Session Summaries

Cassian turned as he pulled the lever again, startled by a small doll grinning from ear to ear, "Wanna play?" they asked before stabbing the Druid. Kit rushed to his defense and got a fit hits in after Cass summoned magical vines to wrap around the murder toy. Just as he was about to strike with a stronger spell and Kit about to clench the living object, it disappeared, not invisible just completely gone from view. Cassian did what he could to heal the wound given to him before waiting for the others to come back from the secret rooms.

While Cass and Kit struggled against the evil plaything, Saxon charged through the secret passage to assist Dheir and Xedran in their fight against a Cloaker. It attempted to wrap itself around Dheir again, but she managed to slip out of it as Saxon and Xedran took their own strikes against the creature. Soon the trio used their combined might and magic to bring down the creature previously though to be a cloak. After a brief rest, the three of them explored the target practice room and the burned remnants of a library next to it. While searching the rooms, Xedran managed to find what appeared to be a secret door but no way to open it. After they finished their search, the went back towards the secret passage that led them here. Cass just steadily flipping the lever until they notice and come through. Once the party was all together, the trio explained what they saw while Cass explained the doll showing up, attacking, and leaving with no more than creepy child giggling.

The party took a moment to catch their breath and discuss next steps, Xedran went back to the small room a scroll and scrap of journal was found in, casting Comprehend Languages to discover it was the last words of the skeletal remains nearby. In it they described a secret passage no longer working due to fire in the library destroying the trigger. During this time, Dheir and Saxon found various pieces of furniture from the tea room and attempted to block the passage doors, hoping the need for a lever puller would no longer be required. Unfortunately, the mechanisms and doors of the passage were too strong as they crushed the pieces without struggle.

Xedran brought the information he gathered back to the group after finding what appeared to be the location of the trigger. He stayed with Saxon and Kit at the griffin statue while Dheir and Cassian went to investigate this trigger. They found a small hole in the wall, Cass held up his Sky Orb and coaxed out the many tiny specks of starlight to form a Star Spirit in the shape of a spider. Once it solidified, he instructed the Spirit to crawl into the hole and follow it to the end. Once it found what remained of the trigger, it began to produce silk and attach it to the trigger before weaving a thin rope of spider silk back out of the hole for Cassian to pull gently, leading to a clicking noise and the secret door opening.

The pair investigated the new room, finding it to be a coat room of sorts, only thing of note being a few plain cloaks hanging up and a door. Dheir investigated the coats for another cloaker but found none. They continued towards another door, where Dheir peaked her head out into a small empty courtyard, no magical field seemed to keep the elements away as plantlife existed in the small place. While looking around, Dheir noticed a small gate/door in the wall, she cautiously opened and looked out of it seeing the freedom the party were searching for. She came back and told Cass of the door and they both decided to get the other three before trying to escape (trying to work out how to get everyone through the passage as well). As they leave the coat room though, the murder doll appeared with their creepy giggle and attacked them, giving Cassian another deep wound before disappearing again.

Meanwhile, Saxon and Xedran were playing patty cake and gossiping while sticking near to the statue. The doll appeared next to them with the same murderous glee and attacked! The surprise strike got a lucky hit on Xedran, but with a quick reaction from Saxon pulling their new magical sword, calling out the command and lighting it ablaze. They struck the doll with the flaming sword, harming it greatly, "That's not fair!" it called out before disappearing again. The pair took defensive stances, preparing themselves against such an evil and creepy thing as this murderous doll with a habit for disappearing. Xedran used his mage hand to pull the lever continuously, hoping the other two would notice.

On the other side of the passage, while Cassian used some druidic magics to heal some of his wounds, Dheir began talking him into leaving. Cass was in agreement but they needed to come up with way to get everyone on this side of the passage. They discussed teleportation, breaking the walls, but then Cass remembered one of the ancient constellations from the scrolls he got from Voynich's Manuscripts in Kuridu, in the shape of an octopus. They decided on the plan, and started to work their way back through the cloak room out to the courtyard and out the gate. There, Cassian focused his sky orb on the pattern of stars not often observed by those of today, pulling starlight out of the orb and solidifying it into an octopus, wrapped around Dheir. Dheir then dashed through the building, waited for the right moment to dash through the passage, finding the trio of Xedran, Saxon, and Kit. She put the octopus (that's currently holding it's breath while Cass looks through it's eyes) on the griffin statue and let it take the place of Xedran. She told them there was a way out and they should take it.

With fast agreements, the party escaped through the same path Dheir took in. They found Cassian outside in the midday sun, and once they were all out he dismissed the Star Spirit. They all left the grounds of the Haunted Manse, eager to get back on the road after losing a day of travel. Though when they looked back before it was out of view, they saw on a balcony the murder doll smiling their creepy smile and waving goodbye, seemingly recovering from the burns Saxon gave them. The party continued forward, wanting to put the episode behind them, they walked till the evening letting Saxon find them a spot amid some hills.

They settled in for the night, Dheir taking first watch. While it was mostly quiet, she did see a star falling from the sky in the direction close to where they were traveling. She noted the direction and made a wish. The night proceeded without further incident but as soon as they were all awake and she mentioned the falling star, Cassian quickly asked where it fell and went in the direction she specified. He didn't know what it would be, if this was an omen, or something new, but a star falling felt important. He lead the group onwards and they walked for a few hours before finding the crater it landed in. While still warm, it was cool enough to touch, a dark looking metallic rock. Saxon used their innate connection to magic to touch the fallen stone, learning that if the outer shell were to break, something would come from inside it. Cassian was determined to take it with them regardless, deciding there was a reason the stars had dropped this before them. Though he has never heard of anything coming out of a fallen star, the only way to find out for sure was to be there when it happened, and if it didn't happen soon, they were on the way to his Circle and they may know something. Saxon pulled out some rope and tied the meteorite up in a way to carry on their back. Cass suggested putting their cloak over it to better hide from any prying eyes while they were on the road.

The party continued on their, course correcting enough and finding a road to follow. It wasn't long on this journey before they heard what sounded like combat on the other side of a large boulder. Kit did his best attempt at sneaking forward (but failed :( ) seeing a group of guards whose metal armor seemed almost completely rusted away and in danger of being eaten by a large Rust Monster. Saxon relayed this information to the group and they all prepared themselves to assist the nearly naked guards!

On the evening of the 2nd of Istenarum, the rain continued to pour outside the abandoned and seemingly haunted mansion, the party (consisting of Dheir, Xedran, Saxon+Kit, and Cassian) took a moment to gather their bearings. Discussing the various events they've seen so far and where next to go, they decide to descend down the stairs instead of returning to face the pulsing green they saw above. Their descent leads to a door, they opened it, prepared to face something but instead found themselves in a laboratory, a flesh golem of sorts lay without hands, feet, or brain on an operating table. Various arcane and alchemical tools could be seen on tables and a great electrical device seemed primed and ready to electrocute anything it was hooked too. As soon as they all entered the room, the door slammed shut and an apparition of a person moving from the golem to a desk appeared then disappeared in a blink of an eye. Gas began to slowly spray into the room as Dheir went to the desk and found a paper that seemed to have a pattern denoting which hands, feet, and brains could go into the golem. While she and Saxon reviewed the puzzle and called out the results, Cas and Xedran went to work reattaching the limbs and sealing the brain in.

The teamwork made the dream work, as the golem came to life with a flick of the electrical machine electrocuting the creature. It got off the table and moved to the door, opening the lock on it and allowing the party to leave. They attempted to communicate with the creature but it made no responses and simply held the door open. Xedran grabbed a brooch that lay beneath the golem on the table. The party then made their way back up to the main floor, still determined to avoid going higher up, they decided to head back to the dining room (where ghosts and fire occurred) and attempting the doors beyond. Xedran and Dheir dashed through the dining hall, trying to avoid the screaming ghosts. Xedran found himself in an empty closet, while Dheir found herself in a ballroom. One end had a ancient fireplace while the other had a large glass wall viewing out to an old garden with a pool and several skeletons laying on the ground. Before she could really investigate further, two ghosts appeared in the room. A man (referred to as General Mantharthas) and a woman (who mentioned the man's wife, so is probably not her), discussing plans for an undead army before vanishing.

Dheir called the others in, and they all gathered around the glass wall, looking over the area that used to be a garden but now is just a collection of roots and decay. While looking out and discussing possibly jumping the wall to make an escape, they noticed a magical barrier above it, rain drops hitting and sliding off. With that off the table, they then noticed what appeared to be a sword hilt glint beneath the roots. Attempts to move the sword from afar failed, so Saxon stepped out to go pull it out. After they first stepped out, an undead beholder rose from the pond and instantly shot an eye ray at Saxon, paralyzing them. They shook off the effect just as another ray attempted to disintegrate them, quickly Saxon moved back inside and the party closed the door, moving far away from it. The Zombie Beholder slowly slipped back beneath the still waters. Cassian summoned an Aura of Vitality to restore health to the party while Xedran and Dheir worked out a trick to get the sword, using a lit lantern Xedran carried over to the roots with mage hand, breaking it on the roots to burn them away. He then used the mage hand to bring the sword back.

With their new loot, they decided it would be best to take some time and rest. Saxon used their mystical connection to divine the powers of the sword and brooch before the party took turns with a watch. It was quiet aside from some creepy laughter in the rooms above them. In the morning of the 3rd of Istenarum, they all felt weakened somewhat but continued to search the ground floor. Eventually signs of a secret door was found in the tea room, Cassian then made his way to the statue of the griffin and pulled one of the raised paws, revealing a secret room. When Dheir and Xedran investigated it, there was nothing inside. Cas pulled the lever again and while the door to the tea room closed, a new door opened. The pair went deeper as Cas and Saxon+Kit waited, discussing various topics while the others searched the new room. While the main room they searched did not have much beyond someone's target practice, the pair did find a spell scroll and some writing on a paper so ancient, they worried it would fall apart if they touched it in a small living quarters. They turned their eyes to the next room, where they saw a cloak laying on what appeared to be a skeleton.

Xedran used mage hand to bring it closer to them, but as it did it revealed itself as a Cloaker, a monster that appears to be a normal cloak till it moves. So begins a desperate fight as Dheir and Xedran attack it with all they got as the Cloaker attempted to wrap and consume them. Things got so desperate that Xedran cast a Shatter spell to alert Cas and Saxon. Cas quickly moved the lever to unlock the door, as Saxon jumped into action and raced over, leaving Kit with Cassian for protection. As soon as Saxon was out of the room, the doll appeared from the floor above, preparing who knows what for the Sapien and Tiger standing before them...

On New Years Day, the party (consisting of Dheir, Saxon+Kit, Cassian, and Xedran) left Kuridu with little fan fare, hoping the city would be able to weather any of the possible Anti-Magic disasters that the Servants of the Dicemaker in Destra could send while they went to search for the piece of the Copper Shield Grestia told them existed beneath the Gloomspire Mountains in the Deathling city of Haeven to the west. They walked for a few hours along the road, going from the forested region to one of more rolling hills. Their fellow travelers on the road soon became sparser as they continued farther away from the city. Soon after the region transition, the party spotted a pair of Cloud Elf women sharing a picnic under a single tree at the top of a hill. Dheir excitedly changed into her noble cloak and bounded up the hill (in the most noble of fashions) to speak with the pair. The rest of the party followed her to them, where they all discovered the two women were clearly in the middle of a very private and sorrowful moment together. After some half-hearted conversation, one of the women pulled out a bottle of wine, causing Saxon to ask for a swig of it, not fully waiting for her to allow it before swallowing some and handing it back. Saxon felt a sharp pain in her stomach from poison that was in the wine.

Before the party could really ask them what the deal was, they too were drinking glasses from the wine, kissing each other one final time before succumbing to the embrace of death. The party were shocked by these developments for a moment, before Dheir searched them for some note or other effects. She did find a suicide note, which stated the pair killed themselves from their families not accepting them. The party were saddened by their story, and as some of the party were searching them for anything of worth (they're dead, so they won't need them), they all heard a cart coming down the road and voices. Cassian thought fast and cast Plant Growth to get the grasses to all grow taller to hide the group. They listened to the people next to the cart long enough to know they were looking for the pair of women, Dheir quickly returned the items she found on them before the party made their way back to the road going the back way around the hill. They could hear the sounds of their acquaintances finding their bodies as they made their way westward into a new forest region.

Saxon, still not feeling the best from the poison they drank, led the group to a small clearing off the road for them to rest for the night, a night all the party had dreams of note. Whether they mean something for the their futures or not remains to be seen. They eventually woke on the morning of the 2nd of Isternarum, mostly fine aside from Dheir's pack sitting in a pile of fire ants. They resumed their travels through the forested region. While the day was mostly uneventful, the party paused their journey to allow a family of ducks to cross (rather franticly) as a clearly starved skyloy jumped out of the brush after the creatures. Saxon's protective instincts kicked in and they jumped after the skyloy determined to protect the fowl family. The rest of the party of courser followed their large friend and big cat companion, though the protection wasn't needed as they soon found the poor skyloy dead in a pit trap. With Saxon satisfied the ducks came to no harm, they all proceeded to find their way back to the road.

Instead of finding the road, they came to a clearing with the ruins of a village all surrounded what appeared to be the remains of an old mansion. The sky was beginning to get darker from both evening and clouds as the party made their way to the ruined manse. They looked into the windows near the closed door, at first seeing nothing, but in a flash of lightning they thought they could see a small pair of blue eyes beyond the dirty and grimy glass. They tried the door, managing to get it open and proceeding inside. The weather turning more sour as rains fall and winds howl, they slowly took steps into the darkened entry way. Dheir stepped toward one of two looming statues, causing them both to come to life and attack!

The party managed to defend themselves, reducing the statues to rubble, they found the doors to the outside closed so they proceeded deeper into the entrance hall. They stepped up onto a landing, seeing a small creepy doll, then proceeding down into a tea room. The chandelier hanging above fell as soon as Dheir stepped under it, just narrowly escaping the crash. They all proceeded deeper to another room, light and a semblance of life filled this room as many noble looking people sat at a large table discussing things amongst themselves, but as the party got closed, the stoic man that stood emotionless at the table's head swiftly turned their head, screaming for the party to leave before they all vanished as an illusory flame engulfed the room. Some of the party took mental damage from thinking the flames were real when they first appeared. They returned to the upper landing in the entrance hall, noticing the doll that was there is now no longer.

They proceeded up the stairs on the side of the landing, seeing a glowing green pulse on the upper halls. They returned to the landing to discuss their next steps in the dark, foreboding mansion..

