Session 14: The Amazing Adventures of Astraea in Breah

General Summary

As Astraea enters the Elder Scroll she sees Jorah Rogan standing over the bleeding body of his wife Missa Rogan. Astraea can see that the runes on Jorah are beginning to fade and she notices a line on his neck which clearly shows where he was beheaded in Sord by Artorias. Astraea approaches and speaks to Jorah who seems to be coming out of the trance that he was in. She asks him to stand over in the corner which he does willingly and Astraea gives Missa one of the healing potions that she manages to find in the shop. This stems the bleeding but she can see that this is no ordinary wound.

Jorah's Dagger

Seeing that Missa is stable for the time being Astraea goes to Jorah and asks what happened after asking for the dagger that is still in his hand. He looks at it and hands it over while saying that he doesn't know what happened. He becomes agitated and says that he heard a voice saying the time has come and the next thing he knew was her standing in the doorway telling him to move away. Astraea asks him where he has been and he says that all he remembers was going to Sord and then waking in the The Church of the Eternal Paladin. Astraea asks him where he got the runes from and he says Lyanna Lovair gave them to him. Astraea decides to take both Jorah Rogan and Missa to the Pirate and Pipe so she can get help for Missa and they can keep an eye on Jorah.

The Elder Scroll

Meanwhile back at the tavern Faen, Valanthe and Andre find a note left by Hanurak telling them that he and Krug have gone back to Eidover to celebrate Krug's good fortune by seeing one of Rael Varis' plays so he may be gone for sometime. Chloe Grover enters the room and sits next to Faen putting her head on his shoulder and tiredly closing her eyes. Andre and Valanthe look at each other and grin seeing Faen's obvious discomfort. Saresh and Andre have been busy teaching Chloe how to control her werewolf urges and the poor girl is tired by the long day of training.
Saresh sits next to Andre and claps him hard on the back in praise for his help, she goes on to discuss that her contact who has been spying on Orryn has stopped contacting her and last she heard was that Orryn, Gimil-sin and Lyanna were searching for a water temple somewhere in the town and since then there has been a significant rise in people appearing with the runes in town.
Suddenly Astraea bursts in with Missa and Jorah, she quickly explains what happened at the Elder Scroll and asks Saresh to take Jorah somewhere where he can be contained safely which Saresh does by leading him to one of the Vult's cells in the cellar. Andre carries Missa upstairs and lays her carefully on the bed while Valanthe makes some herbal poultices to aid with the healing and pain relief. She says that although she can help ease her wounds there is nothing that can be done except letting Missa heal by resting. Astraea nods and leaves the room sitting back at the table with Faen and Chloe.
Between them Faen agrees to visit Halin with the statue Hanurak left for them from his visit to Krug's, suddenly standing Faen throws Chloe from his shoulder straight on to the hard bench and giving a nasty knock on the head. Faen looking down grabs his outdoor robes and swiftly makes an exit leaving a groggy Chloe to sit up rubbing her head and looking very confused at Astraea.

The Plaza of Heroes

A few minutes later as Faen walks across the Plaza of Heroes towards the The Library of Utu-Nanshe he notices a burly man following him, he tries to lose him in the crowd but fails and after coming out of a side street is stopped by the man standing in his way.
" I want a word with you about some money you owe me." The man says looking down at Faen.
"I have no idea what you're talking about I've never seen you before." Says Faen feigning ignorance but the man only laughs and reminds him of his wonderful night at the Lover's Purse.

Big Eddie

"You have until midnight to get me my 600 gold."
Faen argues that the bill was for 500 but the man insists its now 600 as his services have been called upon and his fee needs to be paid. He walks off and Faen grumbles to himself as he walks into the library.
Seeing Halin isn't behind his desk as usual he asks the gnome that is sorting books nearby and notices that this gnome looks awfully familiar.
"Is Halin here please?" Faen asks and the gnome turns with a smile and says
"Yes my father is in but is very busy at the moment. I'm Fardri is there something in could help you with?" Faen hands over the statue somewhat surprised that Halin has a son and hears a cry from the next room as Halin rushes excitedly out clearly pleased to see Faen again. Both Halin and his son advise that they don't recognise the statue at all and Faen leaves casting minor illusion on his face to stop anymore unwanted attention. Halin's son comes running out just as Faen is walking down the library steps and invites Faen and the others to tea which Faen agrees to.

