Session 12 Recap: "Reunions"

General Summary

After an eventful trip from Baewic all the way to Orchard's River, the party found themselves face-to-face with Town Speaker Norro Winston and Knight Captain Saelaia Grayson. The party had no more entered the guard house, when Saelaia recognized Yvonne and revealed the entire town had thought her dead after fourteen years of no word or contact. Though tensions were high, the group continued to explain their reason for coming to Orchard's River and the impending threat of the Silent Dark's army hiding at Vraath Keep.
Though they managed to convince their immediate audience, Captain Grayson informed the party that without hard evidence, it would be difficult to convince the town's Council of the threat in order to urge the town to evacuate out of the reach of the army before it struck. She did offer the suggestion that the group might find an ally in the Witchwood, a mysterious "witch" by the name of Alariwyn who could very well know more about the situation.
With few other options but to plan for such an excursion, the group went their separate ways to both explore the town a bit, and collect their thoughts. Yvonne stayed behind to talk to her childhood friend, while Xerren made his way back toward the outskirts. The rest of the party found excellent drink and refreshments at the Old Bridge Inn, before Yvonne joined them a while later. Several plans for proceeding, as well as what proof would be best to return with to convince their audience to agree to such drastic measures such as evacuation, when Captain Grayson returned with none other than Yvonne's parents, Tobin and Mara Tarris, in tow.
A tearful reunion years in the making, was quick to follow suit as the townsfolk came to realize Yvonne was still very much alive and home once again. The tavern was quick to prepare for a celebration even bigger than had been previously been planned along with the announcement the bardic sensation Miha Serani of Mar Sera's famous group, With Hearts Aligned, was coincidentally stuck in Orchard's River due to the lockdowns. The joyous reunion was cut short by an alarm that something strange was occuring on the outskirts of town, only for the group and guards to discover Xerren had learned to temporarily erect a magical tower of his own creation.
With the situation cleared up and introductions over, Mara Tarris revealed that a package had been left for Yvonne the day prior, and revealed a massive stack of undelivered letters from the last decade and a half, as well as one at the top of the pile from none other than Leorin, that revealed his part in her growth and the influence of both the Dawnspire and Silent Dark, her true origins, and his own identity as brother of Shalinthal Desdemonia. And with such cards out in plain view for the party to see, Yvonne at last revealed that she was not human as she'd previously appeared to be, but a changeling created by the influence of the Far Realms.
The group at last settled in for the day, to enjoy the hospitality of Orchard's River, to explore the town's sights and people, or to simply catch up with old friends and family. The Old Bridge Inn quickly became host to a party as Miha Serani entered and began to play for the enjoyment of the group, catching Xerren's eye as she conjured a number of musical instruments to accompany her. Suspicion set in as he realized the famous singer was wearing an illusion and taking a keen interest in the party's plans to deal with the army's threat, setting the group on edge with suspicions. After a mix of subtle and not-so-subtle suggestions, Miha agreed to have a conversation away from the Inn and the rest of the townsfolk enjoying themselves, where it became clear that there had been a drastic misunderstanding between both parties and Miha did not pose the threat that had concerned them. The truth of it out in the air, Xerren offered the singer a heartfelt apology and compensation in the form of one of his own secrets to be shared in the safety of his new tower, while the party returned to the Inn and Yvonne to her childhood home to start making up for so much lost time...

Character(s) interacted with

Norro Winston, Knight Captain Saelaia Grayson, Mara Tarris, Tobin Tarris, Morlin Coalhewer, Kellin Shadowbanks

Report Date

01 Dec 2023

Primary Location

Orchard's River

Related Characters

• Jarett Nurth
• Leorin Duskshadow
• Mara Tarris
• Miha Serani
• Saelaia Grayson
• Tobin Tarris

