Session 58 - Rumors of a Coral Tower

General Summary

33 Harvest

The next morning dawned, overcast and with a heavy fog that filled the streets. Over breakfast the party discussed the Tyrant's visit and their upcoming trip out to the Coral Tower, to meet this Everoim the Athling. Janora suggested that with the Taken destroyed there wasn't a pressing urgency to visit the wizard and that party could take a day in the city to gather more information and pursue personal work. This sounded reasonable to everyone and they fell to making plans. 
Janora waited just long enough to agree that they would meet back at the inn for lunch, and they were down the stairs and out the door, black pointy hat vanishing into the fog. The witch had awoken this morning with the seed of an idea, surely in a city this large there were others who employed darker skill in the service of good, just as Janora did. Unsure of how to go about finding such a thing, Janora went back to basics...any self respecting witch would be on the edges of things, so start in the poorer neighborhoods, likely an herbalist or an apothecary.
Having walked through the city several times, Janora had gotten a read on many of the various areas of the city and so turned their steps in the direction of the poorer sections of the city, starting with the area near the Temple of Kosyn. The witch found what they were looking for in the Shades, so called because it was an area of mostly rickity and patchwork buildings along narrow streets, all under and around the footing of the Stonechester Bridge on the western shore of the Athacarres Run.  
While much of the fog had burned away as the sun rose, it was still thick under the bridge and it swirled and parted as Janora walked the streets. In one of those eddies where the fog draws away, the witch spotted an anomaly, a worn but well-built shop, but it was the name that made them smile, Mourning Garden. Spotting the bundle of herbs hanging over the door, Janora hurried up the gangplank to see if this was what they had been searching for.
As they stepped inside, a voice from the next room called out, "I'll be right there, Fritzy. I just need to finish straining this." Janora took the opportunity to look around, there wasn't much to see. The front room was bare of any shelves or displays and only sported a wooden counter that ran the length of the room, blocking access to the door on the far side of the room and a beaded curtain blocked the view beyond. A few moments later, a youngish woman with curly red hair bound back in a ponytail, came through the curtains wiping her hands on a cloth. "I have your order ready, Fritzy, but this is that last time, you would be much better off..." Drawing a vial out of a pocket she set it on the counter and finally looked up, "Oh excuse me, you aren't Fritzy. No matter, she'll be along eventually, how many I help you?"