Back at the Pirate and Pipe Astraea decides to ask Jorah some questions and heads down to the basement. He tells her that Lyanna was introduced to him by Orryn which Astraea finds disturbing. He goes on to say how much of a fool he was for believing Lyanna when she said the runes would make him strong.

Orryn's Wand

One of Orryn's Visions

"Orryn believes Ma'lak is real, he isn't power hungry, he has shown me the future, a world on fire, people screaming the end of all we know, everything he has done so far has been to stop Ma'lak as he is the greatest threat to everything. He has a wand that he uses to control the rune men which he once told me he bought from a merchant 20 years ago and since then he began having the visions."

Saresh who has been listening looks worried and goes to speak privately to Thorbrith Oakfury through one of the Vult's speaking stones. Taking her leave Astraea heads to Missa's room and notes Valanthe diligently caring for the other woman. Astraea sees that Missa is looking much better but still very weak and when she is told what happened to her all she can remember is the runes on Jorah beginning to glow blue then waking here. She admits that she was the one who performed the resurrection spell on Jorah and that Orryn has a room at the Hero's Tankard. Astraea leaves and informs the others what she has learnt. Cuivie confirms that the statue is that of Ma'lak and Faen can sense that it has been used many times in ritual magic. They all decide that the best course of action would be to go to Halin's old house and see what they can discover there.
They gather their gear and set off for Halin's old house with Saresh and Chloe joining them. As they approach the site Faen feels the statue of Ma'lak begin to vibrate slightly and as they all look onto the empty plot they notice that the grass seems to thin out in a circular pattern in the centre. Faen approaches the centre and as he reaches it he suddenly disappears, the others run over quickly and as they stop to look for Faen a group of guards approach and ask what they are doing trespassing on private property. Astraea argues that this house was destroyed and Halin wouldn't mind them looking around anyway but the guards just laugh and say that Gimil-sin owns this piece of land and they are trespassing. As this is going on Faen's head pops up through the illusory grass frightening the guards who draw their weapons in surprise. Using this distraction everyone runs down the steps following Faen and the guards give chase quickly. Andre grabs Chloe and throws her over his shoulder as a guard just misses them with a javelin.

Astraea casts wall of fire burning them badly but they still manage to grab Chloe at the top of the steps but she just manages to bats them away. Andre is attacked by another guard but dodges giving Faen an opening to use chromatic orb on the guard but the amulet he is wearing begins to glow absorbing the damage from the attack leaving the guard only slightly singed.
Andre attacks again with his blood sabre greatly wounding the guard in front of him but the runes begin to glow healing him. Saresh attacks the other 2 guards but misses and they watch as the guards enlarge themselves.

Astraea casting wall of fire

Seeing this Astraea casts disintegrate but also misses while a third guard grabs Chloe holding her under one arm. Andre takes a nasty hit and Faen seeing Chloe in trouble casts mental prison killing the guard with the psychic damage. Andre roars and kills another guard while Astraea casts scorching Ray killing the remnants of the patrol.

