Have you ever had just one of those days? You make a plan, the plan is sound, you start to enact the plan, but for whatever reason: luck is just NOT on your side.
Yeah, that’s us.
Even with advantage, we can’t roll higher than a 9 on most checks or attacks and it leads to some really ‘inspired’ game play. No really. SO much inspiration and it still doesn’t help...
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Our story begins with that of a tiefling and a dwarf arriving in the port city of Blackpoole. The dwarf, known as Jakarys visits the Mage’s Guild on Tabaxi street attempting to gain information. He bumps into the tiefling who introduces herself as Lore. She too wants access to the guild’s library. They speak with Ashraf, a Sage Brother of the guild who refuses them entry unless they become guild members themselves. He sends them on a quest to the coast of Felar’isle to investigate the cause of a recent shipwreck.
Upon leaving the guild, Lore and Jakarys notice a strange woman following them. This curious woman, called Wisp, joins their quest. The three of them travel to the docks where they meet Captain Brekkin and charter his ship. While waiting for preparations to be complete they pass their time by visiting The Blackmaw Tavern.
Eager to win some extra gold, Jakarys enters himself into an arm-wrestling match. Thanks to some magical assistance from Lore and Wisp, he wins. (Although he isn’t aware that foul play occurred.)
Afterwards, they board Captain Brekkin’s ship and sail to Felar’isle. Once they reach the shore, they find a shipwreck littered with corpses. Fortunately, there is one survivor, a tabaxi named Seven Paths who is an old friend of Lore’s. He reveals that their ship was attacked, although he is unsure exactly what creature caused the damage.
While the party talks, a native of the island, a half-elf named Aeshthra comes across the group. There is an awkward exchange between herself and the foreigners before they are quickly interrupted by another Merrow attack.
The party rushes into battle and they quickly defeat the creatures, although there were several close calls, especially regarding Seven Paths.
As the party recovered after the battle, Wisp scoured the corpses of the dead Tabaxi. She took all of their weapons and redistributed them to the group. One of which was a dagger blessed by Ortigawe that had magical lightning properties. The party is then greeted by Aeshthra’s mother who is the chief of the Felarian tribe. Aeshthra explained how the group worked together to defeat the Merrow. In appreciation for slaying them, the party is invited to spend the night on the island and take part in the celebrations for Aeshthra’s sister’s coming of age ceremony.
Before they can return to the tribe however, the Felarian warriors and the party help Seven Paths hold a funeral for his fallen brethren. Afterward, the party is escorted to Aeshthra’s home where a feast awaits them. As the festivities continue, Seven Paths make several friends among the tribe through his creative drinking games. Consequently, many of the members of the party end up drunk due to this.
Before the celebration comes to an end Aeshthra’s mother announces to the tribe that the island will be open to those who can prove themselves to be worthy. She also announced that her daughter should go out into the mainland and act as a representative of the Felarian tribe, but she must return within five years. With all business concluded the party stays up to four in the morning discussing many topics, such as the existence of money, before crashing in a hut that the tribe lends to them.
Before going to bed, Seven Paths privately mourns those who fell in the shipwreck before promptly pissing himself in his drunken stupor. Wisp, who is stalking him, as she does, witnesses the entire thing. The following morning… Well more like afternoon, the party manages to get a few semi-successful swimming lessons in before venturing out to find where the remaining Merrow are hiding.
The party finds a cave where they believe the nest is located and explore it. They come across a cove with two Merrow inside, which are quickly dispatched before the fighter could even draw his warhammer. Searching through the chests they find quite a bit of treasure!
After gathering treasure, the party decides to leave the caverns before high tide comes. Before leaving, Seven Paths gives the Merrow a small funeral, returning their bodies to Ortigawe. However, something odd occurs as the monstrous bodies transform into those of sirens. Aeshthra is absolutely crushed at this reveal, as in her culture it is believed that Luna transforms women in her tribe into sirens to protect the island. Seeing them corrupted is absolutely heartbreaking. The party decides to take the bodies back to the island to inform Aeshthra’s mother of what they discovered.
When trying to swim out of the cave, Lore runs out of breath and begins to drown. Jakarys drops his hold of the body and swims to help her. Aeshthra uses shape water to boost everyone out of the cave.
The party swims safely to shore and regroups. From the island, they see Captain Brekkin’s ship. They decide to split up. Wisp and Jakarys take the boat to shore to speak with Captain Brekkin, while Lore, Aeshthra, and Seven Paths stay on the island to inform the chief and bury the bodies.
Jakarys and Wisp convince Captain Brekkin to stay until the rest of the members of the party can join them on the ship, by bribing him with some electrum. Those on the island give the Merrow a proper funeral and they too revert from their corrupted forms. Aeshthra, Lore, and Seven Paths join Jakarys and Wisp on the ship. They settle in for a long night of travel.
Since it is the new moon Aeshthra remains awake to keep vigil and Jakarys falls asleep talking to her and keeping her company. The following morning they sail into Crigdar River and into Blackpoole.
After a brief altercation on the ship, the party enters the city to return to the mage’s guild. As it is early in the morning they stop for some biscuits, a delicacy that Aeshthra has never had before. They are so good it can literally teleport you to another plane. They arrive at the mage’s guild and wake Ashraf. The party delivers their proof of the attacks in addition to giving several demonstrations of their magical prowess.
Jakarys, who possesses no magic whatsoever, manages to charm his way into the guild anyways, with the help of his new friends. The party is granted an audience with Dofirion Drakemantle where they take their oaths and are given magical items.
The party is led into the mage’s guild library where Ashraf informs the group that they must take several rare and magical books into their possession. These books must be delivered to the Galtic Citadel in Lazaconte, specifically to Arch Sage Magister Bronclivius. There are three tomes in which they are to carry. The Tome of Clear Thought, The Tome of Understanding, and The Tome of Leadership and Influence.
While in the library Jakarys searches for information regarding possession, memory loss, and transmutation. He doesn’t find much, unfortunately, however they are given a scroll of polymorph which finds its way into Wisp’s possession. Curious of Jakarys’ search, Wisp also looks for books on transmutation and finds Items of Legend by Sir Graynewald The Wise. She rips out several papers describing a transmuter’s stone.
After the party finishes their research they discuss several options to safely leave the city. One involves just simply walking out the front gates. While the others involve the sewers or finding Parkin Jin, the leader of the local Condor Gang who can smuggle us on a ship. The party debates several options before deciding that taking a ship would be the best route.
Before leaving the mage’s guild. The party crafts a plan to make a scene so it doesn’t look like they are working with the guild. Names were called, punches were thrown, and the group is satisfied that their plan worked.
On their way to a tavern to rest for the night before going to find a ship. Seven has the party stop at Putel’s Plate, a smithery where he intends to get new armor for the party. However, Putel identifies the symbol on Jakarys’ armor. It is the Mountainfall clan’s crest and is made completely of adamantine. Jakarys decides to keep the armor, however, he does purchase a shiny new dagger while Aeshthra buys some splint mail.
As they are leaving the party is accosted by the mage guard, who attempts to bring them in for interrogation since they entered the mage’s guild. Trying to defend themselves, Lore and Jakarys accidentally reveal that they used magic, forcing the guards to arrest them.
A battle begins and Seven Paths is immediately incapacitated which seems to be a running theme. During the fight, Jakarys uses his new magical dagger, calling lightning down on the guards. Seven manages to break free from the spell and utterly obliterates a mage.
After the bloodbath, the party jumps into the sewers and begins the very long and disgusting trek out of the city. As they make camp, Jakarys talks a bit about his lost memories and his conflicted perception of self.
The party awakes bright and early thanks to an inconveniently timed rainstorm. They continue traveling east until they reach a bridge that will carry the party from Western Deonexia to Eastern Deonexia. As they travel, Seven entertains the group with some music. Upon approaching the bridge, the party sees two guards. They are known as the Imperial Dragoons, the military force from Eastern Deonexia. Hoping to get on their good side, Seven plays a traditional Deonexian song called Ferenweth’s Fast Charge. To make it more appealing he changes some of the lyrics to put the leader of Eastern Deonexia, Lord Commander Dustenry in a good light. The Imperial Dragoons enjoy Seven’s song and eventually, the group is allowed to continue on their path to The Crossroads. However they are left with a warning that strangers are not generally welcome, and that orc raiders have been attacking civilians.
Once the party arrives at The Crossroads, Jakarys leads them to the inn he stayed at when previously traveling through the town. They enter The Jolly Codger, but the patrons are anything but jolly. The bartender, Sooty Richpoor informs them of how their town had fallen on hard times and that there was no work to be found. Sooty introduces the party to Pinnacle Farenglure, who assists the party with all of their needs. Unfortunately, there is not much that the town can provide them as Jakarys quickly learns that the Crossroads doesn’t have a bathhouse or a brothel. However, they do meet a man named Yihan who is willing to sell the group some horses so they can continue their travels. They plan to meet him the following morning.
As night falls on the town, Seven makes a scene by emptying out the bag of holding in public, to organize their treasure. When no one is looking, Wisp manages to swipe some coins for herself. Before heading to bed, Aeshthra, Seven, and Jakarys get drunk. Wisp encourages their behavior and pretends to drink along with them. The party heads up to their rooms where a drunken throwing contest occurs. Lore, Wisp, and Jakarys each go flying into a bed as the paladins and fighter try to show off their strength.
The next morning when they wake up, Jakarys is cuddling Aeshthra, and Wisp has a horrible “hangover”. When everyone is up and ready, Pinnacle guides them to Yihan’s farm. On their walk, they find a river where everyone stops to bathe. As they get closer to the farm, they hear screams.
The party runs to the farm only to find dead bodies and several orcs who are behind the attack. The party jumps into battle, with Wisp becoming a little unhinged as she sets the house on fire and almost makes one of the attackers swallow a sword. During the fight, it is revealed that the attackers are not orcs at all, but humans wearing masks. Jakarys manages to intimidate several of the attackers to back out of the fight. These surviving humans get tied up to be later questioned.
With the murderers tied up, Lore tries to use her magic to get them to talk. Unfortunately, they are all too strong-willed and tight-lipped. Then Jakarys gives it a shot by trying to strike up a conversation with the raider the party had dubbed “Well Man” as he was the first one to listen to the dwarf when he commanded him to stay down. Well Man gives him his real name, Eulian, and Jakarys manages to convince him to give the party information, however, he has one condition. The party must take him far, far away from his comrades or they will surely kill him.
While the party debates on what to do next, Seven Paths goes inside the house to look for survivors, only to find that the entire family has died. He begins to pull the bodies out of the house. Seven takes charge and puts the leader of the raiders to death.
Jakarys speaks to Trough Boy, a different unfortunately nick-named raider, and discovers that his name is Jarvis, but he is unwilling to share any information. He is also put to death, but unfortunately instead of level-headed, compassionate Seven, enacting the order, Wisp takes charge. After being refused death by fire, she slides a sword down Jarvis’ throat.
Pinnacle and the rest of the villagers arrive and they provide the names of the family that was killed. Seven frees Eulian from his bonds and orders him to dig the graves and learn the names of those he helped kill.
It is discovered that the raiders were actually Imperial Dragoons who were ordered to raid villages to incite war. Lord Commander Dustonry, is eager to start a war with anyone who will bite, but he ideally wants to end the truce between the broken states of Deonexia and reunite them as one.
Eulian asks the party to take him with them as he believes he will die or live a life of misery in the crossroads. The party urges him to stay at the farm and spend the rest of his life protecting the town and making up for his mistakes. That night, both Eulian and Pinnacle keep a vigil outside as the rest of the party heads to bed.
The following morning Jakarys speaks with Eulian who has decided to stay on the farm and cultivate it for the family’s next of kin, Benny Bentknee. While everyone is eating breakfast, Lore finds Seven in the stable where he has procured several horses for the group. The two of them have a heart to heart as they mourn over the innocent family that was lost.
As Seven distributes the steeds, he uses magic to find out what the horses call themselves. Jakarys gets a pony named Linus, Aeshthra gets a draft-horse named Sequoia. Lore gets a horse named Flashfeat, Wisp gets a horse named Skyflame and Seven gets a magical horse familiar named Make It Rain.
The party travels for a very long time before arriving in Southern Deonexia. The trip is long and taxing, with many people struggling to bond with their horse, especially Jakarys and Linus. On the trip, Wisp begins reading one of the books they were charged to carry even resulting in psychological warfare as Seven sleeps to get her hands on it. Meanwhile, Lore attempts to use her new spell so send a message home to her father. She learns that her family is doing just fine, and receives news of her dwarven friend Flint who was exiled from the guild and now has sailed to Auphios
Finally arriving in civilization, the party finds their way to Ferrenweth Castle to spend several days relaxing from the harsh days on the road.
In the town surrounding Ferrenweth Castle, the party secures themselves room at a tavern called Malgorth's Mead Hall run by an elderly man tiptoeing a thin line with death. With the day ahead of them, the party splits up to pursue several goals throughout the day.
Seven begins exploring the city, looking for a place to sell the group’s loot. Instead, he accidentally stumbles into a bathhouse and later Jakarys, who he guides back to the bathhouse and pays for his private room.He later finds an establishment where he can sell the items he found and also discovers that the imperial dragoon armor they have can be used as proof of death and can receive a reward from the imperial legion. Afterward, he picks up Jak and to the inn where they find the sleeping innkeeper and begin to play a game where he stacks cups on him.
