I shouldn't have...but I wanted him to understand that if I stopped messaging, it wasn't because I didn't care! It was just because I quite literally couldn't. I think I've worried him though. Sigh.
Only other thing of note was a last minute visitor to Count Peyton's as we were leaving. Someone driving a small carriage. A woman who changed her face as she approached the Count's home, and I believe she called herself Val'rie (or Valerie? It was hard to hear). I warned Rayan that she's not necessarily who she says she is, and it has me curious, but I suppose it's not my problem anymore. I've got much bigger problems to face now.
Session: Dec. 4th, 2023
I have officially experienced the full spectrum of emotions (other than sadness, perhaps) in the last 18 hours or so. Fight Club was actually a lot of fun. I went into it somewhat nervous, as dueling is not something I'm well accustomed to. If I'm fighting someone, it's typically for my life, not for the fun of the fight. But my opponent was great, and helped put me at ease. She was stoic, but not like most enemies I fight - not angry and ruthless, just determined. That I could work with. Her counterspells were incredibly annoying, but I managed to defeat her fairly easily. Zun and Cor'nan also won their bouts, though Mud got stuck with the toughest of all, and couldn't quite cut it. Which, once we found out his opponent was Henrilang, the same mysterious spy/assassin Malzod wants, it kind of made sense.
I also got to enjoy a lovely walk back with Rayan. He's such an encouragement. Our time together was cut short by my sheer panic in discovering that a carriage from my mother's was sitting out front Count Payten's house. None of the guards knew why it was there, or who was visiting. Our group decided to go through the back entrance in the kitchens, on the offchance it was someone waiting for me. It was very obvious while parting with Rayan that he could tell I was panicking inside, and I did not do a good job of dissuading him from that notion. He was sweet though, simply said he hoped I'd be okay, kissed me on the forehead, and said we could talk more tomorrow. I really appreciate that he doesn't press things, and doesn't seem to be overly curious. It has worked to my favour. I don't know if I should tell him what's going on, or at least part of it. As much as I want to, there's always a tiny part of me that worries I'm going to get betrayed. I've been trying to keep my identity a secret for a long time now. But he is part of the guard. He could have insights or connections that I'm just not privy to. Then again, telling him anything probably puts him at risk. If this man got hurt because of me, I don't even want to imagine the guilt that I would feel. I'll have to think on it.
When we got upstairs the backway, a young serving girl told Mud she'd left a note for him from someone on his pillow. In typical Mud fashion, he proceeded to spend an infuriatingly long time trying to figure out if the letter was trapped. Luckily, we managed to convince him to just open it. And I'm glad we did - the letter helped put the pieces together that Henrilang and Orthek are one and the same. Also informed us that the girl on the stairs was most likely Orthek too. It's interesting - when we first heard of him, all the stories and legends, I told myself that I hated him. That he was a villain we just needed to finish off immediately. But the more we "get to know him" (I use that term incredibly loosely), the more it really seems that he's just a very talented, slightly chaotic man, just out there doing his job. Compared to our other enemies, it's hard to be mad at that. In some ways, I actually respect it. It felt a little relieving to be able to put Orthek behind us for the time being, and not have to worry about wanting to kill us. If he did, it would only be because he was hired to, and then we'd cross that bridge when we came to it.
We briefly tried to decide what to do about Cor'nan, but really it just boiled down to "we'll have to talk with him in the morning". I thought everyone was going to bed after that, but Mud wanted to talk to Mortalis directly. I'll be honest - I don't love that. While I really like this group, and I would give my all to protect them, I don't trust that they won't try to take Mortalis away from me. I think, if I'm honest, I'm also a little protective of Mortalis. He's MY patron. No one else's. I don't want them being mean, or trying to also gain his power. All Mud wanted to know was about Henrilang/Orthek/Varn/Coryn, and how Gift of the Protectors worked. Both things I could have easily asked Mortalis about. I think if he wants to speak to Mortalis in the future, he might just have to go through me.
After Mud was finally done, I got Mortalis to pass on to Tarranvar that I killed his family. Also enjoyed throwing in the little detail that I own his soul as well. According to Mortalis he took that very angrily, which finally gave me a feeling of justice. Immediately after that I had to give pause to that feeling, as Mortalis informed me he was very happy about those actions and that I reminded him of a young Norav. THAT is concerning to me. The fact that I've made Mortalis happy AND remind him of an early Dan'or'avil? Not good. But...I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. Tarranvar almost tricked us into breaking the locks to Sha'havar. The results of that would have been disastrous. He needed to know that wasn't okay, in the form of punishment (aka finding out I contributed to his family's death and own him forever). That. Is. Justice. And I fail to understand why my party doesn't see that, and why Mortalis treats it like some unjustified delicious cruelty.
If I'm being totally honest, there was a small part of me that was happy. And I can't ever tell anyone that. But no one else encourages me in this party. They all clearly think that I'm crazy, or evil, or at least, on my way to becoming so. But Mortalis understands why I'm doing what I'm doing. He's pleased. I spent the first 13 years of my life chasing the feeling of being able to please my mother, and could never do so. Now I have someone watching over me who is pleased with my progress. I don't take that lightly.
I also don't take people ignoring me lightly, and informed Dan'or'avil of such. To which he just responded that making my life difficult is something he takes pride in. And then when I reminded him I wanted to know why he wanted to kill me personally . Do you know what reasoning he gave? BECAUSE I TOOK MORTALIS. That's it! No other reason. So I informed him that was incredibly petty, to which he did not respond. Seriously though, Mortalis was sitting in Azagaol for AGES, just ripe for the taking! Dan'or'avil could have gotten him at ANY point, but he didn't. It's not my fault we happened upon Mortalis! The sheer jealousy of wanting to kill me just a little bit more than the rest of my group for that reason alone...it's ridiculous. He's ridiculous. I'm flabbergasted.
That flabbergasted carried on into the morning when Cor'nan came to Elegant's door to meet with us. Apparently (and we scrutinized this man A LOT during our conversation) Cor'nan worked for the Kidon Order, a secret organization dedicated to keeping the Ma'arl Dominion safe. He said he didn't really mean to tell Malzod about Ny'ell, and only began working with Malzod as a means to get closer to Cormivoun and the Igvldruum. He didn't expect Malzod to use it to get Ny'ell killed. So he came to us for help with saving Ny'ell, but unfortunately that brainstorming yielded very little. Short of a jailbreak, which would be risky and drastic, there's not a lot we can do for her. There's a possibility I might be able to talk to the Inquisitor and raise even further suspicion about Malzod, which would require leaving Ny'ell alive for a time while they could investigate further. So I'll most likely do that, but it's not super likely to give us the result we want. Cor'nan said that the Igvldruum has high reach, and that it's quite possible the royal guard has members in its ranks, which also means our chances of getting Malzod in trouble to rescue Ny'ell are even slimmer.
The only semi-good that came out of the morning was finding out that it's Mother's Chamberlain who's here, and not her or Dan'or'avil. I didn't think she'd come herself, but still. The panic was strong. I don't actually know her Chamberlain well - I think his name is Berton, or something like that? We're around the same age, and I remember him helping with more the lighter business side of things (messages, rooms, assistance where needed). I don't know if he ever really knew how truly terrible my mother is, nor do I obviously know what's happened in the past 14 years. The good news is that the Kyra disguise probably keeps me safe enough if it's just him. Apparently he was just here trying to contract Ny'ell and Elegant to play at one of her many parties, which is exactly what we wanted. So this may yet work out. Here's hoping anyway.
Session: Nov. 20th, 2023
For a group we've dubbed The Unlucky Few, we certainly seem to have some rare luck on our side at times. After the conversation with Malzod, Elegant and I took a look at the packet he'd given us on Cor'nan. If what it says is true...Cor'nan is worse than I thought. The way he describes killing, as though it excites him...it makes me shudder. I'm all for killing people who deserve it, but I would never draw it out. He seems to especially enjoy exsanguination as a form of killing, which is just awful. I'm happy to do that to a corpse for Mortalis's sake AFTER they're dead, but not before. I'd really like to get to the bottom of whether or not those notes are true.
We were partially interrupted by Mud letting us know that Malzod was closing in on them at a restaurant across the street, which obviously took precedence. I did however, make sure to drop one of the journal pieces I'd been working on. I've only got three so far, and I want to scatter them in different places - places that can't 100% be connected to us. So Count Payten's, for instance, would be out. But Ketter...anyone could be in Ketter. I've also signed them with Augustus's name. He's the one we saw Mother kick out of the carriage and send G'vath'haz to kill. So I'm hoping using his name, if it does get back to her somehow, will really confuse her. I've tried to write it in a way that also doesn't look like my own writing, so we shall see. I'm just hoping that it's found by people who can really get the rumour mill going. If I can help tank my mother's reputation before we even face her, that will be all the more satisfaction for me.
Hearing that Malzod was close, I feared the worst, so I ran to the restaurant Mud had described. Upon entering though, I discovered Malzod but not Mud or Zun, which forced me to think on my feet. I'll be honest, using the excuse of wanting to eat there was lame, and I'm a little embarrassed. I'm usually better than that. I am a little proud though, because what I really wanted to do was sass him, but making him angry I knew would not be a good way to do things. This being said, it was wildly amusing that he had to take my excuse and go. What was he going to do in a public space? I'm glad we got there when we did though, because that was all a little too close for comfort. According to Zun, Malzod actually would have found them had he not locked the kitchen door, or the cook hadn't been so high off of gods know what.
I think we're really going to have to decide to deal with Malzod sooner rather than later. If he's going to keep going after Mud like this...losing Mud and/or Zun is something the group cannot afford. We're just going to have to kill him. Which sounds crazy, I know, but I don't see any other way around it. Unless maybe we can sic Cor'nan on him? Tell Cor'nan Malzod wants him dead, and see what happens? I don't know. So many moving parts to this.
Malzod even left an inept man to be on the lookout for us leaving the restaurant. Luckily, he was easy enough to deal with. A time-honoured combo of bribery and threats did the trick, and he was on his way. I'm hoping that was enough to get him to lie to Malzod, though he made the point he was more scared of Malzod than of me (which I was personally offended about) which does worry me a little he might turn on us. Fingers crossed he's as gullible as he seemed.
We had a small debate afterwards about what to do about Cor'nan and Malzod, but it was very inconclusive. Do we leave Cor'nan alive and use it to our advantage? Do we kill Cor'nan and not tell Malzod so he doesn't get what he wants? Do we figure out the item he wants and take it for ourselves? Do we kill both of them? Can we trust that Malzod would actually give us the money? Do we tell the Warden that Malzod threatened Galvid and then tried to hire us to kill Cor'nan? I hate that there's just no way of knowing what route would be best. All of them have risks. With our luck, whatever we choose is going to blow up in our faces.
At least we're on our way to fight club now, and that should have significantly more simplicity to it: win. This much I can do.
The Journal Entry’s title
Begin writing your story here...
Session(s): Oct. 29th/30th, 2023
My mind is whirling as I write this. So many details to get down, so many connections being made.
I know how Ahzek got me. Kind of. I know how he first found me anyway. I saw the memory. When I first met him, he was posing as a doting grandfather taking his sick granddaughter to a healer, on his way to Wolfshire. That's where I was going at the time, and of course, that was the one thing he could have said to me that I wouldn't have insighted. After a run in with some mercenaries from Safe Haven while in the town of Gloomwilde, it turned out he was actually a vampire hunter, and he was using the girl to lure them out so he could kill them. At the time, I thought that had solved the mystery, and he offered me a ride to continue to Wolfshire, and I accepted. It was only at the end of the memory when I asked his name, and he replied Ahzek. It would have meant nothing to me at the time, but it means everything to me now. He completely hoodwinked me. And I don't know how he actually managed to take control of me, or if he revealed his true nature at some point. But now I know at least how we met.
Also concerning in that memory: I met a cleric named Lyrin, who was a cleric for The Order of the Lock Keepers. He informed me that their entire order is dedicated to stopping people who would do things with souls, things with dark necromancy. When I asked about where he stood on things like spells or artifacts (thinking in my head of the spell Soul Cage), he responded that there was a weapon they were aware of that held souls, but that he wouldn't talk of it. I can only assume he was referencing Mortalis. That means there's an entire Order of clerics out there, in the human lands, who would love to see Mortalis destroyed. As if I needed more people to be worried about. It's hard too, because they would probably be very interested in stopping people like Dan'or'avil or Ahzek, since they seem to deal in a great deal of meddling in necromantic things they shouldn't, but there's no good way to tell them about our enemies without also getting questioned ourselves. Sigh.
Memories aside, we decided to ask Malzod to a meeting, which he surprisingly accepted. We also asked the Inquisitor when Ny'ell was set to be executed, and she said the trial was in two days, but if she was found guilty, she'd be executed immediately. That's not exactly encouraging.
