The Return: Session #16
General Summary
The heroes came home to a warm welcome from the people of Barrowmista.
The next morning after a good night's rest, Sheriff Hemlock brought them mugs of coffee and expressed his gratitude they were home and safe. He did note there had been some disappearances in town the past couple of weeks, but it wasn't unusual for people to move on without notice. He was sad that the midwife, Hannah Velerin, was one of those that left.
Wanting to know more about the Runelords, the heroes visited with the Shung scholar Brodert Quink. They found him bruised and his home a disaster. He sheepishly explained it was due to a failed experiment he had recruited Tiny Tymm to help him with. He had hoped to recreate the process that created the runelords... to give enscribe himself with a word from the language of creation. It had failed with an arcane explosion. Quink wasn't sure why it failed.
While the heroes tried to dissuade Quink from further experiments, they did learn three names of the ancient runelords:
Alaznist, Runelord of Wrath
Belimarius, Runelord of Envy
Karzoug, Runelord of Greed
Every time the last name was spoken, Kurdan felt a wave of energy pass through the room.
The heroes took some time to rest and make new potions, and were visited by Theo of the Stevadors.
He came with an offer from the leader of the Stevadors. They wanted the heroes to use their magical lute to build them a new headquarters. The heroes were interested, and Theo said when they were ready to return to Harcourt... a meeting would be arranged.
In hopes of finding a source of powerful poison to enchant Kurdan's axe, the heores had the clever idea of visiting the seediest bar in Barrowmista: The Fatman's Feedbag. They found a hostile crowd that didn't appreciate the visit from the celebrated heroes. The mood became a bit friendlier when they bought a round of drinks for everyone.
After some stumbling, they connected with the town smuggler. He arranged, for a hefty fee, to get some wyvern poison.
As they waited for the delivery, Bartuk worked on making dragon dust.
The heroes received a note form the urban druid, Danalise, saying she knew of a wyvern family nesting in a mountain pass. The Benu Academy had plans to hunt them, and she thought the heroes could killed one of the wyverns and drive off the rest of the pack.
Receiving the wyvern poison, Bartuk and Tiny Tymm made their first attempt on permanently enchanting an item with magic. They performed the ceremony beautifully, and Kurdan's axe was now enchanted to go "spider" hunting.
Returning to Harcourt, they met with Kesi Thom, the leader of the Stevadors. She explained they wanted a new headquartes across the river from Harcourt. The heroes used the negotiations for payment to arrange transportation to a large lake far from the lands of Kaduna. They hoped to build a shrine to the crocodile in a safe place. Kesi agreed, but they would have to leave that day and would be left in the jungle for a week before they were picked up again.
The heroes decided they wanted to hire a skilled lute player, but were delayed by a impromptu meeting with the Seneschal of Harcourt: Neolandus Kale
Neolandus thanked the heroes for destroying the Skinsaw Men cult, but due to the leader of the cult being a Justice of Harcourt... they thought it best if it was kept secret. While they could not rewards the heroes publically, they wanted to pay them for a simple job of checking up on a Green Company for on the northern end of Kaduna. The heroes agreed to attend the problem once they got back from their safari.
Going to the The Playhouse, they asked the owner if he knew of any experienced lute players immediately available. He introduced them to a couple of lute players, and they hired Oba Musa.
With supplies and Oba, they returned just in time to ride Steve out into the wilds. They found the lands outside of Kaduna a thick untamed jungle. They were surprised to see signs of civilization around the lake, but it looks to have been abandoned years ago.
They landed by the lake in a place that had the resources they needed to build the shrine, and they bid Steve farewell.
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