19. The Silvered Edge of Twilight

14th Sypheros, 998 YK

Ell does the recap, so Damien gets an Advance on his least developed theme
It is two days until the conjunction of moons
Yashira just fumbus'd it on top of the train, letting the suspect get away
We snap back to inside the carriage, where Damien just got punched by another passenger after trying to confront Margana Sargas
Deneith guards are on their way to intervene, but Damien has time to act before they do. He doesn't throw a punch back, he just nurses his jaw and says "Okay, message received big man. I'll leave you alone"
The man also steps back, looking a bit bemused, like they don't know what came over them. When the guards arrive, they say it was a misunderstanding, and Damien agrees.
Damien buys the man some Aundairian wine, and then asks the others if anyone saw where Yashira went?
Ruckus looks around and goes "oh, great, she's gone"
Nerys points in the direction of the door
Charlie suggests checking if she's okay. Ruckus immediately goes for it
He steps out into the between-carriages bit, lighting bolts flying around, but can't see Yashira. She's above him on the roof of the carriage, in shock, but the sound of the door opening snaps her back into reality. She crawls to the edge and looks down to see who it is, and sees Ruckus. She clears her throat and says she'll be down in a moment.
"The hell are you doing up there?"
It's a long story
Yashira climbs down more safely than she climbed up.
She gets down and then shakes to try and steady her nerves, which also spreads water everywhere. She's in her drowned rat era (again).
"Okay. I look like hell, obviously, I don't want to go back into the dining carriage like this. Can you bring the others?"
Gratification is delayed, it seems
"Everything is f..."
She doesn't finish the sentence, just rubbing her eyes and sighing instead
Ruckus goes to fetch the others
Damien is sharing a drink with the guy that punched him
The man is very apologetic, he's never punched someone before! "What was going on?"
Damien is also reconciliatory, the woman was rude to his friend and he shouldn't have taken it out on him
The man is from Aundair, but on the border with the Reaches. "Tensions are high, the war is over, but is it?"
Tell me about it
Damien mentions the rioting in Thaliost. No kidding.
Wine heals all wounds, ey?
They toast, indeed it is
Damien winces as he touches his cheek
"Sorry again, I didn't even know I could punch that hard"
Damien says it's not the first time he's been punched in the face. "I can believe it, stallion like you"
is Damien gonna fuck this man? Fastest enemies to lovers arc ever
Charlie is in shambles. This man is like a shorter, scrunglier Charlie already, and he's rizzing up Damien (and being rizzed in turn!). His name is Charles, too.
Though Damien hasn't touched him, he's just being incorrigable
Nerys asks Ruckus if Yashira is okay?
"Define okay?"
"Not hurt, alive?"
"Jury's out on alive"
WHAT!?
They interrupt the scene to tell Damien that Yashira wants to see them
"Damien get your ass over here! Yashira is dying!"
Oh god
Damien apologises, he has someone to save!
Yashira is in her cabin, slid down the wall, knees in her hands. She's left a wet streak down the expensive uphostelry.
Damien confronts Ruckus, "what do you mean she's dying? And you just left her!?"
"Oh she's fine, just not sure about up here"
"She's passed out!? She's brain dead!? Where is she!?"
Yashira retreats further into her knees as she hears the panicked footsteps of the others
They burst into the cabin, and see her curled up against the wall. "Yashira! Are you okay!?"
Yashira says there might've been some crossed wires, she's not injured
Damien turns on Ruckus, "WHAT THE FUCK, RUCKUS!?"
Yashira tries to defuse, she wasn't clear!
Yashira rips the bandaid off. "The suspect is no longer on the train."
What
"Did you kill them?"
"No, I don't think I even could've."
