Laniken Apophatie
Laniken Apophatie (a.k.a. Lani)
Lani is a stunning tall, golden, and shy woman who tries her best to blend into the scenery. Except when it is time to rain the might of the oppressive Kord into her enemies.
Physical Description
Body Features
Lani is unique because of her unknown bloodline. not inly is she tall and golden, but she also has feathers on her back, where you may expect her to have wings.
Apparel & Accessories
Shy, Lani wears a long flowy robe over her shorts and top. long sleeves, tall boots, and a hood that is rarely seen down, all in the hopes that others will not notice the glimmer in her skin.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Lani grew up as a sweet and devoted child to a merchant family. The only child, she was going to take over her parent's business when the time came. Unfortunately, her bloodline began to show as she was starting to chart the course of her life story.
Becoming tall and golden called much attention to her in her little village. People she had seen as part of her community were happy to gossip about her, bit worse were the ones who would treat her as divine.
Most of this was salvageable for her life. But within a few months of her physical transformation, Lani was also visited by Kord in her dreams. He told her she had to serve him, starting by leaving her family, abandoning her plans, and learning more about how to fight.
Education
Raised to take over a small merchant house, Lani received a thorough education regarding mathematics, languages, and etiquette.
Once her life changed, she found someone to teach her about combat. Somewhere after learning how to fight, she noticed nee abilities, such as her afinity for cold and for fire magic.
Employment
She had been commanded by Kord to abandon her plan and leave her family. In complying, she never worked in the field she spent a lifetime training for.
As aservant of Kord, she did perform good deeds as she could, but never enough to feel comfortable or eat all meals she wished.
Until she found herself in Lady Seraphina's company, where she felt her life stabilize a little. However, she is still too proud to let her new friends know about her financial troubles.
Former sorcerer with a penchant for ice spells and healing, Laniken volunteered to meld with the lost elven god, Llewelyr, and is now Llewelyr Laniken, patron of Terrakh's Forest Elves and healers.
View Character Profile
Alignment
True Neutral
Children
Gender
Female
Eyes
Gold
Hair
Brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Gold
Height
6ft 5in
Weight
185
Journal session - Chimeras and gods
On day three of our arrival into the elven city, we notice a bustle. It looks like large beasts have been sighted. I wonder if they are also stumbling upon giant creatures like we did. We decide to render aid, which means that we join Merilith the princess, a mage elf, along with Arsilia, the elf that accompanied the Emissary and was captured by Rithari. 2 other elves also join our party.
Merilith greets The Lady, and tells us that this is a chimera creature, and that any help is welcome. Chimera can be the result of miasma, and they tend to be in constant pain and even become sadistic. If the creature is a threat to everything around it, we must stop it. Otherwise, it can be left alone.
We travel near some big hills, where we originally ambushed the Emissary's party. We climb to the very top of the hills, and we spend the day searching. This chimera is a flying creature. Rithari and the elves see a creature flying here and there, white and silver. As we triangulate it's landing spot, Merilith suggests that we approach it quietly.
We find it at the top of a tower in ruins. There is a nest inside it, and inside it is the creature. It has three heads, one of white dragon, and white feathery wings, and talonod claws. We retreat to discuss our plan, and Merelith is in awe of it's beauty.
Jak volunteers to try and speak to it. The Lady and Arsilia both volunteer to accompany him. He approaches it from the front, making sure that the creature is aware of him and does not feel threatened. He tries speaking to it Elvish or Duskhan, but the dragon head continues to look bored. The Lady tells Jak how to ask it if it speaks Draconic. The dragon head does seem to react, and Jak informs Seraphina. He tells it that we mean no harm, and the chimera reacts. It seems to understand, but it also seems unable to respond. At this point, The Lady walks up and takes over the conversation. She tries to use telepathy to speak to it. It responds in images. It is confused, since it remembers flying over an island unfamiliar to us, with many ships and cities of stone and marble. It is trying to get to its specific island, but flies through a descending cloud, and is confused to find a completely different landscape. The Lady believes that it may have come from the fire islands to the west. She tells it that the people here will welcome it if it means no harm and does not scare others. It thinks about people coming for it, and it responding with fire. The Lady tells the rest of us that we can approach, and tells Merelith to come and try and speak to it. The princess does approach, and the Lady shows her the creature's thoughts. The creature does not mind eating goblins, and the Lady tells it to go ahead. It also seems to like other animals that are ok. The Lady does warn it about the green dragon to the west, and the chimera is now less interested in remaining here. The Lady sees a picture of a large pyramid structure with many stairs, and she tells the chimera she has never seen it. The chimera then takes off to seek that tower, which is not threatened by a dragon.
Merelith inquires as to what is going on with the dragon, and we explain. Jak checks the nest, and there was a bunch of stuff around it, including some now-broken ancient chests. We raid it. Jak wants to talk to us, to make sure that we are not being put in a position where we are competing against the deep elves. Sera explains better what is going on politically, but Jak is still suspicious of the deep elves' intent. He thinks we should keep an eye on them, and make sure the princess is safe.
The Lady takes our trip back as a chance to speak further to Merilith. She talks about her life on the road, and her travels and trials. She speaks of overcoming challenges and coming together. The princess asks why it is that we are so keen on forming and alliance, since the network of mankin is already so large. The Lady speaks of putting prejudices behind us, and Merelith says that the deep elves have a very strong need and a fantastic gift. But if there is not all that, then an alliance may be too expensive. Most importantly, she reminds The Lady that the lack of an alliance does not mean our peoples would be enemies. She says that trade does help, but that alliances always means that military help becomes an issue sooner or later. And that the time to build a coalition to help Swanport may have passed.
The Lady finally tells Merilith about the bow, and Rithari says she has no proof, but that she is very certain that this is the bow of the Stormheart. She found it, and The Lady has asked her to gift it to her people. The group liberated it, but we knew it belonged to an elf. It is an elf that is willing to return it, and if she does, we can potentially bear witness to the birth of a god. Jak adds that there may be benefits to a cultural trade. Merelith tells us again to be clear and direct when proposing the alliance to the King.
Jak thanks Arsilia for her help. She finds it odd that a creature like that chimera was not created by miasma. She mentions that there is a lot of power that can be harnessed from miasma. Back home, they experiment under volcanoes, so if there is an issue, the whole room collapses and spews the miasma away. Jak reveals that his mother was likely a deep elf, and that he was taught some of that language, and he attempts to speak to her in it. They speak of the green dragon and their allies, and wines in Arsilia's native tongue.
The Lady now gives Arsilia some fruity wine, which is very hard to find in the underground caverns where she comes from, and they begin a good conversation. The Lady apologizes to Arsilia, and explains that she was originally mistaken about them and their intention. She also takes time to sell the idea of Dusk as a positive thing.
The next day we return, and are soon granted an audience with the King and Queen. The entire group is invited, and when we arrive, the Queen tells us that each of us must give her a good reason for the alliance. We go in turns, and I tell them about how Garoway led me to learn more about myself. While that is a good reason, the Queen reminds me that she is seeking advantages for the elves. I then tell her about how adaptable humans are. While they may cut trees and change the forest, they are still the creatures that can best adapt to different conditions, and the forest elves would be wise to learn that trait from them. Once we have all spoken, The Lady adds the detail of the bow - the third and last piece of their god. The king immediately grants the alliance, while the Queen looks distressed and tells him he cannot.
