Session 119

Following Dain's revelation that he was a wanted man, he fled down the streets at high speed toward the southern gate of Mythwell, hoping to flee the city. As fireworks erupted in the sky, the Enforcers signaling for backup, and they began to fling Fire Bolts at Dain as he fled, Merrick back at Oops! All Enchantments decided to take advantage of the chaos, using a Mislead spell to create an image of himself to distract the approaching Enforcers, who were responding to the shop's alarms, while he snuck into the shop and swiped the Ring of Teleportation that Emrys had been showing to Dain before the man fled. Skinner, being more honest than Merrick, but not having the money to compensate the man for the ring, left all 100 gold he had to his name for Emrys on the counter and left. The Enforcers speaking to Merrick asked for his statement, and he gave them a brief rundown before pointing them in the wrong direction, away from Dain. As Dain flew through the city streets, dodging Fire Bolts, he zoomed through the southern gate as confused Enforcers continued to sound alarms and fling spells at him. Dain then made his way south toward the Bast Wilds while using Sending to communicate to Summer to meet him at the edge of the forest. As Merrick and Skinner left the city, Merrick asked him to write his name into his Book of Shadows so that they could communicate in difficult situations like this, seeing as how the party had been split in the chaos. However, Skinner being perhaps suspicious, or thoroughly confused, didn't know how to write his name in Merrick's tongue and instead wrote the last name he remembered being seen written in there instead. Merrick, wanting to test it out, tried to send a message to Skinner mentally, but received no reply. After clarifying his request to Skinner, he wrote his real name badly in the book and they left the city. Seeing no other options, the party eventually regrouped and found their way to the edge of the forest and to Dain. Dain was distraught and lashed out, especially upon learning that Merrick had swiped the ring, perhaps thinking it would be added to his list of criminal charges. He took the ring and punched Merrick in the gut, angrily berating him. Collecting his thoughts, he received a mental message from a concerned Chandira who wanted to know why she hadn't heard from him, and asked if he would be coming to the academy. Dain told her that he had to flee the city and asked if she could meet him in Eldham instead, which she confirmed. With that, the group set out south toward Eldham.

Along the road south, shortly before the road exited the Bast Wilds, Summer and Merrick heard howls of pain along the road ahead. The voice sounded feminine, but would drop in pitch significantly on the tail end of every howl. On guard, Summer decided to move ahead through the trees to try and get a glimpse of the source of the noise and came upon a woman lying in the road, blood in the snow around her, who was wincing and howling in pain. Summer went to report back to the group, but was surprised when the woman apparently heard her moving through the trees and called out to her, but Summer was already gone. Reporting back to the rest of the group, they cautiously made their way to the woman, who upon inspection, appeared to have a wound on her arm. As the party approached, she yelled that they had to get far away from her, and told them not to get closer. Not listening, Dain approached and inspected the woman's wound, seeing that the slash on her arm was deep. He went to use the Rod of Health to close the wound, but though it stopped the bleeding, the wound would not fully close, and Dain noticed red lines radiating out from the wound. The woman repeated commanding him to flee, but Dain refused, asking how he could help her. While Dain spoke with her, Merrick retreated into the woods and used Commune to try to contact Orick and was pleasantly surprised when it worked. He asked about this and was told that the Deep One was currently "distracted" following the purging of the Wellspring and it would give them opportunity to speak. Merrick asked about the woman. He was able to learn that she was something called Quen's "chosen", and upon asking if there was anyone nearby who could help her, was told of a nearby grove of druids to the west. Returning to the group, Dain asked how he could help the woman, and Merrick mentioned her being "chosen", which shocked the woman who asked how he knew that. Merrick simply cryptically replied that he too was involved with the Seven Sisters. The woman said that the only chance she had would be for them to locate some druids in the Bast Wilds who may be able to heal her wound. Merrick mentioned that Orick told him that they were to the west, so Skinner picked up the woman and the party set out west. It took them the rest of the day, but as night began to fall, they came across the grove, startling the druids there. They noticed the woman, called Alma, and seemed familiar with her nature, and called over their leader, a Letheni man named Hethmarr. Hethmarr instructed them to bring her to a nearby tree and began gathering supplies. The group questioned him about what was wrong with her as Skinner, at the instruction of Hethmarr, began to bind Alma as securely as he could. Hethmarr said that she had been wounded by a Rabium weapon, pointing to the red lines radiating from her wound. As he began to prepare a purification ritual, Alma began to enlarge, features becoming harsher, and fur growing all over her body as her face extended into a snout, giving her the appearance of a humanoid wolf. She struggled to escape her bonds, but Skinner's knots held firm. As Hethmarr completed the ritual, the red lines on Alma's arm began to vanish and the wound closed, allowing fur to grow over the area. Hethmarr then cut Alma's bonds, and she stood tall, rivaling Skinner's imposing stature. The intimidating creature thanked the group in a gruff voice, saying she isn't sure what she would have done had they not found her, to which Hethmarr said she likely would have massacred his grove. Alma then darted off into the woods, leaving the shocked party members behind. Hethmarr thanked them for bringing her there and told them that Alma was something called a "Lyronar" and that the weapon that wounded her was made of a metal associated with Maven -- a metal which has the effect of irreversibly corrupting the minds of those it wounds if the initial infection is not purged quickly enough. He said that only the most powerful of Clerics and Druids had the ability to purge such an infection, and went on to explain where this metal came from, as even Dain had not heard of it, explaining that it forms when blood at the sites of large battles seeps into the ground and transmutes rocks 10 to 20 ft. beneath the ground into this metal, which is blood red in color. He invited the group to stay the night and they took him up on his hospitality, setting up and resting -- except for Merrick, who received another visit from Orick that night. Orick told him that Merrick and his companions had attracted the attention of an incredibly dangerous entity when they interfered at Kyran's tower over a year before and that it had been watching them. Merrick initially thought he was referring to the Deep One or a similar deific entity, but Orick corrected him and said that this was the most powerful mortal entity on all of Aellorah, and that he had history of a sort with Orick, but he refused to elaborate. He told him that Merrick and the rest would need to be very cautious in the coming months and avoid reckless decisions. The next day as they set out towards Eldham, Merrick told the group of Orick's warning, which seemed to concern them.

