Everyone stays in Ralfustro’s mansion in Gridea for a couple of weeks, not really speaking to each other. Nim does some research in the Primspace library, Dovienya gets initiated into the Nightwatchers, and Trig invites a new bird friend from Ralf’s Aviary to join her on her adventures. Trig and Zazu seek out what entertainment they can in the big city.

Daisy, meanwhile, mostly mopes. There is some drama when Daisy throws a hairbrush at Ralfustro’s skull friend. It flees into Primspace and is not seen again. Your host Ralf is worried, and he conveys in the nicest possible terms that it might be best if the Unsworn gets out of the house for a bit; maybe Skull will come back once it feels, um, safe.

An opportunity arises: Trig’s old stomping grounds (and I have no doubt she stomped) was the forest known as the Harebuck, and according to her druid connections, it is currently infested with were-people! As Nim and Dovienya are now lycanthropically advantaged, the mission is a good fit for the Unsworn. So you pack your bags and join up with a caravan heading south until you get to the forest.

Deep within the woods and following the sounds of a wounded animal, you become surrounded by a mysterious green mist as were-creatures charge you with fangs and talons bared and the vegetation itself comes alive to attack.

Nim is able to touch a werewolf, and using her oracular power, transmorphs it back into human form – revealing it to be a nothing more than a humble-looking peasant. But before Nim can investigate further, Trig unleashes an indiscriminate and devastating fire-snake spell, killing all foes in the near vicinity. More arrive though, and they too are mowed down by might and magic until only one cowering werewolf remains. Nim is able to calm it into surrendering, then uses her wand of sleep on it until she finds a cure. Meanwhile, the green mist seems to have infected little Zazu, who becomes seemingly possessed, periodically transforming into a monstrous version of himself and trying to attack Trig.

After the fight, the Unsworn discover a wounded juvenile griffon and free it from its entanglements. It’s grateful for the rescue and begins to lead you into the forest, presumably back to its home – the colossal rabbit sculpture where its kind keep their nest. Avoiding the noxious mist is proving difficult.

The source of these mysteries remains unknown, but Dovienya is aware that what a nearby town may harbor could be of significance.

To Be Continued…

While on the last leg of the trek to the Brutal Mountains, the Unsworn visit another Bregan shrine. Here Dovienya finds a better map to locate Gwendols Gate. Nim is curious about the goddess’ blessing and asks Dovienya what’s involved. He plays a bit of a prank on her, telling her it’s traditional to kiss the roadstone (it’s not). When Nim gullibly follows through, she is suddenly yanked into the Ethereal Plane by her good friend Mouse.

TBT: Mouse as a cub

Mouse, current day

How fortuitous! Turns out that Bregan shrines are actually Ethereal gates (who knew?) and Mouse had set up triggers to alert him if Nim ever accessed one. Praise be to the Goddess of Luck!

Mouse tells Nim that, as promised, he’s been looking into her “problem”. He gives her a belt formerly owned by a wizard named Palaemon who once had a similar sounding affliction and apparently used the belt to address said affliction. Unfortunately, the belt is broken and doesn’t do anything now, but maybe it can help Nim down the road with a cure. Nim recalls a recent dream of receiving a helpful gift – a vision of a snake curving around to eat its own tail. This belt must be the snake!

After thanking Mouse, Nim says farewell, and the Unsworn continue onward.  They proceed without incident through the mountain checkpoint guarded by Baublebeard (don’t call them that) dwarves. Nim’s dream of a stranger’s gift also comes true: a dwarf from the checkpoint crowd steps out to trade her a bottle of Stone Salve for a flower she picked from the Qualican poison gardens. Her vision indicated the salve would aid her in some way, though how remains a mystery.

The party then ascends the Brutes. After much arduous climbing, they arrive at the shadow of Widow’s Finger, the peak that acts as a landmark for Gwendols Gate. Next to some ruins stands a statue of a Foo Lion – one of Jerum’s beloved beasts.

As Moxie Coppercore suggested way back in Wobbly Rock, the Unsworn takes their collected gilburwort, the poisonous flower received from the Naga of Qualic, and feeds it into the statue’s mouth. In reaction, the stone suddenly bursts open, revealing a living, breathing, and fiery Foo Lion (!)

The benevolent magical creature leaps up onto a nearby cliff and begins pawing into the earth to dig a smoldering hole.  A stairwell becomes etched into the rock behind it to allow the Unsworn to make their way to the entryway it has fashioned.

The Unsworn then descend into the FIRE FORTRESS OF DOOM.

Inside is a vast space with elevated stone pathways and bottomless pits on all sides.  Patches of the platforms are grates with flames leaping out. The air is blisteringly hot, requiring the Unsworn to summon all the stamina they can muster.

Fire Elementals of various sizes emerge to protect the fortress. It was, after all, built as a prison by the sibling gods of Earth and Fire, Ulikrus and Jerum – and they would prefer invading mortals to stay away.

Besides the Elementals, the Unsworn also contend with a big reptilian fire-belching beast.

After most of the defenses seem to be breached, a squat, brass-skinned humanoid with a mane of fire steps out from the flames to congratulate you.

You recognize it as an Azer, a sort of fire-dwarf. He begins dragging a massive chest much too big for him out of the flames, then begins pulling gold and various enticing magical items out from within: a fire-resisting Blazing Robe which can blast your enemies, a Mallet of Mending for fixing broken things, a set of Amazing Tools of Manufacture for crafting, a Hybridization Funnel for combining two potions, and the obligatory flaming sword. The Azer explains all of these treasures are theirs for the keeping, with Jerum’s hearty blessing and congratulations; it’s Her reward for beating the Fire Fortress.

But only if they leave now.

The Unsworn thank the Azer but politely decline.

Rejected, the Azer gathers up the prizes in a huff and shoves them back into the chest.

“You know, it’s not just Jerum you’re pissing off, right? It’s Ulikrus. That mean anything to you? Her brother? Big Mean Primordial God of Earth? God of the Dwarves? He’ll turn the dwarves against you. Good luck making friends with dwarves again. I mean, if you live. After he like, comes after you with earthquakes and swallows you whole. Make you all buried and the like… I hope you like dirt!!!”

The irritated, sputtering Azer pulls the chest back into the flames and disappears.

Then all hell breaks loose. Swarms upon swarms of inferno spiders (residents of the Plane of Fire) begin erupting out of the fires to overcome the Unsworn.

Trig, who by this time, had Wild Shaped into a huge hippopotamus, manages to keep them at bay by heroically lying down to block the pathway. To buy everyone else some time, his hippo girth withstands the swarms’ attacks – but not for long.

Dovienya quickly distributes Fly potions to everyone.  The Unsworn soar over the remaining obstacles until they become face-to-face with two red, crystalline beings guarding the final door.

Trig transforms into a giant Dire Bat and follows after his friends as the inferno spiders continue their onslaught, chasing them from behind. Trig sends an ice storm hurling down, freezing the the first wave in place. Then the Unsworn handily defeat the two guardians and flee through the door into the next chamber.

Inside stands a solitary figure of immense bearing, like a Demi-God, powerful and imposing, wielding a massive hammer. It looks like the Unsworn is going to have to somehow take out this Big Boss in order to proceed to the final chamber.

Before combat can begin, Dovienya pauses to peer at the guardian’s face. He recognizes her from his historical studies. It’s none other than Gwendol – the First Fool!