We inquire further, and it turns out that the process revive Llewelyr is one that requires a host, a sacrifice. I ask if Elvish blood is necessary for the sacrifice, and it is not. Seeing my only opportunity to not have to serve Kord in the future, I volunteer as the sacrifice. The Queen supports the idea, since I am not mankin. The King looks less enthusiastic, but he does seem agreeable to the idea. He simply did not think he could ask anyone else to sacrifice themselves, even if he did not want to be the sacrifice.
I am told I do not have to do this, and even my companions are keen to tell me no. But they do not know what it is like to follow a path that you do not like or want. I have wished so many times for a chance to make my own choices, and here it is. I will be the sacrifice that will bring back Llewelyr, the Stormheart.
We are allowed to go home, and while I have many things to do, I do not feel anything. I write a note to George, giving him all my gold in the hopes he'll one day be able to own his own bar or tavern. Nothing long or sad or sweet. Just an end, like we always knew would happen. I carefully pack all my belongings and leave them for my companions. I believe there should be more. More words, more tears, more things to keep me here, but there are none. This is my plan, and I'll finally be free. Gods, am I scared.
The next morning, I wake up, and when I open the door to look outside, there are elves upon elves, making a path for me towards the palace. I close the door in shock, and ask The Lady if this is what her life is normally like. She tells me that no, this is special for me. It feels absurd. Or rather, it SHOULD feel absurd, but I cannot feel anything. I hand my things to The Lady, who graciously waits upon me. I hand the note to Jak, to take back to George. It is time to follow the elves and allow Llewelyr to return, and the souls on the fountain to complete their journey. I walk to the palace.
At the palace, I am given a place to sit and rest, where I will attune to the three items. His horn, his spear, and his bow. I begin, and it takes me forever. Suns and moons pass. Planets rise and fall. It is a thousand years ago, and it is today. It is Llewelyr, coming to Terrakh to help his followers. It is nothing. Manikin sorcerers ambush me, and slay me, and once again, there is nothing. Then there is Laniken, searching for my mind, and our minds touching. I learn about the date, and where we are, and that my elves have been waiting for me for a long time. It is time to return and to fix things. It is time that Llewelyr Laniken returns home, and guides the elves away from their endless waiting and sorrow. It is time to guide them into a new era. I am returned.
Journal Session - Werewolf blood and a bleeding heart
Jak finds us, and Matilda also returns. The Lady and Jak have a private conversation. I assume Jak apologizes for the tower incident. She also speaks to Rithari, and off to speak to the Emissary. Ideally she would like an appointment with the King and Queen, but that will likely take time. She leaves, and now Honorous is responsible for my safety, which makes me stuck here. Jak also remains, and keeps me company.
The Lady speaks to the Emissary, and makes sure to talk about what we have to sacrifice for the opportunity. She tells him of the efforts she went through to find Matilda's memories, and how we found the bow. The Emissary asks Rithari where her loyalties lie. Rithari tells him that she is caught in the middle of both, and is also loyal to both. He tells her that no matter what she does, someone will be dissatisfied. And he says that she can walk away with the bow, and no one would never know, and there would not be an alliance. The deep elves say they want to trade because their youth is bored with the lack of trade, and they can use more stock. His goal, and only thing he cares about, is to seal the alliance, and anything beyond that, like what The Lady is proposing, means nothing to him. He tells us we should go to the tower.
Our plan is then to wait for the forest elves to arrive, but that now depends on whether Rithati is willing to give up her bow. Our plan is now to get the attention of the honor guard, and add ourselves to their return party. Or, the best thing we can do is to head to Veriway ourselves. In the way, Matilda reveals that she had a dream about Jak being older with a scar and facial hair and long hair. He also has very cool armor, and people in leather armor and axes are surrounding him and chanting his name. He is surprised like the rest of us. She leaves, but not before she privately informs me that she dreamed of me with beautiful bat wings, making love to a beautiful winged creature, with leathery, bat-like wings. I have no idea what she means.
The forest elves do not see humans favorable, so we ask Rithari how to proceed. She recommends we simply head to Veriway. In the meantime, I ask the Lady about the plan for the tower. We have succeeded in our mission, although the original mission has changed. I tell her I want to go to the tower, and she would stand behind me. However, we will now focus on the establishment of trade with the northern fire elves. Once that is complete, then we will go to the tower. I will likely have to ask the rest of the party, as The Lady does not wish to command her friends.
Rithari guides us through the best paths, and we are able to avoid any creatures this first day. We make camp, and at the end of my watch, I hear whistling. I make light on a nearby tree to ward them off. After all, one should be weary of strangers in forests. The idiot walks in to camp, saying he wanted to investigate the light. He says he thought that it may be a pixie trick, but that those don't usually work on him. He tells us his name is Jack, but he's also sometimes called John. Jak woke up because of the light, and he asks if he can lead us to Veriway. John says that he will wander off as we go rest, but that he is not a threat. He then told us more about his sweetheart and the founding of the colony. Which by our calculations was at least one hundred years age, and the man looks very young. I wonder if he was in idiot after all, or just some lost soul.
On the next day, we continue walking, and are surprised by a wolf attack. And by we, I mean Honorous. That'll teach him to not bathe. Or maybe these wolves are magical, because the emit wisps of blue smoke. However, they end up running away, but not before they bit Honorous. Rithari thinks they were werewolves, and she starts to treat Honrous' wounds.
We arrive at the Elven City. The guards question the people we are with, while welcoming Rithari. She introduces us as traveling companions, and pointing Honorous and his werewolf bites. The tell her to speak to the healer, but that Honorous must stay outside the walls for the night, and tomorrow is a full moon. Rithari is informed that the princess is here, and she also needs to introduce The Lady as an embasador. But they will accommodate us in a temporary home. The guards escort us to a residence at the outer ring. It is a simple house with a bed room and a main area. Jak stays outside with Honorous. I ask Rithari if it is ok to roam the city at night. I walk around, and spot a very slender building that looks like a tower with winding stairs.
I ask a passer-by about the tower in Sylvan. He brings back and elvish woman who asks me if I'm lost, or if I have been summoned by someone (how rude!). She tells that I may not what kind I am, and that she studies mystical creatures. I tell her that I am with the Duskhan Embassador. She is Garoway, and she tells me that if a door in the city is open at all, it is ok to enter. And that if I find myself by the weeping heart, I can find her there. The princess is probably up in the tower, experimenting. The door to the tower is not open.
On my way back home, there is a place with door, playing song and music. Alas, I am not interested in drinking and singing tonight.
As Honorous is not looking well at all, the next day we look for healers. Rithati's great aunt Melomyr is able to help. She welcomes Rithari back, and Rithari tells her she needs her help for a friend. Melomyr tells us she can help him. She can make a potion, but it is not simple magic. The biggest difficulty is that the primary component is a creature with the same condition. She will need the blood of a werewolf. Honorous is in real danger of being turned soon, so we will need to secure him. We debate if there is a sleeping potion we can give him.
Someone calls me a deva, and now what Garoway said makes more sense. It makes sense, but then again, changing from one day to another does not make sense. How could I have been born a human if I'm a deva?
To help Honorous, we'll need silver chains and other things. Jak is able to trick Honorous and bind him, since Honorous swears he will never turn into a werewolf, despite our pleadings. I join The Lady in seeking an audience with the king. She is stopped by an elf who yells and abuses her, but she does not take the bait. As we leave the artisan's quarter, we enter an area with guards. She walks up to a guard, and she is told that she cannot enter without an invitation. I remember what Garoway said, and tell them we were invited by her. In the middle of the building there is a beautiful glowing fountain, with glimmering lights. We see that the heart of the fountain is made of green-ish crystal. I see Garoway, and introduce them. They get along well, and The Lady tells her there is currently war. Garoway is apparently aware of the troubles in Swanport, and also knows where the dragon came from . The Lady tells Garoway about the bow, and she said that she is not part of the negotiation. Her role is keeper of the fountain, which is a place where the souls of forest elves wait. Once the god Llewelry has returned, he'll be able to put the the souls to rest. Garoway is also able to tell us that the king cares very much about the opinions of his wife and daughter.
