Session 59 - Loose Threads and Dead Ends

General Summary

37 Harvest

A good night's sleep restored much of the party's energy levels and they gathered once more in the common room to discuss the plan for the day. After everyone had filled their plates and settled in, Janora asked, "So what do we still have to do in this city?"
"Well," began Denye, "I'm not sure what else if there is anything else to learn of the Taken, but I received a very interesting letter from one of my mentors, Secret of the Bluff, but mostly he was quite excited about a meteor that hit the savannah about a week ago, leaving a rather large and surprisingly deep crater. He's putting together a small team to go investigate and asked if I, or we, would be interested into accompanying him. He's down in Arborlisle Harbor which is on the western coast of Umberfell, that puts us on the path of that Bell in the desert. I don't know what could have fallen from the sky, but I'd like to check in with my mentor, besides, things falling from the sky doesn't sound good, it might have something to do with the comet and I have a really bad feeling about that. Does that sound like something folks would be interested in doing?"
Everyone seemed very interested, particularly about the events on the Savannah. Leaning forward Janora asked, "When did you want to leave? I assume you have some way to get us halfway around the world."
"Of course, I'll be able to teleport us there," assured Denye, "But I should probably let him know before we show up, so maybe we leave tomorrow morning?" She chirped a small laugh, "That will give me time to find the sigils for Secret's circle. I know I have them in my notes somewhere. I hadn't mastered the spell but I made sure to write them down so that I had them when I was ready."
"Do we need to get you anything for the ritual?" asked Jilken.
"No, I'm good," replied Denye, 'I've got plenty of the special chalk."
Jilken nodded, "Do we need to do anything else for Veterial about Bhalo and those Taken?"
Ell shook his head, "I don't think so. Commander Vine seemed to have the mundane investigation well in hand, but something tells me that he isn't going to get very far. Whoever was behind this cult did a good job of hiding his tracks."
Janora clapped the arms of their chair and stood up, "In that case, I'm going to take this incense over to my new friend. She's something of an herbalist who specializes in the illicit...not that anything in this city is actually illicit." The witch gathered their bag and started for the door, pausing as they opened it, they called, "I'll be back sometime this evening."
Heading back down to the Shades, Janora went directly to the Mourning Garden. Grendaline hadn't opened the shop yet, so the witch settled down, pulling out the Crowcaller Book of Twilight and began flipping, looking for one of the herbal sections they had recalled after the last visit. It was an hour or so before the younger shopkeeper showed up, carrying a basket over one arm. As she came up the ramp, she spotted the witch and smiled broadly, "Why, Ms. Janora, you're back. How was the visit to the wizard?"
"Not bad," replied the witch, getting to their feet, "he wasn't quite what I was expecting, We learned some more about that cult, but not enough to find the one responsible. Actually, that's why I'm here. I brought back some of the incense they were using in that temple, I was hoping you could take a look at it and tell me what's in it?"
Grendaline raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Well, I can't promise anything, but I'll take a look. Come on in." With that she pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the shop, ushering Janora inside. Heading into the back, she deposited the basket on one of the worktables and retrieved a wide shallow bowl. Taking some of the incense from the witch, she crumbled it into the bowl and began examining it. After several tests, she declared, "The primary component is sumata, a drug know for its hallucinatory and psychoactive properties. The rest of it is non-reactive herbs. If I had to guess they were mostly used to disguise the scent of the sumata."
Janora nodded, "That sounds about right. What can you tell me about this drug?"
"It's common enough," explained Grendaline, "It's made from a yellow-orange flower that grows in the jungles of the Karzaba Peninsula in northern Umberfell. The petals and stamins are harvested, dried, and crushed. Sumata is usually burned and the smoke inhaled and can cause light-headedness, relaxation and disconnected thoughts. And then there are the hallucinatory effects; most people describe it as if the edges of things become blurred and wavery and some report hearing voices and having whole conversations. It can be addictive, but only with repeated daily usage."

