Previously: Chapter 58: Tower of Shadows
The Genie’s Offer
When Kal, Elmroot and Relic walk into the house, they are greeted by Arin, who is preparing lunch for the lot. She is happy to see that they made it back in one piece, but can tell that it didn’t go as well as they hoped, as they look quite tired, with Dandelion looking especially frail, having been drained by the shadows. Arin tells them that they have a visitor, and points to the living room. Eldric is sitting on the couch, looking at the group with a smile. He asks them if they have his belongings, as they told him to meet them in Ravenforge, and they’re not exactly hard to find. They bring out the box they found them in, and he happily dons his shoes and ring, and puts his sword back in his belt.
Eldric then asks, as Penny walks in the door, if they know what they have picked up from the tower. They give a shrug, telling him they have to be more specific, to which he replies that he was looking for an item, an orb of sorts, and that his master, Ranesh, would very much like to acquire. Relic questions why he is seeking it, and Eldric answers that Ranesh says it’s for leverage. They talk about the fact that they managed to kill a demilich, Theonius Grim himself, and Eldric goes pale, asking if they know what it actually is. He explains that he believes it to be the phylactery. Relic takes a closer look at the orb, and with help from Penny and Dandelion, manages to unlock its secrets, and opens it. Within, he can see that the inner wall of the orb is filled with arcane runes in silver, the telltale sign of a phylactery. This complicates things.
The group all think that it should be destroyed, but Relic knows that each phylactery requires a specific way of destroying it, barring a divine intervention. Eldric begs them not to destroy it, as their master has a proposal. Kal tries to ask for help from her god, but Udall isn’t in the mood to help today, much to Eldric’s relief. Smoke suddenly comes pouring out Eldric’s ring, and Ranesh makes his dramatic entrance, saying to the party directly that he would very much like to barter the orb for something of equal value. Kal says that they’re not interested in bartering about it, as it should be destroyed. Ranesh then offers them three wishes in return for the item here and now.
Penny’s eyes light up, seeing the power and possibilities within their grasp. Kal thinks a bit more, but in the end decides to decline the offer, much to the approval of Relic and Dandelion. They all feel, Penny included, that a demilich cannot be allowed to persist. Ranesh tries to bargain with them that he will only be using the demilich as a guardian for his treasures on his own plane, and will not allow it to feed on souls, as it would be harder to control. Not convinced that he will keep his word, and with the fact that Relic finds the item to be quite useful, they once more decline. He then offers them one wish if they use divine intervention to separate the items, and let him know when they do. Seeing that the party is not happy with this, he uses divination to ask for guidance from his own patron, and then suggests:
“I could release you from a contract.”
Thinking back on the deal the party made with Raam, this is the most tempting offer so far, but they sadly declines, as Ranesh demands that they give him the orb right now, with no wishes, as that would be too powerful of a boon. Seeing that he is getting nowhere, Ranesh tells Eldric to depart, they can just follow them and take the orb from their corpses when the demilich inevitably returns. Eldric gives them a mournful smile and says that he will see them around. The party wonders if they made the right decision, but all agree that the demilich must perish if the world is to be safe.
Final Preparations
When they are alone again, Kal, Relic and Dandelion head to the castle to deliver the notebook they found in the wizard’s chamber where Glasstaff was studying. Finding the encryption to be quite sophisticated, they realize that smarter minds than theirs are needed to discern its secrets. They are led inside by the guards, and when they approach, they see that Ansgar, Thervan and Bertram are all studying the materials from the tower, some more than others, with Bertram nonchalantly sifting through some pages as he nibbles on a biscuit. Thervan looks up and greets the party, thanking them profusely for the notebook, but as he looks through it he finds it to be difficult to decode. He asks if they have any idea what the code word might be, but they didn’t think to ask him about it. Thervan says he’ll just have Raven speak with him in a few days when the speak with dead cooldown ends.
They then tell him about their other predicament. He learns that the party defeated a demilich that was roaming the tower of Theonius Grim, and they realized that it was probably Theonius himself. Relic hands Thervan the orb, with Thervan looking over it, finding it fascinating, but hasn’t heard about it before. The party reveals that he’s holding the phylactery of Grim. Thervan lets out an “oh.” and throws the orb back to Relic. They ask if he has any suggestions on how to destroy it. He thinks a bit, and suggests either a divine intervention, looking at Kal, heading to a place where a god has touched the realm, or going to Eysus to have the god of crafting himself destroy it.
