21 Eleint 1385
Session 21
The party reconvened the following day, with the majority of the Autumn Equinox Festival in tow. They went about their business as normal during some of the day, yet still managed to find some time to partake in some activities throughout the city. One such activity involved a knife throwing game with targets getting repeatedly harder to hit the further they were. Hamwise managed to hit 2/4 of the targets, winning a consolation prize. Kreilor attempted a climbing challenge against some children only to fall halfway up as she slips on part of her rope, noticing a section was covered in a faint slimy substance causing her to loose her grip, fall, and have her pride wounded slightly. They also came across a fortunetellers abode where, upon entering, a voice asked if the group wished to have their fortune spoken to them. Sceptical, the group agreed and a fortune was heard;
“In the moon’s hidden glow, destiny’s threads intertwine, a friend’s presence unknown, a bond divine.
Beware the violin’s serenade, a melody that may enthrall, concealing a darker charade.
To cherish friends with every beat, for fate’s veiled hand may soon sweep.
The sands of time run swift and fleet, grasp each moment, love complete.
For when shadows cast their fateful might, those cherished shall be your guiding light.”
With this fortune read, the mysterious voice appeared to hesitate after reciting, yet appeared to continue their act and thanked the group for participating in their reading. The group, slightly confused, left, and continued on with their night, yet Hamwise soon returned and asked for his own private reading. Once again, the mysterious voice spoke;
“In shadows deep, a halfling’s heart does quiver,
Cursed luck entwined, a fate to deliver.
Yet fear’s cold grasp shall find its end,
As courage rises, a true path to mend.
Through valleys of doubt, the halfling treads,
A destiny shrouded in veils of threads.
With every step, the darkness they face,
They forge their own luck, a triumphant embrace.
No curse too strong to thwart their will,
They rise above, their spirits fulfill.
For fear shall falter, and luck shall change,
As the halfling’s heart finds a courage exchange.
In the crucible of trials, they find their way,
Guided by strength to a brighter day.
So let the curse wither, the shadows recede,
As the halfling claims victory through valorous deed.”
With this reading, Hamwise left once more, returning to the group and their activities as the afternoon, then the evening comes. Soon, the group makes their way to the theatre where they are met by Svetlana Trigg, Anthol Spyley and Penelope Rock, who greet the group, and begin to take their front row seats. Anthol and Penelope however leave as they appeared to have forgotten something elsewhere and promise to return swiftly. As the party takes their seats, the lights dim, the red curtains are drawn back, and two figures appear on the stage, two Eladrin, elves altered by the Feywild. Above their heads is a banner labelled “The Twins”, and as these two Eladrin bring out their violins, they begin to perform. They began to serenade the crowd with their music, aweing those who beheld their music. As the music was beign played, Us noticed something strange…one of the twins, the female summer Eladrin, began to move away from their violin. The instrument remained floating in the air and the music continued to play, however the female Eladrin began to stare at Us, and out of nowhere a glaive and shield manifested in their hands. Looking to the male winter Eladrin, Us noticed he continued to play, yet was also looking at Us. As Us began to wonder what was about to go down and began to sit up in his chair, something above him caught his eye. He looked and, to his surprise, Sckips was crouched on the wooden beams above them, appearing to be hiding behind one of the pillars. he could see she was wearing her normal attire, although a bit dirtier, and noticed some broken manacles around one of her wrists. As he followed her gaze, he noticed what looked like a bronze dragonborn and two humans on a nearby beam looking down at the audience. Us couldn’t hear what was being said, but they appeared to be watching and waiting for something. As Us looked back to Sckips, he noticed she was looking back, and they made eye contact.
As this happened, the three others on the ramparts began to stand and, almost without a second thought, stepped off the beam onto the stage with a loud crash. The Twins happened to be watching Us and his gaze, also noticing Sckips and now these strangers landing on the stage. As the two humans appeared from the broken wood, they began to grow and change, revealing themselves to be large scaled draconians known as Draconian Dreadnaughts, or Sivak Draconians; creatures born from twisted and corrupted silver, blue, or sapphire dragon eggs. The other draconian, known as an Aurak Draconian began to levitate slightly off the stage, and a flaming symbol appeared before him - a now very familiar symbol the party has seen several times now, mostly burned into thieves and gnolls. A black and hooked trident symbol, flaming red across the back of this Aurak for all to see. From here, the draconians began their small assault on the theatre, moving into the crowds, attacking the civilians and the party. The Twins appeared to call out, the female Eladrin appearing to almost rush to Sckips, yet ran with her twin into the back of the stage to escape. The party managed to dispatch the draconians, with only small losses, yet the party now had many questions to answer…
Who are the Twins really? Why is Sckips back so soon? Why did these draconians appear all of a sudden? And what the fuck is up with that symbol gain?
Session 22 (and 22.5)
The group managed to see Svetlana Trigg after defeating the draconions and, after a brief introduction, also was met by Amethyst, one of the more well known elders of The Circle of the Gilded. Although rushed, Svetlana asked the party to leave the theatre and sweep part of the city in case this was not an isolated incident. From here, the group left to find any disturbances and to check on their own businesses just to be on the safe side.
