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Kadath and Forsythe visit Garrot where they heal him and gather some information. Garrot tells them Gidna came and damaged the Orrery. She had seemed unemotional and following orders, and only attacked him when he tried to intervene. Meanwhile, at the Orrery, Evangeline contacts Gavyn to confirm that Gidna was in Rarmon, then adds at Fix's request that this was not of Gidna's will.
Wondering why the Orrery was targeted, Kadath inspects the machine while Fix and Forsythe check the office. They discover the machine is also a defense for the city. With confirmation from Garrot, they learn the machine can be raised high above the city and emit a beam of fire to target an enemy within a couple miles. Forsythe pays a visit to the underground while the others finish fixing the Orrery. He searches out Skyla and approaches her in a half-orc form. She does confirm that she had a pendant, but delivered it to Wyrfall two weeks prior, to Lady Gaera's personal guard, Eshuto. After the group gets back together and shares their information, they decide to continue their travel to the circus. Finding the mage in Rarmon, they are teleported as near to the circus as possible. They arrive at a rather quiet farm where a small group of moths are ravaging the field. The group exterminates the moth problem and decides to investigate the farm as it is too quiet. Evangeline was the first to find someone, a woman laying in the bed who had been dead for four days. The other, a man, was found in the carriage house, slumped over and missing a spine. A note in his pocket confirms to the party who was responsible, Lady Gaera. With a new determination, Kadath, followed by the others, head to the circus which is seen on the horizon. When they arrive, He asks the barker for the location of Dollen Bada and is directed to a central red tent.
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Forsythe and Kosha spoke to the boss man, Wari Sesk, and discovered that the pendant did pass through a couple of hands while in Thriest. It was unique enough to catch his attention, and let them know it was Cecil that kept it while in town. They tracked Cecil to the underground tavern, The Cavern, he told them he had passed it to Skyla, a runner who can usually be found in Rarmon.
Evangeline continues her conversation with Gavyn. He shares that he can often slip past his mother's eye and that it is easier now that he had his pendant enchanted to prevent scrying. Through his research, Gaera's group has been with her for quite some time, and her other affiliates either turn up missing or are lavished with gifts. He also shares his belief that Gidna is being used for a two-fold purpose. Kadath and Fix speak with Elijah who was researching possible reasons for Gaera to have a blood vial. Then they found Tatra to ask her some questions. She told them that the Order of the Third Eye frowns upon fighting within the order. She also said that Giselle is more trusted, but Dollen is more accurate. She also encourages Kadath to check the book he received for hidden information. After returning to his room, Kadath spills a bit of blood onto the book and discovers a hidden message: "Balance is shifting, you must restore. Seven still to stand and Shaji, at last, the door." As Kadath is looking at the book, Fix reaches out to Gidna with his circlet. He does connect, but her answers come slow and without any emotion. Fix determines that this is not Gidna and stops communicating. After the group gets back together, Evangeline takes a closer look at the Fates card to discover the crystal ball on the card has floating eyes and as they drift by the eyes look directly at her. The card gets put away and all of the group share what information they have gathered. Eventually, they decide to head to Rarmon and ask Meiril to send them. In Rarmon, they head to the Orrery to check in and get a place to stay. When they arrive, they find the Orrery broken. Shelly informs them that Gidna came and destroyed the machine and hurt Garrot. Kadath and Forsythe head to the infirmary to speak with Garrot while Evangeline and Fix begin assessing the damage. Digging into the mechanics Evangeline and Fix discover parts that must be replaced entirely. As they were looking, markings were discovered within the casing. Fix recognizes the secret code he and Gidna shared reading "I am not myself, please forgive me." Just after breakfast, Lilian arrived and the group headed to the council meeting. At council, though Zybella does appear to be speaking telepathically to individuals, it is Genlan who is her public voice. After general business Uriro, one of the three suspicious people from the night before, addresses his concerns regarding possible repercussions from Malar. He is offered to take the lead on researching and implementing plans to deal with the possible issues as they manifest. Uriro accepts this offer and the council concludes their business.
