Marya Silverstring

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Pretty normal and a little on the stockier side for a halfling.

Apparel & Accessories

I never thought much of my own appearance, especially after this "accident" when I was 10, showed me, that even my skin doesn't completely belong to myself. My size is pretty typical for a halfling and I tend to wear my hair in a long and practical braid, while keeping my clothes on the easy and practical side of things. Yes my eyes are heterochromatic and they were already like this when I was born. Some esoteric people might say, that this is a sign of special gifts, for me it's simply how my eyes are. I also don't tend to think too much about too many accessories, so apart from some rather simplistic glass earrings, I only value the charm that my sister gave to me the day she left. It's a simple blue stone, but I think it's rather pretty and at least to me it's really special. Some people also ask why I never wear revealing clothing and the answer is quite simple, I don't feel comfortable doing so. When I was around 13 I had a major self hate streak and did some self harming, the scars still visible on my arms and inner thighs. I've learned that it's easier to keep them hidden, mostly because people don't know how to deal with that kind of stuff. Fortunately in my line of work, I can at least try to say they're adventuring scars and since quite a lot of people never delve this deep into the dark side of their psyche, most of them believe me. So yeah, if I could swap my body, I'd probably happily do so, there's not that much I'd miss about it. My chest looks pretty normal under clothing, but undressed, my sternum pulses with a pale green light and big parts of my chest look almost like they're some kind of pale bark instead of flesh, being rather resistant to the touch.

Specialized Equipment

https://www.pinterest.de/pin/167477679883582492/ https://www.pinterest.de/pin/9710955434488917/

Mental characteristics

Personal history

27 years in total and backstory in short bullet points:

I was born a healthy daughter to people I've got no idea about and that I couldn't care less for

Though my parents never talked about the way in which they adopted my twin sister and me

After that I was adopted by Elijen and Horyas Silverstring, both of which are pretty good parents most of the time

When growing up, I spent most of my time with my older brother and my older sister

Since my parents both were ex-adventurers, they also insisted on me learning enough of their craft to make my own place in the world

After testing my aptitude for different lines of work, he insisted, I'd learn from one of his old comrades in arms, Marona Braveclaw, a druid

It seemed a little weird, but shortly after something pretty big happened in my life that would make this whole kind of thing a whole lot more fitting

One day when playing in the nearby woods with my brother, we made dare, I was about 10 back then

There was this dark part of the forest, which was meant to house an ancient grove and maybe a fairy circle or two, it was said that some people disappeared in this part of the forest, never to be seen again

Well, we were young and dumb, with me being a little more of both, so we both went into the deep parts of the forest, when we came upon a strange circle of mushrooms, then my brother shoved me into it, probably thinking nothing of it

When I came to myself, I was at home in bed and saw that a significant part of my chest seemed almost made of bark, with my sternum pulsing with a faint green light, that I quickly found to be my heartbeat

I freaked, hard. So hard in fact that I think that my brother still hasn't gotten over this whole thing, even though it's been more than 15 years

My druidic studies progressed further without issues, but the mark on my body remained a mystery to me and my teacher, at least she didn't say anything if she knew what was going on

When I wasn't caught up in studying, I was still having fun engaging in mischief with my older sister, mostly stuff dumb teenagers do, petty thefts and those sorts, I also got to know quite a lot of her friends, most of them quite a bit older than myself, which didn't really discourage me

Quite the opposite in fact, because I quickly tried to show them that I was just as grown up and daring like them

This led to Makin Braveeye, one of those friends, and me getting into quite a situation, we were sneaking around in a place where we weren't supposed to be and would've almost gotten ourselves killed by some rival gang if my sister and several of her friends wouldn't have saved us

This was also the time that I learned, that my big sister and most of our mutual friends were members of the local chapter of the Myriad and even though I'm sure she meant it in a joking way, when she said I owe her for saving my life, the Myriad definitely took it quite a bit more serious

It all started with my sister having to leave the city for some reason she wouldn't talk about, just giving me her pendant and saying that she'll be there when i need her

Not even a week after that, I was around 19 at the time, I was approached by some of her friends, asking me to come with them

Long story short, I knew too much about the Myriad to stay a bystander and since my natural talents were quite handy, I became a part of the organisation, also because it meant working toward actually making good on my debts with them

My first jobs were mostly second story work, some small smuggling jobs and stuff like that, though they quickly catched on, that my talents could be put to good use in other ways as well, so I ended up doing some intelligence work as well every now and then, just some odd jobs here and there, several of them with Makin

When i then turned 21, my druidic teacher Marona announced, that I had learned enough from her and that I should make some experiences of my own before I'd be inducted deeper into the mysteries of what it meant to be a druid

That coincided quite nicely with the fact, that some of those smaller jobs I was asked for by the Myriad, involved me leaving my home city, smuggling goods to other parts of the empire

One of those smuggling jobs even involved, what I still think, was the egg of an actual dragon, but that was 3 years ago already

Most of the times the jobs went quite well, though one time I actually got caught and was thrown into prison

Thanks to my Myriad connections I managed to get out rather quickly, only after a few weeks, but I learned, that this is a place I definitely never wanted to see again, also it just put some more weight onto the debt I had with the Myriad

Personality Characteristics

Virtues & Personality perks

Kids and animals are off limits, unless they try to kill me first Freedom is always preferable to serfdom I'm loyal to those that are loyal to me, betraying those that trust you, is no way to live your life. If you are indebted to someone, you ought to make it up to them as thoroughly as possible.

Vices & Personality flaws

I'm really bad at backing down from confrontations, even if the odds are bad. If someone challenges me for a challenge, I'll always take them up on it!

Hygiene

I try to keep up with a decent hygiene whenever possible, but I can deal with the life of an adventurer and sometimes baths or other such comforts simply aren't available. When I get the chance though, I'll definitely try not to look or reek like I've been on the streets for the last few weeks.

Social

Contacts & Relations

(Ally) Berserker that I bonded with over a traumatic event: I still remember that day quite clearly when I thought it'd be a great idea to sneak around in one of the big abandoned warehouses at the edge of the city at night. Of course I wasn't alone, it was Makin Braveeye Egumiaga with me, some huge goliath friend of my sister that I got along quite well with, who sports some pretty darn impressive full-body tattoos. So yeah, we were sneaking around and kind of ran into a rival gang. We tried fleeing, but if not for my sister and several of her friends intervening we might've been done for. That was the day my debt to the Myriad and my story with them began and it was also the day Makin and me started having an invisible, but strong bond with each other, in our debt to the Myriad, as well as our experience of surviving this experience. I even managed to teleport him once, though I haven't been able to reproduce it with anyone else...., Marona Braveclaw: A rather old halfling druid, who taught me everything I know about being a druid and all the strings and responsibilities that come attached to it. She was a rather strict, but also compassionate teacher and I can't wait to one day see her again to delve into the deeper mysteries of being a druid and everything attached to that. The most striking feature of hears is a blueberry-blue lock in her otherwise greying hair, that she regularly recolors. Several Myriad members in Nagvurot, my hometown. A mysterious lady of the fey, to which Dalmir and I owe a favor to.

Family Ties

(Ally) Significant family member (older brother) that caused a horrible accident for me: Davton Silverstring, age 30 and a half elf is a good person deep in his heart, but kids are stupid and cruel and he was not different in any capacity. We were playing in the woods like we usually did, when we made this stupid dare to go into the deeper parts of the forest, who were said to house an ancient grove and maybe even some real fairy circles. So we went in there and when we found a strange circle of mushrooms my brother pushed me into it, probably not thinking much of it, except for giving me a decent scare. When I came to myself, I was back in my room at home, parts of my chest showing pale bark instead of skin and my sternum pulsing with a green light. I freaked out hard and that's probably in parts the reason why my brother never again talked about this day and also why after that he always tried to be a voice of reason, annoying me more than anything. One telltale sign of my older brother are that he has the same heterochromic eyes like me, even though we're not related by blood. (Ally) Significant family member (older sister) that left long ago and promised to come back in my hour of greatest need: Sylris Silverstring, age 34, my older half-elven sister. She was always the one getting us in trouble for the weirdest and most fun reasons. She was also the one that actually inducted me into the Myriad after saving my life with her friends. Before one day she announced, that she had to leave our hometown of Nagvurot, but that she'll come back for me one day. Days have been darker since she has left and I still miss her every now and then. My older sister was always the one of us that got most the beauty in our family, though she also lost her left pinky in a scuffle once, so there's also that option to identify her. (Ally) Significant family member (father) that used to be an adventurer until he took an arrow to the knee.... I mean until he married mom, who would do anything to help me, as long as it wouldn't risk injuring or killing him: My elven dad, Horyas Silverstring, age 89, was always a little distant, he oftentimes had this thousand yard stare kind of deal, some people talk about with veterans and he couldn't deal with the color red at all, he tried to be a good dad nontheless. After all he was the one that introduced me to his previous travelling companion Marona Braveclaw, a halfling druid and the person he consulted about my chest. Though she was pretty strict at times, she set me on the path that I'm on today and I'm pretty grateful for her as well as my dad. For identifying my dad, you best go by his split lip and the heavy scarring in his face, which are both not that typical for your normal distant elf. Mom: Elijen Silverstring, age 64, a human ex-adventurer, she was always a hunter at heart - well she always said that there was no bigger prey that she caught in her life than my dad - Her hair is red like fire and she never cut it once in her life, sometimes I thought there was more hair than actual person with her. Younger twin sister: Riara Silverstring, age 27, she's exactly what you would imagine in a family of adventurers and miscreants, she's a baker and a damn good one! I also heard that she recently got engaged to a young blacksmith. - My younger sister is the typical picture of a young halfling women, small and cute with loads of freckles to her, full of giggles and sweet thoughts, I can barely believe we're related at times.

Religious Views

1st prophecy goal: I'll make good on my debts to the Myriad for saving my life, even if the costs of that might be higher than I'd feel otherwise comfortable with. Secret: One day I had the job from the Myriad to transport a big box via cart to another city and when we unloaded the cart, I think I caught a glimpse of the inside of the box and I'm pretty sure that was a dragon egg. The dragon egg I saw was shipped to Zadash from the north and it was purple Fateful moment: When my older brother pushed me into a fairy circle, resulting in the mark in my chest.

Hobbies & Pets

Wild Shape Options-> Flavored with silver fur

Just your average halfling travelling through the world, until I make up my mind and add more stuff in here.

View Character Profile

Alignment

Chaotic Neutral

Age

27 years old

Date of Birth

7th of Horisal - Self decided, real date unknown

Birthplace

Unknown

Children

Gender

Female

Eyes

Green // Blue

Hair

Red

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Fair with a light tan, freckles

Height

3ft.

Weight

40lbs.

Quotes & Catchphrases

"Whats the worst that could happen?" "Where's the fun in that?"

Known Languages

Common Halfling Thieves' Cant Druidic Basic phrases and words for communicating with Magnolia: 1.) Hide! 2/3.) Come out! 4/5.) How many? 6.) Sleeptime! 7/8.) Take this! 9.) Yes. 10.) No. 11/12/13/14.) Do you notice something? 15.) Payment. 16.) Clothes. 17.) Trustworthy. 18.) Not 19.) Food 20.) Help 21.) Moon 22.) Honey 23.) Tea 24.) Favorite 25.) Animal 26.) Halfling 27.) Dwarf 28.) Human 29.) Pixie 30.) Danger 31.) Color 32.) Silver 33.) Sun 34.) God 35.) Music 36.) Dance 37.) Barrel 38.) Chest 39.) Knot 40.) Open 41.) Head 42.) Foot 43.) Above 44.) Fall 45.) Road 46.) Go 47.) House 48.) Wait 49.) Fun! 50.) Spoilsport 51.) Book 52.) Tasty

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Aaand out of the city~

So we had our short time of resting in that city At some point people are standing up And of course they're trying to start something We win - well Seb wins Then a dude in uniform shows up Seemingly we're needed for an audience Well, we go there Tatiana Vorvex or something like that And she tries to get the old device from us Of course she does Yada yada neutral city Camping would need a 10 mile radius So we get our soldiers and get marching Aaaaaaaaand rest~

The mercenary pirate place

So some more traveling And we're sloooowly getting closer Well at least we get to their camp Or outpost Seemingly the Dynasty isn't much loved here Understandable We have a day to rest Heading out in the morning Seemingly it's time for drinks the day before?

Another dragon deal?

