Journal Entry 18:00 Mid-Year Revel
In between exploring the three temples, the party takes some time for themselves practicing their crafts.
Morvion spends more and more time off by himself – mediating he says. He tends to stick to the shadows more and more, something the entire party is starting to notice. Every time he starts to head off, Urik looks at him sadly and makes the one-handed symbol of Josca in front of his face as both ward and benediction. Aja and Tars don’t seem too worried for when they check in, Morvion is just studying his spell books.
Graykar says, “I’ve seen this before . . . this aversion to light. The one thing about living in Borez I never could stomach . . .” and he never finishes his thought, then he seems confused at his own words.
Aja continues to gather more and more herbs and continues to experiment with them. She occasionally asks whichever party member is handy to drink her latest concoction. With the exception of Tars, the rest of the party soon learns not to trust these concoctions. As far as Tars goes, Aja had found the perfect seasoning to add to his drinks to get him to try every new brew. On the few times he started to get sick, Aja quickly absorbs the poison into her self and relishes in its effects for a few rounds. Then with a speculative, “Interesting,” she quickly starts scribbling in her notes. So far, no lasting effects have befallen Tars. He seems to think it a game to see if he can survive her latest ‘beer’ as he calls it. ‘Beer’ which the weaker party members won’t try.
Being industrious, Aja has Graykar help her capture a few of the local Sarloks to briefly experiment on so as to learn more about the magical curse which is afflicting them. None of them are ever harmed and they are quickly released. Morvion has joined in on a few of these magical tests.
Urik meanwhile has been also keeping busy.
One morning as the sun rises, Urik can be seen conducting his morning prayers as the rest of the party prepares for the day. By now it has become common to see him thumbing through his primer and practicing his letters. On one occasion, he even approaches Aja to discuss how to pronounce a particularly challenging word. Urik is also working on his ciphers and is always quick (if not correct) to provide answers regarding basic math. After his prayers and a quick meal, Morvion notices him walking toward the brush for the rest of his morning routine.
Thirty seconds later everyone hears a loud shout that they recognize as Urik, and feel the ground thrumming as a fifteen tall tusked monster comes busting out of the tree line swinging a twelve-foot axe. The creature immediately doubles over at the waist and they all hear deep rumbling laughter that they realize is Urik's, but about four octaves lower than normal. The "monster" then falls to the ground laughing and shrinks back into Urik.
Aja stands over Urik with her hands on her hips, scowling down at him. "Did you just... enlarge yourself? You said I was never to do that. You're lucky I didn't turn you into a rabbit for Graykar to skin!!"
Urik manages to somehow look chagrin between his bursts of giggles.
That evening, Aja sends a message to Dame Imokan seeking further guidance. They all receive the same message from Dame Imokan the next morning. Please Return to Chrailis At Earliest Convenience. New Developments. Will Explain Once Here. Congratulations On First Three Temples.
Debating whether to return to Chrailis or go ahead and venture into the next temple, the party determines the best course is to return. After all, if time is not a constant within the temples, as the Water Temple proved, then they could be months returning and miss Dame Imokan’s appointment.
Spending the rest of the day getting ready, memorizing the necessary spells and such, they head back.
The night before heading back, Morvion and Aja are still concerned about something they feel was left undone in the metal temple. Consulting her Augury Cards, Aaj believes the message is clear. She cast a seven card spread for general guidance. All seven cards came up a different moon. Showing it to Morvion he is forced to agree.
Knowing Urik’s feeling on the orbs, they go quietly to Graykar and lay out their thoughts. Agreeing himself, he fishes the mechanical and the glass orb out of his satchel.
Morvion and Aja then head back into the Metal Temple. Cautious at first, just in case the creatures have returned. Arriving back at the pedestals, Aja and Morvion try several different tactics and ideas, hoping to activate a further magic.
They try moving types of flame from one pedestal to another. Aja creates an ice ball out of holy water and puts it in the pedestal of hellfire. That experiment creates some bright flashes and as the ice ball melts and the hellfire sputter briefly going out. A few seconds later it lights again.