The only truly good moment of my day was Rayen popping in to ask me to take a walk in the gardens with him. He's so wholesome. A little awkward, but so genuine. The gardens brought me back to learning from Father when we lived at home. He was always so passionate about plants and appreciating their beauty. I was able to educate Rayen on an entire variety of flowers, which was the first time I've just had some genuine time to mostly be myself and not be worried about betrayal around every corner. He makes me feel safe. I really, really, really hope that's the case and this isn't just setting me up for heartbreak. Because, I'll be honest, I think I actually like him. He's so refreshing compared to the men we normally meet. It's been a long time since I've felt the need to protect someone besides my father this strongly.
Someone who is the exact opposite of Rayen though, is Carlin, and the meeting with him was very interesting. He essentially asked us to take out Cor'nan, not on Payten's grounds, in exchange for 60,000gp. He wouldn't tell us who his employer was, told us to think about it.
We did, as we headed to meet Malzod at The Immortal Lion, before the fight club started at The Exalted Bastion. Nothing conclusive at the time. But then the meeting with Malzod happened.
Right off the bat, things were weird. Malzod's guard, a half-orc, was none other than Galvid, the exact same half-orc we had just heard the Warden and Mud gushing over that morning at the royal prison. I couldn't contain my surprise at realizing who he was, which immediately caused both him AND Malzod to panic a little. Malzod sent him outside, and said he was originally going to ask for info on Mud for our little info exchange, but he now wanted to know everything we knew about Galvid. I felt a little bad selling Galvid out, realizing it was entirely possible that Galvid had intended to murder Malzod, or simply didn't know who Malzod was. Malzod also made it clear that Galvid's life was very possibly on the line. BUT I made sure to warn Galvid with a subtle Sending, and luckily, he was already long gone.
Malzod then informed us that it was Cor'nan WHO TOLD HIM ABOUT NY'ELL MURDERING TARIA. Apparently she let slip to him one night, not remembering she'd done so, and since Malzod and Cor'nan had had previous contract dealings, he offered the information up to Malzod. Malzod then got Ny'ell sent to prison to be executed, and Cor'nan was set to garner fame and fortune and a springboarded career off of her death. But he'd had someone take something important from Malzod, and Malzod wanted it back. He of course wouldn't tell me what the item was. But he gave us an information packet about Cor'nan, and said he wanted Cor'nan dead so he could speak with the body and find his item again. Which also means that Malzod is the one employing Carlin. He said they ALSO had done a fair bit of contract work together.
I tried to ask how he knew Courmivoun, but he said he'd want info on Mud's exact location right now, which would require a new deal. As I debated, he rescinded the offer, stating that would be a different meeting, and he had to go and deal with Galvid. I got to throw one jibe in at the end, which he didn't really seem to care about, but I was definitely not at the top of my game, what with all this information swimming through my head.
Now the question is: do we kill Cor'nan? We have to read the packet first, but it certainly sounds like he's a terrible person. Someone I wouldn't feel particularly bad about killing. And it means we'd make 60,000gp while doing it. BUT it means we'd be helping both Crazy Carlin AND Malzod, a thought that makes me shudder. It also means Malzod, someone who JUST outed a person for murder, would know the exact details about US murdering someone AND where the body was located. I don't know that there's anything to stop him from just selling us out after he's asked his questions to the corpse. Perhaps the answer is to just kill Cor'nan, and NOT tell Malzod or Carlin about it...we'd lose the money, but Malzod would lose Cor'nan. Perhaps that's our compromise. Sigh. This really bodes a long discussion.
Session: Oct. 23rd, 2023
It would seem going after answers only leads to more questions. Not that I'm disappointed in getting answers. On the contrary, I'm rather desperate to get answers...I just wish that for once, things could be simple. Or at least not mildly horrifying to learn.
I tried messaging Dan'or'avil last night to find out why he wants to murder me so badly. It went through, I could feel it, but he didn't respond, which I think is rather rude. I'll probably tell him that tonight, to be honest, though I don't want to bother him so much that he decides to come after me. I just want answers. It's not fair that he gets to make my life extremely difficult, and I don't even know the proper reason.
At least I got a couple answers when it comes to our time with Ahzek, though I didn't like what I saw. I had a sneaking suspicion we had done a lot of things I would not be happy about, most likely murder, but I didn't want to be proven right so quickly. Mortalis helped me break through the barrier in my memories that Ahzek set up. It was...unpleasant, to say the least. Also concerning that Mortalis said whoever created the barrier was probably at the same power level he was at. Nonetheless, we were able to get through it, and I witnessed two memories. One where we slaughtered an entire tiny village at Ahzek's bidding, and then one where Ahzek got instructions from someone, then told us to go murder a man's entire family. When I mentioned this to Mud, he said he recalled Tarranvar mentioning that Ahzek slaughtered his entire family, and that's part of the reason they hated each other. So, interestingly, I think we may have been the ones to murder Tarranvar's family. I know how much Tarranvar sucks, so I don't have any sympathy for him...but I really hope his family sucked just as much as he did. I don't know how much more I can take of finding out what we did while under Ahzek's bidding, but I must. I need to know. Not knowing is so much worse, somehow, even though what we're finding out is horrifying. So much death. I've killed a lot of people, whether because of G'Vath'Haz, or justice, or self defense, and I knew the total was high. But to find out that the count is already 20+ people higher than I thought, most of them probably innocent...it's something I can't dwell on or I'll go crazy. I'm not a bad person. I'm not. I'm NOT.
But...Mortalis said that Cor'nate controls people through emotion. That the stronger their anger and hatred and violent tendencies are, the easier they are to control. And he very obviously implied that the reason I was so easy to control was because I was all of those things. He expressed excitement for working with me because I was more murderous than he first thought. That doesn't sit well with me. I'm violent to get things done, and only to those who deserve it. I'm not like him. I'm not like my mother. I don't kill for fun. And I wish people would stop saying I'm so concerning. I'm nothing like them.
I probably shouldn't have left Mortalis in my brain. But he said if the memories came out in my day to day it could be...problematic. And I agree. We were heading to the prison, and that is NOT a place where I want them somehow finding out the things that I've done. So he's there, for a day, to see what happens. I can still use him as a weapon while he's in there, and he certainly didn't get in my way while we were at the prison, so this might actually work out just fine. There's absolutely no way I can tell the others though. If Zun knew Mortalis was more in my head than usual...there would be hell to pay.
At least the prison visit went okay. Though okay might be stretching it. Nothing bad happened, I suppose, but Ny'ell fully confessed, in front of us, that she murdered Taria. Apparently Elegant was cheating on her with Taria, and Ny'ell caught them, confronted Taria, and when Taria was a dick in response, went into a fit of rage. I have a hard time really blaming Ny'ell. Obviously, murder shouldn't be the first resort. I get that. But being betrayed by the one you love like that...I can see how it would make someone snap. It's also crazy to me that that would receive the death penalty. A life for a life, I guess, but with the amount of people we've all murdered in the last two or three years...it feels vastly unfair that Ny'ell gets cheated on, murders one person, and is going to be killed for it. We'll see what Elegant has to say about that now that we're on our way home.
I just hope the meeting with the psychopathic Mister Carlen this afternoon goes better than I'm thinking it will...
Session: Oct. 16th, 2023
Remember when I said that perhaps we needed to be more forthcoming and just tell people things, to try to incriminate our enemies instead of just hiding? I think that backfired royally today.
The day started out fine with that advice in my head. I managed to grab the Inquisitor before she left, and told her all about Dan'or'avil and Ahzek. Interestingly, she seemed to recognize the name Dan'or'avil, but I didn't get much of a sense of why. It didn't seem to be a sly "oh I know who that is" kind of recognition, but more an inkling of recognition like she'd heard it before? Curious as to what that connection was. Then she was surprised to hear about Ahzek, citing him as being a somewhat boring person. She was surprised to hear that he worships Cor'nate, and seemed interested in the orb I mentioned. So hopefully, after being much more forthcoming there, it might lead to SOMEONE getting in trouble for some of their crimes. Whether that's Malzod, Dan'or'avil, or Ahzek, I don't care. But if we could remove even one enemy from our plate by legal means, that would be ideal.
The Inquisitor then had to leave to go see if we could visit Ny'ell in prison, and Elegant decided to take a nap, so that left Mud, Zun, and myself kind of aimless. We decided to go see the nearest city, Ketter, and check out if they had any magical tattoo shops, and then, because Mud and Zun got weirdly excited about it, check out their apparent fight club (thanks to a recommendation from Rayen). Since we didn't know where anything was, we asked a nice looking old lady, and my gods was she a hoot. Blind as a bat, but twice as cheeky. Gave us directions to the Exalted Bastion for the fight club, and told us to check out The Vials, the local apothecary, for info on tattoos.
Turns out the apothecary was run by her daughter, who informed us there were no tattoo shops in town, but that the butler of Count Payten was rumoured to have one, which was wildly convenient for us. She directed us to Helena, the blacksmith, who apparently runs the fight club out the back of her shop. Mud and Zun signed up, I put myself down as a maybe (if you can't use magic, there's literally no point for me, but she said there might be a magic user in town who'd duel me?), put Cor'nan down as a maybe (figured the man could probably stand to blow off some steam), and when she asked if we knew any musicians, offered up Elegant's talents (because the man also needs to get his mind off of things). Mud stayed behind to learn more from Helena, and Zun and I went back to talk to Carlen about his tattoo. But that's where things got...complicated.
So turns out Carlen DOES have a tattoo. The blood fury one at that. But it also turns out that he's a freaking JACKED psychopath, so that's a concern. He said he got his tattoo from a man he killed, and that he had no remorse for it. Would be totally willing to kill again for a great tattoo like that. Said he had a friend in the capital that did tattoos through more legal means, but the fees start at 200,000gp, a sum we quickly informed him we did not have. He then asked if we would be interested in acquiring a large sum of money through less-than-legal means, to which we told him that we probably would be willing, so long as it didn't involve hurting or stealing from innocent people. He said he'd get back to us tomorrow, after talking with his boss about whether we could be brought in. Then informed us in NO uncertain terms that he would immediately kill us if we tried to backstab him.
As we went to leave, to further assert the power difference between us, he produced two daggers out of nowhere and threw them very accurately beside each of our heads into the door. I'll be honest, I don't take kindly when someone tries to intimidate me, so I turned around and went "I can do that too!" and pulled out Mortalis. That was a mistake. He clearly recognized the weapon. Maaaybe he only recognized that I'm a warlock, but it seemed to be more than that. But Zun...brash, chaotic Zun, immediately goes "The jig is up, he recognizes it, Eirlyssia". JUST. LIKE. THAT. Outed me without hesitation. I didn't get a sense for whether or not Carlen recognized my name, but him knowing it is NOT good. He asked me how long I'd had Mortalis, and then we left. But it's been bothering me since. While I have been suggesting we be more open with outing our enemies, I was not intending to be more open with outing our identities. It makes me extremely uncomfortable that that psycho now knows exactly who I am, and most likely, what I have in my possession. If word of that gets back to any of our enemies...if he has any connection with them...it especially concerns me knowing that Carlen would most likely be very willing to sell us out.
My only solace is that I might get some answers tonight. I realized, after talking with the Inquisitor about how I don't know why exactly Dan'or'avil wants to kill me, I should just ask him. I can cast Sending. Why not? Ask him straight up what the hell I did to make him want to kill me so much. Then I plan to ask Mortalis if he can get through the barrier in my memories. The Inquisitor said going through minds was a risky procedure, but I wonder if, when it's a patron who's already connected to your mind, it would be easier? Maybe then we can finally know what Ahzek is responsible for.
Session: Oct. 2nd, 2023
I wish our list of enemies wasn't so long. I wish our stories weren't so complicated. I'm having a hard time balancing between trying to keep our privacy so we're not immediately outed, but also trying to get the word out of our enemies' misdeeds.
Elegant obviously has no problem outing Ahzek, though I don't think he's actually ever said Ahzek's name yet, which I should encourage him to do so. That one is intriguing enough that even if people didn't believe it, it might bear looking into. I had really hoped that the Inquisitor would be able to get into Elegant's memories, but whatever is blocking them is powerful. It's concerning, as I had hoped that we just needed someone with the right set of skills. But if even their Inquisitor can't get through it without risking damage...that doesn't bode well for the rest of us getting our memories back. The only thing I've been debating for myself is asking Mortalis if he can read memories. I don't really want to give him control, or merge consciousnesses, but if I do it for only a moment...just long enough to have him look...he's certainly more powerful than I am. And he's definitely connected with my mind. I just want to know how Ahzek got us, and what things we did for him.
