Previously: Chapter 63: Return of the Black Spider
Mourning the Lost
After a good nights sleep with a lot of foreboding and interesting dreams, the party wakes up to a new day, albeit a bit later than usual, considering their nightly escapades with Nezznar. As the sun reaches its zenith, both Relic and Dandelion check their magical artifacts that lost their magic, and discover that it has returned. Seems like Nezznar couldn’t steal the magic fully in such a short encounter, luckily for the party. Happy to have their magic returned, the party goes to eat breakfast, and then heads to the Grove of Memories.
When they get there, Kal rummages through the bag of holding, producing a small, tear shaped emerald. She looks towards the rest of the group, and says that they have lost two of their friends now, and they will not lose another. Holding the emerald to the wooden wall, she focuses on her memories of Demetrius, and the wall responds by absorbing it. Demetrius is remembered, the closest thing to a grave they can think of.
They want to make sure that Granny is okay, so Penny sends a message to her, asking how she is doing, telling her that both Demetrius and Fie have passed away. Granny is saddened by the news, but confirms that she is fine and in good shape, wondering how Penny is doing. Penny tells the others that Granny is fine, so Nezznar hasn’t gotten to her, yet at least. Afterwards, they leave the grove, waiting for the Moonlit Markets to open.
Penny thinks back to the conversation they had the night before, about having fun, and so asks Dandelion what she did for fun before she joined the party. Dandelion tells them about her adventures with her friends, running away from angry bees, making stick-figures, lifting rocks, and just frolicking around the forest. Penny tells her that it sounds a lot like what she experienced growing up, but in a different setting. Relic remarks that they sound so similar, yet so different at the same time.
Rewarding Good Deeds
As the group are wandering around the city, killing time, they are approached by a couple of city guards. They study the group, and ask if they are the adventuring party that the Leafwarden met with a few days ago, to which they confirm. The guards tell them that they figured as much, seeing as there aren’t many warforged or firbolg around, saying they have been sent by the Leafwarden to come see her. The guards say they can come when they have time, but preferably immediately. As they have nothing better to do, the party tags along, following them through the crowd towards the heart tree.
When they are led inside, they follow the round staircase to the chambers at the top, and encounter another group of people who are leaving. They recognize one of the people as the Count of Cantalos, Eldrion Naïlo, who was at the gala in Ravenforge when the city was attacked. As they pass, Dandelion and Kal both catch a snippet of the conversation when the count speaks:
“I do believe we will have her support if we move forward with our plan.”
The party is unsure about what this means, but continues onwards up the stairs.
Waiting inside by the circular table is the Leafwarden, with her protector Taliel standing next to her, and her daughter, Liara, also sitting by the table. When she sees the party, she comes to greet them, thanking them once again for saving her life. The party says that they were happy to help, but were suspicious at first, with Liara remarking that she thought they were going to leave her considering how much they debated saving her or not. Relic points out that the situation was quite suspicious, as they had already been warned about the Bloodwoods, so finding a random lady in need was out of the ordinary. In either case, Liara is happy to be alive, and grateful to the party for that fact. She then guides them to the table.
Lady Nyreen, the Leafwarden, is finishing up with some documents, and looks up as the party seats themselves, giving the papers to her bodyguard who takes them away. She tells the party that her daughter has explained the situation to her, while giving her a stern look, and is very grateful for the party coming to her daughter's assistance, asking the party how she can repay them.
They all look at each other, wondering what to ask, when Kal tells her that they are looking for an Edenflower, saying that it is a rare flower that blooms in Unbekannt. Penny also interjects, saying that it cannot survive outside of the Feywild for more than a day. Lady Nyreen thinks about it, but apologizes to the party, not knowing how to help them with that. She does however have her bodyguard produce a small chest from the side of the room. Lady Nyreen opens it, revealing a beautiful ornate flask inside, with an amber-looking liquid within. She tells them that this is Sap from the Heart Tree, which can rejuvenate them, but could potentially also cause them to become younger.
The party thanks her for the gift, before asking about the Count of Cantalos that was here just before them. Kal can tell that she looks a little bit uncomfortable, but assures them that it is nothing they have to worry about, just official business. Relic mentions that it would be nice to have a way to quickly get back to Eilian if needed, and asks if the city has an official Teleportation Circle. Lady Nyreen says that they don’t have one available to the public, but considering the deeds of the party, they can be allowed to use the one reserved for official business. With not much else she can help with, she tells them that their stay is comped, and to enjoy the moonlit markets. Taliel leads them outside and down the stairs, to a small chamber with a beautifully crafted teleport-circle in the center of it. Relic records the address, allowing them easy access in the future.
