Adventure Three, Session Twelve

EXT. THE WEST DOCKS - EVENING
When we last left our heroes they had just "recovered" from another dream-like fugue state, in which they witnessed and participated in a major event from the history of the Southron nations. Finally coming back to the present, they were reunited with the crew of The Doubtful, along with the previously missing halfling, Adi Longhollow (who returned with gifts).
The party decided their next step, given that they had but a few hours left before their rendezvous with the Inheritrix Naiya Arabata, should be to offload the severed head of the crime boss Garvistan to Vandergraff (the Vizier to the Grand Hassir) and The Consummata (the Court Magician). As they descended the gang plank of the ship to the docks below, they noticed two men watching them close by. Soon the two parties intersected and the mysterious watchers revealed themselves to be agents of Vandergraff's, sent to escort them to a meeting at The Silent Room.
The party trusted them enough to enter their carriage, parked in a nearby alley (in order to keep things "secret"), and thankfully they were actually taken to their intended destination.
INT. THE SILENT ROOM - EVENING
Once inside, the party was escorted by the majordomo to one of the private rooms, where Vandergraff and the Consummata awaited. Mangy turned over the head of Garvistan, and Vandergraff paid the party with a decent sack of coins. The vizier then asked if they'd like to witness the ritual involving Garvistan's head. The party acceded, and the Consummata instantly went to work. She slowly weaved a spell through motion and arcane whispers, ultimately leading to the "awakening" of the severed head.
It took a moment to get Garvistan acclimated to his current condition, but Vandergraff convinced the crime lord that if he answered his questions true, he'd be allowed to find peace in the afterlife. He then proceeded to ask the head about the nature of the assassination attempt on the Grand Hassir. Garvistan explained that the assassination attempt was merely a misdirection, and not the actual goal. In reality, the assassin was covering for a thief, who used the chaos to attempt to steal a "rug" from the royal chambers beyond the throne room of Hassakhan House. The party asked for more clarity about the rug, and soon deduced that Garvistan simply didn't know what the word "tapestry" meant, but indeed it was one.
Vandergraff seemed rather amazed at this realization, as if he truly didn't know about the plan. After allowing the crime boss's soul to pass on to the "next world," Vandergraff questioned the party as to their knowledge of the tapestry. They told him the truth. About everything. The dreams. Witnessing the creation of The Tapestry of Meeros Tilva, the whole bit. Vandergraff thanked them, explaining that it was of the utmost importance to keep this a secret, even from Naiya and her court.
The party, running out of time, still wished to complete a few tasks before their royal appointment. They excused themselves and hailed a carriage to take them to "The Travelers of the Mind," the magic shoppe they'd previously visited.
Once there, they proceeded to procure a few new items. Mangy purchased a few "pebbles" that became Fireballs once thrown at a target. Warren purchased a spell to allow him to Find a Familiar, so that he could have a tiny companion at his side. After finishing their magical business, the group finally headed to the royal palace of Hassakhan House.
INT. HASSAKHAN HOUSE - NIGHT
The party was greeted by Valuum Tithlan and escorted to the throne room, where Naiya awaited. Naiya was dressed for the road, wearing noble clothes with an intricate cloak to shield her from prying eyes. Magister Clickwild wore a similar cloak. Eager to leave, she stepped down from the throne and approached the party. A moment later, another member of the Valuum, another northern man named Walton, approached. He demanded, upon order of Naiya's uncle - Ederitch Serasnian, to accompany the party. At least to the teleportation chamber. After consulting with the party, Naiya agreed, if only to speed things along.
The group then walked behind the throne to the private chambers beyond, where they found a spiral staircase leading up. Everyone ascended the stairs, leading to a spire atop the royal palace. And in the spire, a lone door leading to a 60 foot drop outside. Clickwild placed his hand against a glyph on the wall, and suddenly a glass-like bridge shimmered into existence, extending nearly 200 feet from the door to a similar door at The Tower of Light beyond.
Impatient, Mangy ran for it, stumbling and falling off the unprotected ledge. As it seemed he would plummet to his death, suddenly he bounced right back onto the bridge (and onto his belly), lifted by some arcane force. The rest of the group reached him in a more causal manner, and the party proceeded to the door at the Tower of Light. Here they were allowed entry by two tower guards, and greeted within by an apprentice named Pither, "Assistant to the Head of the Order."
INT. THE TOWER OF LIGHT - NIGHT
Pither led them to an platform, above which a long shaft ascended to the top of the tower, unimpeded by any stairs or platforms. Just a straight line up. Suddenly, and at Pither's command, the party rocketed up to the top of the tower, sling shot like a rubber band. Amazingly, they didn't crash into the top of the tower, and they didn't instantly plummet back down. Rather they found the platform still beneath their feet and one large room in front of them. The teleportation chamber...
Once inside the chamber, which featured a large circular dais which likely served as the teleportation platform, the party was greeted by Prentan, the Custodian responsible for arcane travel within the tower. He recommended that only four teleport at a time, and now Walton was demanding to go the full distance. It was finally agreed to that the first group to transport would consist of Walton, Naiya, Mangy and Sendry.
The four stepped upon the platform, now noticing that what appeared to be a bay window just behind it, was actually just a 200 foot, unprotected drop to the garden outside. Prentan began his ritual by which he would transport the group. However, in the middle of things, everyone began to smell something sulfuric. Warren noted that this ritual should not contain any use of sulfur and warned the group. Mangy and Sendry quickly decided the best action would be to end the ritual, but they couldn't get Prentan to agree. Instead, they grabbed Naiya and rushed off the platform. And just in time...