---

Ell spent the morning writing letters back to Haven. The first was to the seneschal, speaking in veiled terms to let them know that the Taken were no longer an issue, but that they were likely only a sign of the deeper problems that seem to be developing in the world over the last half year. The young man sent several other letters, to his man of business in Haven as well as the supervisor in Port Frost. With that accomplished, he and Tear headed out into the city to look for business opportunities and sample the local cuisine.
Tear was quite excited to try all sorts of new things, but his favorite was a small street stall that sold fried fish with fried sliced potatoes. While they were out, the pair stopped at a bookstore called Bound to Please and picked up a half-dozen children's book for the young goblin to practice his reading skills. They also made a second stop at a general store, but Tear went in by himself, asking Ell to wait outside. The young goblin was back shortly and looking fairly pleased with himself, but he didn't share his secret. Ell only smiled and the pair headed back towards the inn.

---

Vellikar headed out shortly after Janora but his goal was the Municipal Library. It took the druid a bit to find it, getting turned around once, but eventually he arrived at his destination and presented himself to the clerk. The middle-aged man was startled by Vellikar's appearance and kept giving the druid odd glances as he listened, lips pursed tightly.
The druid offered a friendly smile and said, "Good morning." When the scribe didn't respond, Vellikar nodded, "I'm sorry, I can tell that my appearance is a bit disturbing to you." Snapping the fingers of one hand, the druid cast Disguse Self and made himself look just like the scribe. "There, that should be something you are more comfortable with."
"Wa...wa....what the frack?" asked the scribe, eyes wide.
"is this not more comfortable for you?" asked Vellikar, puzzled, "I assumed that you be most familiar with your own face. If that's not the case, I can try again."
The scribe seemed to recover himself, "No, no, that will not be necessary." Glearing his throat he asked, "And what brings you into the Dreford Municipal Library today?"
"I was hoping to do some research," replied the druid, "I would love some help if you have the time."
The clerk smiled but shook his head, "I'm afraid I am assigned to the front desk at the moment, but I can certainly call for an assistant." Picking up a small bell on the desk he rang it once or twice before setting it down. No sound came out of the bell, but a few moments later another scribe, this one an older looking halfling woman in a deep green waistcoat came up to the desk.
"Ahh, Bridget," said the clerk with a half-smile, "would you be so kind as to assist this young man with his research." Reaching into a drawer, the desk clerk pulled out a lanyard strung with two red beads. Handing it to Vellikar he said, "If you will please wear that while you in the library. We wouldn't want to confuse anyone, thinking that there were two of me around. Bridget here will be able to help you navigate the stacks."
Vellikar slipped the lanyard over his head solemnly and turned to the older halfling woman and gave a half-bow, "Thank you in advance for your help. I am unsure of where to look for this information, but I am interested in learning about comets such as the Vehacarro, both from a data perspective as well as social connotations.
The older clerk nodded and thought for a moment before suggesting, "Astronomy, we'll start there. Follow me." With a wave, she led Vellikar over to a staircase and up two flights of stairs. Bridget proved to be a knowledgeable librarian and found a number of books on the subject matter. The Vehacarro comet was by far the most studied of such astral bodies and was generally regarded as a harbinger of change and turmoil. Several other comets, meteor swarms and the like were known and documented, as were the other wandering stars that circled Zriavli as Vestra did.
Most of these did not have the same negative connotations as the Vehacarro comet. It seemed that most of these astral objects were of less import to the general population, but Bridget did turn up quite a bit about various opinions on the moons and eclipses, particularly Rilar and Avreil. The Bur'an elves, for example counted a double eclipse where both line up with the sun every 70-80 years as one of the most important holy days of their culture.

---

Jilken spent some time at the inn, but decided that she would take advantage of the day to stock up on supplies and trade goods when they arrived in Umberfell. In particular, she picked up dye packets along with two dozen skiens of chirra wool. Recalling the sweet tooth of most Aiel, she also got a collection of jams and jellies. That accomplished, she spent the rest of the day, slouching around town and drinking a lot of cheap beer and getting into several brawls