The Moonlit Markets
As night has begun to creep into the forest, the moonlit market is beginning to open, but both Penny and Dandelion decide to spend some time reading their books, Penny to become more charismatic from the Tome of Leadership and Influence, while Dandelion reads the book about various beasts and animals, allowing her to wild shape into more interesting beings than before.
When Kal wanders around the Moonlit Market looking for anything interesting, she notices that someone seemingly bumps into her intentionally. After instinctively checking her valuables, she looks up to see Delphine gesturing at her to follow her. They walk to the side of the markets, near the railing overlooking the forest below, with Delphine telling Kal that she found the information she was looking for, about Ildrex. Apparently he was last seen in Smoulderharbor, along with his soldiers, heading south towards the Thalassian Empire, as there seems to be war brooding between them and the Durandal Dominion. Delphine guesses they will sail to Moonharbor, the capital of Thalassia, before heading to the front. She’s sorry she cannot bring better news, but hopes that if Kal goes after him she will be successful.
Kal thanks for the information, and in return tells her about their encounter with Nezznar, with Delphine being impressed by the party surviving. She tells her that he told the party that he killed Demetrius, wondering if he was lying, but Delphine tells her that she has “crossed paths” with Nezznar a few times, and doesn’t know him for being a liar. He usually tells the truth, as he relishes in other’s misery. Pointing to Kal’s spear, she remarks that they are clearly in the process of something great, and hopes that if they fight Nezznar again, it goes “better than last time”. She then tells Kal that she has to return to Ravenforge as she is helping with decrypting the documents they got from Glasstaff, but that she will keep an eye on where Ildrex makes port, and update Kal, before disappearing into the crowd.
Relic, in the meantime, has wandered around looking for some material components for his new spell, specifically for the Magnificent Mansion. He is lucky to find exactly what he needs from an elderly dwarf crafting some intricate ivory statues. Happy with his purchase, he comes across a bookstore that sells old tomes and books, and activates his detect magic to see if anything pings. Incredibly hidden between two pages of a book about managing a magic shop, he finds a spell scroll of “Jim’s Magic Missile”, a modified, and potentially dangerous spell. He asks the shopkeeper what he wants for the book, and gets it for a bargain of 3 silver. He then happily returns to the party.
Penny, taking a short break from her reading, uses her monocular to look at people around, not finding any hidden drow or doppelganger, just people who want to blend in or stand out in various ways, some to enhance their beauty, others their height. She also uses detect thoughts on the passer-by's, getting a few random thoughts about dragons, thoughts about the universe, but one of the thoughts mentions Vuthul by name, and says that he is close, and when he returns, all of these people will regret their lives. She cannot see who is thinking these thoughts, but it seems his influence is growing and expanding.
Kal wanders around some more in the market, coming across a shop of familiars, various creatures and animals that are for sale. Some look mundane, others look more… exotic. She takes particular note of a cat which seems to have a metal antenna incorporated into its skull. She asks what is so special about that one, to which the owner claims that it has been experimented on, and can sense things by blindsight and by tremorsense. Intrigued, she decides that this will be a great companion for Arinwho seems to be lonely, and haggles for the price, ending up paying 275gp for it. She takes the cage with the cat to the side, and opens it up, gesturing for the cat to come outside, hoping it will not run away. It seems to be quite vary, but when Kal produces a piece of meat, it reluctantly emerges, and takes it. Looking around at the people in the market, the cat sits on the railing, while Kal pushes the cage away, asking the cat to follow her, telling it that when they meet Dandelion, to not let her name him, as she will come up with some ridiculous name. Sadly, Kal doesn’t speak cat, so the cat doesn’t understand what she is saying. On the way back, she also picks up a few feather tokens for the party, in case they were to fall.