---

Back at the inn, Jilken and Denye had decided to spend the morning, asking around about Everoim and listening for rumors while the rest of the team went speak with Commander Vine of the Watch. Figuring that a market would be a good place to start, Denye led the way and began wandering from stall to stall, occasionally asking a friendly face if they have heard of this wizard, Everoim. Jilken, for her part stayed back, both to keep an eye on Denye's back, but also to just listen to the conversations around them. 
Almost all of what Denye learned was positive, he seems to have been quite helpful, clearing polluted wells, and then there was the flood at the back in Sunpeak that he stopped before it hit the city. He also helped the Watch find a serial killer at the beginning of Harvest, Jacques the Seamripper…on account of all the seamstresses he killed. Jilken also overheard a couple of comments about some sort of scheme the wizard has going with Hagral Sov'grin, a bugbear who runs the ragmen and dung collectors outside of town.  
Denye was interested in learning more about these murders and suggested visiting the Guild of Seamstresses. Recalling that they had had a house on Guild Row, Denye began heading that way, Jilken following like a shadow. It didn't take long to wind their way across the city and find the guild house. The building was C shaped, two stories tall, and surrounded by high hedges. The main entrance was flanked by a pair of ornate gold lanterns with red glass. The doors themselves were finely crafted of a pale pink wood and bronze fittings. 
Stepping inside was like entering a garden, there were flowers everywhere and the sound of several nearby bubbling fountains combined to lull the senses. The back of the room was open to the courtyard beyond were more water could be heard along with sounds of laughter and muffled conversations. 
People milled about usually in pairs or possibly trios. Quite a few of them, mostly younger women, although there were some men as well, seemed to be wearing very little in the way of clothing. Denye looked around wildly for a moment before spying a desk set up near the entrance. The raven-haired gnomeish woman seated at the desk gave them a welcoming smile, "Well hello there, how may I be of service to you?" Taking a second glance at Denye her grin got wider, "I don't think I've ever seen another bird person like you." She dropped her voice before muttering, "Now that would be a challenge." 
Denye looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on her and she started apologizing, "Oh, oh, ooohh, I'm sorry, I think there had been some miscommunication, but it was all in my head. That's okay, it doesn't really change anything important. I'm looking to find out information on Everoim the Athling. I heard that he recently helped the Watch catch a serial killer who was targeting seamstresses. I was hoping either you or someone here could tell us about the wizard. We have some questions, I'm a wizard myself you see, and as I said, we have some questions on an unrelated matter."
"Oh yes," replied the gnomish woman, "Everoim, everyone in the guild knows about him...half of them wish they could have him. He's is just the sweetest young man." Giving herself a shake, the woman refocused and nodded, "Yes, he was able to help the watch find that monster. I think it was 10, maybe 12 girls who died, but the wizard was able to use some sort of the blood magic to track the freak back to his hideout and then hold him in place while the Watch surrounded him. 
Denye looked pensive before asking, "Do you happen to recall where that confrontation happened?"
"Hmm, lemme think," replied the hostess, twirling her hair with one finger, "If I recall correctly it was in some old warehouse, down in the Tannery District I think."
"Okay, thank you," said Denye, nodding, "is there anything else you could tell me about him? When you last saw him, does he come to town regularly?"
The gnomish woman giggled, "Well he doesn't come to our guildhouse regularly. I, personally, haven't seen him since right after that business with the Seamripper. But I hear he comes to town pretty regularly, he was in Dreford yesterday I heard. Probably looking into all those people who died at the same time yesterday morning. Now that was weird, like what the hell would do that."
"Their souls were eaten," replied Denye helpfully, "well not actually eaten, but moved to another plane, and when the portal closed, they all lost their connection. They were being piloted remotely, I guess you could say, I would really love to know how they did it, what spells were used for such a thing." 
The gnomish woman looked on in horror and Denye quickly came to a halt mid-explanation and turned to give Jilken a look and over the link ask, "Was that too much, should I have not told her?"
Before Jilken could respond, the hostess snapped her fingers, "You're another wizard, that's why you are a bird. Did you turn yourself into one on purpose or was it an accident?"
Denye looked confused for a moment but shook her head, "No, I was born this way, so were both of my parents. It's not really all that unusual where I am from." After a moment's thought she added, "Though I know there are spells out there that would do something like that, for a limited time at least, but we can talk about that later, maybe. Anyway, thank you for your help but we need to get going now."
As Denye was turning to take Jilken by the arm, the hostess, flashed her another sultry grin and a wink, "Come back any time, my name is Aladosia." Denye blushed under all her feathers and hurried back out into the street with Jilken and the pair headed in the direction of the Three Bells.