After a brief stop in Fort Elden to check on things, the party eventually arrived at the Dead Goose Inn in Eldham and checked in on Icarus, who was none too pleased to see Dain and Skinner, still holding a grudge for the destroyed wall from their last visit. Dain made his way to the Messy Cushion and checked around the side, finding Chandira's Hole-in-the-Wall already set up. Poking his head in and inexplicably finding Chandira with noodles and sauce on her face, she quickly cleaned herself off before telling him not to ask. Dain told her about the bounty on his head and she said that at least word hadn't reached this far south, and that perhaps with his reputation in Eldham due to the many times he had saved the city, they would show him some leniency. Chandira then mentioned a possibly venture that would allow him to get away for a bit, saying that the Cabal had finally found a possible lead investigating Kyran's death, and was gathering at his tower in Myr the next day to discuss it. She invited him to join her there to hear their findings and to get away from Arak for a bit, to which Dain readily agreed. After spending some time working on his latest magical project, he gathered the rest of the group, including his Steel Defender, and brought them to Chandira's shop, which she promptly packed up and then took Dain's Ring of Teleportation, using it to transport the group to Kyran's tower. Upon arriving, they found the tower abandoned and made their way to the living quarters in the midpoint of the tower and set up to turn in for the night. During the night, as Merrick read his books and meditated over his Book of Shadows, he was startled to see a shadow figure standing at his closed door staring at him. It promptly turned around and walked through the closed door. Merrick jumped to his feet and chased after it, throwing open the door. He saw the shadow turning the corner down the hallway to the stairs heading upwards. Using Message to rouse the party members as he passed their doorways, he chased the figure all the way to the top floor, where he saw it turn into Kyran's study. He waited at the door for some sign of something going on inside, and as the rest of the party caught up, Summer opened the door and saw the shadow figure crouched by Kyran's desk pointing at an area of the brick wall, tapping it. It then began to fade into the shadows so smoothly, it was if it was never there. Summer moved over to the wall and investigated it, finding a brick that was not connected to the rest of the wall, and pulled it out, finding a small space behind it. Fishing around in the hole, she pulled out a leather bound journal, which she decided to bring to Chandira downstairs. Dain knocked on Chandira's door and told her about what they had seen and found. With her eyes still not fully awake, she asked Summer to read it. Upon reading the journal, they revealed entries from the end of the Restoration period of Aellorah's history, specifically the last few years, where Kyran detailed having met creatures from another world -- Proxon, the second planet in Astix' orbit. He went on to describe how they accidentally opened a gateway to their home world, allowing their oppressive ruling society to come through and invade a second time, after they had failed centuries previously, and that Kyran learned they were seeking some sort of artifact. After locating the artifact in a place called Thalassarion, they disturbed some sort of creature which overwhelmed Kyran with his terrifying power. However, Kyran was able to escape and fled back to Myr, where he identified the artifact, a crystal named "Lod'exenter", which he realized had the ability to gather a tremendous amount of Flow over centuries, and then release it all at once to elevate a single spell to godlike power. He went on to use the crystal to destroy the amulet maintaining the gateway to Proxon, and then warded it in his tower... where it would be recovered centuries later by the creature that killed him. Perhaps more disturbing though was the reveal that the creature whose artifact they had taken cursed two members of the Cabal, Humans by the name of Anna and Garvin, with what the world now knew to be the Grave Rot Plague. These revelations floored Chandira, who said that they needed to tell the Cabal about this when they arrived.

