Previously: Chapter 56: Seeds of Dissent
Home Sweet Home
When the party arrives back home after their excursion in the Ruins of Equinfjord, they quickly go through the items they procured from the wizards tower. Relic goes briefly through the books he took from the bookshelves, finding a few of them to maybe come in handy at some point later, as they refer to celestial events, potions and traveling in the elemental planes. The book Dandelion picked up is quickly discovered to be a Grimoire of the Abyss, which is heavily cursed, and Relic recommends that they should not read it.
Kal places Glasstaff in one of the chambers in the crypt, and places the coins on his eyes, causing the corpse to be preserved. She looks at the body, and reflects on what questions they should ask him when the time comes, but for now she’s just happy that he cannot help the cause of the drow any more. Penny approaches her as she ascends up the stairs, asking Kal if she can sever the connection from her neck with Vuthul permanently. Kal replies that she hasn’t prepared the spell for the day, but that she will in the morning. Relic is asked by Bimble if he can spend some time over the next days, as he wants to teach him a technique that could help him in his travels, to which Relic agrees.
Afterwards, they all decide to go through the large amount of research that Glasstaff was working on, but after spending a few hours they realize that most of it is not written in common, and what is seems to be random poems and references to the moon, star-charts and in general quite cryptic musings of the author. Looking through the papers, they realize it will take them months to get through it all, if they can even find a connection. After spending a few hours, most of the party decides to go to sleep, apart from Relic who continues to go through the papers, before sitting down to recharge. Both Dandelion and Arin discuss how weird he looks when he is resting, before going to sleep themselves.
The Next Day
The next morning, after various dreams and nightmares, the party wakes up to a new day dawning. Dandelion heads outside to gather some vegetables from the garden, and notices a few kids gawking at her in awe. She walks over to them, with them remarking how huge she is, and her giving them a bunch of goodberries that they run around giving to their friends. She heads inside with the vegetables to use for breakfast.
Penny wakes up, banging on Kal’s door, before being told that she is in the kitchen, so she runs downstairs, asking Kal if she can do the spell now. Kal places her hand on Penny’s neck, and casts Greater Restoration. Penny gets a brief flash of Vuthul staring at her, as the connection is broken. She also feels a little bit weaker, but all in all, it seems to have worked. Afterwards, giving Kal a hug, Penny heads to the city for some errands.
Relic takes a closer look at the orb they took from the statue of Theonius Grim, and finds it to have a slight magic aura that seems to hide its true potential. The stone layer seems to be what is keeping the aura in place, so he takes a hammer and cracks it open, revealing a beautiful gold and quicksilver sphere within, with several flowing circles that seem to shift around like fluid. He casts identify on it, and discovers it to be a legendary item called the Orb of the Arcane Nexus, allowing him to enhance the powers of his spell, and discover nearby artifacts.
As he attunes to it, he discovers that there seems to be another powerful item in the house, one that he senses is different from the ones he and his companions carry. Wandering into the crypts with Kal in tow, he searches through the rooms, and finds the hidden compartment that Fie used to hide the Spider Staff inside. Kal remarks that she could have told him about that, but Relic is intrigued by the staff, and decides to take it with him, putting it in the bag of holding.
Penny, looks around for some new horseshoes for their horses, and learns from Vontara that they probably have them at the castle, as they are generally used for their horses. She heads there, meeting Armitage, the captain of the guard. He tells her that they do indeed have a set for each horse, and is convinced by Penny to sell her a few of them, considering that they have lost horses, and how much Penny and her group has done for the kingdom already.
Armitage leads her into the stables that are underground, beneath the castle. She can see several empty pens with the names of the previous horses crossed out, signifying the losses they suffered during the attack. As they reach the storage room, he takes out a box, and provides Penny with 12 horseshoes, hoping that she finds good use in them. As she walks out, she sees a familiar face in a scrawny redheaded man who is spending time with one of the horses. Chester sees Penny, and remarks how nice it is to see her, and that she hopes they are doing well. Penny asks how he is doing, and he tells her that Bertram has an endless supply of questions about Chester’s time, but he is allowed to wander freely as long as he hides his nature. He suddenly has to run, but tells Penny to give his regards to the rest of his group.