---

Ranunkel headed back over the Temple of Tak and found the cleric he had spoke with a few days ago, who introduced himself as Crafter Krumdain Frozenrock, a cleric of Tak who specialized in wood carving. Sensing a need in the stone druid to talk, Krumdain invited Ranunkel to spend some time in the workshop among fellow followers of The Divine Artisan.
As the day progresses, Ranunkel shares some of what his grove was like and the other dwarf was somewhat aghast at how the stone druid had been treated. Ranunkel also shared his quest to find the sending stone, This excites Krumdain and over lunch introduces Ranunkel to Thermus Flintfist, an ancient dwarf who has made the standing stones his life study. Thermus knew of Ranunkel’s grove and the perfectly preserved stone circle that was kept there.
The scholar was quite happy to share what he had learned. He was able to share quite a bit about the stones and the network of transportation that they represented during the last century of the Second Age. It was a unique magic that blended elven, dwarven, and human magics into something new. Unfortunately it was also a fairly secretive group and they were wiped out in the Mad Mage’s war for power so no one knows all that circles were used for. Thermus believes that the circles were only one part of what this blended sect could accomplish, but with no surviving records it was impossible to tell. The sage has been able to deduce that the primary function of the circles was to draw down the power of the stars to build bridges and the sending stones were used as a sort of dial to choose the endpoint. Thermus has actually seen pieces of such stones and has sketches of what he believes a complete crystal would look like. He fully believes that there is at least one complete stone in the world…he confidentiality shares that once in a moment of weakness he asked Tak if his life’s work had any purpose and the god told him that one would come, when the Dusky Traveler returns, who would need his knowledge to stop a cataclysmic event. Believing that Ranunekl might be that one, he passes on a series of sigils that he had been shown by Tak.

---

After folks scattered, Denye headed to her room and dashed off a quick note to Secret, letting him know that the party would be arriving tomorrow morning and asking if he needed her to pick up anything here in Dreford. That accomplished, That accomplished, she began flipping madly through her various notebooks, folios, and scraps of parchment looking for where she had noted down the sigils for Secret of the Bluff’s magical circle. Once she found it, she spent a long time burning them into her memory and practicing the spell that she would need to cast to send her friends halfway across the world.
After getting some lunch, Denye went out to walk around and found herself near the Guild of Seamstresses. Remembering the last visit made the wizard nervous and she considered going in, but spent several hours walking up and down the row instead, arguing with herself and trying to work up the courage to look up Aladosia. In the end, the wizard convinced herself not to go in and instead headed back to the inn, where she found a reply from Secret waiting for her.
Scanning it quickly, she beak-grinned and headed back out into the common room where most of the party had gathered. Holding it up she said, "I've heard back from Secret of the Bluff. He'll be expecting us in the morning."