Really looking closely at how the magic was infused into the pedestals, both Aja and Morvion agree that the hellfire pedestal is the one that is different. It has some type of summoning magic crafted into its structure.
They try putting the glass orb in the hellfire and it disappears. “Shit, Urik’s going to be really mad now. I wonder if he will notice another one of the orbs is missing?” Morvion says.
Aja insists that her cards told her to continue. So they eventually try the mechanical orb. It disappears also. They stare at the fire with nothing happening.
Aja says, “I hope we aren’t summoning some type of demon.”
Morvion comments, “I could see that happening, those cards seem to more prankster than helpful.”
Just as she says that a new orb appears. This orb appears to be made of white bone. It is covered in black inlaid glyphs covering the entire surface. Additionally, the orb is sectioned into eighths along two poles so that its various halves can be spun around into different configurations, creating new glyphs and putting different glyphs next to each other.
Marveling at this discovery, both Aja and Morvion head back to camp for the night. Before going to sleep, Aja shows Graykar what she found, however this time she keeps it for herself so she can continue to study the orb.
Awakening the next day, they make their way to the edge of the city. Their presence in the city these last few weeks has taught the city Sarloks to keep their distance. Once they get to the dead zone, they have to fight their way to the light barrier, however knowing the dangers now, they make a run for it with Aja using her Puddle Jump as needed to bypass most of the dead zone Sarloks.
Once on the others side of the barrier, they mount up on Morvion’s spectral steeds and head out to a safe distance where Aja feels she can teleport. Once there, she arranges the scene by moving a few logs and branches around so she can create a strong memory location for when the party decides to return of Chrailis. Spending an hour memorizing the place while Tars, who happens to be an excellent artist, draws the image just in case, Aja says she is ready.
Unlike the last time when she had teleported them back to the outskirts of the Quirk Woods, this time they all appear at a new locale, the Chrailis Insertion Zone. The Insertion Zone is located in the central pergola found within a large enclosed garden. The floor of the garden is made of white marble tiling, colored similarly to the rest of the city.
The pergola is made of eight caryatid pillars looking outwards. Each of the pillars is holding a lintel completing a circle of stone about 10’ off the ground, creating a structure with no roof. The floor of the pergola has an intricate pattern of tiny green mosaic tiles inlaid into the large white marble tiles creating the swirled lines of a teleportation circle.
The place radiates heavily with magic with those able to sense it feeling the thrumming power flowing around the garden.
Standing around the courtyard on the outer walls are four brown-robed Coterie members with no insignia indicating their house. All four are cowled with their faces not visible. Only one looks up briefly as you teleport in and then looks back down.
Immediately in your minds, you each hear Welcome home to Chrailis, So mote it be Sons and Daughters, Peace and Happy Mid Year Revel.
Aja says, “Oh – I can teleport directly to the city – did I forget I forget to mention this?” Looking around, “I guess that means we are welcome and free to go our way.”
The courtyard has an open gate exiting in all four directions. Leaving the teleportation arrival point, they find they are in the 2nd tier. It only takes about thirty minutes of walking to reach Dame Imokan’s Solitude on Vat Street in the 4th Tier.
Zurrelevants greets them at the door. With no humor, he nods and says, “You are earlier than expected. Please make yourself comfortable. I will have your rooms attended to and some food and drink prepared. Do you remember the study? I will have afternoon repast presented there. The baths are still hot if you wish to clean up, several visitors just left. Dame Imokan is at her country estate, I will send for her immediately.”
By late that evening, Dame Imokan has arrived. “Greetings friends, I called you back as we are about ready to celebrate Mid-Year Revel in three days and I wouldn’t want you to miss the festivities. Plus, other events have occurred. I will speak with you in private later about them as needed. Now tell me, what of your adventures and anything I can help you with?”
Aja punches the somber Morvion in the arm, “You’ll love Mid Year Revel, the parades are awesome. The nightly fireworks are without peer. You might even see Si’Nassa, won’t that be great?” Morvion scowls, though it is a half-hearted scowl. He is curious to see Si’Nassa himself.