Ah yeah dragon.... great The two people are alive But have to pay in knowledge Oh well that's on Lord Bladefall And the lord plays the idiot waving a sword around Oh well We distance ourselves from that idiocy Dragon is named Calzullan Seb asks permission to talk to the dragon about the previous dragon encounters Well~~~ I definitely won't talk about it We also have a quick sidebar talking about it Then Vera provides some up to date info for the dragon And it was deemed sufficient as an exchange? Well only for bug info Seb gets himself and me a private audience? Takes us deeper into the cave Dragon also turns into an elf Have some talks Get to an agreement Go back to the group Align on trying to stop the dragon egg smuggling Then go back to the dragon to make sure the wording of the magic oath thing is okay He'd provide a weapon from the days of the calamity It's single use though So something to align on with our contact in Rosohna Okay he'll only bind one And Komaria volunteers Well that works for me Dragon then heads towards their magical door We all then go in And the two people are allowed to leave? xD Needs some support for the ritual Well Vera helps out Then we get the item it's a twist, turn and run (10 seconds) kind of deal The lord dude thanks us for freeing his men Aaand back on the road we go

Buggy buggers again

Sooo we get ready and get started We have enough food, though can take extra rations Also have shelter, though crowded We have three ways to travel Near the shore, which has pirates and stuff (normal 10 days per trip) Near a magical tower, which has undead and possibly worse stuff (quicker) Near the mountains (1 day slower) We settle on the mountains, as there's less supernatural stuff Soooo, travel day it is The Cerberus Assembly people are surprisingly lax for soldiering types Then after several hours there's a shout No scouts are out So none of our people Ugh..... Seb takes off I go after him The rest follows And we find a rock with legs? Okay no, it's one of the Cerberus people Aaand bugs We kill 2 of them The rest flee Aand there's the dude We take the rock off between Virdan's summon and my frog strength Him and a few others wanted to help the Lord dude Rest of his friends hunkered down in a cave, around 20 minutes away in the hills Seems like they don't know why the bugs are stirred up They attacked their settlement Bladefall seems disappointed in him Then we go towards the cave And he's with us It's a rather small cave Find ourselves bedrolls etc., but no people Not much in terms tracks to follow So I turn into cat And start tracking We find several corpses, including 4 of the flying creatures O.o Also find some flesh from some weird creature Get us to a cave and go out of wild shape Go inside stealthily after casting barkskin on Seb There's a biiiig green gemstone there And there's scales as well Ohhhhh well Gemstone dragon it is Aaand the dragon notices the group

Back again again

So, still in this middle of nowhere place Had a decent rest Then there's a messenger, seemingly there's a person there that's not part of the Dynasty So we go and find a group of mostly humans, a couple armed The crest on their stuff consists of three connected spikies with a silver spiky 'U' shape below They're from the Cerberus Assembly and it's some kind of lord Seemingly not here on aggressive business They're looking for an alliance? - Not with the Dynasty as a whole Aaaand it's about monsters Their official camp is a bit away Yada yada, don't trust them Our group is decently torn So we have a message sent to Rosohna via a Slate of Distant Letters Vera writes the message: "Lord Alexander Bladefall from Cerberus Assembly showed up - taken note of resupplies here - asked us to help with bugs. Looking for guidance. Should we accept?" And we receive the reply: "Using your discretion, with caution. Update every hour." Welp, so a whole load of nothing We at least get 6 people from the camp with us

We're back!

Okay so we're a couple of weeks (well 4, it was a month) after the original timeline? And bug issues persist It's some caravan and outpost building stuff With a bigger job later on Oh and the way was underground And daaaark~~ Some cavewalking later, we finally have the sun again! And the camp is also rather close It's mostly a military encampment And seemingly the creatures primarily roam around in the daylight We then also do some looking around and stuff Otherwise some strategizing and stuff After that rest?

Just some decompressing time

So next morning stuff And then debriefing time Ugh The topic of taking back the stick comes up And yeah we talk about the whole schtick we saw down there While we're there anyway I get an amber amulet for my sister and her little one And we have some breakfast I also spent some time on a Plant Growth spell (8 hours) to help people that aren't able to afford magical aid for their personal stuff Komaria keeps me company while doing this We also have some decently interesting talks Meanwhile Seb and Vera do shady stuff After that I give some people goodberries to help them Then it's resting time as we get the box And we get on the road on the next day!

Finally a second to relax

So we escort the survivors out Get out of the previously fenced off area okay The local authorities block off the area around the rift We offer some info on where the breach the creatures came through was And removed pretty much all of them around from existence Seb gives off a sending to our questgiver After that we get the opportunity for some rest And the group seriously goes for a bar? I gueeeeeeeeeess.... Already looking forward to too tall chairs, people running into me and not speaking any languages I could understand Also there's loud music We have a bit of a talk My vote for a vacation goes through And Melody tries to one up the group... We get some food and drinks Have some talks with Vera And after some more talking, I'm off to actual sleep Then next morning stuff

Exterminating otherworldlies

So yeah fight time Oh also there's small worm things And loads of small crawlies We go decently after the cracky portal thing Okay the portal is no portal It's more like a tether or something And of course there's floaty creatures The not-portal then goes boom loudly The big one looks really rough And all the eggs go pop Moonbeam really does it's thing that fight Also that poison stuff still really hurts >.< Seb finally helps in getting the big one down The rest of us slowly recovers from the poison And everyone makes it Meanwhile we go towards the entrance Komaria collapses because of the stolen staff Seb tries prying it free The guardsman paladin casts a remove curse to get the staff off of Komaria Aaand Melody touches it and goes limb And we pull it away from them

Escaping forward

So we have the other guard group covering our escape While we continue on our bear cart way We're fighting in a space where some of the creatures lie in ambush They hurt us badly And the guards catch up to us We help decimate the next group And then continue going Aaand there's an orange glow in front of us Aand we find the nest

Setup for a chase

So we go killing the two buzzy boys Seb was bait Get them killed quickly I then start pulling a cart in bear form and pull the group along On the way we hear a melody Pick up a new person

Some more city crawling

So some more strategy talk Yeah attacking the hatchery seems... dangerous Talking some more strategy Then we have a call from some people speaking.... undercommon? Well Komaria handles it We then finally agree to take the kids and get the survivors in the east While the B team holds their position So after some more talking we start on our trip We also get the way out prepared for us In the distance we hear some buzzing of the flying ones We find ourselves the two survivors Somehow the creatures are connected via magical stuff They have some kind of remote leadership system? So the hunchback is the local leader? Also there has to be some kind of communication conduit? While talking, there's some kind of tremor outside And of course there's aberrations around Of freaking course There's a super small prayer by Komaria after I ask for it So first off to kill the creatures on the wall Then it's time for Pass without Trace

Loads of bugs and a couple of kids

So yeah, loads of uglies I try turning into a brown bear Ugh that form is cumbersome Outside we see a girl at another house We kill the remaining bugs and give chase Oh yeah and there's a decently big swarm after us That's also getting fireballed Then it's more following the kiddo And it seems to be getting cramped, so no bear shape anymore :( And there's another kiddo Oh how fun, there's loads of small tunnels to the north On top of the big main one And the other group found something about survivors in the east While the group rests there's some scouting by Vera and me We get through fine And there's familiar bubbles? As we turn to go there's a larger being that blocks the light for a second Seems to be wearing some kind of robe or cloak and holding a staff that has 2 points on the tip We get back safely Then it's legendary libation time for everyone before we get going

Into the belly of the city

So the whole stuff starts But before that we get a decent night's sleep Next morning one of the soldiers comes to pick us up One of the soldiers at the gap we'll be going through is the soldier whose house we visited the day before Small group of introductions Then in we go I use darkvision on myself and pass without a trace to give us nice cover while we go the western way up north There's a big destroyed watchtower in our way It was 'killed' by quite a decent amount of radiant energy After it, there's some sort of chasm, we get decently across There's some sort of sound north though Then off north we continue The stone I heard fell off of a building Probably because of something standing on the building Then we find a few buildings that are still lit, which is decently weird Possibily survivors? Komaria also sees a roughly medium sized humanoid figure We check one of the houses Yup there was something around recently Aaand then there are aberrations, thanks loud people

Before we go into the belly of beast~

Yup still in the city There's also mini sending stones but short range We organize slings for throwing alchemist fire And Silver makes some of their poison More prep and talks about tactics and stuff

Preparation time

So travel finishes without major incident Aaand we arrive in the city Well kinda, it's underground And there's some way to actually get there But first we get paid for our guardwork And when we're there things actually look pretty decent The group starts talking to a beggar first though And Komaria pays the beggar with a platinum piece O.o We see a tailor shop with markings that it's a source for business Some back and forth for fun communication times So we're in front of a house of survivors? And we remember our contact Ved (he/they), kobold and officer Meet a Common speaking drow woman that calls herself Kia And we get invited for tea Of course the group picks up on spices and stuff The survivor we get introduced to is called Zelthar? He shares some info Then off to the watch barracks we go! Strategy and info talk And then we get to see some equipment stuff

On the road again~

Ok so family is planned to arrive in around 3 weeks? Oh yeah but first, decompressing So yeah quick switch to the next day on our way to the lucid bastion And of course we're expected Also seems like bargaining for pay is an option Have some talks about tasks and rewards Aaaaand we get the whole council waiting for us there Oh neat, they did know about the creatures that attacked... how nice We should kill Corespawn inside a portion of the city that's a couple of days away Also find out how they got in and prevent it for the future They'd like to offer us 1200gp reward 400gp for any attempt that is made 800gp for resolving the issue In addition 1000gp kept in their treasury for services in the city and for our household They'd also offer a plot of land outside the main walls, though additional costs are our own It'd also give us a place for 6 months, which is a typical thing in the dynasty? Extends to ourselves as well as our families The city Noara also has an armoury Even by foot it's less than 3 days travel Komaria and Zintris try to guilttrip the queen regarding horses Yeaaaaah that's not great We settle on finding ourselves a caravan to stick to Seb also brings up renegotiating if we find extra difficulties The Brightqueen agrees, but doesn't put it in writing After that we leave Aaand we get a contract sent to our house Then we go looking for a caravan to tag along with Vera finds a couple of leads After that it's quickly off to the road While traveling Seb wants to bring up the worm stuff to the rest of the group, which I'm pretty okay with So we talk some worm stuff with the group Pretty much tell them everything about the worm incident back then I also have a quick talk with Seb about the possibility of Silver and the burning armor stuff being connected to the worms

Uhm yeah

Oh yeah they wanted to consider us for that job Everyone does a little bit of stuff on their own time Seb and Vera go shopping Meanwhile Zintris hides in her room and I try to decompress a bit After all you don't have your life flashing before your eyes like this So yeah some time to decompress

Just talking to military people

Oh yeah wall construction aftermath stuff Oh and we saved the captain Oh and there was big worm And then we should go reporting to the commander Yada yada corespawn intelligent and dangerous She wants to send us to some next city over It's a couple of days away Also we'd get paid Komaria has to return her loaner weapon

More insects, saving lives and worm

So yeah bugs And Seb does wild magic stuff again And holy heck that big bug thing goes after me and it's hitting like a truck Aaaaand Silver kills it Also directly after that with some healing we once again are running into the next big battle After that it's up to the group of the commander And she seems a little under duress atm. In this fight as well, we manage to get through it without any major casualties Seemingly these creatures are called Core Spawn according to Zintris? And after that it's off to help even more groups and people *sigh* That definitely doesn't feel like it's part of the original mission though Kinda doubt we'll get an extension on our though Aaaand there's another big fire worm thing... okay....

Zombies, insects and pie

Still doing defending stuff So yeah it was a lot of zombie bashing Oh and then there were the ghostly guys Aaand we stomp the shadows and spectres really badly After there's a well smelling ogre with a pie? ô.o Also in the distance there's some weird giant dragonfly like thing? Definitely not from around here There's some weird sounds in the distance after some time Aaaand there's more creatures Insect-like creatures

More zombie clapping

So yeah we killed... unlifed (?) zombies Of course after some time there's more of them - really prime real estate around here And ooooof course I'm the only one getting hit And also ooooof course it's just never enough time to even get a little rest Then the commander lady comes by Pretty much talking tactics So stuff is being decided and the commander lady approves of us I guess? This is in theory session 35

Clapping zombies
16th Sydenstar?

So out we go~~ Also I cast darkvision on myself Okay there's even ogres here oo' They have weird wallbuilding magic And we meet a couple of the people there Then there's the first baddies for our shift Moorbounder fighting shifting time~

Preparations and talks~
16th Sydenstar?