Yashira explains what happened, she chased the suspect on top of the train and-
"You went on top of the train!?"
It wasn't as dangerous as it seems
"It's extremely dangerous"
Yashira tries to put it into perspective, a lycanthrope is probably more dangerous
And she was in both situations!
She explains that the suspect attacked them, she parried, but in the chaos the suspect fell off the train. She didn't die, though, she...healed uncomfortably quickly and got back up, satchel in hand.
She doesn't know where they are now
Or how far they all are from the ritual site, or if they have the Crucible on them. They might've hid it somewhere on the train?
Damien taps into his extensive knowledge of train journeys, and estimates they're about halfway between Fairhaven and Passage
Okay. Yashira rubs her eyes again and stands up, ringing her hair out.
Damien asks Nerys to go get some towels. Nerys goes to get some towels.
Yashira blurts out that she's confused, is Damien not upset?
"I would be if I didn't think you were brain dead. I'm just glad you're okay"
There's too much happening to waste time being mad
Damien made up with his assailant, he's quite friendly actually!
It was a nasty punch though
It's an emotional scene, everyone thought someone else was maybe dying. They're coming down from that
It's not the end of the mission, the item is possibly still on board, and if not, they've slowed the suspect down. They might miss their window now
Damien has contacts in Passage, too. He can ask them to keep an eye out.
"You did what you had to do, but next time you should involve us. We're a team"
"Yes...we are"
Yashira apologises for going lone wolf. She says she'd like to talk to them all once the mission is done, she appreciates that she's failed them a few times over the last few adventures and she wants to talk about it.
And she's looking forward to Damien showing them around his home town. Good night folks
Damien agrees, but he knows they won't be able to. The ferry to Delethorn is overnight, they'd lose too much time if they didn't get straight on it off the train.
Yashira picks up that he's hiding something. She doesn't immediately press it, but as she's walking away, she turns round and changes her mind, suggesting they should search to see if the item is still on board
Or they could just cut their losses, relax a bit, and meet their assailants at the site. She thinks whatever they do, they should all stay together
Maybe Damien can teach them about the train
Special interest triggered
Damien gets them some more wine, and then spends the rest of the trip teaching them all about the Lightning Rail
Nerys comes back with towels and ice (for Damien's face). They come back and give the towels to Damien, and the ice to Yashira
Crossed wires Nerys
While Damien gives his lecture, Nerys writes a letter home
Damien gives a very detailed, entertaining lesson on the Lightning Rails, their history, and how they work.
They arrive in Passage, but they don't have time to look around, as their ferry is too soon. If they miss it, the next one is in the morning, they lose too much time.
Damien explains this, all disappointed. Charlie says they can come back another time, the world needs saving
Damien goes to one of the staff members at the station and asks them to pass a message on to the Orien headquarters, for Cédric (his brother). To let him know he was in the city, but they aren't staying. "Please let them know to meet me at the usual spot, and bring Alice, haven't seen her in a while."
Nerys asks Damien if he knows where there's a mailbox? Damien indicates there's one in the station. Nerys goes and posts their letter.
"MailRail is every couple days, might take a while for it to arrive. Especially as it needs to go through Thaliost"
They then proceed to the ferry, and ride it overnight to Delethorn. They'll see Passage on the way back.
Damien rides the ferry with disdain, as it's operated by House Lyrandar