Individual Activities

A Private Moment

Alone in the guardhouse once the rest of the party had left for the Old Brige Inn, Yvonne was left to face Saelaia. Her childhood friend made it clear very quickly that she was angry for the many years of no contact to the point both her and Yvonne's own parents had believed her to be dead. Yvonne, assuming Sae was only speaking of the last 6 years, attempted to apologize and explain only to come to realize that not a single letter or attempt to contact her loved ones had ever made it home. Sae pointed out that even attempts to visit the Conservatory in Mar Sera had them turned away at the gates, telling the family that Yvonne had never even been a student there despite her captive status as Leorin's apprentice.
As she desperately began trying to convince her lifelong friend of what had happened at the hands of her former master, Sae stepped forward and placed a Zone of Truth on Yvonne before allowing her to explain why she'd been as good as dead to the rest of the world for so long. With no reason to lie, Yvonne told Sae everything, insisting she too had written letters and that she'd never once forgotten her loved ones, only that she'd finally been in a position where Leorin had begun to use them against her in his quest to ensure she become a mage of exceptional power.
Thorugh a slew of apologies, Sae accepted Yvonne's explaination and reason for returning home and promised that if Yvonne would return to her friends, she would see her soon.

A Kindred Spirit

At Yvonne's suggestion, Vigo explored Orchard's River in search of the smithy in the town. Despite his usual directional challenges, Vigo found the smith, Morlin Coalheart, without much difficulty and hard at work creating a suit of armor touched with magic. It became clear the man was a fellow follower of the god Heiyr, though he did not directly acknowledge Vigo's presence save to mention to no one at all that he was thirsty. Water offered and accepted, Morlin made mention of Vigo's own unique origins and recognized him as a fellow follower of the Shaper, before turning back to his work with an unspoken invitation for the cleric to join him.
It was only many hours later when his friends came to look for him that Vigo returned to the party after spending the rest of the day working in tandem with the surly smith.

The Price of Fame

While enjoying the festivities of Orchard's River, one of the Shadowbanks clan recognized Verna amongst the newcomers. Oblivious to her discomfort, he happily recounted her days as a pit fighter in Crimsonwich for any and all in the tavern to hear, clearly a fan during his trips to the larger city. However, the talk seemed to have attracted the attention of another patron, who didn't linger in the tavern much longer, prompting Verna to follow her out of the building and to an adjacent general store not far away.
Verna, curious about the woman's odd behavior, followed her inside and was formally introduced to Jarett Nurth, the owner and proprietor of the store. Some uneasy questions about the woman's possible relation to her turned up little, though Jarett offered Verna the chance to stay and enjoy some tea. Unfortunately, the tea was laced with something that quickly caused Verna to pass out, only to wake up stripped and in chains, surrounded by no small number of bodies. Jarett, revealing her ture self to the now bound Verna quickly made the situation clear that the bounty on her head was a sizeable one and she could either turn herself into her former mistress once she had the ability to leave for Crimsonwich, or Jarett would see to the murders of her party and the people of Orchard's River one by one.
With few options available to her, Verna agreed and was given a second cup of tea, before Jarett helped return her to the tavern to prevent any further suspicion about their rendezvous.

Taken to Task

As the sun set on an eventful day, Deej found himself asleep and dreaming pleasantly of a green and open field. It didn't take long for him to realize he was not alone, as his patron Visilia, joined him and quickly made it clear she was not there for a pleasant visit. With a blow strong enough to rattle Deej's brain, Visilia quickly began to berate and scold Deej for some of his recent behaviors, claiming that for all her instructions he was still trying to revert back to his days as a petty thug. Despite his arguments to the contrary, Visilia was unwilling to budge on the topic and pressed that no pupil of hers would continue to behave in such a brutish manner.
Satisfied the lesson would stick, Visilia agreed to try and answer some of Deej's own questions, such as the manifestation of new magics that he had not been previously able to do nor was something he felt was coming from her. Visilia could only point out that Deej had been chosen for such a perilous journey for a reason, and that it was unsurprising he was begining to show power of his own and that perhaps her influence in the matter might not even have been needed, before letting him return to the waking world.