Fix introduces Lilian to Zybella and, after a brief conversation, she motions for Juric to show Lilian to her quarters. Fix then turns his attention back to Zybella and asks her to an early dinner in the trees to which she accepts. Zybella then turns her attention to Erwin as they begin to discuss other business they turn and leave. Evangeline makes her way to Joyve to arrange the purchase of a set of sending stones and contact Gavyn on his whereabouts. He shares that he is bouncing between Thriest and Rarmon at the moment gathering information about Gidna's disappearance. The party is wasting some time in the Owl's nest when an elven woman enters who seems to recognize the group. Upon questioning the woman, they discover she is Liagwyn Alderrose, a member of the Order of the Third Eye who serves Savras, from Umdera. After relocating to the library where there was less chance of being overheard, she reluctantly shares that the group was in her visions. She had seen the group retrieve an item and returned it to the rightful owner. After being shown the cards (both finished and unfinished), she points to the item on the Fates, the Crystal Ball of Many Eyes. This item was last known to be with Dollen Bada at Ossam's Traveling Menagerie and Circus in Milave and its rightful owner is Alazurus, who also lives in Umdera. Fix then goes on his date with Zybella, after which the group teleport to Thriest where they check in with Kosha at the Order of Balance. Evangeline disappears to search out any signs of the Jagged Dream and, moving about the town, eventually finds a familiar dagger pendant hanging among other necklaces. She convinces the vendor to take a note to Gavyn, then follows the man to a back alley. Ducking into a small cantina and sneaking to the back, she finds herself in a private room with Gavyn. As she has a discussion with Gavyn she discovers that he is tracking rumors of Gaera's movement and his belief of Gidna meeting up with her in Far Brohn, however Gidna's movements are much harder to track. Forsythe and Kosha, at Kadath's suggestion, decide to head to the underground to gather more information. As the decision is made to hold a celebration, and have Kadath speak to the people about Malar, Fix notices the remaining four council members are under a strong charm as they look to Zybella before answering any questions. Zybella instructs the council members to see to the setup and announcements of the celebration to take place that evening, and they all disperse. The group goes their separate ways, eventually finding themselves back in their rooms for rest. During this rest, Forsythe visits dreams of battle ending with a cry of death, as if from someone’s memories.
After they all wake, they find the preparations well underway and only an hour or so before the celebration is to begin. Zybella opens the celebration by calling on the people of Ephremon using her bell-toned voice, however this time not affecting the group. Kadath then speaks to the assembly about Malar and the Falgreen being the same god. Watching over the crowd, the group notices mixed emotions throughout the people, three individuals particularly stand out and eventually are determined to be possible threats. Kadath informs Zybella about the three and encourages her to invite them to council the next day. Evangeline, later that evening, follows them to a tavern in the Living Tree and listens in on their conversation. Just as she was possibly about to learn more information from them, one of the three hears Buckley come into the tavern and halts their discussion. During the rest of the celebration, Kadath contacts Erwin and asks that he join them in Ephremon. Fix also reaches out for aid from his mother, who agrees to send Lilian to Ephremon to aid Zybella in establishing her authority and guide her decisions. During the exchange, Fix notices his mother is withholding some information and after making him promise to use Kadath’s discipline, she informs him that Guidna, who is in Niliesh, is missing. The group reconvenes at the Owl’s Nest that after the celebration has died down and after discussing their findings decide to stay and finish the task at hand. They go to bed to get a good rest before the meeting at the council chamber in the morning. The next morning, before any awake, Evangeline goes to Joyve to learn about sending, and to have a message sent to Gavyn to ask him about Gidna. Gavyn also responds that their mother had forbidden them to search for her, but he did some anyway and discovered Gidna had left Niliesh. That morning early Forsythe is also contacted by Kosha. She lets him know strange things have been happening and mentions that odd things have been turned up missing. She also gives him the grim news that Lady Gaera has been seen on the move. After sharing this at breakfast, he leaves to go to the trees and watch the area of Fix’s potential date with Zybella. When Erwin joins them for breakfast, he confirms Kosha’s information and discloses that Evangeline’s boomerang and the bag he carried Kadath in as an infant were missing. He also informed Fix of the pendant that ended up with Gaera and confirmed with him that it was indeed Gidna’s. The party arrives at Joyve’s where they learn some history of the town and the Vedrathi family. She informs them it took a great amount of time to work herself into the position she currently holds. She now has the ability to teleport the children being sacrificed to the Falgreen safely away from the city. She was once a councilor of Illarian Vadrathi who instructed her to guard his family after foreseeing the trouble ahead. She also confirmed that Farven’s father conspired to kill Illarian, Zybella’s father, citing that he had charmed his followers. The ‘gift’ to speak charm had been handed down from generation to generation further back than Joyve could remember. Fix, using the circlet, asked Zybella if she could join them at Joyve’s. When she arrived she informed the group that she had to shake off a couple of guards that were following her. Fix then asked Joyve to share with Zybella all she knew and, with this, the group learned that Zybella’s uncle, Elkian Cormier (aka Vedrathi) was the one receiving the children in Padun.