So on our way to Quanah we are! We find her quite quickly So let's see how much info on our job we're able to get We're doing the job mostly on our own Usually it's larger groups involved, but they're trusting us with it It's an all-day sort of job And of course it's still within the dark part Their final goal is to rebuild the original walls of the prior city It's mostly about establishing a foothold for us though Everyone out there is a target for the creature there There's gonna be two parts to it First off, the area has to be cleared out Then it's guarding the construction stuff Very likely we're gonna be attacked by undead and oftentimes it's also other stuff If it's purple worms or other underground creatures, we most likely should run People should definitely stick together She shows us a little quartz stone Seems like it's a stone to contact other people with it Or more precisely Quanah with that Can only be used once a day though Melech then pulls out a whistle which might come in handy Seems like it can be heard very far away The whistle looks to be some kind of metal, a little like mythril There's a bit of a breeze around Melech's hair Seems like that thing could call creatures from other planes in an area like this? She then says something in some language to Melech And Melech answers in it? Also Seb understands it? Seb then asks for maps Should be around the northeastern wallside Pretty unsafe for the people living there Melech then starts talking about the ash zombies we found in one of the mines Seems like Quanah knows those things and wants to talk about this Is also interested to know who else knows Though it seems like we won't meet those creatures around here, but in the frozen north? Oh yeah and ghost things that can cut off divine casters But they're unlikely to show up so close to the city Most undead aren't keen on powerful strikes and radiant energy Oh and if people die to the undead, they come back very quickly as undead And there's exploding undead as well Also there's shadows and they're nasty and nigh invisible but can be thwarted with light Oh and Ghouls and Ghasts which when attempted to turn them might not work Aaand Ghouls paralyze creatures and eat them alive Oh and Will-o-Wisps which will go invisible and kill anyone unconscious They should be priority targets Aaand Moorbounders, even bristled ones And worst case there's Gloomstalkers? - Flying and highly dangerous Aaaaaand if someone rides one, we should call her, because then it's most likely the servant of a betrayer god We'll also work with a couple of people from the guard and we're kind of equal in rank? Okay but at the same time we're working under one of them? Called Captain/Commander Iivryna Mirimm (?) (They/Them?) something Can be a bit uptight at times... great Especially uptight with outsiders~ Quanah is not surprisingly a little hesitant with me But after some back and forth she'd settle on some kind of so far unknown assurance of loyalty Though my brother most likely will be a special case due to standing loyalties She'll check with the responsible person regarding him I can definitely work with that though Protection from political games most likely also will be hard, but theoretically possible Well in the end it's in both of our interests for me to only be associated with one Den Still it seems like we have a deal Oh and I told her about how I came to the Myriad There now seems to be some kind of mutual understanding After that I guess Seb gets a shield? So we get to a super massive room after walking through the maze-like building (24 - nat. 20 Survival) Seems like a place for outfitting And Seb gets his shield Komaria also gets a mythril quarterstaff As we're wandering through the city, we pass a shrine It's small off to the side, silver/mythril plated depiction of a young girl who's body kind of just dissipates It's to Sehanine Yep definitely Sehanine There's a group of elves manning the shrines As well as another group of Pallid elves - Zintris' family I place a goldpiece in the donation bowl muttering that the depiction is a little too small After that Zintris asks whether I could place a donation from her as well I do that and we have a quick talk about Sehanine, especially after I mention to her that the depiction of the goddess is too small Seems like it's a family thing for her I offer to tell her about my connection one day when things are more relaxed After that we get to the group of soldiers and they're pretty well armored in that weird style armor they have around here Due to Komaria's clothes they think she's just a noble kid on a fun excursion Also the commander person seems very annoyed by Komaria's antics Also Komaria tries to bullshit us Then there's a big lecture yada yada And since it's in Undercommon I don't get any of it With that out we go aaaaand it's dark

Lots and lots of talking

So family almost completely saved, yay! Or at least in the future they will be or something like that... ugh complicated stuff. After getting back I spent some time with Silver who is pretty awkward on the party Since talking isn't great for her, I'm learning some sign language from her, well at least start to After that it's a night of sleep in the new house~ Then it's off to a short talk with Seb and Melech Tell them about my family as well roughly about the Sehanine stuff Though that's still my stuff to deal with, so yeah Also show Melech my fey mark and give some explanation and heck that thing has gotten bigger O.o Welp that's an issue for another day, I really don't want to spoil the positive energy I have currently going with that So yeah, next step is the talk with the whole group and then a talk with Quana After that we have breakfast and start going over combat tactics and stuff Komaria can breath lightning, can see far in the dark, has limited magics I then go next and explain the general stuff Melech explains his stuff Zintris can shield minds in a way, is good against extraplanar stuff, is good with her rapier Vera is sneaky and assessing with stuff For Silver we know what she does And Seb is simply very hardy, can get mean and take quite a hit as well as his fire stuff Also Seb doesn't really bring up his topic after our discussion Lastly there was a small talk between me and Vera Pretty much came down to her apologizing for the lie and me calling her out on her employer choices Also Seb is a lovable idiot, but nonetheless an idiot at times so she's allowed to kick him, or have me kick him Otherwise Essek's goals will most likely conflict with the group sooner or later and she has to be aware of that So trust will take some time to develop

Luxon stuff and a decent bit of shopping

Sooo, shopping trip time with the guard captain For the ghost lands we might need specialized equipment Certain types of magic might be ineffective, stuff that is cold/freezing and sapping life, okay general temperature stuff is awful And it seems like certain creatures can cut divine casters like Melech, Zintris and me off from magic Yada yada old god war stuff Most roads are also relatively safe around here And getting work is decently possible Also there's all this Luxon business around here It's less of a being and more of a force or something in between Is more of a philosophical concept and is theorized to have existed before the other gods And it is theorized to embody light and a source of life, rebirth and arcane knowledge Very monastic, yada yada One of the big things learned is acceptance and valuing of other cultures and people with a lessening of class divides Also with the rich caring about the poor, because they could be reborn there Worship of all religions (except betrayer gods) is permitted Also yada yada consecution where one binds their soul to one of the luxon beacons and they get reborn with a new body Though it still takes growing and stuff after, so it most often takes to early adulthood to recover memories Then there's the process of anamnesis, taking the mental block stuff away The empire stole 2 of these beacons and they're trying to get them back - also the reason for the war from their side There can also be other luxon beacons they don't know about Zintris blanks out for a second and then gives Melech a weird look Quana also hugs Zintris, so stuff about previous life? Silver and Vera get separate equipment from Essek Yep Vera was hired by Essek.... curious Soooo we start shopping stuff And we start in the firnament shops First we meet a smith We get taken to a relatively open workshop The smith is called Velkyn Komaria gets herself an anti-ghost spear A rapier for Zintris & Seb He also shows off a cutlass (1d8, finesse) Weapons are ghost-touch, which is magical with +0 enchantment Some weird elven weapon They do some sparing Melech gets another armor There's the possibility to get special gloves that can help me hit ghosts, but only with fists or claws/hooves, which is a little annoying with me mostly biting things, but it'll probably kind of work, it'll take a couple of days though The smith was in Den Icozrin Also new studded leather incoming Komaria successfully bums a couple of platinum pieces from Quana, officially for 'food' After that off we go again And get to another big mansion thingie After Quana talks with the doorperson, we get inside Okay seems like a leatherworker The leatherworker is called Nanau (?) of Den Tasithar (?) Then get myself measured for nice blackened or gray studded leather armor Also I'm her first halfling... okay I guess... I can get it in a couple of days here And Zintris also will get another suit of studded leather Before going out I get asked to sample a black kind of leather with a red/pinkish inner side It's a little tough and warm to the touch and from a hellhound Well that's fun, sounds like a good material! - Very minor evasion stuff rules wise (fire damage attacks can't crit, if fire damage stuff I have more or less the benefits of evasion) Also I should dress lightly below it, but thaaaaat's gonna be interesting problem for future me Then it's some rough info time about our oncoming job So it's holding an area until a wall is built There's probably gonna be food and some spell to alert (for about 8 hours) About 4-8 hours, up to 16 hours max. Oh and with all the changes to our group I'm the only person with night blindness due to the darkness out there Vera and Silver head off to talk to Essek Zintris and Komaria are going to visit Komaria's family No idea about Melech Seb and me head back to our temporary housing When later heading to the cathedral we run a little bit into the other group Seems like we're getting a different house in the northwest

Meeting a queen in her pjs

Oh yeah part of the group just brought us the local princess Aaand it's not an honorary title, more like actual nobility Komaria and Zintris randomly found here in an alley and she said she killed her parents And her name is Velina Kryn and maybe adopted? Instead of getting the guard they actually brought the girl here ô.o Seems like Komaria knows a guard called Greg that could help? But otherwise Zintris actually seems like she wants us to get involved? After some back and forth at least Komaria sees my point Little girl or not, if she's in trouble with the local government, it's her issue, not ours Our people were in enough shit recently and I will not endanger anyone in the group for her And Zintris still wants to talk to here....~~~~ So we take the girl to a room to talk The girl hesitates when confirming her name She mentions another name "Vamwaeline Mithrilspine" Dwarven name Walked out of her room when people weren't looking Seemingly has memories of the other person name, so more or less the same dilema as with Komaria and Zintris No consecution for her though Aaand she wants back Finally we agree on getting the child back So off to the cathedral we go Get there pretty easily and without major issues We see a royal guard on the way there and Komaria casually calls her out as Koana (?) And as soon as she sees us she takes the girl in her arms via an Echo Seems like it's the dusk captain, the queen's partner O.o We quickly explain how we found the child and Komaria and Zintris put forth the whole consecution stuff as an explanation who we are Okay and the rest of us are 'friends' We're asked inside Also Seb and Vera are busy? At least they left the bar together earlier So we go into the cathedral And we get brought to the queen? o.o''' Yep definitely gonna meet her and Koana is gonna wake her up for us so we can explain ourselves And that's a queen in a nightgown and a cloak, didn't expect that O.o She also seems pretty annoyed with the whole situation For the meeting we get brought into a proper throneroom, holy heck oo' And there's a huge beacon Doesn't even stop there, there are more people coming in Seems like they want to locate Seb and Vera as well Essek scries Seb and seems very embarrased when it concludes Very suspicious.... Then the mage teleports away, probably to get Seb? After a couple of minutes he's back with Seb and Vera Heck Seb is carrying Vera O.o Those two didn't actually.... Or did they? Quick zone of truth that's cast on us Anyway, we all get to introductions Aaaand of course they get curious about the affiliation to the Myriad I have Also Vera is actually kind of affiliated with the Cobalt Soul Though hey at least I didn't have to say anything about the Fey Pact or about the dragon When they get to Silver, of course they're cautious about that And after we're through, there's Molly there with us or Marloth or whatever Aaaand Melech talks about the dragon in a general manner...... >.< Goddamn idiot >.< We mention the Myriad parts that wants us dead as well And I quickly swear that I won't conduct any "business" in their lands When the mage then asks about our work experience and other skills, pretty much only Melech doesn't have anything crime related Then it's questions about the Dawn princess and what she told us So we provide And we're sworn to secrecy Mostly in regards to the original identity of their daughter We should gather here again tomorrow Also if anyone is asking about me, a halfling, being here, I can tell them to take it up with Leylas Kryn After some more talking then out we go Vera seems to know about the Mithrilspine family It's something with royalty Aaand yep Seb and Vera definitely had intimate relations with each other Marloth tries to get to get Zintris to visit her other family? After Seb and Vera split off, Seb is also carrying her again Yep that's gonna be awkward in the future, potentially really awkward After that it's a long rest and a night of sleep And I had the room for myself, neat After some quick breakfast we then get to the lucid bastion After a little wait time Seb and Vera also show up This time there are more people in the throne room Yep seems to be a full court We get fancy cloaks and broaches which show the emblem of Kryn Dynasty, the dodecahedron Just to make it clear that we're connected to and allowed here We're very officially guests In exchange we need to spend a little bit of time with Essek Also for the moment they have a temporary arrangement at the edge of the firnament for us And if we want to provide further aid and prove loyalty, then we'll be provided access to their smiths for armor and weapons as well as clothes Seemingly they're expanding their population continously, but they're just slowly getting into the dungeon called the shadow shire We can help with expanding into there and when doing this the families of Melech and Zintris would get houses there Seems like we're kind of taking this job I guess? Seb sidesteps jobs in regards to the war though, which is fair With that we take our cloaks and broaches So we get shown to our house and the mage sticks with us It's a small house that will easily be filled up with the amount of people we have Okay 6 rooms, but it's only for us, not for the families First one being questioned is of course me, but it kind of works out okay I guess? Only provide general info about previous jobs, though no names & locations, though I mention the dragon egg job And once again, thankfully the whole fey stuff doesn't come up And of course he spends a lot of time with Silver Vera is also in there for quite some time Sometime within Vera's time Silver also disappears again Seems like not too many of us divulged too much stuff Though Melech pretty much told him everything except for the dragon stuff And Zintris was also very much open with stuff Melech offers the option for confessions I guess, at least he offered to Seb So after that it's off to shopping for us~

A relaxed evening in the city that loathes halflings

Sooo Rosohna And it's pretty darn weird here Heck they have glowing lanterns everywhere here, like actual magical lights Loads of dwarves, duergar, tieflings and other folk And pretty much no halflings, welp that's gonna be fun Yeah humans (so Vera/Silver) and me stand out here Oh and did I mention it's decently dark outside? And it seems we might crash at Komaria's family, either mother or brother Oh and did I mention that people around here seem to be suspicious and weirdly racist about halflings? So I'm the only person that has to disguise themselves Very much thank you people for considering that before teleporting us So gotta pull down that hood and braid my hair as a freaking beard Halfway decent beard there Darn..... Place is also called Gordranis We're heading pretty straight to the upper class district from the way stuff looks Have a quick run in with some guards, but get away from them without any major issue Zintris is a little weird when we cross one certain house After some time we get to Komaria's place And it seems like we're all shoved into the kitchen, the whole big group And the mom is called Jaxi Some talking about their families follows So it seems we're going to a concert instead of hunkering down And they ask for a badge of diplomatic immunity for me Immediately outing me as a halfling No badge, but we can take make-up Seems like she's really hesitant because of the place we come from Anyway, Komaria wants to see her brother who provided the Pahla intel before And he is gonna play in a concert this evening Though I really don't feel like exposing myself there Luckily, Melech wants to look after his family Pretty much everyone else goes to the concert but without weapons Okay Zintris takes her blade with her openly, but that's about it Melech and I are kind of dragged into helping with cooking dinner while the others go Komaria brings a random kid to the house Seemingly the dawn princess, the queen's daughter

