19 Eleint 1385
Session 15
After a fruitful sleep (besides for Tayln), Us decided to take Kreilor to the markets to find some improved armour for her and possibly for himself. They stumbled upon a store known as the The Iron Parchment and met the Halfling owner named Gregory. He helped the two and the bought a set of Studded Leather for Kreilor, as the enchanted one was too much. Gregory did mention that if they were heading into the forest then he and his brother wouldn’t be opposed to lowering the price of the armour of they came across anything useful to their store, specifically anything that could be used in crafting such as ores and minerals and anything fey related that could also be used. From here, the two went back to the The Whismic Wonder and met up with the rest of the party as well as Trisys Blackfist who begrudgingly showed the group where they would be heading off to, mentioning that she wasn’t sure what would be found, and then promptly headed into the city, leading the party northwards.
After a few hours of walking, the group came to the treeline, to which Trisys spoke and once again notified them that she wasn’t completely sure what could be inside, other than sightings of a creature known as a Meenlock. From here, the party entered the forest, only to suddenly be plummeted in darkness; not too dark so the group couldn’t see, but dark enough to impede vision and see the world partially monochrome-like. Trisys navigated the group through the forest, heading north, until they eventually came across some ruins. Us recognised these ruins and, further up, the ruined city, to possibly have been an older settlement that was built around what’s known as a Moonwell - portals that were rumoured to have connections to the fey realm. Its been speculated that these Moonwells are what caused the fey’s entry and subsequent assault in earlier years, however there was no proof. With this information, the party continued on, until Trisys instructed the group to split up and search for clues or findings of Meenlocks or anyone, or anything else.
It was a this point the darkness seemed to vanish just as quickly as it appeared, seemingly to indicate it was tied to the trees, specifically the entry to the forest. The group searched for some time, until Hamwise and Kreilor managed to hear some scrapping sounds, to which they followed and came across a lone Meenlock…or so they thought. They headed back to warn the others only for the entire plateau they were on to be encompassed in darkness once more, yet this time it almost caused the day to turn to night, causing those without dark vision to struggle to see their surroundings. Meenlocks began swarming and attacking the party, causing a bit go chaos and paralysing party members as they attacked. During this, Hamwise called upon his Crimson Rite, yet something strange happened - his normal ice formed on his weapon, as well as a mist that began to emanate from him and cause confusion and chaos in his immediate area for both his enemies as well as his allies. Yet, the group managed to overcome the few Meenlocks that presented themselves and are now in the process of taking a breath to recover.
Session 16
After recovering from the Meenlocks, the party decided to take a short rest to recuperate and discuss their next move. As this occurred, Trisys Blackfist heard something strange - the beating of wings. She quickly told the group to hide and, very shortly, the entire group heard these wings. Trisys and Hamwise looked outside to see a Fey dragon materialise out of the air, and a humanoid with short brown hair, orange eyes, and pointed ears longer than any elf hop off the dragon, head to the centre pillar in the area, and appeared to open a secret passage bellow the surface. This Fey entity entered and, after 10 minutes, returned with something in his hand. The passage closed and he returned to his mount, which then began to once more disappear from view as it took off. The party slowly emerged from their hiding spot and, after Trisys said that a dragon and fey presence together sounds problematic, the group began to search for the entrance. Tayln quickly found it and opened the passage.
Upon entering, everyone quickly saw the layout of the room; bookshelves and tables, research notes and studies everywhere, potions on a wall and books across the others, a strange metallic pod with a glass surface allowing you to see inside, and a crooked tree in the centre, with its branches and leaves looking sickly, and a strange pond where its roots should be. It quickly became apparent that this room was a research lab and this strange pool of water was the Moonwell Us was talking about earlier in the day, except the surface appeared darker than it should be. Tayln looked around and grabbed a few books that was of interest to him, with Trisys also taking a few. Us managed to find a journal or sorts, and discovered it had a torn piece of paper with a map of the Moonshae Isles on it, with several dots and crosses across the map, with what appears to be names on the side. Us pockets this piece of information and the party departs.
Returning to the surface, Us attempted to close the secret passage only to be blasted back with a strong lightning spell, causing the party to jump back in shock. As this happens, a strange clapping sound with slight laughter becomes heard, with Hamwise being the first to notice that strange Fey humanoid begin to appear before them, leaning on nearby rubble, seemingly amused at Us’ predicament. He smiles and introduces himself as Gordum, a Fey emissary and the vanguard of someone known as “Her Majesty”. Us recognised this title and realised this Gordum individual was referring to the ruler of the Unseelie Court in the Feywilds, the Queen of Air and Darkness. With this revelation, the party didn’t expect Gordum to turn to Tayln and say “Well, if it isn’t Tayln…you should be dead. How did you manage to survive all this time? Now that I know you’re alive, I can’t let you remain that way after everything you’ve done.” After being briefly questioned by the party, Tayln deflected the questions and asked Gordum what he wants. As he looks over the group, he appeared to notice Trisys, causing him to say “Now that I know you’re also here, I can’t let you two leave. The rest of you may leave if you wish, or if you choose to remain then you will die with this traitor (pointed to Tayln) and this nuisance (pointed to Trisys). Hamwise decided to walk, only to turn around when he wasn’t being watched and backtrack. From here, Gordum donned his armour which was similar to Taylns except made of a darker glassy material, and appeared to activate a mechanism on his armour, allowing him to grow in size. Now, the party prepared themselves to fight this strange Fey entity.