Even Urik joins in, “I was in Chrailis last year during this time. Morvion, you will truly enjoy it, it is worth the hype. The Coteries sponsor all the events and they don’t hold back.”
The party then proceeds to tell Dame Imokan of everything since their last visit.
Over the next three days, the party goes their own way (see separate entries) to take care of personal business in Chrailis. In particular, Graykar, Aja, and Urik have matters they need to attend to.
Tars tracks down his friend Falgrieg to see how he is doing.
In three mornings, Dame Imokan gathers everyone for a morning breakfast, announcing that in the tradition of Mid Revel, she has gifts to give to the party. And in the tradition, the items are somewhat to be gag gifts and it is the employers who give the gifts to their immediately employees.
To Tars, she gives him Wrist Bands of Sure Grip.
To Morvion she gives Suspenders of Visibility.
To Graykar she gives A Laplander Cap.
To Urik she gives A Stylin’ Yarmulke.
And finally to Aja she says, “I had a gift in mind for you, a Sash of Notoriety, however your patron sent a gift herself. Rather than step on her toes and claim ownership over you, which is how she would see it, I got you nothing. However, here is her gift.”
The gift is wrapped in a blue box with a slight blue film floating around the box, almost like it is surrounded with water. The box is wrapped in yellow ribbon with a yellow bow. Aja takes the box and feels it is cold to the touch. As she begins to unwrap it, the blue film starts to evaporate into to snow falling up. Inside is a beautiful Dress of Color Matching.
Having given everyone gifts, the party finishes their morning meal and heads out on the town to celebrate the first day of Mid Revel.
During the course of the first day of Mid Revel, Si'Lachara Dau, they start by watching and then participating in some of the parades. Following along with one of the parades actually has them on the opposite side of Chrailis by mid-afternoon.
During the walking, Morvion stops by a small stand operated by an elderly elf woman. There he get gets a refill on his drink and enjoys a mostly vegetable sausage. While there, he hears some music from around the corner and goes to investigate it, dragging the rest of the party along.
While not to everyone’s taste, the songs they sing are snappy and have a regular beat, played on heavy reliance of stringed lutes at high speed.
Hearing this, and thinking some of the songs a little odd, at least by the dark lyrics, Graykar suggests they go for some good drinking songs. He knows the perfect bar and takes them there.
With night falling Aja feels its time to share some of her music. Since they are near the Quirk Wood border of Chrailis anyway, she invites them out to some of the midnight dance circles where the faeries gather and play their sense warping music. She assures everyone that the haunting tunes will have no lasting effects, it is a magic that passes with the dawn.
Now having a game of showing each other their favorite types of music, the next morning Dame Imokan takes them to a stage performance near the 3rd Tier at one of the wineries. There they hear remorseful elven tunes about the distant past of elves, their great migration to this world, and the many sorrows they experienced as their heritage became lost to them. Morvion is especially curious because much of this is lore he has never heard before, not even in reading. Imokan just says somberly, “I am a little older than I appear. That’s all. Memories endure in all elves and this music sings to my past.”
Next, Zurrelevants takes a turn. Where he leads them is to an out of the way amphitheater descending below the street off of the fifth tier. Sitting center stage by herself is a human with long red hair playing a golden harp taller than she is. As they listen to the sad music, songs about lost loves, unrequited loves, lovers never returned from battle; the party notices that Zurrelevants is crying.
At this point, Imokan silently leads the party away from the amphitheater. “He’ll be good here. For such a serious man, he has a soft side. This is a great Revel for him. He will spend the whole day listening to her if she plays that long. He knows how to find me if he decides to catch up.”
Then its Tars’s turn. He gives an evil smile. “Yes – you’ll like my music. We got about an hour walk to the harbor, but once there, prepare for the best music ever.”