The party spent most of their New Year's Eve doing their own things, Dheir spent the day mentally preparing for her fight that night at the Pour Judgement, Cassian finishing up his potion brewing in preparation of the journey ahead of them, while Saxon+Kit and Xedran pretty much did their own bar crawl around town. As evening began to settle in on the city of Kuridu and the various gatherings formed for a night of merriment, everyone began making their way over to the Pour Judgment. On the way to the bar, Cassian passed by a small group of people he recognized as Servants of the Dicemaker, most in the common robes they seem to wear with one of them in the suit of armor seen on higher ups. He also felt the same uneasy/ill feeling wash over him that he felt in Destra. After walking about 40ft away, feeling the connection the Weave return, he made his way into an alleyway out of view. Feeling suspicious of their motives, he pulled out his Sky Orb, the inky darkness of night filled with the light of many stars could be seen within. He concentrated and coaxed out a collection of the silvery starlight into a constellation of an owl before it solidified into the form of a barn owl. Cass asked the Star Spirit to keep watch on the group (noting it should keep its distance from the armored one) and continued to the Pour Judgement.

There the party all had a drink, discussed their day, and Cass informed them of the cultists before talk turned to Dheir and her fight. They all mingled for a short while before she slipped away beneath the lively tavern to the fighting ring below. Dheir made her way down, hearing the many people discuss and place bets on the coming fights. She signed up for her fight and started to prepare herself for whatever she may face. She was not expecting to be presented with the large, feathered monstrosity that is the Owlbear! A deft dance of beak, blade, aether ore-magic, and claw began to the excitement of the crowd watching. Dheir dodged the creature's strikes while making her own in reply, enhanced with the aether ore magic flowing through her veins. She gave it her all and the Owlbear was left with a sliver of it's own morale left, but unfortunately the creature had the upper hand and defeated Dheir. Luckily, she was taken out of the ring and saved before the creature could finish her off.

Between the time Dheir slipped away to go to her fight, and the battle with the Owlbear began in earnest, Saxon+Kit, Xedran, and Cass were sitting in the Pour Judgement, having a drink and discussing their days and the coming trip. Suddenly, Cassian could feel the Star Spirit make contact with him, the sight of the Servants of the Dicemaker going into Kuridu's Temple of Acera. He told the others and they all began heading that way into rain that had started to come down, planning to confront the cultists (leaving a message with the bartender for Dheir to follow). On the way to the temple, they could see it was starting to burn, as if something struck its spire. Once they got there, a growing group of guards could be seen attempting to throw balls of water onto the flames, unfortunately these balls were unable to give the desired effect . The group flagged down one of the guards and quickly explained an anti-magic cult had members inside and were likely blocking any magical effects from working.

They followed the guard into the temple, finding the SoD members trying to get a collapsed beam that had fallen onto the armored person, knocking them unconscious. The guard (and their fellows that followed us in) removed the beam and took the unconscious cultist away, the others following them. The party told the remaining guards they should try their water balls again, this time they were successful and the flames began to fade. One of Acera's priests soon came out of the back of the temple and discussed the event with the party, informing them of the various Dicemaker cultists that would stop by every now and then (how there seemed to be a few sects within them and how a woman that seemed high up on the totem pole who had a charm about her few seemed to resist). The party also learned it was common for temples dedicated to Acera to be struck with lightning during storms. They then made their way to where the cultists were being held, getting a chance to explain what they knew to the Captain of the Guard Cestera (sp? My handwriting is atrocious here haha).

As the party finished explaining what they knew of the cult and the experiences they had with them in Destra, they filed out of the town hall to see if they could update Dheir about the situation (of course Cassian quickly popped back in and gave a note to the receptionist to pass along to the Captain about having some form of minor magical item being used to detect any active anti-magic fields. While all this excitement was going on, Dheir recovered from being knocked unconscious, watched a few of the fights, then made her way back upstairs, she was informed we had left for the temple and began making her way over. She then encountered the other four as they were exiting their talks with the Captian. The party then discussed the events of the night with each other before getting rest and preparing for their long journey away from Kuridu, unsure what awaited them, what would change in this place that's been home for the last month, and of any changes that would occur within them on the trek across the continent in this brand new year.

On the 29th of Mitu, the party (currently consisting of Dheir, Xedran, Saxon+Kit, Cassian-in-a-Ruby) made their way to Voynich's Manuscripts, hoping the old man running the place may have some solution for their ruby trouble. Unfortunately, while he was able to give them some information on the ruby's existence, there seems to be no real way to break whatever magic currently holds it. He did however mention to Cassian he had a scroll that might hold interest for him. The party thanked him for his time before heading back to Flest's manor. There they put Cassian onto a pedestal in one of Flest's treasure rooms. Leaving Cass to wait out the enchantment, the rest of the group went out and spent some time drinking, Dheir even learned of their next fight opportunity on New Year's Eve, the 32nd of the month.

Cassian spent the next many hours counting the various treasures in the room, the magic of the gem not allowing him rest and no one else in the room left him no other options of entertainment. Slowly but surely he began to form an attachment to them, as the isolation combined with what felt like an eternity hastened the various social attachment formations that many Sapiens tend to make with their peers, only in this case he made them with the coins he saw. It was during the early hours of the 30th of Mitu that Cassian found himself on the floor of the treasure room, knocking over the pedestal and some of the other treasures. The ruby fell near by and Cassian made sure to give it a wide berth as he left the room and bumped into a concerned Flest. Cassian explained the state of the room before realizing how hungry he was. Flest showed him to the kitchen where Cassian proceeded to eat his fill. They conversed a little about the Destra situation before Cassian bid his farewells and headed outside. The cool crisp air felt so good on his skin he decided to pull a Saxon and sleep outside near the Soul Pond, looking at the reflections of the stars in the still waters.

In the morning Saxon and Kit find Cass passed out in the grass, they wake him up and together go to R&R's for food. Dheir and Xedran meanwhile went from the Moler's to Flests, who qwuickly informed them of Cass's escape from the Ruby in the early hours. The pair began their search and eventually the party found each other. They took care of their errands for the day, getting the updates to the Ember Sands map from Amondurap and seeing what goods Voynich had earmarked for Cassian (a dwarven star chart that was sadly too expensive for the man to buy, or at least that's what he wanted everyone to think and it definitely isn't related to any unhealthy attachments to coins). Afterwards the party set out to prepare for their trip to Haevan, deciding to leave in the new year so Dheir gets her chance at a fight before they leave.

They spend the rest of the 30th, all of the 31st, and the majority of the daylight hours on the 32nd doing their own things:

1. Xedran, Saxon, and Kit spent some time doing performances for money, Xed providing the music for Saxon and Kit to preform to.
2. Dheir and Cassian spent the first day hunting for various Ore and Herbs
3. Dheir would continue to search for ore and refine it
4. Cassian spent the 31st and 32nd brewing some healing potions for the journey ahead.

With the town of Kuridu already into various New Years celebrations the party are in a mixture of relaxed and anxiety, between the large gatherings of people at the celebrations being a potential target for really anything and the upcoming journey across a magically created desert, there were many opportunities for issues to arise.

just entered town of Destra. There were no wanted posters for Xedran, only some townspeople, guards walking along the walls and the gate, as well as the cult they followed in, currently in a group gathered near a Cloud Elf. The party decided to go to the local tavern to try and get information, before they could they were interrupted by the Cloud Elf coming to them, recognizing Xedran under his poor disguise easily. Grestia welcome the party to Destra and invited them all the dinner, the party were surprised but accepted. Grestia gave them a time and took off to his mansion with some of the cult in tow.

Dheir decided to go get some clothes for the dinner at the local tailor, getting directions from Xedran before she left. The rest of the party then headed to the tavern previously known as Grestia's Libations, now known as the The Jackyls Head. The female Rock Dwarf owner Sonva greeted Xedran and the party warmly, welcoming them to the tavern and offering them a drink. They accepted, noticing that the room was lit by fire instead of magic, warming the room up. They talked with Sonva, learning about the cult not really communicating with the townsfolk, only really going to Grestia's mansion and to the rooms they had in the inn before Grestia opened up his home to them. It was around then that his personality changed from abrasive to considerate, and days later magic began to fail. They discussed more things until Dheir arrived, then they searched the inn rooms, only finding a small piece of torn parchment. They could not find any secret messages on it. Xedran even tried some cantrips before they failed and he began to feel a bit sick.

The party soon left and collected Dheir's new threads, they then went to the mansion. They were forced to give up their weaponry before being allowed inside. On the other side of the gate they walked into a very natural looking garden, as if the wilds here were left untouched during development of the village. They knocked on the door, a butler answered and brought them to a waiting area. There they waited until Grestia arrived and escorted to them to the dining room. Grestia and the party talked about various subjects before turning towards the cult (who the party learned are called the Servants of the Dicemaker). He then explained the Servants of the Dicemaker's modest^ proposal, a world without magic. One with only technology (referencing worked steel into weaponry) to lead the way. He spoke of how the War of Dragons could happen again, another Day of Embers that none would survive if magic was left to exist. He pulled out the piece of the Copper Shield he had, stating tests have shown it can produce an anti-magic field large enough to cover the town.

He sent the artifact away with a heavily armored individual before joining the party at the table and eating with them (or at least with those who still had the appetite for it). He answered the party's questions and debating any potential issues that could arise from disabling all magic, even agreeing that some magical creatures may die without the Weave existing. Though, he specified that the single piece of the artifact would likely not be enough for the whole world, and two other pieces would be needed. He went on that one is in the caverns beneath the Gloomspires with the Deathlings, and the other is somewhere on the continent of Alathel. Dheir offered for the party to go and search for them, with Grestia accepting the help and offering gold in return for the assistance.

Grestia then offered them rooms for the night, with some searching them as soon as they were alone, Cassian attempted a casting of Locate Object to see if they could find the Copper Shield but the spell failed and he also felt somewhat ill similar to Xedran did earlier. They all settled in for the night, unsure of what might occur under the roof of Grestia (if the man they met even is Grestia....)

^*Modest in this case is a reference to the satirical essay by Jonathan Swift, unfortunately for the world of Aerethia, they are 100% serious with their proposal (at least as far as our protagonists is aware).

The party slept through the night, to varying degrees of restfulness, waking on the 28th of Mitu. They found nothing had been done to them, and so prepared for their day. The three (Xedran, Dheir, and Cassian) that stayed indoors for the night met in the hallway outside their room. There they informed one of the guards in the hall they would like to meet with Grestia before leaving. The guard informed them breakfast was already waiting downstairs and sent another guard off to fetch Grestia for the party. Saxon and Kit met the trio in the dining hall, where all four proceed to have at least small amounts of food. Cassian didn't have much of an appetite at this point. A little after they arrived, Grestia did as well, bringing with him a box containing various items. The party asked a few additional questions about their goal, a second piece of the Copper Shield hidden somewhere in the Deathling city of Haeven.

Grestia answered their questions, passing along an old map of the Ember Sands marking various potential landmarks, but is possibly out of date. Also within the box were water pills for hydration, two health potions, and a potion of polychromi. The party thanked him for his assistance before taking their leave, explaining they would resupply in Kuridu before beginning the journey to the Gloomspires. Once out of ear shot of the guard and making their way out of the city, the group began to discuss their theories on Grestia, including him being mind controlled, possessed, swapped with a double, and various other highly improbable, yet seemingly plausible ideas. They also agreed to inform those they think they can trust in Kuridu, the Servant's of the Dicemaker's plans being too far for the four to go along with.

Their connection to magic restored minutes after exiting the town of Destra, they began to make their way back to Kuridu, with the idea of going to the mud for their original guild request. While still on the road, Cassian gave a brief rundown of his backstory since it appeared they might need to soon head toward Vrin to get to Haevan, and the Circle of Stars may be good allies against the anti-magic cult. Soon the group came across a ruined cart. Dheir went over to investigate it, noting that it seemed to be destroyed in an attack of sorts. She searched the wreckage and found some aether ore, which she pocketed, as well as a ruby. A ruby that soon was all she could see, as she found herself pulled into it. The party attempted to free her from it but were unable to, deciding to carry the now talking ruby with them until they could come up with something. Eventually they left the road to reach the swamp mud, finding it giant alligator free. They continued on their way to Kuridu, soon finding a place to rest for the night.

It was that night that Dheir popped out of the ruby, but by the morning on the 29th of Mitu, Xedran was within it. The party continued on their way to Kuridu, not having much excitement occur till they reached the gates. Xedran came out of the gem, and Sneak Snake the weasel ended up inside it for a few minutes before letting Saxon have a turn inside. The group made their way to the Moler's Guild to report the mud was cleared up and then went to speak to Amondurap about the Dicemaker's cult. It was in this office that Saxon swapped with Cassian. The party (including Cassian the Talking Ruby) explained the situation to them, agreeing something must be done. The party said they would be back to discuss a map of the Ember Sands and to bring any additional info they receive.

The party's next stop brought them to Flest's manor, where further discussions took place. Flest advised them not to speak with the Mayor of Kuridu about the situation, letting them know he would make his own inquiries while they looked into getting out of the Ruby Shuffle they've been dealing with. The party agreed and made their way towards Voyich's manuscripts after a recommendation by Amondurap.

The party (Xedran, Cassian, Dheir, and Saxon+Kit) took in the sights that greeted them as they just entered town of Destra. There were no wanted posters for Xedran, only some townspeople, guards walking along the walls and the gate, as well as the cult they followed in, currently in a group gathered near a Cloud Elf. The party decided to go to the local tavern to try and get information, before they could they were interrupted by the Cloud Elf coming to them, recognizing Xedran under his poor disguise easily. Grestia welcome the party to Destra and invited them all the dinner, the party were surprised but accepted. Grestia gave them a time and took off to his mansion with some of the cult in tow.

Dheir decided to go get some clothes for the dinner at the local tailor, getting directions from Xedran before she left. The rest of the party then headed to the tavern previously known as Grestia's Libations, now known as the The Jackyl's Head. The female Rock Dwarf owner Sonva greeted Xedran and the party warmly, welcoming them to the tavern and offering them a drink. They accepted, noticing that the room was lit by fire instead of magic, warming the room up. They talked with Sonva, learning about the cult not really communicating with the townsfolk, only really going to Grestia's mansion and to the rooms they had in the inn before Grestia opened up his home to them. It was around then that his personality changed from abrasive to considerate, and days later magic began to fail. They discussed more things until Dheir arrived, then they searched the inn rooms, only finding a small piece of torn parchment. They could not find any secret messages on it. Xedran even tried some cantrips before they failed and he began to feel a bit sick.

