the ring

The group does some studying in the University Library. Since the librarians see the high priestess robes of Evangeline, they pull books from all sections for their search. Each of them find information that they are looking for:

• Evangeline finds information about the Shattering, learning that the cities were targeted and the shields were up and working before Shaji disappeared. One last hit created the “scar” in the southern Steadfast.
  
• Forsythe learns about the Amorphous Fields. The land moves and shifts from liquid to solid; the settlements are only found on land that seemingly does not change. He also learns about the Pygmy Hapax and the poisonous clouds that cover the land.
  
• Kadath reads books on teleportation and finds two new circles: Astaria and Asada Emidu. However, Asada Emidu does have a strange marking next to it that he is unsure what it means. He also learns the location runes are more closely connected to the land than the specific city.
  
• Fix studies the contracts they found at Idris and finds many references to Gond. Reading through them carefully, he realizes they are instructions for building a tool. He begins to draw up plans for this tool.
  

That evening, as the rest run their own errands, Evangeline visits Kilmoc’s office. She finds more information about Vilkaris. This is an ethereal realm where ghosts, banshees, and other similar creatures dwell. The ruling beings are the spirits. Though the realm is free, when rulings must take place, typically the spirits will banish the culprit to another realm. Evangeline also checks her book about the ancestors' names and discovers five names in relation: Curros, Hanakri, Devinkri, Valad, and Suzalad. She learns Curros was a leader in Idris and the 2nd Designer of the orreries, and Valad was a great warrior who fell in the Battle of Far Brohn. She then finds an amulet hidden among the books. She identifies it as a Life Stone.

After a night’s rest, Kadath teleports the group to Astaria and finds themselves in the lower level of the main dock house. Through some exploration, they discover this houses the dockmaster’s office, a tavern for the crews, and some resting quarters for the captains of the ships in port. In the office, they found general ledgers, but hidden in a secret drawer was another logbook. This one contained names going back 80 years with the most recent entry only 5 days earlier. Evangeline noticed the correlation of the dates next to names as dates that The Feather was in port. Kadath also pointed out magical ink that Forsythe read to be values listed next to each name.

Inside the main hall, they discovered a thriving tavern for the crews of the docked ships. Fix focused and found Andrew, the only member of the Jagged Dream present in the city. Andrew shared he was a crewman of the Blue Shark and later shared information on the ships and their captains with Fix:

• Cpt. Gallows:Sparrow (fast)
• Cpt. Stills:Seafoam (standard ship)
  
• Cpt. Waters:Blue Shark (underwater)
  
• Cpt. Scales:Wavebreaker (strong)
  
• Cpt. Pinch:The Feather (stealth).

The group also learned that The Feather and her crew ran into trouble on their last journey. They seemed to have encountered the giant sea beast that guards Salachia, a prison in the middle of one of the twin lakes. The group decides they must continue to the Twisted Spire and look into this further at a later time. They take an evening’s rest at the Blue Dolphin and head out of the city the next morning.

Episode 99