Once they arrive, he leads them into a large warehouse deep within Orc Town which on a raised platform at the far end has a band of twenty orcs mixed with a few elves and humans and even a single centaur banging on drums as tall as the centaur. Each of the two drums on either side of her are sitting sideways, with the 8-foot tall membrane spread tautly over the two cylinders. And with two large batons, she is banging to the beat on the drums.
The rest of the band is creating a loud cacophony. “Pirate Music,” Tars yells as he jumps into the midst of the gyrating crowd consisting mostly of orcs.
Noticing Aja inching toward the crowd, curious as to what all the commotion is, Urik suggests to her that the style of dance she is witnessing is best seen from a distance. She starts to protest, something about does Urik think a sylph is too fragile. Then a spray of blood and the separated orc tusk sliding across the floor stopping near her feat makes her reconsider. “A distance it is.”
As they travel the town for the rest of the day, they even come across Spango the halfling and his crew out enjoying the revel. He waves at them, smiling with a clear message, “I haven’t forgotten about you.” However, he buys them a round of drinks.
As they move on, Dame Imokan says, finally slurring her words after a full day of drinking, “He won’t bother us on Mid Revel, Mather Si’nassasa sa sa, ppft, would be furious with anyone breaking the peace.”
The second day of Mid Revel is a success.
On the final day of Mid-Revel, they remain at Dame Imokan’s, watching the night’s events and fireworks from an upper patio of her in town estate. “If we are lucky, Si’Nassa will actually take flight and circle the town a few times.”
As the night wraps up, she says to all, “Joyous Cri'Tinnious Dau.”
And indeed she does appear. Flying around the city, she lights up the sky, her emerald scales reflecting the lights of Chrailis back at the city. She almost glows with a dark green nimbus as she lights up in the night sky. With a wingspan over a quarter of a mile, she circles the city several times before flying out toward First Dawn Lake.
“Ma’am, I don’t believe she has flown away in over a decade,” Zurrelevants says. “This could be a good year if her daughters appear.”
“I agree,” follows Dame Imokan. Then to the party, “If it is like the other times, we will see her daughters now as they are free to take their dragon forms and circle the city. This is the only time they are allowed to take their natural form while within Chrailis.”
And over the course of the evening, the four daughters make their appearance. First is Si’Lachara, the first daughter. While not as massive as her mother, her wingspan is still over five-hundred feet. Whereas her mother is emerald green, Si’Lachar is hued of the brightest yellows. Like a sun, she flies around the city several times before returning to her tower, the tallest of the three Dragon Spears.
After her, comes the second daughter, Fi’Luminaros. Nearly as large as her sister, she is a brilliant ruby red. And then follows the third daughter, Cri’Tinnious – a much smaller sapphire blue dragon. By much smaller, her wings span is a mere three hundred feet across.
And finally, comes Fi’lanazierk. The youngest child, a mere two centuries old. She is almost invisible to the sight, as her scales are a reflective jet amber. As she flies overhead, she then banks and heads out of Chrailis in the opposite direction as her mother.
In one of his cryptic moments, Graykar says chuckling to himself, “Never one to brag, but yeah, good times.”
Later the party talks of heading back to the lost city. Everyone has managed to finish their needed tasks while back in Chrailis. Urik has set in motion his plans for his school. Aja met with Kinsi and got greater clarification. Along the way, she found out a little more about her father. And Graykar recovered a few troubling yet happy memories.
On the final day before the party teleports back to the lost city, Dame Imokan consults with them one last time. “I have gained a little information which I intentionally held back till you leave, lest you don’t’ worry. As you have passed through the temples, others are taking notice. Expect resistance, there are those who will not wish for you to complete your task of entering the final temple. The message I have from Si’Lachian is that others are already on there way. From our allied courts of the Lucid Veil, the Matrons are minority in their opinion about matters. I am being told that the Delusion Twins are marching troops toward the lost city. Where they are originating from, I will try and find out.”
“And Aja, be ever mindful of messages from your Patron. My sources are from the Void Wife, however, your patron may know and reveal more at her choosing.”