Meanwhile, Lore sets off to find work. She meets a jeweler named Reginald who takes a liking to her. He gives her a ring and points her in the direction of a locksmith. She travels to a shop called Caveyare and meets Cloylia there who is stuck on a particularly difficult project although she can’t go into details. After a few spells, Lore is able to discover that the lock and key that Cloylia is struggling with regards the bank. Lore offers her help and enlists the help of her friends.
Wisp forgoes adventuring and decides to remain at the tavern and lock herself in her room to read more of the tome of leadership.
Aeshthra begins her journey to look for a library but instead finds a bank. Although it is not the building she was looking for, she does learn more about economics and learns that the only library in the city is a personal one for the emperor. Exploring the rest of the city she finds a nightclub known as The Lusty Lute. She has never seen anything like it before and in her excitement, she rushes back to the tavern to share her discovery with Seven and Jakarys.
Upon entering the tavern she startles the innkeeper causing him to wake up and destroy the remarkable stacking progress that Seven and Jakarys had created, however, they are more than willing to forgive her, once she has shown them the lusty lute.
Eventually, both Wisp and Lore find their way to the pub. Thanks to Seven, who doesn’t have the best understanding of the value of money, the party drinks for free and premium services are offered to all of them. While everyone gets drunk, Jakarys tries to pick out who he wants to bed for the night but is having a difficult time with the overwhelming amount of options. Wisp however steps in and sets him up with a handsome man and after being thoroughly embarrassed by his friends the two of them leave for an exquisite suite and exclusive party. Jakarys indulges in some elvhen drugs, makes some new friends, and thoroughly makes use of the room.
Downstairs, Aeshthra and Seven sing their hearts out. They meet a member of the imperial legion, named Druisis who hits on Aeshthra, although she doesn’t realize it. Wisp however does, and acts as the biggest of cock blocks.
Afterward they return to the inn, where Seven passes out on the stairs. Wisp casts reduce on him so that Aeshthra can carry him to his room. She is very happy to be holding a tiny, fluffy, Seven.
The next morning, Lore tells everyone about the locksmith she met and everyone quickly comes to the conclusion that she is trying to set up a bank robbery. Wisp is down for the idea and desperately wants the key but refuses to share her motives. Tensions rise in the party as Aeshthra also becomes upset at the lack of trust and the control Wisp exerted over her last night. Seven tries to guide wisp and teach her about honesty but it all backfires and leads to a huge argument where Aeshthra storms off and Jakarys, having just arrived, follows after her. They talk a little and he asks her about the guy who was flirting with her and if he needs to beat anyone up.
The two of them wander into an assembly, where a man is talking about the tensions between the factions of Deonexia. Jak speaks up from the audience in agreement with his statements and gets invited to the stage to share his experiences. Although he is not the best public speaker, his words accidentally incite some unrest.
Trying to get out of there as quickly as possible, Aesthra and Jakarys leave, but they are approached by two Legion officers. The two of them are brought to speak with the captain of the guard. While Jakarys is freaking out, Aeshthra uses her status and diplomacy to get an audience with the emperor’s advisors and hopefully the emperor himself. A date is set and the two of them are released. They both return and inform the party of what happened in their absence.
While they were gone the party officially decides to not rob the bank and Lore informs Cloylia of her decision. The locksmith reveals that it is not money she is after, but information regarding the emperor and a conspiracy theory. Lore refuses to rob the bank as it goes against her guild, but she does tell her that the Kenix guild needs members of her talent if she is ever interested.
Now that the full party is gathered together, they begin to discuss what they should and shouldn’t share with the emperor. After gathering their thoughts, they head for the palace where they briefly see the imperial legionnaire, Drusius, who was hitting on Aeshthra the previous night. Jakarys gives him a warning look before they meet the Captain of the Imperial Legionnaires, Marcellus Ignatious who escorts them the rest of the way.
The party is introduced to Marcus Antonius Deonexius, the emperor’s advisor who was adopted by the deceased emperor and has been a dutiful servant to the crown, and the emperor himself, the young Albius Ferrenweth III. They present the Dragoon armor and are offered great compensation for their services, and then both Aeshthra and Jakarys share their experiences in Eastern and Western Deonexia. Aeshthra calls them out on their inaction, but Marcus explains that they do not have the power or the allies to take action at this time. They discuss creating an alliance with Felar’isle, but at this point, the island is not capable of joining a war, however, Aeshthra offers aid in an economic sense. The party offers any services they can provide due to their unique skills and they are each given an empire amulet, as proof of their alliance. Before leaving the palace, Aeshthra also is given the Thuanian Compendium from the emperor’s private library.
Afterward they go to the Lusty Lute which is mostly abandoned this early in the day, aside from a few nobles. Both Lore and Seven begin a rousing performance which brings in a lot of coin from the nobles. Jakarys makes a friend with an old man known as Nonus Albinus who gives him a lot of juicy gossip. He learns that there are aberrant monsters haunting the area between Abenderin and Ferrenwith, as well as ghosts living in the citadel, and an Uru temple that is involved with the Condor Thieves Guild.
The party meets Drusius at the Lusty Lute and Aeshthra asks him to get the party involved in a fighting ring. Seven, Aeshthra, and Jakarys all fight and win, although Aeshthra is given a little extra magical help from Wisp and is disqualified. After the fight, the party returns to The Lusty Lute again to drink, while Aeshthra decides to take Drusius to bed.
The next morning, Aeshthra leaves Drusius who is absolutely besotted with her, but Aeshthra lets him down. The party fetches their horses and continue on their quest. They come across a cave during their travels. They enter it, and Jakarys deduces it is a silver mine. As they move forward it becomes dark and twisted, something that both unnerves Lore and Jakarys. The party continues forward and find a corpse. As they move forward they come across two basilisks.
The party is attacked by two basilisks that they dispatch, although Seven is nearly petrified during the ordeal. Searching the cave, they find three basilisk eggs which are distributed amongst the group, specifically to Jakarys, Aeshthra, and Wisp. Jakarys is very excited with the prospect of having a pet and insists on hatching it. Not even two minutes later, however, he drops the egg- cracking it. Fortunately, his accident doesn’t end up killing the basilisk but instead helping it to prematurely hatch. It is love at first sight and Jakarys decides to name the baby Al Dente.
Continuing their search in the cave, they find petrified remains (rock candy) to feed Al Dente in the future. Afterward, the party leaves the cave to the relief of Lore and Jakarys who would much rather spend their time in the open air. While the party settles in for the night, Wisp stays up to finish reading the magical tome, increasing her natural charisma.
The following day, Seven and Jakarys spend their time mining the silver. While doing so they have a talk about Al Dente and decide to co-parent him. While the men are mining, Lore and Aeshthra talk about Felar’isle and how Aeshthra is adjusting to life on the mainland. Lore tells her about her life in the Kenix guild and how she believes her destiny has become intertwined with the party.
Jakarys, who can’t keep his eyes off of the baby, nearly petrifies himself. He is scolded for being careless and his companions’ words give him a lot to think about. The party discusses whether the eggs and Al Dente should be sold and there are disagreeing viewpoints as Aeshthra wants to sell her egg while Wisp and Jakarys both want to keep theirs. Realizing this will be a problem in the future, the party scavenges the dead basilisk bodies for alchemical supplies used to cure petrification. They spend another night at the silver mine, planning to set off early the next morning for Abenderin.
During their travels the next day, they come across a fight between a dire-bear and a dire-boar. The party discusses their plan of action and Seven has the idea to put Al Dente on the end of a long stick to thrust it into battle and petrify the animals. Surprisingly, the party goes along with the idea.
Jakarys fashions a hobo stick and puts Al Dente in the sack with his head sticking out. Lore summons spiritual guardians, designed to look like colorful puffins that help Wisp’s magical stick-snake (Bob) with carrying the basilisk. Their plan works and the dire-bear is turned into stone while the dire-boar is taken out by the party. Both the basilisk and the group have plenty of food as they settle in for the night.
The following day they are woken by a storm and their travels lead them to the village of Burntchapel. As the storm worsens, they decide to stay in the village, instead of continuing on to Abenderin. Upon their arrival they come to The Leagueknot, a general goods store owned by a man named Hewid. There, Aeshthra inquires for alchemical components for the potions she intends to make that cures petrification. They do not carry such ingredients, but another customer, a halfling woman named Jasmine, leads them to The Mirelooks Magnificence, an apothecary run by Suxana Ryland. Aeshthra commissions Suxana to make the de-petrification potion. While looking at her wares, they discover that the town has a large Condor gang presence. Suxana also finds them a place of rest in her friend Agatha’s cabin.
Lore and Wisp stay behind in the cabin to settle in and babysit Al Dente. Aeshthra, Jakarys, and Seven go to the local tavern, The Alcoholic Dwarf.
The following morning the party returns to The Mirelooks Magnificence to check in with Suxana and the state of the potion. They retrieve the potion and gain more information on the Condors. They discover that the Condors were kicked out of Abenderin when a rival group called the Zeloranth stole their power and cast them out of the city. The party decides not to interfere with the gang. Before leaving with the potion, Aeshthra charms Suxana to give her the recipe by playing Seven’s instrument.
The party reconvenes in the stables with Jakarys who was training Al Dente before setting out to Abenderin in a growing storm. The rain and hard travel takes up everyone’s energy and patience before they thankfully arrive in Abenderin.
They are stopped at the gate by legionnaire guards and Aeshthra gains entry by displaying the emperor’s badge. Since the party was bestowed with such a high honor, they are requested to meet with Governor Bralotii. However, their journey was long so the party postpones the meeting till tomorrow and they seek shelter from the rain in a tavern called Ferren’s Froth.
The party meets the owner, Fran, and get set up in the tavern. They purchase a large dorm room which they baby-proof for Al Dente. Jakarys is a very nervous new father and it takes a lot of convincing before he agrees to leave the room and feast with his companions.
Over drinks, they discuss what the governor wants from the group and what they plan to do in the city. Aeshthra brings up the Zeloranth contact that was mentioned to her in the fighting pits that she is supposed to meet in The Scorched Scales. Lore and Jakarys have concerns about her going alone, which results in some accidental flirting on Jakary’s part.
While drinking the party gathers intel from the locals in the tavern. They discover the location of the mage’s guild as well as other points of interest in the city. They learn more about the conflict between the Condors and the Zeloranth. It turns out that the Zeloranth is supported by the empire as they are responsible for smuggling many goods for the nation. They also learn that half the guards in this city are loyal to the governor while the other half are loyal to the emperor. However, the guards' power and influence are inconsequential compared to the Zeloranth who are the real force that controls the city.
The party decides to meet their contact at the Scorched Scales that night, a decision which is enthusiastically encouraged by a very drunk Seven and Jakarys. But first, they return upstairs to check on Al Dente. However, they find that the door is cracked and Jakarys panics, thinking that Al Dente has escaped. Inside they find a man slowly turning to stone. Aeshthra uses the potion to stop the transformation and they learn that his name is Valzar and he is the contact who they intended to meet.
Valzar gives the party a quest sanctioned by the Zeloranth to sneak into the governor’s vault and find incriminating evidence against him to be brought to the emperor. He also becomes very interested in the basilisks and barters with Aeshthra, buying her basilisk egg for 3000 gold. The party probes him for more information and they learn that the reason why he knows so much about the group is due to his connections with the mage’s guild, specifically Ashraf.
They also gain a deeper understanding of the layout of the mansion and discuss several possibilities to infiltrate into the governor’s safe. Some ideas are more practical, such as using the hidden tunnel to break in, or to use disguises. While others hinge on complete insanity, such as seducing the governor so that he doesn't have a clue about the heist happening right under his nose. After a long and drunken discussion, the party heads to bed for the night.
The next morning Seven shares martial forms dedicated to Ortigawe to the party members, incorporating Aeshthra’s worship to Luna into the movements.
Lore tells the party that although she has experience with locks, she has never broken into a safe to steal anything before as one of the main values of the Kenix guild is neutrality. She also voices her moral concerns with the plan and wishes to meet the governor and get a judge of his character before stealing from him. The party agrees to scout out the governor and the mansion before acting.
Valzar greets them at the tavern, wearing legionnaire armor, and instructs them to call him by the alias Patricious. Jakarys wakes up and barely remembers Valzar, let alone the shenanigans that happened last night. Once he is caught up, the party tells Valzar that they will not be enacting the plan today and are using this meeting to test the waters. They plan to meet Valzar at the Scorched Scales afterward to come up with a solid plan.
As Valzar leaves the room, the party is picked up by imperial guards who escort them to the manor. While walking, Aeshthra secretly encourages Wisp to be stealthy. As they enter the town square they see what appears to be a statue of a general astride a horse. The statue is of Lazar, an old imperial general who defected from the military 100 years ago and created the kingdom of Lazaconte.
Wisp claims that she is tired and needs to sit down, Lore is asked to keep watch over her, although she doesn’t quite realize the true reason why at first, but she quickly deduces her real intentions, and although agrees to go along with it, is furious by the change in plan.
Aeshthra, Seven and Jakarys continue on to meet the governor where they talk about their purpose in the city and whether they are transporting great items of power. Their meeting is full of deception and the discussion of trade and then listening to the governor talk about himself for an extended period of time.