Garoway also tells The Lady that bringing back the bow will open doors because that was on option not considered before. She suggests talking to the Emissary, the King's son, daughter, and his wife, the Lady Arian. The princess is the most open minded of the family, and the queen a warrior with honor. Both tend to visit the weeping heart at dawn or dusk, so this is a good place to be. It is in our interest to speak to them before our audience with the King is granted. I take this opportunity to ask Garoway about devas. She tells me that I was created as a representative of Kord amongst the people. The plan may also be for me to teach Kord about different things. I can tell she is trying her best to be gentle with me, but she is not aware of whom I serve, and none of what she says comforts me.
In the meantime, Rithari returns after a successful hunt, and gives the werewolf blood to her aunt. She will make the potion with beer flavor, and Rithari will be around at night. I join Jak to watch Honorous for the night, and even dig a hole for him in case he breaks out of his chains. He finally does, and attacks Jak. We try and throw him in the hole, but he escapes and goes deeper into the forest.
Llewelyr Laniken (notes)
:(
Lani's journal - Kord's mission
The Lady has met her emissary. Her mission not quite fulfilled, but certainly in progress. Jak's idea for an alternative solution to the alliance of elves now rests on Rithari's shoulder. I am glad this was done without bloodshed.
But once again, the Skyfather compels my next step. With a promise of angelic power. And triumph! Have I done enough for them to agree to help me? We already know enough about those who defend that tower. Yes, we had to run back with our tails between our legs.
My hope is that there are no new guards or new magic users. But not having someone we care about in the tower is enough to change the odds already.
If I have to do this on my own, things will be much different. Another option is to reach the temple of the Sky Father and ask for help from them. Maybe they can help me. But ultimately, it is time to gather my strength and gain the power that Kord has demanded. With the siege of Swanport, would the warriors of Kord even be available?
With the powers promised to me by the Sky Father in return for gaining the source of power from the tower, I am sure I can support Swanport. This is something I need to bring to The Lady's attention. Being compelled by Kord has always been maddeningly aimless. Run away from home. Help this person. Perform a deed there. But never with explanation or visible intent. This time, I can feel the reason - Swanport must be defended!
Lani's journal - Another servant of Kord
Moonday, Decima 16, 623
We waited for 2 days in the dark and damp cave for the poachers. We waited for 2 days, beside the rotting remains of a beast who tried to eat out friend, and amongst 7 caiman beast eggs. We waited for 2 days,l to finally hear quiet whispers from 3 different men who opened the door, then closed it, and finally tried to nail the door shut to trap us inside.
Once we heard the hammering on the closed door, Honorous valiantly tried to burst us out. The Lady was the one to free us, allowing us to follow them. We had questions, and we wanted to capture the poachers and learn more about their plans.
Rathari was the first to run outside, and concentrated on the wind. The 3 rogues we're rowing down the river, and we must capture them. I ran after them, finding a small spot in the water by the boat still tied by the door. Out came all our companions, one by one.
Jak suddenly showed up on the boat, and I created an ice storm above their rowing boat. I froze as I heard a chant coming from the boat. A chant of smiting and flame! Oh Sky Father, how do allow him to cast against your chosen? As my allies were left burnt by a searing flame pouring from the sky, I despaired. Is this other follower of Kord someone else who's life has been torn from him?
Then I heard another familiar chant, one that told about the glory of Kord and the might of his blinding light. Rathari was struck blind, and unable to shoot back at the three rowers, almost at the shore.
I see the three bandits spread out and continue to attack us. Mathilda is out of commission. Rathari is bravely holding on. Lady Seraphina is trying to defend Mathilda, but unable to take a stance against our enemies. Honorous suddenly walks to the shore, from the middle of the river. Their champion is waiting for a duel. The battle must be taken, and by Kord I will not fall here. My turn to smite with the Sky Father's flame, but the wrath behind that is mine. I turn to Jak, and let him know we will go forth. He is ready, and I cannot wait to stop those hymns from leaving other lips.
Across the water, it is not hard to fell the archer. With only two, and no longer the advantage of distance, we start to turn the tide. The Lady is finally able to cast, and relieves me of the burden of smiting the priest. He is blown by lightning into small pieces, and there is not a big enough piece to properly bury the bastard.
We turn out attention to Honorous, and quickly convince their champion to surrender. While we worry about what the implications are for these men, what unrest they have started, or war they have sowed, I worry about this other servant of Kord. Why him and not me? What kind of sick god would allow such a battle between his disciples and not intervene? This man may have been just like me - plucked from his life and made to serve. He should be buried, with the proper rites. He deserves that much. But for putting me in this position, I can only convey my disdain by leaving the flesh as carrion for the beasts. I walk to the where he fell, still wondering what kept my steps from being his. I spit, and let Kord know I refuse to play this part of his game. This man deserved more, and should not be left this way. I spit. It feels empty and useless. And I hope that the path that lies before me is different from the destruction that I see.
Session Journal - The Emissary
We had walked into the tower to try and save Jak, who was hidden in there. But against that much magical power, without being able to unleash our fury in fear of harming Jak, we are overpowered. In the middle of the battle, while Honorous is being pinned against the window and the rest of us are getting crushed. Because he was unconscious, Honorus dropped his sword, which gets picked up by one of our enemies. Beaten, we retreat as soon as Honorous is able to leave. In our retreat, we see Matilda, who informs us that the tower is a source of power. The Lady tells her to distract them while we retreat, so she freezes the entire tower.
We find a place to eat while Matilda keeps an eye out for the Emissary. We are all depleted and wounded, and in dire need of a full night's rest. Which is a problem, as we know the Emissary moves during the night, and resting will let them get further away, and maybe to the actual forest elves to cement the alliance. To lick our wounds, we find a place to eat while Matilda keeps an eye out for the Emissary during the night. In the morning, she tells us she needs to focus on her own destiny, and conjures a silvery dragon to fly off on.
The source of power from the tower is fantastic, and it is something that could help us going forward. Not only that, but I am compelled by Kord to attain that power. I must return later.
With Matilda gone, we need to hurry on and make sure that the Emissary did not make it too far. This is our last chance to catch him before he cements the alliance, as we are close to the Elven city of Veriway, and we can't just break into the settlement to stop the alliance. Rithari tracks the Emissary's convoy. We do our best to catch up to them, since we know they rest during the day. We find the path leading up large hills, west of Veriway, where Rithary is from.
We search the area, hoping that the Emissary's convoy is has made camp for the day. The Lady finds a few cavern-y areas where one may choose to rest. Her dragon helps her scout the area, and Rithari walks to the area to find the elves. There are 3 possible caverns in which they may be making camp. As she sneaks up, she finds a guard in the 3rd cave. She binds the guard, and sneaks back to where we are with the hostage. We put her in a hole and The Lady tries to read her thoughts. That goes nowhere, as the elven guard is simply resigned to her fate. She believes she will be tortured and put to death. But when she tells us that we are evil and we need to get what is coming to us, we pause. The Lady thinks things through, and decides to try and turn the tables. We need an ally against the dragon, just like the poor goblins. The elf guard had also said that they were not happy about the dragon.