Morvion spends more and more time off by himself – mediating he says. He tends to stick to the shadows more and more, something the entire party is starting to notice. Every time he starts to head off, Urik looks at him sadly and makes the one-handed symbol of Josca in front of his face as both ward and benediction. Aja and Tars don’t seem too worried for when they check in, Morvion is just studying his spell books.
Graykar says, “I’ve seen this before . . . this aversion to light. The one thing about living in Borez I never could stomach . . .” and he never finishes his thought, then he seems confused at his own words.
Aja continues to gather more and more herbs and continues to experiment with them. She occasionally asks whichever party member is handy to drink her latest concoction. With the exception of Tars, the rest of the party soon learns not to trust these concoctions. As far as Tars goes, Aja had found the perfect seasoning to add to his drinks to get him to try every new brew. On the few times he started to get sick, Aja quickly absorbs the poison into her self and relishes in its effects for a few rounds. Then with a speculative, “Interesting,” she quickly starts scribbling in her notes. So far, no lasting effects have befallen Tars. He seems to think it a game to see if he can survive her latest ‘beer’ as he calls it. ‘Beer’ which the weaker party members won’t try.
Being industrious, Aja has Graykar help her capture a few of the local Sarloks to briefly experiment on so as to learn more about the magical curse which is afflicting them. None of them are ever harmed and they are quickly released. Morvion has joined in on a few of these magical tests.
Urik meanwhile has been also keeping busy.
One morning as the sun rises, Urik can be seen conducting his morning prayers as the rest of the party prepares for the day. By now it has become common to see him thumbing through his primer and practicing his letters. On one occasion, he even approaches Aja to discuss how to pronounce a particularly challenging word. Urik is also working on his ciphers and is always quick (if not correct) to provide answers regarding basic math. After his prayers and a quick meal, Morvion notices him walking toward the brush for the rest of his morning routine.
Thirty seconds later everyone hears a loud shout that they recognize as Urik, and feel the ground thrumming as a fifteen tall tusked monster comes busting out of the tree line swinging a twelve-foot axe. The creature immediately doubles over at the waist and they all hear deep rumbling laughter that they realize is Urik's, but about four octaves lower than normal. The "monster" then falls to the ground laughing and shrinks back into Urik.
Aja stands over Urik with her hands on her hips, scowling down at him. "Did you just... enlarge yourself? You said I was never to do that. You're lucky I didn't turn you into a rabbit for Graykar to skin!!"
Urik manages to somehow look chagrin between his bursts of giggles.
That evening, Aja sends a message to Dame Imokan seeking further guidance. They all receive the same message from Dame Imokan the next morning. Please Return to Chrailis At Earliest Convenience. New Developments. Will Explain Once Here. Congratulations On First Three Temples.
Debating whether to return to Chrailis or go ahead and venture into the next temple, the party determines the best course is to return. After all, if time is not a constant within the temples, as the Water Temple proved, then they could be months returning and miss Dame Imokan’s appointment.
Spending the rest of the day getting ready, memorizing the necessary spells and such, they head back.
The night before heading back, Morvion and Aja are still concerned about something they feel was left undone in the metal temple. Consulting her Augury Cards, Aaj believes the message is clear. She cast a seven card spread for general guidance. All seven cards came up a different moon. Showing it to Morvion he is forced to agree.
Knowing Urik’s feeling on the orbs, they go quietly to Graykar and lay out their thoughts. Agreeing himself, he fishes the mechanical and the glass orb out of his satchel.
Morvion and Aja then head back into the Metal Temple. Cautious at first, just in case the creatures have returned. Arriving back at the pedestals, Aja and Morvion try several different tactics and ideas, hoping to activate a further magic.
They try moving types of flame from one pedestal to another. Aja creates an ice ball out of holy water and puts it in the pedestal of hellfire. That experiment creates some bright flashes and as the ice ball melts and the hellfire sputter briefly going out. A few seconds later it lights again.
Really looking closely at how the magic was infused into the pedestals, both Aja and Morvion agree that the hellfire pedestal is the one that is different. It has some type of summoning magic crafted into its structure.