Session 17
The party did combat with Gordum, and with his Fey dragon mount as well (Hamwise found that out the hard way). After a long and relatively gruesome battle, Us went unconscious and Gordum appeared to gaining the upper hand with his superior spells and defensive capabilities. As he unleashed a lightning bolt to severally injure a few members, Trisys pulled her shield forward, and activated her own magic, allowing the shield to absorb and reflect the spell back at Gordum, surprising him and the party and several injuring him. As the rest of the party attempted to land the killing blow on him, the Fey dragon that had been injured in the fight managed to get close enough to Gordum and teleport them both away from danger, ending the threat.
With that, the group spent a bit of time discussing what just happened, Tayln admitted to having a form of amnesia, and Trisys congratulated the group for their success but asked if they could all leave quickly as she didn’t want to get surprised again. From here, the group agreed and began their exit. Trisys said her brother would be happy with their success, causing the group to question who her brother was and why she said he was her boss, to which she said he had an operation that she wanted to be a part of and he’s ‘technically’ her boss but he is first and foremost her brother. She very quickly changed the topic and the group began their several hour long journey back to Gwynneth.
Session 18
(LEVELED UP TO 5)
The party, upon leaving for Gwynneth, began their journey back only to spot some Hell Hounds in the distance. Trisys spotted them and, although the Hellhounds appeared to not notice then party, Trisys suggested they avoid them as well as whoever these hounds were after. The party however decided against her sounds advice and began to investigate.
They began to follow the Hound’s prints and, eventually, came across a hooded figure surrounded by the two Hounds. The party quickly jumped into action and saved the stranger, who then revealed himself as Axi’nthys, who quickly thanked the party, only to then take his leave quite suddenly and awkwardly. The group, a little confused at the encounter, shrugged their shoulders and headed back towards and then into the city.
Upon entering, Trisys thanked the party and bid them farewell, causing the group to realise they never asked for any form of payment and did this deed for free. Hamwise then went invisible and followed her to the tavern known as The Bloody Violin to which he saw her enter a relatively simple room, to which he concluded that she must be poor and would be of no use robbing, so he left.
The rest of the party ventured to see Sterly Trigg once more to ask for a place to stay, to which he politely asked if they could stay at a tavern as, although he appreciates the gift his daughter sent him, they were strangers to him and that his house is indeed also a shop and he would prefer if they sought accommodation elsewhere. The party understood, and began their journey to a tavern, meeting with Hamwise on their return trip, and headed to The Bloody Violin as it was the closest to them.
Session 19
Upon arriving to The Bloody Violin, the party was met with a loud yet charming tavern, with a large chandelier in the centre of the room, hung from high above as the central area opened up to several balconies on the above landing, allowing patrons from above to look down upon those below. They found a table and began to discuss their next move, whether to head back to Caer Callidyrr by boat, by airship, or by the teleportation circle they arrived through initially. As this discussion occurred, one party member went over to order drinks from the bartender Lantern and, upon returning, the party agreed to go back through the teleportation circle as it was the cheapest and the quickest.
As these discussions were happening, Us noticed every so often a raven appear and squawk, landing somewhere on a railing, and a strange hooded figure seem to appear from the shadows, blink at the sudden light, look confused, and walk back into the shadows to disappear once more, with the raven following. Trisys Blackfist eventually came down from her room wearing common clothes and her hair taken out of its braid, smiling to the party, and heading over to the bar, striking up conversation with Lantern who beamed at her. Some more discussion occurred when, suddenly, the party felt and heard a large thud from under their table and a yelp of pain, followed by a bird squawk again. Out from under crawled the stranger from only hours before, Axi’nthys, and his raven. After some more formal introductions and pleasantries, Axi’nthys explained that it appeared he had displeased his patron who, as punishment, was forcing him to run into the party until, he assumed, the party allowed him to join until his patron said otherwise. Trisys also appeared interested in Axi’nthys from afar and seemed to slowly watch him less as the night went on. However it was mentioned by a passerbyer as well as Trisys of an event known as the Autumn Equinox Festival that would be occuring in both Caer Corwell and Caer Callidyrr, and she asked if they would stick around for that or experience it back in Alaron. They said they would head back, to which Trisys once again thanked them for their help and saying farewell with the promise they would see eachother again soon.
After some more conversations and a close call with some toxic glowstick liquid Tayln poured from his Alchemy Jug (which the raven appeared to love), the party got some rooms and settled in for the night, with Kreilor playing her flute in the room, Us discussing with his underlings some important details through his mirror, and the rest of the party preparing for sleep.