Relocating families and a pet assassin

So we start in the shit, well kind of After some back and forth we decide I'll sneak to Mali and inform her I then turn into cat with pass without trace Get there safely and tell her what we know Pay 350gp for a better ring of mind shielding I guess, okay more like a special rare ring thing She also is willing to help and comes with me with some other stuff Get a greater healing potion when back And we start going over possible plans We go over to the other room We ask Silver regarding the poison Silver : "I only know that it is deadly and that I possess no resistance to its effects." Some more talking and planning Melech is concerned regarding his family The other contraption gets the answer: Silver : "If I speak, I will lose my tongue." Sooo we go up against the trap We manage to partially jam the poison mechanism Less bad, but still potentially bad The tongue trap is also just decently enough jammed to not sever the tongue Silver : "Any significant motion of my tongue would trigger the mechanism. We are trained to still our tongues while masked." With a metal file we properly block the poison part We start gathering the poison in a vial Meanwhile we consider how we can disable the mouth trap Silver : "There are two thin, curved pieces of metal within my mouth. One is above, one below my tongue. They are situated near the base of my tongue." At the same time K'van brings a letter from Zintris to Molly Then it goes to removing/triggering and blocking the tongue thing I try to support with a well timed teleportation step thingie Aaand it works out Yes! Silver is decently baffled by it Just standing there in Seb's old clothes Gets some food and drink Zintris offers her a hug ô.o Silver tells us reinforcements might arrive via magical means In this town locally there were 6 of them Only 2 of them were in training Her instructor being one of the 6 Also there might be many more if they think we're worth the trouble They're in most of the empire and probably 'know everything about us' She doesn't know where the information comes from But the elders have magic and reveal little stuff They were assigned to watch an individual that no names or info was spoken The one that took the job on Melech's family is called Luck He left two nights ago He should be replaced and gain some more education Though he might still be in the city No records, though the elders know Okay we have one vial of very deadly poison We think about the destruction of the mask, we definitely want to, but think on how to split up the mask Melech brings up the Cobalt Soul There are multiple locations of this assassin cult She visited 4 of them The elders are at home She grew up there But it was via magical transportation They mostly report out of the empire and did a couple of jobs in the south While we talk there's suddenly Marloth/Molly in the room Silver also doesn't clearly know whether the assassin order will go after our families That's something at least, so my family is most likely safe Them going after my sister and her husband... nope don't even want to think about it Though... damn I really at least write a letter home For all I know I might've become an aunt in the time I was away We talk about getting families out, namely the one from Melech, but maybe also the one from Zintris Okay definitely also gonna get the one from Zintris And then we teleport to Roshona? The mask quickly gets disposed on the ethereal plane We make our way to Tourmaline's shop We easily and safely get to the shop Both of the families arive safely Melech trades in his custom magic item for the cost of the spell One teleportation later we are in a stone cellar When we go up the sun is super dimmed Oh great, very Halfling friendly Anyway it's a very big city, far bigger than Zadash

We get ourselves a spy

We do some planning stuff Everyone gets their 2 cloaks, one nice black one and one simple grey one Archie comes up and Melech wants to talk to him Though that's not the greatest idea We don't really do much for the night Except for Seb doing some sparring with Zintris Otherwise not much going on this night In the night I have some talking time with Zintris And I get some sweet embarrasing childhood stories out of her regarding Melech Though she's not interested in him, which is kind of a bummer Would've been cute otherwise Also her usual friends seem to be the unsavory kind most often After she asked I also gave her some super rough info on how Melech, Seb and I met Now it's waking the others up and then getting to the magic shop So I guess we're all meant to visit Zintris' parents So much for the magic shop time Her younger sister asks whether we're all heroes We affirm that there's no bigger hero than Melech Anyway we get there right at breakfast time So Seb's story for the little sister isn't really all that interesting Though Komaria has a decent one Anyway it's breakfast Some smalltalk with the parents Her little sister is really bored and insistent on being entertained Also she has taken a weeeird liking to me And the group has the very silly idea of pitching her my shapechanging Also her mom really wants her daughter to be cared for After defusing that I get us to finally leave There's a guy watching us from a little ways away We go for a trap setup with Komaria staying behind at the house and us pressing on When going for the trap option we manage to get him in an alleyway Kid is from the Trispires He's called Luca Adler (?) And knows the doctor there We should also get his things Though he says he's not in employ of the Pahla family He was going to be a doctor He's about to spill the beans when he's hit by a poisoned dart We immediately save him and I take the dart Might be similar poison to the one from the assassin But if it was a full dose of assassin poison he wouldn't have survived

Meeting Zintris' mom and an almost makeover

So we're all alone in Melech's house There's some thinking around what we should do Someone brings up the option of involving the Cobalt Soul Personally I'm decently against it, as it's never a good idea to bring more people on board than necessary Seb is all for it and fails to see a problem Completely ignoring that those noble people would probably get away with a slap on the wrist~ Vera gives some additional insight Seems like she knows someone So yep we seem to be involving the Cobalt Soul Pretty conveniently Komaria has hair dye for Zintris and me Melech also isn't on board with a spa day He wants to go do research stuff with Vera Komaria meanwhile wants to accompany Zintris So that leaves Seb and me Also randomly Zintris' mother with a pot of soup pops up Oh and it seems Zintris didn't visit her family after coming back to Zadash Her mother is called Gilry/Gilrue And she's pretty nice Though Zintris is rather awkward around her Seems like Zintris ran off without notice last time Pretty nice woman overall We then prepare the hair dye stuff Hair gets died black for Zintris and me Then it's a three way split Since we're already in the area I'm also getting my platinum certificate made into money Also my clothes will be ready around the beginning of the next day Btw. just cloaks cost a couple of gold With the full outfit it's included like in my case it's around 15gp Seb gets people a bunch of cloaks He also gets a fancy new sword from our favorite shopkeeper And then commissions a weird face mask Seems like it's gonna be a mask that can change it's appearance as well as his Okay he doesn't have enough money, so a simple mask it's gonna be Though that's only gonna take an hour

Loads of planning and talking stuff

So yeah, still got Seb's key and we're in Seb's room at the tavern Yep the circus stuff is still on the table and Zintris or Lenestra or whatever is up for a small circle talk with Seb, Melech and me And now they're talking about consecutions or something and the stuff that happens after Seems to be some weird ritual that happens when someone that dies near something specific they don't die permanently but are instead reincarnated in a new body And it seems like there are people who could help them in the Dynasty? So Zintris and Komaria seem to have gone through this kinda stuff At least their stuff isn't connected to the noble family stuff Zintris asked why the stuff happened to Melech's mom I describe it a little vaguely So all of us have kind of a stake in screwing up that family Since Zentris was a friend to Melech's family And seems like Molly can sense whether someone is at the door Since she confidently says that there is noone Also she can shapechange super fluently and nicely, far less messy than me >.< And she also has Zintris old weapon with her, which seems a lot heavier than Zentris is used to Zentris also gets a gift basket for Melech And at least we keep the discussion for when our group is complete again Then we get back And Seb gets his key back But at least everything is still safe Though Seb talked to a shifty person They were sent by the master of the Pahla household And Seb intimidated them well..... Not gonna end in a new assassin for sure After a quick exchange we decide to talk our plans over in the garden So the Pahlas deal in fabrics Felderwin Fine Fabrics Zintris has a noble that owes her a favor So he could be useful We talk about a couple of different avenues of attack on the business And also about ways to hide Melech's family Oh and I tell Melech and Seb that Zintris knows about the Bumblewyrm Since Komaria has connections to the grin, she tries to get in contact with her allies in a tavern Seb sleeps in the garden Yep gonna watch over him Meanwhile Zintris and Melech are inside with Melech's father talking about a move and some hiding They're doing a mediocre job inside of actually persuading Melech's dad Okay it actually turns out okay Then the rest come back and it seems like Komaria's plan worked out The grin is willing to hide Melech's family We establish a codeword for the person before Komaria informs the grin person about the decision for the hiding stuff After that the stuff happens pretty quickly Also the grin person seems pretty legit Also Zintris and me should definitely dye our hair black, just to make it harder to connect us to our families So while Zintris goes to meet with her noble, the rest of us also heads out

Two more people and a funeral

So after a night of more or less rest for all of us it's finally morning In the morning Melech goes looking after the funeral stuff So Seb checks with Tourmaline Vera goes checking the archives Meanwhile I stay behind Family is pretty depressed And since I'm monitoring the outside I see the woman from last night disguised as an elf outside watching Well at least I'm not alone on guardian duty The Pahla family is mostly in the fabric business "Felderwin Fine Fabrics" though not out of Felderwin Their base of operation isn't inside the city though Also daaaaaaamn this house is boring and the people are even more depressing than the circumstances we met in When Vera und Seb get back, then Seb has a new fancy suit and Vera gives a quick update that they found a new pal in the archive that is also interested in bringing the Pahla family down Damn this city and it's coincidences I don't trust this crap one big Also I'm fuming And bored after the boring morning Didn't know you could be so tense and so bored at the same time The funeral isn't any less depressing Yeah I really do hate funerals, especially this one makes me more angry than sad After the funeral I ask Melech whether he needs a drink, a brawl, a prostitute, company or silence He goes with silence So that's what I communicate to the group as well Aaaand Molly is standing at Melechs house again~ Also Seb bullies a pale haired elf And suddenly Molly starts hugging the pale elf oo' Zentris got something from Molly when she was a child and was sick Almost sounds like Dalmirs backstory So to the inn we go with them, as Molly wants to get somewhere private Also she doesn't know a 'Dalmir' but she's also not with the Cobalt soul Seems like Molly also knows the blue dragonborn that Seb knows And wants to pull them with Aaand we go to Sebs room Seb goes back to Melechs place and gives me his key And in we go Inside Molly shifts back to a tiefling-esque entity And the other two people are calling her Malov or something like that And she knows and reprimands both of them The elf woman is called Zintris though our devil lady calls her something else something like Zena She then looks towards the blue dragonborn and calls her something like Linistra And seemingly the two are supposed to know each other Seems like they were also lost for a couple of years Something about a circus as well Yep Zintris was with Madame Krishana's Traveling Circus And the rest is weird Krynn dynasty stuff

Way too much crap going on and more coincidences

We continue to give chase, but damn it's annoyingly hard to track this person Cauterized the wound and all.... Darn But at least it seems like they were coming from inside the city I guess Doesn't really narrow it down With that we slowly head back I consider burning the mansion and everyone inside of it down But I take the sensible choice by talking to Seb about it 2 days I'm gonna wait 2 days and if this thing starts breaking Melech, I'm gonna break them Heck Melech's siblings and him are orphans now ffs After some time the priest arrives He actually manages to save Melech's father Though there is no chance for his mother anymore Otherwise we give Melech some space Melech is surprisingly vengeful Though Seb once again asks him to be cautious And well Melech actually asks me to contact my family regarding the hit job That is indeed unexpected So after some talking, Ophidia and me head out We go info hunting Some quick going via a beggar to Auntie Jill (one of the big players in town) Info costs 100gp Ophidia pays It's a private group Very quick (within one hour) Good at their jobs Sometimes hired by the Myriad in the past They burn up when killed Their clients are usually the few who can afford it or who want to send a message There's a chance they might return There's a chance that whoever commissioned the job is a bit in hot water (as we weren't mentioned) Depends on their relationship There's a couple of contacts And they're good at tracking people down They work within the whole empire Only code seems to be: "Money pays their bills, no questions asked." Mostly in Trispires or sometimes government officials They're most often subtle No names known They're usually using poisoned weapons Efficient, not brutal No evidence 100-10000gp for their trademark poison Uncle Jace has a grudge on me He's based out of Rexxentrum Because of the Deastock thing The other group was his And one escaped Well something to keep in mind, now I now who's dealing in dragon eggs After that it's back to Melech's house I share a good deal of the infos with the group We agree on bankrupting and ruining them Also... the person in Melech's household was a paladin of Luxon O.o And not a tiefling but a paladin O.O The fuck Zadash!? So anyway, there's more plans for the ruining part than I want to note down here We also get back to the info from the little girl 30pp for Revify from Melech 10pp for Ophidia from Melech