The party soon left and collected Dheir's new threads, they then went to the mansion. They were forced to give up their weaponry before being allowed inside. On the other side of the gate they walked into a very natural looking garden, as if the wilds here were left untouched during development of the village. They knocked on the door, a butler answered and brought them to a waiting area. There they waited until Grestia arrived and escorted to them to the dining room. Grestia and the party talked about various subjects before turning towards the cult (who the party learned are called the Servants of the Dicemaker). He then explained the Servants of the Dicemaker's modest^ proposal, a world without magic. One with only technology (referencing worked steel into weaponry) to lead the way. He spoke of how the War of Dragons could happen again, another Day of Embers that none would survive if magic was left to exist. He pulled out the piece of the Copper Shield he had, stating tests have shown it can produce an anti-magic field large enough to cover the town.

He sent the artifact away with a heavily armored individual before joining the party at the table and eating with them (or at least with those who still had the appetite for it). He answered the party's questions and debating any potential issues that could arise from disabling all magic, even agreeing that some magical creatures may die without the Weave existing. Though, he specified that the single piece of the artifact would likely not be enough for the whole world, and two other pieces would be needed. He went on that one is in the caverns beneath the Gloomspires with the Deathlings, and the other is somewhere on the continent of Alathel. Dheir offered for the party to go and search for them, with Grestia accepting the help and offering gold in return for the assistance.

Grestia then offered them rooms for the night, with some searching them as soon as they were alone, Cassian attempted a casting of Locate Object to see if they could find the Copper Shield but the spell failed and he also felt somewhat ill similar to Xedran did earlier. They all settled in for the night, unsure of what might occur under the roof of Grestia (if the man they met even is Grestia....)

^Modest in this case is a reference to the satirical essay by Jonathan Swift, unfortunately for the world of Aerethia, they are 100% serious with their proposal (at least as far as our protagonists is aware).

Dheir prepared herself before heading to the bartender of the Pour Judgment, getting them to escort her to the "secret" pit fighting arena beneath it. She checked in to get her fight confirmed, watching the few before hers and then betting on herself and heading into the ring. Saxon+Kit and Xedran found themselves drinking in the Pour Judgment to kill time, while Cassian went to the Soul Pond to ponder the Stars, the faint feeling of dread in the back of his mind growing in tandem with each dream of the Void, a portion of the sky without Stars, doing the same. Dheir stepped into the ring, her opponent the same bear that defeated her in the weeks prior roars as it makes its way forward.

Dheir gripped the pair of daggers in her hands, striking swiftly at the ferocious beast. It lunges in an attempt to get her, but she cartwheels out of the attack. She retaliates by stabbing the bear and leveraging her smaller form to flip over the bear's back. The crowd goes wild at the dance of blades and claws before them, Dheir and the bear trading blows. The bear roars in pain and fury as Dheir gets multiple deep cuts through it's thick skin, swiping at her with it's paw. Dheir dodges and goes in for another stirke at it's neck and flipping over it's back once again, nearly losing her balance as the bear slumped down with its dying breath beneath her, she stuck the three point landing and gracefully moved into noble bow for the crowd, all cheering for the entertaining battle (except for the bear's trainer who could be seen off the side for the creature they raised since a cub). Dheir collected her winnings, then proceeded to watch a few of the next fights before joining her party in the bar above. At some point prior to Dheir joining, Cassian had made his way into the bar as well.

Dheir filled the party in and they celebrated with her before they went to bed for the night.

The morning of the 26th of Mitu rolled around, Cass had the idea to get out to scroll of ancient astrological notes for information on the Void, finding notes that indicate the Void was once larger. It apparently decreased in size during the Embers. He packed the notes away before meeting with the group for breakfast. The whole party then went to the Sable Sea in an attempt to find Sast or any other boat that would take them to Destra. Unfortunately, there were none available and Sast had taken some tourists out to the Strait ( the New Year celebrations were coming soon and tourists were starting to come to the city for it). The party gathered any last minute supplies they needed and headed out the south gate towards Destra. On the way out of town, a boggan handed Dheir a small mechanized box that made bird noises.

Dheir let it play on their rather uneventful walk for the day, eventually they all stepped off the road and let Saxon find them a nice place of rest. While no one noticed anything during the night, the party awoke on the 27th of Mitu to their waterskins all containing wine. They searched around but could not find a cause so decided to continue on their journey. This day was also rather uneventful until a ruin of sorts just off the road caught their eyes, they spent some time clearing away the plant life that grew over it, revealing what appeared to be a shrine. They did not know who it was until Xedran used Comprehend Languages to learn it was a shrine to Tylburr, and it would return anything offered in duplicate. Cass poured his wine into it, Xedran some drops of blood, (and if Saxon and Dheir remind Logan what they put in that will be included here). They then continued their journey south, eventually their offerings did appear doubled, with Cass's waterskin overflowing with the wine.

Eventually the party reached the outskirts of Destra, they reminded Xedran he could be a wanted man in town. Xedran told them all not to worry and went behind some trees to prepare a disguise. While he did this, a group of chanting people made their way down the road, passing the party and paying them no mind as they proceeded towards town. Xedran came out of the woods with a vary questionable disguise before they all followed the strange group into Destra. No one stopped the group and from their first steps in they could see no wanted posters. Minutes after arrival and already a suspicion of shenanigans begins to creep over the party.

On the 24th of Mitu, sometime had passed since Xedran was electrocuted by the secondary door to the Thieves Guild, he found himself in a cell with only the clothes on his body. He waited in the dark cell by himself for a bit before hearing two people having a slight disagreement down the hall, then the jingle of keys as they came to his cell. The guard with keys opened the door at the insistence of the other man, who Xed discovered was Barlow. Barlow led Xedran to get his things (where he recovered all but his coin) and then to the mess hall to find a man they called "Crazy Eyes".

Per Barlow, Crazy Eyes is an associate of the person that likely killed Drick and would be the most likely to know where the piece of the Copper Shield went. After the initial greetings, Crazy Eyes asked Xed what could be given in exchange for the information sought. After Xedran contemplated his freshly empty wallet, he took CE's offer for a potential smuggling job in the future for the information. With that, CE led Xedran to his room where he had some records of who treasures were sold to. He informed Xedran that the artifact was sold to a noble in the town of Destra, a town to the south of Kuridu. Based on the descriptions given, Xedran was confident the noble is Grestia Weshan, a Cloud Elf he had the displeasure of meeting previously, a meeting that neither would likely forget due to Weshan losing a finger and Xedran gaining an accessory.

After receiving the information, Xedran left the Thieves Guild to find the rest of the party (Dheir, Saxon+Kit, and Cassian). They spent this time at the Pour Judgment where Saxon drank and Dheir got Cassian to help with her Elvish. Eventually, Xedran found them and explained all he learned at the guild. The party then began to hash out the details of how they would get to Destra, ways they may get the the artifact back, as well as who they may reach out to for more information. They decide to head to Flest, as he is a noble as well and would likely have some idea of what they may encounter.

Their discussions with Xedran at the tavern and Flest in his home allowed the party to learn a few things about Weshan and Dresta:

• The town is pretty much owned by Grestia Weshan, as they decided to "experience the frontier", basically creating a company town where the majority that live and work there work for him.
• Weshan's family is from Alathel and are generally considered good folk compared to Grestia.
• The only people that seem to like living in Destra are those that make up the town's militia.
• Weshan is unlikely to willing part with the artifact, and the party will likely need to get it back without his approval/knowledge.

The party then went and rested for the night, spending most of the day of the 25th of Mitu doing there own thing, as they agreed to wait for Dheir to have her fight before heading out to Destra for the artifact and to check the magical mud for nesting giant crocodiles.

On the 23rd of Mitu, The party (consisting of Saxon+Kit, Dheir, Xedran, and Cassian via Star Spider when he wasn't distracted by an older gentleman that enjoys conversation during simple strategy games) discussed the remaining details surrounding getting into the Thieves Guild by offing a Cloud Elf man that goes by the Squirrel. They learned he would likely be in a lower income area to the south of the Pour Judgment and that his death must look like an accident or natural causes. While they received any additional information on their target, Cassian continued to entertain the old man between his power naps. It was around this time during one of the man's naps that Cassian noticed another older person slowly walking in that direction, staring directly at him. Cass took this moment to move to another seat outside, assuming the newcomer was the friend the old man was waiting for.

A short time later, the whole party went to the block of buildings their contact Barlow informed them of. While Cass, Saxon+Kit, and Dheir took spots to keep watch, Xedran decided to put on a performance to help draw attention and keep an eye out for the Squirrel. During this, Cass took time to peer through the spider's eyes as it clung to Xedran. Xedran's performance became the main attraction fairly quickly, leading to them spotting the Squirrel as he was passing by. Cass via Spider noticed a pristine, jeweled sheath with a dagger in it, giving Cass something to cast Locate Object on. After the Squirrel walked by, Xedran ended his performance and began to follow them along with Dheir. They came to a building, knocking on it to try and see if he'd come out but Cass's spell revealed he had simply used it to travel to the street on the other side. Cass informed Saxon and then the others, noting the Squirrel was headed towards the Smithys.

The party followed him, coming back to the Pour Judgment. Here Saxon+Kit and Dheir went in to find a table to keep watch from, Xedran put on his best drunken performance to get close to the Squirrel, while Cassian stayed outside, concerned for the two old men now still outside the tavern. Xedran continued to woo the Squirrel into complacency, purchasing drinks until he was distracted enough by Dheir, injecting herself between them for more drinks of her own, for Xed to put the Haeven's Blossom into a drink. Meanwhile, Cassian determined the men were dead and called over a guard to inform them, it was during this that the pair began to move and walk, startling Cass into a panic entangle. He then assisted the guards with subduing the Untethered before they carted them off to be burned.

With the poison taking it's toll on the poor Squirrel, the party took their leave, going about their own business for the rest of the day. Dheir spent some time with Aether Ore and studying the elvish language. Cassian went to Voyich's manuscripts to discuss the ancient version of the Alathel Kingdom's symbol. (Logan note: I don't have anything down for what Saxon+Kit or Xedran did during this time). Afterwards, they all went to bed, with most of them having a normal night's sleep. Cassian on the other hand had a dream, of the Void expanding, slowly eclipsing the Hourglass. This dream troubled him, a feeling of time potentially running out, but running out for what? He pondered the possibilities in the back of his mind.

The morning of the 24th of Mitu came, the party left to their own devices as they waited for whatever sign or contact with the Thieves Guild. Dheir paid Cassian 100g towards the debt from Flest paying for the restorations, which Cass took directly to Flest's house, passing it along to his housekeeper. Meanwhile, Xedran posted up and began to play a song for coin from any that pass him by, though he got more than that as Barlow walked on and dropped a note for him. The note told Xedran where in the Red Light Distract to go, and go he did, without informing any of his allies.

The first door he came to had a coin slot, he checked for traps but found none. He inserted the coin and the door unlocked, entering and finding the coin on a table next to the entry he took it back into his possession. He continued through the halls of the building until he came to an additional door. He checked it for traps and again found nothing. He reached out to open the door and got shocked unconscious, the rest of the party met up in a bar and discussed his absence but had no clue where he could be.

On the 21st of Mitu, after burning poor Drick's body, the party (consisting of Dheir, Xedran, Cassian, Saxon+Kit) discussed where to find someone to decode the letter or if someone would recognize the coin. Some options discussed included randomly talking to people at bars, finding someone within the guild, Cass even inquired if anyone else in the party had connections to the seedy underbelly of Kuridu (no one admitted to it), or possibly if Flest knew anything (but of course he nor his housekeeper were not home when they attempted to talk to him). After this discussion, Dheir and Saxon+Kit went to the Pour Judgement to look into the next fight club night, with Dheir determined not to miss it this time. Meanwhile, Xedran and Cassian went to find Xed some new boots to goof in. Afterwards, Xed and Cass went to bed in the guild while Dheir and Saxon (mostly Dheir) got hammered at the bar. Saxon managed to stay sober enough to sleep outside but Dheir passed out at the table in the bar. The party rested the night away without issues and even leveled up to 6!

In the morning of the 22nd of Mitu, Cass ritual casted Detect Poison and Disease on the vial of Drick's thick coagulated blood, discovering it has traces of the very potent and highly deadly Haeven's Blossom. A dose of which can slowly kill the victim in a way that makes them appear sleepy and drunk. He then went to the local apothecary Bob's Big Boutique of Beautiful Botanicals to ask if the plant was found locally or if they knew about a supply of it nearby. The shopkeep informed them it was highly illegal and wouldn't be found in a store such as that, only through smuggling or traveling across the continent to harvest yourself. Cassian thanked them for the information and purchased some healing herbs for potion brewing. He then left, expending some spells to cast "Locate Object" attempting to find the Copper Shield, hoping it was just hiding in a local storage building near the market or at the docks. Finding nothing, he made his way back to the guild.

Dheir woke up from their drunken sleep and headed towards the guild, where they glanced around for a rougher looking character, ending up asking Scruffy the Janitor about the coded message. Scruffy told her to take the coded letter, written in thieves cant, to Amondurap. The Thieves Guild will often make attempts to get guild property so anything involving them must be reported. Once Dheir talks to Amondurap, she mentions bringing the letter to Aelicel and that Dheir should return in the afternoon. Afterwards the party convened in the guild hall, with Cass and Dheir passing along the information each gained.

Cassian then decided to go to the pond that Sast fished at to brew potions with the herbs they purchased and gathered, with the rest all agreeing to go with. Dheir used the time walking and some of the time at the pond studying their language book. Xedran of course used the walk to the pond to practice his murder jokes on the local fauna, much to the enjoyment of Kit and slight annoyment of Cassian. Once at the pond, Cassian begins his brew. Eventually it begins to rain and Dheir and Xedran decide to head back to town to talk to Amondurap. Saxon and Kit stayed at the pond while Cassian finished his brewing.

Back at the Guild, Xed and Dheir met with Aelicel, where she told them to infiltrate the Thieves Guild to locate the stolen object and find out more information on them. Cassian and Saxon+Kit returned to the city, being informed that the group will meet a guy who occasionally works of the Thieves Guild in the morning. The party discussed the meeting prior to going to bed, deciding that they would all just go and wait in the bar for him to come to us. Cassian though decided it might be best not to show their full hand and would be part of the meeting through the many eyes of a spider. They then rested for the night.