38 Harvest

The next morning the party was up early and ready to be on the move. After a quick breakfast, Denye headed downstairs to hand in the keys. The innkeeper gave her an odd look and asked where the rest of the party was. The wizard explained that she was going to teleport the group directly from the rooms upstairs. At Kif's wide-eyed look, Denye quickly reassured him that it was perfectly safe and would leave no damage, although she did admit that they had had to move the furniture of the common room and it would need to be put back in order in a half hour or so.
Heading back upstairs, Denye found that the others had finished moving things and there was a large open space on the floor, ready for her to begin casting. Checking her spellbook one last time, the Corva wizard pulled out her infused chalk and quickly began by drawing out a large circle before filling it in with a series of arcane runes. As she connected the final sigil and activated the spell, the entire construct began to glow at first softly. As it began to glow brighter and brighter, she warned everyone to jump into the circle.
Together everyone did so and as the light of Denye's circle flashed up, there was a pulling, a stretching sensation, as if their feet was stuck to the ground, until with a snap gravity released to be followed by a rushing darkness. One breathe, two, and there was another flash of light and a feeling of landing heavily. When the light faded away, the party found themselves in a square white marble room hung with purple banners, standing on an inlaid magic circle of gold and platinum.
As the party looked around blinking, a ringing chime echoed through the room and after a few moments, a tall elf with charcoal skin and dark tight curls, a series of gold rings in his pointed ears came limping into the room, followed by a large spectral pit bill. Tanyln Enberos broke out into a wide grin and spoke to the hound, who's tail had begun whipping around, "Aye it is Denye of the Starlight, and she has brought friends."
Denye sighed and rolled her eyes, "I've told you, it's Denye Starwing, but yes, Tanylin, it's good to see you. These are the friends I told you about, let me introduce you to everyone." As she did so, she noticed that Janora was already down on their knees making eyes at the dog. At a nod from the Bur'an elf, the spectral hound came over and began licking the witch's face.
After introductions were made, Tanylin gave the party a short bow and said, "Master Secret said that you were coming, it's a bit early as yet, but please, please come this way. There is much, much news and I'm sure you have been busy as well."
He leads the party to a comfortable sitting area with low couches and large cushions. One wall of the room was open and lined with fluted marble pillars that led out to a large lanai that looked out over the city and the sea beyond, only now starting to lighten with the first rays of the sun. After settling everyone, he muttered under his breathe, sending a message to Master Secret, before bringing over a pitcher of kava.
Janora had followed, but eschewed the couches and found a spot on the floor and was currently wrestling with Tanyln's hound. As Denye settled, she said, "I forgot all about the time difference, I am so sorry for waking you so early."
Tanyln laughed, "Nay, I was already up, Ajax and I enjoy a good pre-dawn run along the beach. Your timing was fine, besides it will be chaos here in a few hours. Master Secret is leaving for the crater this morning and I swear he's taking half the school."
"Yes, he said something about that," said Denye, nodding, "What in the world has been happening around here? Master Secret said something fell from the sky?"
"Well," replied Tanyln, scratching his head, "That's one of the theories, all we know for sure is there was an explosion out in the Savannah, 10-12 days ago, blew a big crater in the countryside about halfway between here and the mountains. An initial team was sent out a few days after and from what I've heard haven't discovered much. Now that there is a camp set up and all, Master Secret wants to take a look." The Bur'an wizard shook his head and added, "Before that we were having the worst earthquakes...thank the gods they stopped. More than a few building here in the city fell, but I think the Thri-Kreen had it worse than us."
Ell leaned forward excitedly and asked, "The earthquakes just stopped? Did anyone find a cause for them?"
"Haven't had a single shake since the explosion," confirmed Tanyln, "Last I heard, no one had found a cause. The good master's theory is that the quakes and the explosion were connected, but I don't believe he has any proof as of yet. I think that's one of the things he wants to investigate."
"We were hoping to take a look at the crater ourselves," admitted Denye, "but surely the scout team has learned something after a week?"
Tanyln shrugged, "The master would probably know more. Last I heard they still hadn't discovered a cause, but the dwarves are sure that the initial explosion happened below ground, maybe some 500ft. I did hear the other day that the were a number of ley lines that converged on the spot, so clearly whatever happened was most likely magical in nature. Perhaps the node went unstable and exploded." At Denye's skeptical look he held up his hands, "I've never heard of it, but it's also not my field of study so who knows how likely it could be."
Vellikar, who had been listening intently, asked, "Why do they think it happened underground?"
The Bur'an wizard shrugged again and sipped his kava before answering, "Again, not really my field, but I believe the report said something about pattern of dispersal, yes that was the phrase."