Dandelion, in the meantime, has been flying north towards the owls, and quickly finds them flying south among the clouds. They at first are spooked by her, as she is in the form of a giant eagle, but when they see the green tint, they recognize her, and approach. They look extremely tired, and asks if she can help them home. They descend to the ground, and find a sufficiently large tree, before traveling via the tree back to Ravenforge.
Secrets
In the evening, Relic tells the rest of the party that the Grimoire that they discover should never be used, as it is a highly dangerous book that in the right hands could be useful, but in the untrained hands will only cause despair and destruction. Dandelion remarks that she doesn’t want anything to do with curses, and they all hear a whisper from the book saying “I can provide great power…”. They all agree that Relic is right, and they should hand the book over to someone who can keep it safe, or destroy it. Dandelion remarks that not all cursed objects are bad, pointing to the Sentient Coffee Pot that Penny has, with Relic saying he would love to identify it at some point.
Looking back over the notes, they have gotten a slightly better understanding of what it is about, as they see several references to The Key and the Forgotten One, but it is still too much to go through for one person. Dandelion offers to help, while Penny looks at the papers through her monocular, finding that they appear to be mundane papers. Throughout, they can find notes from presumably Glasstaff, but there seeems to be no order to the chaos. Relic wants to outfit one of the rooms in the crypt to be a workshop for him where he can do research and experiments, and asks Dandelion to go shopping with him the next day.
Penny approaches Kal as the rest is looking over the papers, asking her if she can cast a Legend Lore on Gleamshroud, hoping that they can learn more about what or who they are. Kal agrees, and is provided the incense from Penny. Sitting down to do the ritual, the others see that Kal begins to hover, as her eyes change to be made of pure light. Kal in the meantime is dragged into the realm of the storm lord, Udall. She hears a voice that the others can hear through her mouth, when she asks about Gleamshroud:
“In a time when thrones toppled and crowns shattered, the Amethyst Guardian soared. Keeper of hidden lineage and silent sentinel of sanctuary lost, Gleamshroud's eternal vigil is a secret lullaby, sung in a forgotten tongue. Bound by sorrows of old and curses anew, it nestles its burden beside serene waters, under canopies of emerald whispers. Born of ageless stone and timeless duty, it awaits the echo of a melody, a true-born song to harmonize with its eternal vigil.”
Relic writes down all the words that are spoken, and they discuss what it could mean. Relic, Penny and Kal all figure that the “soaring Amethyst Guardian” probably refers to Gleamshroud being an amethyst dragon, which would fit, as many gemdragons have telepathic powers, explaining how Penny spoke to him in the tree. She also realizes that he must be lying below the town, as her home is called The Emerald Earth Sanctuary. They go through several of the clues in the legend lore, and wonders if maybe Satine is with Gleamshroud, as it refers to the “hidden lineage”, but they will have to go there to find out.
Speaking With the Fallen
The next day, Relic and Dandelion head to town to buy stationary for the workshop. After wandering around looking for all the supplies they need, and keeping it in the bag of holding, they decide to stop by the castle to ask if Thervan and Bertram would like to come to dinner, as they want them to take a look at the research materials. The head guard leads them inside, and as soon as Betram learns that Glasstaff is dead and that they have his research materials he asks Thervan and Ansgar both to come quickly. They ask how they found Glasstaff’s location, with Relic revealing that they learned it from a reliable source, but don’t want to reveal who in case they want to keep it secret. Thervan respects this answer, and agrees to come in the evening for dinner and to look through the papers. They also seem to be expecting Nezznar to be alive, as his corpse was never found, but was hoping that he was just laid to rest. Sadly this wasn’t the case. Relic sends a sending to Kal, asking if she can pick up some meat as they have dinner plans for the evening.
Kal, in the meantime, is also in town, as she wants to investigate further the deaths of the squad of soldiers that were fighting with Ildrex. She has to spend a long time asking around, as there is still some chaos about the situation, but eventually she finds a captain who tells her that they are keeping the corpses in the Temple of Mova, and that she should ask the priests there to see the soldiers who were killed in the “skirmish”.
As she reaches the temple, she is greeted by Carlos, who recognizes Kal as “one of those”, asking her what he can help her with. She tells him that she wants to talk to the soldier who fell in the “skirmish”, and Carlos takes a second or two, but then realizes that it is a code word, before taking her down into the crypts, past all the bodies who are being given their final rites, to a small room containing eight corpses. He tells her to just leave everything when she is done, and that she can find her way out, before leaving to do his duties.