As the group went through the city, they began to discuss. They asked Sckips what happened to which she said there was just a misunderstanding and it should all be sorted soon, and the group had their own ideas about the attack and the symbol. Quite soon, they came across the smell of smoke and steel clashing against steel. The party hurried their pace to find some nearby buildings slowly becoming encased in fire and some civilians laying dead in the street close by a bridge where, as the party got closer, saw it was a slaughter. A couple of what appeared to be undead knights were laying waste to a battalion of militia, appearing to cleave some in two with the onslaught of attacks. The party rushed in to save them, managing to keep a couple of guards from death yet most, including the captain, succumbed to the darkness. There were a few close calls with Us and Kreilor as well, however the party managed to overcome these undead knights and defeat them. Now that the party could breath, they finally realised the blades of these knights also held the same trident symbol in their cross guard of the blade, as well as the magic inside prevented any form of healing to occur for a short time. This raised even more questions, yet also began to answer a few.
Session 23
After the defeat (and promptly robbing the poor dead and unconscious guards), the group decided that since this attack on the city wasn’t an isolated incident, they decided to head over to their shops to see if there’s been any damage or issues in the area. They began to walk the 15 minutes or so to the main street their shops were near and began to walk to Talyns store first. Us and Hamwise noticed as they began to walk that, even though it was late, the street should be bustling. Maybe even seen a few people. At the very least they should be able to hear people. But nothing. The street was eerily silent and abandoned, giving Hamwise a bad feeling in particular. They approached Crystal Clear Creations and immediately knew something was wrong as they saw the front door appeared to have a burn mark on the front. Once again, the hooked trident symbol appeared before them. They also noticed some liquid splattered on the inside of the winder. With a sickening feeling, the group quickly walked inside, Talyn leading the way. They noticed that the inside appeared for the most part in tact, with some broken glass on the floor and some wood moved, with yet another burn symbol burned behind the counter. As they got closer, they noticed Sigen Kursk unconscious leaning against the wall. After checking on him, they discovered he was still alive but uncionsious. They helped him to consciousness, made sure he was alright, and checked Talyns room, finding it slightly moved as if someone only briefly went through it, but nothing appeared taken.
Moving on towards Top Tinctures and Tonics, the group came across a similar scene with the burnt hooked trident on the front door…however the door was broken half off its hinges. Upon entering, they saw the shop in total chaos. The potion stacks had been thrown onto the ground, a mixture of tonics all mixed together amongst the wooden floor, and the smell of blood on the nose. They looked around and noticed the unfortunate headless corpse of Hildo the elf, a Guild member, laying in a pool of his own blood, and his head dagger into the wall, a blank look across his features. The group quickly headed upstairs to see Hamwise’s room for anything and noticed bloody boot prints heading towards his room, but similar to Talyns, not much appeared to have been touched. At this stage, Hamwise felt a faint connection in the back of his mind, a familiar tug he has felt many times over, yet never from this individual. Yet as he focuses, he feels almost a familiar presence in his mind, feeling Penelope Rock only for a brief moment, as the connection fades. Hamwise brings this to the group, and with a heavy sense of unease that only continues to grow, the party begins to head to The Divine Park, dreading what they may come across.
Upon getting closer, the streets appeared to suddenly have life; families coming out of their homes to see the commotion, some guards in the area observing, a handful of party-goes making some noise in the streets, and the noise of voices and distress around a corner. Hurrying closer, the party noticed a group of guards surrounding The Divine Park, holding a small crowd back as they called and asked what’s happened inside the shop, with the guards appearing equally confused yet attempting to calm the small crowd. Approaching, the party asked the guards what happened, to which they said there was loud noises and possible magic coming from inside, causing a scene, yet even though the noise had stopped, no one had left and the guards were too busy stopping people from investigating to look themselves. Through multiple means, the group made their way inside and came across the shop in a similar look of chaos to Hamwise’s shop, with Anthol Spyley laying still on the ground, barely breathing with multiple wounds, and Penelope stuck to the wall by daggers in her wings. Next to her, a note:
Let this be a warning.
We know who you are and where you are.
We are coming for you.
Omaric.
A guard member noticed these as they followed, took notes, and informed the party that they would disperse the crowd and take the two away to get healed up. The group left the house and began to discuss their next move, until a few members noticed The Twins from earlier, Ancelle Ytrairom and Urivis Ytrairom, waiting along the other side of the road, not appearing aggressive but definitely appearing to be waiting for something. Us telepathically called them over and they had a brief discussion where proper introductions were given, and Urivis mentioned their occupation of bards and part-time bountyhunters. They weren’t actively looking for Sckips and Us, however they ran into Sckips on the way to their performance in Caer Callidyrr and joined the dots together and began their bounty hunting. They apologised for their behaviour but explained the situation, and agreed they wouldn’t continue with the bounty if Us and Sckips went and spoke to Sckips’ parents and settled the bounty. They did however express that if the party did not agree to their part and instead ignored the bounty and continued on their own and the Twins saw, then in a few weeks they would be back. Us gave Urivis a sending stone so they could keep in contact for the future, and the Twins went on their way. With this, the party now turned to each other, wondering where to go next.