Session 18: Downtime in Yabott

General Summary

Previous Report : Session 16 - 17: Rescuing Arkzer

Homecoming

As the Party arrive home from Epolina, they immediately put Arkzer and the mysterious Woman into a makeshift infirmary in Yabott.
Talon and Jackie head to the Tombe to fetch Fletch, as Jackie believes Fletch may know her due to a similar symbol she has seen before.
- In the Tomb, they find Breena who briefly thanks them before returning to sleep. She is yet to reattain her strength and appears very weak.
- She notes that Talon is in possession of her Bow, something she would like returned.
Fletch is indeed interested and comes down to Yabott with haste.
- The rest of the party had begun to clean up the Woman, so as Fletch arrived he was able to immediately identify her as Seraphina Keenseeker - The Spy.
- She was Fletch's right-hand Woman, and held the rank of High General, Adjutant of the Legion Commander, within Fletch's Legion.
- Despite the state of the world, Fletch is clearly skilled in dodging lines of questions relating to his previous Legion, as it is rumoured to be kept secret throughout the military. Not even Kit had heard much from his sister Adeste about the Legion that Fletch commanded.
- Through the course of the discussion, Seraphina briefly gained consciousness and in an attempt at self-defence, she used her powers to swap places with Jackie. Holding Talon at knifepoint, she was talked down by Fletch, and upon realising she was safe, fell back into unconsciousness.
- The Party then left her to rest, with Fletch staying to watch over her for the time being.

The Wall of Knowledge

The Party returned to the Tomb and rested for the night.
Upon waking they had a hearty discussion with Arabella, as she had learned some critical information from the etchings on the wall.

After Iskander lost his claim to the throne, he left Anstigat without a word. For months the Royal Family sent the best hunters in the Kingdom searching for the Prince, but they couldn't find a trace. Meyil, one of the Kings sons, and a powerful sorcerer in his own right continued to search for his brother. Using powerful spells he began to search past the Kingdom, into other realms, eventually in a moment so fleeting that Meyil almost missed it, he sensed his brother in one of the outer planes. Banehold. That's why we keep seeing the symbol of Bane in the etchings! But, the spells didn't last for long, and when Meyil attempted again to scry for Iskander in Banehold, he could no longer sense him.

Arabella had also finished reading through the books regarding the first Royal family of Legalaia and neatly presented her findings in A Biography of the First Royals.

Challice Babies

During the time whilst the Party were away, Halamar had embarked on a small project to create Golden Rings and test a theory.
When the Golden Challice returned and was left atop the pedestal to charge, he placed five Golden Rings within. He hoped that they too would be imbued with the same Magic as the Challice.
His theory proved correct, and the following morning Ashe stumbled onto these new rings excitedly declaring that the Challice itself had given birth.

Breena

The Party caught up with Breena during their downtime and discussed what knowledge she had of the Dread King's plans.
- She confessed that she knew little of his grander designs, however, she knew that he was interested in something hidden in the remote mountains North of Mount Epo.
- She knew this because she was tasked with sending prisoners and those not loyal to the cause to an encampment there.
- It was said that the prisoners were being made to mine into the mountains.
- Other than this, Breena relayed that she had not seen Adeste in a while and that Raven herself kept very close to the King, almost never leaving his side.

Next Steps

After a few days of rest, the Party sat down with their allies to discuss their next steps:
- They would first rest for an additional week, to allow their new allies to regain more strength.
- The Party would also take a quick trip to the Abbey of the Quil to gather more knowledge where possible.
- After they had rested and prepared, they would venture West to uncover what the Dread King was searching for in the Mountains, and liberate any prisoners they could find here.
- After this, they would return and look to create a second settlement. For this, they would need to liberate and convert an entire town. This would be discussed upon their return from the West.

Into the Mind of Kit Abistel

On one day of the downtime, Kit, Dia, and Jaqueef head into the woods to experiment. (Not sexually... I hope)
Kit wished to understand the darkness in his mind, and asked Dia to watch over him whilst he slept with the Ring of Mind Protection off.
Kit quickly fell asleep and through the course of a normal dream, he found himself face-to-face with a dark shadow. As his interaction with the shadow continued things took a darker turn with the Shadow causing physical harm to Kit, who awoke startled, blood dripping from his chest.
Dia interrogated him and came to the conclusion that this may be something far more worrisome than originally hypothesised. Dia decided it may be worth looking for some information on Dream Demons, or creatures of the like, the next time he visited the Abbey of the Quil.
Through the discussion, Dia also encouraged Kit to seek a way to allow Oliver Frooe time to say his goodbyes to Lisarah Hillies, so that he may pass on to the next life.
At this moment, Kit made a promise to Oliver that he would find a way to let him say his goodbyes.

More Knowledge, More Problems

Dia, Ashe, and Arabella take a quick trip to the Abbey of the Quil in search of some specific information.
- They wished to find tomes regarding Prince Meyil of the First Royals, Prince Iskander, Dream Demons or creatures of the like, and any family which has shown proficiency in the killing of Demons. Edmun Chalker obliged the party where possible and provided them with the following books:
  - Meyil Anstigar: Man, Myth, Legend
  - Demons and Their Hunters
Before leaving the Abbey, Ashe requested a small tree from the outer courtyard be brought inside the Abbey, so that she may discreetly teleport here in the future. Edmund once again obliged, and the tree was brought inside.

Camouflaging Yabott

Ashe and Jackie spent a couple of their days beginning to terraform Yabott into a more secluded and hidden sanctuary.
They first created additional buildings to house the increasing number of unwilling.
Then they used their magic to create thick and dense undergrowth all around the town, making it near impossible for an outsider to stumble into town without knowing the secret pathway.
The two also began to cover the tops of houses with more plantlife, so that for any reason someone was to fly overhead, the town would look to be overtaken and abandoned.
They then asked Leena Percivale if she would help to restart the Agriculture Anonymous organisation from within Yabott. Leena, who had experience in agriculture, agreed and set about helping the existing farms in the town.

Forging Some Bling

During downtime, Dia approached Halamar and gave him some materials, requesting that he create a silver pendant necklace with an onyx encrusted within.
Halamar agreed and set about creating the item for Dia. After a couple of days, Halamar presented the item to Dia who was most pleased with the creation.

Cookies for Gavin

Dia had begun to feel bad about his treatment of the Green Ravens thus far, especially after their shortcomings during the fight against Breena. So he commissioned Eniver - The Baker to whip up a batch of cookies.
Not wanting to seem soft, he labelled them as 'From Talon', however a cunning enemy, Gavin Commonbrook, saw through this ruse as Eniver had left a note beneath the cookies which labelled Dia as the one who had ordered them. This solidified in Gavin's mind that Dia wished to be his best friend, and Gavin would stop at nothing to make sure his new best friend Dia B. Lerist felt appreciated.

This Little Piggy Went To Market

Before setting off on their next mission, Ashe, Kit, and Talon travelled to Madwick, in order to purchase some additional materials and spell-casting items.

Away We Go

With their downtime and final preparations complete, the Party readied themselves, and at daybreak Ashe teleported them to the Southern shore line of the Verdelen River, just North of Mount Epo.
As they stood amongst ever burning trees, they looked North towards their next mission.

Next Report : Session 19: The Mountain Path