15th Sypheros, 998 YK

One day until the confluence of Moons
They arrive early in the morning in Delethorn, which is already abuzz with activity.
They need to find Councilor Brunstan Fisher. They ask around to determine how to find him.
They learn not only where the council house is, but also about a local pub, the blacksmith, and the various temples to the Sovereign Host
Given all of these equally important options, they decide to go to the council house
They enter, and see an older gentleman talking to a trio of merchants in a wood-paneled meeting hall
"Don't adopt this one, Charlie"
Nerys pushes Damien forward. "You're the charismatic one"
Damien seems a bit unsure, so Yashira offers to take the lead on this one.
They approach and try to get the man's attention. He apologises and says they're discussing important business, can it wait?
It can't, the matter is urgent and Minister Calemi Iridanci sent them.
Brunstan leads them to his private chambers, where a brown haired woman is interacting with and feeding a tiny griffon. Brunstan introduces her as his wife, Anya d'Vadalis, takes a seat, and asks them what's going on?
All of them are super distracted by the baby griffon, oh god
They get their shit together, and Yashira explains what's going on. The Duskgate Crucible has been stolen
The griffon shrieks, interrupting her, but they get the situation back under control
Appropriate response tbh
The conjunction of moons is tonight, they can use the crucible to open the Changegate.
The pair ask some clarifying questions, how did this happen? They explain
Their suspect had extensive knowledge of the routines of the staff around the crucible, they poisoned Jeffi, they knew what they were doing
Brunstan gets out a map and draws a route to the Changegate. Anya suggests an alternate route through the hills that would be safer, but take longer.
Anya also warns them of the dangers in the woods, there's worse than just wild animals out there.
"What kind of things?"
Aberrations, fiends, wild animals larger and wilder than anything they would've seen, gnolls
"Ah, we can handle gnolls"
They have done that before
Time is of the essence, they'll take the forest path
Anya also states that druids patrol the woods. Most of them are friendly!
"Most"
They should be fine as long as they don't run into Ashbound or Children of Winter. It is Wardens of the Wood territory, so they'll likely be fine
Just if any of them are arcane spellcasters, keep that to yourselves if you run into Ashbound. It'll be fine.
Brunstan then asks if they're the Clifftop Adventurer's Guild? A letter came for them
He hands it to Yashira
She reads it aloud to the group. Good to know that the end of the world is secondary to them getting the job done.
They buy some supplies before heading out, not wanting to let poor planning get the better of them again.
Yashira goes to check out a druidic shrine in town, but nobody is manning it. They do observe white flowers around the shrine, which matches what they were told by Brunstan Fisher. She does a sketch of the flowers they can refer to later.
Damien purchases a hand crossbow and some bolts, which he then gets silvered at the blacksmith (making use of all those places they learned about)
Then it's time for a hike through the woods
As the day progresses, Yashira's paranoia begins to itch and she feels like they're being watched. They don't see anyone around, though
Nerys notices some motes of ash, and follows them to the remains of a small campfire. It's cold but the ashes haven't blown away yet, so it can't be older than a day or so. There's some dried blood nearby.
They show it to Ruckus. "There is a significant chance these aren't the guys we're worried about"
Nevertheless, they inform the others about it. Yashira says whoever was here, isn't here now, so they should continue but keep an eye out
Nerys is confused though, how could it possibly be their suspect? They fell off of the train, and the party got the ferry from Passage.
Yashira gently touches the blood with her silvered dagger to see if it reacts, but it doesn't
They proceed, and as they get closer to their destination, the sounds of life begin to fade until they're in ominous silence. The sun sets, but the three full moons leave it quite bright. They look directly up and see Lharvion looking down on them, looking like a giant eye in the sky.
They discuss their favourite moons. Yashira likes Lharvion. Damien and Charlie like Nymm. Nerys is surprised Damien doesn't like Zarantyr, cos it's all stormy and-
"Why the fuck would I like the moon that's associated with my rival house?"
Retcon, Tamara forgot which mark Damien had
They instead talk about Barrakas, the Lantern.
Nerys' favourite moon is Rhaan
Aryth, Barrakas, and Lharvion are all full
They arrive at a clearing in the forest, where two warped trees are twisted around a circular stone arch covered in runes and crackling with power. There's a circle of monoliths around it, and the mangled corpses of a whole circle of shifter druids. Sat in the center of the circle is Margana Sargas, though she looks different to the last time they saw her.
She's changed clothing, and gained paint or tattoos or something reminiscent of tiger stripes. Her eyes have changed colour too, and are now a striking yellow.
Margana gets into a low crouch and yells at them. "You again!? Who the fuck are you people!?"
Yashira says they didn't answer that question before. "Don't you know the carnage you're about to unleash?"
"I do! and I have to do it anyway!"
"Why!?"
Margana gives a frustrated monologue. She can't sleep, she can barely think, the pressure is mounting in her head and it only relieves when she's killing something. Opening the gate is the only way.
Nerys asks if she's considered therapy? She makes a sound very reminiscent of a big cat
Yashira asks what she thinks is going to happen when she opens the gate?
It will relieve the pressure in her head. She has no choice.
"But what about the innocent lives that will be lost? Thousands could die. What if it doesn't help!?"