On the morning of the 23rd of Mitu, the party all went to the Pour Judgement, the Star Spirit Spider holding on to Xedran as they entered. Cassian took a spot outside the bar not really paying much attention to the items near him. As the main group settled into a booth, eventually a man who introduced themselves as Barlow came up to them. They all began to discuss ways to get into the guild, with the main plan to get in being taking a batch of Haeven's Blossom that Barlow offered to the group for them to take out a member of the Thieves Guild known as the Squirrel. They have started to reach the ends of their goodwill, and we could claim he recruited the party before they died (aka we kill them). As they started to get into that conversation, Cassian's attention got pulled away from the spider and to an old man who's friend hadn't shown up. Cassian of course was unable to do anything but agree to entertain the old guy.

On the 19th of Mitu, the party (consisting of Dheir, Saxon+Kit, Xedran, Drick, and Cassian) continued to search the ruins after finishing off the Vermin Worms. They worked with the accompanying Sahabi, Chuka and Belan, to clear out anything that remained. Drick managed to stub his toe on a metal box, dragging it out with the help of Dheir to slightly dryer area of the ruins, they found some gold, a diamond, an octagonal clear spike, and a flat stone with an arcane rune in it. Aside from this and the previous fines, they explored the ruins top to bottom, unable to find whatever was making the other source of noise Cassian heard.

Even though there was a feeling of "we're missing something", the group decided to return to the surface, Cassian removed his Claim Stone, the party bid their farewell to the Sahabi and began to make the trek back to the pick up spot where Cassian would send an animal messenger to Sast for a lift. They soon found a place to make camp, investigating their haul of items, discovering a Chatter Pike, Luck Stone, Mace of Maiming, and the Copper Shield, the mysterious piece of a cube they found. They settled for the night and drifted to sleep.

They woke in the morning (20th of Mitu) to find Drick was gone, and so was the Copper Shield. The party quickly gathered their things, feeling various ways about Drick stealing from them and running off in the night. Cassian sent out a messenger to Sast in the hope of getting their way back to town faster, later when he saw another bird, he cast the spell again to find Drick and deliver a message of his disappointment and requesting the object returned. The party continued to the normal pick up spot, and not finding any tracks, continued downriver to hopefully meet up with Sast sooner, or find Drick. With the day coming to a close and no luck finding him, the party rested for the night, keeping a fire lit in the hopes that Sast will see it if they come up river while they were asleep.

The party awoke on the 21st of Mitu, still figuring out the complicated feelings of betrayal, hurt, and thinking maybe this was inevitable. Cassian, on the urging of Dheir, sent an animal messenger to Amalwor, informing them of the developments. They continued making their way for a few more hours before seeing Sast's boat coming up the river. They waved him down, paid him for his services, and rode his boat back to Kuridu, keeping an eye out for Drick in the swamps but finding nothing over the 6 hour journey.

Once they returned to Kuridu, they thanked Sast and headed to the Guild, hoping there was news on Drick and to start settling up on the ruins they explored. They got there, learned the messenger only got there 30 minutes or so prior, and were able to settle up the cash portion of what they owed to the guild. They then went to separate places to look for Drick, Xedran went to ask if Flest saw him, Saxon+Kit went over to the Courthouse to inform the guard, Dheir went to check the taverns, Cassian stayed at the Guild to talk to Amondurap about the the Copper Shield and any potential historical relevance.

While Cassian basically trauma dumped on Amondurap in their discussions on their findings in the ruins and the related plague, Saxon informing the officials at the Courthouse to look for Drick, and Xedran found Flest was not at home, Dheir walked into the Storm's Brewing, and found Drick slumped over the bar, dead. She asked the bartender what happened, and he informed her that Drick came in with an older looking Sapien man, exchanged some bags between them, had some drinks, a good time, the older man left and soon Drick passed out drunk (he never noticed the poor kid died). Dheir, having already bound him in rope, searched the body, finding various daggers, a coded letter, and a coin hidden in a secret pocked. She then lifted him up and took him out of the bar. On the way back to the Guild, Saxon+Kit and Xedran caught up with Dheir. Saxon went into the guild to find Cassian, locating him in the cafeteria area having finished up his conversation with Amondurap.

When the party was together again, Dheir explained what she learned while Cassian investigated Drick's body to detemine cause of death. They all saw how his veins now had a deep dark and visible hue, with no apparent injuries, Cassian came to the conclusion is was an ingested poison. He got some of very thick coagulated blood out of the body and into a vial for further study the next day. The party then took Drick to the Old Grounds and burned the body. Saying their final words for the boy before determining their next steps.

R.I.P Drick, and good luck to William on his new adventure!

After some time traveling from the abandoned camp to the ruins in the North North North North Easterly direction, the party and pair of Sahabi reach the ruins. They cautiously made their way down into the buried halls, making sure to keep watch for signs of risen tides. They pass the Memory Hall to head to the portion of the ruins they previously fought the diseased vermin worms. Cassian placed a torch at the landing just prior to the previously flooded floor, the waters appeared to have receded.

The walls of this portion were still covered in the black oozy goo, Dheir went to check the path she previously looked down, finding a stairwell down to a deeper portion of the ruins. Saxon checked another path, where they found what looked to be the remains of more living quarters. Xedran went down the only other path remaining, locating a room with various murals depicting the story of a group of like minded individuals during the Dragon Wars assisting the Koji, though soon a schism in the group formed due to some calamity. The final mural showed a group of sapiens, one holding a cube that seems to generate a protective barrier around them. Cassian came into the room and sketched a rough copy of the cube.

While Xedran and Cassian investigated the murals, Dheir and Saxon made their way to the final room of that hallway, finding an stone basin of sorts filled with mud and rock. The pair investigated the basin, pulling out broken stone blocks engraved with names (appearing to be from the Memory Hall). Dheir also manages to find a shiny piece of a cube, further investigation of it with Cassian and Xedran revealed it to be fairly similar to the mural in the previous room, with an older version of the current emblem of the Kingdom of Alathel. They move some of these bricks to the landing above the floor to keep them safe from any potential flooding, while Cassian put the piece of puzzle cube into his pack for safe keeping. They then proceeded to head deeper below, their Sahabi allies and Kit all having a fun time squeezing into the dark halls.

On the next floor, while they heard movement from other portions of the ruin, they didn't see much. The water was about ankle deep on the floor and the oozy goo on the walls was thicker, with hairs that seemed to reach towards the group. Once on the lower floor, Dheir began to go forward to investigate, where she was attacked by a Black Pudding. The party defended themselves using a mixture of might, magic, and molotov cocktails, with the pudding ruining some of the non magical equipment, the party did find a mac in what remained of the creature's form.

The party proceeded father into the ruins, coming to a fully flooded area, Drick took the lead to get through the flooding, ending up with an encounter against vermin worms, an encounter that was mostly Drick, Dheir, and Saxon, with Xedran stuck between Sahabi that couldn't squeeze through and Cassian having to use magic to get close enough for assistance. The party did manage to defeat the creatures and now must plan their next move.

A section towards the back of a personal journal written by a Sapien man named Cassian, it’s leather cover bound together by a thin but strong variety of vine. The paper within, a yellowish color from age, contain various stories from his Druidic Pilgrimage, on many of them there are drawings of plants and small star patterns in both the margins of the pages and full pages. In the noted section, information learned over their travels about various creatures, plants, and people he met on the Pilgrimage, this except focuses on the Vermin Worm, with some notes clearly added later than others.

Vermin Worms, also known as Spike Grubs (Skyloy)

• Awful and disgusting, likes to attach themselves to people and drain their fluids. Somehow, the "people" tend to be me.
• Appear to be single minded, wanting to feed above all else
• They can burrow, or at least I assume they can based on the encounter with them at the warehouse on the 3rd of Mitu 3321
• They can also swim based on the encounter with them in the ruins in the swamps on the 14th of Mitu 3321

They also appear to be susceptible to changes caused their environment. Such as the time we encountered them with the Sahabi hunters Chuka and Belan in the swamps after tracking a group of possible survivors of diseased ravaged Beruha to a camp on the 19th of Mitu (They were gone, based on the lack of footprints, assumedly they used magic of some sort.) These Worms appeared to have changed while near what appeared to be a concentrated pocket of the Weave (Magic cast there seemed to be amplified). These worms also had a few other differences to their normal counterparts:

• Some seem to be attracted to those that use magic (inconclusive, while three did target me nearly exclusively, none went after Xedran)
• Appeared to have the ability to absorb a spell when cast near them

All in all, I do not like these creatures, and would not like to encounter them. I'm going to end up with scars in the shape of their mouths one of these days.

Side note, Kit and the Sahabi seem to be really good at killing these things, maybe it's due to their large and sharp teeth.

(on the 17th of Mitu) The party consisting of Dheir, Xedran, Cassian, Saxon, and Kit, continued to examine the walls of the Memory Hall in attempts to find out further information, before deciding to retrace their steps in the ruin to look for any additional clues they may have missed. This investigation led them to the large stairwell the encountered on their first visit and found the water had risen. After discussing this occurrence, the party decided to return to the tributary that flows into the main river they sailed up, thinking it's lower waters may be related to the rising ones in the ruins.

The party went around the city of Beruha to reach the tributary, beginning their journey and not running into any issues to get to it. They do find that the slow moving bayou seemed to have taken on a light red color. worrying some of the party but they pressed on. They came to another river, flowing from the city of Beruha, a much deeper color of red, flowing into the tributary they had found. They attempted to avoid the water, with Cassian using his magic to quicken the growth of plants in the area into a frail bridge, allowing all except for Xedran to cross without issue. Xedran fell through the loose collection of plants, Dheir jumped into action throwing her rope like a lasso in an attempt to pull him out, her first attempt failed as the rope went over Xedran's head and out her hands. Using Cassian's rope, she did manage to lasso him correctly and pull him out, bootlessly.

Evening was coming so the party spent the rest of the day attempting to find camp, with Saxon in the lead. The find a place they think would be dry and take their long rest, waking up on the 18th of Mitu to a few inches of water from the unpredictable tides that come from 3 moons present in the sky. They dried off the best they could before proceeding, somewhat easier thanks to the casting of "Water Walk" by Cassian (though any gains were likely negligible due to having to pause every hour for him to recast it as a ritual). They continued to follow the tributary bayou to the source, but before they could the party heard the sounds of Sahabi talking. Dheir and Cassian got Xedran to cast Comprehend Languages promptly before making their way to talk to the Sahabi so far from their city.

The world of Aerethia has no common language, and due to this, the party do not all know the same languages. Luckily enough know the right ones for the conversation with the Sahabi to generally follow this flow:

1. The Sahabi ask a question or make a comment about something to us
2. Xedran, through the power of magic and music (aka Comprehend Languages), understands them
3. Xedran translates through Quindarin to Cassian, Dheir, (and if he were there, Drick)
4. Cassian then translates that further for Saxon through High Elvish.
5. The party (with Saxon being translated to and from by Cassian) discuss their response
6. Xedran and the party attempt to sign (or use Minor Illusion) their response to the Sahabi
7. Return to step 1

Following the flow, the party learned that these Sahabi must be hunters that had not been back to their village (not the city of Beruha) for some time. The party informed them of the disease as best they could, not fully able to get the idea across until the group heard a sound, tracking it to a dead and diseased Sahabi. One of the pair reached into a pouch and pulled out a red bead, dropping it on the dead creature, causing it to dissolve. Now that the pair understood what the party meant, they all rushed to their village, finding the place completely silent as various dead Sahabi lay scattered about, some diseased, others killed by them. The party waited as the pair gathered supplies and applied their red beads to the the dead in the village.

The party traveled with the pair, who they learned were called Chuka and Belan, to Beruha to find an equally gruesome sight and deafeningly eerie silence, as it appeared that most of the city succumbed to the disease or to the undead that rose from it. The pair proceeded to dissolve as many bodies as they could, before they ran out of the the beads. While they did so, the party assisted in looking for survivors, with the only hint of such being tracks leading away from the palace out of town. The Sahabi pair did not wish to leave any of the dead to have a chance to rise again, so they requested the party wait to follow the tracks. They all spent the night outside on the western side of the city,

It wasn't until around midday on the 19th of Mitu that the pair were satisfied they may have put to rest the vast majority of the dead in Beruha. Once they were, they joined the party to follow the tracks for potential survivors before they go to brave the ruins to discover the potential source of this deadly disease.

As the party began to head to the docks to located Sast, they began to discuss potential strategies against whatever they end up finding on the way to the ruins and within them. Dheir brings up the strange fungal oozy growth she saw in the area they didn't continue to. After some discussion, they decide to pick up some lantern oil from the Settlers' Market to make some form of fire spreading explosives in case they needed something to burn both fast and effectively (and using a slightly convoluted method of splitting up the gold cost). Afterwards the went to the docks and were unable to find Sast, so they went to the Sable Sea. There they were informed Sast went out fishing yesterday at a pond to the southwest in the woods outside of town. This caused understandable worry due to the storm from the day prior, so the party set out to find Sast and confirm he is okay.

The party left Kuridu to find this pond, with Cass and Dheir taking some time on the journey to search for herbs and Aether ore respectively. Eventually the party came across the pond (which is more like a lake) and Sast lying still next to fishing supplies. Drick poked the dwarf with a stick till he woke with a start, explaining that the storm occurred and seemed to raise the fish currently rotting in a bucket nearby (something that definitely is not a common occurrence). The party asked him if he would be able to bring them to the same spot they were dropped off/picked up at int he swamps near Beruha previously. Sast of course agreed, and the party even confirmed they would meet back with him to be back in Kuridu in time for the 19th. The party escorted him to the boat outside Kuridu and began their 10hour ride up river, reaching the drop off point near midnight, they finished their rest before setting out towards the ruins in the early hours of the 17th of Mitu.

After a few hours of walking through the swamps (and fighting what Logan assumes were Will-o'-Wisps), the party found the entrance of the ruin, with a number of dead Sahabi laying before it. The group pulled them into a pile and began to burn them to prevent any Untethered from rising. They then found a spot to hide outside in case something else was attracted by the fire. Their patience was rewarded as soon a Sahabi and Skyloy, both obviously Untethered, shambled out of the swamp to stare at the fire. This gave Dheir and Drick the chance to unleash arrows on the unsuspecting pair, re-killing both before they had the chance to react. The party added the two bodies to the burn pile before heading into the ruins below, not seeing any real change in the place they proceeded to the Hall of Names.

Within the room, the group relayed to Drick what happened previously when Cassian touched a stone with a name, but when he tried multiple he was unable to get any flash of memory. He then proceeded to be annoying about it until Cassian decided to prove it occurred and touched one of the names, receiving a vision of a bright light and a headache. From here, Xedran and Saxon joined in on this while Drick and Dheir investigated the walls. Eventually Dheir found a memory that soothed more than it hurt, and Saxon stumbled upon one that took place in the very room they were in. Focused on this memory, Xedran cast Comprehend Languages before entering it, learning the name of a woman standing before the person who had the memory, as well as learning she was pushing for the Humans to seek refuge in the mountains. Once he was out of the vision, Xedran attempted to locate the woman's name amongst those along the wall but were unable to. After Xedran wrote the name down, Cassian spent a few minutes studying it before viewing the memory himself, trying to see if the name was amongst those removed from the wall in the present but he was unable to.