Meanwhile, Lore sends a message to Valzar, calling for his help to get access to the secret tunnel. They then proceed to follow the tunnel to find the safe. Lore manages to bypass the traps they come across while Wisp finds herself unconscious.
Fortunately, the heist is successful despite its holdups and they are managed to find a variety of riches and incriminating evidence. Before leaving, however, Lore leaves a message in the safe saying “To those who you have abandoned through your greed and neglect. Your people are divided. May this teach you a lesson. BURN.”
Aesththra, Seven, and Jakarys manage to extract themself from the lengthy conversation and they meet up with Lore and Wisp and walk back to the tavern. Once they are safely in their room, Lore sits down with the group and gives them a lecture for withholding information from her.
As the party reconvenes in their room after the heist, Valzar arrives at their door, in shock and awe at what Lore and Wisp managed to achieve. The party gives him a quick recap of what happened behind closed doors as he stood watch at the hidden tunnels.
In the possession of new riches, they debate whether the Zeloranth should have the platinum bars to redistribute to the people. However, the party is not comfortable with relinquishing power to the organization, especially considering their ties to slavery. Unable to reach a consensus, Lore declares that she wants to hold an audience with the leader of the Zeloranth to better judge the organization's intentions.
However, Seven has an additional idea in securing Valzar’s honesty and he casts zone of truth. Unfortunately, Jakarys is caught in the crossfire and suddenly falls to the floor unconscious. Under the spell, Valzar repeats his previous statements, proving he truly believes that the Zeloranth is a good organization that is working to further the needs of the people.
The party votes on whether they should give Valzar the platinum. Ultimately they settle on giving only half of the platinum bars to the Zeloranth as several party members still have their doubts, especially Wisp who hates the idea of indentured servitude and believes that people can be redeemed and deserve second chances.
Valzar appreciates the donation and he warns the party to leave the city as soon as possible as the governor and his guards are desperately looking for the thieves. He offers the Zeloranth headquarters as a location where the party can hide out until it is safer. They agree and attempt to wake Jakarys up so they can leave.
When Jakarys awakes it is not the dwarf they know and love but a woman named Moira who is very confused as to where she is, who the party is, and what is happening to her. As they are in a rush, they give her a very brief and very startling recap, and with urgency they convince her to follow them to the hideout with promises they will discuss this change once they are safe. On the walk over Seven gives Moira more information of what he knows about Jakarys.
Valzar leads the party to the Widows Hill on the northern edge of the city in a dusty tavern. He opens a trap door with stairs leading into the earth and he welcomes them to Widow’s Castle. Going deeper into the headquarters they discover that Widows Castle actually used to be the former Citadel Of Power that is now buried beneath the hill. As they walk through the halls they see all sorts of people. Men, Women who are armed, and even children who seem to be in the midst of their studies.
As Valzar stores away the platinum ingots, he shows the party the vast amount of wealth the Zeloranth has collected with the intent to overthrow the Governor with the intent to replace them with an individual chosen by the people. Then Valzar reveals that he is the leader of the Zeloranth and Lore thoroughly interrogates him and his intentions. Valzar also introduces the party to two of his most trustworthy members, Delina and Tegerous, and requests the ledgers, but before handing them over, Lore requests to read them first, to which Valzar agrees.
Over drinks, they discuss the current chaos in the city that occurred as a result of their heist and their next steps. The party begins asking Moira questions about her past and several things are revealed such as she is a minor noble from the Mountainfall clan where she was a renowned army commander with her brother Alistair who acted as her Lieutenant and who died by her side. She is also an established sage sister, engaged to be married, and has a distaste of alcohol.
Moira warms up a little and talks about the war, and how it began as a rebellion of the Trollbrow clan which she was sent by King Degrolnir Ingotspark, who trusted her to crush their forces. She also learns more about the companions that she had supposedly been traveling with for the past month. A conversation that involves an accidental pregnancy scare.
While this occurs, Wisp notices a familiar pattern on the palm of Delina. She slips away and Aeshthra notices her, but Wisp talks her way out of it. Wisp waits till everyone goes to bed before she pulls out her weapon and holds council with it, seeking guidance. The sword begins to speak to her and commands Wisp to seek her revenge and that she will find answers in Braloth.
They wake up the following morning, but before leaving for the monastery where they plan to drop off coin from the Zeloranth, Wisp is offered money to take Al Dente off of her hands. Seven encourages her to take the deal, but Wisp struggles with the decision until she finally decides to sell Al Dente. In return, she gets a magical item called the Rod of the Pact Keeper.
They leave Widow’s Castle using its secret tunnels and on their travels, Lore offers to use her magic to send a message to King Degrolnir Ingotspark and Bulthert The Wise and inform them that Moira survived. There is no response from the King, however, Bulthert is pleased to know she survived and informs Moira that they have been searching for her since the battle.
They arrive at the monastery and settle in a cabin for the night. However, they are not allowed to rest as guardsmen are looking for them. With the help of Wisp’s invisibility spell and Moira’s quick but reckless thinking, she is able to cause a distraction with the livestock, allowing the party to escape into the forest.
While fleeing from the monastery, Wisp thinks back on the private conversation she had with Delina It is revealed that Wisp is believed to be dead and belonged to a group that somehow was split up by a traumatic event. She gathers information from Delina about a man who she is searching for who has most likely stolen the form of a noble. They talk about power, assassinations, names, and secrets.
Then, the party hears blood-curdling screams. They quickly turn around, fearing for the worst. Upon returning they find that the imperial legionnaires have slain the monks in their search for the fugitives. Full of righteous anger, the party prepares to defend the monastery and the fight begins. Seven, already a powerful warrior (when he is not knocked unconscious or on death’s door) is vicious and unforgiving in the battle. Wisp’s unnerving nature causes her to be the target of an irked mage who nearly kills her with his rebuke. Ultimately the party is successful in defeating the legionnaires and are given thanks from the remaining monks who had survived the ordeal.
As gifts are given and bodies are looted, Seven leaves the building to take a walk to clear his head. Moira, on the other hand, shaves the heads of the attackers and burns their hair in the streets to the confusion of the rest of the group. Afterward, they continue on into the woods and settle in for the night.
On the following morning, as they awake, Aeshthra notices something is different about Moira and realizes that Jakarys has returned to his body. While everyone is excited that he has returned, Jakarta is confused at his new surroundings. This confusion quickly turns to fear and anger as he realizes that he blacked out again. Lore shows Jakarys all of her notes and information she received from Moira but his fear remains that he will be replaced and erased. Aeshthra and Lore try to allay these fears to the best of their ability.
However, the conversation shifts as Jakarys confronts Wisp about her declaration that Moira sold Al Dente. He believes her, but Aeshthra reveals that everything she said is a lie. A large argument breaks out in which Jakarys feels hurt and betrayed by the party who broke his trust and disregarded his right to choose. Aeshthra who is also angry on Jakarys’ behalf lashes out at the group, angry that nobody in the group listens to her. Wisp however sticks with her beliefs.
Aeshthra and Jakarys storm off into the woods in two directions to cool off. Wisp, however, her mischief never-ending, stealthily follows Jakarys. She creates a silent image of Al Dente and uses the image to lure him to Aeshthra. In her mind, she hears the voice of her sword, enticing her to kill both Aeshthra and Jakarys. However, whatever madness she had in mind was partly foiled as Aeshthra notices her. Angry Aeshthra commands her to leave, the spell takes hold momentarily before Wisp disappears.
“Alone”, Jakarys and Aeshthra talk about what happened and how Jak no longer trusts the group and is tempted to leave if a similar incident ever happens. Already angry and energized, Aeshthra tells Jakarys that he is cared for and that she has given him no reason why he shouldn’t trust her. Mollified, he agrees and they return to the group for an awkward trip southward.
As they travel they come across a river outside of Crovaria where they see Dwarves in ropes and chains being escorted on the docks. As the party tries to find a boat to charter to Crovaria, Wisp decides that the mischief she had caused that day was simply not enough. She turns invisible, and cuts the ropes holding the dwarves, helping them escape. Transforming into a dwarf herself, she leads the escape hopping aboard the party’s boat. Frantically the party rows away to the safety of the river.
As the party lands safely on the other side of the river, they disembark from the boat with a new friend: a bard named Gid. They also realize they are being followed by a strange dwarf whose accent keeps on slipping and who can’t keep his story straight. Not long after, it is revealed that the dwarf is Wisp, and once again the party is frustrated by her tendency to lie. Lore uses suggestion on Wisp to encourage her to be kind and tell the truth, and the spell takes hold. Through this spell, it is revealed that Wisp is actually a changeling.
Jakarys leads the party down the path to Crovaria, his hometown. As night falls they venture off the path and find a place to rest for the night. While Lore and Seven spend time with each other, Gid mentions a hot spring that is nearby and suggests that the rest of the group should come with him for a midnight dip. Enthusiastically both Wisp and Jakarys agree, while Aeshthra thinks it is foolish to go at this time of night, however she too joins them.
As they arrive closer to the hot springs, Gid sheepishly reveals that the true reason he brought them here was that he needed help defeating a hag who took on the form of an unearthly gorgeous woman that he did not have the willpower alone to resist. Jakarys is not only upset by the lies that constantly seem to surround him lately, but also by the disbelief that Gid thought that HE would be able to resist a beautiful woman as he is a weak, weak, man.
The party arrives at the hot springs and see a figure in the water, they come up with a plan for attack. At first, Jakarys is almost lured into the hag’s embrace, until a well-placed hit returns her to her original form and the real battle begins. In the end, she is defeated and the druidic circle which she inhabited is now free.
However, during battle Jakarys was hit by Wisp’s eldritch blast almost on more than one occasion, so Aeshthra and Jakarys confront her about this. During this discussion, Al Dente is brought up as well as Wisp freeing the slaves and her thinking that the group disapproved of that decision.
As they talk it out, they all come to a consensus that it is okay to keep certain facts about their life secret, but some things should not and do not need to be lied about. Jakarys decides to forgive Wisp and let go of his anger so that they may start fresh.
Gid presents the party with treasures found in the grove as a thank you for killing the hag. There is gold of course, but they are also given a magical hat (which Aeshthra immediately falls in love with) and an amulet. They spend a few hours in the hot springs, getting thoroughly drunk on Gid’s homebrewed alcohol before returning to the campsite.
On their walk back, Jakarys tries to control the tingly feeling in his body and manages to shoot some green flames out of his hands. Thoroughly freaked out, he and the rest of the party retire for the night.
The party heads out on a day of traveling towards Crovaria and runs into a pack of dire wolves. With expediency the wolves are dealt with by brutal blows from Seven, Jakarta and Wisp. Lore has her spiritual puffin guardians there for defense, and has them on her horse as they travel.
When the sun is setting the group notices vultures circling, and goes to see what they happened. They find an old man surrounded by a dead friend, horse and goblin. They find one survivor and they heal him and ask what happened.They were raided by goblins as they were on their way delivering a message to the Galtic Citadel. His friend Darien was slain by the goblins and the dire wolves that barged into the fight.
As they get further info from him, Wisp changes herself into the man's decapitated friend, pretending he is back from the dead. She tries to convince everyone he is alive. The man has some trauma from seeing this, and Jakarys and Lore pull Wisp aside to talk about the morals of dressing up like the newly deceased in front of grieving people.
Seven casts divine sense to see why Wisp has been acting more cruel than usual. He finds she is carrying an extremely evil blade. Seven confronts Wisp, who wont answer him. Lore casts suggestion to make her talk, revealing that the blade says they should die. The party turns on Wisp to stop her actions and take the sword away. Seven casts Turn the Unfaithful on the sword in a rush of divine power, breaking it. This also reveals Wisps real true Changeling form. The evil vapors away into a nearby stone, in which a massive black door with runes appears.
The group tries to convince Wisp she is better then whatever entity is controlling her, and prevent her from reaching the door. She turns invisible. Seven promises to take her burden with her and fight whatever she needs to fight with her. Before they go through the door, Jack stands in the way and Lore casts an arcane lock on the door. Seven promises her they will help her. She drops her form and breaks down, and Seven gives her a big hug.
High tensions de-escalate a bit and the group all sits by the fire to listen to Wisps explanation. She reveals her family is in slavery and needs power to save them from a man called Vindin or “The Handler”, emphasizing the terror and power this man holds over her and her family. The group promises to help her free her family, and the party goes to sleep with unsettled and heavy thoughts. Wisp meets the god Antarun in her dreams, who offers her patronage in return for changed behavior. Then she falls into a deep sleep.
The party wakes up to the smell of breakfast as they prepare to have a serious talk about the door where they discuss a variety of options and scenarios in how they could prevent the door from being opened and releasing whatever lies on the other side. Gid suggests creating an elite team to travel past the door into the hells and to be sung in legend. However, the party is very opposed to the idea as they would very much like to live to see the next day. The group decides to conceal the door as best they can while venturing into Crovaria for more experienced help. Lore offers her magic that allows 8 hours of non-detection while Aeshthra and Seven shape the earth and vines to hide the door.