We release the elven guard, and The Lady walks with her back to the cave. We cover her, of course. But she asks to meet with the emissary and returns the guard. She apologizes, and tells the story of the Duskhans, and asks for a chance to cement an alliance before they finalize the one with the forest elves. She tells them about the stories of the Deep Elves destroying the Menari long ago, and also speaks of the benefits of Deep Elves and Duskhans as allies and trade partners. The Emissary said that they would prefer to trust their cousins, and suggests that a precious gift is a good start. They are going to return an Elven articfact that they found, and will help the Elves, as it is one of three artifacts said to have belonged to an Elven god.
Ages ago, the Forest Elves lost their god, and his power was divided in 3. One artifact remained with the Elves, on was lost, and one was in the earth. Because the Deep Elves are returning a chance for the Forest Elves to meet thing gods, they are certain that the alliance will happen. They are currently waiting for the honor guard of the Forest Elves to come and escort them to the meeting.
Rithari remembers the stories about the god, and one of the artifacts that was lost is the bow that she holds. The story she has heard is that the old god Kuehler (the Sylvan god of elves in the ancient times) was a champion of his people. He was trapped, and his power divided. He awaits the return of his bow, spear, and horn, so that he can return to his kingdom. The spear has been handed down by each generation of a very powerful noble family. As Rithari holds the bowl, the Deep Elves must have found the horn.
The Lady tells Rithari that if she does this for Dusk, her deeds will be remembered and celebrated by everyone, including Duskhans and Elves alike.
I wonder why the Deep Elves would consider an alliance with Duskhans for us (or a Forest Elf), returning a Forest Elf artifact that belonged to a Forest Elf god to the Deep Elves. But this does leave a large opportunity for a three-way alliance, and the start of a common ground for Duskhans and Elves alike.
Session Journal - Trapped in the Tower
Day 3 of our journey to intercept the Emissary starts with us waking up at the camp by the underground salt lake. We are surprised by Jak, who has apparently followed us to make sure we remain safe. Why he could not simply have joined us in our quest, I am not sure, but he is here, and we are glad of the extra help. The Lady has similar thoughts, as they go out to have a private conversation.
As we ready to move on, we leave the caves and The Lady flies onto the nearby hill to scout out. She sees a large gate, which we assume is an Elvish settlement. We think that the Emissary has already left this settlement, and we need to follow that party as fast as possible to catch up. She also points out a party of goblins up ahead, that we can easily avoid.
Spotting the goblin party, Honorous charges at the 30-40 of them. As we have no choice now, we blast them to smithereens, except 1. Jak talks to the lone survivor, and he tells us that inside the gates there are lizard-like creatures and pale elves, who are all terrible. So are we. But why are the pale elves associated with Yuan-Ti? Either way, he is sent by King Garumph to find allies. They need allies because the green dragon, Sirdilux is conscripting people to join his fight, and his tribes wish to remain free.
In a bit of luck, the chief of this party had been in the bathroom all this time. He is shocked as he leaves the forest and notices the bodies. Given his situation, he simply turns around and leaves. Honorous wants to kill the poor goblin because he thinks it is evil, and that it would therefore be looking for other evil allies. The goblin insists that The Lady is evil because of her white hair. We also learn that the goblins are all under attack.
The goblin asks us to save one of his friends, to prove that we are not evil. We save a bugbear, and he seems more comfortable. The Lady asks about the tower that we saw, and the dragon. He tells us about a sorcerer in the tower, who is also an elf. The entrance to the deeps is probably behind the tower. And now that he has told us all he knows, he wants to go home to the Yellow Fingernail Clan. The Lady suggests that he run away, and he says that he will now probably be conscripted to fight for the dragon because they did not find any Elven allies. Especially now that his allies have been mostly blown to smithereens, there is not point to continuing.
The dragon apparently conscripts you by finding you, saying that you are now part of the coalition, and you can join or you can try to run. Also, the dragon is in charge since the sorcerer is in the tower. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but The Lady and the others suspect that the sorcerer in the tower is the one they want to get rid of. But all in due time, as the mission is the focus. Maybe on the way back we can tackle the sorceress. Also, I'll need to ask more about the story behind this vendetta. As we are planning what to do, we send Honorous into the woods. He finds another poor goblin to decimate, and returns very happily. Luckily, we had already sent the poor surviving goblin and bugbear away. Jak goes through the battlefield, and finds about 300gp of items amongst the dead.
We then decide to scout the tower, just because it is on the way. We send Jak in first. He first knocks, and gets a guard to look out at him. The guard and Jak don't speak a common language, so he offers some money. The guard turns it down, and then closes the viewer. Jak then knocks again, and the door suddenly swings open. Jak walks in and is ambushed. To escape, he runs up the tower, where another 5 enemies are no longer eating, but chasing him. As he climbs up one more level, he finds benches and crates. This is his chance to hide. We decide to spring him out of his self-made trap.
Session Journal - Avoid the siege of Swanport
Lady Sera talks to Lani about being a part of the sorcerers guild. (The head of the tower of the green is Jane Wearing, a very young looking woman whom I will be talking to.) On our way there, horns sound. All forces inside the city mobilizes. There are troops on the walls. A legion assembles on the field. A cloud of wyverns with riders are seen. Troops are also heading towards us. Will this turn out a siege? While we all wait, the city prepares for the siege/attack. (We learn later that this is a Kilren coalition, which is a recently created group that supports the green dragon and attacks Duskhan targets.) This looks very serious, as even the holy knights are coming out of the temple.
As our goal is to keep the alliance between the Forest elves and the Deep elves, we choose to run and not get trapped inside a besieged city. We make haste to the area in which the envoy of the deep elves was last seen, towards the volcano. Lady Seraphina, Rithari, Honorous, and I leave Swanport.
We travel without much issue, and at night we make camp. Rithari is 3rd watch and feels vibrations. Feels like the stride of a group of massive individuals. She banks the fire to make our camp less visible. She sees 6 giant creatures, walking towards Swanport. Huge humanoids. They are stone giants. We avoid their notice and keep going. Is this a concerted effort against Swanport, and how were giants convinced to participate?
Day 1:
We hear the river, and then find 5 creatures. They hiss and roar, and are lizard like with needle-like teeth. They are yuan-ti, in either a hunting or a war party. We quickly do away with them. The rest of the day went fine.
Day 2:
There is a group of trolls that treed something humanoid. One of them is a rot troll, who is decomposing and smells foul. We take care of them and save a poor dryad. She says that her sisters have seen a deep elf by the tower. We come to a huge waterfall (Brawnwynn's Tears Falls), with a rope bridge. On the other side, the forest is more dense. There is a cave behind the waterfall, that Honorous notices. We enter and explore the cave, but there are now carved steps in it, with a chamber at the end. A narrow opening where you can squeeze into, or a passage that smells of water, or a collapsed passage ahead. Honorous checks the rubble, and it looks like the ceiling caved in a bit and it obscures the rest of the passage.
Taking the squeeze path, there is a room that used to have a fire, judging by the accumulated soot on the ceiling. There are drawings with red paint and soot. Scenes of humanoid figures that appear to praise a taller central figure, with images/symbols above. Swirly pattern, 8pointed star, and an inverted star. Sera draws what we see.
Straight ahead from the main passage opens to a flooded room, and the water is dark and stinky. Something small and pale slithers and moves in the water. Last we clear the rubble, and see a small ledge and there are steps carved down to a stone beach that smells a little salty. The chamber is large (240 ft wide in crescent shape). There is a rocky chunk sticking out of the water and stalagmites. Sera sends her dragon to light out there. The place is a large underground lake. More than 100 ft wide, but that is the beginning of the ledge of the island. We'll camp here for the night, but not too close to the water.