The trio consisting of Cassian, Drick, and Xedran returned to the small temple to Dienwah and delivered the funds to the cleric, the cleric got right to work casting Greater Restoration on the two sick members of the party, Saxon and Dheir. The spell purged the disease from the pair, allowing them to feel better than ever. With the pair healed, the party began to discuss next steps with the thoughts of the encroaching pestilence in the back of their minds (or at least the back of Cassian's). While most of the party went to the Moler's guild to located Droshaga for more information about what happened at Beruha while they were in the ruins, Dheir slipped away to check for a future fight in the Pour Judgement's fight club, avoiding Drick's attempt to follow them.

On the journeys to both locations, a storm began to roll in, which seemed normal to the party until guards and others began ordering people to take shelter, warning bells could be heard as Dheir quickly got into the Pour Judgement and the other members of the party got into the Moler's Guild. At both locations, doors and windows were getting blocked and barricaded as the confused out of towners began inquiring about the commotion about rain. The locals that had boarded themselves with the main group and Dheir respectively explained to them how occasionally (few times a year) an Untethered Storm will form with little warning over Kuridu and other places known to be locations of battles from the Day of Embers. For nearly an hour, the party in their respective locations and the locals waited with bated breaths as the sounds of walking dead could be heard outside the barriers put against doors and windows, but the rain began to let up and the dead stopped walking. The people of Kuridu were relieved the storm finished and the party were able to resume their business.

Dheir proceeded to get confirmation the next potential fight she could take part in would be on the 19th, only a few days away. Meanwhile, Cassian began to lead the search for Droshaga, unable to locate her that day. The party soon reconvened and got their rest after the days events (all becoming level 5!). After their rest, on the 16th of Mitu, and a semi-awkward discussion on the various parents the party has/had, a new search began for Droshaga, they found her and asked questions about the state of the lizardfolk, but were not really given any new information. They then went to Amalwor to inquire about the guild cut (offering them items they would be selling, but informed we must sell them ourselves), as well as informing her of the disease growing in the swamps to warn any other potential guild members heading that way.

The party then went to Strange Things to sell their spoils (selling some necklaces as well as a Lock of Trickery found in the ruins) and brought the guild's cut to Amalwor before setting out to locate Sast for a journey back to the ruins for more loot and possibly, more answers relating to the rot in the swamp.

The party (of Dheir, Cassian, Xedran, and Saxon+Kit) stared into the dark water at the foot of the stairs before them, the gore from the destroyed Vermin Worms float at the surface of the shallow water. They re-evaluated the potential need of going deeper into the ruins, deciding they've done what was asked of them, they proceeded to return to the surface, a return hastened by what sounds like boiling water moving towards their direction. Upon reaching the entrance, stairs opening right under the roots of the large fallen tree, Cassian activated his claim stone to mark the locations and Dheir retrieved her and Cass's ropes from the hole they entered down.

The group proceeded to make their way back to Beruha, but on the way found the dead body of the Skyloy that was with the children the party found previously and let go. Aside from the body and the dagger Xedran gave them, there was naught to be found. They continued onwards to the Sahabi city, arriving to a crowd of the Sahabi growling and hissing outside of the city's main government building (at least that's what the party assumes it is). Xedran used his magic to understand the various sounds coming from the crowd, hearing snippets of things like "a group of prisoners", "diseased becoming aggressive", and something about death or the undead (cultural translation not included in the magic used). While this made some in the group a little nervous about entering the building, they were let through without issue. They, via translations provided by Droshaga, informed St'tet of what transpired beneath the tree, including what the party learned relating to the disease that was spreading: the aggression, when it showed up in the Skyloy, and other symptoms they observed in the creatures. The Sahabi elder confirmed to the party that they did bring in the Skyloy children and that their duties to prevent any sort of war between the Lizardfolk and Elvenoids was averted for the time being, and the mud can be gathered again in the next few weeks.

The party (now including Droshaga) contacted Sast via sending stone, requesting pick up, then they took a short rest before beginning their return to the expected pick up location. Meanwhile, Drick was in a bar, getting what alcohol he can for the money he has left after the last few days of not being able to find the others. Sast arrived, sent to collect him by persons unknown to rejoin the party. They began the 10 hour journey up river to meet with the party, who spent 4 of those 10 hours trudging through the swamps that make up the Sahabi's territory, encountering one of them that has proceeded to the aggressive stage of the disease. It's arm was cut off but it seemed to have taken out 3 of its fellows. While the party was able to take care of it quickly, Saxon unfortunately was bitten and contracted the same disease that was beginning to worsen in Dheir, who contracted it earlier in the day fighting diseased Skyloy.

When the party made it to the pick up point, Cassian took the time to look over the two sick.Though unable to fully narrow down the disease beyond the basic of symptoms, he attempted to use Lesser Restoration to rid them of it, but the spell, while helping the pair feel better overall, was unable to purge the sickness from them. The boat soon arrived and they all got on it, confused as to why Drick was on it but quickly moved on from that (though once he found out about Dheir and Saxon's sickness, he quickly became Dheir's personal assistant, as if she would crumple and break from the slightest touch).

The boat trip was overall uneventful, with many in the party taking a long rest, the boat reached Kuridu in the early morning hours of the 15th of Mitu, 3321. The party went their separate ways for the night, with Saxon, Dheir, and Xedran going to the Guild and Drick and Cassian (only going along due to Drick making a comment about being alone again) made their way to R&R. While Saxon and Dheir were able to find rooms at the guild house, there were no additional rooms for Xedran to take, so he wondered the town for the remainder of the night. Cassian also felt sleepless, choosing instead of to read the Stars, as he did so he was given a vision of a cloaked horseman in the middle of a plain, the horse began to eat the grass below them, as it all slowly began to turn black, closing in until the only grass was the inky color. The vision shook him, making him worry about this potential plague and the effect it may start to have in town.

While they attempted to find rest in the Guild, Dheir and Saxon had their own visions, Dheir seeing a vision of a city far in the distance from her, what appears to be a bolt of black lightning tears through the sky above towards the city, unlike a lightning bolt, this streak remains as if the sky above was cracked open. Saxon found themselves and Kit hunting in a forest (please fill in the rest here because I (logan) have forgotten it). The illness and the visions combined preventing them from getting much rest within the guild. Everyone gathered back in at the Guild in as dawn reached the city, determined to find some help to cleanse the disease, the party began to ask around for assistance while Drick signed his contracts to join the Moler's Guild

This series of questioning led them to the simple chapel of Dienwah, a Deity worshiped primarily by Sapiens. There they ran into their latest snag, they were broke and a Greater Restoration would cost 200gp for each casting, with at least a 100gp payment up front for any casting. Saxon and Dheir remained at the Chapel as Cas and Xed made their way back to the guild to inquire about reward funds, though the soon found out they have not technically complicated their contract and so no rewards to be given. The collected Drick from his contract signing before going to find Flest.

It took some time, but soon they found Flest on his way back from the Old Grounds. They walked back to his home, with the trio explaining the situation. Flest was more than happy to loan the money to Cassian to cover the cleric's fees, with interest of course. Cass signed the contract, agreeing to pay him back 442gp within the next 20 months. With a bag of 40 platinum on hand, the trio began to make their way back to the Chapel to hopefully aid their ailing party members.

As the battle against the Skyloy came to an end, the party (of Saxon+Kit, Xedran, Dheir, and Cassian) gathered themselves. Dheir went to search the bodies of the deceased while Cassian, with Xedran's assistance, attempted to figure out the diseased Skyloy present in the small room the previous brawl ended in. The skyloy had a high fever, their fur on the mangy side of things, seemed to be dusty, as if the dead skin cells still clinging to the creatures could be blown off with barely a breath of wind. By the time Dheir returned from finding money, equipment, and various foodstuffs in various stages of spoiling, Cassian had determined the three were basically unresponsive to stimulation, allowing Dheir to end whatever suffering they were experiencing. Each creature's blood came out of the wound dark and thick.

The group continued to explore the ruins, with Dheir and Saxon leading the way and Xedran and Cass in the rear. They examined the water the stairs they found previously, deciding to explore elsewhere before risking a dip into the water. They went up to the stairs and down the halls they skipped previously, eventually coming to a room with a large spiral(ish) staircase with two offshoots, the first containing partially caved in room with a chunk of Raw Ore and a magical lock and key unattached to anything. The party proceeded to the other offshoot from this room, with Dheir stealthily taking out a skyloy in the middle of their lunch.

They continued to a fork in the road, one leading to a room while the other led down staircases further down the into the depths. The party chose the room, coming to a large room with an altar at the end, along the walls were many names in Edish. Cassian's Detect Magic revealed a faint evocation magic lingering over the names. Exploring the room led the party to discover a small chamber hidden behind the altar, where one larger skyloy was protecting many smaller ones (probably children). After attempts at communicating between Xedran and the Skyloy, learning this disease started spreading with the rising water below and something called Spike Grubs. The party allowed them to leave the room unharmed, while the party took a short rest, before leaving to descend the stairs into the dark below. On the way out, curiosity gripped hold of Cassian, and although he knew better, he touched one of the names on the wall. He immediately was hit by visions of a war against an army of humans and sky turning red, coming out of it with a headache and sense of dread.

Saxon and Dheir took the lead down the stairs, bringing the party to a lower level, water a couple of inches off the ground, Vermin Worms appearing in and out of the water before them. The creatures the Skyloy refer to as Spike Grubs attacked the party, with Dheir and Saxon tanking the hits as Xed and Cass threw spells at the creatures. The few creatures that managed to grasp hold of the warriors in front where brought around so Kit could strike and tear off the creatures. Saxon managed to slice multiple of the creatures into smaller bits barely breaking a sweat as they killed the foul creatures. After pushing back two waves of them, silence fell over the party as they readied themselves for whatever lies ahead.

Two days earlier (the 12th), as the party was getting a ship and their supplies together to go to the Sahabi city, Drick encountered a person while at dinner. This person offered them a chance into the local Thieves' guild, but only if he could get into the Moler's Guild to pass along information for them. Drick, excited about getting more gold, then went out searching for the party, unable to find them before the left for their journey.

(On the 14th of Mitu) The party reached the reported hideout of the Skyloy, deciding to take a small hole away from the entrance to slip into their base. Down they climbed, the rope tied to the strongest branch they could find near the hole. One by one, they descended into darkness. Dheir, Xedran, Cassian, Saxon, and miraculously, Kit, found themselves in a storage room for weapons, the small hole they barely squeezed down stared down at them, begging them to climb up now before they were seen, as there would be no way of surviving being trapped between Skyloy above them and below once they were alerted to their presence.

Cassian used his magic over the natural word to light a torch, giving himself and Saxon light. Dheir took the lead as the party began to go deeper into the ancient tunnels they found themselves in. Skipping the passages that shoot off the floor they are on, and choosing instead to descend the stairs, avoiding an obviously laid trap at the top of the stairs. They took the first right off the stairs they could, Kit having to tightly squeeze themself through the thin halls. By this point, Cassian had extinguished his torch as a precaution to keep them hidden.

Soon Xedran heard voices, “they’re coming!” And proceeded to go deeper, only to have a smoke grenade of sorts get tossed at him by a skyloy hiding behind a corner at the end of the hall. The party became alerted to the danger and prepared to defend themselves! A skirmish in the ancient ruins began! As the party navigated the already tight quarters and even tighter holes further connecting that floor of the ruins, they struck their attackers with blades, magic, and insults!

Things began to look really hairy when Dheir became trapped trying to deal with three skyloy at the exit of one their carved out tunnels, Xedran got near enough to assist but the tight quarters Dheir was dealing with almost became too much to deal with! Cassian, who had channeled his connection to the Stars into the power of the Archer constellation, giving off light around him as his body was dotted with star light and the magic projected from his Sky Orb into the form of a bow made of the same light, used his nature magics to grow magical plants, helping to restrain the Skyloy restraining Dheir. The restrained creatures began to get taken out between Dheir and Xedran, soon Saxon was able to find the group and assisted further.

After a few more intense seconds, the battle came to an end, just in time for the party to discover they were in a room with a group of skyloy that looked diseased.

(the 12th of Mitu) The party (everyone except Drick, who is wandering Kuridu doing who knows what) enjoyed an uneventful ride upriver on Sast’s ship, discussing their potential plans as well as how to handle the diplomatic mission with the Sahabi Lunies (freshwater lizardfolk). The party planned to use a Sending Stone Sast loaned them to inform him when they’d be ready to return to Kuridu. The party, accompanied by Droshaga the C’Rel Kzar Translator sent with them for this mission, proceeded in the direction they were told to go to locate the city.

After the party find as dry of a spot as they can to sleep the night and taking the night to rest (13th of Mitu), the party came to a clearing where a small Sahabi, likely a child, was stuck in a trap. Saxon stepped forward to assist the child, only to get caught in a trap themselves, lifted high in the air (though their height made it seem not as high as it would for one of the shorter members of the group). The party fought off the ambush through a combination of might and magics, though two of the poachers managed to escape back into the swamp. After getting Saxon and the Child out of their traps, the party proceeded deeper into the swamp, with the child pointing them in the right direction while being carried by Saxon.

Eventually, the party found themselves passing the occasional building, increasing in frequency until they were in the city proper. They noticed a number of buildings with doors covered in a white paint before a group of guards found them and led them to their leader. When they reached the hall the leadership the city worked out of, a Sahabi came and took the child from the group and their leader, St’Tet, came to the group.

Thanks to Droshaga’s telepath translations, the party and St’Tet were able to come to an agreement on how to handle periods of time where the Sahabi’s holy alligators are nesting on lands used by Kuridu’s people. In return, the party agreed to handle a situation involving a camp of small creatures called Skyloy under a giant tree near to the Sahabi city. They party was offered and accepted lodging offered to them. Cassian channeled the Stars into the form of a Hawk to attempt to scout out the exterior, the Star-Hawk returned relatively quickly and telepathically shared information of the surrounding area, including a small hole near the Skyloy’s giant tree. The party then got rest to prepare to head out the next morning (14th of Mitu).

With the aid of a group of Sahabi hunters, the party managed to get to the fallen tree. They did their best to stealth over to the tree’s trunk and tie two ropes tied to each other around one of the limbs above the hole before preparing to climb down into the darkness.