Further into the temple

They quickly descend the steps before they catch the attention of anyone else and a damp cellar smell greets them, Chloe moves closer to Faen nervously and Saresh lights a couple of torches. Looking around Astraea notices that the runes on the walls are similar to the ones her and Andre saw in the water elemental temple back in Waterdeep and Andre can see they are showing the fight between the water and fire elementals that seems to have repeated over the millenia. They enter a small room and find a fresh campfire, still warm, and a few packs indicating there had been people here recently. Looking through the packs Astraea finds some gold and silver pieces and some potions.
Continuing on into another corridor they make their way further into the structure and come to a circular room with a light shining in from a hole in its centre, looking down Astraea can't make out much more than a few people walking around. Andre examines the other doors finding one unlocked both he and Astraea enter where they find more camping supplies and some chests.
Opening one by smashing his sword into it Andre reaches in to grab the gold and gems but his hand goes straight through them. Suddenly the door slams shut and gas starts to fill the room. Faen senses the magic holding the door shut is similar to shield so he casts dispel magic and both Astraea and Andre run out of the room just in time to see the gas starting to disolve the chests and packs.
As the group decide on what to do next, they notice footsteps getting closer from one of the stairwells leading further down so trying to hide behind the rubble strewing the room everyone scatters. Orryn and Lyanna enter the room and with great luck don't notice the others hiding there. Orryn tells Lyanna to get everything ready by midnight as time is growing short and they need to expedite their timetable. Lyanna leaves by one of the locked doors and Orryn heads back to the surface using the tunnel our heroes came down.
Deciding quickly to head downstairs while the coast is clear they can feel static electricity prickling their skin the closer to the bottom of the stairs they get. Emerging into a giant cavern they see a huge geyser in the centre and a blue glowing pool of water running into the distance, dozens of people with runes adorning their skin shuffle around below pouring jars of an unknown liquid into the water while three small orbs hum above them. This is obviously the water source for the town and in the distance Andre notices the Werewolf Mage, from the tomb of Gwyn Sunsword, that helped convert Hanurak into a runeman. He appears to be casting the same magic onto the water directly.

There are multiple doors lining both sides of the cavern after taking a few minutes to examine the closest rooms Astraea and Saresh manage to find a small stack of papers and receipts which they believe show what Orryn is doing in Breah. Saresh suggests taking these back and showing them to the King in Eidover as proof of Orryn's treason. Everyone decides to sneak back out but in her haste and excitement Chloe knocks over a bottle which alerts some of the rune men guards below. Suddenly an alarm sounds and running back upstairs they renter the room from earlier and find both corridors are glowing from torches approaching them rapidly. They manage to open the locked door that Lyanna went through and emerge into a similar looking room. There are multiple doors and a staircase which seems to go towards the surface which they hastily climb. Andre notices that Chloe is lagging behind so he quickly grabs her and again slings her over his shoulder. Saresh seeing the guards are nearly upon them runs past Andre shouts for everyone to get out while she unleashes herself on the nearest attacker.

Andre runs out of the stairway to get Chloe to safety and Saresh lashes out with her Urumi but misses, quickly switching to her shortsword she takes up a guard position taking advantage of the tight space. Meanwhile Astraea casts storm sphere flinging several guards back down the stairwell while Faen blinds 3 of them but the fourth manages to hit Astraea with an arrow. Saresh lashes out at the guards again and throws the bag with the letters to Astraea shouting at her to get them back to the king.
With a nod Astraea grimly turns and follows Andre out of the stairway. More guards appear and pepper Saresh with arrows, bringing her to her knees but with a great shout she manages to recover and fend off more of the guards. Meanwhile Faen casts darkness on the guards in front of Saresh before fleeing himself. Again the guards attack and Saresh is hit again but with the last of her strength manages to dash up the stairs and slams the door shut behind her propping any items she can find behind it.

Looking around she sees a circular room with several doors and water streaming from the walls and ceiling. Thinking of a quick way out and estimating that the river is directly above her, telling the others to grab on to the wall Astraea casts fireball at the ceiling as the guards begin charging the closed door and water cascades in. Chloe gets washed against the wall and Faen casts fly and tries to grab her but in the roiling water he can't get enough purchase to lift her clear.