Session Journal - Assassins at the theater
All of us in Swanport were invited to the Swan to watch the 3-act play with the The Lady and her Viceroy. Honorous and I get to sit at any table (and not go in the reserved seats with them), and have drinks. The play is based on the rise of the current emperor, Eleanor Dusk. Its a riveting tale about her unexpected rise as a candidate, and how she went from being part of the military as an imperial paladin to the head of the imperial family.
Towards the end of the 3rd act, there is a bit of commotion, and at a box to the left, there is a pale looking blonde woman, maybe a Menari, and 2 other shapes dressed in black slashing at her. I point this to Honorous, and between us, we bring enough attention to the issue for most other people to evacuate. The Viceroy is protected and evacuated, which means we had to do it all without help from any guards. In the end, we save the Elvish Ambassador, and the assassins were taken down. One left alive to be interrogated.
Both assassins are Duskans, and we tie and heal the female one so we can interrogate her. The guards finally arrive, and look at me funny by the body of a bound an unconscious woman. I point them to The Lady, but I end up having to explain that someone was being attacked, and we had to help. The Lady escorts the Ambassador to her home. The Ambassador is understandably not happy, and is ready to dismiss all of us who helped her, and is ready to return home and recommend to no longer attempt diplomatic relations with Dusk.
Because of the potential damage the assassins have done to the relationship between Dusk and the Forest Elves, The Lady decides to interrogate the assassin. Using a mind spell, she learns that the assassins were sent by Grimble, a tall dark man with a goatee. They would meet at the docks district, at the Waiting Maiden tavern. Neither assassin was from any local guilds. Her name is Nellie Sugget, and all she knows about the male assassin is that his name was George. Nellie has one violet eye and one green eye. The Lady is going to try and have the guards take us to the rendezvous for extra help.
The Lady walks the Ambassador and sets the scene for future negotiations.
Honorous and I go on to the Waiting Maiden to find Grimble. This is a tavern in the docks district, a haven for a lot of sailors and others. We take a look at the current patrons, and do not see anyone matching Grimble's description. The proprietor is a flamboyantly dressed person with crazy hair and violet eyes. I end up talking to the proprietor, who is very excited to gossip. He does know a Lord Grimble, who like many other nobles, has a manor in town. We end up having to ask a guard tower about where this is located, and are lucky that the closest one is the same tower where Nellie is being held.
Watch Captain says that Grimble rents an apartment in the wealthy district not far from the palace. He gives us a map. We go stake out the place and send a guard to tell The Lady where we are. We wait for her, and the guard tells us that they need more evidence to act against a noble. The ambassador wants to leave town ASAP, but Lady Seraphina is trying to convince her to stay. She then visits the Viceroy to strategize. The Viceroy asks her to solve this issue with Lord Grimble under wraps.
The Lady tells us to send away the guards, so we do. She wants the three of us to capture him alive. The plan is to fly up and open the door from the inside so that we can subdue him by trapping him in a wall of stone. At his place, The Lady casts detect magic around the front gate, and no issue is detected. Honorous then climbs over a gate into the courtyard. He opens the gates and let us in. Double doors lead into the residence, but we do not want to take the front door. We find a door on the 4th floor, so I teleport myself and Honorous there, and The Lady flies up. There is a light flickering in a room. She tells Honorous to get between him and the exit. We go to the 5th floor and walk up into the door. I go left, Honorous blocks the door, and Seraphina will walk in and talk.
Honorous sees there is no other exit from the room. There is a man sitting at a desk, and to Honorous' left there is a 9ft tall statue. There is a circle drawn on the floor and a hot brazier. Honorous says, "Grundle, you are under arrest." He says, "it's Grindle" and then attacks with a reddish energy as something behind Honorous explodes into a red mist. The Lady walks in and tells him that he is under arrest, and he refuses to allow her, by claiming that she intruded. She tries to charm him, but he does not want to go in right now because he is tired. But he admitted that he did hire the assassins. Ultimately, Lord G here does not like elves, and took it upon himself to help the Empire by grinding diplomatic efforts to a halt. I wall him off, but he can see through stone and uses a construct to help defend himself. The Lady uses psychic spear against him, and finally incapacitates him. We have an awesome battle with a deranged mage.
Session Journal - Envoys, giants, and miasma
Bronday, Decima 20
We are planning what to do now that we've stopped the beasts that attacked the tower. The plan is still to go to Swanport and accept the mission, formally, from the viceroy. Since we asked for reinforcements, the cavalry is arriving - Esylt, Rithari, and more of our companions are arriving.
Finneden tells Rithari that since she is here, the party will not need his help anymore. Which is great because he was on his way to investigate the rumors of animals of unusual size - he had heard rumors about apes and stags. I ask about caimans, and he said no. He also mentions to Rithari that she will become the herald between the forest elves and the Wolf King. "He will communicate with you," he tells her before leaving. Pretty ominous.
Rithari takes a moment to investigate the creatures that were killed. The majority were young ones. We tell her that we did clear out most of this nest, but that we did not have the time or tools for a thorough investigation of the underground cave system.
We tell Rithari the mission, since she was not around when The Lady originally asked us. I'm worried about her reaction to all this. I remind her that Jak had decided to not join us on this mission because he found it morally questionable.
As we speak, the ground starts to vibrate. Seraphina says to get off the ground. She casts fly on all of us, and we all fly up. (Luckily, this is just us in the party, since the survivors were cleared out to a bit further out.) From above, we look for where the earth is moving. We do not see holes in the ground, but we hear a thump in the distance like a boulder dropping on the ground. Then we hear a bunch of those. The noise is coming from the forest in the north. As we look for it, most of us see 4 huge figures walking on all 4s, with lots of hair. They are giant apes! They are not in a hurry, but they are coming quickly. I start to retreat to the forest. Seraphina approaches one of the beasts from the air, and is picked like fruit. Before the beast can eat her, she lightning teleports. The beast is now confused and possibly mad. I cast an ice storm close to them, to try and intimidate them into returning to where they came from. It works.
Having saved the inn from giant apes that could have trampled it and caused mass panic down the road, we make our way to the next inn. It is a nice enough inn. We order rooms, food, and The Lady buys us drinks. She sings and performs, and we have a lovely, restful night.
We wake up to fog. Everyone is worried it is miasma. The Lady verifies that it is not magical, so the thick fog simply makes it difficult, instead of being murderous. We need to cross the river, and the best way is to use a ferry. The other side has a new road. This slows our progress. As we make haste, we notice There some shapes in the fog, off the path. Originally we thought they were wolves, but they are on 2 feet. I alert Rithari. She believes they are some sort of fiend, gnolls.
Rithari recommends that we slay them. These are creatures known for the evil things they do. She is going to scout them while The Lady inspires us. Rithari goes to look. However, we are seen, and Rithari is shot at. We engage. Once the Lady shoots at them, I use a fireball and blow them to smithereens, including the pouch of a beautiful green gem. It is a green magicite. Note to self, do not pick up any gem with bare hands, ever.
