Session 38: A New World

General Summary

A Rivalry Ended

31st of Wintercrest 22nd year of the Second Era
in the The Half-Full Tankard,Meara faced off against Jerue; her old Ivorr's Hunstmen rival. Malcolm and Zuko drank casually and watched the fight, the prior ready to shoot Jerue in Meara fell. Though older, more experienced, and more powerful, Meara held her own and both were near death before Meara prevailed. 
Jerue's spells during the fight caused the dilapidated tavern to catch fire. By the time the fight was over, the building was an inferno, and The Regulators just managed to escape into the The Nightshifters hideout before it collapsed. 
Sebastian Braun served Meara a stiff drink and asked for an explanation for why Ivorr's Hunstmen were now trying to kill her. After Meara explained he lamented her having to deal with them on top of trying to stop Mantus from destroying the world. When he had spoken the words he realized he shouldn't have been able to. Malcolm explained that they had permanently prevented Mantus' return, and the old rules about not talking to the champions about him likely no longer applied. Sebastian left to deal with the burned down tavern while the party rested. 

Zuko's Heritage

Before leaving to the estate of Jarl Rupert Wasser the party visited Al-Hai's Bazaar and explored parts of the city they had never gone before, coming across the Museum of Alfardarine Culture and Artifacts. Zuko insisted on going in and the party met Lorenas, a human/elf descent man who spent most of his life collecting elven artifacts from various ruins. 
During the tour, a few exhibits caught their attention. First was a miniature replica of a temple to Gedia. Not only was it a temple to the goddess that Zuko's ancestor was champion of, but it was also the very temple he entered, losing his connection with the Cormanthor Gisiae. The was also an ancient book with information on the Fyra. 
Another exhibit had a life size replica of a tree causing the same effect that caused the party to enter the Fae Realm. Meara teased Malcolm for his previous run in with the Fae Pitcher Plant. Lorenas assured Malcolm he was nearly in the same situation once but was able to spot it before he was in range to fall under its spell. 
The final room was largely empty but dedicated to the Cormanthor Gisiae. Zuko chose to show Lorenas his restored Cormanthor Gisiae bow, and offered to give it to him for display. Lorenas was impressed and extremely thankful. He had a plaque made that read "On loan from the personal collection of Zuko Mousebane." Lorenas was excited that the piece could start bringing in more patrons, and told Zuko that he would happily pay for any further elven artifacts he found, and in return for the bow he insisted on giving Zuko a free copy of the Fyra book he had taken interest in. 

Order of the Crystal Eye

The Regulators informed Thradreg Duskchin to meet them at the Jarl's estate and made their way there on foot. When they arrived, the Jarl informed them that The Regulators were now a sanctioned guild of Palhas Province. He had them fill out paperwork to make it official and arrange for a badge identifying them and the guild to authorities in the region. 
He then closed the shutters on the windows and invited in guest that he wanted them to meet. When the guest removed their hood, the party recognized her as Alexandra Nordheim. She explained that the woman Alaric killed was magically disguised as her because she knew since she was a child that the assassination would occur, and went into hiding immediately after her inauguration.  
She was a member (and direct ancestor of an original member) of the Order of the Crystal Eye. They were all blessed with the gift of divination and aided by two artifacts owned by the order; the eyes of a slain arch angel. Her order saw the Hellige Riddere purge of information on Mantus to prevent his return, but also knew that their efforts would likely fail. As such, they passed the information down through oral tradition so that someday they would be able to aid the heirs that were responsible for defeating him again. 
The Regulators informed her that they had permanently prevented his return, and she confirmed using the "Crystal Eye" she was relieved but also emotionally overwhelmed for the thousands of years of sacrifice and planning to help them with something that would now not occur. However, she realized that they could still be of use as the Cult of Mantus, Temple of the Black Star, Orcus himself and of course her half brother Valem Ekström who had usurped the throne with the help of the the cult, would need to be dealt with. 
She told Jarl Rupert Wasser that his plan on dissolving the empire was no longer optional, as there were no more legitimate heirs and she had no intention to take the throne back for herself. While uncomfortable with the new circumstances the Jarl agreed and asked The Regulators if they would be loyal to him as opposed to the empire, which they assured him they would. The Jarl said they would have to proceed discretely until they had the military power needed to defend their claim, and not show thier hand to early. To which Malcolm replied, "You don't have to worry about showing your hand when I can change the deck." 
Everyone at the table wanted to know what their various adversaries would be doing now that Mantus was no longer on the board. Alexandra allowed them to gaze into the Temporal Ether with her to show them that the events of the new future had yet to manifest. However, one event from the near future began to ripple back towards them. Looking into it they found themselves viewing a place somewhere in the Realm of the Dead. There, cloaked figures that appeared to be part of a new cult under Orcus were performing a ritual of some sort. They removed a sarcophagus lid bearing the Drow name Rivnaerat. Inside the casket was an ancient Alfardarine corpse with a silver stake pinning it to the bottom of the sarcophagus. When the stake was removed the corpse awoke and bared the fangs of a Vampire. 
Malcolm thought back to a scary story he was told as a child about a Vampire named Rivnaerat; supposedly one of the three original and most lethal of his kind. They explained to her that they had acquired a staff that opened a portal to the Realm of the Dead, and they could possibly use it to enter the realm and stop the resurrection. She agreed that the staff was possibly intended to be used for this very thing but without the staff the only way to get the vampires to the Mortal Realm would be through a natural breach. She wouldn't know where the vision occurred until more of it became available or some research told them where they were interred. 
One of the Jarl's elite guards then interrupted and announced a "knight apparent" seeking entrance to speak to the Jarl and The Regulators. The Jarl had the new arrival brought in, and Ethed entered wearing armor bearing the insignia of the Hellige Riddere. 
To Be Continued...

Report Date

25 Oct 2020