Ranunkel nodded excitedly and pull out a scrap of parchment and a charcoal stick and drew a couple of diagrams. "Really comes down to the crater size and shape. Something underground would push all ground above it up into a larger ring, with debris scattered dozens of miles. If something fell from the sky, it's generally a smaller, deeper crater as the object drives itself into the stone." Shaking his head he added, "To make the kind of crater you described, that would take an explosion like a small sun."
"Indeed," said a new voice, older and with a hint of rasp. Turning to the door, the party saw a elderly looking panther tabaxi with gold/green eyes and a graying muzzle and paws entering the room. He was dressed in robes of a purple linen trimmed in arcane runes of gold and wore a pair of half-moon glasses that sat near the end of his nose. He smiled at the party and repeated, "Indeed, my lad, that is one of the questions I am hoping to discover. Denye, my girl, it is good to see you. Being on the road clearly hasn't stifled your time to research, very good on learning the Teleport Circle spell....always quite handy to get around quick."
Denye ruffled her feathers, embarrassed but nodded, "There is never enough time to get everything done, but I've got a few interesting things in the works. Actually, that reminds me, I have something for you." Reaching into her bag she pulled out a couple of spell scrolls and after double checking them handed them to the elder wizard. "I've been working on new encryption spells for the Obscure Veritas and I think these might prove useful for our more sensitive communications. But we can discuss all of that later, it's good to see you once more, Master Secret, please let me introduce you to my friends."
As the introductions concluded, Secret of the Bluff gave the party a small bow, "Welcome to my home and to my school. I wish I had more time to show you around the city, but we are scheduled to leave in a couple of hours for the site. I really don't want to delay, we've only waited this long because several pieces of extremally necessary equipment had to be disassembled and packed carefully." This last was directed at Tanyln who had rolled his eyes at the elder wizard.
"You mentioned having room for us to come with you?" asked Denye, attempting to distract Master Secret, "I am certain that everyone is interested in investigating this crater. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good. Can you tell us any more about you've learned so far?"
Tanyln quickly summarized what he had told them. Listening closely Master Secret shook his head, "Nothing substantial, whatever it was sucked up every available trace of magical energy in the vicinity, including all traces of itself. Quite vexing, quite vexing." After a moments thought the tabaxi wizard added, "I did hear yesterday that a dragon visited the site two days prior."
"Really?" asked Jilken, eyes going wide as she leaned forward excitedly, "Do you know what color?"
Secret of the Bluff shook his head, "The message didn't say, only that there were no causalities as a result of the encounter. It seems it dropped out of the sky, landed in the crater, vanished for a short period, and then took off once more roaring, flying straight up and out of sight."
"Oh" said Jilken dropping back. before popping back up, "They took something from the site!"
"Or at least investigated something," agreed Denye, "We should get out there as soon as possible. You all have different ways of sensing magics, perhaps you'll find something the others have overlooked." Turning back to Secret she asked, "Is there anything I can do to help get things ready."
"No, no," replied the elder wizard, "You are all my guests, please sit and relax. Buttons and Stratz are finishing the packing and we should be leaving in about an hour or so." Turning to address Tanyln he said, "Would you check with Ms. Pleasant and let her know that we have guests. I think breakfast on the lanai will be in order."
The Bur'an elf nodded and vanished into another part of the house. As the sky lightened and other sounds could be heard throughout the house of people waking and being the day, Denye told Secret of her latest travels and particularly all she had learned about the Vehacarro comet.
The meal was delicious and plentiful, featuring lots of local fruits. By the time everyone finished, the sun was fully up, and Tanylin came back in carrying a satchel and a large book. "The wagons are ready and the dunners are being hitched now," he said, handing the satchel to Secret of the Bluff.
"Excellent, excellent," muttered Secret clapping his hands and rising from the table, "and you brought the Tome, most excellent." Slipping the satchel over his head, the elder wizard took the book and laid it on the table. Making eye contact with Tanlyn, Secret laid his hand flat on the book and said, "Until such time as I return, you, Tanyln Enberos, have responsibility and authority for the school, it's environs and it's denizens. Protect, Nurture, and Seek to the best of your abilities." There was a flash of arcane light and the book vanished from the table and appeared once more in the Bur'an's hands."
Clapping the wizard on the shoulder, Secret reassured the young man, "It will be fine. I'm taking all of the older students, you'll just have the littles to watch out for. The staff all know how to do their jobs and if anything major happens, you have a Sending Stone and can call me as needed." The elf looked nervous but smiled gamely and Secret led down to the front courtyard where they found three covered wagons packed and ready to go. In the harnesses were odd beasts, sort of a cross between a badger and a buffalo. Jilken identified these as the dunners, a species local to the Savannah, known for strength and endurance. The party quickly climbed up and as they settled in, the wagon began heading down the hill and through the Traveler's Gate to the Savannah beyond.