When Kal and the cat reaches the two readers, Dandelion immediately notices the new friend, and approaches. She asks what it’s name is, but it replies that it has no name. After a bit deliberation, they decide to name it Rod, after the antenna in it’s head, short for Ser Roderick of Eilian. The cat seems fine with this, but is still very wary of these strange people that have adopted it. Penny eventually takes note of the cat, and gestures for it to come over. She holds out her hands, and it seems to like Penny, as it strokes its head against it. They ask the cat what happened to its head, and it tells them that a metal man did things to him. Just as it says this, Relic returns to the party, which scares the cat at first, but they assure him that Relic is kind. The cat describes the metal man as short with eyes like the sky, and gray skin. So it at least wasn’t Calamity.
Relic asks if everyone is ready to head home, and if anyone has an object that is associated with their home. Kal produces a spoon that she accidentally brought along from last time they were home, which Relic says is perfect, since this means they can easily teleport back home. Dandelion reminds them that they have to bring the horses as well, and not forget the owls. Just as she says this, Argus and Ira both return, which scares Rod again, but they assure him that these are also friends. Relic asks Dandelion to ask Rod if he would be willing to teleport with them, to which the cat asks if it “will hurt”. Seems like most of its life has been nothing but pain. Dandelion assures him that it is painless, so it reluctantly agrees.
Home Sweet Home, And a Little Downtime
Penny sends a sending to Arin, telling her that they will be arriving home shortly, as the party walks to the forest floor to prepare their horses for travel. Arin says that she will try to tidy up, sounding a bit flustered. Horses ready, Dandelion heads towards a fitting tree to transport them via plants, as Relic casts the spell by uttering the command word. Relic, Kal, Penny and Rod all find themselves in the kitchen, with Arin coming downstairs to greet them. She gives Penny and Kal a big hug, and an awkward one to Relic. Penny can hear someone closing the front door, and asks Arin who that was. She replies that it was the neighbor, which Penny finds quite amusing. Kal just asks her to be careful, hoping that it isn’t a doppelganger or spy who wants to hurt them.
Dandelion comes home shortly after, asking who just walked out the front door. Arin explains the situation to her as well, and they decide that Penny should check out the neighbor with her monocular to make sure it’s the real deal. Kal then introduces Arin to Rod, and explains the abilities of the cat to the rest of the party, about the blindsight and tremorsense. Relic is impressed by this, but Arin is a bit sad, considering that it looks malnourished and abused. They all give the cat a proper introduction of the house, and show it around the neighborhood.
Before going to bed, Penny and Dandelion spend some time reading, with Penny sitting on the roof playing a song with her violin. Kal sits by the shrine of Udall, wanting to scry on Ildrex, to see if Delphine was telling the truth. Her consciousness leaves her body, and she is transported to a ship sailing far off the coast. A white dragonborn leans over the railing, in deep thought. His wife, Xara, approaches, asking him what he is thinking about. He tells her that he is looking forward to their destination, to be able to “indulge” again. He also remarks that he hopes that “she” will follow them, allowing “her” a chance to take her over completely. Kal thinks they must be talking about herself, and the god Yana. On Ildrex’ back, he carries a large greatsword, black steel with a red handle. She doesn’t recognize it, but wants to find out what it does. As she comes out of her scrying, she still has the taste of seasalt in her mouth.
Over the next few days, as the coronation is approaching, they decide to do a bit of research, and finish up reading the books that they have started on. As Dandelion and Penny stay home, Kal asks Relic to help her do some research on the sword and the Goddess of War that Ildrex worships. Based on the description Kal gave about the sword, it sounds like it might be the legendary sword Blackrazor, which is sentient, and consumes souls. Kal shudders at the thought, but stays strong. She asks Dandelion if she can send them to Elvenroth so that she and Relic can do research in the library, which she does.
Kal dons the Headband of Intellect, and spends the next few days going over old tomes and scripts, hiring some librarians in the Royal Athenaeum to help them. Relic can tell that she seems to be obsessed by the subject, almost too much, as she acts brash and rude towards the staff, showing no care of preserving the books. This leads to her eventually getting banned from the library, but Kal has found what she was looking for. It seems that Yana mostly has Paladins that invite her “in” to fight more fearlessly. It makes them better at killing, but at the same time, blind to anything but killing, so no matter who is in front of them when they are in this state, they will attack them, with few exceptions.
his seems to explain why Ildrex looked possessed. The influence also makes allies around them stronger as well, and easy to influence, which explains why Kal felt compelled to do the things she did in Ildrex’ presence. Right now, Kal is in a tug of war between Yana and another deity, with Udall seemingly wanting to help pull her in the right direction. The reason for her “fall”.