*As long as you consider the period of time Saxon was at the wheel under Sast’s watch “uneventful.”

As part of the party (Dheir, Cassian, and Xedran) slept inside the guild hall, Saxon and Kit returned to the streets, refusing to sleep inside as they usually do. Drick stalked the streets, until he found the pair asleep. He took his net and tossed it over Kit before kicking Saxon awake so they would know it was Drick that stabbed them that night. Drick took his strike, knocking Saxon quickly, then fled into the night just as Kit managed to get out of the net.

A few hours later, Saxon returned to consciousness and made their way to find Xedran. Finding him, along with Dheir and Cassian, having breakfast in the Guild Hall. With very few words, they got Xedran to follow them in their revenge plot. A somewhat flabbergasted Cassian went and followed the pair, catching up he attempted to heal Saxon while finding out what happened. Unfortunately, between Saxon’s eagerness to be done with him to go deal with Drick and Cassian being flustered by the whole situation led to the magic not having much effect.

Cassian returned to Dheir and explained what was going on, and she expressed there wasn’t much either of them could do at this point. Soon, the pair went to try and find someone they could talk to about the Lizardfolk they encountered, hoping to find someone that either knew the language or enough about them. Luckily this is when Flest showed up, Cass took some time to explain their experience and asked to point them in the right direction. Flest suggested we talk with Amalwor Jerani and led the way to the Moler liaison’s office.

Saxon, Xedran, and Kit found Drick having breakfast in Stews and Brews, perfectly content and thinking that things were settled, as he paid them back for delivering the treasure from the temple the group previously traversed. Saxon of course was mad that they got stabbed in the dead of the night, Kit managed to pounce on Drick in the middle of the tightly packed dining room and a mini food fight began to happen. Xedran used the opportunity to swipe one of Drick’s many daggers.

Meanwhile, Dheir and Cass reached Amalwor’s office with the help of Flest. Flest left to deal with his own business and the pair entered the office. Due to languages, Cassian shared the events that transpired at the riverbank. Amalwor requested the pair come back in the early afternoon, as they needed to find a translator that was available for them to take to the Lizardfolk’s city that is near the location the party scuffle took place.

The pair left Amalwor to their work (after a short conversation on where they discussed where they were from, being Sapiens and all) and discussed Dheir’s recent confidence issues, resolving to try a few potential avenues of overcoming whatever mental, physical, or magical block that has power over her. They first went to the Temple of Acera, with the thought that a cleric may be able to dispel anything ailing her. This line of thinking went out the window after they learned the cost of such a service. They then went to the Pour Judgement to get Dheir into a fight, hoping winning would be enough to bring her confidence back. The bartender told her to come back the next night to try her luck.

From there, it was reaching the time they needed to meet back with Amalwor, they managed to meet back up with Saxon and Xedran on the way back to the Moler’s Guild. The four of them returned to the Moler’s Guild to find Amalwor. Finding them relatively quickly, Amalwor introduces the group to Doshaga, a C’Rel – K’zar. Doshaga introduce herself to the group and explained she could use her telepathy to translate the for them and the Lizardfolk.

The party went and found Sast to ask them when they could next hire a ship, getting told they could go now or it would be a few days. The party took this opportunity and accepted, picking up Doshaga on the way to the boat on the outskirts of Kuridu. Drick being left to wander Kuridu, unaware what shenanigans the party was getting up to.

A new day dawned upon Kuridu, the party (except for Drick, who spent the previous day angrily stalking Saxon (which she was aware of) and planned to do the same thing today) gathered themselves and went to find meat and toxins to potentially poison the the mud alligator. This search was not fruitful, mostly because they were all broke. The four of them then went to find the sailor and his boat they booked yesterday, finding Sast waiting for them at the The Sable Sea. The Sea Dwarf escorted us to his boat on the edge of town (too big to sail the river all the way to the docks). Drick continued to stalk the party through the streets, watching them get onto the boat and sail off to who knows where, as he never stayed at any of the locations Cassian paid for notes pointing him to the Moler's Guild to be delivered to him.

The party spent 5 or so hours taking the boat upstream, discussing boat things with Sast, debating on actions to take to deal with the creature they were sure to face. Soon they arrived at the mouth of the tributary the mud was harvested from, only an hour or two away from the town of Destra. Here the party got off the boat and Sast stayed to fish. The group proceeded to travel along the river (while staying a good distance away from it for safety), Saxon and Kit did their best to hunt for some sort of bait, with only Kit having any real success nabbing a plump boar. Dheir led the search for any sort of tracks, finding multiple but unable to discern much information from them.

Minutes later, the party found themselves under attack by Lizardfolk and a very large Alligator. The party did their best, but their adversaries overpowered them easily, despite their best efforts. The party made their retreat, only truly gaining the knowledge that they appeared to be protecting something. They returned to the boat and road it down river back to Kuridu, where Drick was quickly spotted waiting and watching for them. The party attempted to chat with him, but he had already run off by the time the got off the boat and over to where he was. The party proceeded to return to the Moler's Guild, hoping to take part in some of the new benefits they now had, like a free room if one was available.

Silence settled over the main hall of the Moler's guild as Drick left, though once he exited the building the chatter between those in the room picked up as they discussed the drama before them. Cassian, feeling somewhat at fault for the whole affair, wrote a letter (copying it on multiple pages) then left the hall to bring them to the few popular bars in town (along with R&R). He didn't want to actually run into Drick, considering the anger directed at him last time, just hoping the barkeeps giving it to him (along with a drink Cass prepurchased for Drick) would help him be receptive to the letter and actually read it.

Meanwhile, Dheir went to study her story book, working to learn the more proper Elvish. Saxon, Kit, and Xedran took the time to go to a magic shop, where they learned they couldn't really afford anything and that the owner is a pet lover, as they buried themselves in Kit's fur.

The group reconvened at Stews and Brews, where Saxon was able to identify the properties of the magic in Flest's Dagger. They then went to bed, resting and preparing themselves for the contract signing in the morning (and they all leveled up). The next morning, the Drick-less party arrived to the Moler’s Guild, where they would meet with Toye’ and go through a rigorous Q&A about multiple portions of the contract including:

• how jobs are assigned
• what happens when you fail a job
• does fighting in underground fight clubs count as a job
• the various logistics surrounding the use of the claim stone
  • do you put it and then come tell a guild branch, then go back or just put it down and then go to the guild after your done, then go get the stone back, etc. types of things
• how much of the reward does the guild get as a cut.

When all was said and done, the four of them signed their contacts with the guild and were sent to meet a man in the main hall for information on a job. Oskidress, an exu man, gave the party directions and as many details as he was able to give them about the location of their target, some sort of “mud alligator” near some magic clay used for pottery. They thanked him for the information and left towards the docks to locate someone names Sast and schedule a ride upriver.

Unable to find them specifically, the did manage to schedule a trip with a the desk person at the Sable Sea the next morning. Following their success, they spent the rest of the day doing their own things, Cassian goes herb gathering, Dheir goes ore searching, Saxon buying a weasel, and Xedran doing his own thing, none having any idea on if Drick would return to the group.

A new day dawned over Kuridu, giving Dheir the chance to go looking for a book to aid her in learning Elvish. She exited Robert and Robert's Inn after absorbing some Aether Ore she previously purchased, heading to the shops, eventually finding a book containing a story she's familiar with enough to hopefully assist in learning it. She and the rest of the party eventually makes their way back to the Stews and Brews and have breakfast. As they were all together for once, Cassian brought up their coming summons to the Molers, trying to figure out what their next steps would possibly look like if the group found themselves exiled from Kuridu (the where everybody going, where everybody doesn't want to go sorta questions).

Unfortunately, this conversation began to go south as it returned to why they were getting summoned to begin with, and who's fault that was, and how to prevent it happening again. Shortly after the conversation became an argument, the group went their separate ways for the day. Dheir then goes to the Pour Judgement to turn in her coin, without informing anyone of course. Drick went to drink his coin away, Cassian attempted to have a conversation but Drick refused to have it, actively threatening against it. Taking the hint, Cass left Drick to his drink.

As Dheir was told to come back later that evening, that's exactly what she did. Arriving and being taken into a backroom in the Pour Judgement, she found herself in an underground fight club, meeting Flest on arrival. She took this chance, taking a rusty dagger supplied to her and the first match available. She fought her opponent, a bear with a white marking on its back known as Whiteback, pulling on the power of the aether ore coursing through her veins. She dashed, dipped, and dove, making her quick strikes around the bear's neck, but alas the bear was able to get some decisive hits of its own. Dheir fell and went unconscious, waking many hours later the next day in a place she didn't recognize.

The rest of the party had no idea any of this was happening of course, so they finished their days and went to sleep. The next morning, while Dheir was getting her bearings, Cass, Saxon, and Xedran arrived at Stews and Brews for breakfast, only there for a short while before a messenger from the Molers came and delivered a message requesting our presence for 8 that morning. As time was short, the three of them began to make their way to the Molers, Cass summoned a Star Spirit in the form of a Hawk to search for Drick, not fully expecting it to find him.

The trio arrived shortly to the Molers Guild shortly after Dheir figured out she was also in the building from Flest. Once the trio found them, Cassian noticed the wound Dheir received the night before was festering and used his magic to heal it and kill the infection before it takes hold. Flest and Dheir caught the others up on what happened before the four of them were called to the council chamber.

Before the quartet, were six individuals, a female Cloud Elf, male Rock Dwarf, female Troll, male Sapien, and another female Cloud Elf, their leader Aelicel Abiran, who asked the group to explain their side of things. Cass began from Flest's job offer and told the truth of everything, as well as translating some for Dheir since she couldn't fully understand the conversation. Aelicel and the rest of the council were merciful in their decision, no punishment would be brought forth as long as the party met their demands:

1. Return both the bracelet and holy symbol to the Molers (Dheir does so, the other piece Drick had)
2. Describe the underground floor and chamber so Amondurap (the female Troll on the council) can make a map.

Aelicel also offered the opportunity for the the full party to join the Molers, once the other two demands were met. Cass went with Amondurap to create the map while Dheir, Saxon, and Xedran went to find Drick to return the holy symbol. It didn't take long for them to find him passed out drunk and naked in an inn room, the symbol hanging from a post on the bed. Saxon walked up and took the symbol as Drick was waking up, allowing him to see them take it. This caused Drick to get angry, which of course flared up Saxon's stubbornness. The argument that was sort of happening (there's a language barrier, is it an argument if they can't communicate?) proceeded all the way back to the Molers guild where Cassian was waiting after finishing with the map.

In the main hall of the Molers guild, Saxon and Drick were near coming to blows, Cassian was attempting to bring them both. Cass hoped he could get either Saxon to give Drick the amulet to return himself like he wants, or convince Drick to let it go. Neither of these attempts worked and so Saxon went to return the symbol on their own and Drick proceed to attack them. Well tried to anyway, as soon as the blades began to make their motion his body seized up. Saxon returned the holy symbol unharmed and Drick left without a word.

Frustrated by losing the trail to Dagda's body, the party (at this point consisting of Cassian, Dheir, Saxon & Kit, and Xedran as Drick was getting wasted elsewhere) made their way back to the old woman's home they left the man who was previously carrying the body. Cass stepped aside out of the main road and began to channel the Stars, focusing on his Sky Orb and drawing out small specs of starlight coming together to form a constellation of a bird before solidifying into a hawk. He commanded the spirit of starlight to fly over the city looking for any sign of the dwarf or the blanket he was wrapped in before it flew off. He returned to the group just as they were knocking on the woman's door.

The woman, Shand a cloud elf, warmly let us into her home as she explained Stefon's, the hired muscle, condition. Shand goes to make some tea and Dheir took the time to look in the street nearby for further evidence of attack. The rest of the group inside got to enjoy the smell of brewing tea and the wonderful old person decor. Dheir's search bore fruit as she found a signet ring that presumably belonged to Dagda. She returned inside just as Shand finished brewing her tea.

Meanwhile, Drick continued to tell all who would listen near him of the party's adventure into the depths of the local temple, with the drunker he gets, the looser his lips become, eventually giving pretty much every detail.

After some small talk with Shand (she revealed she knew Stefon & Flest, and Dheir made attempts at copying etiquette), Stefon woke and gave his story of walking to the Old Grounds before getting hit in the head and blacking out. We thank Shand for her time and take Stefon outside to show him where he was found. We further explain our attempts to find the body were halted (though not in an obviously malicious way) by a religious crowd Stefon refers to as an anti-magic group from the northern continent. They decide the best course of action is to inform Flest of the recent developments, but as we began to head toward him the Star-Hawk returned and indicated to Cass it should be followed.

Making their way through the crowded streets after the hawk as it flew above them, the party eventually came to a residence in the Dockside Estates with muddy prints walking up to the front doors, which were of course locked. Stefon revealed this was Flest's home. The party checked all the entrances Stefon could think of, but each of those were also locked. Stefon took Saxon &Kit to find Flest, while Xedran, Cassian, and Dheir watched the building for any activity. While casing the joint, a guard came over to Cass and Xed, asking them why they were there. Before the two could really give a good story, Dheir screamed on the other side of the house to lure the guard away. She rejoined the other two just as Stefon and Saxon&Kit returned with Flest.

Flest hurriedly opened the door as the party explained what they've seen, they all enter the entrance hall and follow the muddied path on the floor. Soon they found Dagda's still corpse laying on the floor of a room and a loud crash down the hall. Flest's housemaid fell against the wall as objects smashed, looking into the room she came out of was a whirlwind of objects flying around the room. The party gathered everyone and retreated, once all were confirmed to be okay they attempted to re-enter the building. Each attempt they were just pushed out of the house by Dagda's spirit. Flest realized what he must do and entered the residence.

Minutes pass before he returns, his face with a slash across it. Cass heals him, with the slash become a scar, as he explains the spirit blamed him for his death as it thought Flest did not aid him enough. Flest calmed the spirit by promising to care for Dagda's mother for the rest of their days, it was then that Flest learned Oden, his sister/Dagda's mother was visiting as she came downstairs. The party left them to talk and return to R&R to rest. Once everyone was back, Drick included, the party learned all about how Drick told all of Kuridu what they were up to. This lead to reasonably annoyed responses from the party and some well deserved chastising. The party then went to rest for the night in preparation for the festival Xedran would perform at the next day.

The next day came without issue as the party took their own ways to festival, enjoying the crowd and various performances. Eventually, Xedran's troupe was introduced and performed marvelously, much to Drick's chagrin. The rest of the festival went off without a hitch, with everyone enjoying a good number of drinks. At some point the party were able to talk with Flest, who brought up the rumors that have spread, stating he has had some talks about the incident and it's likely the party will be too. He recommended they not leave town. He then cracked a joke at the expense of Dheir's etiquette attempt with the aid of Cassian, inspiring Dheir to locate a shop to find a book on language so it wouldn't happen again.