Kal’s first thought is to the grave of Maravin, where it is said that Udall himself created it. Relic thinks about a place called the Aetherheart, where residuum comes from. Dandelion thinks of the shrine of Faunus that she has heard about. In either case, they ask if he knows of a way to protect themselves if they don’t destroy the phylactery before he returns. Thervan thinks some more, and then heads to his office. Shortly after he returns holding a small iron flask, and tells them that this could trap any creature within, demonstrating it on Bertram, after all three of them manage to resist it. Bertram disappears, and the iron flask seals itself. Thervan quickly lets him out, and gets a scolding from the halfling, who returns to his work. He places a spell on the flask, saying that if they manage to trap the demilich inside it, it will instantly teleport to his vault, keeping it safe. The party thanks for the help, and leaves the trio to their studying, with Thervan starting to work on the notebook.
In the meantime, Penny has been sitting in the garden, talking to the tree, getting weird looks from the owls who wonder why she doesn’t just talk to them instead. Around the corner, Penny hears a knocking on the door. She runs over, finding a very timid tabaxi standing there with a package in her hands. She happily greets Penny, telling her that Vontara helped her finish the ring, and that she managed to remove the kinks that she feared it would have. Penny happily accepts the package, and puts on the ring, asking if Lone Candle would like to join her for tea. She says that she has to be back soon, but a short break won’t hurt.
As they sit there talking, Penny tries the ring, summoning a small lizard that coalesces from mists pouring out of the ring. It looks around, up at Penny, and smacks its tongue, wondering what it is supposed to do. Penny is overjoyed, and thanks Lone Candle again. They talk a bit about how she is doing, with Lone Candle revealing that she is having a hard time sleeping ever since the attacks, but she makes do. After sitting there for a bit, the rest of the party comes home. Lone Candle greets them all, and says that she has to get back, wishing the party good luck before she departs. As it is getting quite late, the party decides to sleep for the night, having bought whatever supplies they need during the day.
On The Road Again
The next morning, as they prepare for their departure, Arin tells them a bit about her father, whom she never really knew, as he disappeared after going out to pick up some milk when she was five, and then never returning. Her mother is also probably dead, as she was also a half-elf, at least that’s what her father told her before he vanished. She doesn’t even remember their names, only that they are gone. She also remembers that she grew up in Redburg, but since she left to go adventuring the world is her home. And now her home is here. In either case, she doesn’t like goodbyes, and she hopes the party returns swiftly and safely. She tells them that she will pray for their safe return, pointing out that she will pray to Nuesis, and not Sepra like she learned from her gravedigging father.
Kal takes control of the carriage, with Dandelion riding Speed on the side. Penny and Relic both sit inside the carriage, comfortable and warm. After traveling for most of the day, they find the road to be quite well traveled and guarded, so they feel that they can truly relax, and not worry about dangers around every corner. After spending the whole day cruising past the other people on the road thanks to their magical horse shoes, they reach Warmshire in the evening, and head towards the inn called the Laughing Lute.
Before they head inside, Dandelion decides that she wants to sleep in the carriage, as beds make her uncomfortable. Penny decides to make it a bit more pleasant for her, and uses programmed illusion to make the roof inside the carriage show the starry skies. Dandelion is quite happy with this, and joins the rest of the party as they head inside to have something to eat. The barkeeper, an elderly woman with a spring in her step called Mirela, comes over and takes their order. The party is intrigued by the blue drinks with flowing mists coming out of them, and orders a couple of them, learning they’re called Djinn and Tonics, and causes their hair and clothes to flow like blowing in the wind.
As they sit down to eat their food, Penny tries to subtly use detect thoughts to see if she can find any useful information. She overhears that most people are either heading west to the coast, or north towards Ravenforge. She does overhear that someone is concerned about the bandits on the road due south. And apparently there is a shapeshifter in the room, wondering if anyone notices that their shapeshifting is off today. Penny quietly shares this with the others, who seem unconcerned, as they have faced worse dangers than a couple of bandits before.
Dandelion, wanting to see if she can spot the shapeshifter, takes a look through the crowd, and locks eyes with a particularly mean looking bugbear. Dandelion gives him a friendly wave, which prompts him to approach. As he gets closer they all notice the family resemblance to Grol, the bugbear “king” they dispatched in Cragmaw Castle. He asks them where they are from as he hasn’t seen any of her kind before. She tries to lie, and says that she is running away from home, with the others backing her up in this story. The bugbear is suspicious at first, but is convinced in the end, partly because of his drunkenness, the hairs on his body flowing in an indiscernible wind. He laughs, and mentions a brother out east which confirms their suspicion of a familial relationship.