---

As Ell was the most familiar with the city and had a general idea where the main watchhouse was, he led Vellikar, Ranunkel, and Tear toward the governmental part of town. Speaking with one or two friendly watchmen confirmed Ell's memory and it wasn't long before the four of them stood before the Treacle Road Watchhouse. The building was large, at least three stories and built of a dark stone. Sweeping steps at the front, led up to a large pair of spinning glass doors bound in brass.
Inside, the foursome found a long room filled with benches and at the end a tall desk with a bored looking officer behind it. As it was still early they did not have to wait long to speak with him. As they approached the desk, the desk sergeant spoke without looking up from the desk, "Good morning citizen, how may the Watch be of service?"
"Good morning, sir," replied Vellikar, tall enough to see the top of the desk and the crossword that the officer, an older looking halfling with half-moon glasses, was working on. Clearing his throat, the firbolg druid went on, "My companions and I have been doing some investigation, into some happenings nearby, and we were hoping to speak to the head of city guard regarding said events."   
The older halfling finally looked up and blinked, "You want to talk to Commander Vine? Do you have an appointment?" At Vellikar's negative response, he sucked air between his teeth and clucked his tongue, "His schedule is quite full at the moment, but he is in, I suppose I can send up a message and see if he has a moment. May I have your names and the nature of your inquiry?"
Vellikar flashed Ell a panicked look and the young man smoothly stepped forward and said, "Ell of House Darnet and acquaintances. We were hoping to speaking to him about the Temple of Kosyn." At the name the desk sergeant's eyes widened and he rang a small bell and scribbled a quick note to hand off the the younger watchman who had responded to the summons. The  young man vanished but was only gone a few moments before he returned and ushered them up to Vine's office.  
Commander Vine proved to be a shortish human with close cropped hair (more salt than pepper), dark eyes under bushy eyebrows and a nose that looked to have been broken multiple times. He was standing beside the desk when the team entered, "Good morning, please come in and take a seat."  
There were only two chairs, but Tear was happy to sit on the floor and Ranunkel leaned against the back wall. As the commander took his seat, he said, "There was a message from the Tyrant on my desk this morning that you might be stopping by. Leaning back in his chair and steepling his hands he added, "If I may ask, what is your, a son of the second most powerful family in Haven, interest in these Kosyn deaths?"
Ell smiled broadly, "No personal interest really. We're always interested in strange goings on, and you never know when knowing what happened here will be important down the line. And of course, I'm always happy to help out when needed."
Commander Vine gave the young man a penetrating look before nodding and spreading his hands, "Well I was told to share what we have on the temple as well as everyone else who dropped dead yesterday morning."
"Exactly," replied Vellikar earnestly, "we believe the best thing for everyone is to share information, pool everything we know, in a manner of speaking. So you share what you have learned and we'll share what we know and maybe we can piece together more of the threads and find out exactly what was going on." 
The commander grunted and leaned forward to pick up a folder off his desk, "I'm not going to lie, this is one of the strangest cases to come through the city." Opening the folder he scanned a few lines before continuing, "We haven't been able to learn much. Several of the, ah, patrons of the Temple flagged down some patrolling watchmen shortly after dawn yesterday and reported that the priests had all fallen at the same time and none were breathing. The watchmen sent word for backup and went back to investigate. They found two of the priests dead in the common room and another three in the kitchens, all had bloody noses, but not enough to kill them and no other signs of wounds or trauma. Another ten of the priests were found downstairs in a locked basement room."
Taking a breath, the Commander glanced around to see if there were any questions or comments before he went on, "Most of the teachings of this Kosyn boil down to promises of community and belonging, but very little in the way of specifics or concrete goals. We have questions all of the temple attendees, at least all of those we've been able to identify, unfortunately most of them only knew of the place as somewhere to get a hot meal. We were able to confirm that the head of the temple went by the name Speaker Rashar Bhalo, a human of average height, with brown hair and brown eyes. Beyond his association with the temple we have been unable to find any other information about the man, thus far. He does not appear to live in the city, we understand that he had taken over the Genesis Asylum outside of town, nor does he appear on the last census, for either the city or the county, which would makes sense as he only opened and registered the temple in late Quickening. We have sent messages to the other Emothan cities, but we haven't had time for a reply yet."
Flipping to the next page in the reports, Commander Vine scanned it briefly before saying, "Beyond the temple, we have reports of over three dozen people who dropped at approximately the same time and in the same manner. Four of those did not have nosebleeds and have been set aside as likely not related. Most were in influential positions around the city, including within the Citadel itself and several of the guilds. The rest are still under investigation, most don’t seem to have any sort of obvious connections with the temple."