But what is she doing here? Shouldn’t she be in Purgatory?

Dovienya and Nim talk to her, and using their impressive diplomacy skills, manage to befriend her, convincing her not to fight.  Gwendol explains that she woke up here in the Fire Fortress after her time in Purgatory, She only knows that she must guard this chamber and she can never leave this place. It is her eternal punishment for being the First Fool.  With dismay, she admits that her ex-lover, the goddess Jerum, will never forgive her.

The Unsworn proceed onward, leaving the melancholy demi-god alone with her torment.

In the next chamber they find the object of their quest: the fabled Tablets of Asmenkorod. Dovienya mixes up a potion so Tumn can read the words written in Ignan, what the Blink Dogs called the “tongue of flame”.

Tumn turns to each of you and expresses his gratitude for getting him here. He’s scared, but there’s no turning back. He reads the words written on the Tablet.  After he’s finished, he appears confused. Nothing seems to have happened. He looks back at you for a split second about to say something more, but then suddenly he’s gone.

Only now in his place there’s a figure, same height, same build, standing there. It’s a hooded halfling in a magical cloak, wielding a serrated Derulade dagger.  It’s not Tumn, but someone else. Whoever he is, he looks haunted, half-starved.

At the sight of you all and his new environment, he becomes scared and starts backing away.

“Who are you?,” Daisy yells at him. “Where’s Tumn?”

Seeing the Unsworn as threats, he teleports quickly away to the entrance, away from everyone. Then he summons a strange beast to help protect him. It’s an Esobok – a native of Purgatory.

Dovienya notices the halfling accidentally dropped something before teleporting away. It’s his satchel, and inside, Dov finds a tattered book. This is the handwritten journal of one Willis “Thicky” Thickbrush – adventurer, explorer, and self-proclaimed “Shepherd Prince”. You recognize the name as Moxie Coppercore’s friend whose map it was that had the location of Gwendols Gate. The journal chronicles Thicky’s efforts to pursue the same Shepherd Prince prophecy that Tumn sought to fulfill. His primary motivation appears to be to prove his worthiness to his mother with whom he had a contentious relationship. The journal describes his experience with the Blink Dogs where he was given the initial prophecy. Then details his efforts to find the fabled location of Gwendols Gate and then his trek across Qualic and into the Brutal Mountains to read the words of banishment on the Tablets of Asmenkorod – all exactly the same as what you have just undertaken. It’s clear that Thicky was enthusiastic and excited to pursue his destiny in Purgatory, but he apparently added no entries once he arrived. There’s no writing implement in the pack so maybe he lost the means to add to the journal.

Some things become clearer: No wonder the Blink Dogs called Tumn a “contender” for the Shepherd Prince and seemed like they were going through the motions of testing for the second time.  In hindsight, it also explains how Gwendol exited Purgatory and was sent here. Only one living mortal can be in Purgatory at one time, you learn.  Reading the Tablet’s words swaps you with whomever was there before. So when Thicky activated the Tablet initially, he switched out with Gwendol, and then when Tumn activated the spell a few years later, he switched out with Thicky.

Back in the Fire Fortress, Thicky is pursued, and, with the help of Gwendol, prevented from escaping. Thicky agrees to accompany everyone back to Gridea.  Nim pulls out the teleportation candle and glow-hops the Unsworn and Thicky back to Ralfustro’s house.

Once there, Nim is saddened to see that Gwendol did not make the journey, though all had hoped it would work. Whatever power is keeping the First Fool in the Fire Fortress is too great for the Wick’s candle magic to overcome.

To Be Continued…

Having saved Raismonts Academy in its hour of need, you make your exit via Primwizard portrait then navigate the missing wizard’s maze of inter-dimensional hallways until you find the right portal back to Ralfustro’s mansion in Gridea.

Your jovial host is even more giddy than usual. The Order of the Wick and the Flame, he informs you, has a special surprise for Daisy. He leads you to a well-furnished room where sitting on a bed is Tumn!

When last seen, Mouse had rescued Daisy’s brother and the mysterious Axlan known as the Rectoress from the City Unfair, and the two halflings were last seen escaping Farglad in a hurry. Now you see Tumn has been returned safely, but he’s a glum Tumn. He was traveling with the Rectoress on an important mission when they were ambushed by hyena-headed highwaymen (i.e. gnolls). Vyrin Lortis (Ruthorian’s daughter), sent by the Wick to track Tumn at the Unsworn’s behest, spotted the two in the tight spot. She pulled Daisy’s brother away and glow-hopped him back to Ralfustro’s. The Rectoress was left behind, however, and her fate remains unknown.

Tumn tells you he is eager to get back to his quest! He tells you his destiny as the Shepherd Prince must begin with a visit to the Blink Dogs who reside on the Plains of Nemir. Tumn asks you all to accompany him on the journey. Daisy remembers the final words that her Nana’s ghost spoke before she left this Plane for the nurturing arms of the Radiant Maiden in the Great Beyond: “Take care of each other.” Daisy, in her her usual gruff way, agrees to be Tumn’s quest-mate.  The rest of the Unsworn are up for the adventure as well.

You purchase horses and ponies and set off for the Plains. On the way, there’s time to get to know your new party member Tumn better. He serenades you with songs on the braybury, his halfling flute, and it turns out he’s pretty good. Tumn tells you he believes the Blink Dogs will greet him as a friend, or maybe some kind of god. At any rate, he’s optimistic about the reception he’ll receive.

For homework, Tumn was instructed by the Rectoress to study a book of Axlan imperial history. Apparently, the Shepherd Prince prophecy implies he will bring back the Axlan Empire, specifically those loyal to the Eminent Empress Ghilanna Paggion, she of the final Paggion Empire. Tumn has barely cracked open the pages of the tome, finding talk of the various Paggions boring.

Never one to let a book go unread, Dovienya asks to borrow it, reads it over the course of a night or two, and learns that:

Eight centuries ago, the Empress died, became divine –  her body laid reverently to rest in the new Necropolis where all her subjects chose to be interred as well. But strangely, anyone born after the date of her death refused to observe her divinity and continue the burial custom. This next generation revolted, civil war erupted, and the youth overthrew their traditionalist forebears. This caused the Great Axlan Empire to fall, and the clans to be disbanded. It was known as the “War of the Youth Against Their Elders” (probably sounded better in Axlan, you presume).

Dovienya infers that the Paggions were infected by the Sower / Duriguin, the monarchy parasite.  A significant piece of information, to be sure, but what does it have to do with the Shepherd Prince?

After many days of riding and camping, you finally arrive at the Plains of Nemir. Trig takes to the sky in the form of an eagle, and with uncanny sight, manages to spot a small group of Blink Dogs twinkling in the distance. The Unsworn are able to track the band of magical canines and catch up to them. The six Blink Dogs, wary of humanoids, only speak Sylvan – but with Nim and Trig conveying Tumn’s assertion he’s the Shepherd Prince foretold in legend, they (somewhat ambivalently) agree to take you to the rest of their pack, where you meet their Alpha, a female named Eubha.

Eubha, exhibiting the clear demeanor of a strong leader, appraises Tumn for a moment.  She seems unimpressed. “Is this a joke?” she asks. “We already named a Contender this Turning.”

Getting no response, she Blinks a few times slowly, then sighs.  “Fine. We will have our Sage read the stars. He needs the practice.”