43 Harvest

The trip to the crater took five days and was quiet, although they did see a circus on the third day of travel. The party stopped to take in the show and was super suspicious, but it was a clown act, a highwire act, and a mini-pony/squirrel act. Arriving at the crater in the early afternoon, the party found a well established camp with a number of large tents and a wooden staircase that led down into the crater itself.
As people began to climb down out of the wagons, the elder tabaxi wizard gathered up the party as well as his students, Button and Stratz, a goblin and an amethyst dragonborn, who the party had been introduced to on the road. Secret of the Bluff led the way into the central tent where they found a group of four dwarves speaking with a trio of mages; a tall dark Bur’an elf, a older lioness tabaxi, and a thri-kreen.
As everyone stepped inside they heard one of the dwarves saying, "We've identified several of the newly exposed fat deposits and at least two shows signs of extended calcium deposits."
"Excuse me?" asked Janora, looking confused, "Did you say fat deposits?"
As those gathered around the table turned to look at the group in surprise, Denye stepped forward, pulling out her notebook and flipping to a new section, "Yes, fat deposits underground, that sounds fascinating, can you explain?"
The dwarf broke out into a grin, "Oh aye lass, it's all on a count of the great beast slain in the Creation War. When the gods won and bound the Mad Devourer, they took the corpse of his archon dragon and created the land of Umberfell. The Scar is where Kandis, the Bright Kindler struck the killing blow." The dwarf scratched at his beard for a moment before adding, "Can't say I ever knew why they left the fat deposits, but we've been finding and mining them for over 2000 years."
Jilken looked over to Janora and shrugged, "Umberfell is a different place...I think it's because it's older. Either way, most people seem to prefer this side of the Teeth. It will be hotter when we get onto the sands."
Janora looked appalled but Secret stepped forward and shared a hug with the tabaxi cleric, who he introduced as Dew of the High Grass. Giving a bow to the Thri-Kreen and the Bur'an, he introduced them as Lazin th’Queenspire and Usunaar Zinroris respectively. The dwarven speaker, Secret introduced as Gonden Tallowoak from Schmaltzberg.
They were quite happy to meet the party and more than willing to share what they had discovered about this crater that had appeared. Goden confirmed that the best guess was that explosion had happened underground. "It's the only way the walls would have formed that way, but it was the debris patterns that gave us trouble, until young Yokhaena here discovered that a large portion of the ejecta had been vaporized in the original explosion."
"How far out have you been able to track the debris?" asked Jilken.
"Two miles or so," replied the dwarven speaker, "Beyond that physically, there isn't much to the crater, at it's center it's probably 100-150ft down and mostly circular."
Denye whistles, "That's a big explosion."
Secret spoke up, "But then what about the shooting star? I have pictures of it coming in over the Muspati and my calculations put it's trajectory inline with this crater."
A chiming voice came out from a small box with a inlaid gemstone on the neck of the Thri-Kreen wizard as he shared, "Reports from several hunting parties say that something burning fell from the sky, but then vanished less than a quarter mile or above the ground. 15-20 seconds later the explosion, an enormous ball of burning light, filled the sky with rock and dirt."
Denye gasped, "That sounds like some sort of portal....if you could bring something like that down and then bring all that force to slam into something directly."
Ell nodded, "That's one way to destroy something."
The Bur'an wizard snorted, "So well there is no sign of what is destroyed. We have found a couple of traces that are fascinating, but perhaps it would be better for you all to have a look at the site for yourself. Many of you seem to have different skills in arcane, I would not want to prejudice your first impressions."
Stratz opened the curtain and Usunaar led the party outward to a wooden observation platform that overlooked the impact site. Janora stepped forward and extended their magical senses into the crater. There was nothing of a planer nature about the area, but beyond that it was hard to tell, the land felt off from what they were used to and they growled curses under their breath. Turning back to the local wizards, Janora asked, "On the way here, I noticed a pair of large structures to the south. They looked somewhat equidistant to this crater and formed a sort of triangle. Would they have anything to do with this explosion?"
Lazin spoke up, "It is highly unlikely, I believe the structures you are speaking of are hives of my people. While our capitol city is Queenspire where the High Queen lives, several of the junior queens have been allowed to establish bases of their own."