Vellikar leaned forward and asked, "Have you questioned their family members, perhaps for any changes in behavior over the last moon or two?"
The commander nodded, "Still on-going I'm afraid, but at least half so far have reported a growing distance or distraction if you will. More than a handful reported finding their loved ones simply staring off into space on multiple occasions."
"Less present," offered Vellikar, "or perhaps disengaged from the world."
"Exactly so," nodded Commander Vine, flipping a few more pages. He grimaced before saying, "Perhaps, most disturbing, under Lord Veterial’s orders, several of the bodies were examined by the city croaker. All of them had some sort of worm creature in the brain. Several were small and wound around the lobes of the victims with tendrils reaching farther. What was much more concerning were the ones where the worm filled the skull, having consumed the brain of the victim replacing it entirely."
"What do you know, " asked Vellikar, "about how this happened, how this group rose to power? Surely this Rashar Bhalo had to have some sort of help, perhaps some other person or group in the city." 
"None that we've been able to identify as yet," replied the commander, "as I said we don't have a record of him prior to mid-Quickening. The first record of him was for the purchase of the temple building, he paid in coin, but there is no trace of where that gold had come from. Nor any other bank accounts that we could find. He hired some contractors to refurbish it and registered with the Guild of Churches, Temples, Sacred Groves and Big Ominous Rocks a fortnight later." Holding up a hand to Vellikar, he added, "Before you asked, yes, we tried to follow up with those contractors, but as yet we have been unable to locate any of the half-dozen listed on the construction permit. Investigations are on-going."
Commander Vines consulted another page, "As for the compound outside of town, tracking the business records, the asylum had been owned by the government after it closed. The deed transferring it to the Taken is signed by Lord Henzor Shamora, the Second Undersecretary to the Exchequer, one of those who had collapsed. 
Over the earrings, Vellikar asked, "Do we have any other questions we want to ask? Should we ask him about the wizard or should we keep that close to the chest?"
"Ask," replied Jilken from somewhere nearby in the city."
Ell smiled and added his own two copper, "Wouldn't hurt, this Everoim is supposed to be a public figure after all."
Vellikar turned his attention back to Commander Vine and asked, "What do you know of a wizard, we heard that a wizard had taken possession of a few items from the temple for study, I believe his tower is a day's ride southeast of here?"
"Ahh, you mean the wizard Everoim," replied the commander, "yes, he's somewhat new to the city as well, a right helpful chap on a few of our cases.  He's the first wizard to set up a tower near Dreford, and it's helpful to have someone we can call on. And yes, he's on this case, he wasn't able to tell anything about the bodies, but he did take several items back to his tower to study."
"So he's new," mused the druid, "just like this Speaker Bhalo."
"I suppose," agreed Vine, "I suppose I hadn't thought of it like that. Everoim certainly doesn't look like our description of Bhalo." 
Over the link, Ranunkel said, "Well Vellikar, I think you might be on to something."
"You are more than welcome to visit his tower," said the commander, oblivious to the psychic communication, "I just don't see it, he's a nice kid, a little odd now and then, but always eager to help if he can." Closing the folder he passed it over to Vellikar, "There is more detail in the reports, but if you will excuse me, I really should get to my next appointment." 
Ranunkel pulled open the door with a nod to the commander and Vellikar offered his thanks. As the team began to file out, the commander said, "Oh Lord Darnet, if you could pass along a message to your companion in the black hat. 'Please don’t try any more magic on my Watch. If it happens again, I will have to arrest you and I don’t think either one of us would enjoy that experience very much.'”
Ell gave the man a thin-lipped smile and replied, "Of course, and thank you for telling me, we certainly wouldn't want any unpleasantness." 
On the way back to the inn, the team stopped at the Temple of Tak so that Ranunkel could learn if those Taken acolytes had taken him up on his suggestion.  He learned that at least three of the former Taken novitiates had been taking into the temple’s aid structure, but were currently at the dormitory on the other side of town. 
That seemed like too far to travel, especially as it was getting close to noon and the foursome decided to head back to the inn and see what the others had discovered. When they got there and came upstairs, they found that Janora was already there and had just been stirring up the fire. Denye and Jilken arrived after only another fifteen minutes and shortly after the innkeeper sent up a boy with luncheon.
Over the meal the party discussed everything they had learned about both the Taken and the wizard Everoim. Janora only grunted at Commander Vine's message but whole-heartedly agreed with Vellikar that the timing of his arrival was suspicious. On the other hand the witch was fairly evasive about how they had spent their day, only saying that they had met someone who might grow to be a friend.