After doing so, the party and the man they rescued, part their separate ways before continuing on to Crovaria. On the path, they find a hill giant and orcs guarding the bridge to Crovaria with the intent to gather easy money. After a short discussion, in which Jakarys would rather pay the toll and cross through, and Seven and Aeshthra would like to dispose of the brigands, they finally agree on cutting them down on the condition it is done expeditiously. Of course, they are victorious and they continue on their trek, soon arriving in the Bone Garden Gateway to the city of Crovaria.
The party decides to split up, with Jakarys taking Aeshthra with him to the Winking Magpie in Raventown, Lore, and Seven decide to find a solution for the door, while Wisp just disappears into the crowd. Upon Jakarys’ and Aeshthra’s arrival at the Winking Magpie, Jakarys sees a half-orc upon entering and immediately does a 180 and exits the pub. Aeshthra is confused and Jakarys vaguely explains that going in there would create a very awkward situation.
Jak comes up with the idea to use her magic hat to disguise himself, however, the magic doesn’t take hold. He then has to make the difficult decision of entering the pub but risking an uncomfortable confrontation. Aeshthra asks for clarification and Jakarys reveals that he and the half-orc, named Orion, were once in a relationship that ended due to an arranged marriage. Aeshthra comes up with an idea to make Orion jealous by pretending to be Jakarys’ new partner.
When they enter the tavern, Orion is waiting for them and they have a very awkward conversation in which Jakarys is very bad at making him jealous and Aeshthra has to try and pick up the pieces. Jakarys confronts Orion about his choice to leave him for a wealthy wife, and other such excuses, in which Jakarys is finally done hearing his bullshit and sends him home to his wife. Ready to put that disaster behind them, Aeshthra asks Jakarys to dance.
Meanwhile, Lore and Seven continue their search for powerful mages. They find a temple to Cranabaetha where they inform the high priestess of their predicament, however, she is too old to make the trek to the door. However, Lore, fortunately, remembers the name of a druid that Wisp mentioned in the past, called Tamasari the arch-druid of Uru.
They then travel to a temple of Uru where they are introduced to Brother Astrani. They explain the situation to him, however, they do not have the power to destroy the door. Astrani prays on a solution and believes that the druid Tamasari is the only one who could help them with this situation. Lore decides to send him a message, using Brother Astrani’s influence, hoping that he will hear their plea and come to Crovaria to help. Lore is greeted with a vision of Tamasari who says he will meet the party at the site where the door is located. Brother Astrani says that he and his men will escort the party safely and help protect the archdruid as he closes the door. Satisfied with the help they managed to find, both Seven and Lore go to The Winking Magpie to inform the rest of the group.
Meanwhile, Wisp wanders throughout the city looking for a contact and ends up at a bar where she finds a drunken man in a tavern. She gives him a tapping signal but doesn’t seem to notice or understand her code. She leaves and a man begins walking beside her, who noticed her signal. She claims to need his help and reveals that she opened a portal. He says he is in town to prevent another situation like Deonexia with Queen Eudit Lagadalten. He does this by counteracting criminals and keeping the peace. He scolds her for opening the demon door and bringing danger to Crovaria. And he shares that Vindin is attempting to recreate what happened in Deonexia elsewhere. He shares his information on Lazaconte and the Meridian Court and how their politics are divided and conspiracies run rampant. He also reveals that he believes Venin is hiding as a woman noble called Allesandra. With their conversation complete, she too returns to the Winking Magpie.
As the party drinks and dances, Gid walks in with Jakarys’ friend Jordan who Jakarys is very pleased to see. Jakarys introduces Aeshthra as his lover which surprises both Seven and Lore who completely buy into the fake relationship.
While the group parties, Seven notices a black tabaxi enter the pub who sits across from him. They strike up a conversation and he reveals himself to be a traveling salesman with magical wares. His items are very expensive, however, the tabaxi offers the items for free in exchange for information. The information revolves around needing information about a portal, which Seven finds suspicious. He uses his divine sense and senses evil intentions and denies giving any information, however he will pay coin for the goods. He shares his discovery with Lore and the group joins together to make a decision about what to do with the Tabaxi.
The party reconvenes and examines the tabaxi’s merchandise to see if it is worth purchasing. He introduces himself as Kaldraxi to the rest of the group. As they debate, Lore uses magic to read Kaldraxi’s thoughts. She discovers that he is running out of time to locate something important for a marauder chieftain tabaxi with black fur who is seeking magical disruptions.
As the party tries to haggle down the price for the items, Jakarta, who is very drunk, offers information in return for a discounted price. This information was of an “easy target” that Kaldraxi could steal from, specifically the Barronack estate that Jakarys’ ex, Orion, married into. Eventually, they settle on a deal and some of the items are purchased.
Of course, it can’t be missed that there is something weird going on between the party’s clunky dwarf and Felar’ian goddess. Jakarys and Aeshthra’s “relationship” is put under scrutiny as Wisp sees through their ruse. She eggs them on to prove their feelings which results in Aeshthra kissing Jakarys.
Kaldraxi invites the group to a gladiator match happening the following day while the group intends to seal the door. They are unsure if they will attend, but keep the option available. He also invites the party upstairs to his private room for drinks. Seven, gullible as ever, follows him upstairs. Aeshthra joins them to supervise, and Jakarys follows so he can be around Aeshthra.
Lore and Wisp hang back to talk about the thoughts she overheard. They discuss what Kaldraxi’s motivation is and determine that the tabaxi marauder she saw is the one driving Kaldraxi to seek out magical disruptions. Of course, as a door to the hells recently appeared in the area, Lore is concerned of Kaldraxi finding the door. Wisp doesn’t think they should deal with the door yet as they are not powerful enough to enter. She reveals that she was visited in a dream by a god who tasked her to enter the portal and destroy her former patron.
Meanwhile, upstairs, everyone is playing a drinking game and getting progressively more drunk and friendly. Wisp and Lore eventually join them.
While upstairs, Wisp tries to figure out where Kaldraxi put the gold they paid him, but instead, outside the window, she sees several lights that form in the constellation of her contact Ask.
She leaves the tavern and finds Ask who informs her that Kaldraxi had been inquiring about the mages guild and looking for historical sites and that he is possible working through Vindin. Wisp tells them about their invitation to the gladiator arena, and Ask tells her his suspicions about possible chaos. He encourages her to go to the arena tomorrow to prevent anything bad from happening, in addition to discovering who sent Kaldraxi and how he is connected to Vindin.
The two of them part ways and she rejoins the group and the party which is still going strong. Lore is able to extract more information from Kaldraxi, specifically that he lived in a village within the sight of the Stracklespire mountains, but spent most of his life on the Ortigawen sea. When Jakarys hears the name of the mountains he feels that it is significant and he feels a sense of mourning as he gets momentarily lost in his thoughts.
Before heading to bed, Jakarta talks to Jordan and explains how he is still searching for answers, but he hopes that he can return to Crovaria soon so that they can spend time together.
Once the party is alone, Wisp reveals that she has to go to the arena tomorrow, and the party decides to make a stop there before continuing onward to the door.
That night as they settle into bed, Jakarta and Aeshthra end up sharing a bunk bed due to Wisp’s meddling. They wait for everyone to fall asleep before they begin to have a conversation where they are both surprised at how their ruse played out. During the conversation, Wisp, who is awake, sneaks a mage hand to grab Aeshthra’s butt. Of course, she thinks it is Jakarys at first, but he denies touching her. Not knowing that it was Wisp they briefly believe the tavern may be haunted.
Their conversation turns serious as Aeshthra had picked out that their ruse wasn’t a game for Jakarys. Embarrassed, he admits that she is right and that he has always been quite obvious. Aeshthra kisses him, and immediately afterward tries to “go to sleep” but Jakarys, who is still confused as to where they stand, continues the conversation. Aeshthra says she just followed her heart, and Jakarys likes that idea before kissing her, and the two of them drift to sleep. The following morning, as everyone awakes, Jakarys seemingly doesn't remember the majority of the events of the previous night, especially not the kiss.
They spend the morning attempting to finish some errands, although Seven’s attempt to get new weapons from the blacksmith is thwarted by Wisp’s idea of how the party money should be used. However, Orion manages to catch them before they leave and encourages them to return, saying that their items will be made.
Afterward, the entire party meets up at the arena where Wisp changes into guards' clothes and disguises herself as Orion as she tries to infiltrate the ranks without much success.
The first match occurs between two rivals fighting for the Queen’s affection and it goes off without a hitch. That is until the next match begins and one of the fighters throws a spear at the Queen. A battle breaks out as a group of enemies try to scale the arena walls to get to the queen, and audience members are masaccered in the stands. The party leaps to the Queen’s aid and when the last enemy falls, silence settles over the arena.
As the party recovers after the fight guards flood into the arena to whisk the queen off to safety, and to take care of the remaining survivors of the attack. Those in the group who have the power, lend their healing abilities wherever they can to stay off more death.
Surveying the damage, Aeshthra notices that Kaldraxi disappeared in the scuffle, so she rushes out of the arena to hunt him down. She manages to catch up with the tabaxi and confronts him. He speaks in vague riddles and she is unable to get much information out of him. However, she warns Kaldraxi, that she is keeping an eye on him.
Once the arena is secured, the Queen returns to speak with the party, who valiantly risked their lives to keep her, and her people, safe. Without the party’s diplomat available, Jakarta takes the lead in speaking for the party, as this is his home country and queen.
Surprisingly she recognizes Jakarys, as he looks familiar to a dwarf she once fought alongside. The party believes that the queen must have known Moira, however, they decide to save this discussion for later, as closing the demon door is a very urgent matter.
While speaking to the queen about possible items that will help them refresh for their journey ahead, Wisp suddenly grows large, becoming a giant, before continuing the conversation without blinking an eye.
It is at that moment that Aeshthra returns and is informed of what she missed while tracking down Kaldraxi. She introduces herself to the queen and the entire group is invited to a feast in their honor when they return to Crovaria.
The party is given a cart so they may rest on their journey, and then they head off to the demon door. On their trip, they discuss the repercussions of closing the door, and Wisp's fears of finding her ex-patron after the door is closed.
When the party arrives they see the arch-druid that agreed to assist them, and they catch him up on what happened with wisps blade. Concerned about his abilities, Lore confronts him about closing the door.
When the ritual begins, the door is shattered, and a gaping portal remains. As the Arch-Druid and the brothers of Uru attempt to close the portal, the party is left to defeat three demonic entities as they climb to their realm.
During the fight, a whip snaps out of the portal and grabs Wisp's leg almost pulling her in before Jakarys manages to catch it and drag the monster which is holding the other end. The final demon is killed by Seven, who refuses to let the demon have Wisp before Sparta kicking her into the portal.
As she falls across the side of the veil, Jak manages to catch the whip before it is pulled into the portal. Thankfully, the archdruid is successful in his ritual and the evil was defeated...for now.
After the battle, the party takes time to recover and check-in with Wisp, who feels more at peace than at any other point in her life. After touching base, the party splits up, some to investigate and scavenge from the corpses left behind, while others identify the items that they found. Jakarys in particular managed to obtain a demonic whip called the Coiled Viper that he was absolutely enamored with.
With their business complete at the demon door, the party heads back to Crovaria to meet with Queen Eudit Lagadalten. On their arrival, they are given two hours to prepare for a feast to be held in their honor. During this time, Seven retrieves the armor he commissioned, while Jakarys finds some fancy clothes before stopping at the Winking Magpie to invite Jordan to the feast. Lore does some shopping of her own and returns with Wisp’s magical supplies, and earrings picked out for Wisp and Aeshthra. Neither of them have pierced ears, so in the perfect slumber party fashion, the ladies pierce each other's ears. With the magical supplies in hand, Wisp is able to cast a find familiar spell to summon an imp named Fred.
Soon the two hours are up and the party is whisked to the feast. Seven attempts to break the ice with a drinking game that involves a lot of dancing, and as expected- a lot of drinking. This results in several party-goers getting pleasantly wasted. Aeshthra in particular tries a special drink from the mainland that gets her absolutely sloshed. During the party, Lore ventures off into the royal gardens, but is later fetched by the imp familiar Fred who had been polymorphed into a very clunky raven.
After everyone is thoroughly relaxed, the queen draws attention to her special guests, thanking them for their service and sacrifice. They are given pins of the Crovarian Star and are also gifted The Tower of Taroglen near the Lake of Souls as theirs to keep and uphold. Arch Druid Tomasari congratulates them on the tower and informs them of a scholar called Sympaticos The Wise located in the Galtic Citadel who has land that borders their new property.
When Aeshthra decides to turn in for the night, Jakarys escorts her to her room. On their walk, they discuss the kiss. Aeshthra is understandably upset that he forgot, however, he explains that he was able to piece together the events of that night and does remember. Jakarys reveals that he believes it was a mistake as a relationship between them would never work. Pissed, and thoroughly not sober enough for this conversation, Aeshthra slams the door in his face.
Jakarys returns to his room where he finds Lore. She gives him a note that was once given to her by a dear friend, and she apologizes for the situation with Al Dente. He accepts her apology and confides in her regarding his struggling feelings for Aeshthra and his concerns about Moira. Lore, ever the loyal friend, promises to stay by his side and help him figure it out, one day at a time.
That night, as the party heads to bed, a change happens in Jakarys, and when they wake, Moira is left in his place.
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Have you ever had just one of those days?
You make a plan, the plan is sound, you start to enact the plan, but for whatever reason: luck is just NOT on your side.
Yeah, that’s us.