We track these gnolls back to where they came from. The whole area smells like miasma. We find a farmstead covered in fog. The Lady looks around and ascertains it is not all miasma. There is a barn that is heavily damaged. To her, there is a greenish glow to the fog of the opening from the barn to the pasture. We need to mark this on a map and let authorities know. There are bodies of humans and gnolls. There are 3 knoll bodies, and by the house there is a woman. There is also an older human male with a great sword. It has the symbol of the legion. He was a knight, and was rewarded with this land. The whole family was slaughtered a few hours ago. I check for survivors. Seraphina is looking for deeds or anything that will help identify them. There are 3 dead children, broken dishes, broken windows, etc. We piece together a story - the gnolls happened upon the house at dawn, and there was a big fight. Seraphina sends a message to her mom to find the name of this family.
I help The Lady create graves. Rithari and Honorous find a sphere made of pottery in the kid's room. He brings it to us, and we don't know anything about it. It was likely thrown into the room. They are creating the green gems! They were throwing pottery with fog to gain magicite. They found a way to turn it from drust to miasma. Seraphina is sending the message to the viceroy.
There were 5 bodies, and 1 gem. Who was the magicite? 2 kids beds, and on the other side of the kitchen, there was another bed. A farm hand or servant. How did they get the magicite from the barn since the barn was still full of miasma?
The process is that if someone dies in a miasma, their body will turn to ash and their heart will become magicite. Fresh food and water is in there, so the animals probably panicked and left. Only destroys a body if it cannot mutate you. Note to self, never ever pick up any gems in the land with your bare hands!
We set out again after making a sign for miasma at the barn door. We get to the next inn, and Luna, the owner of the chain of taverns is there. She seems to be discussing with the proprietor. We are at the vine rest house. Luna is a Duskhan woman with an eye patch. We stay at the inn.
Luna approaches Seraphina and they make small talk. A congratulations on her engagement, talk about possible further negotiations, introductions. She seems to like Honorous, and compliments him. It goes great. He is smitten by her, and she takes him to her room. He wakes up happy, but alone the next day.
We set off and arrive on the same day at Swanport. Seraphina puts Honorous' sword into her bag of holding so that the guild does not find out about it. I follow suit and put my own cloak in my bag.
The Lady asks me about joining a guild, such as the Sorcery guild. It seems like a good idea, but while she meets with the Viceroy, I'll stay at her mother's house (Lady Sevine's) to read and have tea while I wait for her. With sorcery, they learn to do ritual magic. There are spells that can be cast as a ritual spell instead of having to memorize it. Once her meeting with the Viceroy is done, she'll introduce me to the Archmage/Sorcerer Supreme.
Viceroy Julius asks Seraphina to explain why she thinks miasma is being weaponized. She describes the day's events to him, including the testing that Rithari did. She submits drawings and answers questions. She shows him the green magicite. She describes the miasma as green through magical senses. The magical effect of green is associated with evocation or poison/acid. However, he seems dismissive of what we found, saying that gnolls are too chaotic to be good in packs, and says that they can be led by a strong leader, but would not organized.
Next, they discuss the mission. But she says that there is a suggestion. He says that he was suggested that the emergence from the emissary will be close to Veriway. And that is the best place to look for him, and gives us a chance to spot him before he reaches the fareworld, where the elves may oppose us.
He also tells her that the flame elves have always been an enemy of Dusk, because they sent an army to attack them. They then discuss a Sorcoress. Seraphina is unsure if we will have the power to kill the sorceress, although they are not certain we'll meet her. The mission is to deal with the alliance, but if the sorceress steps in, we may need to deal with her. Seraphina wants to know if she should stay the night. He invites her to dinner and a show at The Swan.
I'm worried because the talk about the alliance was the big news 5 days ago. Seraphina talked about it, then we ran into Finnegan who also talked about it. Then we finally set off to engage in the mission to stop the alliance, and were distracted by the cruthicks. Then the giant animals showed up, right after we heard the rumors that they exist. We still do not know what causes these, or how much impact they will have. Then there is e talk about gnolls weaponizing miasma to create strange green magicite. Even if the gnolls are not the ones organizing (and they certainly seemed organized in that raid against the farmstead), someone is smart enough to weaponize miasma for the harvesting of magicite, and that will not bode well for us. Are all these related to the possible alliance? Are the giant animals something that the envoy leaves in his wake? Or are they a threat that will allow us to finally share a common purpose with the forest elves?
Journals for Lani and George
Bronday, Decima 6, 623
The group sat at the familiar Phoenix Inn. They ordered the roast for lunch. With it, George the innkeeper finally saw his chance to approach the tall, slightly golden lady that had caught his eye when she arrived last week.
He had been rehearsing this, but still felt his voice rasp out, like he was speaking for the first time this morning, "If you are interested, we just received a new shipment of wine, and I'd appreciate your opinion of it." He had planned to smile, but as he walked away with the table's orders, he noticed his eyebrows were furrowed with the concentration to say what he had intended. Stupid, he felt.
Laniken trained her gaze at him, and he felt lucky he was busy working. When he came back to the tavern, she was at the bar. He heard her say, with a bright smile, "I'm not sure my opinion on your new wine is useful, but if you want to sit with me and sample some, I think that would be a very enjoyable time." George had a habit of pausing when customers were making requests, or small talk with him. He had learned that it was just as important that his clients felt heard, that they got the satisfaction that their barkeep would carve out a moment for them. When Laniken accepted his offer of wine, time stopped. He had hoped for a chance, had never dreamed of interest from her. They should meet somewhere private. But not in one of the rooms for the girls who worked here. What a terrible idea, what an awful implication. He panicked. Where could they sit, just the two of them?
"Oh, really? That's great news," he heard himself say. He wasn't sure what to say, how to say it without making her think that his intentions were… He had to say something! "I can make sure we have somewhere more private. Not like a room. I mean, I don't have anything against private rooms. I can have the staff set up a table on the corner, so it is a little more private. And, of course, I'm not going to be working. I mean, the Phoenix will be open, but I'm sure my staff can take care of everything while we, uh, try the wine."
To his surprise, Laniken giggled. Her smile felt warm. Most of the time, she looked distant. He took a deep breath. "Give me a minute while I set up a table for us. With this storm, I suggest as far away from the fire as we can. Does that suit you?" She nodded. He thought about the best way to set this up. Maybe he would ask his staff. Maybe he could pay Rosie an extra silver to be extra attentive to his table this afternoon. No, she'd take that as an invitation to eavesdrop and gossip. No. He could manage this himself. He set up a table, 2 chairs, the nice table cloth. Last, a small vase with a single pink flower. He finally looked up and gestured. She had been watching him the whole time. He was surprised to feel himself blushing.
She approached the table quietly. She sat with her back towards the rest of the bar. He helped her sit, then joined her. "I never had a chance to notice how beautiful your eyes are," said George. He noticed her blush. "How is she not used to receiving compliments all the time?" he thought.
"Most notice my height. Thank you," she replied simply.
"Well, I definitely noticed your height, too," he confessed. "But it was not what interested me."
They chatted a bit more about themselves and life in general.
"I do have a very important question," she said, later on. He looked up, curious and a little worried. "What is the secret ingredient to the delicious roast you make?" And she laughed. It made him smile.He made as serious a face as he could muster. "Mrs. ____ would kill me if I divulged her secret. In fact, she may kill me if she thought I even knew the secret to her roast!"
Hours had passed before they realized they had not cared for anyone else at the bar. But the thought of others brought them back to a simple corner of a crowded bar on a Thonday afternoon. George watched her stretch like a cat. He had seen the bruises, and knew he kept her from her rest. "I'm an inconsiderate jerk," he mused. She needs rest.
Lani smiled sheepishly. "I must rest. It has been a long morning. But a very pleasant afternoon, George. Thank you for the wine. It was lovely, but sadly for your bar, it was not what kept me at the table." She simply turned and left, leaving George a little shocked about his present situation.