After lunch the party once more scattered to the four winds to pursue their own business. Of the party, only Denye and Tear stayed at the inn. The small goblin sat in the common room and practiced his letters for a while before growing bored pulling out one of the books that he had stolen from Guildmaster Faelran's library. Denye, for her part, activated the Ring of Homestead and clambered up to her workshop to check on her experiments. After adjusting and refreshing the spells on the tank of growing crystals, the wizard when over to her writing desk and with careful thought wrote letters to her contacts in the Obscure Veritas asking about Everoim the Athling. 
Jilken decided to spend some coin and see what she could get into. She found a couple of rowdy bars and eventually a fight club in the basement of a butcher shop. Ranunkel, on the other hand, decided that he felt somewhat responsible for those novitiates and went over to the safe house to speak with them. Two were at the house and were willing to speak to the druid. They didn’t have a lot more to add to what the party had already learned of the Taken, but corroborated the description of Speaker Bhalo. One of them did mention that the Speaker had been spending most of his time of late out at the Sanctum and only came into the city occasionally once a week and never stayed for more than a few hours.
Janora, meanwhile, headed straight over to the Mourning Garden. Grenadline was happy to see to the witch return and to continue the previous conversations on herbs. Mentioning that she had a couple of books back home that she wanted to show Janora, the herblist invited them to come out and see the inspiration for the shop name. Promising that it was only an hour or so out of the city, Ms. Misthollow closed up the shop and led Janora out of the shop.  "Home" proved to a large plot of land surrounded by an iron fence. A large ruined building caught the eye immediatly, but Grenadline showed the witch over to a snug looking cottage. She explained that the large building had once a monastery complete with graveyard, consecrated to the Fateweaver. Her great-grandfather had been a care-taker here and when the last of the monks died, he stayed on to care for the dead. Much of the graveyard was also her gardens and the pair spent the afternoon discussing plants and comparing recipes.
Vellikar, still feeling restless, headed down to the docks, just to wander and listen for rumors. He heard several groups talking about the strange deaths from the day before and learned the names of several of those who had dropped. But the most interesting thing that he overheard was a trio of sailors discussing a bright explosion on the Savannah that had been visible over the Teeth and hundreds of miles away as the ship, a quick cutter from Djedbura called the Weeping Ibis, left the delta. One of the sailors swore he saw a bright stream of light come down over the desert just before it happened, but the other fellow only laughed and called him a fool. Vellikar didn't try to press the matter or learn more, but he did make a mental note to tell the others about it,
Before he left, Ell had asked Denye for directions to the Municipal Library and it did not take the young man long to arrive and present himself at the front desk. The scribe at the desk was more than happy to admit him and presented Ell with a lanyard with a small emerald bead. Making his way down to the ancient histories Ell began his investigations into the War of the Undead and Ollamaas. He found several tomes that, while not getting into specifics, described Ollamaas as a powerful necromancer who claimed to have the power of the gods within his veins....specifically Tharizdun, the Chained Oblivion.  
He rose to power some 1200 years after the founding of Ellebore, in a kingdom whose name has been stricken from time. Few records remain that describe how or why such a thing could happen, but one kingdom was not enough for Ollamaas and so began the War. His greatest desire was bring everyone into the world of undeath and rule over a world of corpses and ash. 
It took the combined power of the Bright Shiners to stop him, in what became known and the Binding and Breaking to stop Ollamaas. Originally the plan had been to destroy the Dark Titan, but when one of the Shiners ran, the remaining Shiners had to do what they could. And so they broke the Titan and hid the pieces at various points in the Lost Kingdom beneath spell and ward. Then they sent both him and his land to a pocket dimension that touched no other realm save through the Wall. 
Having never heard of this god, Tharizdun, Ell went looking in the religious section and found a tome that described the Chained Oblivion as the god of madness, chaos and rot. According to legend, when the world was new and the gods first created the peoples of Vestra, Tharizdun attempted to lead a war against the gods and all of creation. When he was defeated, he was imprisoned and chained below the deepest levels of the Abyss, so that he had no further power. That war was also the catalyst for the rest of the gods to themselves draw beyond the divine gate. 
After returning the lanyard, Ell hurried back to the inn and found that the others had all returned and were just sitting down to dinner. Everyone seemed relaxed and pleased with the day's investigations...even Jilken, who was nursing a black eye. The young man excitedly shared what he had learned about Ollamaas and his god. Much of the information about the Dark Titan matched with what Janora had researched, but the witch had not run across the reference to Tharizdun, so they were quite interested in those details.
The party was less sure what to make of Vellikar's story about an enormous explosion on the Scattered Savannah. Jilken was glad that it had happened there rather than in her desert, but even she couldn't think of what could have caused such a thing. In the end, as Umberfell was an imminent destination, the team decided that it was a worry for another day. 