The Sage of the pack is then summoned, and it turns out to be a mere lad, a Blink Dog pup. It is explained that the previous Sage (also Eubha’s mate) died recently, and his young apprentice replaced him in the role – a male pup named Labhrann.

Labhrann calls for a meeting of the whole pack that night to gather around the party under the stars so he can read the constellations.  As the sage-pup examines the firmament for omens and signs of import, a single star in the night sky suddenly seems to burn brightly. There’s quite a stir from the assembled crowd at this, causing a fervor of blinkings. The young Sage, awestruck, mumbles something. Nim translates: “The Beggar Bowman’s arrow is on fire.”

It’s explained that the star’s fiery brightness means the Unsworn’s fates are tied to the Shepherd Prince in some way. They may accompany Tumn the next day during the three trials that will determine whether the pack accepts him as a contender for Shepherd Prince.

After breakfast, a delegation of the pack, including Eubha and the sage-pup,  take you to a span of immense mounds bulging out of the ground, an area of the Plains they call the Vagabonds.  The Blink Dogs sit or lounge on the grass at the base of the mounds, casually watching Tumn in silence.  They provide no instruction. Tumn is just expected to know what to do.

> Tumn passes the first test : he senses which mounds contain undead inside. He possesses the power of Spiritsense.

>  Tumn passes the second test : he can wound incorporeal creatures using no weapons.  He possesses the power of Spirit Touch.

>  Tumn passes the third test : he plays a song on his flute that is so haunting, it grips the spirits of those that hear it. Even the giant zombies within the mounds, normally immune to mind-affecting effects, are fascinated by his song.  He possesses the power of Haunting Melody Tumn’s Tumultuous Tweetle-Toot.

With all three tests passed, Tumn is recognized by the pack as a Prince Contender.  To Daisy, he expresses embarrassment at his exposure as a magic user.  The ability to fascinate others with his music is something he discovered about himself from an early age while tending his sheep, but he always kept it a secret. Resigned perhaps to a world gone mad, Daisy is less surprised and judgemental about these sorts of things than she might have been in days past.

Back with the pack, the Blink Dogs gather around the sage-pup to watch him recite these cryptic words of instruction, meant for the Prince Contender:

• On the tablets of Asmenkorod,
• Use the tongue of flames,
• To read the proud one’s words
• And spring her lover’s trap once more
• Banish yourself to the threshold maze
• The one living soul to walk among the dead
• Sing the last dirge to win the mapmaker’s favor
• And be crowned leader of the lost flocks

From the riddle, it’s made clear that Tumn must go to the Borderlands Beyond Death, to the place known as Purgatory, and to do so without dying first. The only way such a thing is possible is to read the words on the Tablets of Asmenkorod.

Once within Purgatory, Tumn will be tested further, but if he survives those trials, he will emerge as the Shepherd Prince of legend.  The Blink Dogs say he will stand once more on this same hill and join them for the Droving.

They say the word “Droving” with much import, but explain no further.  They also provide Tumn the “Crook” (also said with much import), a non-magical staff with a hook on the end, and point him in a single direction with a lifted paw.

“You must go…”

• “…to the site of the Sky Steed’s birth each day…”
• “…to where the Child of Morning first raises her head and throws off the blanket of night…”
• “…to the beginning of a smile that brings light to all…”

Dovienya interjects: “Um, you mean east?”

The Blink Dogs nod enthusiastically, relieved they are finally understood.

East, of course, means Qualic, Land of the Belligerent Lizardmen.  Enemy territory.  A war-zone.

Dovienya is able to further parse some of the Blink Dogs’ riddle. In the Brutal Mountains past Qualic, there is said to be the spot known as Gwendol’s Gate where the fool Gwendol was banished to Purgatory. She read the tablets that her lover the goddess Jerum put a trap on. If the tablets still exist, the riddle suggests, reading them will send a living person to Purgatory as well.

To accompany Tumn on his quest, the Unsworn agree to travel across Qualic and endure the Brutal Mountains, aka the Brutes. Based on his knowledge of local geography, Dovienya decides the best course of action is to head south a few days ride to one of Brega’s roadstones first. It’s always a good idea to commune with Brega before a big trip as she often bestows blessings to travelers. Plus, Bregans leave helpful information at their wayside shrines – rumors, maps, etc. –  that could give the Unsworn a better idea of how to proceed.

That evening, the Blink Dog pack extends its hospitality to Tumn and the rest of the Unsworn with feasting and celebration. Nim makes a heartfelt connection to the sage-pup Labhrann, and the two engage in some illicit cuddling.

To Be Continued…

Ralfustro puts you up in his mansion in Gridea, and you each have a chance for some downtime.

Daisy decides to lose herself in commoner revelry, heading out into the big city to avoid her friends for a while. In Gridea, there’s always a street festival happening somewhere to eat, drink, and be merry at, jubilant sailors to arm wrestle and carouse with, and Paradon’s best music and dancing to enjoy. Daisy partakes in it all and also visits the city’s coliseums to watch magical projections of gladiators fighting monsters and completing quests in the city’s catacombs. She ends up winning a lot of gold from gambling on her favorite fighters.

Meanwhile, Trig tries to mingle in the city, but starts to hate the attention she gets being a colorful gnome. Drunk, arty people want to feel her hair and comment on her skin color, waxing poetic about how it really pops with the aesthetics in the room, which only makes her gag.  In truth, she gets more out of visiting Ralfustro’s exotic bird collection, even if they’re a bit snooty. They tell her they come from the other side of the world – a jungle paradise – brought there by a mutual friend of Ralfustro’s, a human they call Artie. They miss Artie and think he might be dead. They want Trig to find out what happened to Artie, and if he’s alive, to get him back safe to them.  To tide them over, they’d like Trig to introduce them to an elf – specifically, an elf with nice fingers.  Trig fetches her new half-elf friend Nim, but she doesn’t quite fit the bill in the elven-finger department. Nim recognizes the birds as ones native to Razulanta. Trig and Nim both head back out into the city and recruit some elves to come visit the eccentric birds.  A strange afternoon ensues with Trig translating bird chirps to inebriated elves who seem to find the whole thing hilariously entertaining. Nim, however, doesn’t enjoy the experience much.

Keeping to himself as always, Dovienya decides to do what he loves best: research!  He wants to see what he can find out about whatever’s going on at Raismonts Academy of the Arcane.  Because Dov was the one who suggested sending the Bloodboat Jewel to the academy in the first place, he couldn’t help feel responsible if something happened to it.

Midribin told you before you left that Professor Azitain over at Raismonts had been working with Ruthorian on understanding the properties of the Jewel.  It was going well, progress was being made. But then Azitain suddenly stopped all communication.  Since the last update, other sources the Wick has from within Raismonts have gone eerily silent as well. An associate of the Wick, local to the area, agreed to enter the grounds of the school to investigate a few days ago, heading in on foot. But there’s no word from her either – even though she had an immediate way of communicating her status back to the wizards. Teleportation on the grounds has also proven impossible.

The Wick have determined that a nasty and powerful spell has been cast on the academy. Midribin’s turned a couple of fellows into pigeons to scope out its size, and the effect seems to be covering the whole campus like a bubble. Dovienya assists with the spell research and helps the Wick find the center of the spell – the source of it, as well as a way to disarm the spell and make the Unsworn immune to it.  Dovienya also goes out into the city to collect any relevant info. He discovers a little-known fact: there’s actually a portrait of Primwizard Artivole on the wall of a classroom. Based on what he’s learned, exiting the painting should put the Unsworn just north of the actual source of the magic.