Now shit is personal - for Melech

So when we start going outside the tavern~~ Outside there's a clanking metal thing and a smaller one The bigger one is carrying a person and waves to Vera ô.o Okay so Vera and the woman know each other So yeaaaaah grand, more random people messing with our investigation And Melech isn't sure whether he trusts them That's a new one So I guess we head towards the Trispires ô.o I cast Pass without Trace on all of us And it seems the new person is called Ophidia Also she claims to never have been involved in the smuggling of live beings or eggs Yep some people in our group really aren't at the top of their game without my spell So then we arrive at the mansion Decently sized Nicely kept garden While Melech and I'm scouting, we hear a little bit of a muffled shout Probably in a building with some magical light in there Second room back from the front Someone just steps out of the house with a stern look on her face K'van starts following her as a bat My theory is now that the person storming out found a body Screamed, made light Then stormed out Seems like the woman is going to a physician Vera then goes in with this info So does Ophidia And Seb also follows So it's just Melech and me outside Okay and this metal thing called king that's supposed to try and protect us Oh did I mention our group went in through the front door? Then we hear the doctor coming back Seb gestures is into the house We have a quick exchange And Melech heads in because there's someone hurt >.< Goddamn idiot~ So since Seb also heads in, I follow They don't even have small valuable things to grab in there.... Since there's not really any point to be seen in my normal form, I turn into a cat and hop onto the shoulder of Seb Oh and the guy in the mansion that was saved by Melech was almost killed by one of the invisible stalkers Vera has disappeared and Seb is looking for a way out On our search we find the trail of blood from the person We quickly clean up Melech Then we get out the back with Ophidia while Melech goes out the front? ô.o After a quick time apart Melech catches up with us Soooo we start slipping back out through the wall So yeah Melech probably got assassins set on his family And the guy he saved is probably the cause for it And we're not sure whether this guy was competent enough to actually summon an invisible stalker Then back to the shop we go Seems like the new people could be weird around our employer so Seb gives a quick explanation And they're in their shop as expected Okay so the parents force their kiddo to do those summons and it backfired? And we shouldn't kill them according to our employer Well that's neat, killing nobles usually is more trouble than it's worth Anyway, the group is discussing strategy and I try giving them some idea by licking the Myriad symbol into my fur It doesn't get commented by Vera but she seems to recognize it Also Seb says I'm nice ô.o At least noone thinks about touching me Some of the kids are in front of the door They tell Melech, that 'she' is going to his house So Melech takes off panicked, because I guess his family is in danger? Seb takes off after him Getting to the house there seems to be damage We get there Two bodies in the first room as well as one scared tiefling In the corridor there's a red skinned tiefling and a poison dagger wielding person/thingie I heal one of Melechs Siblings that's clinging onto life The person then dashes off as soon as the things turn against them Seb, Ophidia and me start giving chase I turn into a wolf, resembling a wolfhound when giving chase They get some distance to us But that definitely isn't over yet

Zadash, city of coincidences

So still in the investigation, still in town and still thinking about what to do Seb brings up visiting the Cobalt Soul again While going back to the tavern is also on the table So back to the tavern we go And whyever Balak disguises himself as a halfling ô.o Seems a platin haired half elf is trying to pick up Balak Well go him Seems like she's interested in our group? ô.o The other two really want to cockblock Balak, well that is mean The person knows Seb and Melech She claims to work with the Cobalt Soul Says she's called Vera and she's researching some connection stuff Okay wants to know stuff about Vecna So we try to get her off our back by giving her the info We're pretty open with giving up that stuff Seb is cautious if whether she's a vampire He wants Melech to scan her with the detect evil stuff He then does some magical stuff I still don't completely trust Melech's judgement She then tries to connect the vampire stuff to the Pala family Which we're really careful about, especially when she tries to get info on our employer Since I've got Magnolia on my head I hit at the thing trying to touch the back of my neck I still don't trust Vera, though it seems a little mutual She still tries to gauge little bits of info out of us Yeahhh Balak doesn't hold his drink well And Seb forges a small holy symbol Then after some time Seb and Melech head out to get Seb's clothes So it's only Balak, Vera and me back in the tavern Okay Balak starts sleeping and gets taken up to his room After some time Magnolia takes off Some more talking with Vera She tries to insinuate a lot of illegal stuff in cant I stick to clean talk Seems like she's connected to people And has one older sibling Then there's a quick fight between Magnolia and her fairy Some more talk The fairies disappear into my backpack Then Seb and Melech come back We have some more talk stuff Then we go back to Seb's room And there she shows off her fairy She's called Amaryllis We also introduce Magnolia And Melech introduces K'van Since it's a lot of coincidences I ask for the sign of the silver arrow Vera doesn't know anything Her companion knows about the Moon Weaver But it seems like they're not directly connected Also she doesn't seem to know much about smuggled slaves of any kind And Melech checked with Thourmalin regarding Vera Seemingly she doesn't mind the info being shared Ok..... He also spills the beans about the street urchin and the house in the tri spires And Vera seems to be interested in getting information for herself on the case and the person responsible I then bring up that Melech might get recognized and people might come after his family if he gets seen breaking and entering And Seb works his magic to disguise Melech With that we start towards the Tri Spire and the secret entrance to get in

Creepy kids and political intrigue

Ok so I temporarily have a new scimitar, neat! The Ring of Spell Storing gets a Banishment & a Shield Spell Also Balak might actually have connections that turn out to be useful for locating the person ordering the hitjob He also wants to contact his people alone, which suits me just fine So yeah, nice relaxed day ahead for us~ When we go out of the shop, Melech spots a misty kind of girl eyeing us from an alley We definitely want to have some words with her Melech then meets us in the alleyway with the girl He also mentions, that she was afraid of the monster This kid is definitely hiding something, something is weird about her Melech gets a nice little smack to make sure he isn't charmed by the girl Then the questioning of the girl starts Girl looks like a street kid Probably has to be part of a kids gang Balak tries to separate Melech and the kid but Melech intervenes Also he didn't promise the kid anything, definitely a huge sign of bullshit going on There's a couple of rough probing questions Melech gets asked whether we're telling the truth ô.o And he agrees that we do The kid then asks Seb what she's gonna get for helping The deal seems normal enough, but I still don't trust her for shit 5 gold pieces change hands Balak and me keep an eye on the kid We get to the next inner wall where there's a little tunnel in there Seems to be a secret entrance into the trispire Yep trispire it is We get led to a small mansion Then the kid starts walking away She's closelipped about why she watched the mansion The Pahla family and their servants are in there Seb follows the kid for a second Exchanges a couple of words And yeah even Melech realizes now that he's been charmed We go through a couple of possibilities before going back to the tavern There we go through different approaches with our current info We decide on going back to the shop and informing our employer Trispire makes sense to them, at least there's ressources and space for summons like the invisible stalker Then we consider looking for information on the backstory time of them, around 250 years ago in the library In the archive we start looking through books It seems the Pahlas used to be the Makos before, about a 150 years ago Seems to be because of some sort of disagreement in their family back then They seem to stick to being human Seems to have an elven name around the 250 year mark As well as an estimated death date Half elven child that died around 100 years (Idelia) That was the original name Aenan Eyvalan (of the elven parent) - they seemed to have passed relatively recently (about 5 years ago) Bysaes Tyl was the name of nation With the collected knowledge it goes back to the shop Yep the name 'Mako' definitely means something to them And they remember loads of stuff In short, they used to be part of the family Idelia Mako = fiancee of Tourmaline We consider making a trap by waiting and then investigating the house via locate creature We also consider locating the girl with the same spell

Invisible stalkers, planning and magical stuff!

So back to shopkeeping creature grappling with Sebastian Also the thing seems to have 4 legs and not be completely visible Meanwhile the shopkeeper starts looking for something in their drawers, some kind of white wand And this creature kind of tries to suck Seb in? O.o Attacking the creature with mundane weapons doesn't damage it by super much Yep it also doesn't react much to my scimitar The shopkeeper then uses the wand and suddenly there's loads of magic missiles flying around Sofia doesn't do much with a magic staff Melech does some strong stuff with necrotic magic I then get him away from the creature Somewhere in the fight the doll dies Magic staffs definitely help with hitting that thing And then Balak finishes it after doing barely anything all the fight x'D There's some healing for Seb At the same time Melech finds a gem in the rubble of the doll There's also no corpse of the creature left behind Also it seems like the shopkeeper can be reassembled in the back room As Sofia is waving the staff around like a maniac, Seb, Melech and me go back to the backroom Yep the new shopkeeper is very quickly back to business Seems like the creature that attacked was an invisible stalker Though they don't know why they were attacked It seems we're being hired as personal investigators Seemingly those invisible stalkers aren't doing that stuff willingly They usually get bound No enemies, no business rivals But yeah the creature was definitely targetting them And their gem has a human soul, their soul inside? Weirdly it attacked when we were around Devils deal in souls, so that's one option, but it would be uncommon Maybe someone that wants to bargain with a devil and doesn't want to offer up their own soul? Or someone that wants to get their soul back? Only a couple of people know of the soul thing of the shopkeeper Might also be someone that knew them before, but they'd have to be very old We're talking around 200 years ago The person most likely isn't super creative As reward we're talking about custom item jobs & a discount We talk around about rewards and help and stuff Melech gets a special magic ring Seb gets a rapier Sofia a longbow I get myself a scimitar Seb also asks for a healing potion and gets one I raise that I could get in touch with my extended family for information Or we could do a pub crawl Sofia is a little confused about the family of Balak and me Scimitar can do an extra attack as bonus action as well as the +1 The rapier is a +2 rapier that costs death saves It's a +0 longbow, if it hits, it gets better, gets weaker with misses

Zadash, city of light, city of magic

So we're still skirting towards the outskirts of Zadash Though it's already decently late Took a couple of days travel to get there Sooo no direct visiting of Melech's family as long as we have the evil stuff.... Melech wants to bring the stuff to some father Geldor though Also we have the person we saved with us, Sarah Baste At least she has a home in the city Aaaand the group doesn't wanna sell the evil artifacts, welp at least we talked about it So we get to a temple to the raven queen and it smells pretty iffy, well what does one expect from a hospital? At least we're getting close to getting rid of the useless evil stuff And Melech seriously expects Seb and me to steal from the donation bowl? Seriously? O.o Okay Melechs priest friend is pretty touchy-feely in the greetings Soooo the stuff we found are replicas, simple bootleg things~ We stay a while talking about the whole experience with the vampire dude Also we should offer/sell them to the Cobalt Soul oo' So off to the Cobalt Soul we go, though Melech and Seb actually contemplated simply resting first ô.o We get a couple of looks but nothing too bad On the way there we come across the magical shop we heard about earlier Idealia's Imperfections - Handcrafted Magical Wares - Zadash Stepping inside to the Cobalt Soul place we of course get more weird looks Melech directly asks for the local manager pulling his religious rank We actually get one Of course they're hesitant to immediately believe us They're careful about it, but they seem to believe They're called Liv and they're gonna send a group to check out the stuff we talked about If our stuff checks out, we might get hired for future jobs We shouldn't expect them back for a month Seb and Melech give their names, I don't (after all we just lead the Cobalt Soul to the Myriad owned mine for a deep search operation) After that we head out and find ourselves a place to stay Balak doesn't want to rat out his colleagues But he definitely knows stuff about the smuggling of dragon eggs He won't rat us out or interfere, but he won't support us with it I really skirt the line with a comparison of a mother asking us to get their child back, but he doesn't budge Well lets see where this takes us After a comfortable night, there's even fruit from the last evening on the side table There's a small trip to the bank involved as well as a trip to the tailor Then to the magic store together with the rest of the group The shop has an autoclean and autorepair feature for our clothes It seems it's managed by an entity called Thourmalin, a construct like the one we met Melech wants to buy a ring of spell storing which could 2k Suddenly the shop starts shaking There's something invisible lunging towards the shopkeeper Seb and me dive against the invisible thing And just when I considered getting a bag of holding The invisible thing slips through my grasp, but Seb gets it It's at least 10 feet long

A quick getaway from a Vecna priests lair

Aaand we're slowly creeping along Also we have no idea where Seb is exactly Magnolia also reaaally dislikes this place And this temple thing has a huge obsidian plinth with a cloaked figure on top, well a statue at least O.o Nice there's some cultic singing down to the south But hey at least it seems okay to the east So we check that one first There is definitely no movement behind the door We sloooowly and silently open the door Behind the door seems to be a bookcase and some more stuff Okay two bookshelves, a table and chair and quite a few old musky books And a few stands with items on top One looks like a severed eyeball And a single tome And a hand Nice.... Melech tries to grab one of those things Aaand then he tries severing his own hand with a dagger of Sofia Balak grapples him and I web him Takes almost 30 seconds for him to come back to his senses At least he's aware of what he tried to do And Melech takes all the stuff that was in the room But hey we find a hidden passageway And there's steps behind it Soooo we take the hidden way, definitely We find ourselves in the hallway Oh neat the door right below us is the singing one Okay it's Seb singing Seriously man?! As soon as we get the door open, Seb charges out Also there's steps coming back Aaaaand back to the secret passage we go, quickly Melech finds the way to open it and in we go Back to the 'library' we go and the group settles on burning the books After that we make a dash back to the grove part The priest obviously sees us Then we're in full escape mode I climb up the wall The useless woman is still bad at climbing and didn't get up there Aaaand we get everyone out, even the useless woman We even get my rope back! The priest tries to get her, but we get her out Also Melech throws a guiding bolt that gets caught by the vampire guy Balak manages to land a dart Then away we go At least Seb recognized that the stuff he just did was crazy Oh and the vampire guy had a scar around the wrist How fitting Anyway, we look for ways back to the road or at least to find some kind of landmarks And Melech definitely comes through in that regard! So we're back on our way to Zadash Also Seb gets his certificate back And Melech even roughly maps out how to get back to the hellhole We walk until it's nighttime and even find a little tavern to stay for the night, sweet!