35 Harvest

The trip from Dreford to the Coral Tower was pleasant if a bit chilly at night. Or rather it would have been, if not for Janora's Tiny Hut. But shortly after noon on the second day the party found themselves approaching a rising spur of land that jutted out into the sea. At the top the rise was a curving five-story tower and the area around the tower was filled with lush gardens, flowers blooming everywhere. Before the tower was a large pool and water sprites danced; becoming a dolphin that leapt skyward only to dissolve into the water once more, and then became a tree, growing up and then shedding it's leaves like rain.
The tower itself was odd, It appeared to have been made from some sort of bubble coral. As the eye looked at it, the color seemed to shift from a dusky rose to a turquoise, and back again. A tall set of double doors made from a weathered wood in-laid with a pattern of sea-glass marked the entrance. Next to the door there was a small sign that read, "For consultation, ring bell. For cultivating advice, please knock. For conversation, please yodel."
At first the sign got odd looks, but with a grin Vellikar gave Ranunkel a look and they both began yodeling.  It was another minute or two after they had fallen silent and Ranunkel was just about to start up again, when one of the doors swung open, revealing a large, floating, mechanical cuttlefish. "Good day, good day, welcome to the Coral Tower," it said, patterns of colored light spilling over it's shell. "You've come for conversation, yes? Please, please, come in, Master Everoim is just finishing up in his laboratory."
Backing up, the cuttlefish gestured for the the party to enter, The first floor seems to be cut in half with a wall of the same coral and a spiral staircase of shell that rises to the upper levels. Doors of the same weathered wood flank the staircase and a number of rakes, shovels, and even a wheelbarrow leaning against the walls. 
Introducing himself as Giles, Master Everoim's assistant, the cuttlefish led the way up to the third floor which was wide and open as a single room, with large windows lined with plants and flowers. Going clockwise, there was an area with a number of bookshelves with a pair of comfortable looking armchairs, another with a round conference table and high-backed chairs, a third with a plush set of couches before a large fireplace, and the fourth set up with a desk piled high with several stacks of paper. Scattered about are a series of sculpture pieces…Everoim's own work, created by using water to erode the rock.
Giles led them over to the couches and invited them to sit before offering drinks. Everoim himself appeared only a minute or two later descending from the higher floors and wiping his hands of a cloth. He was a tall man with a large chest and straight black hair pulled up into a bun at the back of his head. His pale blue-gray skin and hints of tusks belied some orc and goliath blood, but otherwise he looked completely human.
He proved to be pleasant, rough, and welcoming. He fully admitted to having come recently to Ellebore and grew up in Wahilia (the most northern of the orc communities). "My reasons aren't that difficult to explain I suppose, I had visited Dreford in the past and it doesn't have any other wizards to help the people. So…when I needed to...so I left and came here. *snort* besides there isn't much room in a boat for my lovely flowers and it's nice to not have the floor roll under your feet." When pushed, he confessed to having had a disagreement with Archmagus Angelika Reefspeaker and he thought leaving would be a good idea.
Everoim seemed to have a strong affinity for water magics and nature magics, but very little else. Quite forgetful. Would be lost without his assistant, Giles, a magical cuttlefish automaton. He's also something of an experimenter and has recently been exploring a new magical front that he claimed came to him in a dream, chronagy.
Denye is appalled at this new magic but put it aside to ask about the Taken. He is actually quite embarrassed about the whole thing with the Taken. He should have caught on to that sooner but hasn't found anything on the goddess Kosyn. Everoim shared that he had sent messages to Labradorite as well as to the Queen of the DeepDwellers, but he didn't expect to hear back for at least a few days. He's more than happy to let the party come up to his laboratory to look at the artifacts that were recovered from the temple.