I tried to also throw doubt on Malzod (and I suppose, a little on Courmivoun), though I don't know if it worked. I was an idiot. In my zeal to get justice for Mud, and one less enemy on our list, I agreed to talk to the Inquisitor under Zone of Truth. OF COURSE they would ask my name. I don't know how I was so stupid as to not realize that. So of course I was as evasive as possible, since I didn't want to tell them I was Eirlyssia. But thinking back on it now, that must have immediately stolen most credibility from my story. Sigh. I was extremely careful not to mention Mud's name, or give any indication on which of Elegant's party members he was. For all she knows, Saanes or Corin who have already left were the one kept as a slave to Malzod. I was also extremely careful to mention what actually happened to me, so there were no lies, and to keep Tilly's name and race out of things as well. I'm pretty confident I actually did a good job at raising some concerns over Malzod and his reputation, but without being forthcoming myself at the beginning, I just don't know how well it stuck. I did mention that horrid bracelet, and she did want to look into that. I...worry...a little, at giving something like that away. There is ALWAYS a chance that those in power can be or already are corrupted, and that bracelet is going to find its way back into the hands of someone who shouldn't have it.
I wonder too if I should contact the Inquisitor again. At the very least, I can explain why I can't tell her my name. At worst, I would probably consider saying it for sake of maybe taking down Malzod the legal way. But it is no lie to say there's a psychopathic dragonborn who wants me dead. I have heard it from his own mouth. So maybe explaining that would at least add some credibility, or at least throw my testimony less into doubt. She told Elegant to stick around for a couple days, so I have to assume that means she will also be around for a couple days.
On a semi-related note, I am grateful that she arranged for us to meet with Ny'ell this afternoon! On a worse note, she said that Ny'ell officially confessed to the murder of Taria. I'm...confused by this. It's possible she murdered Taria, but if she did - why? Jealousy? That seems petty for someone like Ny'ell. I actually wonder if someone is making her confess, or she's confessing to cover up for someone else. I'm hoping we can get some insight into that if we go and visit her.
Elegant is all for a jailbreak, and, as much as I love the idea of that, it worries me. This isn't some rinky-dink prison. Plus, Mud is extra concerned he's going to be arrested for attacking his "slave master", now that I've told them about Malzod. I do however, doubt they'd be able to talk to Malzod AND figure out which one's Mud in the span of time we were talking to Ny'ell. So I think at least that's one concern that can be set aside for now. But if we jailbreak Ny'ell...then we're all wanted. There is literally no way we could break Ny'ell out and not come under suspicion. I'm already on my second identity, I can't shift to a third! I'm on the run from my mother and Dan'or'avil, I don't have a large desire to be on the run from the law too. Especially when we still have business to conduct in the human lands. We shall see where it goes, I suppose. There's no predicting what this group will do.
Session: Sept. 25th, 2023
I thought I was used to expecting the unexpected when it came to this group, but it feels like every day there's something else to prove me wrong. The last thing I had heard Saanes say was that Sevette was there to kidnap him. So I, of course, grabbed Rayen and fast travelled upstairs to intercept them. But when I got there, Saanes said their family was in trouble, and Sevette was NOT the cause of it. That in fact, they had to work together, and I could not, under any circumstances, tell Lyree about it. Last I'd heard, Sevette was working with the Cult, or at least being held accountable for his crimes, but there he was, hands outstretched in peace, looking kind of sheepish. It was...confusing.
So I let them go. Watched them pop into space, and was left standing there awkwardly with Rayen. I'll be honest, I'm glad he's not the prying kind. I was afraid he was going to ask a lot of questions I wasn't going to be able to answer, but we went back without too much fuss. I even asked Lyree if she thought Sevette was trustworthy, and she said he was. Even knowing he was part of the Cult, she said that was just a silly phase that children go through. So I guess I have to leave it at that.
It sounds like Zun got a little bit of dirt on the Taria situation while pretending to be a worker there. How no one managed to find a giant minotaur suspicious is beyond me. But he confirmed that Taria had gone missing the same night that Elegant went missing, and that for a while, the servants had actually wondered if Elegant was the one to do it. Doesn't sound like anyone suspected Ny'ell.
Elegant also turned up some interesting info in his talk with Count Payten and Cor'nan. Count Payten flat out said that Malzod had come to him to offer information up about Taria's murder in exchange for information on the constant whereabouts of Mud and Zun when they showed up. Which we know is an agreement that he made with Courmivoun. Sounds like Count Payten turned him down though, and told him to go to the authorities, which Malzod promptly did. So in some ways, it's kind of Count Payten's fault that Ny'ell just got arrested. Also means we have more reason to kill Malzod now. He really needs to stop messing with the lives of my friends.
Count Payten also said that Elegant and Cor'nan are to be questioned by the city guards tomorrow, in what sounds like a Zone of Truth situation. That should actually be fine for Elegant, since he has no memory of that night, and Cor'nan wasn't even around then. What I think would be more interesting though, would be to see if there was someone at the guard house who had modify memory, to see if we could get Elegant's memories back. I want to know what happened that night. But even more, I want to know how Ahzek got us, and what we did in service to Ahzek. There's an entire portion of memory that's just missing, and I am not okay with that. If we can get those memories under the guise of giving the guards more evidence in their case, I think we should take it.
Only other thing of note was that Mud offered to kill Rayen for me, if he stabs us in the back, which was honestly kind of sweet. I've never had siblings before, but Mud very much feels like a brother sometimes...getting on my case about stuff, vetting the boys I like, watching my back...it's different. But I think I could get used to it.
Session: Sept. 11, 2023
The day began normal enough. Well, normal for a group who's hiding two fugitives and are all pretending to be the retinue for a master musician. It sounded like the breakfast with Count Peyton and his wife went fine, though from what Elegant said, I'm starting to wonder if the Count's wife was hitting on him. I was also a little shocked that Elegant was so willing to discuss what Ahzek had done to us, but I suppose bards are going to bard. Can't keep them from telling a good story. I'm actually almost sad that he didn't mention Ahzek's name, I would have loved to see if there was a reaction there.
It was also significantly easier to get the itinerary and guest list than I thought it was going to be. Though Mister Carlen said he was going to give me the two names of the redacted guests and he never did, so I have a small bone to pick, but he said they were insignificant anyway. Also on the names line - we finally found out the name of the female servant that went missing (or died? Unsure) - Taria. I am concerned that Elegant mentioned getting a vision where they were together and he winked at her. I want to believe the best in Elegant, but we don't know what happened that night.
The only other interesting thing to me was that Rayen asked Mud if I was single, which is absolutely adorable. The fact that Mud also vetted him for me like a big brother would, warmed my heart. I don't need his approval on who I date, but it was actually kind of cute nonetheless.
The beginning of the party went exactly as I hoped it would - Elegant and Ny'ell absolutely blew the crowd out of the water. Even I was shocked...I knew Elegant was good, and I obviously knew Ny'ell was a master, but I hadn't heard them play together before. They are...something else to behold. They had people so captivated I thought there was some literal spell taking place at first. But no, they're just THAT good. I'm hoping that means that my mother will hear of how amazing the performance was and invite them over. That would make things much easier for us if they get that invite, because we can continue to pretend to be his retinue and sneak in that way. Otherwise, I'm not sure exactly how we get there. The only other options popping into my mind are me giving myself up so she lets her guard down and my friends can come rescue me, or we legitimately try sneaking in, neither of which sounds like it has a high success rate. So here's hoping.
Now the mingling is where it gets interesting. First off, Rayen DID ask me to dance! Gods, I was secretly thrilled by that. He seems so wholesome and adorable that I just want the best for him. It was so cute when he had to go and help Comptess Freya. What a refreshing, normal, young adult problem to have. But directly after that, he noticed the guards were growing. And not Count Peyton's guards either, city guards. And the city guards told him the Royal Guards were coming, to which they did, in a very dramatic fashion. They proceeded to announce they had a warrant for Ny'ell's arrest, on charges of murder! There were so many things I had tried to plan for happening - Ny'ell getting arrested was not one of them. She didn't seem surprised by it though, which was interesting. She went very calmly and willingly. So now the question is, who did she murder? I have a hard time thinking the worst, since our group has also murdered a lot of people and they all deserved it. This also begs the question - do we team up with Cor'nan? He's just going to be all alone otherwise, which doesn't sit well with me, much as I dislike his womanizing ways. Sigh.
After the dust of arresting Ny'ell had just begun to settle, and they took her out, Saanes messaged us to say that Sevette was planning on kidnapping him. Not on my watch. I will not let my friends be taken by any members of the Cult. Unfortunately the closest person to me was Rayen, so he's the one getting Dimension Door'ed with me. I'm just hoping we're going to be there in time. I have some questions I'd like to ask Sevette...
Session: August 27&28, 2023
We made it off the ship!!! I'll admit, airships are quite interesting, but I don't enjoy how restricted I feel on them. Anything can just come and attack, and you have nowhere to go. Being off the ship feels much freer.
The rest of the trip passed fairly uneventfully, though there were a few highlights. Ny'ell and I became friends. Not super close or anything, but it was really nice to just be able to chat about girl things and enjoy her company. Mortalis was able to really manifest himself this time! I used my own blood, and that seemed to work well. Only problem is, I don't think I can do that very often. I was fine afterwards, but it already had me feeling a little woozy. I don't want to have to wait two months to be able to do that again, so I'm going to have to figure something out. However, it was really amazing. Creepy. Terrifying. But amazing. I'm beginning to think we might be able to pull this off. Other than that, we tried to scry on Malzod, Dan'or'avil, and my mother, but got very little out of it. Malzod was on his way somewhere looking less fancy than normal, Dan'or'avil was in the human lands disguised as a human, and my mother hired someone new. Curious as to whether Malzod is the new hire and that would explain his look, but that's honestly a shot in the dark.
Stepping on land we realized very quickly that we were going to have to act as Elegant's retinue, and I'll be honest, I'm quite enjoying my role as Executive Assistant. It's not only extremely fun getting things done, but gives a great cover/excuse for being up in the middle of the night or wandering places I shouldn't be.
Speaking of which, I did not expect to meet a cute boy on this excursion. I don't typically have time for that, what with my strong revenge goals. But a cute night guard named Rand showed up wondering what I was doing (fair), and then offered to give me a tour of the venue. Tactically, this already made sense, but to be accompanied by someone closer to my age who seemed super sweet to boot was just icing on the cake. I got delight in making him blush just a little by asking for a dance tonight. He seemed very keen to take me up on it, so I hope that happens. It would be a lovely distraction during an otherwise harrowing time.
The female servants in the house are CHEEKY. One tried to "poison" Elegant (well, I think really she knew that we wanted more food and put laxitives in the ale for us, not so much Elegant, but she had no way of knowing he wouldn't drink one!), one directed Zun into the ladies bath, one tried to get into Elegant's pants...they're really keeping us on our toes here. However, the laxitives might make it easier for me to plead my case in getting a copy of the guest list, so perhaps that worked to our favour.
I don't imagine most of our enemies would use their real names, other than probably my mother. But still, being able to prepare ourselves would make me feel better. While I'm looking forward to dressing up and seeing Ny'ell and Elegant play, I can't help but feel uneasy. ANY of our enemies could come tonight for any purpose. Cormivoun could show up to kidnap Mud and Zun. Malzod could show up to kidnap Mud. Yll'sid could show up, though I highly doubt that would happen here. A little too public. My mother could show up to kidnap me and take me home. Dan'or'avil could show up to either murder OR kidnap me. Technically Ahzek or Orthek could show up, though I have no idea what purpose that would serve. Our list is growing much too long for my liking. There's too many things to prepare against. I'm trying to protect my own safety, while also trying to protect my friends against their own threats, and I worry it's going to spread us too thin.
Then on top of that, everything got changed around because of an Elven delegation coming? I'm highly suspicious that some part of Saanes's family will be involved there, but will it be for good or bad, I don't know. His family sounds mostly decent, so if it's just them coming to enjoy some music, that would be great, though strange. But if it's his brother Sevette, who we know is involved with the Cult, that bodes ill. OR it could be elves entirely unrelated to Saanes, and just simply working with the Cult, which would STILL be bad. Or they're just random elves. But nothing ever seems to be fully random with our group. We couldn't be so lucky.
Here's to an evening of good music and bad anxieties, and just trying not to get kidnapped.
Session: Aug. 14th, 2023
Lying about my identity comes to me pretty much as naturally as breathing these days. Excuses, explanations, misdirections - I could do it in my sleep. So why does it feel so bad to lie to Ny'ell?