Margana makes eye contact with Yashira, looks at the mangled corpses of the druids, and mutters "then I guess a lot of people are going to die"
Yashira kicks off. "I'm not as kind as my companions, who might try to reason with you. I don't think you deserve it. When you make a decision like you're doing, you're too far gone, and I'm not going to let you commit this atrocity. Stand aside, or be cut down."
Margana grins, revealing no-longer human teeth, and gestures to the corpses. "Come on then, they're waiting for you"
Here we go!
Charlie's basically a necromancer now, and Margana is surrounded by corpses. He partially animates them, just enough for their arms to grab onto Margana's legs, distracting her and giving Yashira an opening as she sprints.
She tries to do a takedown and incapacitate her, and they grapple for a second, but Yashira gets pushed back with her own silvered dagger buried in her abdomen. She staggers back, and Margana steps in to continue her assault, and Yashira looks to Damien for help.
With his new hand crossbow! He takes the shot quickly, needing to get Margana's attention more than injuring her, and then teleports.
She catches the bolt, and then Damien teleports within melee range (which was a mistake). She redirects his shortsword and it just misses Yashira, and then Damien gets an elbow to the face (where he got punched earlier)
They collectively think that magic may be their only hope, actually. Nerys, help!
Nerys recalls their story about Trebez Sinara, and tries to pull on that thread to banish Margana to Lamannia
Because this fails, Margana is still able to harm Damien and Yashira. Yashira pulls her dagger out of herself and tries to stab Margana, but it gets redirected into Damien's shoulder, intersecting his dragonmark.
If only Ban, the god of violence, were here
They'll have to settle for Ruckus, the minor deity of scuffles.
Ruckus launches both an oil grenade and some silver coins into the scuffle, to try and shut down Margana's regeneration (not that she's been injured)
Margana sees it coming and pulls Yashira into the way, who is now covered in oil.
I guess Charlie needs to save the day
I remind them that their actions are only subject to Margana's tags if they're targeting her
Charlie tells Margana to chill out for a second, and tries to freeze her. It's not the most effective, but it does slow her down a bit, providing an opening for Damien and Yashira
Charlie mutters to himself "don't you dare fucking die"
Damien tries to take advantage of the opening and stab her in the ice wound with his silvered shortsword. She makes an inhuman sound.
Yashira's looking a bit feral herself. It might be the oil mixing with her blood, but she feels the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She tries to spit some blood into Margana's eyes, and then stabs her in the eyes.
Margana pushes them both away from her and horrifically transforms into a humanoid tiger form.
Phase two, bois!
Ruckus is up, his previous plan didn't pan out and Yashira is covered in oil, so his plan to set Margana on fire isn't happening. He deploys his exosuit!
Ruckus slams into Margana, clamping down on her with the mechanical jaw on one of the arms, breaking bones and causing internal bleeding.
Time for Nerys to capitalise! They've gotta put her down quickly, while she's on the backfoot
They start spinning the tale of the Hand of the Devourer, a horror story about people being melted, in an attempt to melt some of Margana's flesh.
It's surprisingly, horrifyingly effective, but it's not silver, so she's regenerating.
Damien stabs her with his silvered sword, and she pounces on him and drags him to the ground. He's about to be horrifically mauled but teleports out the way, appearing a few feet from Charlie.
Ruckus and Yashira don't see that, so he probably just got mauled to death
It's a perfectly cut scream
Charlie takes advantage of the confusion to keep blasting. He impales her with an ice spike, but it doesn't take her down.
Yashira is seeing red, she thinks Damien is dead and hasn't had chance to survey the field. She takes the opportunity to launch herself at Margana and climbs onto her back, trying to get at the neck with her dagger. She uses both hands to stab down, just trying to cause as much harm as possible (and she's so scared)
Yashira stabs the silvered dagger into the base of Margana's skull, who jolts and then goes limp. Yashira, seeing red, repeatedly hammers the dagger into the back of the skull and breaks it.
The weretiger reverts to human form, as Yashira comes back to her senses.
She locks eyes with Damien, and woozily goes "Oh you're alive. That's good. Or we're all dead, not sure which yet"
Damien is pretty sure he's still alive, but he's hurting and bleeding.
"I stabbed you, didn't I?"
"Maybe just a little bit"
"Sorry about that, I'm usually very careful about where I stab people"
She's so delirious and woozy, oh no
They drink healing potions and triage each others wounds as the energy in the Changegate dissipates. Charlie reckons she would've opened the gate given a few more seconds.
Ruckus goes and retrieves the Duskgate Crucible from the arch. Yashira gives him a thumbs up and then collapses.

At Some Point Later

Nerys letter arrives in the Mror Holds, and their mother opens it up. It just says "Hey Mom, I think I'm coming home"
WHAT

The Letter to Clifftop

Team -

I have asked House Sivis to pass this letter directly to Brunstan Fisher on your behalf. Hopefully, he will get it, and pass it to you when you meet with him in Delethorn.

I have spoken with Minister Iridanci about the theft at the temple and the plot to use the Duskgate Crucible to open a permanent door to Lamannia in the Eldeen Reaches. This absolutely must not happen—not only would it create a new danger in the world, it risks us losing the Crucible and failing to deliver on our promises, and that is not something the Clifftop Guild does.

Retrieve the Crucible. Whatever happens, meet me in Greenheart. I will hurry as fast as I can, but the earliest I can get there is two days after the lunar conjunction.

I wish you all the best of luck—I know you'll make the Guild (and me) proud!