Vellikar, who had been listening to this conversation, reached out with his own magical senses. While there was no magical enegries left, the druid was able to identify that there were multiple ley lines that converged on this spot. None of them were nearly as full or as strong as the channels appeared to capable of, but that allowed the druid to sense the Weave directly. While there was no spells active or present, the Weave appeared to have a sort of impression or burn-in. It shared both elements of divine magic as well as primal, elemental magic. Explaining this, Vellikar shared, "The divine influence was strange, while it felt mostly light and pure, there was also a sense of something dark and slimy about it."
Janora eyed Ell and asked, "Master Darnet, do you want to have a look?" Smiling, the witch cast Bless on Ell, Denye, and Jilken.
The young man flashed Janora a strained look, but stepped forward to the edge and looked down into the pit. Pulling the Rod of Milani from his pocket he held it in one hand and stretched out his senses. Ell was able to sense the same burn-in or echo, but it had was very different from both Miliani and the Voice and unlike anything the young man had experienced before, all he could really say was that it was an ancient, ancient magic.
Denye suggested that they actually head down to get closer to the source, perhaps it would be easier to learn something. This proved to be a profitable suggestion as Vellikar followed the others down, the druid was able to get a better sense of the site. It sparked a memory of something from his training, hidden sites in the world known as fanes of creation. Little was actually known about these sites other than as spots that were god-touched and were a sort of well-spring of magic.
Denye chirped and over the link said, "We have a note about a fane of creation, it was one of the phrases that we recovered from the Taken's Sanctum." Reaching the base of the crater, it was a mostly bowl shaped site of stone. Several worktables were set up with various instruments, that were clearly working to measure the magical flux within the area. Denye's eye was drawn to the enormous dragon footprints and the enormous milky green scale that was almost as tall as she.
Jilken whistled, "That is a huge scale. How big was the dragon?"
Dew of the High Grass laughed, "It was truly the largest I have ever seen and one of the strangest experiences of my life. A gargantuan dragon of malachite scales dropped down out of the sky and into the crater. Luckily we didn't have anyone down here, and everyone just ran and hid. Which means we don't really know what the dragon was looking for...but it landed in the crater, visible still from ground level, and then vanished. 20-30 minutes later the beast reappeared and took off straight up, trumpeting a call that was full of rage and mourning." The tabaxi cleric looked around and sighed, "We came down immediately after, but it's hard to tell exactly what happened. None of the equipment or the site seemed to be disturbed, but there was arcane residue of some sort of powerful divination spell. "
"Was that chunk of malachite here before," asked Denye, "or did the dragon leave it?"
Dew shook her head, "No, I'm fairly sure that it was a scale of the dragon, and likely one of the smaller ones at that."
"Do dragons typically leave scales?" asked Vellikar.
Dew shrugged, "It's hard to say, there aren't really that many dragon sightings these days, for example I have never heard of a malachite dragon. But according to our dragonborn friends, it's not that uncommon for a scale or two to drop now and then."
Nodding, Denye cast Detect Magic and began looking around, trying to sense both the echo in the Weave as well as any residue that remained of the divination spell. Nothing remained of the dragon's spell, but the ancient magic was fascinating. Denye was able to sense both the primal and the divine natures of the spell and beyond that the young wizard was able to puzzle out that there was sense of binding and stricture about whatever it was that was destroyed. The other thing that she noticed was that the levels of power the echo represented was well beyond her or any of the wizards that she knew.
Whistling, Denye shared, "This was big, whatever was here, but I can't get any sense of what destroyed it or what was actually happening here."
Janora asked, "So do we think it was the dragon that caused this?"
Denye shook her head, "I don't think so. If I had to guess it was caused by something else, probably whatever was building up the earthquakes. Then the shooting star fell and caused this site to pop. I think the dragon came to check on something, maybe this fane of creation, but didn't like what they found, got very angry and then flew off in a huff."
The Thri-Kreen wizard agreed, "That is very close to our own theories. I do not believe that we had considered that a fane was destroyed. Perhaps that will be a profitable avenue for further research."