Astraea's Fireball

Andre grabs Saresh who is visibly struggling from her wounds and Astraea manages to swim to grab Chloe who has been knocked unconscious quickly giving her a potion to revive her. With quick thinking Faen casts a teleportation circle, first to Leodar's Tomb in Eidover, but then realising that that portal was also underwater he instead changes the destination to the Pirate and Pipe in Breah.
As everyone steps through, water cascades over the floor of the tavern and Faen quickly closes the circle before the place floods. "That's not the first time this has happened" says Saresh with a small laugh, as Eamon enters he sees the water covered floor and with a sigh he turns muttering "I'll get the mop and bucket".
After a change of clothes and a long rest Astraea and Saresh check the papers that they brought back from the temple and while most of the writing has been faded some of the contents have been saved after being carefully dried out. Leaving the others to rest more, Faen and Astraea head to Garth's Glorious Goods to purchase an amethyst to remove Chloe's curse, when they are suddenly stopped by the bailiff from earlier. Even though Faen has cast disguise self to mask his face he forgot to change his clothes so the man easily spotted him. After some argument from Faen over the principle of paying more than he was originally charged, Astraea has had enough and just pays the man what Faen owes telling him quietly not to let the wizard know.
In a huff with Faen's attitude she decides to heads back to the tavern while he continues on to Garth's where he does manage to purchase the required jewel. On the way back he notices that most of the people he passes have some form of runes on them which worries the wizard so he walks a little faster.

Back at the inn Faen sets to work on the potion to help Chloe while Astraea looks through the papers and bundles them into her bag with the intention of heading back to Eidover as soon as possible to get them to the King. Faen approaches Chloe with the potion which she is reluctant to drink as she is worried of the same thing happening to Faen as happened to the last person to try and help her, Mark, reassuring her Faen hands over the potion which she downs. Suddenly her fingers elongate into claws and coarse fur sprouts from her arms, she lunges at Faen growling.

Astraea casts blindness on her but it fails while Andre tries to calm her by telling her to remember the training she has received over the last few days. Faen also casts blindness but again fails while Valanthe does manage to restrain Chloe for a short time with hold person but she does manage to get free and lashes out hitting Faen again. Astraea tries casting fear but it has no effect on the enraged Chloe while Andre is still trying to talk her down. Thinking fast Faen casts mental prison but Chloe shakes it off easily however while she is distracted Valanthe manages to cast charm on her and she does begin to start listening to Andre and Valanthe. While the others try to calm her by talking Faen flies up to the balcony that Chloe has previously jumped to and settles near to her, seeing her beginning to calm with the others still talking Faen sits next to her and apologises for his potion going wrong. Chloe manages to come back to herself. As Faen helps Chloe back to the ground level of the tavern she sobs into his chest repeating over and over how sorry she is.
Astraea turns from them and hears a lot of commotion coming from outside and walking to the door she can see nearly everyone in Breah appearing to head in the same direction in some kind of trance like state. She heads out to follow them while the others run to catch up with her, Faen manages to pry Chloe off him and leaves her in the capable hands of Eamonn while Saresh and Ninki follow him out.
Moving as best they can with the crowd the group find themselves in the Plaza of Heroes, unable to see much Faen flies Astraea amd himself onto the rooftops and she can see a mass of people filling every available space. In the distance Gimil-sin, Colonel Sandy Sandmere and Lyanna Lovair appear on a raised stage in front of the Governor's Palace as they watch Orryn Timbers appears and addresses the crowd.

"The time has come my warriors, we must stop Ma'lak at all costs and you are the arm that will strike him down once and for all. Go my brothers and bring peace to my land!" Orryn orders in a booming voice as the staff in his hand starts to glow. The whole crowd erupts in applause and turn leaving the plaza. As they do Astraea, Faen and the others notice that at each entrance to the plaza there are guards handing out various weapons to those who don't have any as the runemen march out with a single minded purpose. Saresh turns to the others saying "We have to get to Eidover, now"

Character(s) interacted with

Saresh Foun Ninki Laresh Eamonn Orryn Timbers Lyanna Lovair

Report Date

27 Oct 2018

Primary Location

Breah

Secondary Location

The Pirate and Pipe