He orders two ales, which Mirela brings over, and gives one to Dandelion. She tries to fake drinking it, but the bugbear sees through it, and pushes the cup up, spilling ale all over her clothes. Finishing it, he shouts to the barkeep that “my drink’s on her!” before falling over, unconscious. Mirela apologizes for "Blor"’s behavior, and has someone drag him out. Dandelion clarifies that the drink is absolutely not on her, to which Mirela reassures her that she will just put it on his tab. Afterwards the party finishes up their meals and drinks, and heads to bed.
As Dandelion walks outside, she notices a group of drunk people stumbling out of the tavern. One of the humans spots her, and comes walking over. His eyes suddenly go milky white, and a voice, that doesn’t sound like his own, greets her, saying “This one wants to thank you.”. Dandelion looks at him in surprise, unsure what he is talking about. The being, whatever it is, continues to thank Dandelion for releasing them. Before it departed these lands, it just wanted to offer its gratitude, and promises her that she will not see them again. The being always speaks about itself in the third person she notices, and in monotone voice, almost otherworldly. As it departs, the eyes return to normal, and the drunk man boops Dandelion on the nose, before returning to his friends.
Dandelion, a bit shaken, returns to the carriage, and sits, thinking about what she might have released. Her mind goes back to the hag’s lair that they burned all those months ago, and the soul shards that were contained within. When she crushed the last one, a sinister shadow stared at her, before departing. She gets a bad vibe from the entity, but realizing that there is not much she can do about it now, she tries to go to sleep, but it takes a while before she manages to rest properly.
The Wanderer
The next morning, Dandelion tells the rest of the party about her experience before going to bed. Kal seems annoyed at yet another evil needing their attention, but Penny and Relic both point out that since it said that it would leave these lands, that means there is nothing they can do, even if they wanted. In either case, they have more pressing matters at hand. They gather their belongings, and continue south towards Shortlot. In the distance the weather is picking up, and soon the party is in the middle of a big snowstorm. Kal tries to use another divine intervention, but is yet again unsuccessful. Just as they leave the town, they see Eldric arriving by horse, seemingly having ridden throughout the night.
After spending most of the day trudging through the snow, encountering a few travelers heading north, they eventually reach a pit-stop where another group is already resting, a family of halflings and a human. They park their carriage, and joins the other group around the campfire. They tell them that they are heading north, and look forward to reaching Warmshire. The human seems to be quiet, just killing time until he falls asleep. Relic is using a few spells to create a permanent shelter around the campsite, to protect from the environment, adorned with intricate dwarven designs. The halflings seem impressed.
As night falls, the group decides to keep watch just in case. Relic takes first watch, and can hear what sounds like giants roaming nearby, but they just pass by, without interrupting them. On Penny’s watch however, she sees a familiar looking man walking casually through the storm on the road. The man turns towards her, and she recognizes him as Silas Wayfarer, the wanderer they met in the north. She waves at him, and he walks over. Penny wakes up the rest of the group to let them know that they have a visitor.
They seem to be unsurprised to see him again, and when asked where he is going and what the chances are that they met again, he simply gives a cryptic response that fate is a winding road, and sometimes they interject, overlap and cross each other. He is on a path, same as the group. When it comes to Relic, he seems unfazed, apparently having heard of him before. He also seems to know where they are headed, referencing the sanctuary. It seems the party has realized that this man is not a regular man, but doesn’t press the matter, though they are intrigued to know who he is talking about when he says he has an appointment, and that the one he is meeting would probably say hi back if they tell Silas to say hello. Before departing, Silas has some words of wisdom to Penny.
"Sometimes, the cure to what ails us isn't found in the places we'd expect. You see, when the moon dances with the stars and the veil between worlds grows thin, rare blossoms bloom in fields not of this soil. Such treasures often hold the key to unlock mysteries that mortal hands can't grasp. Just remember, not all gardens are grown under the sun we know."
