6 Thunsheer 835

Traveling away from the prison on the Empire’s horses, you faced a 10 hour day on the road before you reached the nearest major roadway that would provide potential safety to camp. Along the way, you got to know your fellow companions and discussed the implications of the mole hunt, and the mark on Katerina and Scrum‘s arms. In the conversation, you learned about Cassandra and Della‘s Finding Benedict quest and more about your fellow Thieves on the Run.

Along the road, you found the fellow escapee’s Ratkus and Kigan over the body of Sednos, the drow who was tortured by the Assembly Mage. He was in his final moments before Della cast Cure Wounds and brought him back, saving his life. In his gratitude, he thanked the party and said they have gained an ally in the Kryn Dynasty. This revelation caused Scrum and Della to begin asking about The Luxon Beacon which led to Sednos realizing that they had the beacon and that it was taken from Marcus Arralyn. Sednos offered them cooperation because of their aid to him and explained that the beacon is not a weapon of destrcution as the Assembly believes but instead the power of life itself which, if unlocked, will allow the Assembly to exist… forever, mutating in their evil until they are the very destruction they seek a weapon for. Despite Scrum’s request, Sednos and his allies cannot take the Beacon, as they do not have souls, so the Beacon would destroy them. Instead, he asks them to travel to Felderwin and speak with Demaris Franc who can give them access to the Dynasty itself. He also gave them a symbol, his symbol, copper plated with a symbol of the beacon with an infinity symbol through the center which, with the Beacon, will convince the Dynasty to give them “anything” they could want.

Continuing down the road, they encountered a hag luring traveler’s into her tent with baked goods and promises of fortunes read, before sucking their life force away. At least, she did, before they killed her, leaving only dust and an echoing laugh in her stead.
Later, they encountered a brain dead gnome riding an undead wooly mammoth carrying a large ruby carved into the shape of an acorn and a letter addressed to “Lady Urdorna of the Lake”. The letter states the intention of the Hardacker Gnome clan to make peace with the lady in order to share the Quosarka Jungle’s resources. They intend to offer her some of their most valuable collecteds (sic) as a symbol of their desired cooperation and partnership. It also mentions a large group of gnomes who would bring them to her.

Finally, as the sun’s last light faded beyond the horizon, they arrived at the Gilded Stop, a caravan stop at the bend of the gilded roadway, two miles north of Port Dimali. They make camp and prepare to settle in for the night after a long, hard day.

After arriving in the Guilded Caravan camp, you settled in and found a place to camp among the crowded caravan stop. However, after only an hour of rest, you were woke by Applethorn on watch and the screams of several individuals across the camp. Quickly you discovered that two shadow-y monstrosity’s from another plane had entered the camp and killed the inhabitants of two tents and their mercenary guardians. After dispatching the monsters, you explored/pilfered the victims tents. Inside, you discovered that their bodies had been stripped of all identifiying marks and hair while the insides had been liquified. One of the tents, where a partner of a new marriage survived, had very little of interest except 30 gold pieces, which Cassie left with the widow, and a talisman with a single eye imposed over a flaming palm. Despite the appearance of the talisman being religious in origin, Cassie didn’t recognize the symbol.

In the other tent, of two persons with superior wealth, Della, Applethorn and Scrum found a large collection of unmarked chests mostly containing a multitude of weapons, including gun powder and the plans for two other firearms, as well as letters between the Myriad leadership and the Clovis Concord. It appears that these weapons were going to be delivered to one of these parties but it’s unclear who the recipient was or what their intentions were. Similarly, it is unclear who was delivering them, before the attack. These mysteries kept until tomorrow, though, as you finally, graciously, found a night’s rest.

Having been taken to an Imperial outpost, the party was held below the guard barracks in a collection of cells with five other prisoners; a tiefling, Kigan, a minotaur, Ratkus, and a heavily tortured Drow, Sednos. With the help of Cassie‘s feathers, Amira managed to pick the locks of the cell doors and explore around. When A Strange Mage came down and took Scrum and Katerina upstairs, the rest of the party made a break for it. Amira, Della, Applethorn, and Cassie subdued the guards with the help of Kigan and Ratkus, while Katerina was held in the stocks and Scrum was interrogated by the Mage, who believed that she and Katerina broke the beacon after they stole it.

Scrum managed to convince the mage that the Beacon was broken before they got it because of a mole in their organization. This tapped into a competitive edge and hatred for Marcus Arrayln that the mage seems to have, though her providing that information made one of the drow prisoners irrelevant. Meanwhile, the four in the guardhouse made their way to the tower and found their belongings before heading to the stables.

Scrum escaped the mage while he was distracted by Katerina, and they both offered to take him to the strange fey creature they encountered the night of their arrest. In order to escape, Scrum offered to take the mage back to this creature, but instead, he branded both her and Katerina and told them to return the mole to him, here, at the outpost, in two weeks time. If not, he will kill them, via the brand. He mentioned that perhaps the other escapees, the rest of the party, can assist them…