As the night came to a close they all prepared themselves for what lay ahead, between Dheir's secret meeting at the Pour Judgement that no one else knows about and a potential subpoena for their temple excursion.

Test

Drick surprisingly appears right behind the rest of the party, as they prepare to enter the gaping maw to the area further underground beneath the ruins. Dheir just jumps in, while Cassian ties a rope and drops it down into the hole for climbing. On the floor beneath the hole, the rubble from above lies around and pool of dried blood sits, a path is clear in the floor where whoever was losing the blood went. The group explored the room, finding scratchings all over the walls in ancient languages only Xedran could understand thanks to magic, and a stone door with a scratching sound coming from the other side.

They followed the blood trail down a hall into another room, where they found who they presumed to be Dagda, the nephew of Flest. After a short debate, the party voted to continue onward, planning to come back for him after they've explored more of the ruins. They continued down the hall and entered a chapel sort of chamber, with an altar and four statues. The room also contained a number of skeletons, held back by a close to breaking barrier of a necromantic nature. The party went to battle, striking before the barrier broke, defeating some of them before it fell and the rest after. Once the final skeleton fell, the group searched the room, with Cassian finding a secret door leading to a tomb.

Dheir and Drick took the opportunity to search the sarcophagus in the room, with Dheir inhaling some dead person, causing her to feel poisoned for the rest of the day. Drick pulled out a golden holy symbol and bracelet from the corpse. The group proceeded down a corridor and found it led to a secret door in the first room they came to beneath the hole. They then turned around and went back to the chapel, where they took the actual door to a new hallway with two rooms.

The group took the room on the right first, finding multiple statues of figures none could recognize and a pool of water enchanted to always be clean. After deciding not much was in the room (and with Dheir constantly complaining about how terrible she felt after breathing in dead person), Drick proceeded to the door on the left, finding a room that looked so nice, an open field and a general feeling of calmness washed over him. He went in and sat down within it, not even letting anyone else know. Saxon and Kit were the next two to fall under the room's spell. Dheir, Xedran, and Cassian had to use a combination of their wit, strength, and a rope to drag the reluctant Titan out of the room to break the trance. Saxon then managed to get Kit and Drick out of the room and close the door. Cassian wrote a "Do not enter" sign in elvish and, while resisting the effects of the spell, put it up on the door.

At this point the party agreed to leave the ruins, gathering the dead body of Dagda (which was hurt much more than they previously though) and out of the hole. Drick and Saxon took another attempt at opening the door to the scratching noises, but were unsuccessful (they were successful at given the party very different impressions of them though). The party proceeded into the wilderness, the rain still coming down. They decided against crossing the river due to the body, and went out 15-30mins away from the temple ruins to find rest and hope they aren't seen.

Another day dawned on Kuridu as the adventurers awoke, Cassian was determined to deal with the sign that gave him trouble the previous night. He stepped outside of R+R to find Saxon and get their help with the repairs. Just as they finished the repairs, the owner of the store, Voynich came to chastize them thinking they were petty thieves, but they were able to explain the situation. The elderly man then showed them the shop, and Cassian purchased a scroll on ancient astrology. The pair then returned to R+R.

Once they returned, they along with the rest of the party (aside from Drick who disappeared again) received rewards promised by Flest. A note was included requesting the group meet him at the town hall the next morning. Dheir also received a note informing them of an event at the Pour Judgement at a future date. Dheir, in her infinite wisdom, decided to go scout the place out first, spending some time watching the establishment from both outside and in.

Xedran spent his time off giving a kick-ass practice performance in preparation for the Mayor's party in the coming days. Cassian studied his new scroll. Then they all went to bed.

The next morning the party got together and went off to meet Flest. He brought them through early morning Kuridu to the noble distract, there he explained his nephew Dagda, was missing and dissappeared about two weeks ago while probably exploring an old temple owned by the Moler's, meaning he was trespassing. Flest requests the group to go to the ruins to find his nephew for 30g, which after some discussion they aggree to do so.

The party then go on their merry way, leaving a note for Drick to hopefully find. After a few hours, the party see the ruins on the other side of a river. They then try, to varying degrees of success to cross the river, thankfully no one drowns, but there was a close call. Rain starts to pour as they reached the crumbling walls, finding shelter in an underground room, the group sees a hole to a further chamber beneath waiting for them to enter.

The group had 6 hours to kill after their conversations with the surviving mimics. They agreed to meet back at Robert and Robert’s at the decided time to meet with Flest.

Cassian went to the Soul Pond to ponder the Stars. While there, he spotted an omen of a falling star in the direction of Kuridu’s richer market. He noted this for later and proceeded to observe until roughly 30 minutes before the desired meeting time and went to the rendezvous point.

Xedran went around town attempting to drum up excitement for the upcoming show, performing his art while also listening out for any interesting tidbits of information, circling back to R&R for the meet up.

Dheir decided to go look at weapons at Paw Paw Bren’s Sticks and Stones, with Drick following along. Dheir introduced herself to Paw Paw and inquired about his rapiers, the Drick came in and became the child in a in ice cream store, asking questions about every offering visible.

Dheir pulled Drick out of the old soldier’s shop, and convinced them to check the cheaper store across town and inquire about the cost and quality of their rapiers. Drick eagerly agreed as long as they meet up at the fancy tavern for drinks after. Dheir accepted and the young sapien was off into the crowd. Dheir returned to shop interior to find Paw Paw no longer at the counter but nervous Cloud Elf. They proceeded to talk weapons before Paw Paw Bren returned as Dheir was leaving. He passed Dheir a wooden coin to present to Flest and then Dheir went to wait for Drick at The Storm’s Brewing

Drick ran along to Sword and Bored to inquire about rapiers, meeting the owner Ida Strater. Drick, in his infinite wisdom and limitless foresight, spent some of his hard earned gold on a pair daggers. After collecting these and the rapier information, he ran off to Storm’s Brewing, where Dheir was already sitting with a meal and drink. Drick then learned that because he spent money, he didn’t have enough for what he really wanted. Will this lesson stick? Probably not yet. Drick did have enough money to still get drunk off the cheaper stuff and was thrown out of the tavern. Dheir collected them on the way out towards Robert and Robert’s.

Saxon and Kit, the party assumes, went hunting for food. They were not seen for the rest of the day.

At R&R, the group was met by an errand boy for Flest who informed them the Dwarf would be waiting for them at the Temple of Acera. The party went and found him discussing things with a holy person of some sort. After collecting Flest, they went towards the dock after explaining the most recent updates on the mimic situation. On the way to the docks, the group ran into the Mayor of Kuridu and Flest took a few minutes to discuss something privately with them.

After that conversation, the party + Flest arrived at the Darkentide, where Flest and Chester had a private discussion on the future of the mimics and the ship. They seemed to reach an agreement and Flest promised to send reward to R&R as thanks. Dheir at some point during all of this passed along the wooden coin to the dwarf. The group then decided to turn in for the night.

Cassian took the long way around, cutting through the Settlers’ Market to see if anything comes from the omen seen earlier. He passes by a store with a sign of a scroll on it, just as he does one of the ropes holding the sign snaps. After a few attempts to find a way to fix the sign, Cass was unable to assist and wrote a note informing the owner of the break. He decided he would return in the morning to assist, possibly with Saxon if they showed up. The Stars led him there for a reason he decided, he’ll have to follow through.

The midday sun hung high in the air as Saxon, Kit, Xedran, and Cassian sat on the deck of the Darkentide. They waited some time before Drick and Dheir came out from the lower decks. D^2 informed the group on the status of the mimics below, telling them about the primal mimics down on the bottom deck and the reduced numbers of the currently allied groups of intelligent mimics. The pair withheld the information on the book they received.

After a discussion on what to do next, which included a discussion on using the money received for dealing with the vermin worms earlier that day to just purchase meat for the mimics instead of saving the mere 10gp each they received for something later down the line or just letting the tiger do it, they chose to split the party.

• Team Let The Tiger Do It: Saxon, Xedran, Cassian, and the Tiger, Kit
• Team Yes We Split the Party: Drick and Dheir

Team Tiger: Left the ship and went outside of town to the nearby forest looking for deer.

Team Split the Party: Left the ship to the nearby shop The Stable Sea and asked the sea dwarf at the counter for a translation. They learned the book was a journal written by the captain of the ship. They noticed the last entry was dated only the day before and decided to return to the ship.

Team Tiger: Cassian was able to gather almost a satchel full of herbs for potion brewing. Xedran started thinking about the small game in the trees above him.

Team Spilt the Party: Returned to the ship, asked Chester and Portman for more information about the journal, where they found it, and if the person that wrote it was still alive. The intelligent mimics were only able to answer where they got it from, the bottom deck. It was only moments later the sound of combat began beneath them. Drick and Dheir sprang into action preparing themselves for what’s below.

Team Tiger: The group found a young doe, that Saxon and Kit were more than happy to handle taking down and preparing it for the journey back.

Team Split the Party: D Duo raced down the stairs into the darkness, Dheir leading the way due to her ability to see in the dark. They found a trio of mimics attacking a dwarven man. The two leapt into the fray, hoping to save the presumed captain from certain doom.

Team Tiger: Casually walking back toward Kuridu, deer in hand. Squirrels and other small fauna peacefully traverse the trees.

Team Split the Party: Dealing with the consequences of their choice to stick behind, deftly strike the killing blows on the mimics. They call to the dwarf, trying to convince them into coming up top with duo. The dwarf’s only response is to swipe at them with it’s blade.

Team Tiger: Enjoying the weather in the late afternoon calm, Saxon carrying the deer, Cass keeping an eye out for more useful herbs, and Xedran viscously mocking the occasional squirrel to death, with Kit catching any that fall.

Team Split the Party: after overcoming their shock, they quickly finished off the dwarf. Making the decision to bring the body above deck thinking the intelligent mimics would eat it after seeing it was already dead and untethered before they got down to it. The mimics declined the foul meal so the pair waited for the other group to return on the ship deck.

After some time, Team Tiger returned to the ship with around 130lbs of meat for the mimics. The delivery made and party reunited, they discussed next steps. The party decided to rest for the night and return in the morning to deal with the remaining primal mimics. As they went their own ways, Cassian and Saxon brought the dead captain’s body to the Old Grounds for cremation, they then made their way to their own lodgings.

After everyone gathered for their breakfast, Dheir revealed the captain’s journal, declaring they found it at some point after the party split and got it translated. Although Dheir attempted to deceive the group, at least Cassian noticed that something in that story did not add up and brought up that they have no idea how accurate the translation done was without a second opinion. Xedran offered to take a look at using magic.

Xedran was able to confirm the accuracy of the translation, the journal revealed the how the mimics may have originally made it on the ship from an uncharted island populated by Rock Dwarves. It also revealed the Captain had a lover living on the island of Jerani, the last Sapien ruled kingdom. The party left the tavern and went to the docks, keeping this new information in their minds.

Once at the docks, they spied a lone dwarf on the pier looking up to the Darkentide. After a conversation with the party, the dwarf revealed themselves to be Flest, a cousin of the Captain. We gave them the journal and informed them we would figure out the current status of the mimics on the ship and would reach out later that day. Flest thanked us and gave their address for us to visit after dark.

We then made our way onto the ship, learning last night a battle took place, ending in the deaths of Portman and most other mimics. Chester and the final two mimics explained in the night the desperate primal mimics struck and a war basically happened below decks. The party investigated for any more primal mimics but found only the grey gooey remains of mimics. After discussing what a very depressed/PTSD stricken Chester may want to do, the party disembarked from the ship, planning to spend some time in town before finding Flest and fully explaining the situation as it stands to them…

There was a knock on the room door. Xedran answered. A familiar visitor shared news of someone’s capture.

“It’ll cost $3000 to get her out. Either that, or we’ll have to figure out another way,” the visitor shared.

“I don’t know where we could come up with that kind of money,” Xedran responded.

“I know. For now, you’re gaining some notoriety.” The visitor said. “Keep doing what you’re doing. It can likely help us later to have you as a distraction, being know, and then we can pick pocket through the crowds. We’ll try and figure something out.”

---

The city started to come alive. Roosters were crowing. Shop keepers were preparing for the day. And in the Stews and Brews, Drick sat stoically, awaiting the rest of random group. The door opened flooding the room with the bright morning sun only to have it blotted out as the monstrous form of Saxon entered followed by Tiger; a low rumble in its throat and tail flicking about.

Saxon mumbled, “Ah you’re here,” and plopped down in a chair uncomfortably close to Drick. Refusing to move, Drick just sat in silence as others began to show up. Cassian and Xedran arrived shortly after and took a seat. Dheir entered last, looking sleepy and irritated.

“I’m glad you’re here, Drick. Since you missed our first meeting, let’s get you caught up…” Cassian started to say.

“I already know what’s going on,” Drick quipped.

“Oh, but… no, we need to tell you what we talked about,” Cassian retorted.

“Don’t assume that he doesn’t know. If he says he knows, he knows. Just get on with it,” Dheir interrupted. Her face twisted with disdain.

The group once again discussed the options of going to the Mayor and going to find the Vermin catchers.

“Rats.” Dheir voted interrupting the conversation.

“I vote rats,” Drick agreed.

“Well I thought the Mayor…,” Saxon said, “but if everyone wants to go for the rats.”

They asked the bar keep, “where should we look for the vermin catchers?”

“I’d check down by the docks. There’s always vermin down there. Maybe the dock master?”

---

They walked down the road towards the dock. Dheir tapped the shoulder of a stranger as he passed by. He turned and looked at Dheir and jeered as he turned away picking up his pace. Noticing the finer set of clothes that he wore, Dheir responded by lacing a parting gesture with profanity.

Arriving at the docks they noticed a shop already open. Unlike most shops where you approach a counter and ask for what you want, this one allowed you to come browsing through. They entered to find a sea dwarf preparing for the day.

“What can I help you with,” the sea dwarf asked as if his mouth was full of marbles? “Where can we find the dock master,” Cassian responded?

“Oh, you won’t find him around here. He has people out working for him. What did you need him for? Maybe I can point you in the right direction,” the Sea Dwarf inquired. “We are looking for the Vermin catchers and thought the dock master could point us in the right direction,” Cassian responded.

“No need to go looking for the dock master, just go through that second door over there.” The sea dwarf pointed to a door on the South wall. “That’s their office right there.” His muffled chuckle went unnoticed.