Kal looks over the corpses, seeing several large gashes on them, some have been decapitated. She goes over to one of the more “intact” corpses, a male elf, with a large gash over his chest, and a small cut on his throat. Examining the wounds, she finds nothing out of the ordinary with it, so she decides to cast Speak with Dead instead. She learns that the soldiers were fighting the drow, holding their own, when the dragonborn came. At first he fought alongside them, but as the final drow fell, he turned on them, and began cutting them down. They tried to restrain him, but were unsuccessful. He appeared to be like “a man possessed”, in that he said nothing, as his eyes turned black. As the soldier died he could hear the laughing of the dragonborn as things went dark.
As the corpse returns to its dead form, she wanders over to one of the female soldiers who were killed, apparently decapitated. She tells Kal that when the drow fell, she felt a sense of fear, and that the dragonborn appeared to be alone, as she didn’t see anyone else along with him. She also remembers hearing him laugh, and that he carried a blade of black metal that dripped dark magic as his foes fell. As she fell, she could feel a burning sensation. Kal realizes that Ildrex probably is a paladin of Yana, and that he is much more dangerous than she first feared. Before she leaves, she speaks out loud that she promises to bring justice to him, and avenge their deaths.
Penny in the meantime has traveled to one of the stables in the city, and hired one of the keepers there to come to their home and change the horseshoes of all the horses, as she and Arin were unsure that they could successfully do it themselves. After paying the man 3 gold, all the horses have new shoes, with three of them carrying the horseshoes of speed that Penny bought. She takes Diamond out for a run, and feels that she is much faster, without putting in more effort. Diamond looks back at Penny several times, almost begging to go on an adventure. Penny promises her that they will head out soon.
The Fourteen Inquisitors
As nightfall arrives yet again, Kal has finally arrived home after speaking with the dead, and finds Arin in the middle of preparing dinner, helped by Penny and Dandelion who gives her all the inspiration and guidance that they can give. It seems to work, as the dinner smells lovely. Not long after, there is a knock on the door, as Thervan, Ansgar and Bertram all arrive for the feast. Penny changes her clothes to be appropriate for the occasion, and they all sit down to eat, although Thervan seems impatient, and wants to get to business. The dinner is delicious, and Arin is visibly proud of doing such a good job. Penny also has created a large jug of some exquisite wine, which she takes several goblets of. Over dinner they discuss what happened in the north, and that they brought back Glasstaff. They ask what they did to him, with Kal reassuring them that he lies in a corner in the crypts, but not to worry, “he’s not rotting”.
After finishing up dinner, they decide to head downstairs to look at the research they have found, and to talk to Glasstaff to find what he knew. They find Relic looking through the papers, neatly organized in several tall stables of paper, in his newly made workshop. He greets them all, and invites the wizards in to take a look. Thervan picks up a pile of papers, and begins reading through it, saying that it doesn’t make any sense, as it seems to just be the “ramblings of a madman”. Realizing the scope of the work they have ahead of them, it will take time, but maybe, just maybe this is the missing piece they have been looking for, as they have struck a dead end with finding the last part of the key.
Kal shows them where Glasstaff lies, and asks if they have a place they can keep the corpse out of the reach of the drow, with Thervan saying that they do indeed, before taking off the coins, and magically taking Glasstaff away. Kal is a bit surprised, saying she wasn’t done with him yet, and so Thervan apologizes, bringing him back, asking what she was going to do. Kal says that she would like to cast Speak with Dead on him, but she was waiting for Thervan and co. to be there so that they could be a part of it. Thervan thinks that’s a great idea, but wonders how they should approach it. Kal suggests that they should maybe disguise themselves as drow, so that Glasstaff is fooled into thinking that he is still in their possession, and so might provide better answers.
Before anyone has a chance to react, Penny, in a drunken state, casts Seeming on all of them. It works, Kal looks like the drow inquisitor they encountered in the tower. But so does Thervan. And Bertram. And all of them. They hear Arin shouting from upstairs, asking why she is dark skinned and why the owls look weird. Dandelion tells her not to worry, as Penny just disguised them for the interrogation, but might have overdone it. Sighing, Relic suggests casting Telepathic Bond so that they can communicate without Glasstaff Hearing, so Thervan does just that. With everyone in position, Kal prepares to cast the spell on the corpse, with everyone standing out of sight, to observe.