Dovienya decides to get the band back together. He recruits his friends to join him on a mission to Raismonts. You all arrive at the academy only to discover a crazy scene inside…

An insane magical battle is well underway with the academy’s faculty and students contending what seem to be outlandish (and seemingly random) opponents. Everything is completely frozen in time.  Even the magical energies cast from the defending wizards stay hovering motionless in the air on their way to their targets. You carefully wind your way through the crazy, time-stuck room and exit through the southern door.

Beyond, you discover a frozen Pedocles (aka Duck) in a room by himself blowing a clearly magical horn. Out from the horn emanates a bubble of time-stopping energy. This must be the source of the freezing spell!  You dispel the magic, and everything suddenly starts up again.  The huge battle in the north room commences as if nothing had happened to cause it to pause.

Duck lowers the horn, sees you all, and looks relieved.  He quickly explains the situation.

You had given the Bloodboat Jewel to professor wizard Azitain so he’d study it at Raismonts. But you let the evil raven go free and he simply trailed Azitain back to the academy, then informed his employers, the Sibrillians, who covet the jewel for their own imperialist ends. Now the Sibrillians have invaded Raismonts!

One of the dragon’s high-ranking commanders kidnapped the school mascot, a magical pig named Rascal, and tried to hold him hostage, demanding the Jewel in exchange for the pig’s life. But no one could have predicted that Rascal would retaliate! So many students have practiced their spells on Rascal over the centuries. Who could have known he had been absorbing them all along?  When his life became under threat, he turned on the panic mode and released all that pent-up magic to try to stop the invaders.

Unfortunately, it meant total pandemonium across the whole campus, and everyone – all of the professors, students, plus the school’s own built-in security defenses – were forced to fight off Rascal’s magic panic attack. And it was a losing battle! The Pig packed quite a punch. Realizing that imminent doom faced the school, Professor Azitain decided to concede and began heading to the Sibrillians to hand over the Jewel. Duck realized there was another option. Grabbing a magic horn from the school’s forbidden library, he activated it to freeze time on campus, hoping someone would investigate and come fix the situation. And it’s worked! You have arrived at the school mere seconds after he blew the horn. Duck bids you to save poor Rascal! Save the school! Oh, and you know, don’t let the Sibrillians get the Jewel, etc., etc.

Without further ado, you rush over to the tower where the Sibrillians are keeping Rascal hostage and begin ascending each level.  Dovienya and Daisy clear a path, fighting off Sibrillians with Nim and Trig providing cover.

Sibrillian soldier

Sibrillian mage

With Nim’s ‘Hold Person’ help, you even soundly take out some big tank-type guy who’s wielding a giant hammer shaped like a blue dragon head.

You reach the very top of the tower – open to the sky, where you discover to your shock that the Sibrillian commander is none other than GUNDRADA – daughter of Cognail, Supreme Maekrix* of Sibril (!!!)

(* Maekrix = leader in Draconic)

Yes, a freaking dragon

Remembering that intoning her family’s old saying in Axlan, “Sadis la’da dalleyus!“, will reawaken her katana’s ancient magic to grievously harm dragonkind, Daisy triggers the powers in her sword and makes a series of vicious swipes into the scaly flesh of Gundrada. Plus, a majorly elixir-buffed Dovienya gets a good solid hits in, too.

The wounded dragon is forced to get airborne, out of everyone’s reach. She flaps her wings and peers down at everyone, introducing herself in lofty terms, then curses the name of Derulade (Daisy’s old dragon-taming clan name).  She vows to rip the Bloodboat Jewel from their electrified corpses. Then she unceremoniously blasts Azitain and Daisy with her devastating lightning breath.

Now it’s Trig and Nim’s turn to finish the job. This time in the skies. Nim summons her Spiritual Ally – her best friend – a long-dead elven oracle named Shasamura, who flies up to meet the dragon, wielding a starknife like Nim’s.

Trig meanwhile speaks to Rascal to convince the panicked pig to flee the scene.  She then summons a griffin to fly up and engage the dragon while she Wild Shapes herself into a huge Razulantan flying reptile creature – the sight of which unfortunately frightens Rascal into further distress.

what up?

While Shasamura, the griffin, and Pterosaur-Trig dogfight Gundrada in the skies, Daisy vanquishes more of the magical mayhem that the frightened piggie manifests. Dovienya uses his diplomacy (and endless supply of mysterious pocket acorns) to make best friends with Rascal. The school mascot begins to calm down.

Nim finds Azitain on the tower and offers to help. The professor hands her the Bloodboat Jewel for safekeeping, then casts Fly on himself to go join the aerial melee. At this point, Gundrada had withdrawn but was temporarily preoccupied by a devastating weather spell that Trig had cast.  A final offensive spell from the druid’s arsenal causes the dragon to drop like a stone to the ground, dead.  Azitain didn’t even have a chance to join the fight.

With Trig’s translation help, Dovienya gets Rascal to understand the threat to his pigself is gone and to give up his (overly excessive) defense of the school grounds.  Eventually the dust settles, the wounded are tended to, and the survivors begin to gather together in the Great Hall. Word gets out that saviors came in the nick of time to stop the invaders and placate the pig.  In saving the school, you are honored by a grateful Raismonts Academy. The impressive headmistress Orella Sorelwin personally thanks you all.

Out of the throng of rejoicing students, a familiar face approaches. It’s Anafrid Pugis – Trimphid’s housekeeper. What seems like ages ago, she gave you the keys to his manse which kick-started your adventures. Although you didn’t know it at the time, she had betrayed her cruel master so she could head to Raismonts and study magic to become a wizard in her own right.  Knowing that Trimphid would likely seek revenge, she asked you at the time to retrieve an old magic cowl for her that she knew would block any attempt on his part to detect her whereabouts. Now that Trimphid’s dead, she hands it to you as a gift in appreciation for saving her once more.

To Be Continued…

In the clearing in front of you is a massive tree fort built of a hodgepodge of branches and other vegetation.  The Unsworn approaches Unstealthily, so the inhabitants of the fort can Unstrenuously hear you coming.  A spherical spore blasts forth from the top of the structure as if launched from a cannon and hits the ground in front of you.  You can’t help but inhale the cloud of powder that bursts into the air, but are able to shake off any psychotropic effects.

Well, not Trig. Her mind is the exception. Affected by the spore, she suddenly finds herself transported to another place. The forest is gone, and its place is nothing but featureless ocean. The tree fort in front of her has been swapped out with a majestic pirate ship – its flag shows a stylized rose. Trig is forced to swim for her life. Looking around, she can see her friends have been swapped out with various, unfriendly-looking sea creatures. She herself is now a crab.  At the helm of the ship, a Pirate Queen directs her humanoid crew of pirates to attack, and they begin to do so.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the rest of the Unsworn continue to see the gnarled tree fort – no ocean or pirates of any kind.  A kind of witch woman barks attack orders…

… directing a troop of minuscule, snarling old men, wearing metal boots and blood-red pointed caps.  These are Redcaps – wicked fey.