Even with advantage, we can’t roll higher than a 9 on most checks or attacks and it leads to some really ‘inspired’ game play.
No really. SO much inspiration and it still doesn’t help...
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So excited to be a part of this! In love with the characters and the podcast is awesome! See you Wednesday!
Session 0
Our story begins with that of a tiefling and a dwarf arriving in the port city of Blackpoole. The dwarf, known as Jakarys visits the Mage’s Guild on Tabaxi street attempting to gain information. He bumps into the tiefling who introduces herself as Lore. She too wants access to the guild’s library. They speak with Ashraf, a Sage Brother of the guild who refuses them entry unless they become guild members themselves. He sends them on a quest to the coast of Felar’isle to investigate the cause of a recent shipwreck.
Upon leaving the guild, Lore and Jakarys notice a strange woman following them. This curious woman, called Wisp, joins their quest. The three of them travel to the docks where they meet Captain Brekkin and charter his ship. While waiting for preparations to be complete they pass their time by visiting The Blackmaw Tavern.
Eager to win some extra gold, Jakarys enters himself into an arm-wrestling match. Thanks to some magical assistance from Lore and Wisp, he wins. (Although he isn’t aware that foul play occurred.)
Afterwards, they board Captain Brekkin’s ship and sail to Felar’isle. Once they reach the shore, they find a shipwreck littered with corpses. Fortunately, there is one survivor, a tabaxi named Seven Paths who is an old friend of Lore’s. He reveals that their ship was attacked, although he is unsure exactly what creature caused the damage.
While the party talks, a native of the island, a half-elf named Aeshthra comes across the group. There is an awkward exchange between herself and the foreigners before they are quickly interrupted by another Merrow attack.
The party rushes into battle and they quickly defeat the creatures, although there were several close calls, especially regarding Seven Paths.
Session 1
As the party recovered after the battle, Wisp scoured the corpses of the dead Tabaxi. She took all of their weapons and redistributed them to the group. One of which was a dagger blessed by Ortigawe that had magical lightning properties. The party is then greeted by Aeshthra’s mother who is the chief of the Felarian tribe. Aeshthra explained how the group worked together to defeat the Merrow. In appreciation for slaying them, the party is invited to spend the night on the island and take part in the celebrations for Aeshthra’s sister’s coming of age ceremony.
Before they can return to the tribe however, the Felarian warriors and the party help Seven Paths hold a funeral for his fallen brethren. Afterward, the party is escorted to Aeshthra’s home where a feast awaits them. As the festivities continue, Seven Paths make several friends among the tribe through his creative drinking games. Consequently, many of the members of the party end up drunk due to this.
Before the celebration comes to an end Aeshthra’s mother announces to the tribe that the island will be open to those who can prove themselves to be worthy. She also announced that her daughter should go out into the mainland and act as a representative of the Felarian tribe, but she must return within five years. With all business concluded the party stays up to four in the morning discussing many topics, such as the existence of money, before crashing in a hut that the tribe lends to them.
Before going to bed, Seven Paths privately mourns those who fell in the shipwreck before promptly pissing himself in his drunken stupor. Wisp, who is stalking him, as she does, witnesses the entire thing. The following morning… Well more like afternoon, the party manages to get a few semi-successful swimming lessons in before venturing out to find where the remaining Merrow are hiding.
The party finds a cave where they believe the nest is located and explore it. They come across a cove with two Merrow inside, which are quickly dispatched before the fighter could even draw his warhammer. Searching through the chests they find quite a bit of treasure!
Session 2
After gathering treasure, the party decides to leave the caverns before high tide comes. Before leaving, Seven Paths gives the Merrow a small funeral, returning their bodies to Ortigawe. However, something odd occurs as the monstrous bodies transform into those of sirens. Aeshthra is absolutely crushed at this reveal, as in her culture it is believed that Luna transforms women in her tribe into sirens to protect the island. Seeing them corrupted is absolutely heartbreaking. The party decides to take the bodies back to the island to inform Aeshthra’s mother of what they discovered.
When trying to swim out of the cave, Lore runs out of breath and begins to drown. Jakarys drops his hold of the body and swims to help her. Aeshthra uses shape water to boost everyone out of the cave.
The party swims safely to shore and regroups. From the island, they see Captain Brekkin’s ship. They decide to split up. Wisp and Jakarys take the boat to shore to speak with Captain Brekkin, while Lore, Aeshthra, and Seven Paths stay on the island to inform the chief and bury the bodies.
Jakarys and Wisp convince Captain Brekkin to stay until the rest of the members of the party can join them on the ship, by bribing him with some electrum. Those on the island give the Merrow a proper funeral and they too revert from their corrupted forms. Aeshthra, Lore, and Seven Paths join Jakarys and Wisp on the ship. They settle in for a long night of travel.
Since it is the new moon Aeshthra remains awake to keep vigil and Jakarys falls asleep talking to her and keeping her company. The following morning they sail into Crigdar River and into Blackpoole.
After a brief altercation on the ship, the party enters the city to return to the mage’s guild. As it is early in the morning they stop for some biscuits, a delicacy that Aeshthra has never had before. They are so good it can literally teleport you to another plane. They arrive at the mage’s guild and wake Ashraf. The party delivers their proof of the attacks in addition to giving several demonstrations of their magical prowess.
Jakarys, who possesses no magic whatsoever, manages to charm his way into the guild anyways, with the help of his new friends. The party is granted an audience with Dofirion Drakemantle where they take their oaths and are given magical items.
Session 3
The party is led into the mage’s guild library where Ashraf informs the group that they must take several rare and magical books into their possession. These books must be delivered to the Galtic Citadel in Lazaconte, specifically to Arch Sage Magister Bronclivius. There are three tomes in which they are to carry. The Tome of Clear Thought, The Tome of Understanding, and The Tome of Leadership and Influence.
While in the library Jakarys searches for information regarding possession, memory loss, and transmutation. He doesn’t find much, unfortunately, however they are given a scroll of polymorph which finds its way into Wisp’s possession. Curious of Jakarys’ search, Wisp also looks for books on transmutation and finds Items of Legend by Sir Graynewald The Wise. She rips out several papers describing a transmuter’s stone.
After the party finishes their research they discuss several options to safely leave the city. One involves just simply walking out the front gates. While the others involve the sewers or finding Parkin Jin, the leader of the local Condor Gang who can smuggle us on a ship. The party debates several options before deciding that taking a ship would be the best route.
Before leaving the mage’s guild. The party crafts a plan to make a scene so it doesn’t look like they are working with the guild. Names were called, punches were thrown, and the group is satisfied that their plan worked.
On their way to a tavern to rest for the night before going to find a ship. Seven has the party stop at Putel’s Plate, a smithery where he intends to get new armor for the party. However, Putel identifies the symbol on Jakarys’ armor. It is the Mountainfall clan’s crest and is made completely of adamantine. Jakarys decides to keep the armor, however, he does purchase a shiny new dagger while Aeshthra buys some splint mail.
As they are leaving the party is accosted by the mage guard, who attempts to bring them in for interrogation since they entered the mage’s guild. Trying to defend themselves, Lore and Jakarys accidentally reveal that they used magic, forcing the guards to arrest them.
A battle begins and Seven Paths is immediately incapacitated which seems to be a running theme. During the fight, Jakarys uses his new magical dagger, calling lightning down on the guards. Seven manages to break free from the spell and utterly obliterates a mage.
After the bloodbath, the party jumps into the sewers and begins the very long and disgusting trek out of the city. As they make camp, Jakarys talks a bit about his lost memories and his conflicted perception of self.
Session 4
The party awakes bright and early thanks to an inconveniently timed rainstorm. They continue traveling east until they reach a bridge that will carry the party from Western Deonexia to Eastern Deonexia. As they travel, Seven entertains the group with some music. Upon approaching the bridge, the party sees two guards. They are known as the Imperial Dragoons, the military force from Eastern Deonexia. Hoping to get on their good side, Seven plays a traditional Deonexian song called Ferenweth’s Fast Charge. To make it more appealing he changes some of the lyrics to put the leader of Eastern Deonexia, Lord Commander Dustenry in a good light. The Imperial Dragoons enjoy Seven’s song and eventually, the group is allowed to continue on their path to The Crossroads. However they are left with a warning that strangers are not generally welcome, and that orc raiders have been attacking civilians.
Once the party arrives at The Crossroads, Jakarys leads them to the inn he stayed at when previously traveling through the town. They enter The Jolly Codger, but the patrons are anything but jolly. The bartender, Sooty Richpoor informs them of how their town had fallen on hard times and that there was no work to be found. Sooty introduces the party to Pinnacle Farenglure, who assists the party with all of their needs. Unfortunately, there is not much that the town can provide them as Jakarys quickly learns that the Crossroads doesn’t have a bathhouse or a brothel. However, they do meet a man named Yihan who is willing to sell the group some horses so they can continue their travels. They plan to meet him the following morning.
As night falls on the town, Seven makes a scene by emptying out the bag of holding in public, to organize their treasure. When no one is looking, Wisp manages to swipe some coins for herself. Before heading to bed, Aeshthra, Seven, and Jakarys get drunk. Wisp encourages their behavior and pretends to drink along with them. The party heads up to their rooms where a drunken throwing contest occurs. Lore, Wisp, and Jakarys each go flying into a bed as the paladins and fighter try to show off their strength.
The next morning when they wake up, Jakarys is cuddling Aeshthra, and Wisp has a horrible “hangover”. When everyone is up and ready, Pinnacle guides them to Yihan’s farm. On their walk, they find a river where everyone stops to bathe. As they get closer to the farm, they hear screams.
The party runs to the farm only to find dead bodies and several orcs who are behind the attack. The party jumps into battle, with Wisp becoming a little unhinged as she sets the house on fire and almost makes one of the attackers swallow a sword. During the fight, it is revealed that the attackers are not orcs at all, but humans wearing masks. Jakarys manages to intimidate several of the attackers to back out of the fight. These surviving humans get tied up to be later questioned.
Session 5
With the murderers tied up, Lore tries to use her magic to get them to talk. Unfortunately, they are all too strong-willed and tight-lipped. Then Jakarys gives it a shot by trying to strike up a conversation with the raider the party had dubbed “Well Man” as he was the first one to listen to the dwarf when he commanded him to stay down. Well Man gives him his real name, Eulian, and Jakarys manages to convince him to give the party information, however, he has one condition. The party must take him far, far away from his comrades or they will surely kill him.
While the party debates on what to do next, Seven Paths goes inside the house to look for survivors, only to find that the entire family has died. He begins to pull the bodies out of the house. Seven takes charge and puts the leader of the raiders to death.
Jakarys speaks to Trough Boy, a different unfortunately nick-named raider, and discovers that his name is Jarvis, but he is unwilling to share any information. He is also put to death, but unfortunately instead of level-headed, compassionate Seven, enacting the order, Wisp takes charge. After being refused death by fire, she slides a sword down Jarvis’ throat.
Pinnacle and the rest of the villagers arrive and they provide the names of the family that was killed. Seven frees Eulian from his bonds and orders him to dig the graves and learn the names of those he helped kill.
It is discovered that the raiders were actually Imperial Dragoons who were ordered to raid villages to incite war. Lord Commander Dustonry, is eager to start a war with anyone who will bite, but he ideally wants to end the truce between the broken states of Deonexia and reunite them as one.
Eulian asks the party to take him with them as he believes he will die or live a life of misery in the crossroads. The party urges him to stay at the farm and spend the rest of his life protecting the town and making up for his mistakes. That night, both Eulian and Pinnacle keep a vigil outside as the rest of the party heads to bed.
The following morning Jakarys speaks with Eulian who has decided to stay on the farm and cultivate it for the family’s next of kin, Benny Bentknee. While everyone is eating breakfast, Lore finds Seven in the stable where he has procured several horses for the group. The two of them have a heart to heart as they mourn over the innocent family that was lost.
As Seven distributes the steeds, he uses magic to find out what the horses call themselves. Jakarys gets a pony named Linus, Aeshthra gets a draft-horse named Sequoia. Lore gets a horse named Flashfeat, Wisp gets a horse named Skyflame and Seven gets a magical horse familiar named Make It Rain.
The party travels for a very long time before arriving in Southern Deonexia. The trip is long and taxing, with many people struggling to bond with their horse, especially Jakarys and Linus. On the trip, Wisp begins reading one of the books they were charged to carry even resulting in psychological warfare as Seven sleeps to get her hands on it. Meanwhile, Lore attempts to use her new spell so send a message home to her father. She learns that her family is doing just fine, and receives news of her dwarven friend Flint who was exiled from the guild and now has sailed to Auphios
Finally arriving in civilization, the party finds their way to Ferrenweth Castle to spend several days relaxing from the harsh days on the road.
Session 6
In the town surrounding Ferrenweth Castle, the party secures themselves room at a tavern called Malgorth's Mead Hall run by an elderly man tiptoeing a thin line with death. With the day ahead of them, the party splits up to pursue several goals throughout the day.
Seven begins exploring the city, looking for a place to sell the group’s loot. Instead, he accidentally stumbles into a bathhouse and later Jakarys, who he guides back to the bathhouse and pays for his private room. He later finds an establishment where he can sell the items he found and also discovers that the imperial dragoon armor they have can be used as proof of death and can receive a reward from the imperial legion. Afterward, he picks up Jak and to the inn where they find the sleeping innkeeper and begin to play a game where he stacks cups on him.