They try putting the glass orb in the hellfire and it disappears. “Shit, Urik’s going to be really mad now. I wonder if he will notice another one of the orbs is missing?” Morvion says.
Aja insists that her cards told her to continue. So they eventually try the mechanical orb. It disappears also. They stare at the fire with nothing happening.
Aja says, “I hope we aren’t summoning some type of demon.”
Morvion comments, “I could see that happening, those cards seem to more prankster than helpful.”
Just as she says that a new orb appears. This orb appears to be made of white bone. It is covered in black inlaid glyphs covering the entire surface. Additionally, the orb is sectioned into eighths along two poles so that its various halves can be spun around into different configurations, creating new glyphs and putting different glyphs next to each other.
Marveling at this discovery, both Aja and Morvion head back to camp for the night. Before going to sleep, Aja shows Graykar what she found, however this time she keeps it for herself so she can continue to study the orb.
Awakening the next day, they make their way to the edge of the city. Their presence in the city these last few weeks has taught the city Sarloks to keep their distance. Once they get to the dead zone, they have to fight their way to the light barrier, however knowing the dangers now, they make a run for it with Aja using her Puddle Jump as needed to bypass most of the dead zone Sarloks.
Once on the others side of the barrier, they mount up on Morvion’s spectral steeds and head out to a safe distance where Aja feels she can teleport. Once there, she arranges the scene by moving a few logs and branches around so she can create a strong memory location for when the party decides to return of Chrailis. Spending an hour memorizing the place while Tars, who happens to be an excellent artist, draws the image just in case, Aja says she is ready.
Unlike the last time when she had teleported them back to the outskirts of the Quirk Woods, this time they all appear at a new locale, the Chrailis Insertion Zone. The Insertion Zone is located in the central pergola found within a large enclosed garden. The floor of the garden is made of white marble tiling, colored similarly to the rest of the city.
The pergola is made of eight caryatid pillars looking outwards. Each of the pillars is holding a lintel completing a circle of stone about 10’ off the ground, creating a structure with no roof. The floor of the pergola has an intricate pattern of tiny green mosaic tiles inlaid into the large white marble tiles creating the swirled lines of a teleportation circle.
The place radiates heavily with magic with those able to sense it feeling the thrumming power flowing around the garden.
Standing around the courtyard on the outer walls are four brown-robed Coterie members with no insignia indicating their house. All four are cowled with their faces not visible. Only one looks up briefly as you teleport in and then looks back down.
Immediately in your minds, you each hear Welcome home to Chrailis, So mote it be Sons and Daughters, Peace and Happy Mid Year Revel.
Aja says, “Oh – I can teleport directly to the city – did I forget I forget to mention this?” Looking around, “I guess that means we are welcome and free to go our way.”
The courtyard has an open gate exiting in all four directions. Leaving the teleportation arrival point, they find they are in the 2nd tier. It only takes about thirty minutes of walking to reach Dame Imokan’s Solitude on Vat Street in the 4th Tier.
Zurrelevants greets them at the door. With no humor, he nods and says, “You are earlier than expected. Please make yourself comfortable. I will have your rooms attended to and some food and drink prepared. Do you remember the study? I will have afternoon repast presented there. The baths are still hot if you wish to clean up, several visitors just left. Dame Imokan is at her country estate, I will send for her immediately.”
By late that evening, Dame Imokan has arrived. “Greetings friends, I called you back as we are about ready to celebrate Mid-Year Revel in three days and I wouldn’t want you to miss the festivities. Plus, other events have occurred. I will speak with you in private later about them as needed. Now tell me, what of your adventures and anything I can help you with?”
Aja punches the somber Morvion in the arm, “You’ll love Mid Year Revel, the parades are awesome. The nightly fireworks are without peer. You might even see Si’Nassa, won’t that be great?” Morvion scowls, though it is a half-hearted scowl. He is curious to see Si’Nassa himself.