In response, you all lay siege to the tree fort / pirate ship and are eventually able to defeat the redcaps / pirates. Trig turns into an eagle and fire bombs the ship mercilessly with various druidic spells. This clues Nim and Dov in to her real identity.  At the conclusion of the fight, a tiny silver frog emerges from Dovienya’s pocket and hops away. The Forest Witch / Pirate Queen is actually the Broken Thorn, suffering from the same spore fantasy, reliving her former glorious life on the seas.  Nim dispels the cursed magic on both her and Trig. Now healed and restored to sanity, the pirate-turned-outlaw expresses her heartfelt thanks and leaves on foot for Odyphaidron.  After this incident, another silver frog  hops down from Dov’s pocket and follows after the recovering spore victim.

Within the ship fort, the remains of a human are found on a dining table, eaten by the evil crew who thought he was a fish. With the help of Dov, Trig is able to identify him as the missing druid he was sent to investigate.  At the base of the ship a secret door is found, leading into the druid temple below.

The decor of this dungeon is covered in esoteric druidic lore, with each chamber in sequence corresponding to one of the four seasons.  Trig is able to read the Ogham (druidic) script on the walls and follow the instructions to delve deeper.  Much to the gnome’s annoyance, there are riddles that need solving to make progress, but her new friends valiantly endure them and provide the correct answers.  Finally in the last chamber, Trig performs an elaborate ritual with a feather and the milpreve to create a bogun, a sort of plant / stone golem guardian. The large animated figure leads you to the mystic chamber of the Nemeton – the druidic seal blocking access to/from other planes.

You discover the seal is broken (!). And a strange purple root is growing out of it.  In the shadows beyond, Trig spots movement and proceeds forward to investigate. She is promptly shot by a crossbow bolt, however, and crumples to the ground asleep.  Enemies emerge from the darkness and begin to attack – dark elves!   After you fight them off with the help of the bogun, a female drow (who looks like the leader), wielding a staff with tentacles at the top, steps out to give you the stink eye. She then takes flight back into the shadows.

Once combat is over, Nim uses her starknife to carve out a stake from the purple root. The unsavory thing she fashions is like a crude spear and pulses with dark magical energy.  This is the “Splinter from the Tree of the Dead” which she was directed to get from one of her visions. The bogun, meanwhile, sets to work repairing the seal and prepares to guard the Nemeton in perpetuity. It gladly accepts a farewell gift of flowers to burn inside its head.  One more silver frog hops out of Dov’s pocket, and there are now 7 silver coins from the celestial guardian remaining.

The Unsworn make their way back to the surface. Once topside, you notice the forest around the tree fort is no longer corrupted by the fey plane. Dov notices that three good deeds have been performed:

As you all walk, Nim looks between Dovienya, and Trig, wheels turning furiously. Right on cue, however, one of her bootlaces gets tangled up in a length of twine that seems to have thrown itself out of her pack of its own volition, quickly unraveling both into some nettles. A high-pitched elven swear word ensues. “Oh, uh, Dovienya… I think don’t know how to lace up these Paradonian boots properly, could you help me? Just for a second?” She tilts her head to one side in the universal symbol for sidebar conversation this way.

Dovienya, completely oblivious to Nim’s signals, walks over and starts examining her boots.  “Yeah, it looks like you used some twine along with the laces?  These boots don’t really work that way.  Just the laces should be enough to keep them on.”  Fortunately his close examination of the boots leaves him near enough for a quiet conversation.

Nim hides her face behind her voluminous sleeves for a moment, and a tin dining plate falls off its place hooked to her travel pack, rolling away. “Oh no, it’s rolling to th– nevermind. Well… Daisy. You see, the reason we needed to all stop and discuss Trig — who is very helpful, by the way, with vision… stuff… and obviously with those pirates! — because she’s a Wisdom, sworn to upholding Mother Nature’s balance.”

You think you’re getting near Odyphaidron’s stream when suddenly a figure steps out from behind a tree in front of you.

To Be Continued…

The Unsworn is embarking on a new adventure! They’re traveling away from the big city and into a far-off forest known as the Jolly Wood!  There they hope to find the legendary Tree of the Dead, as seen in Nim’s vision (and possibly referred to in the Xan-Hyrkanic Codex).  They hope to carve out a splinter from the Tree to impede the evil of the Sower.

Dovienya grew up with stories about the Jolly Wood – tall tales about the folk hero called the Broken Thorn.  The story goes she was once a famous sailor in the Vaspen Sea, given the appellation “Thorn” because her ship was named the Rose. She led a famous mutiny of the Paradonian navy and acted as pirate admiral to a romanticized pirate fleet called the Mutineers.