“Oh great thank you.” Cassian smiled as he turned and pointed to the door finding everyone but Saxon already moving towards the door. He quickly translated for Saxon, “Rat Catchers. There.”

They entered into the office for the Vermin Catchers and asked about collecting some rats… to uh… feed the cat. They were told that their catchers were equipped with wands that just evaporated the rats. “They aren’t really caught, just eliminated. But if you want to, I have a new problem in one of my warehouses. We’ve got a new infestation of Vermin Worms, that I’d pay you to clear out. They actually don’t taste too bad,” Wina quipped. She followed by whispering, “don’t tell anyone, but I’ve tried it before. Tastes like pork!”

“What does it pay,” Drick asked.

‘I’d pay 50 gold to clear the warehouse.”

Drick’s eyes grew wide.

“Fifty each,” Dheir asked?

“Oh no, fifty total. That’s the going rate. The infestation has just started. We sent a couple vermin catchers in thinking it was rats, but they didn’t come out. Those wands can’t kill them worms with one shot,” she added.

“Let’s go,” Drick urged. He turned and headed towards the door with an excitement in his eyes, not yet seen before.

Dheir followed Drick out and they headed towards the warehouse. The others closed the conversation and followed behind.

Arriving at the warehouse, Drick pushed the door open and he and Dheir stepped inside. “What do you see,” Drick whispered?

Scanning the warehouse Dheir replied, “I don’t see any movement.” Long pause, “Yet.”

Drick moved off to the right and disappeared into the darkness as Dheir move forward, closer to the middle of the room. Cassian, Xedran, Saxon and Tiger stepped into the warehouse. Dheir moved over to one of the crates and kicked it causing it to wobble back and forth a couple of times.

As the sounds from the crate began to fade, Dheir said, “There’s a hole in the ground over here.” She moved next to it to peer in. With her rapier at the ready, she waited for something to emerge.

Boom! Something bounced off Dheir’s back as two other worms emerged from the ground surrounding her. Having her rapier at the ready, she thrust down into the closest worm skewering it. It immediately stopped moving as she turned to see two remaining. A menacing smirk appeared as her eyes opened wider.

Saxon, Tiger and Xedran moved in on the worms around Dheir as Drick moved along the wall towards barrels stacked in the back corner. You could hear the ringing of steel, and a low growl of a Tiger.

Cassian, standing by the entrance way found himself surrounded by two worms as the sprung out of the floor. They latched onto him as he moved towards the center of the warehouse.

Two worms erupted from the ground surrounding Drick, sinking their teeth into his form. With glee, Dheir slayed another worm and moved towards Drick to help. More ringing steel.

A roar.

Steel.

Dripping.

“Ah!”

Steel.

Swish.

Clunk.

And it was over.

Tiger perched on a crate eating one of the seven worms.

“That was easy,” Dheir said.

Cassian looked at her, with a covert roll of his eyes.

They put the 6 remaining worms in Dheir’s net and she carried them out back towards the Vermin Catchers office.

“Great job everyone! If I have anything else like this I will look you all up. You’ve been a great help. We can get those holes filled up and start using that warehouse again. Here’s your payment.”

Drick started to reach out his hand for the payment, but the Vermin Catcher handed it to Cassian instead. Cassian divided up the gold handing an equal share to everyone. Holding the gold in his hand, Drick clutched it close to his heart, just for a moment, then tucked it deep within his garments.

Struggling to keep the remaining worms away from Tiger, Dheir headed off towards the dock and the ghost ship.

---

They made their way down to the docks and as they approached the ghost ship, a gangway appeared as a life boat morphed out and back. Stepping onto the deck, it was noticeably quiet. There was a gelatinous stain on the deck where the other lifeboat once stood. Dheir and Drick divided up the worms to carry down below. Dheir headed to the captains quarters aft and Drick headed to the front and the store room. Finding both places empty, they heard a voice in their head saying, “Come down below.”

They headed down a deck to the crews quarters, meeting amidships to find Chester and Portman together in the hallway.

“We’ve got a new problem,” Portman said. “There’s a third faction now. They are not like us, and seem to have returned to their base instincts.”

“Well that’s a problem,” Dheir sighed. “What do you need from us?”

“Most definitely,” Chester responded, “but it’s not your problem. It’s something that we need to handle. They’ve already taken out a few of us.”

“We do have some food for you,” Dheir said.

Dheir and Drick handed over the worm corpses; three to Chester and three to Portman. “This will help us a lot,” Portman said.

“Yes, this other group are the ones that fed on most of the crew. They are stronger than us,” Chester added. Chester and Portman began breaking the worms into pieces by biting off chunk after chunk and spitting them out.

“How many of them are there? What are the disguised as,” Drick asked?

“Mostly crates and barrels. We figure there is seven to ten of them,” Portman answered.

“That many, huh?” Dheir commented, then added, “we are still looking for more food and trying to figure out a solution for all of you.”

As much as you can see expressions in a mimic, Chester and Portman seemed to appreciate that news.

“Oh, we found this while you were gone.” Chester coughed up a leather bound journal of some sort.

Giving it a quick look over, Dheir and Drick couldn’t read the language inside, but seemed to recognize it as sea dwarven.

“Looks like it might be the Captain’s journal,” Drick pondered.

“Let’s keep this to ourselves for now,” Dheir responded as she tucked the journal away.

Their eyes met and they both nodded in agreement.

An excerpt dated the 2^nd of Mitu 3321 from a personal journal written by a Sapien man named Cassian, it’s leather cover bound together by a thin but strong variety of vine. The paper within, a yellowish color from age, contain various stories from his Druidic Pilgrimage, on many of them there are drawings of plants and small star patterns in both the margins of the pages and full pages. “..then while looking at some local art on display in the Settler’s Market, some guards tried to take me in for some theft that occurred nearby. I attempted to talk to them and convince them of their error, but the shopkeeper got between us, starting to talk at them about ‘scaring away the customers’. I was about to get a word in, but the assistant began to push and shoo me away. Taking the hint, I headed towards the docks thinking that would be a good idea.

This was a poor move, as other guards found and herded me in with a group of 4 others thinking we all stole something from some Cloud Elves. (Below summaries based on information learned over the day)

• The Titan Saxon and their large tiger, Kit. Apparently not every Titan is as collected as High Arch-Druid Tre’lunn, Saxon has (self-professed) anger issues and is very attached to Kit. Only one of the group that doesn’t speak Quindarin, we do share a language in Elvish, so I’ve become translator for them (I should look into teaching them some of the basics on Quindarin if we continue to travel together with the others, would help prevent miscommunication issues). Kit is adorable and likes me despite my difficulties with most animals.
• One of two Slaugh, Dheir, a woman I don’t have much of a read on aside from being reasonable and taking actions in to account more than words. She seems like she can handle herself in a fight, but it might all be for show. Time will tell.
• The other Slaugh, Xedran, seemed to be a quiet type. Not much of a read on him yet, but he isn’t as quick to anger as the rest of the people in this group.
• A Sapien, like myself, though they seem to share more in common with the Slaugh than myself based on his knack of slipping away (though they did fall in the Strait twice, a nice distraction from the high pressures at the time). Slipped away after an altercation detailed further along, so I never learned their name.

We were cornered on a pier with the guards waiting at the shore, the low tide that the other Sapien fell into (Dheir managed to get them back up), and a reportedly “haunted” ship (seemingly the rumor of the week in Kuridu). After weighing our options, we climbed the gangplank only to have it kicked off the pier by one of the cowardly guards once we were all on the ship. Once on the ship, we heard a voice in our heads, one we would soon learn belongs to a Mimic in disguise as a chest (named Chester). We learned that Mimics had overrun the ship, assumedly consumed what was left of the crew, and split into two factions. Chester and their lot wish to remain on the ship and travel the world looking for food, while on the other side of the ship Portman (a portmanteau) and their faction wish to live on land, hoping to be useful to a town for defense in exchange for food.

Of course, moral conversations and discussing how to even go about this occur over hours. Some of the guards at the shore left, but most of them stuck around till a Cloud Elf appeared and talked to them. We were too far to hear the discussion, but they dispersed. We took this time to tell Chester we would get a crew for the ship and come back in the next day or so. One of the mimics previously posing as a rowboat became a gangplank for us to walk across.

When things weren’t complicated enough, the Sapien and Dheir began to leave pretty much immediately (especially the Sapien, seemed be of a ‘no longer my problem’ opinion). Saxon, seeking to prevent them from leaving before we talk about our next steps, sent Kit to the end of the dock to stop them. This was seen as aggressive by Dheir and the Sapien, who responded with equally aggressive stances. Which was met with more aggression, that needed to be dissipated quickly, considering the mimics on the boat and the potential for guards to show up. We discussed meeting up at the Stews and Brews just before the Sapien went into the water again. After another few tense moments, Dheir and Xedran went off on their own. Saxon, Kit, and I made our way to the S&B and waited to see who would show up. Only the Sapien didn’t show up, so after buying a round of drinks for those that let me, we came up with two plans:

• Reach out to the Mayor of Kuridu and explain the situation (I think this will end with the ship at the bottom of the ocean unless people are real convincing)
• Find local ratcatchers to get enough rats to populate the ship faster than the mimics can eat them all… (writing this out, I doubt this will do us any better)

We agreed to meet up again outside Robert & Robert in the morning, I guess we’ll find out how this is going to go.”

Chased down to the docks, five strangers found themselves trapped between a squad of the city watch and a lone vessel docked nearby. There were two Slough, two humans, a Titan that towered over everyone and surprisingly a large white tiger sticking to the Titan’s side.

The nondescript slough female began yelling back and forth with the guards.

The guards accused all five of having targeted a noble in the market. They wouldn’t say what was stolen, but kept insisting that they would all need to come with them and face their accuser and trial. None of the five individuals seemed interested in complying with their orders.

The pale human clumsily lost his footing and tumbled off the side of the pier splashing into the water. As he struggled with the current, the female Slough quickly pulled a rope from her pack and looped it around one of the pilings, tossing it over the side. The now drenched paley¹ grabbed hold and started to climb out. As he reached the top of the dock, the female Slough extended her hand helping him the rest of the way.

Looking back at the guards the five strangers noticed that oddly, they seemed reluctant to come down the dock to apprehend everyone.

The five strangers began conversing about what to do, with the vessel seeming to be the only option. It was suggested that maybe there was a smaller boat on the large shipping vessel that the group might be able to use to slip off to a shore somewhere. One of the humans shared rumors that the vessel was haunted. The five strangers decided to board the vessel.

Upon boarding, there were two long boats on the mid ship deck. There were no people in sight and the deck was clear. The sails were stored and ropes tended. As they continued looking around, a voice spoke directly into their minds saying, “Come to the Captain’s Quarters.”

As they were startled by the voice, the group heard a splash. They turned towards the gangway, and saw a soldier in quick retreat as the planks leading off the ship had been thrust into the waters. The five strangers looked around with the pale human shrugging his shoulders and heading off towards the aft cabin. The rest of the group followed, entering into the Captains Quarters. There were maps and spyglasses, documents and ledgers about. Bookshelves with books and other things. Typical furniture of a Captains quarters, including a desk, chairs and large chest.

The female Slough blurts out, “Show yourself!” Almost immediately the large chest lurches forward causing her to jump back and the rest of the group to shift their attention towards it. The chest, speaking directly into the groups minds explains that he is a mimic named Chester, and that there are many mimics on the vessel, numbering near 100. Chester first explains that early on before gaining consciousness, they fed on the crew, but were no longer comfortable feeding on humanoids. He then explains that there are two factions of mimics on board. There is his faction, that wants to find a humanoid crew to sail the vessel and take care of the mimics, by supplying food and that they would in return provide protection. Chester says the other faction is led by Portman, and that his group does not want to stay on the vessel. Chester asks the group to try and figure out a solution for them, to avoid a continued war between the factions. Chester tells the group that, if they would agree to help that one of the mimics outside, disguised as the long boats would change into a gangway for them to leave. The group heads forward into the deck storeroom, where Portman begins speaking. Portman relays the wishes of his faction, to leave the vessel and find a town or village they could inhabit creating a permanent residence. The five strangers try suggesting compromises, including a contest between Portman and Chester. There doesn’t seem to be any agreement.

The pale human heads below deck to see what is on the rest of the ship. He finds the second level full of crew quarters and the lowest deck to be the cargo hold. With his limited vision and the dim light, he is able to see that there must be a lot of barrels, crates and containers. As he looks down at the floor near his feet, he sees numerous humanoid bones strewn about. Realizing that all of the containers might not be what they seem, he quickly heads back above deck.

The group heads back to Chester to talk about the options discussed, but there is no solid solution. They suggest going back into town to try and source food and possibly a crew for the ship. Chester says that they are free to leave at any time.

The five strangers exit the Captain’s quarters to find a gangway already in place and no guards on the shore. They all head off the ship and began talking about how they might help the mimics. Hearing the direction the conversation is going, the pale human and the female Slough take their leave walking away from the others.

The Titan, male Slough and other Human keep talking about possible solutions. After a few moments, the Titan looks up and notices that the pale human and female Slough or almost off the dock. They send their Tiger to beat them to the end of the dock to “persuade” them to wait and talk. The tiger beats them to the end of the dock and takes a stance across the dock about 10 feet from the end. The tiger is low and crouching, ready to pounce. A low growl thrums in its throat. The two stop abruptly as the pale human raises the sword already in his hand. The female Slough takes a wider stance and begins to swing a net around over her head, seeming ready to engage.

The other human and male Slough hurry down the pier as the Titan seems to struggle to walk stumbling a bit as the two at the end of the dock squared off in front of the tiger.

A tense shouting match takes place between the groups. The three are wanting the others to agree to meet and talk at the Stews and Brews. The pale human jumps off the dock into the water, avoiding any further conversation. He scrambled to the shore and disappeared into the darkened streets. The female Slough agrees to meet and lowers her net as the Tiger returns to the Titans side. They all disperses into the city.

Arriving first to the Stews and Brews, the Titan and human secure the table in the back corner. They are joined by the two Slough with the pale human absent. Drinks are ordered and they began discussing ways to help the mimics, as well as options for leaving them to their selves. The Titan and human are pushing for helping the mimics, saying that to not do so might create a powerful group of enemies coming after them. In opposition, they discuss informing the Mayor and even burning the ship. Eventually the group decides to check into the rat catchers of the city to see about building a colony of rats on the ship to feed the mimics. Dinner is offered but the female Slough declines. They agree to meet in the morning back at the Stews and Brews. The female Slough takes her leave, and steps into the night.

Seated at a different table with hood drawn, the pale human follows.