She saw most of the execution. Luckily, not the part with myself and my so-called "crimes", but the parts about Zun and then the ensuing fight afterwards. I don't think I've seen her look that scared before, not even after telling her someone had attempted to kidnap her. I'm glad she was willing to meet with me, and I could convince her of Zun's innocence. I'm also glad the questions she asked about Zun were questions that I could answer honestly. But then I gave her a small reprimand for keeping things from us, and I am not blind to the irony of that statement. She took it in stride and seemed to agree, so that's good at least. I just keep trying to reassure myself that this is just like every other time I've had to lie about my identity - it's not just for my protection, it's for the protection of those around me. I like Ny'ell. I really do. I think we're on our way to becoming good friends. I would absolutely hate to see anything happen to her because of me. She already has enough of her own problems, apparently.
I was happy that we were able to change the topic towards more interesting things - like the fact that she dated a freaking dragon without knowing it! Though, to be honest, I find it a little sad that they just called it quits after things got awkward. Oh well, none of my business really. Also interesting is that I'm pretty sure the dragon she mentioned is actually the silver/white dragon that WAS at the execution. When Brother Corbert said his name, it rang a bell for the name that Ny'ell had said earlier, even though I can't currently recall it.
Brother Corbert was actually VERY illuminating on several of the questions I had following that execution, and did put an end to some of my anger. The main one being - the fake Eirlyssia lives. They revived her. I'm so relieved. (I feel bad that I keep calling her "the fake Eirlyssia", but I didn't quite catch her name. Acadie? Katie? I'm not sure and I don't want to get it wrong.) He also said that he was confident the Vorestheyra was able to capture all of the cult members that had infiltrated their organization, along with others that had infiltrated the city. I feel like this isn't the first time I've heard that, but it was good to hear nonetheless. He even said he'd see about getting me that amulet that Saanes recommended, which would be amazing. Also interesting though was the fact that Garin clearly hadn't told Brother Corbert fully about the situation. He had no clue my mother was involved, which doesn't surprise me, given that we know Garin is apt at keeping secrets. I'm sure Garin will just say that things are on a need to know basis, but guess what? If you get injured and taken out of commission and Brother Corbert is the next in charge there, maybe you should have made sure he was fully briefed???!
In other secrets Garin kept from us: we officially found out that Chaedove IS ALIVE. It felt so good to finally get some kind of encouraging news amidst all this. Brother Corbert had a letter from her that he read, and it was so unabashedly Chaedove. I've missed her so much. She said there were reasons why she couldn't tell us she was alive...but I'll be the judge of that once I finally find out what they are. I did appreciate her comment about keeping me alive or she'd eat the rest of the group. No one else has a sense of humour here anymore.
I'm also glad that dinner was not nearly as awkward as I'd been worried about, given how the afternoon had been with Cor'nan and Ny'ell. Everything seemed to be relatively back to normal, so tomorrow we can finally turn our attention back on figuring out what to do about Dan'or'avil. Though I first need to have a talk with Mortalis tonight. I have some questions for Daren about Dan'or'avil's dragon form, and I want to try projecting him from the scythe again. Now that I know blood bolsters him so significantly, I want to try offering my blood. It won't be as significant an amount as draining a human corpse dry, but because we're connected I'm hoping it will be more potent. We shall see.
Session: July 24, 2023
I'm still reeling from the morning. Brother Corbert called it a partial success. I wouldn't go that far. The only success that occurred was killing several of Dan'or'avil's men. That's it. Nothing else. They didn't catch Dan'or'avil, Garrin is worryingly injured, some of their members are dead, and they couldn't protect the fake Eirlyssia. Hell, THEY'RE the ones who killed her. And I can't help but feel partially responsible for that. She was pretending to be me. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have been in that position, and she wouldn't have died.
I remember the day that Garrin came to our tavern, and brought the fake Eirlyssia and Zun. I specifically asked. I asked him, "You're not planning on actually killing her right?" And he told me no, of course not, the Vorestheyra was going to protect them. And when I talked to her specifically, I said I had hoped she wasn't signing up to die. She responded with a laugh and an "I hope not!", but you could tell she had no thoughts that she'd be dying for me in that moment. They said they'd keep her safe. And it was Brother Corbert who murdered her. After everything she went through, and being held at knifepoint, dragged through hallways, beginning to fear for her life...he just killed her. There HAD to have been another way. I refuse to believe that the only solution that existed there was killing her with the rest of the Cult.
Mud's right. The longer we go, the more the Vorestheyra are beginning to sound like just another cult. They think they're the good guys. And I know they've been trying to help us, I can't overlook that. But they're holding Chaedove, they're keeping secrets, they were willing to kill their own member for "the greater good". That's not the sign of an organization that I want to fully align myself with. I hope Garrin recovers, I genuinely do. But when he does, I want answers, and I want justice.
The only real satisfaction that came from today was how angry Dan'or'avil was. We've never really seen him like that before, since we learned that his rage on the Isle was fake. I will treasure Saanes's description of Dan'or'avil looking absolutely decimated, despite knowing he's just going to chug a bunch of potions and heal himself immediately. But what's interesting to me is that he didn't know the plot about fake Eirlyssia, nor did he know/suspect who was scrying on him. I just always assumed he was one step ahead of us.
Even more interesting - he called Mother a bitch. "Regardless of what that bitch wants" were his exact words. This opens up an entire avenue of questions. Did he never actually love her? Was he just using her to get what he wanted (and if so, what was it he was trying to get)? Has something happened between them? He was obviously at the execution with the intent to bring me back to Mother. But now, having failed, he says he plans to kill me. This implies he will no longer be working with Mother, or if he is, he'll be playing her. While I love the idea of Mother getting played, it raises some concerns on my part.
Life was a little easier when I thought Dan'or'avil had switched from wanting to kill me to wanting to capture me. They were working together, so I could treat them as one enemy. But now if he's back to wanting to kill me and not working with Mother, it means we have to be on the lookout for two different psychopaths who want two different things. And I have no doubt in my mind Dan'or'avil is IMMEDIATELY going to look to our group. While I look different, I don't think it's going to take him long to think "Huh, what are the chances the group that used to be six is still six, just with a different minotaur and half-elf - that seems suspiscious".
What I really want to know though, is why does he hate me so much??? On the Isle I certainly wasn't nice to him, but we broke the crystal rod like he wanted us to. The only thing I did to him was refuse to let him take Mortalis away. Once he captured us on the mainland, I didn't even do anything to him, but he told me twice how much he wanted to kill me. Now he got tricked by the Vorestheyra, and somehow he's even MORE dead-set on killing me. What the hell???
Sessions: July 10+17, 2023
I had thought the night was going to be a quiet one after I'd finished practicing with Mortalis, but sometimes you're proven wrong in the most outrageous of ways. We were attacked last night. I had seen someone sneaking down into the hallway where we all slept, and I thought they were putting notes on our doors. I assumed they were associated with Dan'or'avil, so I confronted the lone assassin. One single person? I could handle that and not even have to wake anyone up. And that would have been the case, if two more humans and four wyverns hadn't also shown up. Then it just became a mess.
We overheard them saying they wanted "the woman" and for a second, my heart stopped, because I thought they were after me. It was the second last night before the execution, after all. But no, they had knocked Ny'ell and Cor'nan unconscious, and it became clear once they tried to blow everyone else up that Ny'ell was actually their goal. I spent most of the fight running all over the ship. I had to bring Saanes back from the brink of death with a healing potion, drag Zun away from the assassins and wyverns on deck as he lay dying, and then finish off a couple wyverns myself. All this while Mortalis took a rest, because our practice had tired him out so much. I was not pleased, to say the least.
Elegant managed to help keep the assassins (or kidnappers, I suppose) from taking Ny'ell, though at a cost to himself (and while completely nude, I might add), which then required Corin to keep him from dying. When the assassins could see they were no longer winning, one of them stuck an anti-magic field to the bottom of the ship, which then rendered most of us useless and began plummeting the ship towards ground. Thankfully Agrino was up, and could get Mud and Zun set from on deck to get the anti-magic field. My entire job became trying to wake Ny'ell and Cor'nan up, though I'll be honest, I got a bit more joy out of waking Cor'nan up than I probably should have. That punch to his face was wildly satisfying.
Once we were no longer heading for our death, we tried to get answers in the after-math. The attackers had been human, no relation to the Cult whatsoever. Unfortunately Ny'ell didn't recognize the dead one in the hallway, nor did she have any idea why someone would want to kidnap her. Everyone was exhausted, and after disarming the bomb still on my door (since I don't need to sleep in my bedroom and therefore hadn't been inside when the device was placed), it was decided that sleep was probably the best course of action.
I opted to stay up on deck, to keep an extra eye, and to have a little chat with Mortalis. He explained that what we had done had taken more out of him than he'd ever experienced before, something that did not instill me with confidence for our upcoming battles. I'd been wracking my brain to figure out what could help the recovery process, and I'd landed on the fact that perhaps blood would be the answer. I was originally thinking my own blood, but Mortalis pointed out there could be assassin bodies on board, so we briefly went below decks so he could suck the assassin dry. Mortalis left him just a mummified husk, which I'll admit was both fascinating and a little repulsive. But, it seemed to do the trick!
Mortalis even commented that blood was probably a good strategy going forward. I'm thinking tomorrow night when we practice projecting Mortalis again, I might offer up some of my blood. He seems to work best when there's some kind of synergy happening between patron and follower, and having him syphon off some of my blood is a better way to do that than me merging consciousnesses with him, I think. For now, anyway. It also means the next time we inevitably have to kill someone, even if I didn't kill them myself, Mortalis can still take their blood and get stronger. Perhaps making Mortalis stronger is the best way to reach his unlocked powers. I can't help but feel the ticking of the clock, counting down until we face off with my mother. I need him to be at his strongest for that.
I'm just grateful that the body seemed to have gotten removed before the rest of my party saw it. Not a single person made a comment about the shrivelled corpse lying in the hallway, though Saanes did give me some weird side eye over breakfast. I think I'm in the clear. I don't want to have to answer to Zun over this.
Session: June 26th, 2023
Mortalis is simultaneously fascinating and concerning to me. He has what I need - a decent amount of power. But he seems somewhat unstable. I got some answers to my questions, at least. He said he does believe that he has extra powers locked away somewhere, and that REALLY intrigues me. I want to gain access to those before we get to my mother's house. I just have no idea how. He said he's going to think on it, but I don't know how he'd be able to just magically come up with the answer. One can only hope, I suppose.
Also interesting was that he said he didn't take over Dan'or'avil when they were working together. They actually merged consciousnesses, where both of their consciousnesses would co-exist in the same space. I have to admit, I don't love the idea of that. Mortalis even alluded earlier, along with Garrin's suggestion, that Dan'or'avil was not quite so crazy before he met Mortalis. And I have a funny feeling that a partial merger of consciousnesses was perhaps to blame for some of that. I have already had one voice in my head that spoke when it wished, and I would like to never repeat that. Mortalis chimes in every once in a while with something interesting. That I don't mind. But G'Vath'Haz would often chime in with dark suggestions or opinions when I would just be trying to go about my normal tasks, and I worry merging consciousnesses would lead to more of that. Even just the other night when Mortalis suggested killing Saanes could be a good strategy...I worry.
But at the same time - I want to be able to use his powers to the best of my ability. I want access to all the power he has to offer. I'm not sure if I can get that without making some kind of sacrifice. Though tonight, I was pleasantly surprised that Mortalis was willing to try projecting himself outside of the scythe. Especially after the first try, seeing how much it took out of him. I was...happy...mostly, with how things went. I offered up some of my health to help bolster him, and while it did work, it didn't work enough to justify how much he took from me. Plus, after that, he was useless. Had to go and rest, something I haven't really heard a patron needing to go do.
I really want to believe that he can help me defeat my mother and G'Vath'Haz like he said he could...but I'm starting to wonder. I know the sheer power G'Vath'Haz has. I don't know that Mortalis can take that on. He can't even manage to hold his own self outside of the scythe for more than five seconds without becoming useless. Even when he takes over my body, we basically do a LITTLE more damage to enemies and I have the advantage (*slight sarcasm*) of being able to die and having him still use my body to fight. It just doesn't instill the greatest confidence in me. That's why I want to be able to access his hidden powers. I want to have something Dan'or'avil never experienced, something that they won't see coming. But I don't know if we'll find them in time.
I HAVE to be powerful. I have to be able to keep my friends from harm when we go to that showdown. I have to be able to accomplish my goals. The closer we get to the day, the more I can feel myself shifting to greater extremes. And it worries me that I don't care about that quite as much as I used to. Maybe Zun's right. Maybe I am a monster.
Session: June 19th, 2023
I got to talk to Father. Kind of. I used one of the Sendings that Saanes put in the blood shard for me, honestly not thinking it would go through. I told him we were coming to save him and that I loved him. Not only did it go through, but he even responded. This being said, he told me not to come because it was too dangerous and that was it. I was hoping there might be more. Still, it was really good to hear his voice. It's been so long. I still have one Sending left, so I'll probably use it tonight just to reassure him that we know what we're getting into.