After discussing and formulating a plan, Zybella decides to stay with Joyve for the night and the group leaves. After exiting the home of the mage, the party decided not to return to the Owl’s Nest. Evangeline went invisible to scout the area while Forsythe, in bird form, perched in a tree to watch from above. Soon they spotted two darkly clothed figures moving about and determined they were searching for Zybella. Fix and Kadath, having found another cave of roots, were informed of the two guards lurking about and quickly drew them in, detaining them for the rest of the night. The next morning the group reconvened at the council chamber and entered alongside Joyve and Zybella. After a brief exchange of words Zybella spoke and commanded there would be no more sacrifices. As she spoke she charmed many of the council members and Kadath. Zybella then communicates telepathically with Farven, who grows agitated. Seeing his imminent demise, Farven and Lukas attempt to flee, but their efforts are thwarted as both are swiftly killed by the group. Zybella announces there is to be a feast for the city, then telepathically asks Kadath if he would address the people regarding the Fallgreen and her true identity as Malar. After intimidating some ratfolk to leave their camp alone, the party manage to make their way back to Ephremon. Juric, who was waiting for their return, lets Fix know that the council has been informed of their success, and that an area has been set up for his date with Zybella. He then guides them to the council where they are welcomed in and paid as agreed. When Fix mentions the bones of Illarian Vedrathi, Farven becomes tense. As the party questions the council they learn of the danger in the ancestry of the Vedrathi line. Zybella, upon request, speaks her consent to the date with Fix revealing the charming effect of her voice.
Leaving the council, the party split up. Fix prepares for the date, Evangeline works on getting the recipe for the Kiss, Forsythe changes form as he goes to a tavern within the Living Tree, and Kadath goes to the library. Kadath searches the library and discovers the ratfolk are infected with what is called a “biting curse,” which causes them to change shape. He also finds information about the Sky Station above Philolio. The people of Philolio were of great science and magic that drew unwanted attention which caused their destruction. As he looked for information on the Vedrathi family he discovered their family lineage had been removed from the books. Digging around though, he found a small book with the same title as a previous one, “Those They Missed,” and learned there were four other gods along with Malar. During his date Fix learns Zybella’s family had long passed and she was raised by Farven, rarely even leaving his side. She also shared that she had been asked to use her gift only once. That request was from Farven, to make a person leave town. After dinner Zyvella lights the pyre for Illarian, completing the burial rites. As the group gets back together they begin to discuss the oddities about the city and especially with Farven. Kadath leaves to commune with the Raven Queen while Forsythe goes to check for a thieves guild and discovers symbols which lead to a mage’s home in the roots of the Central Tree. He watched as the mage took an infant and a water skin to the basin at the statue of the Falgreen and seemingly killed the child. However, following her back to her home, he discovers the infant is still alive. She teleports the child away and then introduces herself as Joyve. Having confirmation from the Raven Queen by Kadath that Joyve could be trusted, the party decides to pay her a visit. Seeing the waters clearing where they are, the group decides to explore Philolio while they are nearby. While traveling northward, they see the waters in various pools clearing as they head out of the swamp and into the forest. Forsythe keeps an eye out from above, scouting ahead to guide the group. On the third day Forsythe spots ruins in the distance and, scouting closer in, confirms the ruins are of an ancient city long gone and reclaimed by nature. He also finds a large pit that appears bottomless.