He gives a short nod to each of the party members, before saying goodbye, heading back out into the storm. Dandelion notices that he doesn’t leave footprints in the snow, and when the wind carries a flow of snow across him, he vanishes without a trace. The party goes back to sleep, having seen weirder things during their travels. The rest of the night goes without issue, and when Kal takes the final shift, she spends some time looking at the environment using her spell granted by Udall. She can see a few giants wandering around, but the storm only reaches to the mountains and is about to pass, so she cannot see the sanctuary. When she comes back to herself, she starts preparing breakfast for the rest.
Toll
When the rest of the party wakes up, Kal serves them breakfast, and waits anxiously to try once again to destroy the phylactery, knowing that each day that passes brings the return of the demilich closer and closer. After people are done eating, she does a short prayer, and to everyone’s surprise, the orb flies out of Relic’s pouch, hovers in front of Kal, opening up just as a bolt of lightning from above strikes into it, shooting it into the nearby forest. Relic goes after it, and finds it sizzling in a puddle of water, having smashed through a tree on the way there. He uses mage hand to pick it up, and finds the insides to be erased. The phylactery is destroyed.
Heading on towards Shortlot, the party realizes they haven’t met any of the aforementioned bandits yet, and so are keeping their eyes peeled on the path ahead. After crossing a river, they eventually come across a couple of individuals standing in the road in front of a fallen tree. A half-orc and a centaur. The half-orc waves at the party, gesturing for them to stop. Kal, sensing the obvious ambush ahead disembarks the carriage and starts walking towards the duo. Dandelion is ready with her hand in the bag of tricks, but holds her ground in case they attack if she makes any moves.
Kal comes closer, asking why they are being stopped. The half-orc tells them that these roads aren’t safe, but that they keep the dangers at bay, but sadly that requires a toll from the people who use it. He requests 50gp per person in their party, looking at their belongings saying they should easily be able to afford it. Kal, realizing this is a simple shakedown, flares out her wings, trying to intimidate the half-orc to stand down. The half-orc is steadfast, but the centaur woman to his right is less inclined to fight, and tells him, Draknar, that she really doesn’t like the situation.
Tensions rise as both Kal and Draknar are equally stubborn, with both threatening the other with a sure death if they don’t stand down. Draknar raises his hands, telling him they have until the count of five to hand over the gold, or they will take it from their corpses. Kal is steadfast, telling him to try her. While this is happening, Penny has disembarked the carriage and is moving up towards Kal. As soon as she gets close enough, she casts fast friends on Draknar, charming him. Draknar lowers his hand, and says that “this is not a good day to die.” Penny gives him 20 gold, and tells him that he should take it and leave. The half-orc almost resists the command, and angrily tells the others to let them pass. Twenty-five hidden figures emerge from the nearby foliage, and Draknar turns to the centaur woman, Elona, and tells her that she has to hunt if they want to eat tonight.
The party, noticing the hostility emanating from the half-orc, who is severely confused by the ordeal of not getting what he wanted out of the situation, asks him what his deal is. He tells them that they should just carry on their way, but when pressed, he relents and says that he simply demands payment from people who can afford it. If they can’t, he lets them pass in peace. He doesn’t want to kill people anymore, but he will do it to protect his group. They ask how many they are, but he is unwilling to tell them specifics about numbers or locations, but tells them that they are all outcasts from society, murderers, thieves, who want a new chance, but have been rejected by society. Dandelion, wanting to help, conjures forth goodberries, forty of them, and hands it to the others in the group. They all happily accept, and the party gets the feeling that these are people that act out of desperation, not malice.
They continue telling Draknar that this path will only lead to death, but he replies that they have been doing it for three years now, and that their group is the first that have managed to talk him down, which is frustrating to him as he doesn’t understand why. After all, intimidating people is the only thing he’s good at according to him. Penny tries to act casually, as she is still charming the half-orc, and knows that when it ends, he will know what she did. Draknar is annoyed at their questions, and frustrated at the situation, and tells them to move on before he changes his mind. Kal takes out 200gp and tells the half-orc that she would like to hear his story some day. Draknar looks at her in shock, before quickly giving it to Elona, the centaur, telling her to take the other centaurs and buy supplies from Warmshire, enough to hold them aloft for a few months. He shakes Kal’s hand, and lets them pass, as the rest of the bandit group heads north towards the mountains.