Our Scrying however, did not go nearly as successfully. It worked, technically speaking. We were able to see the party. But all I got to see was way too much of Mother making out with who I can only assume was Dan'or'avil. He noticed the Scrying somehow. Pointed it out to her. What gets me is that they didn't even know it was me watching - and they still chose to make out in front of it. Disgusting. Even more, if he's able to see Scrying...is that a new thing? Was this the first time he's noticed? Or did he know we were watching the other two times we've Scried on him as well and acted accordingly? It's frustrating always being one step behind him. Even more frustrating is how easily Dan'or'avil seems to be able to move around. He came here from the island, he went to a party in the human lands with my mother, he has to be back in the city in two days for the execution. How is he moving around so easily??
And on that note, I can't believe the execution is only two days away now. In two days we're going to know how our strategies might have to change completely. There is the slightest, barest chance that they catch Dan'or'avil. That is obviously best case scenario. But my fear is one of two things will happen. One, he'll somehow figure out almost immediately that the Eirlyssia there is a fake, and he'll actually get her executed. Two, he'll get the fake Eirlyssia, and deliver her to my Mother. From there it's only a matter of time until Mother realizes that she's not the real Eirlyssia, because G'Vath'Haz would know instantly if he went into her mind. Either way, both of those result in Dan'or'avil knowing that I'm still out there, and most likely, instantly coming after our group. While the fake Eirlyssia is in custody, it's easy enough to continue to travel with the group and be less conspicuous as a random half-elf. As soon as he knows he doesn't have the real Eirlyssia, it becomes way too suspicious that there just happens to be a random minotaur and half-elf travelling with them. We'll be outed almost immediately, and I'm not sure what we do then.
Also on the topic of the execution, I made a realization. Malzod offered up Mud and Zun to Courmivoun as his payment for getting an audience with Count Peyton. Zun is set to be executed in two days. So either Malzod doesn't know that Zun is up for execution, or he's swindling Courmivoun. Also odd is that his audience with Count Peyton is on the same day as the execution. Which means if Malzod was swindling Courmivoun, had that been the real Zun, it would have been too late for Courmivoun to do anything about it. Just very curious. I don't know what it means, or if a lot of it is coincidence. But I don't like it.
Thank goodness for simple distractions on board so I don't spend all my time thinking about this. The group has really decided to go after Cor'nan, and while I find it hilarious, after talking with Ny'ell today, perhaps it's not working out as much as we wanted it to. Especially Corin's complete lack of subtlety. She's such a lovely person, and I don't want her to get hurt in this. While I had a slight agenda in talking with her today, I really did enjoy it. She seems really genuine, and really kind. I legitimately want to make sure she's okay. I like spending time with her; she feels like a breath of fresh air. Normally lying doesn't really bother me, but it bothers me with Ny'ell. I want to try to be as truthful as possible so I can actual maintain a female friendship for once. I had forgotten how strange and awkward it feels to try to actively make friends with someone. I will have to work on it.
The other thing I need to work on is Mortalis. I need to find out how much he heard from our discovery about him this morning. I assume he heard it all, which is fine. It means I can reassure him that if the gods weren't able to destroy him, most likely my party, much as they threaten it, will not be able to do so easily either. I also desperately want to know if he has powers locked away. If so, we need to figure out how to access those before we get to Mother's. I also want to practice having him leave the scythe tonight. I know we don't have a living target to practice on, but I'm hoping we can do it nonetheless. If I can essentially project him...it really creates a host of new possibilities. And maybe some possibilities that don't involve him taking full control of me. Much as I am loathe to agree with my party on this one, I would like to be able to maintain bodily autonomy. Fighting my Mother won't be the same if I can't talk to her. I need to be able to see the look on her face as she dies, and speak the final words she'll ever hear.
Session: June 12, 2023
We are lucky the Captain is a forgiving man. He barely questioned Saanes and I on our foray below decks, and gave back Saanes his magic, so long as we promised not to go back below decks, which we did. As much as I want to find out what else is ever further below, it doesn't seem like we'd be able to any way. I'm happy we got that over with before anything else happened during the day, and luckily, the rest of the party doesn't need to know.
I must say though, the group is making short work of getting Cor'nan to dislike us. I was trying my best to subtle at breakfast, since "Kyra" wouldn't know any of the history there. I'm hoping I can "innocently" weave in some dissention between the two of them. Corin and Zun on the other hand seem determined to make our stance incredibly clear. Which, I'll be honest, seems way more fun to just be openly antagonistic, but I don't think that approach is going to get us what we want. That's why I asked Ny'ell if she'd be willing to just have some "girl talk" with me later in the day. As much as possible, I don't want Ny'ell to get hurt in this. I just want her eyes to be opened to the condescending, hot headed prick that is Cor'nan. Plus, I'm honestly just looking forward to talking to another woman, much as I have a bit of an agenda going into it. I want to make sure that she's okay. It can't be easy dating Cor'nan, nor can it be easy being nearby to the man who broke her heart. I legitimately hope that, even though I can't tell her my actual identity, we can become friends in this.
Especially since we're going to need all the help we can get going forward, I think. Our first casting of Scrying for the day opened up yet another can of worms, showing that not only is Malzod still after Mud, but he's also giving up Zun to his former "master". I didn't even know that Courmivoun was a problem we had to solve until today. But if he's part of the organization Tilly mentioned, who are overseeing/making/handing out(?) those terrible bracelets that she'd been subjected to, that's bad news. On top of that, I had no idea one of the people who had caused some torment to Zun was still alive. Despite the tension between us, I'm always open to killing someone who's hurt one of my party. But it's just another wrench in the works. Malzod wants to talk to Count Peyton before we arrive. Even though he mentioned it was mostly about some servant who'd passed away, I have very little doubt in my mind that if he has any inkling about where we're headed, he will tip off Count Peyton. This party needs to go without a hitch. We need to be invited to play at my Mother's house. We cannot do that if we're trying to keep ourselves, or at least Mud and Zun, from getting caught.
And speaking of my Mother...words cannot describe how much I hate her. I saw Father. He's got some kind of necklace, or collar. It seems similar to the bracelet that Tilly had. It's controlling him somehow, or maybe just cutting off his connection to his patron. But she was so awful to him. It's like everything I hated as a child that she did was shoved into a ten minute span in front of my eyes. The condescension, the violence, the taunting, the cruelty...it was painful to watch. It hurt to see him that angry, though I am glad that he has a fighting spirit. I was worried he'd be a broken man when we found him, but it would seem that he's determined to thwart her somehow, and for that I am thankful. I just hope he doesn't end up getting too hurt in the process. It sounded like she was talking about bringing Father to a party where Dan'or'avil would be (she mentioned a male 'friend' that Father would 'just love', who had info about me - who else could she be referring to?). Rubbing their affair in his face is just cruel. I cannot wait for the day I get to talk to Dan'or'avil again and punch him in the face for that. I'm also grateful that Saanes was willing to give me a casting of Sending so I can talk to Father. I never thought that could be an option.
But that isn't where things ended. I had been...doubtful...that Mortalis was telling the full truth about not knowing where he came from. So we used Legend Lore to learn more about him. Turns out he was made by the gods to be the ultimate weapon of destruction, intended for Cor'nate. That's the very same Exemplar that Ahzek is following, and the one we know to be one of the absolute worst - the Exemplar of Slaughter and Ruin. Apparently they tried to destroy Mortalis when they realized that Cor'nate was crazy and Mortalis was too powerful, but because one of the gods was dead, the unmaking was corrupted, and sealed away some of Mortalis's powers while also making him sentient.
This is all fascinating, but of course, immediately turned the party against him. Even Saanes, who has always been in my corner, was no longer. They tried to get me to agree to never let Mortalis take control again, and seem more determined than ever that he needs to be destroyed eventually. But they don't understand! I am a warlock. Without a patron, I am useless. And I REFUSE to be useless in the fight against my Mother. I am not going to sit idly by, while having the power that could get me what I want, while they all become stronger and more powerful. I NEED Mortalis to become more powerful so I can become more powerful. I need to make sure my party members don't die in my fight. I need to make sure that Father (and Chompy's family) get out safe. I need to make sure my Mother, and G'Vath'Haz if possible, die. I CANNOT do that if I am not actively making Mortalis as powerful as he can be. YES, he's evil. YES, there is risk involved. But I am not giving up for the sake of risk. I don't care what happens to me afterwards, so long as all my goals are achieved. I don't even care if I'm as powerful afterwards. I just need to keep everyone safe. This is for THEM. And they don't seem to understand that. This isn't just some power-hungry revenge quest. This is a quest to save the one I love most, while keeping my friends safe, and ending the life of a lynchpin in the Cult of Nar'canus. When we are successful, they will understand that. Sometimes you must become a monster in order to defeat one.
Session: June 5, 2023
Well the evening was certainly filled with excitement. It took a while for my heart to calm down after finding out that Chaedove was alive, but we did come to a conclusion, which was good. The rest were able to talk some sense into me that any time Dan'or'avil tries to be "helpful", it's because he wants something out of it. So sending us a note stating that the Vores'theyra, surely one of the largest enemies to his goal of bringing back Nar'canus, is also now our enemy? It doesn't entirely add up. They agreed though that we would constantly Scry on Chaedove, every single day, to try to make sure that she's okay. It worries me that she could be being held hostage, or being tortured, and I feel like I'm forsaking her by just moving on. But my group is right, we have literally no basis for anything Dan'or'avil said in that note, other than the fact that Chaedove is indeed alive. So for now, I wait, and hope, that my friend is truly okay.
Somehow no one else in our group besides Saanes and myself wanted to know what was down below decks, so they all went to bed while the two of us stayed up to check. Not sleeping really has its perks. We sent Lycos, Saanes's spider familiar, down into the hold, but unfortunately, got nothing for it. He couldn't see a thing, and then we got caught. Well, technically I think Saanes got caught. Two automatons came in and pushed a pin into the back of his neck. When I tried to arcana check it, it gave off the same energies as the handcuffs I'd been forced to wear at the guard house. Seeing as they almost killed me immediately, after casting nothing more than a cantrip, I elected to not rip it out of his neck in the middle of the night. It does however, mean Saanes can't currently cast magic, which is going to be quite the problem if that persists on this trip. I think, much to my chagrin, we're going to have to fess up to Inoni, and ask forgiveness.
Mortalis though, was in quite the talkative and reasonable mood last night. There are some things I have my doubts about - he said he doesn't know who created him? I find that hard to believe. He said he doesn't know how to remove a soul from him, however, he did actually agree that I could attempt to figure out how to remove the good souls from him myself! And that he'd even ask those inside him, as I reminded him that multiple people in our party want him destroyed, and being able to remove the good souls might help to alleviate that push. So that's really, really great progress. I think Zun is going to be really happy to hear that. Mortalis also said that he might be able to manifest himself outside the weapon like G'Vath'Haz does! I don't think I'd be able to get quite the same dynamic, as G'Vath'Haz is a different kind of entity - I'm not sure what exactly, but he's certainly not bound to a weapon like Mortalis is. However, if I can cast Mortalis to do my own bidding, outside of the weapon like my mother can? I feel like that gives us an even better fighting chance against her! Only problem is Mortalis says we need someone to practice on, and we're stuck on a ship. It's not like I can just ask one of my friends to stand around while Mortalis attacks them. Sigh. I'd consider it for Cor'nan, but I'm not really hoping to murder him. Just expose him for the womanizer he is, and separate him from Ny'ell.
Speaking of which, I find it absolutely HILARIOUS that when asked how to humiliate someone and removing the option of violence, Mortalis's go-to suggestion was throwing all his clothes overboard. I love that. Mortalis even said he'd grown quite fond of me, which I appreciate. I honestly think that we're making headway together. If he's willing to work with me, release the good souls inside of him, teach me languages (though I have to double check he's not threatening some poor baker inside him for that information), etc. I really think I can change him for the better. I'm not trying to make him not-evil. I don't think that's possible. But I think I can a convince him to see a better way of doing things at least. And then maybe Zun and Elegant won't lead the charge on destroying him, because I refuse to do that.
Though I will say - I am concerned about how excited he got when Saanes suggested killing him and then bringing him back. Mortalis jumped all over that - despite the fact that the pact we made clearly stated he is NOT ALLOWED, under any circumstances, to hurt my companions. But I suppose I can't have everything - it's probably too much to expect him to stop being so dang evil immediately. So long as he doesn't actually harm my party, we'll be fine.
Speaking of fine...dang Cor'nan is really attractive too. His morning workout routine on the deck was...something else. I really do have to acknowledge that the bastard really takes care of himself well. It's also worth noting that, in case we have to fight him at some point, if we push things too far. Which, let's be honest, I kind of want to do anyway. But he does kind of look like he can kick our butts, so we'll have to keep that in mind. Man is a jerk, but he's a strong jerk.