Meanwhile, Lore sets off to find work. She meets a jeweler named Reginald who takes a liking to her. He gives her a ring and points her in the direction of a locksmith. She travels to a shop called Caveyare and meets Cloylia there who is stuck on a particularly difficult project although she can’t go into details. After a few spells, Lore is able to discover that the lock and key that Cloylia is struggling with regards the bank. Lore offers her help and enlists the help of her friends.
Wisp forgoes adventuring and decides to remain at the tavern and lock herself in her room to read more of the tome of leadership.
Aeshthra begins her journey to look for a library but instead finds a bank. Although it is not the building she was looking for, she does learn more about economics and learns that the only library in the city is a personal one for the emperor. Exploring the rest of the city she finds a nightclub known as The Lusty Lute. She has never seen anything like it before and in her excitement, she rushes back to the tavern to share her discovery with Seven and Jakarys.
Upon entering the tavern she startles the innkeeper causing him to wake up and destroy the remarkable stacking progress that Seven and Jakarys had created, however, they are more than willing to forgive her, once she has shown them the lusty lute.
Eventually, both Wisp and Lore find their way to the pub. Thanks to Seven, who doesn’t have the best understanding of the value of money, the party drinks for free and premium services are offered to all of them. While everyone gets drunk, Jakarys tries to pick out who he wants to bed for the night but is having a difficult time with the overwhelming amount of options. Wisp however steps in and sets him up with a handsome man and after being thoroughly embarrassed by his friends the two of them leave for an exquisite suite and exclusive party. Jakarys indulges in some elvhen drugs, makes some new friends, and thoroughly makes use of the room.
Downstairs, Aeshthra and Seven sing their hearts out. They meet a member of the imperial legion, named Druisis who hits on Aeshthra, although she doesn’t realize it. Wisp however does, and acts as the biggest of cock blocks.
Afterward they return to the inn, where Seven passes out on the stairs. Wisp casts reduce on him so that Aeshthra can carry him to his room. She is very happy to be holding a tiny, fluffy, Seven.
The next morning, Lore tells everyone about the locksmith she met and everyone quickly comes to the conclusion that she is trying to set up a bank robbery. Wisp is down for the idea and desperately wants the key but refuses to share her motives. Tensions rise in the party as Aeshthra also becomes upset at the lack of trust and the control Wisp exerted over her last night. Seven tries to guide wisp and teach her about honesty but it all backfires and leads to a huge argument where Aeshthra storms off and Jakarys, having just arrived, follows after her. They talk a little and he asks her about the guy who was flirting with her and if he needs to beat anyone up.
The two of them wander into an assembly, where a man is talking about the tensions between the factions of Deonexia. Jak speaks up from the audience in agreement with his statements and gets invited to the stage to share his experiences. Although he is not the best public speaker, his words accidentally incite some unrest.
Trying to get out of there as quickly as possible, Aesthra and Jakarys leave, but they are approached by two Legion officers. The two of them are brought to speak with the captain of the guard. While Jakarys is freaking out, Aeshthra uses her status and diplomacy to get an audience with the emperor’s advisors and hopefully the emperor himself. A date is set and the two of them are released. They both return and inform the party of what happened in their absence.
While they were gone the party officially decides to not rob the bank and Lore informs Cloylia of her decision. The locksmith reveals that it is not money she is after, but information regarding the emperor and a conspiracy theory. Lore refuses to rob the bank as it goes against her guild, but she does tell her that the Kenix guild needs members of her talent if she is ever interested.
Session 7
Now that the full party is gathered together, they begin to discuss what they should and shouldn’t share with the emperor. After gathering their thoughts, they head for the palace where they briefly see the imperial legionnaire, Drusius, who was hitting on Aeshthra the previous night. Jakarys gives him a warning look before they meet the Captain of the Imperial Legionnaires, Marcellus Ignatious who escorts them the rest of the way.
The party is introduced to Marcus Antonius Deonexius, the emperor’s advisor who was adopted by the deceased emperor and has been a dutiful servant to the crown, and the emperor himself, the young Albius Ferrenweth III. They present the Dragoon armor and are offered great compensation for their services, and then both Aeshthra and Jakarys share their experiences in Eastern and Western Deonexia. Aeshthra calls them out on their inaction, but Marcus explains that they do not have the power or the allies to take action at this time. They discuss creating an alliance with Felar’isle, but at this point, the island is not capable of joining a war, however, Aeshthra offers aid in an economic sense. The party offers any services they can provide due to their unique skills and they are each given an empire amulet, as proof of their alliance. Before leaving the palace, Aeshthra also is given the Thuanian Compendium from the emperor’s private library.
Afterward they go to the Lusty Lute which is mostly abandoned this early in the day, aside from a few nobles. Both Lore and Seven begin a rousing performance which brings in a lot of coin from the nobles. Jakarys makes a friend with an old man known as Nonus Albinus who gives him a lot of juicy gossip. He learns that there are aberrant monsters haunting the area between Abenderin and Ferrenwith, as well as ghosts living in the citadel, and an Uru temple that is involved with the Condor Thieves Guild.
The party meets Drusius at the Lusty Lute and Aeshthra asks him to get the party involved in a fighting ring. Seven, Aeshthra, and Jakarys all fight and win, although Aeshthra is given a little extra magical help from Wisp and is disqualified. After the fight, the party returns to The Lusty Lute again to drink, while Aeshthra decides to take Drusius to bed.
The next morning, Aeshthra leaves Drusius who is absolutely besotted with her, but Aeshthra lets him down. The party fetches their horses and continue on their quest. They come across a cave during their travels. They enter it, and Jakarys deduces it is a silver mine. As they move forward it becomes dark and twisted, something that both unnerves Lore and Jakarys. The party continues forward and find a corpse. As they move forward they come across two basilisks.
Session 8
The party is attacked by two basilisks that they dispatch, although Seven is nearly petrified during the ordeal. Searching the cave, they find three basilisk eggs which are distributed amongst the group, specifically to Jakarys, Aeshthra, and Wisp. Jakarys is very excited with the prospect of having a pet and insists on hatching it. Not even two minutes later, however, he drops the egg- cracking it. Fortunately, his accident doesn’t end up killing the basilisk but instead helping it to prematurely hatch. It is love at first sight and Jakarys decides to name the baby Al Dente.
Continuing their search in the cave, they find petrified remains (rock candy) to feed Al Dente in the future. Afterward, the party leaves the cave to the relief of Lore and Jakarys who would much rather spend their time in the open air. While the party settles in for the night, Wisp stays up to finish reading the magical tome, increasing her natural charisma.
The following day, Seven and Jakarys spend their time mining the silver. While doing so they have a talk about Al Dente and decide to co-parent him. While the men are mining, Lore and Aeshthra talk about Felar’isle and how Aeshthra is adjusting to life on the mainland. Lore tells her about her life in the Kenix guild and how she believes her destiny has become intertwined with the party.
Jakarys, who can’t keep his eyes off of the baby, nearly petrifies himself. He is scolded for being careless and his companions’ words give him a lot to think about. The party discusses whether the eggs and Al Dente should be sold and there are disagreeing viewpoints as Aeshthra wants to sell her egg while Wisp and Jakarys both want to keep theirs. Realizing this will be a problem in the future, the party scavenges the dead basilisk bodies for alchemical supplies used to cure petrification. They spend another night at the silver mine, planning to set off early the next morning for Abenderin.
During their travels the next day, they come across a fight between a dire-bear and a dire-boar. The party discusses their plan of action and Seven has the idea to put Al Dente on the end of a long stick to thrust it into battle and petrify the animals. Surprisingly, the party goes along with the idea.
Jakarys fashions a hobo stick and puts Al Dente in the sack with his head sticking out. Lore summons spiritual guardians, designed to look like colorful puffins that help Wisp’s magical stick-snake (Bob) with carrying the basilisk. Their plan works and the dire-bear is turned into stone while the dire-boar is taken out by the party. Both the basilisk and the group have plenty of food as they settle in for the night.
The following day they are woken by a storm and their travels lead them to the village of Burntchapel. As the storm worsens, they decide to stay in the village, instead of continuing on to Abenderin. Upon their arrival they come to The Leagueknot, a general goods store owned by a man named Hewid. There, Aeshthra inquires for alchemical components for the potions she intends to make that cures petrification. They do not carry such ingredients, but another customer, a halfling woman named Jasmine, leads them to The Mirelooks Magnificence, an apothecary run by Suxana Ryland. Aeshthra commissions Suxana to make the de-petrification potion. While looking at her wares, they discover that the town has a large Condor gang presence. Suxana also finds them a place of rest in her friend Agatha’s cabin.
Lore and Wisp stay behind in the cabin to settle in and babysit Al Dente. Aeshthra, Jakarys, and Seven go to the local tavern, The Alcoholic Dwarf.
Session 9
The following morning the party returns to The Mirelooks Magnificence to check in with Suxana and the state of the potion. They retrieve the potion and gain more information on the Condors. They discover that the Condors were kicked out of Abenderin when a rival group called the Zeloranth stole their power and cast them out of the city. The party decides not to interfere with the gang. Before leaving with the potion, Aeshthra charms Suxana to give her the recipe by playing Seven’s instrument.
The party reconvenes in the stables with Jakarys who was training Al Dente before setting out to Abenderin in a growing storm. The rain and hard travel takes up everyone’s energy and patience before they thankfully arrive in Abenderin.
They are stopped at the gate by legionnaire guards and Aeshthra gains entry by displaying the emperor’s badge. Since the party was bestowed with such a high honor, they are requested to meet with Governor Bralotii. However, their journey was long so the party postpones the meeting till tomorrow and they seek shelter from the rain in a tavern called Ferren’s Froth.
The party meets the owner, Fran, and get set up in the tavern. They purchase a large dorm room which they baby-proof for Al Dente. Jakarys is a very nervous new father and it takes a lot of convincing before he agrees to leave the room and feast with his companions.
Over drinks, they discuss what the governor wants from the group and what they plan to do in the city. Aeshthra brings up the Zeloranth contact that was mentioned to her in the fighting pits that she is supposed to meet in The Scorched Scales. Lore and Jakarys have concerns about her going alone, which results in some accidental flirting on Jakary’s part.
While drinking the party gathers intel from the locals in the tavern. They discover the location of the mage’s guild as well as other points of interest in the city. They learn more about the conflict between the Condors and the Zeloranth. It turns out that the Zeloranth is supported by the empire as they are responsible for smuggling many goods for the nation. They also learn that half the guards in this city are loyal to the governor while the other half are loyal to the emperor. However, the guards' power and influence are inconsequential compared to the Zeloranth who are the real force that controls the city.
The party decides to meet their contact at the Scorched Scales that night, a decision which is enthusiastically encouraged by a very drunk Seven and Jakarys. But first, they return upstairs to check on Al Dente. However, they find that the door is cracked and Jakarys panics, thinking that Al Dente has escaped. Inside they find a man slowly turning to stone. Aeshthra uses the potion to stop the transformation and they learn that his name is Valzar and he is the contact who they intended to meet.
Valzar gives the party a quest sanctioned by the Zeloranth to sneak into the governor’s vault and find incriminating evidence against him to be brought to the emperor. He also becomes very interested in the basilisks and barters with Aeshthra, buying her basilisk egg for 3000 gold. The party probes him for more information and they learn that the reason why he knows so much about the group is due to his connections with the mage’s guild, specifically Ashraf.
They also gain a deeper understanding of the layout of the mansion and discuss several possibilities to infiltrate into the governor’s safe. Some ideas are more practical, such as using the hidden tunnel to break in, or to use disguises. While others hinge on complete insanity, such as seducing the governor so that he doesn't have a clue about the heist happening right under his nose. After a long and drunken discussion, the party heads to bed for the night.
The next morning Seven shares martial forms dedicated to Ortigawe to the party members, incorporating Aeshthra’s worship to Luna into the movements.
Lore tells the party that although she has experience with locks, she has never broken into a safe to steal anything before as one of the main values of the Kenix guild is neutrality. She also voices her moral concerns with the plan and wishes to meet the governor and get a judge of his character before stealing from him. The party agrees to scout out the governor and the mansion before acting.
Valzar greets them at the tavern, wearing legionnaire armor, and instructs them to call him by the alias Patricious. Jakarys wakes up and barely remembers Valzar, let alone the shenanigans that happened last night. Once he is caught up, the party tells Valzar that they will not be enacting the plan today and are using this meeting to test the waters. They plan to meet Valzar at the Scorched Scales afterward to come up with a solid plan.
As Valzar leaves the room, the party is picked up by imperial guards who escort them to the manor. While walking, Aeshthra secretly encourages Wisp to be stealthy. As they enter the town square they see what appears to be a statue of a general astride a horse. The statue is of Lazar, an old imperial general who defected from the military 100 years ago and created the kingdom of Lazaconte.
Wisp claims that she is tired and needs to sit down, Lore is asked to keep watch over her, although she doesn’t quite realize the true reason why at first, but she quickly deduces her real intentions, and although agrees to go along with it, is furious by the change in plan.
Aeshthra, Seven and Jakarys continue on to meet the governor where they talk about their purpose in the city and whether they are transporting great items of power. Their meeting is full of deception and the discussion of trade and then listening to the governor talk about himself for an extended period of time.
