Returning to Leilon
More than weary, the group settled down in the cave system where they had once found the dead storm giant, hoping to shelter there undisturbed long enough to recover from the unrelenting battles that had taken place. Idris, chasing a thought, ended up in a conversation with the God Talos, losing the looted spear in the process, but not his life, while Pine managed to contact his Gods for some clarity on his path, before they all settled down to rest for the evening. Other than seeing a ship sailing past in the distance, the group managed to sleep through the night and were ready to make their way back to Leilon at first light.
Leaving the broken Talos ship on the coast, their journey back to Leilon was uneventful. They briefly stopped at the Wayside Inn to check on it, and found Backes in good humour there, as they had been able to fight off the Talos cultists, although not before they had taken Tarbin Tul, the bard that the group had not managed to save in the end.
Back at Leilon, they found the town had made some progress while they had been away, with enough of the buildings having been renovated that most of the refuge camp had been cleared out as people were able to move back into the town properly. They headed to the dock area, and managed to get the agreement of a group to head back up the coast to repair the ship they had taken from the cultists, with Effie fronting half of the cost up-front from her own purse intending on getting it back from Lord Neverember. Another 250gp would be required upon completion, but the team were eager to head out and make a start. After a brief meeting with Leilon's council, the group split up to take care of their own tasks, taking the opportunity to do so in the brief respite before they would have to head back into the Mere.
Upon leaving the council meeting, Pine drew Rhogar aside, and asked if he knew where to find Konda Les, that Ularan had told them to speak with. Rhogar, ever protective of those of the town was hesitant to give such information to him, especially as Pine refused to say why he needed to find her. After a brief standoff, he did give directions, but only begrudgingly, and proceeded to watch. The hesitation was unfounded however, as soon thereafter the old dwarven lady left the town after speaking to Effie, Idris, and Pine, a small wyvern on her shoulder, not nearly as fragile as she had made out to be. Effie had found her to have deft use of a rogue's skills for subterfuge, while Pine was left with the understanding that she was far more powerful than she seemed. She left him with a small white pebble in the shape of a skull; a sending stone, should they need to get in contact in future.
Idris was the most notable to the general public as he had finally managed to meet up with the representative sent by his family, [Cesyl Marklos?], who had helped raise Idris as a child. He apologised to Idris in advance, stating that he was aware the young paladin did not like the pomp and ceremony of such things, before going ahead with his task. With actual fanfare, and an aurated voice set to draw as many around as possible, the first half of the letter to Idris from his father was read out loud with great pomp and circumstance. It was only after the first part of the letter was done, that a more private letter was handed to the paladin, as well as a healthy amount of gold as part of his inheritance, which Idris put in the bag of colding. [Cesyl] then said that he and those that had travelled with him would find a place to set up in Leilon in order to better support Idris in his time there.
As Idris walked off, Siax, who had been there to hear the announcement, spent some time speaking with [Cesyl], letting him know just how integral and important Idris's position was in their task, and how much good he had been doing over their time together, to pass on to Idris's father.
After this, Siax went to seek out Falcon, waiting tirelessly until he once more found the man. It was there, in the privacy together, that Siax finally broke down when in the presence of his mentor, his guilt over the unintentional attack on Pine having hung heavy upon him. Falcon took him back to the tavern he had been helping to fix up, and over the course of the evening they both got roaring drunk, and giving a lot of heartfelt stories space to air.
[check that this was now, and not a previous visit]
Arya meanwhile had been trying to find more information about what was under the tower, sending the quickling through tunnels in order to try and find a way into the basement. It became confused in the time there, and ended up back at the surface once more. She also sought out the Peculiarities shop in order to try and find a key for chains that had no lock. Unfortunately Aubrey could not help her in this, and she left without purchasing anything.
Idris also found himself at the Peculiarities shop, intent on complaining that the potion that he'd been sold for Effie had not done as he'd been told to regrow her hair. The canny shopkeeper was easily able to convince Idris that it was only his limited view on hair that was the problem, and then sold him an hallucinogenic item in order to broaden his mind further. Idris spent the rest of the day in an awe-filled daze, before ending up somehow on the elven standing stones island, and had a vision.
[check details of the vision]
In the vision, Idris saw Thalivar's tower as it once was: whole. It had a set of weighing scales atop the dome, a black dragon perched atop it, with lighting crashing down upon the dragon.
Meanwhile Effie, restless, sought through the town for a certain type of person in order to keep her mind busy, finding a con-man and skillfully conning him into believing the only potions he actually had that were useful, were actually just rubbish. She got them for a very low price, and walked away satisfied.
Pine had made his way to Thalivar's tower in order to speak to Gallio there. Zatharius had made mention of the symbol that had originally been on Pine's amulet, before it changed when the ruby had powered it, having been seen on items brought back from the mountains to Candlekeep. He was hoping that one or more of them might also be fragments of God Power, latent, that he might be able to gather somehow. Unfortunately neither Gallio or Zatharius seemed to know about that, even the fragments of god power being something they had not heard of before. Although they could offer Pine nothing of use at the time, Zatharius said he would let Pine know if he found anything else.
Slightly dispirited, Pine then spent his time repairing and building a shrine to the Three in Leilon, much as he'd been given permission to do. It was rough and ready, having only a short time to create it, even with his spells aiding him, but by morning he had managed to sufficiently create that dedicated space that one of his spells called for.
And so morning came, and with very little talk, the group reconvened, making their way to the edge of the Mere, before Arya cast them through the very trees and they appeared, instantly, in the lizardfolk camp.
Travelling South with the LIzardfolk
The group travelled south, with Pine perching atop one of the snails, an casting waterwalk on them, as well as some of the group to speed their journey. To the south they knew was troll country, and so caution was needed, as well as ruins past it, ones said to be dangerous to enter and even more dangerous to linger in. The closer the group came to the centre of the Mere, the more dangerous things were going to be for them.
Hoping to gain extra forewarning of any threats, Siax managed to talk an oddly shaped hawk into scouting ahead for him in exchange for food whenever it wanted them. This proved to be advantageous, for the hawk soon spotted a vast hoard of trolls, far more than the land could provide for, unnaturally so, as they numbered in the hundreds. The group carefully edged past the area, a sigh of relief on their lips, but this was short lived when they were ambushed further along the trail.
The battle was not particularly long, but it was not straightforward, for the trolls were able to disappear into the water, ambushing those above, drowning them, or attacking out of invisibility and with a speed bourne by magic. It was not until many of the trolls had been killed that they realised there was a spellcaster there, and before the group could kill it, the shaman cast a powerful thunderwave that resonated through the Mere. It's dying breath was delight as the hoard had heard and was coming their way at speed.
With little time to do anything else, Arya threw up some plant growth while Idris chopped off the shaman's head to take with them, Effie putting the shaman's focus into her bag of holding. Pine meanwhile conjured food in the place where they were fighting and then leapt up onto a snail and started systematically casting water walk on the entire caravan, hoping to give them all distance. Would the group get away? It seemed unlikely, but they had to try.