Even Urik joins in, “I was in Chrailis last year during this time. Morvion, you will truly enjoy it, it is worth the hype. The Coteries sponsor all the events and they don’t hold back.”
The party then proceeds to tell Dame Imokan of everything since their last visit.
Over the next three days, the party goes their own way (see separate entries) to take care of personal business in Chrailis. In particular, Graykar, Aja, and Urik have matters they need to attend to.
Tars tracks down his friend Falgrieg to see how he is doing.
In three mornings, Dame Imokan gathers everyone for a morning breakfast, announcing that in the tradition of Mid Revel, she has gifts to give to the party. And in the tradition, the items are somewhat to be gag gifts and it is the employers who give the gifts to their immediately employees.
To Tars, she gives him Wrist Bands of Sure Grip.
To Morvion she gives Suspenders of Visibility.
To Graykar she gives A Laplander Cap.
To Urik she gives A Stylin’ Yarmulke.
And finally to Aja she says, “I had a gift in mind for you, a Sash of Notoriety, however your patron sent a gift herself. Rather than step on her toes and claim ownership over you, which is how she would see it, I got you nothing. However, here is her gift.”
The gift is wrapped in a blue box with a slight blue film floating around the box, almost like it is surrounded with water. The box is wrapped in yellow ribbon with a yellow bow. Aja takes the box and feels it is cold to the touch. As she begins to unwrap it, the blue film starts to evaporate into to snow falling up. Inside is a beautiful Dress of Color Matching.
Having given everyone gifts, the party finishes their morning meal and heads out on the town to celebrate the first day of Mid Revel.
During the course of the first day of Mid Revel, Si'Lachara Dau, they start by watching and then participating in some of the parades. Following along with one of the parades actually has them on the opposite side of Chrailis by mid-afternoon.
During the walking, Morvion stops by a small stand operated by an elderly elf woman. There he get gets a refill on his drink and enjoys a mostly vegetable sausage. While there, he hears some music from around the corner and goes to investigate it, dragging the rest of the party along.
While not to everyone’s taste, the songs they sing are snappy and have a regular beat, played on heavy reliance of stringed lutes at high speed.
Hearing this, and thinking some of the songs a little odd, at least by the dark lyrics, Graykar suggests they go for some good drinking songs. He knows the perfect bar and takes them there.
With night falling Aja feels its time to share some of her music. Since they are near the Quirk Wood border of Chrailis anyway, she invites them out to some of the midnight dance circles where the faeries gather and play their sense warping music. She assures everyone that the haunting tunes will have no lasting effects, it is a magic that passes with the dawn.
Now having a game of showing each other their favorite types of music, the next morning Dame Imokan takes them to a stage performance near the 3rd Tier at one of the wineries. There they hear remorseful elven tunes about the distant past of elves, their great migration to this world, and the many sorrows they experienced as their heritage became lost to them. Morvion is especially curious because much of this is lore he has never heard before, not even in reading. Imokan just says somberly, “I am a little older than I appear. That’s all. Memories endure in all elves and this music sings to my past.”
Next, Zurrelevants takes a turn. Where he leads them is to an out of the way amphitheater descending below the street off of the fifth tier. Sitting center stage by herself is a human with long red hair playing a golden harp taller than she is. As they listen to the sad music, songs about lost loves, unrequited loves, lovers never returned from battle; the party notices that Zurrelevants is crying.
At this point, Imokan silently leads the party away from the amphitheater. “He’ll be good here. For such a serious man, he has a soft side. This is a great Revel for him. He will spend the whole day listening to her if she plays that long. He knows how to find me if he decides to catch up.”
Then its Tars’s turn. He gives an evil smile. “Yes – you’ll like my music. We got about an hour walk to the harbor, but once there, prepare for the best music ever.”
Once they arrive, he leads them into a large warehouse deep within Orc Town which on a raised platform at the far end has a band of twenty orcs mixed with a few elves and humans and even a single centaur banging on drums as tall as the centaur. Each of the two drums on either side of her are sitting sideways, with the 8-foot tall membrane spread tautly over the two cylinders. And with two large batons, she is banging to the beat on the drums.