Trade Declined
The group continues further down the road, and after a few hours come across a couple of older halfling ladies, Ethyl and Marge, heading northwards. They stop to warn them about the bandits, but they seem to know who they are talking about, and hope that they didn’t hurt them. They explain that they are good people, who have fallen on hard times, but they do what they can with what they got. The party thinks that the bandits could have spent their time building an inn or tavern to have a legitimate business, which the halflings thinks is a wonderful idea. Kal decides to send a sending to Draknar, telling him that they would be willing to sponsor them if they wanted to build an inn at the bridge. He replies that “I’m not completely opposed to the idea, but tell the tiefling that if I see her again, she won’t see the next dawn… Thank you.”. Kal chuckles to herself at that, and so the party moves on, saying goodbye to the ladies.
When the party settles for the night, Penny takes the first shift with Argus, who sees a meteor crashing somewhere east. On Dandelion’s watch she can see a figure in full gallop coming from the north. Eldric has caught up to them. When he is about half a kilometer away, he disembarks his horse, and tries to hide behind a boulder. Dandelion sees all of this of course, and so sends Ira with a message telling Eldric that he can come out now. Realizing that he has been spotted, he reluctantly comes over, and Dandelion sees that the horse is near death from being pushed too hard by the warlock. She scolds Eldric and gives the horse food and water.
Eldric asks if they have had a change of heart, concerning the phylactery, but she just tells him plainly that they destroyed it this morning. This prompts a lot of smoke to come pouring out of the ring, creating a chamber that surrounds Eldric and Dandelion, and out from nowhere comes Ranesh, towering over them both. He seems to be quite frustrated by the reveal. Dandelion wakes the others with a message, who sees the chamber of smoke, and comes to help.
Ranesh scolds the party for throwing away a wish when all he wanted was to have a guard dog for his treasure. The party tell him that they didn’t trust him with the demilich, but he reiterates that he was being truthful, and it would only be used for protection. Not even in this realm. He laments the passing of Fie, wishing him to be back, but he hasn’t been able to reach him, so Ranesh concludes that he wants to stay dead. He says that Fie was a much better warlock than what he’s working with now, looking at Eldric, who looks down on the ground in shame. Penny goes over to comfort him, but he tells her he’s used to it. As it is clear that the party is not interested in dealing with Ranesh, he takes Eldric with him, and they plane shift away, leaving the horse behind.
The Shire
The party goes back to sleep, and the rest of the night is uneventful. Before sleeping, Dandelion asks the horse what it is called, and it tells her that his mother called him Phillip, to which Dandelion says that it is a fine name. On Kal’s watch, she waves down a passerby, asking if he would like a horse, but she gets a bad vibe from him, so she shoos him away. They decide to instead send the horse to Arin by using transport via plants. Relic sends a sending to her, telling her they are sending a horse, to which she replies that she most definitely hasn't almost burned down the kitchen. Relic relays this to the others, and so they send Phillip to their home, so Arin can take care of him.
The final stretch of the road leads into the larger municipality of Shortlot. A lot more people are on the road now, as they get closer to the city. On the way there, Dandelion notices that there are several farmers still working the fields, even though it is winter time. She approaches them, and they tell her that they have through generations managed to breed vegetables that grow and thrive in both warm and cold weather. Dandelion buys a bunch of seeds for pumpkins, potatoes, carrots and onions, making sure to have enough for herself and the bandits, should they come across them again.
As they continue onwards, the rolling hills get bigger and bigger, and through every valley they see a river or a lake, surrounded by holes in the ground or houses built in a cozy style, littering the landscape. The whole city is layered, and on the top layer they can see a path that leads west through the mountains. As the sun has almost set, they decide to go to the center of the city, and try to find an inn. The ladies they met on the road recommended the Sunken Stein, which they find on one of the waterfronts. As they enter, having parked their carriage, they see that it is accommodating for both smaller and bigger races, with half the inn being halfling sized. The bar stretches around the whole room, and the bald heavy-set man, who appears to be the owner, asks if they need lodgings. They decide to go with a waterfront view, even though it is noisier.
Afterwards he tells them that the bartender should be arriving shortly, and as he says this, the door opens, revealing that night has fallen outside, and in walks a regular human bartender. He walks to his post, and asks the party what they would like to drink. He keeps referring to himself as merely a regular human bartender, and although the party has suspicions that there is something afoot, considering his pale skin and pointy teeth, both he and the owner, Jasper, are adamant that he is just a regular human bartender. Penny buys a glass of expensive pumpkin wine, and Dandelion gets a foamy milk and honey drink. They sit in the tavern with their beverages, as they observe the rest of the townsfolk that have gathered for the evening.
Next: Chapter 60: Sanctuary