Session: May 29, 2023
The day started off normally. A little taunting of Cor'nan, checking out our accommodations, watching the ship take off...all enjoyable things. I also have to say, the food on this ship so far has been delightful. It's so nice to have a chef on board that clearly cares about his craft. We are very lucky indeed.
The roc "attack" was an unwelcome surprise, but one that was easily dealt with. The only thing that lingers in my mind after that - the roc seemed genetically modified. Something along the lines of Aed, though not quite. That in and of itself is concerning, but even more concerning is the niggling thought someone may have sent it after us. We still don't know what Malzod is up to, since Mud wasn't feeling up to scrying on him when we left. It's possible that one of our enemies, someone connected in this complex weave of Nar'canus, wanted to stop us before we got too far. That's just a hypothesis. I could be very wrong, and I sincerely hope I am, but I can't get rid of that feeling. Time will tell, I suppose. I just know that our enemies are tracking us, and that doesn't sit well with me.
Dan'or'avil is one I know must be tracking us because I RECEIVED A NOTE FROM HIM STATING THAT CHAEDOVE IS ALIVE AND THE VORES'THEYRA ARE HIDING HER. My heart hasn't stopped pounding since I found it in my room when we all retired to our quarters. At first I was panicking that he meant to send it to me specifically, which would have a whole host of implications, but at least that thought I could lay to rest. Most logically it was delivered by an automaton to the closest room of someone from our group. That just happened to be me. From what I know of Dan'or'avil, if he knew I was on board, he wouldn't be leaving me wondering if he knew. He would be toying with us blatantly. Technically speaking, it could have been sent from someone else. It was just signed "D". But we don't know any other "D" names that would have any knowledge of the Vores'theyra.
But this still begs the question - why the note? Why let us know this? Is it just another one of his lies, like the crystal rods? Is it his way of trying to divide us from one of the strongest supports that we have? I hate to admit it, but it's working. We tried to scry on Chaedove and it got blocked as opposed to not going through. That means she IS alive. We also know that Garrin told us the Vores'theyra had something blocking communication in up for now. It's an assumption, but it's a safely based assumption that implies they've got her just like the note said. It also said they were close to executing her and decided against it for some reason and are now holding her.
Chaedove is alive. I can't believe it. I always wanted to think she was alive, but they showed us her body. It looked so awful. It broke my heart. So to be told that my closest friend from the group is still alive...I can't let that slide. I have to find out. I have always felt like the Vores'theyra wasn't telling us everything, and I don't want to let Dan'or'avil be the one that drives a wedge there, but...if they are holding Chaedove hostage...so help them all. I don't know what to do now. I don't want to just turn the entire ship around. We've got a schedule to keep, and important things to do going forward. But I also cannot, in good conscience, leave Chaedove with those that would essentially be her captors. I want to send a message to Garrin. I want to scream at him, demand he release Chaedove. I know it's not wise. I know my party would likely be very angry if I did that. But I need to know. I need to hear her voice. I need to know why.
I need to know why every single person on these Gods-forsaken continents we try to trust betrays us eventually.
Session: May 15th, 2023
We're finally out of the city! Gods, it feels good to be able to leave this place behind. I can finally ditch the magical disguise, and breathe a little easier. It's not like everyone we meet is going to recognize my name as the traitor who killed multiple city guards anymore. This being said, I CANNOT believe that Zun used his real name. First thing he did. Just straight out told the Captain his actual name. I really hope that doesn't come back to haunt us.
But, regardless, I do feel better now. We were also able to scry on my mother and Dan'or'avil, which helped put me at ease a little. Neither one of them is currently pursuing us, which is always my tiny background fear. My mother was, unsurprisingly, being her miserable murderous self, and I feel terribly bad for whoever Augustus is. Or was, I suppose. Seems like G'Vath'haz made short work of him. Which, honestly, does have me a little concerned? Because he seems to be able to just manifest himself anywhere, and he seems to be even more powerful than when I had him. Doesn't bode well for us, but I suppose we'll deal with that later. Almost had a heart attack when I saw her holding hands with father. But obviously, there is no way in Hell father would ever want to be with her again, so it must be some kind of spell. Simulacrum or something. Not sure why? Appearances, perhaps? Or a trap. Who knows. Either way, we don't have to worry about either of them currently, and neither of them seem to be tipped off as to our plans, so I take that as a win.
Losing Tilly I take as a draw. I feel bad for Mud that she ran away, but I think I understand her. When you've been betrayed by so many people, and hate magic that much...being by yourself somewhere secret is probably the best plan. It's the same thing I would have done. I just really, really hope that Malzod doesn't find her. Poor girl has been through enough. And being with us probably would have put her in more danger. We're not exactly...discreet? Fortuitous? Tactful? And our list of still alive enemies just keeps growing, so...I don't blame her.
The ship that we get to spend the next little while on is amazing. So awfully garish, but very fun (albeit painful) to look at. Both the Captain and the Cook seem like interesting people. But perhaps most interesting is the fact that we'll be spending all this time with Ny'ell and Cor'nan. Already the competition between Cor'nan and Elegant is on, and I am HERE for it. Zun and I have already slipped into wingman mode, and I truly hope we can insert Elegant back into Ny'ell's heart. Her secret smiles would imply she's open to it. Cor'nan certainly isn't. Took literally three minutes in Elegant's presence for him to feel insecure enough to threaten him. I am really hoping during our time on this ship I can both talk up Elegant to Ny'ell, and expose Cor'nan for the womanizer he is. It's not enough to just make Elegant look better, but I need to make Cor'nan look worse. That man is way too cocky for his own good.
Here's to finding out what our enemies are up to, and planning how to stop them, all while enjoying scenic views.
Session: May 1, 2023
It was nice to have part of a day that didn't consist of us trying our best to not die. Actually taking some time to rest - what a novel concept. Though I suppose it was a little touch and go on the way back. Unsurprisingly, Malzod obviously spread rumours of us "kidnapping" Tilly, more or less, and so there were guards out and about in the woods while we were travelling. Luckily Elegant was very persuasive, and Tilly used some quick thinking to turn herself invisible, so the guards were none the wiser. Even on the way back in, when we knew we'd have to go through the anti-magic wall, things still went okay. First time I've really taken the non-magical disguise out for a spin too. And luckily no one stopped to question Tilly too hard, since she's the one they're technically "on the lookout" for. (Ooo, also - Zun gave me a biscuit! One of the coveted biscuits from Mama Vie. He said it was because he pitied me, but I'm pretty sure it means he still likes me. I worry, sometimes, since he hates Mortalis so much.)
Getting back to the tavern involved taking some blessed rest, finally. Feels like every day lately could use a ten hour nap. It was nice to be able to just hang out together and eat some food. Thanks to Mud too, for ordering bread brought in from Gorred. Dang that's good bread.
Fitting went fine too. Master Zubert is, without a doubt, a master of his craft (though worth noting - possibly a vampire???). I had a moment of discomfort when it reminded me just a little too much of home. Mother would always have me do fittings to find some new outfit for some new party she was hosting, but watching my companions cheer and joke with each other about their outfits helped me shake those thoughts away. I also have to hand it to Elegant - he does have impeccable taste. I still have absolutely no idea what vermillion is, but azure is apparently this gorgeous shade of blue. My outfit even has a space for my Wand of the War Mage AND the Blood Shard! It makes me feel better to be able to take those and Mortalis into the party with me.
But Elegant's - now that's an outfit. He is SO going to show up Hertes, and I am HERE for it. I really hope Elegant gets all the attention and steals it away from that womanizer. I just want him to win Ny'ell back. She seems so nice. Plus they'd be a really beautiful couple.
It was nice to be able to spend our last night in the city with each other just doing something less chaotic. Apparently we leave bright and early tomorrow morning on our airship, heading off to Count Peyton's party, though it sounds like it'll take an awful lot of time and a few methods of travel to get there. I'm looking forward to getting far enough away from Dan'or'avil and the city that I can just begin to use Zun's disguises and not have to rely on magic. I'm grateful no one questioned me hard while I was pretending to be Saanes's sister.
I also discovered tonight, much to my complete lack of surprise, that Mortalis doesn't like romance novels. It was my first night not needing to sleep, which I have to admit, is AWESOME. But he asked me to stop reading just before we got to the end of the book! A shame for him, since he missed some good stuff. It's really funny to me that he's so uncomfortable with anything related to "human-ness". I suppose I shouldn't taunt my patron, but I think I'm also wearing him down into becoming friends. Maybe. I suppose that's a crazy idea actually. Sentient evil weapons don't become fond of mortals, I'd imagine. But hey. I'm hoping there's a chance that maybe I could make him a little less evil, and the party will let me keep him.
Session: April 24, 2023
Well that...didn't go the way I'd expected. It felt chaotic. I didn't like it. I feel like we'd prepped in our minds how we wanted to go about things, and then the stupid coward just kept hiding. I think we decimated bushes more than we hurt him. Actually, I think I'm the only one who actually damaged Malzod. Which, I'll admit, does come with the tiniest amount of satisfaction. It was nothing he won't be able to get healed almost immediately, but still. Getting one good hit in for Mud felt good, even it if it did come at the expense of getting poisoned.
But then. Malzod put himself inside some magical barrier that no one could get through, hit Mud a couple times, and just disappeared. We had these grand plans of taking Malzod down once and for all. Everyone had even agreed to let Mortalis take his soul. This was a done deal. I know what it's like to have an all consuming grudge, so I was thrilled to be able to help Mud with his. And we couldn't do anything. It's infuriating.
I suppose some good did come of it though. It was almost a disaster, but thank goodness we've started learning. Malzod gave Mud a bracelet, said it controlled Tilly, and if he wanted Tilly to be free, to just break the bracelet. Turns out, unsurprisingly, breaking the bracelet would have led to killing her instead of freeing her. BUT. We did discover the actual method for setting Tilly free, and we were successful at it, for which I am grateful. That bracelet was horrible. It reminded me of when G'Vath'Haz would order me to go murder someone under constant threat of immense pain or giving up my location, but even worse. I can't imagine being subjected to that for so long.
I'm kicking myself now. I really wanted to say something to her at the time. She was scared, and ashamed of the things she'd been forced to do. I know what that's like. I know what it's like to be forced to do terrible things, and the fear and shame that comes from people finding out. I know what it's like to see no way out of ever being free. And I know what it feels like to finally surround yourself with a group of decent people (I do think now I'd go so far as to call them friends), and actually be free from that terror. I wanted it for her so bad. But I just stood back and let everyone else help her. I should have reassured her. I should have held her hand and let her know that everything was going to be okay now. But...interacting with people on a personal level like that is hard. I haven't been really close with anyone since my father got taken. I could perhaps have gotten that close to Chaedove eventually, but obviously that isn't an option anymore, thanks to the Cult.
Perhaps I'll say something to her when I get the chance next. As angry as I am with losing Malzod, I'm so relieved that we were able to save Tilly. One less good person in the hands of bad people will always, always be a win.
Session: April 11, 2023.
It turned out to be an illuminating evening. And much less strenuous than the rest of the day, at least. We actually got to have some downtime, and, thanks to Corin's spell skill, remove whatever curse the Black King had put on us that was bogging us down. Felt very nice to be free of that weight.
Garrin came to visit too, which was good. He didn't elaborate too much on what had happened inside the temple, but he did say that something or someone very powerful from the inside breached a bunch of their wards. They don't know who it was, other than obviously a traitor of some kind. Nothing seems to have been taken, but he did note they'd gained access to the records room - the one that contained notes on Zun and my current state/plan for our "execution". He said he didn't think anyone actually did access them, but that it was a possibility. I'll admit, that concerns me a little. Whoever broke in would undoubtedly be from the Cult, and therefore loyal to Dan'or'avil. If Dan'or'avil gets word that the real Eirlyssia isn't actually going to be at the execution...that could be disastrous for us. Or, for me at least. If he kidnaps me and takes me back to my mother, any chance of a surprise attack is gone. It doesn't make it impossible, but it would severely complicate things.
Garrin also said he didn't know much about the Black King, only the same things we'd heard. I don't think he knew what to do when we told him that we'd fought and won against Yll'Sid. I have a funny feeling that we throw a lot of people off. Other than that, he said that a crystal ball for Saanes and an item for Corin should be arriving tomorrow, and that we won't be able to get a hold of Garrin before we leave, but that he'd try to include a sending stone so we can contact him while we're gone.
Our fitting got postponed because of the goings-on at the temple, which makes me curious as to how those two things are connected, but whatever. So long as we get Elegant some really great clothing so he can outshine Hertez, we'll be fine.