The Thorn was soundly defeated, her fleet destroyed, and the remains of her own ship’s band of pirates fled into the Jolly Wood, where they became outlaws. There in the forest, she became known as the Broken Thorn, and continued to be a folk hero, robbing the rich to give to the poor with her merry Mutineers.

~~~~~~~~~~~

To get to the Jolly Wood, Midribin has offered to teleport you to the nearby Gridea, where she can put you in touch with a fellow Wizard of the Wick who will have the resources to help you on your journey.  When you meet up with the spellthief, you barely recognize her without her normal street urchin-like appearance.  Her clothes are all cleaned up, her skin perfumed, and her hair styled.  Nim realizes it’s a result of the magic boots Dovienya gave her.

Midri leads you to the house of an art collector, and you all sneak in during the dead of night.  You make your way to one large portrait on one of the walls. It depicts Primwizard Artivole, the missing founder and leader of the Mystic Order of the Wick and the Flame (MOWF, if you’re really into acronyms, but it’s usually called the Wick for short).

With actual flame from her fingertips, Midribin lights candles depicted in the painting in a certain order, which makes the Primwizard portrait seemingly come to life. He smiles and leans forward, offering a hand for anyone to get a leg up into the painting.  One by one, you each take the wizard’s hand and enter into the demiplane the Wick has set up to teleport from portrait to portrait.  With Midri in the lead, you wander around some corridors, passing different doors. The spellthief leads you to a particular door and says, “I think it’s this one.”

Before entering, Midribin pauses and turns to you all. “Ralfustro’s a good guy. “Ignore his, um, showiness and don’t let the skull throw you. And, um, don’t ask him about the skull – it’s a long story. He’s an emotional guy and he gets really emotional talking about it. Maybe wait ’til you get to know him better?”

She’s about to open the door and walk through when she decides to add: “Oh, and he’s not going to know we’re coming so let me handle, you know, getting past his defenses.”

Exiting the door has you leaving another Primwizard portrait facing another room.  You see lines of shelves filled with books and magical doodads. A door on the other side immediately shuts closed and curtains fall from the ceilings obscuring all the shelves. The curtains start to ignite on fire and begin moving towards you, and a creepy voice starts hollering, “INTRUDER, YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE!”

But Midri just says something under her breath and it all stops: the flames go out, the curtains rise back up, and the door on the other side opens again.

In bursts Ralfustro…

He’s a very jovial human, ostentatiously bejeweled, and seems excited to meet you all. He’s heard stories from his fellow Chandlers, Ruthorian, Pobody and Midribin, about you three.  When introduced to Nim, he recalls she’s Razulantan and starts geeking out about his collection of Razulantan artifacts that he’s eager to show off.

Midri tries to speed things up:  “Um, Ralf – they’re in hurry.”

Ralfustro sets about getting you on your way to the Jolly Wood. He can get you passage the next day from a brinywine merchant on its way to the gnomelands.  That gives you a chance the next morning to see the sights of Gridea and purchase any last minute gear before your trip.

Ralfustro tells you he has set up a special room within his house for you. It’s bare with only a single, small candle placed on the floor.  He gives a matching candle to Nim and tells you it’s called a “Light-the-Way-Home” candle. You learn that you can light it when you want to return to Gridea after your journey to the Jolly Wood is complete. He explains that anyone within the glow (10’ radius) will be teleported back to the room he’s set up. Ralfustro has suggested in the past that this form of travel be called “glow-hopping,” but his fellow Chandlers vetoed this, much to his disappointment. Perhaps you could revive the nickname?

Midribin says her goodbyes and thanks you once again. She reminds Daisy about Pobody’s tracking cricket.

Before she departs back to Farglad, Midri tells you she’s going to follow up with some of the intel you provided. She’ll visit the Ambassador’s house and see if she can find any clues to what Cognail might be up to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The travel to the Jolly Wood is uneventful. Near the forest’s edge, the brinywine merchant tells you to follow the path to find the village of Poorwall.  You decide to camp out that night and proceed into the woods the next morning. You have painful flashbacks to the last time you tried to enter a forest at night.

At about mid-morning you stumble into the quaint village of Poorwall – so named for the pitiful, broken wall that surrounds it. The Quilkin live here – a race of diminutive hedgehog people.  They don’t speak Common or Sylvan, much to your frustration.

There’s a trading post at the center of the town that is the only building sized to handle big-folk. Inside you find another big-folk – well, a folk bigger than a quilkin.  You meet Trig, a mysterious gnome woman, who shares your frustration at not being able to talk to the quilkin.  She sparks up a conversation with Daisy’s sheepdog, Ambrosius, who tells her that Daisy and Nim are decent people.  With the dog’s permission, Trig joins the party.

Dovienya, not one to let inscrutable hedgehog people get in his way, sits down and brews up an elixir of Comprehend Languages. To one of the quilkins, he mentions the name, “Odyphaidron”.  The creature directs him to a kind of quilkin medicine woman’s hut. She smears paste on Dov’s face in exchange for his old rapier, then directs him to walk into the forest.  Nim, Daisy, and the Ambrosius-approved Trig follow.  Dovienya is once again experiencing flashbacks to his time as a “trickie”.

Not long into the trek, Dovienya attracts a tiny purple-skinned fey person riding a sparrow, who introduces himself as Spritswacket. Sprits is eccentrically dressed in a fancy way with a feather the length of him sticking out of his hat. Upon the mention of Odyphaidron, Sprits cheerfully explains the fey call him, “Loddy Oddy” or Dear Lord Odd.  Spritswacket and Lossle (that’s the sparrow) agree to take you to where Loddy Oddy lives, and Sprits sings a funny little nursery rhyme about him.

Follow me lithely to Loddy Oddy
Pay him a tribute – not too gaudy
Nothin’ too shabby, nor too shoddy
Let’s go join his jolly party!

Speak no ill of him, don’t be naughty
Pray be humble, don’t be haughty
Or you’ll get spotty all o’er your body
Have to sit squatty on the ol’ potty
All your insides turnin’ rotty!

So hop-hop-ho and don’t be tardy
Clip-clap-clap and applaudy-plaudy
That’s the way to be a smarty-marty
Tip your cap to our Loddy Oddy!

You are led to a dried up riverbed with some boulders. Spritswacket giggles and yells one final, “Don’t be naughty!” and he and Lossle fly away.

Upon your approach, a boulder’s eyes open up revealing great big white glowing orbs – is it a giant frog? And as it rises, its skin changes into glowing silver white, revealing its true form – a celestial!

The massive frog-like being introduces himself as Odyphaidron. You speak with him and he agrees to show you to the nemeton. Something’s wrong though, you learn. Things aren’t as they should be.

“I am sleepy,” Odyphaidron admits in his deep booming voice. “Something is good to sleep. Is good at making me sleep?”

He looks over at Nim, Daisy, and Dovienya. “You are of the Good, yes? Mmmm. Here: Take these.”

Five small gray mushrooms grow out of the earth in front of you. They turn into silver coins.

“If you plan to do good work in my forest, which I think you do, Take, Take. Keep, keep. Honor me with a good deed and you win my favor. You’ll know when you win my favor. Three favors grants you a boon, as is the old custom, yes? Oh, you already know about that. Did you already spend the coins? The pirates are good at it. What?”

Later, the sleepy celestial appears forgetful and offers another five coins again, repeating a similar offer. Dovienya reaches down and grabs all ten coins and pockets them.

When finally nudged about the nemeton again, Odyphaidron causes several dozen gray mushrooms to grow all around you. They turn into tiny silver frogs hop along and start heading off into the forest. You follow, but as you venture towards what you assume to be the nemeton, something makes the frogs melt into silver blobs and slink back away like quicksilver on the ground.  The air around you seems to wobble. The vegetation takes on a kind of saturated sheen. Trig thinks this is reminiscent of the First World, the origin plane of the fey, seeping through into this one.  She shares this bad news with Ambrosius’ friends.

Nim pulls out the milpreve and peers through its hole. She can see a clear pathway through the fey-mutated forest, leading you onward.  You begin following the path.

To Be Continued…

Dovienya reveals the secrets of the Xan-Hyrkanic Codex.  He admits to Daisy and Nim that he paid a street urchin that morning to deliver a message to the paladin Sa‘ramae.  Something along the lines of:

Lady Sa‘ramae,

It was an honor meeting you this past Bright Night. My friends and I appreciate your assistance in our endeavor and we hope our actions have Justified your help as well.  A mutual friend has asked me to deliver a package into your safekeeping.  I may not be able to attend the theater again anytime soon, but perhaps you will meet me at [name of a tavern near the inn we are meeting Midribin at] at two hours after noon today.

Nim and Daisy agree it’s a good idea to  hand the Codex over to Sa’ramae and the Paladins of the Pure.  But you decide to rip the out the pages pertaining to the doomsday spell known as the opprobrious axiom first. You don’t see any reason why anyone should have access to a recipe that would mean destruction of all life within this plane. Then you use Nim’s starknife to shred the pages into tiny strips. You’re not sure what to do with the strips yet, so Dovienya stashes them in his stuff.

You leave the inn to meet up with Sa’ramae at the place Dovienya outlined in his message to her. Dov hands the Codex over, and she checks it over carefully, taking a deep breath when she’s done.  “So this is it, huh? … Did you read it?”  Dov admits he did.

Sa’ramae continues:  “I was visited by the ghost of your Nightwatcher friend last night. He showed me where he’d stashed the evidence he’d collected about Balek’s murder, which proves your innocence.  He asked me to submit it to the Courts even if you didn’t deliver the Codex to me. But here you are. You did as he had hoped, as I had hoped.”

The paladin pulls a rapier from her belt and places it on the table between herself and Dovienya.  “Your friend wanted you to have this. It’s a Nightwatcher’s blade.”

Around the hilt of the magic rapier can be seen a depiction of the various phases of the moon, and on the pommel, there’s a small white orb representing the full moon.

“I think he might want you to use it to avenge his death. Any idea who murdered him? He wasn’t sure.”

Dovienya nods – indeed he does know.  He accepts the ghost’s gift, says goodbye to Sa’ramae, and departs, hopeful that she will be true to her word and help clear him of his murder charge.
~~~~~~~

Back at their rooms at the inn, Nim is sitting with Daisy, working on identifying the properties of Daisy’s newly acquired thistle-marked dagger, when she suddenly hears
Mouse’s voice whisper in her ear.