Tales of thirsty trees and predatory priests

Oh yeah we're still being plagued by the blight thingies Damn those tree things Seems like Balak wants to go down into the dark tree holes Well he's welcome to do so Anyway we should consider either going down or running Melech said something about something dying Like a drawn out death And he wants to stop it.... okay I'm really not up for killing halfway undead forests He really wants us to go down there.... I hate this..... So down we go~ And of fucking course the tree hole closes behind us Also Melech says that it's due to a nature goddess having a vested interest, oh great Oddly enough it's not that super dark down here Also the soil is changing behind us Even Magnolia is out down here, though she looks very very serious and tense K'van asks her several things Seems like Magnolia also didn't know what was going on And it smells down here like soil tinged with blood and decay Or in short, dead people Oh nice we actually find a halfway frozen body stuck in a tree Also there's some kind of underground courtyard building thing Okay some kind of undead tree it is or something like that How nice.... Oh and it seems we're not alone So it's hiding time for us Okay all of us do, except for Seb, who strips and stays in the middle The entity walking into the room is far more fancily dressed than they deserved Some kind of priestly robes They also seem to be carrying either an unconscious or dead human woman Probably a commoner that isn't missed Seb acts as if they know each other Okay the stranger is good at lying and bullshitting Also he had no clue about Seb He also has a animalistic and hungry spark in his eye when looking at Seb Yeaaah that is baaad news There is some anger in his voice over how Seb found his way down here Sebastian says he's sent by the lord the grains, from the harvest The guy then says to Seb that he's gonna escort him to his quarters Also he says that he's the keeper of the temple here They then start heading back down the hall Oh yeah the vampire also just ignored sunlight and running water... great The left behind person is also still breathing! And the roots of the tree are slowly grasping for her There are also no bitemarks on her neck Not really much damage on the woman at all Well she gets tied up and gagged anyway, never take any unnecessary chances Also we plan to either burn or eat the tree Burning wins out Also the corpse 'in' the tree most likely died due to bloodloss Yeah a shit way to die Okay and there is some symbolism with an eye within a hand The symbol of Vecna Oh also we're... well I am considering securing a way out But daaaaamn working with those new people is a little tough The woman comes to herself Meanwhile I start giving us a proper way out, beginning by tying ropes together Also the weird vampire priest guy seems to be called Zaltan? And the woman was either pretty daft or he can charm people or something After that I casually turn into a spider to secure the rope up there Then it goes back down Also this woman is completely useless at climbing ropes Welp not my problem For the scouting stuff I then start sticking to the ceiling

Sticks and stones may break your bones

So the way to Zadash it is There's some tree cover in the south and some scatterings of trees in the north We hear the snapping of twigs from up ahead There's some kind of fight going on A couple of people are surrounded by things rising from the grass and trees It's about 11 of the stickmonsters versus 2 people we don't know Okay some of the stickmonsters are more sturdy than others But none of them are prepared against fire! Okay that did less than I expected... Also Seb's angry times has changed o.o' He makes plants grow suddenly oo' Yeah I'm definitely not gonna go into the plant area Instead we're gonna stick to throwing fire and flame, yep Ooookay the flame reaaally worked in the long term So that's how natural sorcerers feel I should stick with that more often! Anyway, we kick stick butt! And we get 5gp out of it (well Seb does) Also the unknown woman nets herself a quick cure spell from me Oh yeah and the weather is also getting dark and to the south there's definitely unfriendly hollows under the trees....

A big fight, getting out of the mines and a goodbye

And the big guy grapples Seb again Melech goes and turns some undead We're fighting around Then Seb steps into the magic circle thing He then starts getting glowy eyes I bite one of the big guys And that thing bleeds! We have some more fighting to do and I kill the big one together with Seb! And all the other creatures turn to ash! Yes, we live and won! The sword also turns to ash The armor of the corpse also starts desintegrating The creature has weird metallic skin As we sit there after the fight, there is a cracking sound and the crack Seb made becomes bigger and the circle is done for It seems that Seb saw the undead as people on fire screaming Melech then tends to the dead And after some healing for everyone we go up again It's very silent and calm down there now Then we finally come back up and get back to the camp And there's actual food! Also the guy that's supposed to pay us We get food and our certificates of 100 Platinum, at least that's their offer We ask for a raise In the end it's 40 Platinum pieces per person as well as a personal recommendation to his superiors to employ us for similar ventures A bank in Zadash turns it into actual coin for us And so we rest through the night Kerry then heads off Probably to some fey thing I ask her to put in a good word for me with the moon lady

Big guys with a big sword

We're slowly going to the way the voices were coming from They seem humanoid They also ask us what we want from them Though Seb quickly told them we're the rescue team And there's at least 1 dwarf, so yeah, definitely people! They aren't thaaat happy that we took as long as we did But at least they move and we start going towards the exit They tell something about an old building underground There was also some big guy that turns people into flaming zombies And we get out without much of an issue Okay the survivor group gave up some of their own to the big guy We then ask the group to go back to the camp And take a 1 hour breather before going back in There is more of a burned, ashy smell down there Also there are some more gauges in the walls Okay big sword marks Also we shouldn't tell Sebastian's sisters about all of this We then descent stealthily deeper and deeper There is vague mutterings to be heard in the distance We see a cavern Also there's some weird circular stuff in the middle of it There's no big scorch mark as well Also a decent amount of ashy zombies As well as a bright elementaly thing And in the very center, kneeling as if in prayer is a large bipedal armored creature It's armor is very reminiscent of the worm thing It also has the huge sword It's not flamy though at the moment The room is about 40ft. by 40ft. We plan to go in Kerry shoots an arrow Sebastian goes for the big dude's sword And he gets himself grappled I turn into a wolf, dash forward, get myself the sword and push the big dude away from Seb, freeing him Then I pull back 10ft. And then it's Melech's turn to bless us Then it's the big guy's turn He steps back onto his platform Some glow on it Light flaring up And suddenly there's not one of this guy, but instead three of them O.o Well fuck

And some more tunnel crawling with big crawlies

Okay biting a fire elemental ist rather weird O.o And it's improvising weapons..... Also there's something talking into our minds... i guess? And damn biting this thing hurts >.< But it's not a floaty boy So that's weird-ish Kerry kills the fire thing Though the cavern continues shaking Oookay the right hand wall is moving And all of us hear "you shall burn" in our heads Okay I gotta admit that this is decently intimidating Man I really want to bite that big wormy thing "Burn in the light" or something by it But it left a cavern next to us Okay the cavern it left it's deeep O.o Like 35'ft. Seb brings up the idea of getting proof of that worm thing And with my help climbs down into the path it left behind And it seems that burning fire elemental thing was human-ish And pretty alive till we parted it from life Okay and the cave this thing left behind is about 60ft. wide.... After that we go after the barrikade thing and remove it I hear some far away common-ish language And we slowly go that way

Some little tunnel crawling time

Okay so we were in front of the alternative mine entrance with the undead corpses Still being a wolf Okay the new person is called Beatriz Thundermaw There's a short time for some introductions, not me though There's some kindling of torches and then we start inching inside the caves Damn burned smell in the whole thing Multiple support beams have burn marks Not really what you expect in a mine There's loads of lanterns, but no torches around "Fire tends to light things on fire" - #Sebastian 2021 In any case we switch to lanterns We follow the track of the Undead Also there's shiny rocks Pretty much raw platinum Also there's some strange creature in the darkness Okay it's just one of those ash zombies in front of us And there's a barrikade in the way We go full sneak attack on the creature And suddenly there's a fire elemental creature thing!

A new fey adventurer, giant bugs and ash zombies

So this time it's about following Dalmir to his secret meetup stuff It's near dusk time when we start on our way We wait about 100ft. away from his meeting place Sebastian, Melech and me, pretty much just killing time When Dalmir comes back, it went well He got a contact in Zadash Matt also has family in the city and is a little concerned Sebastian and me think about making some money on our way to Zadash Though in any way we plan on starting our trip tomorrow Then it's back to the tavern! In the tavern, Magnolia is tugging on my ear, trying to get me to go to a human sitting by herself At first glance she seemed rather unremarkable, but that might change In any case she labelled the human as 'Magnolia favorite human' which is a little odd, but oh well The topic of the Feywild comes up Dalmir and I answer, though a little evasive not talking about deals or anything Sebastian got lost in a wheatfield and found some red wheat in the Feywild oo' Kerry is really interested in everything Seb's bread is made from that red Fey wheat, well x'D Something was hunting them back then Digging a hole worked for him and Carson, welp And Sebastian doesn't like magic it seems Also Kerry has never been to the Feywild She's just very interested in it Still weird, that she knows about all that oo' I ask Kerry what she's planning to do As it would be very mean to Magnolia to put her before the choice to leave our group or Kerry And hey, Kerry speaks Sylvan! She also seems a little uppity and carefree, but not necessarily dangerous It's weird to feel older than someone oo' Also she lacks several things to travel and is bound to get those for herself Anyway, we go to bed a little later and then are ready to go the next morning! So we leave Deastock on foot toward the east As soon as we're far enough away from the city Magnolia and K'van come out Some time on the road Magnolia flies off with a gold piece from Dalmir We follow her - my money is on her making a new dress for herself First she reshapes the goldpieces and exchanges several flower petals with small gold petals And some smaller plant parts as well And as expected, she makes a new dress Magnolia and K'van play hide and seek, though they're invisible while doing so - okay why not xD So ends the first day At the camp in the night, Sebastian is crafting something Seems to be some kind of Raven Queen Thingie or something like that Not my kind of deal Dinner consists of Goodberries, yummie! Anyway, night goes over quite easily with our nightwatch Kerry didn't kill us in the night and also didn't try to rob us, I'm a little disappointed We see some wooden buildings and hear cries Something about an Ankheg Attack See a big creature Also this seems to be the Platinum Mine that's supposed around the area There is already a pretty dark tailless dragonborn fighting Are tailless dragonborn a thing? oo' Or will she be super self conscious about it? Will it be rude to ask? Also she got some flaming sword And she's super tall O.O Ok there's a second bug and it's trying to eat Melech! Damnit! I really didn't want to bite those big bug things... Also transforming in front of people.... Can't let Melech die still >.< Please taste like lobster, please taste like lobster, please taste like lobster And it tastes kind of like ants, damnit! >.< But at least I get it on it's back And Kerry seems surprisingly adept with a bow, so that's something! Both creatures die quite quickly After a short mouth rinsing we get asked to clear the mines It seems there's payment in it for us The person in charge seems to be in Zadash And we'd get a letter to get paid out by him So into the mines we go Down there I smell smoke, rot and decay Almost like there was a fire here, which is weird There's several skeletons and corpses there From those corpses is ash falling off, which is super weird Also all of them are missing shadows o.o''' Oh and our dragonborn lady can spew lightning! Also Sebastian's light is luring the ash zombies, which puff ash when they're hit oo' Note to self: Those ashzombies tasted super awful as well >.<' Also hot damn Sebastian is tanking the zombies like crazy We kill all the creatures and damn my mouth is dry But yeah, definitely far weirder than big bugs Also 3 Goodberries left

Finally free

It starts with a rest Nim stays behind Hildove will be our guide for the way to Deastock I'm careful about using the word home with that place so far The dragon shows us the way out of the caves We part from our dragon, clear out the worst of the rocks and get out Then we talk about what to tell Korshad We want to keep it brisk Even visit another cave Hildove shouldn't talk about the dragon parts of the trip at all She'll even get payment for that from us When we get to the cave, it's getting dark already We also leave fake tracks of a fight and we're pretty darn good at it After that we talk a little about different things I tell them about the egg I saw in the past As well as my affiliation with the Myriad And hint about my sister being affiliated as well Sebastian is a little careful, what I don't blame him for So yeaaaaah, but I don't mean them any harm Sebastian seems to have been a captive himself in the past And is a little touchy with certain stuff Also seems to have lost some people in his past The others of us at least all have some family and parents left Also Melech is a painter and from a family of painters Like really legit painters O.o Dalmir also seems to be looking for others of his friends in Deastock to help free the ones he lost in Zadash After a nice rest we go to Deastock On the way back Dalmir talks about his situation with the grinners Sebastian meanwhile munches on his red bread which he calls victory bread Then it takes 2 days to get back into town When we come back to town, the circus is gone Sebastian is surprisingly happy about that Dalmir brings up being getting ourselves cleaned up We all get cleaned up, I get a private room and my clothes cleaned as well The talk with Korshad goes pretty well We don't say tooooo much We got 50gp for the general info 150gp for the scale My debt is paid ^______^ And another 50gp for Melechs painting We once again go back to the drunken dragon after that At least our first night is for free We also agree on 40gp for Hil And me holding onto the party funds of 10gp Hil is super happy about her share We talk a little in her doorstep I ask what the others are gonna do now Seems like we're going to help Dalmir's friends Sebastian is interested in the market laws of Zadash.... Also I mentioned quite clearly that I won't set foot into the Zadash dungeons Then it's back to the tavern