The real challenge of the night was once again the rift that feels like it's forming between Zun and Mortalis (and possibly myself). I wanted to talk to Mortalis about Zun saying he didn't want to give me back control after the fight. Which, Mortalis did admit he didn't want to give me back control, but that he would because of our pact. There was something behind that, something I don't entirely like. But whether he was saying that because he is actually bound to give me back control, or he's just doing it because he's being honourable, I'm not sure. It concerns me a little.
Interestingly though, he thinks that giving him a mortal body to use might actually work. He wants to experiment with someone soon, and I'm thinking, we're about to kill Malzod, so...might be the perfect opportunity. I want to have this sorted out before I get to my mother, because I'd love to be able to access Mortalis's full range of power, but without it coming at the cost of my autonomy. I want to be able to enjoy the look on her face when she sees that she's lost. I want to be able to say the crushing words as she dies. I can't do that if I don't have control of my body. Buuuuut if Mortalis could just be in someone else's body...it could work. I have a feeling that people aren't going to like giving Mortalis a physical body though. It's the one thing that makes me hesitate about trying it tomorrow. I don't want to make enemies of my own party. I like them very much. They just...don't understand.
Especially Zun. When we found out yesterday that there were good souls and children inside Mortalis, he kind of flipped out. In his very chill sounding, judgy Zun sort of way. Obviously, the news distressed me. I don't condone killing children. The entire REASON my father got captured was because I refused to kill a child G'Vath'Haz tried to force me to. But...these children are already dead. There is nothing that I can do about that. What's done is done. And yes, they are suffering, and I HATE that. But Mortalis even said time moves different in there. Will they really know if I release them now versus in a month after I've rescued my father? Because that's the thing. I can't...I can't do this without Mortalis. I need the power that he has to be able to save my father and hopefully defeat my mother once and for all. MAYBE once he is safe and she is gone, could I consider destroying Mortalis in order to, hopefully, release the souls of all those children. But that's what they don't understand. As a warlock, without a patron, I am powerless. I have not worked this hard, and sacrificed this much, to just turn in now. I hate the rift that it's forming in the group, but they just don't understand. Obviously I want to help these children, but my father's rescue comes first. Zun needs to step off.
Session: Apr. 4, 2023
We're alive. I'll be honest, I can't quite believe it. In the last five days I have questioned whether I would survive more than I care to admit. But this one...facing down a demon lord or whatever he was...there were times I thought we were goners.
I knew when Tilly showed up that it couldn't be her. I do believe she's in town with Malzod - Mud literally scried her - but it seemed WAY too convenient to offer to just "take the axe for Mud". This being said, I did NOT expect it to be Yll'sid THE BLACK KING, BROTHER OF D'JOLEN AND LEADROS. I'll be honest, I didn't even realize the axe belonged to him until he showed up looking for it. We really should have done some research on that axe when we got it, I suppose.
The entire battle was a rollercoaster of emotion. I thought at first it was going to be tough, but we could take him. We were still damaging him, just not as much as we wanted to. But then he started siphoning off large amounts of our health at once. And stealing healing spells. And not being effected by lower level castings. I got nervous - but we were still wearing him down. Until all of a sudden he healed himself completely. At that moment I had the thought that maybe we wouldn't succeed here. That we were going to have to hand over the axe. But then I remembered I could cast Mental Prison, and somehow, miracle of miracles, it caught him. We could just wear him down in there, and be fine. I did not anticipate his trick of creating shadow versions of us. Nor did I think that Leadros was just going to casually tell us "Sorry, I can't help, but he's being pretty reasonable, so just do what he asks". Fiends. Here I was trying to defend him to people earlier, and it turns out he's not only a womanizer, but he doesn't care about helping us either.
When the shadows began chipping away at our health, and Yll'Sid asked for the axe again, I thought maybe that was it. We should just hand over the axe and be done with it. We wouldn't be able to survive the onslaught if we couldn't heal. I could feel myself getting lower and lower in health as the battle went. Enough that I had to call in Mortalis for a hail Mary and just hope for the best.
And somehow, while Mortalis had control, we won. It was wildly satisfying that Mud got to kill The Black King too. Or at least, send him back to his plane. I don't know if he's actually dead or not. It would seem we just keep creating enemies but not actually being able to fully kill them.
Also to my satisfaction, Mortalis kept our agreement yet again, meaning I could rub it in Zun's face that Mortalis is, in fact, a good patron to have. Not a "good" patron, to be clear, but one whose goals currently align with mine, and who is willing to make deals instead of just steamroll over me. I honestly don't see why people are so nervous about me being close with Mortalis. That's the second time he's taken over my body and nothing bad happened. In fact, he helped us win the fight, AND did more damage than I could on my own. I need to remember to thank him later, before I go to bed tonight. It is not lost on me the luxury of actually being able to go to sleep, NOT afraid for my life for once.
I just hope whatever is happening with the Vorestheira sorts itself out soon. We're leaving in just a day or two, and I want to solidify some things. One - what happened that shut everything down inside there? Two - is there a way for us to stay in contact with Garrin so we can know how the "execution" goes? Three - what does Garrin know about The Black King's Axe? I feel like I'm forgetting something else...hope I remember it before we have to leave. I also hope we get to fight Malzod before we leave. What a great way to end an exciting and yet terrifying stay in the city.
Session: Mar. 20, 2023
I'm really beginning to be disappointed in my companions' lack of risk taking. It sounds weird, I know, but we were all gung ho to talk to Charred Leadros in that alley, get some answers in relation to the terrible power coming after us, and then all of a sudden everyone chickens out. Yes, there was a chance he was the evil brother. Yes, that could have been bad. But regardless we would have gained a wealth of knowledge about the situation, whichever side he was on! He also seemed fine when we met him, so I already have my doubts he's evil. Though I will admit, I was disappointed by what Saanes found out about him in his book. He sounded like quite the awful womanizing misogynist. Sigh. BUT! Not the evil brother who's after the Black King's Axe.
Oh well. There was much more to do anyway, or so I thought. I'm genuinely curious as to what's happened at the temple. No form of magical communication whatsoever? A complete lockdown? I don't want to say we're "special", but to not let us in actually shocked me. I don't know what that wind was. Have I felt it before? Did it happen with...who was it. Ahzek? It sounds familiar, but I can't place why. Either way, whatever is happening is incredibly concerning. We've only got two days left in the city. I don't know that I want to leave the temple in such chaos, especially when they're supposed to be guarding the rod and anvil.
It shot most of my plans for the day in the foot too. I'd wanted to chat with Leadros, ask Garren about the Black King's Axe and whatever happened to the beggar guy who sold us out, and go to Brother Corbert's to scry on the hostages (doubtful it would have worked, but I still wanted to try...I want to see my father). Even asking Endry about putting a hit on Ahzek didn't pan out. I guess that would have been too easy of a way to deal with our problems, but hiring assassins is just so practical!
I hope Saanes is able to get his crystal ball. I didn't expect them to be so expensive though. We do have a decent amount of money in the bag of holding, but $2500 for that, $2000 for our clothing for the party, at least $1000 for Corin's reliquary...we're getting a little tighter than I would have liked. Worth it to be able to scry on people though. There are so many people I want to keep tabs on. I hate that Dan'oravil is just wandering out and about in the city. He just gets to live his life, sleeping with my mother and plotting to kidnap me, making other peoples' lives miserable...sometimes life isn't fair. Though, the fact that my mother is also just going about her awful life also making people miserable is probably the biggest slap in the face of all. Not for long though. Once we're gone from here, with Dan'oravil staying in the city, I can finally set my sights fully on my goals.
That's assuming we don't DIE FROM FREAKING YLSSID JUST SHOWING UP IN AN ALLEY PRETENDING TO BE TILLY.
Session: Mar. 6, 2023
I had thought our evening would be filled simply with a tailor's fitting and then a well needed sleep. I did not anticipate accidentally maiming a worker for the inn and finding out several integral pieces of information for us going forward.
First of all - we now know that Malzod wants the Black King's Axe that Mud has. We don't know why, or really anything about the axe. Everyone was too caught up on Mortalis to think too much about the axe, but now that's probably something we should really look into. Mud is refusing to put the axe away for safe keeping so that someone can't use Locate Object on it, which is fine, that's his choice, but it does make me uneasy. It means that at any given point, Malzod could be using it to find our location. We went from being able to set up a place to attack Malzod, to always just being on the defensive, ready for a fight. Not my favourite strategy, and one that I hope does not come with collateral damage.
On top of that, apparently Corin's Exemplar has siblings, and one of those siblings ALSO wants the axe. We got the names of both, but we didn't find out which one wants the axe, so we don't know which one to be on the lookout for. Interestingly enough though, one of the siblings, Leadros, has the same name as the fiend who runs the mercenary organization that Zun's girlfriend is a part of. That cannot possibly be a coincidence. But is he the same person? Is he related? And if he is the same person - does that mean he's the evil one who's after the axe? I'm loathe to just automatically assume the fiend is the evil one, since that's so cliche.
But hey, since we're about to go and meet him anyway, hopefully that's one question that we can get sorted relatively quickly. I was surprised by how easily everyone agreed to just hire someone to assassinate Ahzek. Why didn't I think of that until now? I'm always on the side of "if you want someone killed right, you need to do it yourself", but we've already proven to not be very successful in that area with Ahzek. Plus, we're starting to get a very full roster of people who don't like us and may eventually want to use us or kill us, so taking one out now is probably doing us a favour in the long run. There's too many people to kill, and not enough time to do it in. Sigh.
Also on the topic of killing, kind of, it sounds like all of Daren's soul is inside of Mortalis now. He isn't 100% sure, which does mean there's a slim chance there could be more Daren out there somewhere. But after breaking the phylactery, it sounds like Daren is more or less all in there now, which is a relief. My only fear with that is if Daren was able to overtake Mortalis briefly when only part of his soul was there, what if he's able to gain more control now that he's fully in there? I don't think we totally understood just how powerful and terrifying Daren was when I led the charge to attack him. I'll have to keep checking in with Mortalis that it doesn't feel like anything has changed there.
Mortalis also noted that it is NOT recommended to scry on a soul that's inside of him, given that it would likely suck whoever was trying to scry INTO Mortalis without warning. That's...unexpected and a little horrifying. Is there a way to use that to our advantage though? Corin was bringing up some interesting points about trying to manipulate people into scrying on someone we've killed - it's an intriguing idea that requires more thought from me, I think.
With all that information to process, it makes sense to me to head to the Temple and ask them for answers about many of these things. Maybe we leave the axe with them? Who knows.
Session: Feb. 13, 2023
Leave it to Corin to accidentally give up the one thing I was trying to avoid telling Garren. Sigh. I knew if he found out about Mortalis he wouldn't understand. Yes, Mortalis is associated with Dan'or'avil. And yes, it kind of sounds like he made him crazier. But that's the key - crazIER. It sounds like the man already had psychopathic tendencies, and Mortalis just brought them out a little further. I, on the other hand, am not already a psychopath, so we don't NEED to worry in the same way. But now both Zun and Garren are on my case about it, which is annoying. Mortalis is not one of the problems we have at hand. An actual PROBLEM is the fact that Ahzek is trying to become more powerful than Cor'nate. Or that Malzod is sitting just outside the city. Or that my mother has Chompy's family and my father hostage. Or that she has one of the crystal rods that open the bloody gates to hell. Those are all real problems. Whether my patron is evil is old news - Zun's lover is a bounty hunter who gets paid to murder and takes orders from a FIEND!!! How is that ANY different? Anyway...more pressing matters.
It was at least interesting to find out that the copy of the execution hall Dan'or'avil got his hands on isn't actually a real copy. I was so worried there were more moles inside the Vorestheira, but it appears this was actually a plant, so thank goodness for that. I'm hoping we can get Saanes a crystal ball before we leave town, because I so desperately want to be able to watch what unfolds when Dan'or'avil tries to kidnap the wrong Eirlyssia and a bunch of Vorestheira and DRAGONS??? are there to stop him. That sounds entertaining as hell. I'll admit though, as confident as Garren is, a small part of me is still greatly concerned they won't catch him. And if he escapes, AND has a secret passage to my mother...I'm just really hoping we don't come across him when we go to confront her. We don't have the strength required to defeat both of them. I'm also hoping my stupid ex-patron isn't petty enough to continue to send Dan'or'avil straight to me. I think he did it the one time, just to be a jerk. I don't even know if he can actually see me now that we're separated. I certainly hope not, because that would have a lot of terrifying implications I don't know how to deal with.
But besides Dan'or'avil, and that whole mess, while it took a few tries, I was not expecting to be able to scry on Malzod! It's hard for me to gauge based on what Mud - who knows very little of magic - says about how strong Malzod is. So when he mentioned wanting to cast Sending to goad him into a fight - I was all for it. Any time I get a chance to take on someone who deeply hurt one of my friends, it's just so refreshing. Especially someone who is also evil. It just feels like I'm making the world a little better when I can help remove the offending party, you know? I'm very excited to be able to have this fight before we have to leave for our journey.
