The final players are: 

• Slee Newblood
• Malkador
• Trey Von Calliway
• Pearlin May
• Jorm
• Zak
• Raiden Kurosaki 

We will be starting in the capital of Mori Noya.  I'll give you some time to think about how you came there and whether any of you know each other (not required).  We'll begin play on the 31st.

Congratulations to all picked!

A little bit of info before we start: Mori Noya is an ancient forest inhabited by twenty-one clans of elves.  It has an eastern Asian flavor, so it's a fairly atypical seeing for elves.  Each clan has it's own land, but some have certain areas of interest as well, such as the 影の家族 (Kage No Kazuko) and 夜刀の一族 (Yato No Ichizoku), which both focus on training assassins.  The areas they control-very widely, from the deep forest to rice fields and fishing villages to mountainside monasteries, but they all remain loyal(ish) to the Sun Throne.  Many vie for power and a chance to control the throne, as the current Jade Empress, Hatsuki (はつき), has no heirs, and are not above subterfuge.  Scattered throughout the forest are ancient artifacts of the First Age.  Among other things, summer of these artifacts create antigravity fields that allow them to create flying cities such as the capital, the City of One Thousand Lanterns (千灯籠の街).

Please join this campaign that GR_Mustang has generously offered as a resource (I buy physical, not online).  I will be "87306's Character"

https://www.dndbeyond.com/campaigns/join/3662732828210319

Please let your reason for being there or PM it to me once you've come up with it (if you can't think of one, the chaotic teleportation magic of Inustwaith randomly threw you there)

Happy new year's everyone.  Let's get started.

Dusk creeps slowly over the City of One Thousand Lanterns.  A tor gate marks the entrance to a magical stairway, lit by red lanterns, that climbs its way up to the city.  Hanging suspended in the twilit sky, the city is broken into two concentric rings, marking the Inner and Outer wards.  The Inner City is dominated by a rocky hill, at the top of which perches the Imperial Palace and the taiboku (大木) an impossibly huge tree strung with lanterns.  Three bands of crackling blue energy rotate around the city, keeping it aloft.

We'll start with GR, ravno, and Pyro.  Your characters are just meeting up.  Tamachi, being a prince, has lodgings provided each time he visits the city, so you'll be starting in a luxurious lantern-lit room decorated by paper screens.  Please introduce your characters.

Tamachi is a thrill seeker and gambler. He loves searching for new relics he can sell or be commissioned to find. He is the 7th son of royal elves but holds no interest in that world of royalty and prefers to adventure and stay out of the limelight. Depending on his mood he may stay at his family’s estate or house in the guild house inn with other adventurers. He is here today with his life long friend Trey. 

After successfully defeating the Frost Maiden alongside his group, the young Kitsune prince of the Neverwinter Jungle has gone through emotional pain  as his group surpasses him in almost every aspect of combat, be it spellcasting or melee-based. Getting increasingly frustrated at being the weakest member of the Shifters, Raiden left his home in the Neverwinter jungle to train and surpass everyone including his leader. Whilst training in the midst of underground and jungle combat, Raiden noticed a portal that leads to this mysterious place called Inustwaith, saying it would have everything he needs in order to be a stronger Wildland Shifter. He entered... but realised that it was not the place he though it would be. For the first few weeks he wandered around in Mori Noya lost and confused until he met two Shadar Kai named Tamachi and Trey who showed him how to survive in a new place. Now Raiden currently resides in Mori Noya, still enhancing his skills whilst also trying to figure out how to find a portal that would lead him back to the Storm Coast. 

Currently after spending all night enhancing his skills and eating his fried tofu, Raiden has polymorphed into his 9-tailed fox form and is sleeping on a couch located within the room itself. 

Trey has been away from his ancestral homelands for a long while, growing up among humans elsewhere, and it shows in his mannerism, and his accent. He, like Slee (Tamashi), is a Shadar Kai, and they seem to have long been friends, but it is a friendship that has perhaps grown distant with time apart. Trey carries himself with authority, but doesn't appear to have any particular station or societal position to back that demeanor. Yet somehow his presence feels supernatural, as if fear was something tangible he wore as a cloak.

Trey dresses like a well off mercenary. He wears chainmail, and carries a shield, longsword, and has a whip coiled at his side. His white hair is thick and bushy, but he wears it tightly bound into a ponytail. His eyes are a hypnotic violet color which contrasts against his grey hue-less skin. He's a little larger than most elves, whatever those humans fed him bulked him up considerably.

It is clear that he's returned home to rediscover his elven identity, and sought out his old friend to help him get reacquainted with life here. While he came off as perhaps stern or aggressive at first meeting, it is clear he means well, and is warming up to the company here. He doesn't have long term plans, and seems perhaps directionless in life, having competing ideas of what he should be and do in life.

"So Slee," he chuffs under his breath almost inaudibly after saying this name "What are we getting up to today?" Trey seems to have risen early and has meticulously cleaned, polished, sorted, and repacked all of his belongings. And is putting the finishing touches on his longsword. "Any leads on a portal for Raiden? He nods, gesturing at the sleeping fox.

Are you guys gonna keep talking, or do I need to make something bad happen?

(OOC can you remind me (maybe us) what our next step is and how we can help move the story forward. Sorry if I missed it somewhere. Any help would be appreciated 😁)

(P.S. An encounter right about now would be fun too )

Yeah, sorry.  Tamachi wants to begin an expedition into the forest, but isn't sure where to begin, so he has called Trey.  Trey brought Raiden along with him.  You are meeting here instead of where Tamachi lives because it's a good jumping-off place for forest expeditions.  You are discussing possible plans (don't worry, you won't have to talk for long.  This is basically so you can get to know each other's characters.)

(Thanks!!!)

”Ok guys, the forest is calling and we will answer. What equipment will you need? We’ll be up against a variety of monsters and it will be both forest and dungeon. We’ll be gone about a week so we need food for 10days, just in case. I’ll grab some anti toxin just in case and a few health potions. “

(Forgot to mention that in his polymorphed form, Raiden can't speak physically. Only telepathically. If you want Tamachi to relay that in his head then feel free to do so.)

Upon hearing Tamachi and Trey converse about the upcoming mission within Mori Noya's lush foliage, Raiden sluggishly open his bright, yellow eyes in a very sleepy like manner. He briefly stares at both Shadar Kai before yawning profusely and then shaking his white plumage and single tail like a dog trying to shake off water. He then lazily stares at the two Shadar Kai again but does not polymorph back into his human form yet.

If Tamachi is communicating telepathically:

Knowing Raiden and 'the’ look, I would setup a telepathic link with him

“Agreed, let’s get something to eat first”

Tamachi: you hear the faintest of sounds - the whisper of curtains, the creak of a windowsill - and turn just as a knife hurtles out of the darkness near the window, followed by another one.  One will target Tamachi (22 to hit), the other Raiden (25 to hit).

Both of those hit.  Tamachi, you take 4 piercing damage, and you must make a DC 15 Con save or take 18 poison, or half as much on a success.  Raiden takes 11 piercing and must make the same save or take 42 or half as much on a success. 

The daggers are made of obsidian etched with glowing green symbols.  As you recover from your shock, you see that your assailant has climbed in through the window.  They are dressed head-to-toe in tight black shinobi clothes, including a mask, which makes telling gender and race difficult.  They seem surprised to see multiple people and uncertain what to do next.  Each of you roll initiative.  Raiden and and Trey are surprised.

Raiden yelps in both surprise and pain as the knife smacks his back before polymorphing into his human form again.

Initiative: 10

Con: 19