The lab itself is on the fifth floor of the tower though the stairs extend up to the roof where there is a glassed greenhouse filled with a variety of unique flowers and other useful plants. "I've got a similar room down in the basement from mushrooms," shared Everoim proudly. The fifth floor was also open and sports large windows and was filled with a number of worktables while the walls are lined with shelves and cabinets.
Everoim led them directly over to one of the tables where the four banners were laid out as well as a disassembled stand, the center pole of which was carved with a number of strange runes. Several ornate bowls and a crate of varadoo fruit sat nearby on another table as did a small box containing several bricks of the incense the cultists were using. Next to the table stood the four candelabra/incense burners, but the wizard explained that they have no magic of their own, in fact, the only magical items found were the banners and the stand.
One of the banners was reversed and was backed with runes as well, stitched of spun silver. Picking up several sheets of paper Everoim explained, "Now this I've been able to work out a bit...it's a rather insidious spell, sort of a combination of enchantment and necromancy. It draws the eyes with subtle effect, but when stared at for long periods, particularly with lowered inhibitions, those subtle whispers draw out the magical essence in the viewer and syphon it to the focus...the carved standard."
The runes carved into the pole were different from the ones on the banners, sharper and more jagged. Everoim hadn't been able to identify it, but Denye thought it might be Abyssal. She asked the wizard why he didn't use Comprehend Languages so he could read it, but the other wizard sheepishly admitted that he'd never been able to master the spell. Denye spent some time trying to teach him, but when it was clear he just couldn't do the spell for some reason, she turned her attention back to the staff. 
The runes were in fact Abyssal and the pole functioned as a sort of sink/channel to focus and transmit the energy fed into it, out of the material plane to a space in the Shadowfel in the name of the Chained Oblivion. Denye quickly shared that news and both the party and Everoim appeared shocked. There was a brief discussion about what was going to happen to the artifacts and in the end Denye cast Dispel Magic on the staff and they burned the stick in the fireplace. The party was less worried about the tapestries and left those for Everoim to deal with.
While everyone else was examining the artifacts, Janora wandered over to the other workbench to make sure that Everoim hadn't missed anything. The bowls were simple, but made from silver with a ring of brass along the top as well as a ziggaraut etched into the bottom of the bowl. The fruit was the same as the ones that the infiltration team had received in the Temple and had no magic of it's own. The incense was, interesting...there was something about it that was familiar, so Janora pocketed some to study later.
With their business concluded, the party bid good day to Everoim and took their leave, heading back to Dreford. As the party made their way down the bluff, back at the tower the wizard flopped onto one of the couchs and rubbed at his face. Turning to Giles he said, "That went pretty well, don't you think? I think it went pretty well, they were nice people."

36 Harvest

The trip back was as uneventful as the trip from Dreford, with the exception that it had begun drizzling shortly after dawn. That wouldn't have been too bad, but by noon it had turned into a steady rain that did not let up. It was after sunset before the party made it back to the gates of the city. After returning the horses to the livery, the party made their way back to the Three Bells where Kif Lonewhirl was more than happy to rent them the suite again. 
Hot baths and dry clothes did much to improve morale and a hearty meal and a warmed cider finished the job. Exhausted and tired, the team soon sought their beds and relaxation of dreamtime.

Character(s) interacted with

Grendaline Misthallow - Owner of the Mourning Garden Commander Samael Vine - Commander of the City Watch Everoim the Athling - Wizard of the

Report Date

21 Oct 2022