Back home, during the last days, Penny checks out Arin’s new flame, and finds her to be a normal person, albeit a bit of a fangirl towards Penny and her fame, but she seems to be a nice girl. Arin spends a few days with her, as the others do their thing. Penny makes a little twigman for Dandelion, and puts it outside her room, much to Dandelion’s delight, who happily puts it in her bag with her other sticks and rocks. Relic also puts out a few feelers for work, finding some supplies that are in dire need, mostly Wyvern Poison and Flail Snail Shells, but in time some other, interesting and high paying jobs may present themselves.
The Guardian
The party decides that the new guardian must have arrived by now, and so says their goodbyes to Arin and Rod, before heading to the Emerald Earth Sanctuary once more, leaving the horses behind this time. Arriving in the evening, they find that most of the sanctuary is gathered around the great fire, eating supper prepared by Raindrop. Leyla comes running over to Penny, giving her a big hug, before gesturing them all to come join them for dinner. Penny tells her mother and father that they have managed to get a new guardian, but haven’t met them yet, and asks if they have noticed anything. Elmwood says that they noticed a rumbling coming from the north a few days ago, but haven't bothered to check it out yet. Perry also comes over, asking about it, and is told about their progress.
That night, after having spent a few days coming up with a plan for their “home”, Relic casts a spell, revealing to the party the Magnificent Mansion. Inside, they find a large underground-looking home for them, with their own bedrooms tailored to how Relic thinks they will like it. A few things have gone amiss, particularly the lack of toilets, and some improvement on the tools of the kitchen, but other than that, it’s pretty nice actually. Penny invites her parents to come see, and they seem to relax a bit about their daughter's adventures when they learn that she lives rather affluently to be on the road. The parents spend the night with Penny, and Dandelion notices another fault, the lack of natural sounds in her room, but she manages to fall asleep after Argus and Ira both make owl-noises for her.
The next day, after breakfast and constructive feedback about the mansion, the party heads to Penny’s tree to venture down into the caves to meet the guardian. While they are there, Penny puts angel wings on the drawing of Demetrius, like she did with Fie. Dandelion then opens a portal, and they emerge in the dark cave beneath the sanctuary. They all notice that it has gotten much hotter than they remember, too hot for the season. With no guardian in sight, Penny gives a quiet “hello?”, but gets no response.
Suddenly, they hear loud footsteps, as smoke and fire comes billowing out of one of the tunnels. A gargantuan red dragon comes lumbering out to greet the party, who in turn bows to the dragon. The dragon looms over them, but then speaks to them in a quite cordial voice, after spotting the symbol of Udall on Kal’s chest.
“Ah, so you must have been the one who summoned me!”
The dragon introduces himself as Paxton, and explains that he is a follower of Udall as well. Udall has told him about the situation, so he has agreed to keep an eye on the sanctuary until his predecessor, Gleamshroud, is cured. Penny thanks him for assisting them. They want to know his story, and so he regales them with the tale of how his birth mother abandoned him as a newly hatched wyrmling, as they were attacked by giants. Luckily, his “mom”, Mama Helja came to his rescue, and took him in, raising him to be better than his kin usually are. Although he is about 400 years old, he knows little about the Artifact of Harmony, having just heard about their myth from his mother, but knows about the Forgotten One, and hopes that the party is able to stop him.
As Paxton finishes with his story, and has nothing more to offer, he tells the party that he is getting a bit peckish, and will have to find something to eat, so he bids the party adieu, heading up the cave to find the opening he burrowed to find some food. The party debates where to go next, deciding to head to Swellingstrum to check it out, before heading back to Ravenforge for the coronation. Relic suggests flying, but the others want him to use his new spell of Teleportation, so that they can get there quickly. Relic does a short prayer to Adea, before casting the spell, hoping to get there in one piece.
They don’t get hurt, but they can tell as soon as the spell is cast that something is off, and they find themselves in a barren field a few miles northwest of the ruins. No tree in sight, getting back to Ravenforge will require Kal to use Word of Recall, but they decide to head towards it anyway, so that they can get their hands on an associated object to make the return easier. Relic casts mage armor on himself, and begins walking with the rest of the group towards the horizon.