Had they really spent two hours talking to each other, forgetting the rest of the world? It was more than past time for his employee's breaks. He needed to go tend his inn. But her scent lingered a little longer at the table and he decided to stay. The contentment that came along with these thoughts wanted to cling to him, asking him to sit and reminisce for a few more minutes. He took a deep breath, pushed the magic of the afternoon aside, and focused on what needed to be done. But all throughout the next day, anyone who observed him closely would have noticed he was prone to smiling to himself, looking lost in thought for a few seconds. That his eyes would dart to the bottom of the stairs whenever the familiar creek of steps were heard.
-------
Moonday, Decima 16.
It had been another busy few days for Lani and her friends. They had to purchase a goat to offer as bait to get rid of a monster reptile. That had gone to plan except for the 4 day tropical storm that had kept them indoors and awaiting the right time to spring the trap.
Then, once that had been resolved (fairly smoothly), they had found a poacher's den. They had to now sit in ambush for 2 days, in addition to having quite strong opposition from the poachers themselves. After a bloody fight, they were able to capture 2 of the 3 poachers and drag them back to River's End.
She was tired, and ready for bed. Maybe a full day of sleeping. Maybe more. Sleep, then eat, then sleep. If she were lucky, she would sleep enough to not be so sore when waking up. Oh, and a bath. Probably when she woke up. A bed and fresh sheets.
She walked up to her room. On the way, she cast a glance at George. She still wanted to stop and be welcomed home properly, but she did not have the strength. She marched to her room and opened her door, ready to get to bed. Instead, she found flowers. A large bouquet. It took her a minute to process what was going on. She heard footsteps behind her.
George. The man had snuck these into her room, and now snuck up behind her to see her reaction. She wondered how long he had been waiting for her return. The flowers looked beautiful, and the room smelled sweet.
George looked worried. Why did he look worried? She realized her expression was not very positive. She stepped closer to embrace him, and tried her best to smile. “The flowers are lovely, even if I’m late for my own surprise. Forgive my seriousness. It has been a long 3 days. I'd like to tell you all about it after I rest."
She could tell he had not expected this. He had expected her here, 2 days ago, and probably a very different reaction and events that followed. She thought of kissing him, but decided not to. Their first kiss should not be from a gross, unwashed, half-dead, half-asleep person. How could she put it? "I think I'll fall asleep. Then come eat. The sleep more. Then I think I'll be ready for a bath. After that, I would like you to come visit me. Here."
His face softened when he realized that his efforts had not been in vain. In her line of work, he would have to be flexible. He asked, "Would you like me to stop by while you're sleeping and clean out the flowers that are dying off?" She whispered to the affirmative, eyes half closed and looking ready to fall into bed.
"Let me help you," he offered, above her feeble attempted protest. Something about "dirty" and "tired". He assured her his intentions were honorable, and that he merely wanted her to be comfortable.
He smiled and he helped her lay down on the bed. He helped her out of her boots. He lay her gear quietly and quickly on the dresser, with care but without interest. She was already asleep then. He stood there and stared at her shape. He was looking forward to her waking up, to finally having time together. He looked at some of the flowers that had already begun to wilt, and took those with him and he left the room.
The next day, around two in the afternoon, Lani finally came down from her room. She looked better, but still tired. He made sure to get her food and drink as she sat down at the bar. Normally, she avoided eye contact, but today she was completely focused on the food. He left her alone to eat. He had a crowd today.
As she got close to finishing her food, George leaned over and asked if she wanted to schedule a bath for tomorrow morning, or if she preferred to wake up and request one. She told him to have it set for the morning. He made a mental note of requesting clean sheets and fresh straw. And as much of the day off for himself.
--------
Session Journal - Defending the tower
Thonday, Decima 19
The viceroy has some information about an elven artifact that is being transported through his lands that is meant to seal an alliance between the forest elves and the deep elves that would then stand stronger against Dusk. He has asked Lady Seraphina if she is willing to track and sabotage this emissary.
Seraphina is selling the idea as an opportunity - the viceroy has a mission. He sees it as an attempt to keep 2 elven nations from joining forces against Dusk. The deep elves are allied with an enemy of Dusk. By intercepting the gift (a very rare and powerful ancient eleven artifact) we keep them from sealing the alliance. It looks like there is not much appetite for the mission, especially since the biggest problem citizens see is the dragon that had been terrorizing the land. Perhaps we can convince the forest elves to help us fight the dragon, instead of possibly causing a war between the two peoples. Seraphina takes this to heart and is actively looking at other options, and decides to go back to Swanport (maybe she just prefers her family's accommodations to the Phoenix here) to discuss other options with her fiancee.
A large flying ship of the Blue Sky Flyers guild docks at the spire. Not only is it novel for River's End, this one is interested because it features a cannon. A man and woman deboard. They are heading to Rathmonk, with one more stop along the way. Jak and Lani go check out the ship and get a tour and explanation about the ship and the excitement about exploring the air. Turns out that there are 3 more designs for canons that even the emperor is interested in. Maybe this could help with the dragon issue.
2 elves were here looking for Rithari. Turns out she may be the new master of the order, and she would be the one between the forest elves and the Wolf King. In Rithari's absence, Seraphina is doing her best to find some common ground between Dusk and the forest elves, like the green dragon, since they are not really interested in River's End as a place. They want a shared history. These elves have also heard rumours of an emissary that came to help forge an alliance. But they will not talk more about it here - some other realm or a private room.
We arrange a private room, and Finneden is the only one of the two to show up and share the story with us. Long ago, in the age when the forest elves were allied to the deep elves, there was difficulty. There was an empire that lasted a long time. The empire was built by those of manikin descent - light eyes and fair skinned. They built this empire with dragons. They tamed the lands and built cities. His people were moved, and there was a war. The alliance between the Mankind and the metallic dragons was the hardest part, since they thought that was the source of the menari power. When an offer of an alliance came from the deep elves, the forest elves did not hesitate. The alliance was unseen by the menari since the deep elves live underground. Their mutual gods were called, and the elves ripped apart the lands of the menari. The menari believed the land itself was angry, and that their hubris was what caused the destruction. And now, the elves believe the menari's descendents are much better because they now live in harmony with nature. This is how Finneden fears that the leaders will try to deal with enemies again.
The deep elves have sent an emissary once before. The problem is that the Duskhan civilization is not seen as a threat yet. The best way to stop this alliance is to stop the embassador from returning. At this point, Finn is interested in doing this, but he also wants the artifact. He also knows about deep elves. They have a lot of experience with conflict, and they will push for conflict. He will join us to go meet with viceroy in Swanport.
As we head to Swanport, we chance upon a guard bleeding from a stomach wound. Lizards are attacking the towers. Or whatever they are because they are awful and very sharp. Turns out they were cruthicks, and we can try to find their spawned off nests. Their tunnels use premade other tunnels, including lava tunnels, deep elves, etc. We decide to go back to the road, pick up the other survivor, and then camp in the tower. Seraphina had sent Esylt a message about this, so we received some help in the morning. We will leave early the next morning. And we make it into Swanport in 2 days.
Session journal - Caimans and poachers
Moonday, Decima 16, 623
Sexma 11
Day starts early in the morning with Jak arriving at the Phoenx and asking about our adventures. Unfortunately, Jak appreciates Honorous' inability to think, so when I finally grow impatient with the folly, I go to the bar and get some spiced wine.