Making their way into the area, the rest of the group spot a sign on one of the ruins carved out in ancient elvish. The sign commemorates the ancestors of the elder elves with a list of surnames. Among the names listed, they recognize a few from their recent stop in Ephremon: Kolleth (same surname as Genlan), Ollinn (Farven’s surname), and Vedrathi (Zybella’s surname). Moving on, they join Forsythe at the edge of the pit and send down TTC to take a look. TTC reaches the bottom of the pit and finds a 5’ hole that opens into a chamber below. Looking through this hole, they make out that it is the ceiling of a 35’ circular room dimly lit by a light blue glow. Deciding to investigate further, they each descend into the pit with little trouble. As they are making their way downward, a voice speaks about having a better view of the stars from here. Entering into the room, the group quickly finds a discarded elven skeleton under rubble and a machine that seems to be powering an unstable portal. The group uncover the skeleton and a ghost appears. This ghost encourages the group to go through the portal to see the stars and steps through the portal. After some investigation and tinkering they confirm the machine does power the portal and are able to fix it so that it is stable. They step through to find themselves in a sphere of dark metal and glass surrounded by what appears to be stars. After disabling a machine that responded quite aggressively to their arrival, they investigated the sphere and made a few unusual discoveries. They discovered a suit that was protected by a shield and a set of doors leading to the outside. They also discovered that they are looking down upon the world they know as if looking down on large maps, and soon realize they are much higher than even the sky. The ghost that they followed into the sphere then attacks, attempting to possess one of the party but fails. The party quickly causes the ghost to dissipate then turns their focus to the suit and door. As the shield is disabled Forsythe puts on the suit and with Evangeline’s help he is able to step through the doors of what is an airlock to the outside. Forsythe explores the outside while the rest of the group continue to explore inside where they find three salvageable numenera devices and a lot of obtainium. Satisfied with their discovery, they decide to return through the portal. Once inside the previous room, the voice speaks again. This is Illarian Vedrathi, a king and sorcerer who ruled the land, who was killed and left here by his enemies to wait untold years to be found among these ruins and laid to rest. Giving it a little thought, they gather the bones to take back with them for a proper burial and head toward Ephremon. As they leave the ruins they spot claw marks on the ground, remembering the ghost had mentioned ratfolk they make a cold camp and keep a vigilant watch. After Juric left, the group continued to travel deeper within the swamp, where the waters grew darker with the red and black liquids. Fix, using levitation, and Forsythe, using his eagle form, both saw gray patches among the pools of the swamps. Investigating one, they found it chipped much like slate.
Moving onward, Forsythe flew ahead to scout and dropped off TTC to scout from the ground. They both came across a construct with whips as arms. They also spotted one of the creatures described as being riders for the broken hounds and followed him to spot three others. Watching them for a moment, they seemed to be waiting on something, while the construct was guarding the area. As the party approached, rather noisily, another construct made itself known as it approached. As they fought these creatures, they noticed more broken hounds came up out of the hardened gray pond they seemed to be gathered around. Once they were able to kill all these creatures, they began to investigate the pond, which was now melting back into the red and black liquid. Between them they gathered that this liquid had necrotic and enchantment magical auras with a stronger concentration of necrotic magic deep in the center of the pond. They also discovered that this liquid would absorb fire and cause nanites to replicate. Fix used his decanter to send fresh, clear water down to the center of the pond and discovered the onyx stone which Forsythe had described seeing. As Forsythe changed into a tentacle to see if he could pull the onyx loose, Fix attempted to dispel the necrotic magic, discovering the crowned skull symbol of Velsharoon. Upon his second attempt, Forsythe was also able to pull it loose and drop it at the edge of the pool. The onyx broke upon hitting the ground. Fix touched it and received psychic damage as it caused an instant headache. Again, they investigated this stone to see if they could destroy it. Eventually, Kadath decided to use his sword, shattering the onyx into several pieces. Fix pocketed a couple of the larger ones, while Evangeline gathered the rest and placed them into one of her pockets. Forsythe then felt a nudge as Eldath asked him to again, “heal my land” and he tossed the aquamarine into the center of the pond. Soon clear water sprang up and cleared the pond of the red and black liquid. Forsythe then drank from the pool and received a blessing from Eldath. Seeing the pool clear, Kadath checked the Sun card again and saw it had returned to normal. With it completed, they placed it with the other completed cards. Having the evening in Ephremon, the group pursued their own interests. Evangeline worked on and finished TTC and then proceeded to interrupt Fix, who was working on forging obtainium parts for another TTC. Forsythe lifted a pouch from a nicely dressed elf, then followed him to the upper level and while there he overheard some conversation about the dangers in the eastern forest. He proposed that he and his comrades could possibly help with this and was invited to that evening's council.