Meanwhile, Lore sends a message to Valzar, calling for his help to get access to the secret tunnel. They then proceed to follow the tunnel to find the safe. Lore manages to bypass the traps they come across while Wisp finds herself unconscious.
Fortunately, the heist is successful despite its holdups and they are managed to find a variety of riches and incriminating evidence. Before leaving, however, Lore leaves a message in the safe saying “To those who you have abandoned through your greed and neglect. Your people are divided. May this teach you a lesson. BURN.”
Aesththra, Seven, and Jakarys manage to extract themself from the lengthy conversation and they meet up with Lore and Wisp and walk back to the tavern. Once they are safely in their room, Lore sits down with the group and gives them a lecture for withholding information from her.
Session 10
As the party reconvenes in their room after the heist, Valzar arrives at their door, in shock and awe at what Lore and Wisp managed to achieve. The party gives him a quick recap of what happened behind closed doors as he stood watch at the hidden tunnels.
In the possession of new riches, they debate whether the Zeloranth should have the platinum bars to redistribute to the people. However, the party is not comfortable with relinquishing power to the organization, especially considering their ties to slavery. Unable to reach a consensus, Lore declares that she wants to hold an audience with the leader of the Zeloranth to better judge the organization's intentions.
However, Seven has an additional idea in securing Valzar’s honesty and he casts zone of truth. Unfortunately, Jakarys is caught in the crossfire and suddenly falls to the floor unconscious. Under the spell, Valzar repeats his previous statements, proving he truly believes that the Zeloranth is a good organization that is working to further the needs of the people.
The party votes on whether they should give Valzar the platinum. Ultimately they settle on giving only half of the platinum bars to the Zeloranth as several party members still have their doubts, especially Wisp who hates the idea of indentured servitude and believes that people can be redeemed and deserve second chances.
Valzar appreciates the donation and he warns the party to leave the city as soon as possible as the governor and his guards are desperately looking for the thieves. He offers the Zeloranth headquarters as a location where the party can hide out until it is safer. They agree and attempt to wake Jakarys up so they can leave.
When Jakarys awakes it is not the dwarf they know and love but a woman named Moira who is very confused as to where she is, who the party is, and what is happening to her. As they are in a rush, they give her a very brief and very startling recap, and with urgency they convince her to follow them to the hideout with promises they will discuss this change once they are safe. On the walk over Seven gives Moira more information of what he knows about Jakarys.
Valzar leads the party to the Widows Hill on the northern edge of the city in a dusty tavern. He opens a trap door with stairs leading into the earth and he welcomes them to Widow’s Castle. Going deeper into the headquarters they discover that Widows Castle actually used to be the former Citadel Of Power that is now buried beneath the hill. As they walk through the halls they see all sorts of people. Men, Women who are armed, and even children who seem to be in the midst of their studies.
As Valzar stores away the platinum ingots, he shows the party the vast amount of wealth the Zeloranth has collected with the intent to overthrow the Governor with the intent to replace them with an individual chosen by the people. Then Valzar reveals that he is the leader of the Zeloranth and Lore thoroughly interrogates him and his intentions. Valzar also introduces the party to two of his most trustworthy members, Delina and Tegerous, and requests the ledgers, but before handing them over, Lore requests to read them first, to which Valzar agrees.
Over drinks, they discuss the current chaos in the city that occurred as a result of their heist and their next steps. The party begins asking Moira questions about her past and several things are revealed such as she is a minor noble from the Mountainfall clan where she was a renowned army commander with her brother Alistair who acted as her Lieutenant and who died by her side. She is also an established sage sister, engaged to be married, and has a distaste of alcohol.
Moira warms up a little and talks about the war, and how it began as a rebellion of the Trollbrow clan which she was sent by King Degrolnir Ingotspark, who trusted her to crush their forces. She also learns more about the companions that she had supposedly been traveling with for the past month. A conversation that involves an accidental pregnancy scare.
While this occurs, Wisp notices a familiar pattern on the palm of Delina. She slips away and Aeshthra notices her, but Wisp talks her way out of it. Wisp waits till everyone goes to bed before she pulls out her weapon and holds council with it, seeking guidance. The sword begins to speak to her and commands Wisp to seek her revenge and that she will find answers in Braloth.
They wake up the following morning, but before leaving for the monastery where they plan to drop off coin from the Zeloranth, Wisp is offered money to take Al Dente off of her hands. Seven encourages her to take the deal, but Wisp struggles with the decision until she finally decides to sell Al Dente. In return, she gets a magical item called the Rod of the Pact Keeper.
They leave Widow’s Castle using its secret tunnels and on their travels, Lore offers to use her magic to send a message to King Degrolnir Ingotspark and Bulthert The Wise and inform them that Moira survived. There is no response from the King, however, Bulthert is pleased to know she survived and informs Moira that they have been searching for her since the battle.
They arrive at the monastery and settle in a cabin for the night. However, they are not allowed to rest as guardsmen are looking for them. With the help of Wisp’s invisibility spell and Moira’s quick but reckless thinking, she is able to cause a distraction with the livestock, allowing the party to escape into the forest.
Session 11
While fleeing from the monastery, Wisp thinks back on the private conversation she had with Delina It is revealed that Wisp is believed to be dead and belonged to a group that somehow was split up by a traumatic event. She gathers information from Delina about a man who she is searching for who has most likely stolen the form of a noble. They talk about power, assassinations, names, and secrets.
Then, the party hears blood-curdling screams. They quickly turn around, fearing for the worst. Upon returning they find that the imperial legionnaires have slain the monks in their search for the fugitives. Full of righteous anger, the party prepares to defend the monastery and the fight begins. Seven, already a powerful warrior (when he is not knocked unconscious or on death’s door) is vicious and unforgiving in the battle. Wisp’s unnerving nature causes her to be the target of an irked mage who nearly kills her with his rebuke. Ultimately the party is successful in defeating the legionnaires and are given thanks from the remaining monks who had survived the ordeal.
As gifts are given and bodies are looted, Seven leaves the building to take a walk to clear his head. Moira, on the other hand, shaves the heads of the attackers and burns their hair in the streets to the confusion of the rest of the group. Afterward, they continue on into the woods and settle in for the night.
On the following morning, as they awake, Aeshthra notices something is different about Moira and realizes that Jakarys has returned to his body. While everyone is excited that he has returned, Jakarta is confused at his new surroundings. This confusion quickly turns to fear and anger as he realizes that he blacked out again. Lore shows Jakarys all of her notes and information she received from Moira but his fear remains that he will be replaced and erased. Aeshthra and Lore try to allay these fears to the best of their ability.
However, the conversation shifts as Jakarys confronts Wisp about her declaration that Moira sold Al Dente. He believes her, but Aeshthra reveals that everything she said is a lie. A large argument breaks out in which Jakarys feels hurt and betrayed by the party who broke his trust and disregarded his right to choose. Aeshthra who is also angry on Jakarys’ behalf lashes out at the group, angry that nobody in the group listens to her. Wisp however sticks with her beliefs.
Aeshthra and Jakarys storm off into the woods in two directions to cool off. Wisp, however, her mischief never-ending, stealthily follows Jakarys. She creates a silent image of Al Dente and uses the image to lure him to Aeshthra. In her mind, she hears the voice of her sword, enticing her to kill both Aeshthra and Jakarys. However, whatever madness she had in mind was partly foiled as Aeshthra notices her. Angry Aeshthra commands her to leave, the spell takes hold momentarily before Wisp disappears.
“Alone”, Jakarys and Aeshthra talk about what happened and how Jak no longer trusts the group and is tempted to leave if a similar incident ever happens. Already angry and energized, Aeshthra tells Jakarys that he is cared for and that she has given him no reason why he shouldn’t trust her. Mollified, he agrees and they return to the group for an awkward trip southward.
As they travel they come across a river outside of Crovaria where they see Dwarves in ropes and chains being escorted on the docks. As the party tries to find a boat to charter to Crovaria, Wisp decides that the mischief she had caused that day was simply not enough. She turns invisible, and cuts the ropes holding the dwarves, helping them escape. Transforming into a dwarf herself, she leads the escape hopping aboard the party’s boat. Frantically the party rows away to the safety of the river.
Session 12
As the party lands safely on the other side of the river, they disembark from the boat with a new friend: a bard named Gid. They also realize they are being followed by a strange dwarf whose accent keeps on slipping and who can’t keep his story straight. Not long after, it is revealed that the dwarf is Wisp, and once again the party is frustrated by her tendency to lie. Lore uses suggestion on Wisp to encourage her to be kind and tell the truth, and the spell takes hold. Through this spell, it is revealed that Wisp is actually a changeling.
Jakarys leads the party down the path to Crovaria, his hometown. As night falls they venture off the path and find a place to rest for the night. While Lore and Seven spend time with each other, Gid mentions a hot spring that is nearby and suggests that the rest of the group should come with him for a midnight dip. Enthusiastically both Wisp and Jakarys agree, while Aeshthra thinks it is foolish to go at this time of night, however she too joins them.
As they arrive closer to the hot springs, Gid sheepishly reveals that the true reason he brought them here was that he needed help defeating a hag who took on the form of an unearthly gorgeous woman that he did not have the willpower alone to resist. Jakarys is not only upset by the lies that constantly seem to surround him lately, but also by the disbelief that Gid thought that HE would be able to resist a beautiful woman as he is a weak, weak, man.
The party arrives at the hot springs and see a figure in the water, they come up with a plan for attack. At first, Jakarys is almost lured into the hag’s embrace, until a well-placed hit returns her to her original form and the real battle begins. In the end, she is defeated and the druidic circle which she inhabited is now free.
However, during battle Jakarys was hit by Wisp’s eldritch blast almost on more than one occasion, so Aeshthra and Jakarys confront her about this. During this discussion, Al Dente is brought up as well as Wisp freeing the slaves and her thinking that the group disapproved of that decision.
As they talk it out, they all come to a consensus that it is okay to keep certain facts about their life secret, but some things should not and do not need to be lied about. Jakarys decides to forgive Wisp and let go of his anger so that they may start fresh.
Gid presents the party with treasures found in the grove as a thank you for killing the hag. There is gold of course, but they are also given a magical hat (which Aeshthra immediately falls in love with) and an amulet. They spend a few hours in the hot springs, getting thoroughly drunk on Gid’s homebrewed alcohol before returning to the campsite.
On their walk back, Jakarys tries to control the tingly feeling in his body and manages to shoot some green flames out of his hands. Thoroughly freaked out, he and the rest of the party retire for the night.
Session 13: Inner Demons
The party heads out on a day of traveling towards Crovaria and runs into a pack of dire wolves. With expediency the wolves are dealt with by brutal blows from Seven, Jakarta and Wisp. Lore has her spiritual puffin guardians there for defense, and has them on her horse as they travel.
When the sun is setting the group notices vultures circling, and goes to see what they happened. They find an old man surrounded by a dead friend, horse and goblin. They find one survivor and they heal him and ask what happened. They were raided by goblins as they were on their way delivering a message to the Galtic Citadel. His friend Darien was slain by the goblins and the dire wolves that barged into the fight.
As they get further info from him, Wisp changes herself into the man's decapitated friend, pretending he is back from the dead. She tries to convince everyone he is alive. The man has some trauma from seeing this, and Jakarys and Lore pull Wisp aside to talk about the morals of dressing up like the newly deceased in front of grieving people.
Seven casts divine sense to see why Wisp has been acting more cruel than usual. He finds she is carrying an extremely evil blade. Seven confronts Wisp, who wont answer him. Lore casts suggestion to make her talk, revealing that the blade says they should die. The party turns on Wisp to stop her actions and take the sword away. Seven casts Turn the Unfaithful on the sword in a rush of divine power, breaking it. This also reveals Wisps real true Changeling form. The evil vapors away into a nearby stone, in which a massive black door with runes appears.
The group tries to convince Wisp she is better then whatever entity is controlling her, and prevent her from reaching the door. She turns invisible. Seven promises to take her burden with her and fight whatever she needs to fight with her. Before they go through the door, Jack stands in the way and Lore casts an arcane lock on the door. Seven promises her they will help her. She drops her form and breaks down, and Seven gives her a big hug.
High tensions de-escalate a bit and the group all sits by the fire to listen to Wisps explanation. She reveals her family is in slavery and needs power to save them from a man called Vindin or “The Handler”, emphasizing the terror and power this man holds over her and her family. The group promises to help her free her family, and the party goes to sleep with unsettled and heavy thoughts. Wisp meets the god Antarun in her dreams, who offers her patronage in return for changed behavior. Then she falls into a deep sleep.
Session 14
The party wakes up to the smell of breakfast as they prepare to have a serious talk about the door where they discuss a variety of options and scenarios in how they could prevent the door from being opened and releasing whatever lies on the other side. Gid suggests creating an elite team to travel past the door into the hells and to be sung in legend. However, the party is very opposed to the idea as they would very much like to live to see the next day. The group decides to conceal the door as best they can while venturing into Crovaria for more experienced help. Lore offers her magic that allows 8 hours of non-detection while Aeshthra and Seven shape the earth and vines to hide the door.