Even more secrets and saving a life thought lost

So we're with the dragon still And seemingly the dragon is content with casting this truth spell again We once again should agree that we'll not share those secrets he's about to tell us So yeah~ After all the promisses are made, he then goes into the story He thinks he's the only one of his kind that's still around And it seems we'll get the full story on a short walk Walking through the halls we see, there's most definitely more and bigger dragons down here O.O But those don't move or respond to any kind of force o.o' Magic also doesn't seem to work to change something about it Also that's only in a normal big kind of underground street, with several branching off halls We continue following Ok there's 14 "frozen" ones Then down a staircase it goes~ Pretty massive one Also he collects books Then it goes through an illusory wall, that diffused via a draconic phrase by the dragon We then come into a huge gemstone hall O.O I want it! O.O And there's dozens of gemstone eggs, maybe even a hundred or so oo'' Also several are missing The hunters took one egg from here and that's what he took back But they're not in stasis, as they move every now and then Though none of them ever hatched And he went out there, because an egg was missing in the first place They also gave him the promise to help him They also threatened, that if he wouldn't help them, they'd take more eggs from here That's when things turned sour between them It seems that a man by the name of Sinclaire is involved and is the boss of the eggthieves Also those eggs here match the one I've seen in the past that I smuggled... Well....damn.... In the mid term to get some more info, we can always interrogate our prisoner Also there's big parts of this underground city our dragon friend never got into Then he remembers one thing about the people that came All of them seemed to be related to Sinclaire Sebastian mentions someone called "Uncle Wade" - Korshad Nim and Dalmir go and try to help our dragon to shore up his defenses In short we learn: It's someone probably mightier than Korshad It's someone most likely affiliated with the Myriad They don't leave any loose strings She fears for the life of people that are dear to her It was her first time down here They were here for the dragon People are going to come after us if they know what we're doing here She will be hunted down if she leaves, as well as the people she cares about Either she'd need a ship to Tal'dorei Or something else... And I come up with the idea of her guarding the dragon and it's eggs In exchange for being left alive Then she's free as soon as the dragon is safe Klimbell is up for the idea So is Seb We go back to her, offer it to her and she takes it! <3 Yes! Yes! Yes! Also she swears to "Hold the hallowed silence"... interesting Then there's the whole Geas part for her And it works out! Klimbell even offers her friendship some day She might be a little put off right now, but she's bound to get to like this big cuddly dragon sooner or later! Also she's called Joyce~

Saving a dragon and loads of secrets~

And then the griffon group started moving Nim gets loaded onto a somewhat annoyed griffon They actually go deeper into the "constructed" part of the cavern Some with huge 40-50ft. ceilings O.o They seem to be tracking something Probably our Bumblewyrm~ Anyway, I stick with them Then there are some halls with really big pillars Damn, was that some kind of dwarven city here? o.o' Then the group gets to a portion of the wall that was broken open Suddenly they go quiet Injured women first, then griffon guy They start talking about something Hm... They're in an open cave with high ceilings and a central column And there they stop and lay Nim down on the ground Though they almost catch me while doing so >.< But just almost! Well okay and then a fight breaks out I knew that it was only a question of time until the rest of the group finds us! And hell breaks loose with us in the fight And yep, the Bumblewyrm is there as well Also once again I had to kill a person and that one wasn't even trying to kill me! >.< Definitely something I should bring up with the group sooner or later, killing people isn't my usual line of work And Melech starts talking to the dragon It goes a little back and forth The dragon wants to know why those people came after it Unfortunately we don't know them, or much about them Though Sebastian said that they're people snatchers And usually in the line of enforcer work Kind of weird to have them here with that job But we still have a hostage! Also when we ask for the scale, the dragon is pretty underwhelmed reward-wise But is nonetheless grateful Also also the dragon is called Climbel O.O Kind of ordinary for a dragon, I always imagined them to have fancier names The dragon also doesn't know much about the whole place here It is very familiar with it though o.o' Climbel is a Topaz dragon and 214 years old And the weird door the group found says something along like "Welcome to Diamrual, the city of gems" The dragon also wants to tell us why it was with the circus But it wants to make sure we don't tell anyone else So it casts a spell oo' Seb and Carson aren't too happy with that and leave But Nim kind of boykotts it a little And it doesn't want tell it's story because of it It also says, that is once again learned, that it can't trust humanoids It's pretty dismissive overall Mostly because of Nim it seems He's hellbent on his ritual When Carson comes back, he apologizes to the dragon Then it goes invisible with the egg to gather the scales When he comes back, he has a couple of dozen scales with him (26) We consider splitting them 4 each, 1 for Hildove, 1 for Korshad Also yeah, gemstone dragons have been disappearing here for about 150 years or so O.o Like really being taken away against their will That's mental I know about that one egg story But that's a whole other deal! Seems to have accelerated in the last 30 years, getting more and more mental over the years Also the dragon doesn't know where the dragons are being taken to Though we could maybe free one to show we're trustworthy? Instead of just assuming we deserve the knowledge to end it's race After some more talking, even Carson gives in to the zone of truth stuff So we can start by interrogating the prisoner in it - maybe saves the trouble of making her talk?

It all could've been resolved with a simple negotiation

We go to the camp and find the people that were around Though we get spotted And the people aren't that keen on us being here So they go for their weapons They say something along the lines of "if you drop your weapons, no harm will come to you" I'm not that sure about them though.... One tries to grapple Nim and then 3 let loose arrows O.o So much for "no harm", bullshit! They're out for our bacon! Since they started it, they're probably okay with dying here So first things first, I throw an ice knife, killing one and injuring another and then going full wolf on the rest Yep we're definitely going for life or death here Nim then calls for a ceasefire Well lets see whether that works out And of course they're still trying to kill us and I bite ones head clean off Brrr damn that tasted nasty >.< It seemed like a really good idea at the time, but damn... >.< And then they take off running Cowards! I go after one of the running ones, trying to get her, but this time I most definitely not try to kill her I'm not really that keen on tasting humanoid blood Meanwhile Nim went after one of them into the cavern And Carson knocks her out cold Then we're going after them in the cave Carson gets the woman and we try to get to Nim I switch to a giant badger and try to get through this rockfall He's definitely not gonna die in there! But damn those stones are annoying as hell! Finally I get through, but something before me is running faster! ~ Meanwhile Hildove and the others follow Sebastian on the other path There's loads of magical rune traps, but the people with Detect Magic find a safe way through Then the group comes up to a fork After that they go left Then there's blood ~ For me, it's tracking time Loads of possible ways Almost like a maze One strange scent in the air And Nims is harder to make out I'm sticking to the humanoid scent It's not going the same way as the strange one Once crossing with the though The paths seem to be converging and diverging over and over again Then there's blood where someone was injured But the scents all seem to be converging on one location The floor becomes strangely worked, like in a built structure Then there's flame and light And when I slowly sneak up there's a strange sight There's a woman, injured Nim Another woman and a man Also a large fourlegged beast with talons, wings and things It's a griffon O.o When raised from an egg, they're loyal as hell to the first person they stick with One of the guys seems to be it's rider Then I start listening in on them Something seems to be further in there They want to get in, get it and then get out And they want to keep Nim! O.O Also they chased whatever they're hunting here

Hungry wolves and nightly talks

On our way back to the tavern, we're talking tactics a little Then Nim and Melech are back! So we're going up to their room to talk about stuff For the bringing back a scale idea, we come up with the idea, that dragons actually shed their scales every now and then Also the dragon seems to be on the younger side And it seems to be called a gemstone dragon Unclear whether it speaks our language or not We're in any case planning to start our journey tomorrow And also taking this hunter friend with us Also Magnolia is back! She has shadowed Madame Korshad and saw the talk between him and Krishana in a different house Then Dalmir, Nim and me go to the hunters they met earlier They seem to be having dinner Well, we are invited, so why refuse? It's all about consultation anyway There seem to be ruins on the way we're going to take shelter in Most adventuring stuff can be had at the "Blue Cape Tradepost" They're usually the last store to close We're gonna meet her in the morning by our tavern On to the Tradepost we go then! I get a herbalism kit and a tent for myself And they really try to sell us silk rope for 10gp Takes a little to throw them off that idea Then we go back, go to sleep and then it's morning already On the next morning Some general talk, then we pick up our halfling huntress and go onward And we really trust in our guide Also Dalmir plays an instrument o.o' Meanwhile Nim hits the brushes regularly We follow the "Angry Giants Trail" Though there are no giants here, or at least there is only one story about one Nims family originally was from the Underdark And he trained his whole life to be guiding people there Suddenly Hildove notices something and looks at some potential tracks and stuff Some people seem to have recently come through But not people from around here We want to be a little on the stealthier side with everything after that When we arrive at the ruins Hildove seems to be a little struggling It's called the "Temple of Solace" We then start setting up camp while she goes hunting While we're setting up camp~~ Suddenly Direwolves, 4 of them to be exact O.o I most definitely go helping Nim, who's solo in melee with one of them! Hildove comes back mid fight In the end there are three dead direwolves in our camp Carson and me take first watch and we have a little heart to heart Everything worked out pretty fine I said, that as the favor, I wanted to watch over the scale and he agreed to it He said, that he's a little lost in life and searching for purpose His thought was, that maybe this group can provide help in finding that purpose I kind of felt that a bit Meanwhile I told him a bit about the life debt that I owe and that this job is kind of part of it Also I reassured him, that I'm not out to screw over the group or him We seem to come to some kind of understanding with each other at least Then it's the next morning! Hildove already took care of the direwolves and took their pelts Sebastian is a little weird about his wounds We get going anyway Nim forages again And Hildove scouts ahead a little After some time, she beckons us forward When we sneak to her, we see a camp set up on the side of the mountain Six people gathered around the entrance to a cave And Carson once again alerts people to our position, this time via snapping a twig

Catfights, dead ends and new leads

The others are looking for the wagons and what they can find over there Meanwhile I chat a little with Carson Oh Carson seems to be working with Silk... interesting And the others are back again Dragon flew towards the mountain range Nim wants to go researching Carson and me go back to the city and to keep an eye on the circusfolk Dominik comes into the city fairly quickly We give chase, me as a cat Carson almost botches it and I rescure him by teleporting down and then brawling a street cat as a distraction He then breaks off into the butcher shop that Dominik was standing in front Meanwhile I continue to go after Dominik He steps inside Mad Goose Liquor and comes out with alcohol Then he seems to go back to the circus There I cross paths with Carson and give him the sign to follow Dominik together with me .....and he goes straight on toward the liquor store..... I wait at the gate and keep an eye on Dominik and the circus He seems to be sharing the alcohol And nothing of note happens Also Carson doesn't come by The chase was really fun actually, but damn this waiting part sucks Well they seem to have some kind of celebration for the dead down there Then Sia comes and informs me that people are gathering in the tavern Well.... so much for the chase~ Anyway, I get back and all the people are there It seems they recruited a halfling huntress called Hildove or something like that Though at least the group is mostly in agreement (except Sebastian / Melech who is actually iffy because of it), that we shouldn't pay her, since she volunteered They also heard quite a lot of stories, it seems these creatures are oftentimes rather peaceful Well the more you know And Carson seems to be pretty..... lets not go into it He actually namedropped Dummon's name before a random butcher~ Anyway, we agreed that he owes me one and then we're even I already pretty much know what I want out of that So in any case, we agreed that Melech and Nim go to the Bahamut temple While the rest of us heads to the liquor store The person in the liquor store gets my idea of more exlusive vintages and brings us to a backroom And in short it seems like our circus leader made a deal with someone and is really hard to reach now So underground deals going on, this lead is most likely dead after all Carson goes early to get some fresh air And directly after she tells us, that we should inform him that he should never pull shit like that with her sister again So in short, we at least know that this tree won't jump, no matter how much we bark Ah and also we "shouldn't make enemies in this town", which seems a given as I see it After thanking her for her troubles we step out again

An interesting proposal and the hunt for a "dragon"

And we start in the garden grounds, on our way to the one who runs the city We arrive in front of a pretty nice and big house There's an older man with white hair and a pretty neat mustache and ornamental armor Introduces himself as: Corshad Dummon Infos about him: Not interacted personally, or at max 1-2 times Head of local Myriad operations Cold, calculating sort of person, though not cruel Overpromising, underdelivering reputation Probably gonna remind him of me at the end He wants to make us an offer, since we helped the city and some of his own Then he pulls out a sack of coins That's meant as good faith payment Carson tries to reach for it as well Dummon wants as much information as he can about this dragon thing Though we don't have to capture it He mostly wants knowledge... that sounds decently suspicious He wants a scale o.o' And it could rid me of my debt to the Myriad, so that would be preeeeeetty neat First contact with that thing almost killed me though But it was also a pretty great thrill If we run into any trouble, we can tell the guards or whoever, that "we're making a delivery for our uncle Wade" We can talk to him here if we need to Otherwise we can talk to the circus, since they probably know about that stuff And then we finally decide to go back to the inn Back at the inn, people are cheering for us and try to pull us into a party as "heroes" And I push Carson to split the money already and I won't leave him alone before that So 8gp for each person, 2gp spare in the group And damn he's defensive about this money stuff Definitely gonna be careful about him and money And suddenly there's a weird red winged creature o.o' It has horns looking like trees and flowers on his head It's called K'van Also Magnolia is back here again! Also there's another creature like K'van, in purple called "Sia" And Carson is pretty mean with Magnolia, well he's a spoilsport after all (just because of 1gp) Down in the barroom I manage to get some extra food for the next day as well as for today The pie is actually pretty neat, so called "dragon pies" with sweet/spicy sauce Dalmir also sings a song in the barroom about freedom and a good ruler and stuff... well as long as he's happy with it he should do whatever he wants He also played the lute, which was pretty surprising Then sleepy time <3 Also Magnolia is as convinced as me, that Carson is a spoilsport The next morning the halflings managing the inn are sleeping down in the barroom and kitchen So Nim goes for doing breakfast We talk about the circus and our plan of action Then it's breakfast time! Then we talk and talk and talk instead of going to the circus While going to the circus we see something weird There's something like a human child/weird doll pushing a cart towards us Seems some weird doll construct made by a mage o.o'' Melech seems to have seen them before Then the thing comes up to us and gives Melech a business card Idealia's Imperfections - Handcrafted Magical Wares - Zadash So yeah, onwards to the circus! We find a pretty dismissive guy After a little intimidation he tells us, that madame Krishana usually leaves for a few days after shit goes down The creature communicates via it's mind It can summon some kind of creature They talked it into believing that their interests align and it joined them willingly That sure sounds weird thinking on how it reacted Maybe Madame Krishana used magic to charm/dominate it or something? They said they'd introduce it to new friends and show it the road Damn this guy is a pain in the ass~ He's called Dominik And the creature was super nice and tame before They came across it the road north, it came from the west, in the way of Zadash It was a little off the side of the road He also said that it's a bad idea to use magic on a dragon... well.... I still offer them help for taking down the tent Then the group splits a little Carson and Melech go talking to some of the people Dalmir and Nim are in the tent That leaves Sebastian and me outside Sebastian seems to be working in a similar line of work as me, neat! Though he doesn't seem to have high interest on jumping ship I extend the offer to introduce him anyway and also mention that I'm interested in working together if something interesting comes up Anyway, Carson pulls us aside and tells us, that they're holding back info on us And that Dominik seems to know where this Madame is~ So we're thinking about how we could best follow him Melech, Sebastian and Nim go to the wagons Meanwhile Carson and me consider going around a little and then stealthing back to have an eye on Dominik and follow them