Kadath sought out some elders to learn more about the Falgreen and found his way to the library. In the library, Kadath found the same information about the Falgreen as was told to him by the elder, Genlan. Across many books, it only mentions her as a goddess who brings luck and safety to the people. She aided them in building the city and would warn them if a tree was to fall (except the most recent one about 100 years ago). Climbing higher in the library, Kadath found the older books. One that grabbed his attention was titled "Those They Missed". Inside it mentioned that the gods each went their separate ways, Malar going to the forest. No other gods were mentioned, but the information about Malar was that he was a trickster with bestial savagery and bloodlust. He often brought about chaos. As Kadath looked through newer books, less mentions of Malar appeared, and were soon replaced entirely by the Falgreen. Forsythe found Fix and Evangeline, and explained the possibility of getting a job. Together, they headed to the Cloud Tree for the meeting. Kadath joined them on the way and they soon found themselves before the council. High Elder Farven, who Forsythe had spoken with, received approval of the idea from a fellow elder and Mistress Zybella, telepathically, negotiated the payment of 6500 gold and a date with Fix upon completion of the task. Farven then called forth Juric to guide the group to the location. The next morning Forsythe found an older woman who had previously dealt with what was called broken hounds. She described them and let him know they were more dangerous if they were in packs. Taking note of this, he rejoined the group and they set off to the east, following Juric. During their trek, a Juriskar was heard approaching, but Forsythe managed to scare it away using some fly-by tactics in his eagle form. On day five, they reached the edge of the swamp where they saw the hint of red within the water. The group went to the Trentson estate where Fix, with Kadath, finds his mother in her office. He showed his mother the pendant of the Jagged Dream he had made for Gavyn. With her approval, he left to find Gavyn. Evangeline wandered the house until seeing Fix head to Gavyn's room and joined him. Inside, Gavyn was given a cut of the auction profits and the pendant, which he immediately put on. As they headed out, Evangeline also gave him some gold, giving him a wink as she left. After waiving down Forsythe, who was practicing a new wild shape, the group headed to Finnel's again. Finnel agreed to teleport the group to Thriest and without much warning, he tapped his cane upon the carpet and they went.
In Thriest, they went to the Order of Balance where they met Trinaster, a paladin of the Raven Queen who had just returned from the Beyond and then they sought out Erwin, finding him with Tatra in a study room. Kadath filled in Erwin with everything except the fortune told to Fix. Tatra reminded Kadath that the storm was coming, and looked at Forsythe when telling them once again to make their acts be neigh. A bit of time passed as they conversed when Tatra called out that the Fates were gray. Fix then took the replica deck and found the fate card. It had indeed changed, giving the party three unfinished cards. As they discuss which to search after first, Tatra tells them Giselle is as wise as she is old, leading them to stick to the original plan...to the swamp for the sun card. They are offered rooms for the night and in the morning Erwin would teleport them to Ephremon, a city in the trees. The next morning they teleported to Ephremon and, once there, Kadath learns that they liked Erwin when he visited even though he was not a believer of the Falgreen. They were directed to the Owl's Nest, where most visitors are sent, and inside they spoke with the barkeep. He was quite happy to share about the city and his life, disclosing the ancient blood that runs in his people. He also stated that strange dogs, ridden by strange men, have recently been reported coming out of the swamp, few returned after such an encounter, and no one ventures that far east anymore. After some inquiry, he introduced them to Juric who agreed to guide them through the Ba-Adenu forest to the edge of the swamp. |
AuthorDungeons & Dad Jokes Archives
May 2025
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