The rest of the band is creating a loud cacophony. “Pirate Music,” Tars yells as he jumps into the midst of the gyrating crowd consisting mostly of orcs.
Noticing Aja inching toward the crowd, curious as to what all the commotion is, Urik suggests to her that the style of dance she is witnessing is best seen from a distance. She starts to protest, something about does Urik think a sylph is too fragile. Then a spray of blood and the separated orc tusk sliding across the floor stopping near her feat makes her reconsider. “A distance it is.”
As they travel the town for the rest of the day, they even come across Spango the halfling and his crew out enjoying the revel. He waves at them, smiling with a clear message, “I haven’t forgotten about you.” However, he buys them a round of drinks.
As they move on, Dame Imokan says, finally slurring her words after a full day of drinking, “He won’t bother us on Mid Revel, Mather Si’nassasa sa sa, ppft, would be furious with anyone breaking the peace.”
The second day of Mid Revel is a success.
On the final day of Mid-Revel, they remain at Dame Imokan’s, watching the night’s events and fireworks from an upper patio of her in town estate. “If we are lucky, Si’Nassa will actually take flight and circle the town a few times.”
As the night wraps up, she says to all, “Joyous Cri'Tinnious Dau.”
And indeed she does appear. Flying around the city, she lights up the sky, her emerald scales reflecting the lights of Chrailis back at the city. She almost glows with a dark green nimbus as she lights up in the night sky. With a wingspan over a quarter of a mile, she circles the city several times before flying out toward First Dawn Lake.
“Ma’am, I don’t believe she has flown away in over a decade,” Zurrelevants says. “This could be a good year if her daughters appear.”
“I agree,” follows Dame Imokan. Then to the party, “If it is like the other times, we will see her daughters now as they are free to take their dragon forms and circle the city. This is the only time they are allowed to take their natural form while within Chrailis.”
And over the course of the evening, the four daughters make their appearance. First is Si’Lachara, the first daughter. While not as massive as her mother, her wingspan is still over five-hundred feet. Whereas her mother is emerald green, Si’Lachar is hued of the brightest yellows. Like a sun, she flies around the city several times before returning to her tower, the tallest of the three Dragon Spears.
After her, comes the second daughter, Fi’Luminaros. Nearly as large as her sister, she is a brilliant ruby red. And then follows the third daughter, Cri’Tinnious – a much smaller sapphire blue dragon. By much smaller, her wings span is a mere three hundred feet across.
And finally, comes Fi’lanazierk. The youngest child, a mere two centuries old. She is almost invisible to the sight, as her scales are a reflective jet amber. As she flies overhead, she then banks and heads out of Chrailis in the opposite direction as her mother.
In one of his cryptic moments, Graykar says chuckling to himself, “Never one to brag, but yeah, good times.”
Later the party talks of heading back to the lost city. Everyone has managed to finish their needed tasks while back in Chrailis. Urik has set in motion his plans for his school. Aja met with Kinsi and got greater clarification. Along the way, she found out a little more about her father. And Graykar recovered a few troubling yet happy memories.
On the final day before the party teleports back to the lost city, Dame Imokan consults with them one last time. “I have gained a little information which I intentionally held back till you leave, lest you don’t’ worry. As you have passed through the temples, others are taking notice. Expect resistance, there are those who will not wish for you to complete your task of entering the final temple. The message I have from Si’Lachian is that others are already on there way. From our allied courts of the Lucid Veil, the Matrons are minority in their opinion about matters. I am being told that the Delusion Twins are marching troops toward the lost city. Where they are originating from, I will try and find out.”
“And Aja, be ever mindful of messages from your Patron. My sources are from the Void Wife, however, your patron may know and reveal more at her choosing.”
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Author's Notes
Events occur approximately 4 days before Mid-Revel through 1 day after in the 920th Year of Her Prominence. (1228 AC) Bulo 21st to Tanlo 1st