Journal 3: A sorcerer on a leash is worth ten in a bush
Having defeated the threats in Durum Kar, the party heads back to Bree but chaos lurks around every corner (Azeir... that means Azeir).
General Summary
After Rael closed the barrier into Durum Kar and the party separated ways with Forgugh, the group decided to travel back to Bree through the forest, going the exact route that they came. Traveling until sundown, the party arrived about 5 hours later just short of their campsite on the way to Durum Kar. Having traveled out of the now-cured area of dry ground, the group was uncomfortable resting on the corrupted grassland as their bedrolls were set aflame fighting the spiders. Nate saw this as an opportune time to try out his new capabilities to summon an unseen servant, one who helped them acquire some small rocks for a campsite. Being excited to try out his magical prowess, Azeir shot a bolt of flame into the fire pit, setting off a surge of wild magic. This surge set off a chain reaction that spread the just-summoned campfire across the surrounding barren grassland. Not too keen on starting an enormous forest fire, Rael and Nate were able to snuff out the flames. Their perspective of Azeir would never again be the same. While the rest set up a campsite, Nate was enjoying a soothing unseen servant's foot massage.
Is it a bug or a bear?
The next morning the party headed back on their way to Bree. About 2 hours in they passed by their previous camping spot and found the mauled corpse of the abandoned bandit. Later that day the party encountered a court jester and Giant Elk in the middle of a losing fight with goblins. Nero, being not very enthralled with helping a random elk (by the time the party arrived, the court jester had perished), started looting the bodies while the rest of the group fought. Rael started the battle by transforming into a wolf, to startling surprise of the rest of the party. After immediately being struck out of his wolf-form, he emitted an explosion of thundering waves, knocked some of the goblins back from the Elk and then immediately changed into a bear. While both Nate and Azeir were heavily confused by this course of events, the party continued to defeat the enemies until the leader, a tough-looking bugbear, was looking really rough. The bugbear tried to bargain his way out of the fight, offering the location of the goblin hideout in exchange for his life. He held up his end of the bargain and revealed the location of the goblin encampment formed by goblins driven out of the mountains by the corruption. Nate and Rael, however, did not keep to their honor.
Overkill would be an understatement
As the bugbear tried crawling away to safety, the party unleashed the full extent of their arsenal, none of them knowing the full extent of their new-found powers. Azeir unleashed a surge of wild magic that triggered a chain reaction of unexpected and random spells that not only annihilated the remains of the bugbears but would send Azeir in a crazed frenzy. For 10 times over the next minute several unpredictable magical surges erupted from the unknowing hands of Azeir. Including but not limited to: poisoning the nearby giant elk, summoning 4 mirror images of himself, becoming invincible for a short while, and finally erupting in a ball of fire of his own creation. This mayhem sent him into unconsciousness, but that didn't stop the mayhem. His body proceeded to levitate and, as if protecting itself, became invulnerable to incoming attacks. At this point Nero ran like no tomorrow, intent on leaving the rest of the group behind. Nate and Rael managed to pull Azeir, who had at this point regained his consciousness, down to ground level using some of their hempen rope. Rael proceeded to take care of the poisoned elk who would, unbeknownst to him, disappear in the next coming minutes. After Nate walked Azeir, much like a sorcerous kite, to the nearby pond, Azeir regained control. Spurring his friends to set off in pursuit of Nero, the party trailed the barbarian through the forest. While neither party knew about the other's intentions, this became a race to Bree.
Race back home
After running for two straight hours, Nero took a short midnight break. Unfamiliar with the forest, Nero mainly traversed the early-morning roads to Bree. Led by Rael, the rest was able to head straight through the forest. Due to the will of luck herself, Nero was nearly beat back to Bree by the others. Meanwhile in Bree, the newly established harvest festival Merinde Aindathiel was keeping the villagers clueless as to the imminent threat to the village. Many non-locals, vendors and jesters/magicians were vying for attention. A young gnome girl and her dad, Saryn and Merrick Humblechuckle, ran into our party and asked them about Merinde Aindathiel. But the party was keen to speak with Mardak first. After arriving at Mardak’s, the party recounted their firsthand knowledge of their adventure. Prompting Mardak to hand them their reward, Mardak continued to ask the party about the workings of this “shape shifting lady” who apparently worked her magic a third time prior. After a while, Nero arrived in Bree and tried to sneak into Mardak’s hall, but was spotted by Rael. He then barged into the orc’s war room, throwing around wild accusations about the other's allegiances and sanity. Rael used his strong natural connection to soothe Nero’s mind, shifting the blame almost entirely onto Azeir. Nero urged Azeir to cut himself to prove his blood wasn’t black. This peril prompted a wild surge from Azeir, magically poisoning Mardak. Proving some of his innocence to Mardak, this chaotic encounter did also convince everybody in the hall of the awe-inspiring danger of Azeir's powers. Nero took his money and stormed off to the Inn to get wasted. Nate investigated their earlier findings, particularly the grey sack carried by the mauled jester, casually cast aside by Nero. To further add onto the chaos in the hall, Nate summoned three wild animals from the grey bag of tricks.
Azeir, Nate and Rael decided to take a breather and enjoy the festival's activities. Azeir went around looking for Lady Esmeralda to learn more of his troubled past but was short a large sum of money. Nate and Rael went to visit Saryn and Merrick from earlier. They learned that Saryn was able to identify their magical items and traded some of their winnings. Finally, the party bought some new protective equipment from Stefan the fletcher, dumb drunk off of the festival's pleasures.
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