I finally chase the plan to collect and sell the durst. I ended up having to talk to the Lady Serafina to set up the enterprise. Yes, the drust is in her lands, and therefore belong to her. However, as a finder, Rathari and I will have some gold for our troubles. I suppose we should share with Honorous and maybe Nick, the old veteran-turned-farmer. We're not sure what that deposit will bring in, but I expect about 1/4 of the proceeds for the part. About 1/4 for the workers, 1/4 for the Margrave herself, and probably 1/4 of it somewhere for the arrangements and greasing of palms. I'll end up with something.
Jak has been asked to be magistrate by Esyllt, but is regretting his life choices. So he's trying to convince some other schmuck to do it in his stead. He has been convinced instead to hire a constable, and is searching for candidates. It seems no one is interested in enforcing the rule of law in River's End. Through some acquaintances, he met Frank Doggett, who seems like an eager, straight-laced guy. Jak offered him a job, but is a little concerned about his over-bearing tendencies. Frank the police equivalent of Honorous.
- The affair with the goat -
When going back to make sure that the cave and the now-bridge-accessible-drust were not a menace to the local populace, we were reminded of the monster in the river. Mathilda and Rathari determined it was a large caiman. 6-ft long head large.
We decided the caiman was an additional peril for the workers that were already going to work with miasma and drust, and that it would be best to eliminate it now. While the plan with the harpoon seemed solid, we decided to stake out the caiman with a goat. We will put it out on a stake close to where we suspect that the monster pulls it's unsuspecting victims. For this, The Lady purchased the most useless goat from a farmer. Turns out, the useless goat actually sits and obeys some commands. Must check in on this farmer later to see why his most useless goat is well trained.
The weather added to our word, and we were beset with a week of torrents. Jak had a farmer close by take care of a goat in the meantime. The farmer recognized the goat, which adds to the suspicion. What is it with these farmers and well trained pet goats? We hide around the feeding area. The caiman comes, grabs the goat. Mathilda takes care of it with a very cool snowball that exploded inside the water and wasted it. Out of the water came Jak, cold but unscathed. He keeps some teeth from the monster.
We go check upriver for the child or any remains, and there is an outcropping with a boat and a door. The lady borrows the boat so we can come see the door and who lives there. We use a knocker to knock on the door. The door swings in and we call to make sure anyone knows we are there. A lot of boxes are piled, and then there is a big box at the back. Newish crates around here. Crates filled with furs. Illegal trapping on Menari lands. This could be part of the reason we have had unrest along the border. Jak goes to open the large crate, and it swallows him. The Lady thinks fast and grabs Jak, teleporting him to the entrance of the cave. He is battered, but I help revive him. After a bloody battle, we kill the beast. Surrounding it are caiman eggs. 7 of them. We wait up and try to ambush the poachers. We need answers, because this is a big problem.
We lay in ambush for 2 days, only for 3 people to get skittish and try and lock us inside the cave. They try to escape downriver on their boat. Honorous tries to burst the door open, but The Lady's magic finally releases us. Rathari controls the wind to adverse them, I created an ice storm to rock them out, and Honorous jumped into the river and attacked the boat when he did not make his jump. Jak blinks into the boat and stabs it. The three poachers row across the river. One of them, a servant of the Sky Father himself finds enough grace to strike flames onto Mathilda and blind Rathari, and the contempt in my heart grows. We do our best to face the enemies, especially once they reach the other side of the stream and fan out. We face the champion, the priest, and a ranger. The ranger is the first to go down, after I teleport Jak with me, and Jak worked his dagger magic. Then The Lady, furious at these bandits, strikes the priest of Kord, relieving the burden from my shoulders. Finally, Honorous faces the champion in battle, but we reach them and force him to surrender before they finish each other.
After a bloody battle, we take a champion captive. The elf was stable, too. I made sure to go and spit on the war priest. We have 2 captives to interrogate.
Short story - Nick Parker searches for missing boy
Bronday, Decima 13, 623
This rag-tag group of adventures was a gods send to me. When my nephew came back, bruised and breathless, babbling about Timmy missing in the caves, I was filled with dread. Someone would have to keep those kids from going back to those caves and looking for trouble. Today, Timmy went missing. Tomorrow, ghost stories and fantasies about adventures would bring more and more kids to their doom.
Every day I walked to the caves. Those first 3 days, everything was quiet. Then more young people came. You know the age. When they have to prove themselves but are brainless and interested in talking big about themselves. But still kids. I told each and every one to leave. To not come near the cave. A few brave ones cursed at me. Most just turned around and hopefully went to find a bull to help prove their bravado. I stayed.
Finally, I met with 3 very different people. One quiet and shifty, one tall and aloof, and one strong. They wanted to know more about Timmy. They would help me find the body.
We explored deeper into the caves. There was a ravine that falls into an underground river. A monster lives there. The monster may have eaten the boy, but only if the boy fell in. The tall one suggested killing the monster, but it did not seem to pose a threat.
Across the ravine, there was a cloud of cursed miasma, atop a small islet, as tall as this. I talked these idiots out of blasting the thing, which may have saved all out lives. The tall one created a brigde to the islet, once the miasma dissipated. We carefully walked across to make sure not to disturb the drust.
From that point, we could see a door. Probably from the same large creatures who inhabited these caves long ago. A mess hall, filled with stinking yellow mold. One of these idiots disturbed the mold, and up sprang a crew of giant skeletons. We did our best to beat them back. I expected help here, not children springing traps to get us all killed! I will have to keep a better eye on them.
I protested that Timmy or any other children would not have come this way, and for people helping to search for a missing child, we were lost and chasing wild geese. They wanted to push further. Perhaps they had other reasons to come here, and I was the fool that should have kept to myself. If I die, children will continue to come here and die.
For better or for worse, we pressed on. In the next chamber, we found a glowing portal. Thank the gods that there were doors keeping any younglings from coming here and disappearing. But now the path to becoming lost was clear for any 7 year old. What a mess. Then we encountered a giant mushroom creature who attacked me like he was possessed. I fought back and had my arm broken. The rest of the group was slowly able to defend against the 5 smaller mushroom creatures. However, they did not have to. The creatures knelt in front of them, only to be slaughtered by the idiot knight. He kept yelling about honor and evil, but I know evil is the slaughter of innocent creatures that have surrendered. What have I gotten myself into?
Luckily, the small creatures were soon dispatched and the knight helped me fell the giant one. The tall one helped me heal my arm, but gods, it hurt. I stood in shock while they dug up underneath the portal, and when they found a large magical sword, the portal disappeared. I picked up the sword, as everyone else hesitated. Being with this band, I'm already cursed, and I cannot imagine what other horrors the sword alone would cause. A black, ornate, vicious looking thing. I think I picked it up to keep the deranged knight from using it for more deranged slaughter.
The group mentioned that the sword would be talked to the Lady Seraphina, whose house I served when I was part of the Duskhan Army. Were they deceiving me? Did they think I have a need for a vicious looking weapon? If they were not lying, the Lady could have come to me, and I could tell her of the foul deeds committed in her name. In the end, I chose to surrender the blade and return to my cabin to remain vigilant for the threat to children of our village.
The adventurers said they wanted to to return to River's End and rest, then come back for the monster. Why? What had the creature done that is more insulting than their psychotic behavior? But that bridge cannot remain, and I may finally be able to convince the sorcerer to remove it, and keep the children safe if I help them again.
"Thank you, but I do not want to accompany you any more than I have to. I am an honorable old man, trying to protect my farm and neighbors," I said to them. I did not add my thoughts. "You are a group of short sighted idiots, who will bring destruction to my home."
Comments