Session 42: The New Duke and Interludes

General Summary

The party discussed what to with Tigs. Since he was no longer Not-Levi, he seemed to have no identity of his own. The party discussed executing him, so that he would not bother them again. They also considered turning him over to the Duke, though the general assumption was that then he would be interrogated, tortured, and then executed. They considered loosing him into The Feywild or allowing him to leave in the mortal realm, but did not know if he would return to the hags or if he would remain a threat. Finally, the party came to a consensus. They would take him to Wistari and ask for his advice on what Tigs was and what threat he could pose. Depending on Wistari's advice, the party would make their decision, possibly turning him over to the Duke if necessary.   Settled on their decision the party left Malthus' warehouse to head back to the League, but saw a commotion outside and the Queen's Guard speaking to some of the Duke's guard. Tertius made his way to speak to one of the guards to find out what was happening and he discovered that the Queen's Guard were here to take Duke Greyhall to Caer Cenwynn where he would be put under house arrest at one of the Queen's estates until he served trial for crimes of treason against the Crown. No specifics of the nature of the charges were determined, but the party was aware that Not-Levi handed a fake report from the Duke to the Queen and did not know if the charges stemmed from it.   Tertius and Levi remained at Eastbridge to manage the transfer of power, while the others returned to the League Hall where they found the raucous group of kobolds with Reggie. The kobolds urged Donk to jump from the second floor stairs and he was not knocked unconscious from the fall, so there was a great cheer among them. Over the next week, Tertius managed affairs in Eastbridge, though the party was determined to head to Caer Cenwynn to give the Queen the real letter as well as to take Tigs to Wistari. However, during that time, everyone managed their own affairs.   During the downtime, the party identified Not-Levi's cloak to be the Cloak of the Nords, offering the wearer Resistance to Cold damage. The acorns found on Not-Levi were determined to be charmed acorns that would eventually grow into oak trees that would become treants--though this transformation might not occur for decades to a century.   The party also translated the letter from the Orleander soldier, which read:   Prefect Canina,

We have fallen behind schedule. The time table of our allies has deterred our swift advancement. Should a pagan Well be missed, we are delayed for an entire month to wait for another moon for our bestial allies' fruitless cause. This disrupts our timetable for the first thaw of spring. You have the signal for Albus Calor, use it if necessary. The goal is to destroy these pagan blights, not add to the strength of bestial heretics. I expect you and the other prefects to personally lead expeditions to these pagan sites and destroy them and return us to schedule.   In the All-Father's name,   Legatus Leander Triarius    

Bolvaic

  With assistance from Illevaere, Bolvaic found a place to plant the seeds from the apple given to him from the Emissary of the Stag King. Also during that time, Aralmeni Caskhood arrived to escort Bolvaic to the shrine where she saw his family's name, Boradrak. She led him through the Gallymoore Mountains to Sunder Peak, the tallest of the mountains in the range. They climbed through near hidden pathes in biting cold and snow and arrived at the open top of the peak. There was an open shrine to Ctenmillar. Aralmeni explained that while it is unusual for dwarves to have an open air place, it was built in dedication to the first dwarves who dug their tunnels and first broke free to the surface--the openness was frightening and alien to the dwarves, but the saw the sun and felt its warm and they realized that it was the light and heat from Ctenmillar's forge and they were eased in this new surface place. This shrine was built at the highest point to be nearest to Ctenmillar's forge, so that the light and heat from it could bask upon the craftsmanship and Ctenmillar could looks down upon the shrine.   Since then, followers of Ctenmillar would bring their greatest works and rest them at this high point for Ctenmillar to look upon their craftsmanship and they would be left here. However, Ctenmillar would not want good craftsmanship to go to waste, so any in need could take one of the items and use it, leaving behind a work of their own. In this half-snow buried shrine, Aralmeni showed Bolvaic where she had seen the name and led him to a maul among the items left before. In dwarven runes on the head of the maul read the name "Grudgetaker" and along the staff-like hilt was the name Boradrak. The dwarves often marked their family name with sigils to depict what generation it referred to and by the markings, Bolvaic realized that it was the maul of his grandfather.   Taking the maul, Bolvaic asked if Aralmeni would like to sit and watch the forge set with him and the pair sat in the shrine watching the sun set over the mountains. Upon their return trek home, Bolvaic took two winter flowers, pressing one into his belongings and offering the other to Aralmeni who accepted it.   Once returned, Bolvaic discovered the maul's powers, including the ability to name a "grudge" against a person, which would cause extra damage to the named person. However, the grudge remains in the maul until the named person is dead or destroyed and Bolvaic found that there was a name still within Grudgetaker--the name Fulskorri. While the name meant nothing to Bolvaic at the moment, Ilbryen researched and found that Fulskorri was the name of a Frost Giant in the isles to the north--a grudge left unsettled by his grandfather, though for what purposes was unknown.    