Denye turned and asked, "Have you been able to discover what it was that fell from the sky?"
"Yes and no," replied Lazin, "no substantial samples have been found, but we have managed to collect a small sample of dust that appears to be non-Vestran in origin." The Thri-Kreen produced a small vial of a green and blue powder and held it out for Denye to take. The Corva wizard took the small vial and examined it closely with her own arcane senses. The powder was strange, unlike any mineral Denye had seen before. Beyond that the wizard was able to sense remnants of a gravitational spell.
"Denye," asked Jilken, "Didn't you say there was some sort of binding here?"
The wizard looked up from the vial and nodded her head emphatically, "There was something here, it's like somebody put a, it's not even a ward, it's as if someone just said the world can only be this way here...or maybe it can't be someway. I'm not sure...I don't have the words to describe what I'm seeing...it's just too big."
"What if," mused Jilken, " if there was something like that holding something or someone back, what if destroying it was an attempt to unbind that thing. I don't know, that's probably crazy."
"Not at all, that was what I was thinking as well," assured Denye, "and I'm fairly sure that the dragon knows exactly what was being bound and is not very happy that it's breaking free. That would explain the anger and the urgency with it's visit. I just don't know what could have been here...but I can't imagine it's going to be very good for anyone."
While the others had been talking, Ell had been racking his brain. Something about the phrase 'fane of creation' sounded familiar and not just from the Sanctum notes. This talk of binding provided the final clue and the young man snapped his fingers as he caught the memory. "I think I might know, when I researching Ollamaas and the Chained Oblivion, I ran across these fanes of creation. It wasn't super clear exactly what they did, but it seemed as if they were a sort of network that anchored the material world and kept the other worlds from seeping in and keeping the Chained Oblivion in his place."
"That is both a solid and disturbing hypothesis," muttered Denye scribbling quickly in her note book. Murmurs from the other wizards who had gathered around and were listening seemed to agree with the Corva. Tucking the notebook back into her bag, Denye turned to the Thri-Kreen wizard and held up the vial, "Would I be able to get a portion of this? I've been running some experiments growing crystals and I'd like to see if I could do the same with this. Also does anyone have a claim on the dragon scale."
Lazin bowed, "I regret to inform you that I have put in a claim for it, I have several experiments in mind for such a unique specimen. However I would be glad to provide a sample of the non-Vestran material to a research wizard who Secret of the Bluff speaks so highly of."
Feathers fluffing a bit in embarrassment, Denye returned the bow, "Of course, the claim is yours, I withdraw my request and I thank you for the high complements." She handed the vial back to the Thri-Kreen and they quickly tapped about half of the powder into another vial which he returned to Denye.
Over the link, Ell offered, "I could steal the scale if you want it, Denye."
Denye thought back, "No, I would prefer to keep these people on our side. Besides, I am fairly sure that if we keep up our line of inquiry we will probably have another chance to get our own scales."
That seemed to sober the rest of the party. The local wizards led the party back up to the command tent and shared the rest of what had been learned so far. Much of it matched what the party had learned already, but both Denye and Vellikar were fascinated by the way the ley lines and node had been drained and were still refilling themselves.
Reviewing the data and conversations took most of the rest of the afternoon and as the sun was beginning to set, the party was shown to a tent with six cots and invited to spend the night. Supper was a lively affair with a number of interesting stories from the colorful collection of individuals and more than made up for the mediocre over-salted stew and burnt bread.

Character(s) interacted with

Crafter Krumdain Frozenrock (dwarf. he/him) - Priest of Tak at the Temple in Dreford
Thermus Flintfist (dwarf, he/him) - Scholar and Priest of Tak in Dreford
Tanyln Enberos (Bur'an elf, he/him) - Student wizard
Secret of the Bluff (Pather Tabaxi, he/him) - Master wizard and head of the school
Button Drunilk (goblin, she/her) - Student wizard
Stratz Modessa (amethyst dragonborn, she/her) - student wizard
Usunaar Zinroris (Bur'an elf, he/him) -  Wizard
Dew of the High Grass (Lion Taxbaxi, she/her) - Priestess of Huntokar
Lazin th’Queenspire (Thri-Kreen, they/them) - Wizard
Gonden Tallowoak (dwarf, he/him) Miner from Schmaltzberg

Report Date

04 Nov 2022

Secondary Location

Arborlisle Harbor