”Oh Nim! There you are. I’ve been trying to find you. Is now an okay time to chat? Area seems clear on my end.”

Nim responds in the affirmative, then she feels small claws pressing into her shoulders and she’s suddenly transported to a gray world of fog, which she recognizes as the Ethereal Plane.  She can see Mouse hovering in front of her. Meanwhile, to Daisy’s eyes, Nim just vanished into thin air. A thorough search begins on the material plane side, resulting in a sound trashing of the room.

To Nim, Mouse says, “I figured you and your friends might want to know that I got the two halflings out. I found them wandering around the City Unfair with the fan lady fighting off kenku left and right. Once I got them back in your home plane, they took off running. The boy one was arguing, but the fan lady insisted they leave the city altogether, just the two of them. Just thought you should know. That’s the last I saw of them. They didn’t even say thank you, but what are you going to do?”

Mouse thanks Nim once again for rescuing him from Trimphid and for helping him settle the score. Although he’s heading out into other planes, he offers to look for a cure to Nim’s haunting malady.  The two new friends then say their farewells.

Nim returns to the room to find Dovienya and a distraught Daisy, and a room entirely in disarray.

~~~~~~~

In the evening, everyone meets up with Midribin at the appointed place to meet the fallen druid Fairweather.

Madam Dutafrayan seems keen on getting her stolen milpreve back. But she’s shocked to have someone bring up her true identity of Fairweather to her.

“What? … How?” she asks. Then she goes slack, expressionless, and seems indifferent to even getting the druid’s stone back. It seems she doesn’t want to have to deal with the guilt of what she’s done.

“Eehhh, I don’t care. That name ‘Fairweather’ means nothing to me now.  I have a new life and I’m never going back.  I wasn’t just going to sit there forever. So I left. Not my fault… I never really liked trees anyway”, she says unconvincingly, her face unable to mask the pain.

You ask Fairweather about the location of the Tree of the Dead. She sits back and speaks openly about it.  She isn’t interested any more in keeping the secret.

“Sure, I’ll tell you. What does it matter now? You want to go there and see it? Build a carnival on top of it, I say. Sell tickets. Cut me in, will you?   … It’s in Coile Ithle, the Jolly Wood, but … “, she chuckles a little to herself, “You won’t find it. It’s sealed in by the nemeton.”

Then Fairweather goes on to describe druidic lore – the kind you non-druids are forbidden to know about, using actual words in Ogham, the druids’ secret language.

You learn the following:

Hidden deep within the great forests, one of the main duties of the druids is to tend and guard the nemetons – the seals between our world and the other planes, keeping unwanted outsiders (fomoiri) out.

“The fomoiri are like weeds, right?” Fairwather explains. “And you know someone has to pull out the weeds so the right plants grow? To make sure they don’t get in to the soil. That’s what a druid does. The natural purity of this plane has been largely left unmolested because of the secret vigilance of the druids. Why do you think all this time there aren’t demons and fire elementals walking around?  Well, this is not going to last. All the tuathal spit on druids.”

You’re all aware how much the druids have been cruelly persecuted on this side of the world by non-druids (tuathal), and as you learn from Fairweather that one result of their dwindling numbers is that the nemetons here have been compromised.

She explains how she abandoned her post and fled to the city, but held onto the milpreve though – the special druidic tool of the nemeton – the ortha or magic item that is tied to that gateway.

“You are planning to go to the nemeton? You need it. Keep it. I don’t care any more.” She hands the milpreve back to you.

You learn from her that – with the thinning of the druid guardians and the weakening of the seals, the celestial animals, the triorie (Tree-Ore-Eye), have taken up residence in the forests to keep evil at bay. You met one yourself in the Forest of Arsel – the golden fox.

You learn there is one in the Jolly Wood.  His name is Odyphaidron.  Fairweather suggests you seek him out and show him the milpreve. He will recognize it. The triorie can point you to the nemeton and the druidic temple of sorts that houses it. Deep below the nemeton is the Tree of the Dead.

She tells you the temple itself is meant for druids, and not tuathal like you. There is Ogham writing hidden in the walls to read and to instruct newcomers to the nemeton. She warns you that you will not know how to read it. Also, the front entrance only opens if a druid is in wild shape – a person turned into an animal, what she calls an athdholb. And she tells you that a nascmhíl – an animal companion, like Daisy’s dog, won’t cut it.

Plus, the milpreve is only one part of the key. You apparently use it to craft a bogun, whatever that is. And it’s the bogun that leads the way down.

“You are not druid,” Fairweather tells you, dismissively. “I don’t see how you will do this.”

~~~~~~~

After the meeting with Fairweather, you sit down with Midribin and tell her everything.  About the City Unfair and the Codex. About the Sower and the Bloodboat Jewel, as well as what you know about Trimphid, the Sovereigns, and the Shepherd Prince.  You also tell her what you learned from Mouse – that the body of the Wick’s founder – Primwizard Artivole himself – was sold at the Infernal Auction to someone named “Zefuloria”.

Dovienya gives Midri his new magic boots as a gift and asks for forgiveness for being so rude earlier.

Midri is touched, and waves off any offenses. She seems truly grateful that you are finally telling her all you know (particularly the bit about Primwizard Artivole’s location). She pledges the that the Order of the Wick and the Flame will do all they can to help them.

Midribin says she can get the party to Gridea through a portrait of Primwizard Artivole.  From there, she should be able to arrange for you to travel to the Jolly Wood so you can find the Tree of the Dead.

To Be Continued…

It’s getting close to noon and you enter the common area of the Whispering Owl the next day. The room is pretty packed with locals eating lunch, and there’s an unusual buzz about the place. People are speaking excitedly to one another about something.

As you sit down at one of the few empty tables, being sure to leave a chair empty for Midribin, you hear a loud shushing up front and the room quiets down as a woman steps out onto a small stage area at the back. All eyes turn towards her.

Dovienya recognizes her fanciful garb as those worn by the Swains – the order of bards that sing about the valorous exploits of the Pure. She is holding a small harp and gets ready to perform. The more Pure-eyed patrons (fanatical admirers of the paladins) begin to gather closer to the stage to hear the Swain’s song…

Down in a temple deep under the ground
On a Bright Night where no light can be found
The chaos cultists croaked and crooned
Performed their rites to the dark New Moon
Who heard their revels from far away?
‘Twas Noble Sa‘ramae

 

Midribin looks back and forth between Daisy and Dovienya.  Then she sighs and looks dejectedly down at the table top.

Daisy dramatically rides forward on Ambrosius into the middle of the proceedings and yells, “Stop! …*I* AM THE SHEPHERD PRINCE!”

Everything does stop. The grotesque assemblage all turns toward this unexpected outburst.

Whaa?

At the front of the chamber, Gleaming’s kenku lieutenant Corcuera is not having it.  He gestures to his kenku goons to take care of the interruption and they slink towards Daisy, swords and axes raised menacingly.

One of the big winged demons at the back is all like, “Hey what is all this? A DEVIL TRAP!?” And another one mutters, “I knew it!”

This offends all the devils and their minions in attendance. They’re like, “Hey, we run a tight ship here. Keep quiet.” Which in turn offends the demons, and the two rival groups begin shouting back and forth.