Bronwyn

  During the time waiting, Malthus contacted Bronwyn to find another book, asking for a book titled A Hunter's Almanac, or failing recovering the whole book, simply bringing page 57. The book was found in an old forgotten library that was in partial ruins and decay. Bronwyn found the book, which seemed ordinary by all means and the page Malthus wanted was merely a mundane explanation of how to tan leather from hides. Within the library was a single skeleton wearing rusted armor seated in a chair. Upon inspection, Bronwyn discovered that the rapier at the skeleton's side was untouched by rust or decay. Examining the corpse, it collapsed, offering little clue as to what caused its demise.   Bronwyn took the rapier, which she discovered was called "Flickerflash" and offered a bit of speed and protection for its wielder. She also asked Malthus about the nature of the books that he is collecting, as they all seem to be unrelated and mundane tomes. He explained that they all have something unique about them. Each of the books has an author who, after the authorship of the book, had gone insane years later in their life. He did not mention more about it past that, but it was more information about Malthus' searching than she had prior.    

Ilbryen

  Ilbryen took her time to help the kobolds at the League Hall to study, and their presence had a calming and disciplining effect on the kobolds. They discovered that there was a schism in the Kobold clan, as those who still followed Ydarion and believed him to be a god did not approve of the kobolds who ventured out to the Guild Hall. They felt as if it might ultimately divide the clan further, but for now, it was at least tolerated. However, the likelihood of a violence schism and break seemed very possible in the future.   As Ilbryen taught the kobolds, spreading knowledge and lore to a group that was denied it until this point, the power of their Metatext grew, offering new abilities as Ilbryen furthered their god's dogma by spreading literacy and knowledge.    

Illevaere

  Illevaere woke one morning to find that their Cloak of the Decomposer was missing. They quickly found markings along the floor as the cloak seemed to have been dragged from their room. The trail led downstairs to where Reggie said that he saw Illevaere's sprout dragging the cloak, but did not interfere as interfering was the kind of thing that got him yelled at by Illevaere. Illevaere followed the trail outside and finally found the cloak in a damp, dark gulley near the river. Spout was with the cloak and waved happily to Illevaere at their approach. The moss and fungus on the cloak seemed to have grown deeper and fuller and as Illevaere retrieved the cloak, they found that it had grown in power.   Illevaere also took time to take several pumpkins from their patch and dedicate one to each of the party, offering them to Caena to disease and rot in the place of Illevaere's companions, so that they would be spared from Caena's wrath.    

Levi

  Levi spent his time with Tertius, who was very unhappy with his new role and responsibilities, but also took the time to continue to learn to read. He also had his grandfather's book back from Not-Levi and had someone help him to translate it from Rhytham. The book was the journal of Obadiah Larsen, Levi's maternal grandfather. He wrote about Ufur, The Great Bear that visited him in his dreams and how Ufur asked Obadiah if he would look after his people. Obadiah was young, but agreed. He wrote about Hofsa, the village where Levi was raised, and how it was attacked by members of the Book Tribes, and how he first transformed into a bear during one of these attacks and he fought off the attackers.   Obadiah moved to a cabin outside of Hofsa after that, he be continued to watch over and protect the village. He write that when Levi was born, he saw the markings of a bear on him and he did not know if Levi would change or not. He also did not know if Ufur would visit Levi to help him with his transition if he did, so that is why he started to write the journal--to help guide Levi should he change.   Obadiah talked about how he first that that the moon brought anger and rage, but found that what it really brought was passion, and if one's passions are pure, the moon can be tempered. Near the end of the journal, Obadiah writes that members of the Blood Tribes had grown more organized and that it was a bad sign. They are typically too chaotic to organize, but something has changed. He writes that he is going off to find answers and he is leaving the book to Levi in case he does not return and Levi changes.    

Tiarjead

  With the presence of the party at the League Hall more regular, some of the kobolds grew a bit closer with Tiarjead. They told her of the schism and divide of their clan and the fighting with those that still followed Ydarion. The tolerance granted to the kobolds who were coming to the League Hall was diminishing and they feared that it might become violent. One of the kobolds, however, told her about a band of adventurers who came to fight Ydarion, but were slain by the dragon. However, he was able to steal one of their items before Ydarion claimed it all and he brought to he a war pick. After attuning to the weapon, Tiarjead found that it was named Darkslayer and offered a variety of new powers.