Means we also have to have a fancy clothes fitting, which I'm less excited about. I was always forced to wear fancy, pretty things when I was living at home, to uphold our "obvious higher standard of living", according to my mother. I've enjoyed not being forced to dress up. But I just keep reminding myself - it's all part of the ploy. Wear the fancy clothes. Go to the party. Get Elegant and/or Ny'ell hired to play at my mother's. Storm the house. Save the people. Kill my mother. This plays a part in that, and so I will dress up, and I will try to revel in it.
Session: Feb. 6, 2023
I have to say, Zun's disguise skills are definitely getting better. He's a fast learner with figuring out how to disguise half-elves, thank goodness.
We decided to let Elegant go off and find a tailor for all of us, and we'll meet back up tonight to get a fitting. The rest of us opted to head to the Temple so we could have Saanes do some scrying, then maybe even find a spot to destroy Daren's phylactery before we have to give the anvil back.
I had an enjoyable moment where Saanes's mentor stunned himself and everyone else with an alarm spell, but somehow it didn't get me, so I got to just casually steal Brother Corbert's drink (which was a mistake - old coffee BLEH) and grabbed a seat. Startled them all. Win. But more importantly - Saanes was successful at scrying Ahzek AND Dan'or'avil!
Ahzek is at a temple of Tol'y'stoy somewhere, working on notes about some black orb. Seems to have a weirdly administrative position? More concerning was that he had some things supporting evidence that he worships (follows? supports?) the Exemplar of Slaughter Ruin - Khor'nate. One so bad people just don't follow them. He also mentioned keeping up on the whereabouts of a group of adventurers that had just taken a new contract. It would make sense for him to keep tabs on us, but we haven't taken on any formal contracts that I'm aware of? Is he following some other group of adventurers we don't know about?
Dan'or'avil is still at the guard house in his disguise. What I want to know is how the heck did he just show up off the island and manage to convince an entire garrison that he's in charge? I know he's got some of them charmed, but an entire guard house? That just seems impressively excessive. He's also getting ready to prep for my execution, having one of his lackeys go rent a warehouse so they can actually run through the scenario over and over. I'm actually kind of morbidly impressed with his attention to detail here. Hurts me to say it, but damn.
Now, more interesting, is that what he said to me in the guardhouse was that he wanted to kill me personally - but we overheard him talking to my mother (disgusting) about how he's actually getting ready for my extraction so he can personally bring me to her. It has me wondering - has he been able to put his anger behind him and is actually planning on bringing "Eirlyssia" to her? Or is he bluffing, and he's just going to kill "me" on the way and ask for forgiveness?
Either way we should probably warn Garren. And maybe suggest that either the place the execution is to be held be changed at the last second, so all Dan'or'avil's prep amounts to nothing. And tell him that Dan'or'avil made a comment about someone in the Temple letting him know when it was time - which either means there are STILL moles at the Temple, or Dan'or'avil just doesn't know they've been caught yet. But he got a copy of the room layout somehow - that doesn't bode well to me.
We tried to get Mud to scry on Malzod, but that didn't work out. Poor Mud just isn't used to that sort of thing. So we'll have to wait until Saanes can get some spell slots back and we can try it all again in an hour. Here's hoping.
Session: Jan. 30, 2023
Well, that was an unexpected night. The ladies asked if they could take us to a waterfall just outside the city, which sounded lovely. And it was. It was one of the most beautiful sights I think I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I’ll have dreams about that waterfall.
What was interesting about the conversation on the way was how threatened Ertez seemed by Elegant. He asked me questions I couldn’t fully answer, since I’m pretending to be Saanes’ sister and wouldn’t really know much about Elegant. It was curious.
But during that time, as we stared out at the waterfall, all of us got charmed. The ladies beat the crap out of some kind of shadow demon, and stored it in an amulet. Then came the truth: they actually were not there for romance. They were part of a mercenary group collecting bounties (which I’ll admit, had me panicked for a second), and the thing they had just captured typically only came out to attack women on dates at tourist attractions. Weirdly specific, but obviously they were right, so…? Then their boss, a fiend, showed up and explained their organization was in Geyt, the same place that Orthek is from. They all left with him, leaving us to walk back to the Inn a little shell shocked.
As we went to part ways from Ertez, Zun finally asked what all of us had been thinking - what had he whispered to Endry? Which he of course didn’t really answer, but it gave room for me to confirm what I’d been thinking - he and Naielle are dating. I asked if she knew just how charming he was to other women, to which he straight up lied and told me she was aware. When I gave him some private advice to be a little more careful if he wanted his relationship to continue, he told me that Elegant should also make sure he’s careful, then left.
Elegant then confirmed that he and Naielle used to be an item, but that they didn’t restart their relationship. Something I’m sure will relieve Ertez. He also said that both of them had been invited to play for Count Peyton, a noble who lives close to my mother’s house, which just might be the in we need to get to her. He was very excited to inform us that it meant we’d have to go to a tailor and get some fancy clothes for the party, so we didn’t stick out so badly. I couldn’t tell you the last time I owned fancy clothes. But it’ll be kind of nice to see everyone dressed up, I think.
Session: Jan. 23, 2023
What a whirlwind of a day. Had an interesting talk with Zun. He said I enjoyed murder too much, and that it concerned him. That he thought I might be letting the darkness inside me grow a little too much. That may be true, I suppose. I do feel very consumed by vengeance as of late. But that's just because there are so many people we keep coming across that are absolutely terrible people who suffer no consequences for their actions! Someone has got to do something about it. And if they're all too squeamish or morally concerned, then it has to be me. I'm just trying to make the world a safer place for them to live in.
Nonetheless, I weirdly appreciated it? It's been a long time since someone has been close enough to me to call me out on something from a point of concern, and not just telling me what I'm doing wrong. I don't entirely agree with him, but I am still grateful. I told him to continue to check in with me as we went. I think I have a handle on things, but I would hate for my need for vengeance to come at the cost of pushing people away, now that I finally have people I like around me.
Speaking of Zun, I let him attempt a disguise for me again. Judging by peoples' reactions, I think it went about the same as last time. Enough to avoid curiosity at first glance, but not enough to stand up to scrutiny. So I shifted plans a little, and after a talk with Saanes, decided to use magic to disguise myself as his older sister Emaie. A military captain is not that hard for me to pull off anyway, and no one here would know anything about Elven military. Plus, it would make sense for her to be travelling with a guard, which gives a reason for Zun to be with her.
Before we were able to go to the party, Corin and Mud came back with a couple truth bombs though. LIKE THE FACT THAT THE CRYSTAL RODS DON'T CONTAIN SOULS, BUT THE LOCKS TO HELL. WHICH WE'VE BEEN BREAKING. Which. Is. Just. Great. Apparently there are only two unbroken rods left - the one we just gave to Garen and the High Priest, and the one MY MOTHER HAS. You have got to be kidding me. I'll hand it to her - she's great at holding onto things she shouldn't be holding onto. Rods, my father, Chompy's family...I shouldn't be surprised at this point. But that means now we have to go and get the rod, rescue my father, rescue Chompy's family, AND try to kill her at the end. This list keeps growing, and that concerns me. The more things we need to accomplish, the more things get left to chance.
It also means that Tarranvar lied to me, something I don't take kindly to. I cussed him out, but unsurprisingly he just laughed at me. Mortalis said we can cause him extra mental anguish if I can come up with something that'll bother him, so you better believe I'll be thinking on it.
After all that, we were just supposed to go to Naielle's performance like nothing happened - a tall order. However, the evening itself was surprisingly entertaining. Not just the performance, which was captivating (she is wildly talented), but our table companions. My gosh, what a flirtatious bunch. It was absolutely hilarious watching as the men slowly realized that our table companions were coming on to them. I've always known men were dense, but they certainly proved me correct tonight. Though once they realized, none of them particularly seemed to mind.
Now, who intrigues me more is Ertez. He's the fire genasi travelling with Naielle, and I'm pretty sure they're dating. I only have the fact that he kissed her cheek after their performance, and called her "My Dear" to go off of, but it seems like an easy bet. However. He not only kissed my hand when we met and turned the charm way up, he whispered something to Endry that certainly had her flushed. Not exactly the actions of a man who seems to be in a committed relationship? We're about to go out for a walk, all coupled up, so I am very curious to see where that goes. I want to get to the bottom of Ertez and Naielle's relationship, to see if there's room for Elegant to wheedle his way back in. I think he and Naielle used to be an item, and after all we've been through, even though he's such a curmudgeon, I want him to be happy.
Session: Jan. 16, 2023
I was already really angry with Denoravil for the stunt he pulled at the guard house, but the longer I have to just sit in this room, the angrier I get at him. This is dumb. I hate just sitting around and waiting for something to happen because I can’t show my face in public anymore.
Though, on an exciting front, the fact that Mud’s old…I don’t actually know what to call him, relationally. Mud’s evil wizard? The fact that he’s found Mud is exciting/problematic. Just another person to add into the mix of people that we have to avoid and/or kill. Honestly, if our enemies ever team up against us, we’re in a lot of trouble. Thank goodness Saanes is learning scrying, so we can at least try to keep on top of these loons.
I’m hoping that Corin and Mud found out some useful info at the temple, about those crystal rods. The fact that Orthek is continuously passing them to us to break now does raise a red flag. But without knowing anything about them, what do we do? Just hang on to them, I guess.
Also, I really don’t understand why everyone is so hung up on me enjoying a good revenge killing? If someone has caused you horrific suffering, whether mentally or physically, and continues to do that to the people around them…is it not justified to kill them? Is the world not a better place without them in it? I don’t know why they’re on such moral high horses when I’m the one doing a favour to those who aren’t able to help themselves. Psh.
Session: Jan. 9, 2023
So first off, sentient weapons are both amazing and hilarious. Elegant’s sword apparently doesn’t like him, which I find greatly amusing. I also discovered that Mortalis can just go in and out of physical existence merely by thinking about the scythe. But best of all (actually, and worst of all, given the two subjects of the matter) - Mortalis is awkward about sexuality. I have no idea why. But this great and terrible, powerful patron gets awkward when he has to talk about sex. I need to log that information away for later - might be useful. Not sure how.
However, that brings me to the worst part about that conversation - apparently DENORAVIL IS SLEEPING WITH MY MOTHER. Gods. Why did this have to get even more complicated than it already was? Though, I will admit, I do find it interesting that I just somehow never came up in their conversations with each other? Because I have to imagine it’s going to be a problem that my mother desperately wants to keep me alive to be her legacy pawn, and Denoravil by his own admission, desperately wants me dead by his own hand.
I tried to convince people to join me in killing my mother, when we go to her house. I don’t know that it worked all that well. Zun, thank goodness, was willing to join me, but Elegant and Corin were less inclined. I don’t know where Mud stands. I just don’t know how to convey to them that she can’t be left alive. She’s already done so much wrong. Killing her is a mercy to not only the poor people she has direct influence over, but literally the world. And I just need them to see that.
The first part of the trap for Denoravil was set today. The fakes for Zun and I were arrested and taken to the temple to stand trial. I know at least one Cult member was there, since I recognized his ugly face from my time at the guard house. I’m a little concerned about their ability to catch Denoravil though, given that we already knew he was powerful, and Mortalis told me tonight that he’s actually powerful enough to be a patron himself. Yikes. We shall see what happens. I really wish we could be there for both things, but saving my father and Chompy’s family, and then killing my mother, definitely takes precedence.
Session: Jan. 2, 2023
Today went from 100 and straight back to 100 again. I started off the day getting used as a punching bag at the guard house - thanks to Denoravil who framed me for the murder of multiple guards, got rescued and taken to Vorestheira headquarters where it turned out Garin was alive the entire time, was informed we’d have to fake my death, met back up with the rest of the group (thank goodness they were all unharmed - with the obvious exception of poor Zun who was getting his strength back after some hearty food), began to plan how to trap Denoravil at my own execution, and THEN was told that MY MOTHER was the one holding Chompy’s family hostage and our next mission was to go there and rescue them. What. The. Hell.
In other interesting points, Garin mentioned that it was Mortalis who turned Denoravil crazy. I don’t know that that’s entirely true, but I certainly plan to ask him later tonight. A bit concerning. We at least managed to avoid mentioning to Garin that I am currently in possession of said evil sentient weapon.
My other concern is how much my ex-patron is going to get in my way. If he was the one who led Denoravil here, it means he knows where I am. If we go to fake execute me, and I’m actually on my way to my mother’s, is he going to know that and tip off Denoravil? Or my mother? It’s going to ruin everything if we get there and she’s just waiting for us. I can only hope that my ex-patron is more interested in the chaos me showing up will cause than in getting some petty revenge.
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