It started in a tavern and ended in circus madness

Start in the tavern 'Drunken Dragon' Several shady people there Halfling bard there as well, telling tales And a deep gnome offering scribing services 4cp per Ale 8cp per Pie 5sp per Room The deep gnome (Nim), offers us to share his table And we agree to it He deals in lore and writing services Otherwise seems like a decent fellow Charges normal rates for lore (2gp/day) Or 2-3 silverpieces for knowledge of the top of his head A little later a charcoal grey tiefling comes into the room And he knows Nim, he seems to be called Melech He has a white mask on his shield as well as a raven feather in his hair A little later there's a commotion outside, lots of people and wagons Seems to be some kind of circus, that's performing in the night They also seem to have some kind of surprise Sounds like a fun adventure! Especially for Magnolia They also seem to have some kind of weird talking in your thoughts kinda creature with gems in it's skin/scales That might be the fun surprise! :D And we get tickets from Melech, yay! It's tickets to "Madame Krishana's Traveling Circus" And then randomly first a genasi comes over asking for a letter to be filed He then bails right before Then a human comes over, buys us drinks and asks for tickets Oh well, it's because of the creature And it seems that some people here think it might be sentient and a slave Damn this circus would have to be made up from idiots to keep slaves here O.o Dalmir and me decide we need a proper bath It seems the bath is called "Sylvan Forest", how fitting for us Public Bath: 2sp Private Bath: 4sp Cloth cleaning services: 1sp Also there's shared private baths.... we're definitely not gonna take this one O.o Dalmir takes the public ones I take a private one We get towels and I get the badge for a private room (number 6) We also both use the cloth services Should only take 15 minutes After all of this, it's off to the circus! Pretty neat tent, 30ft. high at the highest part Front row seats, awesome! And the cage seems pretty big All of it just outside the north gate And we even get to keep our weapons, great! Performers are masked with some makeup They claim to have a dragon O.O Ok something about this whole show is off Creature with orange scales and fins Also gemstones in embedded in those wings Dragonlike, but weeeeird o.o' Ok that creature summoned a weird eyetentaclethingcreature and then disappeared And that thing starts shooting people with eye rays At first we consider running, but of course some of our new found friends have to play heroes.... So we play heroes as well I heal up the mistress of the circus 2 times, bringing her back from almost certain death And then it's time to bring out my inner wolf Though holy hells this tentacle thing hurts me Then I teleport above it and get a bite in, but this thing refuses to fall >.< And then things go dark~ Next thing I see is Melech standing over me, saying "She has more in store for you" As well as "get up wolf girl" Seriously, wolf girl, really? o.o' In any case this thing has me pissed off So I go directly back into wolf form and go for it again And finally Dalmir kills it with a magic missile So he pretty much explodes it The dragon seems to be gone, there's a hole in the top of the tent Then Crownsguard come A short discussion with the Guard then At least they don't suspect us We have to talk to this Circus director woman And there seems to someone asking for us outside Seems to be a rough guy with an eyepatch and short black hair And another person with greying hair and a very thick and bushy mustache Both are pretty big They say that the person in charge of the city has business with us And I know them, oh well, nice that the Myriad is so engaged We're slowly going to a nicer residential district, the "Garden Grounds"

Traveling time with Dalmir

Just as a short disclaimer, the following journal entry, is a collection of some events and infos Dalmir and I exchanged in our travels. Since this was all communicated and agreed upon via a magical thing called strife (don't want to get into copyright issues), which was probably made by some mighty magician or something, it's all written down in third person, though the information in it, is genuine. Any instances of "you" in this, refer to Dalmir and any instances of "she" to me. Me:

You probably noticed, that Marya is pretty self conscious about her body, showing very little skin when she can help it

Also on the flipside, she hangs around in wildshape whenever she can manage to do so, almost childlike in her happy demeanor while shaped as well as shortly after, though it usually quickly turns into a slight sadness after an hour or so

On one of the first nights that she managed to transform while keeping watch, you most likely found your boots on the top of a tree, with a veeeery innocent Marya.... she then wildshaped shortly after and got your boots down

Since they're traveling for a couple of days, there was most likely a situation when you touched her to get her attention, which resulted in her first flinching back, then lashing out and giving you an earful, only to apologize a day later that she was too harsh, but also that she absolutely doesn't like to be touched, unless she actively approves it herself

She's also gonna make several references to her life at home and her family, you probably got that both her parents are alive and that she's got multiple siblings (including a twin sister), with her mostly looking up to her older sister

Likewise she's gonna ask about your goals and motivations in life, family etc., though she won't pry about things that you don't want to talk about - unless it sounds like you're actually an undercover crownsguard or something along those lines

Dalmir:

You noticed that Dalmir doesn't really feel at ease in the wilds and tries to avoid touching random plants, bugs, etc - often summoning a mage hand instead. If Marya asks, he's doing that because he doesn't trust himself to accurately remember what he's read about which plants are dangerous, and as a city boy he has no experience to draw on either.

He was very amused at finding his boots up a tree and made a comment along the lines of "If this is as far as 'robbing me blind while I'm asleep' goes, I can live with that" (a reference to what Marya said that first night)

Marya is likely able to tell that he's curious about her aversion to showing skin and (after the incident) to touch, but is refraining from actually asking about it. After the incident where he touched her, his curiosity increased, but he also scrupulously avoided touch from then on.

He's made a few references to his family, enough to gather the following: He's the eldest son of a blacksmith; something terrible happened when he was young, and his younger twin brother took his place; he has two other, younger siblings; both his parents are still alive.

Long-term, his goals are a lofty and generic-sounding "freedom and prosperity for all" sort of deal. After a few conversations, Marya might notice that any mentions of the nation, king, etc are curiously absent.

He's cagey about what exactly led him to leave Zadash, but Marya is able to tell that he feels guilty about whatever exactly happened.

He will likewise ask about Marya's goals and motivations but be careful not to pry. Given how she talked to those bandits(?) he is pretty certain that she isn't an undercover crownsguard or anything along those lines.

Me:

For the random plants and bugs, if Dalmir is that uncomfortable with random plants and bugs, Marya will most likely offer to help him out a little. She's not big on actually naming those things, but she's got decent knowledge about which ones are actually dangerous or poisonous, it's also a nice way to pass the time

Since I seem to recall that the reason why he left was him and friends getting into trouble with the law or something along those lines, there's no reason for Marya to push it, to each his own issues

For Marya's goals, mostly paying off an old debt that she won't really go into further, as well as try to get a better hold of this shapeshifting stuff. Apart from that she mostly lives in the present, going from job to job, having fun and seeking thrills when they seem available.

From rogues, twigs and wolves

And we are still in the camp The people are pretty anxious (4 people, 1 women, 3 men, all human) They want us to drop our weapons And they don't buy our story about being teleported, well~~ Oh and Dalmir is with the crown, the hell?! So I let drop in Thieves Cant' that I'm with the Myriad And suddenly the tension gets a little lower Neat! So they're with a small local group And a little more afraid, well So they show us the way to the street And I give them a gold for their trouble At first they're hesitant to accept it, but after gentle pressure, they take it Then we start going So Dalmir is with the Golden Grin They oppose Tyrants and stuff and operate out of the Menagerie Coast Also he's with the Cobalt Soul Who's kind of with the crown, but kind of indepent, it's difficult Meanwhile, the bandits behind us start packing up and flee the area We slowly go further towards the street And we hear something It's weird little twig things That are pretty angry about us being here and they attack Dalmir throws some dark energy as well as holy flames around Meanwhile I stick to my scimitar, with very mixed results xD Anyway, we win And I heal us with Goodberries Shortly after, we notice, that Magnolia is still with us Though she's speaking in a language we don't understand She also doesn't understand me anymore O.O Though we can still kind of communicate in nature writing So that's something And she's really sad about it all I'm gonna learn her language then! And Dalmir will try too! Then we cross the road and go a little south before resting up a little bit Dalmir takes the first watch And we get attacked by wolves, just great One of them almost kills me But after killing one of the wolves, the other tries to run away I get another hit in, but it still flees Magnolia is pretty terrified of the whole situation Asks me to fix the wolf as well and doesn't seem to understand the concept of hunters and prey I try to reassure her, after Dalmir doesn't really know how to handle sad people Well neither do I, but the words of my mom do the trick "It's gonna be alright, tomorrow is gonna be a better day, I'm gonna make your favorite food and everything will be fine" And that actually worked o.o When I then started getting ready to sleep, she also more or less put the wolf to rest by growing vines and stuff over him After some well deserved rest, we go looking for honey Thanks to Dalmirs mage hand we get it quite easily and we leave them a goodberry as compensation Then we make a heated tea-like drink out of honey, goodberries, some water and the shadow of the moonlight from the glowy mage hand And hey, it hit the spot for Magnolia, great! ^_____^ Not perfectly the same, but still good <3 After drinking up, we then pack up and venture onwards to Deastock! There we then look for a nice inn and there this part of our adventure comes to an end

And so a wild ride began

Trip from Zadash to Deastock Near a small forest It was a nice summer day Animals around Nice and warm climate Travelers are also a pretty common sight Crownsguard are coming down the road And since I don't really fancy associating with them that much, I take to the forest There's also someone else And they also head into the woods A short and tense chase follows, we slide down a cliffside through a thicket Stuff's a little strange over there, it's suddenly night We talk a little, it's a pretty tall and slim dwarf Also there's a price on his head in Zadash.... great, just what I needed We agree to at least find our way to Deastok together While they are stargazing I'm trying to find a way to Deastock, or at least to go the right direction Well..... this nature over here doesn't really follow normal rules Then we hear giggling above us The dwarf makes their voice super loud and ask for the voice to show itself It's a flying little fairy! Like a real fairy, exactly like in the fairytales! O.O Ok she insists she's a pixie, that's fair Pixie name: Magnolia for people without druidic abilities Or flutter of wind and flowers on her lips for the cool people We play around a little, the dwarf is called Dalmir The pixie meanwhile shows us the way to the road, or at least, a road Whole stuff about actual orientation is a little off here, she's not even sure about the material plane Makes the whole going home stuff a little iffy, though I don't think being here is too bad So anyway, we arrive at a road made out of marble and illuminated with lanterns filled with moonlight hanging from small trees I want one! Well I don't get one, but Dalmir's magehand now glows, that's something Then I ask him for his dagger, so maybe I can get one of those marble bricks for a souvenir That doesn't work out too great and the tip of his dagger is now "marbled" kind of, he doesn't mind too much Instead he even goes and tells me about this stone and that it's not actual marble, but something special yada yada Dwarves and their stones~~~ So anyway we see this big light in the distance on the road, so we go there We find this big mansion with a magical door Seems to be pretty strong illusion magic, but Dalmir still touches it, after I dare him, he's either far braver or dumber than I anticipated, I can work with both The door opens quite easily when he tries to pull it In the fey mansion is a teenage (?) girl, or at least an entity looking like one Silvery hair Pale Skin Simple glowing white gown sitting in the center on a throne made of this weird marble stuff She can send us back But we have to do a task for her in return at a later date Lots of silver arrows suddenly in her hand when she starts the "ritual" and arrow depictions are also abundant in her mansion So lets do this! First she pierces Dalmir's chest and it looks pretty darn painful Though when she does the same to me, it's more of a pressure thing than actual pain, strange Well maybe Dalmir is just a wimp, what do I know Anyway, we're back where we belong and it's night! Or.... ok we're not where we belong, we're in the middle of some kind of camp and there's people with weapons Well crap~

Marya Silverstring