Those of no particular affiliation are understandably uncomfortable with the dangerous tension in the room. They begin retreating to the back doors for safety, but their sudden movement only increases the attendees’ unease. Weapons, wands, spells and claws are all made more accessible. The threat of violence is palpable.

The mysterious dark-robed figure with its face in complete shadow looks ready to use its own weapons against Daisy.

Nim seizes the opportunity to push the volatile situation further (and keep Daisy safe). She quickly casts her Hypnotic Pattern spell around Daisy’s would-be assailants. At the sight of the swirling colors, most immediately stop in their tracks, their faces slack in fascination. The mysterious hooded figure is affected, too. It never even gets a chance to use the starknife at its belt. It stands there gaping with the other victims of Nim’s spell, completely mesmerized.

(…and somewhere far away a GM sheds a tear that his NPC is out of the fight. 😛 But hey, that’s how the dice land.)

Daisy heroically swoops in and grabs Tumn, throwing him up behind her on Ambrosius. But before she can make her get-away, an angry Trimphid places a hand on Tumn and casts a ghoulish spell which paralyzes the halfling and causes those around him to be sickened at the foul stench he emanates.  Daisy rides with her stricken brother back to the exit trying to dodge Trimphid’s magic missiles and fireballs. Swarms of Gleaming’s ravens swoop down from the dais and try to attack her but get cooked by Trimphid’s spells instead.

Now the room is in total chaos. The abyssal faction comes to blows with the infernal one with clusters of brawls and duels breaking out all over.

Some are even using the bedlam to make grabs for the auction items.  One of those opportunists is Dovienya, who sneaks up and takes the Xan-Hyrkanic Codex from its podium. Then he stealthily slips into Nim’s Hypnotic Pattern and pickpockets the entranced mystery person’s starknife from right under its shadowy hooded nose!

Nim, meanwhile, must suddenly contend with two fearsome Hamatulas (Barbed Devils), and is forced to use her two twister-stones to save herself. She throws them to the ground and the elven fighters pop into action and defend her. Then Nim makes her escape.

As fighting across the auction floor ensues, there’s a sensation that the magic keeping the structure of the place is weakening.  Nim hears Mouse’s voice in her ears: “Hey, I think I might have found a thread to pull on here. Hehe, never give a cat a piece of thread…”

And then all Hell breaks loose (and technically the Abyss as well). The walls start to wobble and turn gray; ethereal fog is starting to seep in. The room starts to shake.

Then, from front of the room, a loud voice bellows,  “ENOUGH!”  All goes eerily quiet and still as Gleaming stands up from his throne.

He steps down from his dais. The room stabilizes… the demons, the devils, the chaos priests and weirdo mutants all freeze as the White Jester King addresses his court. All are captivated and immobile, waiting for the jester’s final act.

It’s time for him to put a quick end to this diverting performance… Gleaming lifts his arms to summon …

But then the room seems to explode with a flash of light. There are suddenly a group of figures in the room in between you and Gleaming. You recognize Furik with several of her Formian warriors joined with Averon and what must be another Sovereign (a female half-elf wizard), plus an exotically-dressed halfling with a glowing blue fighting-fan (the Rectoress?!).

Averon is like, “Gleaming!”

And Gleaming is all like, “Averon!”

And you realize there’s history there.

They all start to wizard-duel and suddenly everyone can move again, and Mouse is there and fighting Trimphid in close melee.  Nim hears his call for aid and runs over, casting her Spiritual Starknife to slash at the Gridean scoundrel.

And Dov is trying to make his way out to the exit, but the giant Heretic Devil is in his way and starts making devastating attacks. It wants to get into the room with the clear intention of killing everything in its path.  And Dov is like, “Hey, aren’t you just supposed to be like the doorman? What’s with the insta-death claws?” But the Heretic Devil is just like not having it with all this mayhem. This is inexcusable behavior at one of his auctions.

The mysterious dark-robed figure awakens from his enchanted state, sees the situation surrounding him, and quickly makes his escape. He grabs the Divine Endling from its podium and disappears into the shadows.

Meanwhile, Daisy and the Rectoress are fighting Corcuera and his goons and taking them out with the Rectoress swirling around all bad ass with her magic fighting fan.

Fan not pictured

Dov gets out of the way of the rampaging Heretic Devil and heads back into the auction hall. He spots Daisy fighting Corcuera and plunges his rapier from the ledge above to strike the killing blow against the kenku that framed him for murder and made him a fugitive. Vengeance is sweet.

Then he sees Nim and Mouse fighting Trimphid in the back and heads up towards them, but not before grabbing hold of the milpreve – the druid’s gate key – on the way from its place on the podium.

With their immediate assailants killed, Daisy hands Tumn over to the Rectoress who makes her way with him to the exit, which is now clear of the death-delivering Heretic Devils.  Daisy nimbly swipes Corcuera’s thistle-marked dagger from his corpse and then proceeds to charge back into the fray to help her friends.

Trimphid is getting blasted from all sides, his spells dispelled.  Quite wounded, he makes a run for it, but gets spotted by Furik who takes her own shots at him. He successfully casts a spell to confuse Dov, who starts attacking Mouse and Furik. But the wizard succumbs to the many attacks and falls to the floor, dead.

R.I.P. Trimphid

Daisy and Nim both end up in the destructive path of the Heretic Devil and are one claw swipe away from Purgatory, but Mouse rescues them in turn, leaping onto their backs and phase shifting them out of the Ethereal Plane and back into the material one. They find themselves in a dark alleyway somewhere in Farglad’s highslope area. Dov is still confused when Mouse grabs him as well, but the dweomercat is basically made out of magic –  so quickly dispels the effect, returning him to normal.

Mouse thanks you all for helping him take out Trimphid, then his ears abruptly perk up and he announces people are coming. With that, he disappears again.

You all turn and run, and begin getting chased by members of the city’s guards. Highslope is on high alert with multiple patrols seeking a halfling riding on a sheepdog.  She and her prankster friends recently tripped some guards and ran away.  Looks like it’s going to be tough for the Unsworn to stay in Farglad for much longer.

Once back in lowslope, your pursuers failing once again to apprehend you, you find a safe spot to meet up and debrief.  Dovienya fishes out the starknife and hands it over to Nim. “Here ya go, got this for ya,” he says.

Nim is overcome with gratitude and gives him a big hug.  Dov is speechless, arms outstretched awkwardly at his side.  They have a moment.

The three friends decide not to head back to the Sapphire Fang that night, but go to the Whispering Owl instead, where rooms are purchased and word is sent to Midribin that you’d like to meet her the next day at noon.

That night, Nim studies the ring and boots she lifted from the Sibrillian ambassador’s house and learns their secrets. She decides to give the fancy boots to Dov. He really seemed to want them; it’s the least she could do. Before settling in for a long rest, she reverently holds her new starknife. It traveled across the Void to find her.  Through some trick of time and memory, she already knows how to wield it. She begins to understands its true power.

Meanwhile, Daisy and Ambrosius head to their room to rest after the long night.  She fiddles around with her new dagger a little bit. The symbol on it matches the one on her katana so it must be from the halfling homeland. Does it have magical powers too?

And alone in his room at the Whispering Owl, Dovienya can’t help himself. He opens up the Xan-Hyrkanic Codex and begins to read.

To Be Continued…