After doing so, the party and the man they rescued, part their separate ways before continuing on to Crovaria. On the path, they find a hill giant and orcs guarding the bridge to Crovaria with the intent to gather easy money. After a short discussion, in which Jakarys would rather pay the toll and cross through, and Seven and Aeshthra would like to dispose of the brigands, they finally agree on cutting them down on the condition it is done expeditiously. Of course, they are victorious and they continue on their trek, soon arriving in the Bone Garden Gateway to the city of Crovaria.
The party decides to split up, with Jakarys taking Aeshthra with him to the Winking Magpie in Raventown, Lore, and Seven decide to find a solution for the door, while Wisp just disappears into the crowd. Upon Jakarys’ and Aeshthra’s arrival at the Winking Magpie, Jakarys sees a half-orc upon entering and immediately does a 180 and exits the pub. Aeshthra is confused and Jakarys vaguely explains that going in there would create a very awkward situation.
Jak comes up with the idea to use her magic hat to disguise himself, however, the magic doesn’t take hold. He then has to make the difficult decision of entering the pub but risking an uncomfortable confrontation. Aeshthra asks for clarification and Jakarys reveals that he and the half-orc, named Orion, were once in a relationship that ended due to an arranged marriage. Aeshthra comes up with an idea to make Orion jealous by pretending to be Jakarys’ new partner.
When they enter the tavern, Orion is waiting for them and they have a very awkward conversation in which Jakarys is very bad at making him jealous and Aeshthra has to try and pick up the pieces. Jakarys confronts Orion about his choice to leave him for a wealthy wife, and other such excuses, in which Jakarys is finally done hearing his bullshit and sends him home to his wife. Ready to put that disaster behind them, Aeshthra asks Jakarys to dance.
Meanwhile, Lore and Seven continue their search for powerful mages. They find a temple to Cranabaetha where they inform the high priestess of their predicament, however, she is too old to make the trek to the door. However, Lore, fortunately, remembers the name of a druid that Wisp mentioned in the past, called Tamasari the arch-druid of Uru.
They then travel to a temple of Uru where they are introduced to Brother Astrani. They explain the situation to him, however, they do not have the power to destroy the door. Astrani prays on a solution and believes that the druid Tamasari is the only one who could help them with this situation. Lore decides to send him a message, using Brother Astrani’s influence, hoping that he will hear their plea and come to Crovaria to help. Lore is greeted with a vision of Tamasari who says he will meet the party at the site where the door is located. Brother Astrani says that he and his men will escort the party safely and help protect the archdruid as he closes the door. Satisfied with the help they managed to find, both Seven and Lore go to The Winking Magpie to inform the rest of the group.
Meanwhile, Wisp wanders throughout the city looking for a contact and ends up at a bar where she finds a drunken man in a tavern. She gives him a tapping signal but doesn’t seem to notice or understand her code. She leaves and a man begins walking beside her, who noticed her signal. She claims to need his help and reveals that she opened a portal. He says he is in town to prevent another situation like Deonexia with Queen Eudit Lagadalten. He does this by counteracting criminals and keeping the peace. He scolds her for opening the demon door and bringing danger to Crovaria. And he shares that Vindin is attempting to recreate what happened in Deonexia elsewhere. He shares his information on Lazaconte and the Meridian Court and how their politics are divided and conspiracies run rampant. He also reveals that he believes Venin is hiding as a woman noble called Allesandra. With their conversation complete, she too returns to the Winking Magpie.
As the party drinks and dances, Gid walks in with Jakarys’ friend Jordan who Jakarys is very pleased to see. Jakarys introduces Aeshthra as his lover which surprises both Seven and Lore who completely buy into the fake relationship.
While the group parties, Seven notices a black tabaxi enter the pub who sits across from him. They strike up a conversation and he reveals himself to be a traveling salesman with magical wares. His items are very expensive, however, the tabaxi offers the items for free in exchange for information. The information revolves around needing information about a portal, which Seven finds suspicious. He uses his divine sense and senses evil intentions and denies giving any information, however he will pay coin for the goods. He shares his discovery with Lore and the group joins together to make a decision about what to do with the Tabaxi.
Session 15
The party reconvenes and examines the tabaxi’s merchandise to see if it is worth purchasing. He introduces himself as Kaldraxi to the rest of the group. As they debate, Lore uses magic to read Kaldraxi’s thoughts. She discovers that he is running out of time to locate something important for a marauder chieftain tabaxi with black fur who is seeking magical disruptions.
As the party tries to haggle down the price for the items, Jakarta, who is very drunk, offers information in return for a discounted price. This information was of an “easy target” that Kaldraxi could steal from, specifically the Barronack estate that Jakarys’ ex, Orion, married into. Eventually, they settle on a deal and some of the items are purchased.
Of course, it can’t be missed that there is something weird going on between the party’s clunky dwarf and Felar’ian goddess. Jakarys and Aeshthra’s “relationship” is put under scrutiny as Wisp sees through their ruse. She eggs them on to prove their feelings which results in Aeshthra kissing Jakarys.
Kaldraxi invites the group to a gladiator match happening the following day while the group intends to seal the door. They are unsure if they will attend, but keep the option available. He also invites the party upstairs to his private room for drinks. Seven, gullible as ever, follows him upstairs. Aeshthra joins them to supervise, and Jakarys follows so he can be around Aeshthra.
Lore and Wisp hang back to talk about the thoughts she overheard. They discuss what Kaldraxi’s motivation is and determine that the tabaxi marauder she saw is the one driving Kaldraxi to seek out magical disruptions. Of course, as a door to the hells recently appeared in the area, Lore is concerned of Kaldraxi finding the door. Wisp doesn’t think they should deal with the door yet as they are not powerful enough to enter. She reveals that she was visited in a dream by a god who tasked her to enter the portal and destroy her former patron.
Meanwhile, upstairs, everyone is playing a drinking game and getting progressively more drunk and friendly. Wisp and Lore eventually join them.
While upstairs, Wisp tries to figure out where Kaldraxi put the gold they paid him, but instead, outside the window, she sees several lights that form in the constellation of her contact Ask.
She leaves the tavern and finds Ask who informs her that Kaldraxi had been inquiring about the mages guild and looking for historical sites and that he is possible working through Vindin. Wisp tells them about their invitation to the gladiator arena, and Ask tells her his suspicions about possible chaos. He encourages her to go to the arena tomorrow to prevent anything bad from happening, in addition to discovering who sent Kaldraxi and how he is connected to Vindin.
The two of them part ways and she rejoins the group and the party which is still going strong. Lore is able to extract more information from Kaldraxi, specifically that he lived in a village within the sight of the Stracklespire mountains, but spent most of his life on the Ortigawen sea. When Jakarys hears the name of the mountains he feels that it is significant and he feels a sense of mourning as he gets momentarily lost in his thoughts.
Before heading to bed, Jakarta talks to Jordan and explains how he is still searching for answers, but he hopes that he can return to Crovaria soon so that they can spend time together.
Once the party is alone, Wisp reveals that she has to go to the arena tomorrow, and the party decides to make a stop there before continuing onward to the door.
That night as they settle into bed, Jakarta and Aeshthra end up sharing a bunk bed due to Wisp’s meddling. They wait for everyone to fall asleep before they begin to have a conversation where they are both surprised at how their ruse played out. During the conversation, Wisp, who is awake, sneaks a mage hand to grab Aeshthra’s butt. Of course, she thinks it is Jakarys at first, but he denies touching her. Not knowing that it was Wisp they briefly believe the tavern may be haunted.
Their conversation turns serious as Aeshthra had picked out that their ruse wasn’t a game for Jakarys. Embarrassed, he admits that she is right and that he has always been quite obvious. Aeshthra kisses him, and immediately afterward tries to “go to sleep” but Jakarys, who is still confused as to where they stand, continues the conversation. Aeshthra says she just followed her heart, and Jakarys likes that idea before kissing her, and the two of them drift to sleep. The following morning, as everyone awakes, Jakarys seemingly doesn't remember the majority of the events of the previous night, especially not the kiss.
They spend the morning attempting to finish some errands, although Seven’s attempt to get new weapons from the blacksmith is thwarted by Wisp’s idea of how the party money should be used. However, Orion manages to catch them before they leave and encourages them to return, saying that their items will be made.
Afterward, the entire party meets up at the arena where Wisp changes into guards' clothes and disguises herself as Orion as she tries to infiltrate the ranks without much success.
The first match occurs between two rivals fighting for the Queen’s affection and it goes off without a hitch. That is until the next match begins and one of the fighters throws a spear at the Queen. A battle breaks out as a group of enemies try to scale the arena walls to get to the queen, and audience members are masaccered in the stands. The party leaps to the Queen’s aid and when the last enemy falls, silence settles over the arena.
Session 16
As the party recovers after the fight guards flood into the arena to whisk the queen off to safety, and to take care of the remaining survivors of the attack. Those in the group who have the power, lend their healing abilities wherever they can to stay off more death.
Surveying the damage, Aeshthra notices that Kaldraxi disappeared in the scuffle, so she rushes out of the arena to hunt him down. She manages to catch up with the tabaxi and confronts him. He speaks in vague riddles and she is unable to get much information out of him. However, she warns Kaldraxi, that she is keeping an eye on him.
Once the arena is secured, the Queen returns to speak with the party, who valiantly risked their lives to keep her, and her people, safe. Without the party’s diplomat available, Jakarta takes the lead in speaking for the party, as this is his home country and queen.
Surprisingly she recognizes Jakarys, as he looks familiar to a dwarf she once fought alongside. The party believes that the queen must have known Moira, however, they decide to save this discussion for later, as closing the demon door is a very urgent matter.
While speaking to the queen about possible items that will help them refresh for their journey ahead, Wisp suddenly grows large, becoming a giant, before continuing the conversation without blinking an eye.
It is at that moment that Aeshthra returns and is informed of what she missed while tracking down Kaldraxi. She introduces herself to the queen and the entire group is invited to a feast in their honor when they return to Crovaria.
The party is given a cart so they may rest on their journey, and then they head off to the demon door. On their trip, they discuss the repercussions of closing the door, and Wisp's fears of finding her ex-patron after the door is closed.
When the party arrives they see the arch-druid that agreed to assist them, and they catch him up on what happened with wisps blade. Concerned about his abilities, Lore confronts him about closing the door.
When the ritual begins, the door is shattered, and a gaping portal remains. As the Arch-Druid and the brothers of Uru attempt to close the portal, the party is left to defeat three demonic entities as they climb to their realm.
During the fight, a whip snaps out of the portal and grabs Wisp's leg almost pulling her in before Jakarys manages to catch it and drag the monster which is holding the other end. The final demon is killed by Seven, who refuses to let the demon have Wisp before Sparta kicking her into the portal.
As she falls across the side of the veil, Jak manages to catch the whip before it is pulled into the portal. Thankfully, the archdruid is successful in his ritual and the evil was defeated...for now.
Session 17
After the battle, the party takes time to recover and check-in with Wisp, who feels more at peace than at any other point in her life. After touching base, the party splits up, some to investigate and scavenge from the corpses left behind, while others identify the items that they found. Jakarys in particular managed to obtain a demonic whip called the Coiled Viper that he was absolutely enamored with.
With their business complete at the demon door, the party heads back to Crovaria to meet with Queen Eudit Lagadalten. On their arrival, they are given two hours to prepare for a feast to be held in their honor. During this time, Seven retrieves the armor he commissioned, while Jakarys finds some fancy clothes before stopping at the Winking Magpie to invite Jordan to the feast. Lore does some shopping of her own and returns with Wisp’s magical supplies, and earrings picked out for Wisp and Aeshthra. Neither of them have pierced ears, so in the perfect slumber party fashion, the ladies pierce each other's ears. With the magical supplies in hand, Wisp is able to cast a find familiar spell to summon an imp named Fred.
Soon the two hours are up and the party is whisked to the feast. Seven attempts to break the ice with a drinking game that involves a lot of dancing, and as expected- a lot of drinking. This results in several party-goers getting pleasantly wasted. Aeshthra in particular tries a special drink from the mainland that gets her absolutely sloshed. During the party, Lore ventures off into the royal gardens, but is later fetched by the imp familiar Fred who had been polymorphed into a very clunky raven.
After everyone is thoroughly relaxed, the queen draws attention to her special guests, thanking them for their service and sacrifice. They are given pins of the Crovarian Star and are also gifted The Tower of Taroglen near the Lake of Souls as theirs to keep and uphold. Arch Druid Tomasari congratulates them on the tower and informs them of a scholar called Sympaticos The Wise located in the Galtic Citadel who has land that borders their new property.
When Aeshthra decides to turn in for the night, Jakarys escorts her to her room. On their walk, they discuss the kiss. Aeshthra is understandably upset that he forgot, however, he explains that he was able to piece together the events of that night and does remember. Jakarys reveals that he believes it was a mistake as a relationship between them would never work. Pissed, and thoroughly not sober enough for this conversation, Aeshthra slams the door in his face.
Jakarys returns to his room where he finds Lore. She gives him a note that was once given to her by a dear friend, and she apologizes for the situation with Al Dente. He accepts her apology and confides in her regarding his struggling feelings for Aeshthra and his concerns about Moira. Lore, ever the loyal friend, promises to stay by his side and help him figure it out, one day at a time.
That night, as the party heads to bed, a change happens in Jakarys, and when they wake, Moira is left in his place.