As the body comes to, he looks at Kal, the drow inquisitor, with an annoyed look. Kal asks how far he got in the research. Glasstaff replies that he was close, but not close enough, as the last piece eluded him. Kal asks what the last piece could be, with him replying that if he got his hands on the artifact, he might learn the truth. She asks how they can resume his research in the quickest way, and he reveals that he keeps his own personal notebook hidden in the cupboard beneath the desk. The one in the wizards tower. Kal then asks where his other hideout is, but this annoys Glasstaff, saying that they, the drow, kept him prisoner, and so he didn’t have any other hideouts. For the final question, she asks in an interrogating way if Glasstaff knows what Nezznar wants with the Forgotten One. Glasstaff theorizes that he probably wants to finish the job they failed to do the last time, bring back the darkness and destroy the overworld. Then he slumps over, the corpse no longer animated.
Mysterious Motivations
Penny, now in a drunken state, asks the guest if they know about the name Gleamshroud. Ansgar and Bertram both seem to genuinely not know what she is talking about, but Thervan seems evasive, saying that he can’t say that he’s heard that name before. Penny notices this, and subtly uses detect thoughts, using her new songbook of sorcery, and senses that he has heard the name, but that he cannot tell them. Penny calls him out on it, but Kal suggests that they talk about it later. Thervan says that he will tell them about it another time, when he deems it right, but that it is a dark part of their history.
Penny, even more suspicious now, takes out her monocular again, and finds that Thervan still looks like the inquisitor, even though everyone else looks like themselves. She drops the seeming, and sees Thervan return to himself again. He apparently can block divination magic. Dandelion begs Thervan to give at least some information about Gleamshroud considering they have helped so much with the Forgotten One. He relents, and confirms that Gleamshroud is a dragon, but he cannot say any more as the kingdom is too unstable considering the circumstances, but that he doubts that they will be in danger from the dragon itself. As he takes away Glasstaff again, he promises to tell them one day, when the time is right.
As Glasstaff told them that he kept his notes in the cupboard in his desk, they decide it’s worth a shot to go back and check if it is still there. Thervan offers to teleport them there, as they have several associated objects that will allow them to get there without issue, as long as they get through the barrier in place. Kal casts a sending to Zeerith, asking if they are still at the tower. She gets a response quite quickly, saying that the drow left as soon as the party left. Nezznar was apparently furious, and nothing more awaited them in Equinfjord. She also tells them to be careful, as “the ward” is gone.
Curious, Dandelion decides to scry on the tower, to see if she can see the desk. As she manages to pierce the barrier, she can see that the office is filled with shadows, shadow mastiffs and one other creature. Apparently the drow had the ward in place to keep out lesser undead. She tries to look at the desk, but cannot see if it has been ransacked or not. When she exits the scrying, she tells the others what she saw. They decide to teleport there the next morning to take a quick look at the office, before escaping.
Thervan asks Relic if he can take the research material, and Relic agrees as they probably are better suited for the research at the castle. Thervan appreciates this, and asks Relic to join them in their study whenever he has the chance. Thervan then runs his hand over the materials, and they silently vanish in front of their eyes. A bit of a show off, he winks at Relic as he does this.
As Bertram and Ansgar say their goodbyes and leave, Thervan looks back at Penny with an apologetic look in his eyes, but Penny is too drunk and angry to give him the time of day. He says nothing, and leaves, but tells the party to come as soon as they are available so they can look for the journal in the morning. Dandelion, now having the name and having learned more about Gleamshroud, decides to try to scry on him, to see what he looks like. Surprisingly, the dragon almost fails, but manages to resist, not before Dandelion gets a glimpse beyond. Not a vision, but a feeling of dampness. Considering they are near a lake and underground, the rest are not surprised.
Kal runs after Thervan, telling him what she learned from the corpses about Ildrex, with Thervan revealing that he already had his suspicions when he heard about it, but when he did, Ildrex had already departed the city. Kal asks him to help, and he tells her that he will ask Delphine to see if she can find where he is based, as she seems to be the person who can find pretty much anyone. When they are alone again, the party decides to go to sleep and rest, in order to be prepared to return to Equinfjord in the morning.