Suddenly, the entire platform EXPLODED in a shower of debris, instantly incinerating Walton and Prentan, and sending the rest of the travelers flying through the air (back towards their comrades).
Once the smoke cleared, the party assessed the damage. None of the original party had been severely hurt, and the inheritrix was fine. Walton and Prentan were dead, and there was charred rocks and debris everywhere.
Within moments, they heard footsteps and yelling from beyond the chamber. Naiya and the party agreed that the killer could be anyone at court, and thus they slammed and barred the door to the room. Thankfully a thick wooded bar was available to hold the door from the inside. Just as they secured it, Tithlan and his men began banging on the door, demanding access.
Sendry yelled back that they couldn't open it, and some other confusing things, which only exasperated Tithlan. Meanwhile the party decided what to do. Quickly it was agreed that they must get out of the city and continue their mission on foot. They still had time to get the inheritrix to Sage. Mangy decided to use his flying carpet to transport the remaining party in groups small enough for the magic item's carry capacity. He first took Naiya and Tommison, flying them out of the open bay window towards the safety of a residential rooftop roughly 600 feet away.
His plan was to return for the others immediately after. Clickwild, for his part, knew he'd have to climb down the side of the building (he was too heavy for the carpet) and offered to take one of the party on his back. The minotaur Tesken agreed to hop on, and the two began slowly scaling down the tower.
That left only Sendry and Warren. They decided to play the innocent victims and let Tithlan and his men in. They opened the door, intending to talk their way out of things, only to find no sympathy from the Valuum... or the Custodial Master sent along with them. This Master was a powerful mage, and member of the order tasked with defending the tower through arcane means. They demanded the two line up against the wall, which they begrudgingly did.
About this time, Mangy flew back on the carpet and witnessed what was happening through the open window. He lowered himself on the carpet to just below the window, where he couldn't be see. However, the Master Mage seemed to "sense" something and headed towards the window to check. Sendry moved quick, and the moment Tithlan was distracted by his men (who were now searching the rubble for any signs of Naiya) struck out. He hit Tithlan with a stunning blow, and the man was seemingly frozen in place. He then rushed like the wind for the open window and leaped out!
Unfortunately, Mangy was not directly below him as he fell. More fortunately, the dwarf was quick enough to redirect the carpet into Sendry's path, catching him before he fell to his death.
Back inside, Warren cast a spell to "entrance" the remaining Valuum soldiers and the Master Mage. They all suddenly fell into an almost hypnotic state, unable to do anything other than stare at a bizarre illusion created by the warlock. Warren used the distraction and ran for the window as well. However, the Master Mage was more powerful than expected, and snapped out of the spell just as Warren was passing by.
Warren cast a Fly spell in order to safely carry himself out and down, but as he passed the mage, the Custodian shot out his fingers and a Lightning Bolt crackled forth, striking the warlock. Severely injured, but still kicking, Warren managed to escape through the window before the mage could catch him.
At this time the carpet began to putter out, and Mangy knew he had but a few moments to get to the ground before the thing pooped out completely. He dove it straight down and to the side, in order to get out of the line of sight from the window above. Warren quickly followed. This only left Clickwild and his passenger, who were descending at a much slower pace.
The Master Mage stuck his head out of the opening and saw Clickwild. He began to cast a spell. Clickwild, in turn, freed up one of his hands (nearly causing Tesken to fall) and cast a spell himself. The mage got his off first, shooting another lightning bolt straight at the automaton. However, just as it was about to impact, the bolt suddenly bounced off Clickwild's hand (he'd managed to get some sort of Counter-spell off) and rebounded towards the mage, finally striking him in the chest and tossing him back into the tower... out of sight.
Clickwild kept descending as fast as he could, attempting to catch up to the remainder of the party, which was now down in the gardens below. Unfortunately, the party on the ground noticed a number of Custodians pointing towards Clickwild. He'd been spotted! And it was only a moment or two until they'd be spotted as well. Mangy and the group made the decision to flee, once again using the untrustworthy flying carpet. They'd have to hope that Clickwild and Tesken could find them later.
They shot out upon the carpet, over the garden and towards the house where they left Tommison and Naiya. Mangy kept it close to the ground, in case it puttered out again, which it of course did... The passengers rolled to safety without taking much damage. They then ran the remainder of the distance to the house. When the home owner stuck his head out the window, noticing the strangers at his outer wall, Sendry tossed him a few coins and convinced the man to go back inside. The party then retrieved Naiya and Tommison from the roof and the reunited group (minus the two left back at the tower, and the remainder of the party still aboard The Doubtful) decided to head out of town.
Warren used his new spell and brought a small animal familiar to his side (honestly can't remember what type of animal, but a small one). He gave it a note to bring to The Doubtful with instructions to meet them at the "second village on the eastern road towards Southpass." They could only hope it would work.
Back at the tower, Clickwild was forced to jump the remaining distance to the ground in order to escape in time. He extended his legs "like Inspector Gadget" and managed to mostly cushion Tesken from the fall. The two then ran for the gated walls of the tower and barely made it over before the Custodians could find them.
The two then decided to return to The Doubtful, thinking it the most reasonable rendezvous point.
Hopefully the animal messenger would arrive safely before them. Hopefully the group would soon be reunited along the road to Sage. It's going to take a bit of luck, and luck has been in short order of late...