The next day, as the Cabal members began to arrive, they met a familiar face in Tyllaetha, a Letheni woman whom had been present at the tower the day Kyran died as they were responding to the attack. Also in attendance was an unfamiliar Letheni man named Nashar with an uncharacteristically buff build, who gave off a very cocky and gruff attitude. Making their way to Kyran's study, Tyllaetha addressed everyone, reminding them of why they had gathered, saying that she had found someone who may be able to help them uncover the truth behind the attack on Kyran over a year ago. She introduced Takoni, a giant Ettinor woman who towered above even Skinner. Tyllaetha said that the woman was a Sifter, a type of Soulbinder who had the ability to peer into the plane of Matroka to conjure memories of death in an area. The woman grabbed a memento of Kyran's from his desk and performed a ritual similar to the one the false Carados Iliathor had on the day of the attack -- only this one caused a veritable sandstorm to whip up in the room, blinding the onlookers. As the storm began to subside, the sand hang in the air as spectral images of Kyran and Chandira appeared. A scene identical to the one revealed by the false Carados played out, showing the beginning of the attack, with the exception that when Kyran's killer appeared, it was no longer distorted. The onlookers witnessed the form of a hideous humanoid figure enter the room, with desiccated skin, tattered robes and cloak, and red eyes... starkly different than the featureless blue spectral images of the rest of the scene's actors.

This seemed to alarm Takoni, who hopped to her feet and began to perform an incantation that Skinner recognized as being that of attempting to beckon a spirit. However, the figure of Kyran's killer then deviated from the memory, turning to Takoni and unleashing a flash of green energy, causing her to collapse into a pile of dust. The room erupted into panic as the sandstorm whipped back up, causing a roar of wind and panicked screams. When it finally died down, the spectral images were gone, and all that remained were Takoni's ashes in the center of the room, still smoking. After some stunned silence, everyone discussed the issue frantically, with Chandira noting that the figure's eyes were different. Nashar questioned how the mere memory of an event could harm them in any way, and Skinner was dumbfounded, as this was his own particular specialty of Soulbinding as well. Skinner brought up the fact that this very creature had been responsible for the deaths of his entire family when they went searching for an artifact in the Dreaming Wastes and were caught in a trap of his design. As they began to calm down, Tyllaetha also brought up an even that a Flowscope operator had recorded a day or two before the party had last been in Mythwell, in which they witnessed a pocket of charged Flow appear in the Dreaming Wastes after the operator just so happened to trip and knock the scope out of alignment, witnessing the event when he went to reposition the scope. Tyllaetha believed this was providence and that "the Augur" was showing them the path so they could bring justice to Kyran's killer. Nashar was skeptical, calling "the Augur" by her proper name, Aellor, asking if Tyllaetha seriously believed the intervention of one of the Seven Sisters was more likely than the operator being a clumsy oaf, but she was unswayed. Tyllaetha said that they needed to gather support and investigate the Dreaming Wastes so that they could find Kyran's killer, and said she would leave for Mythwell at once to seek aid. At this, Chandira interjected, saying there was something she needed to know, and told Summer to give Tyllaetha the journal. Summer handed it over and watched Tyllaetha's confusion turn to shock and then horror as she read through the events from three centuries before. Nashar then took the journal and read through it as well, reacting with anger at Kyran's recklessness, and reeling at the revelation that he was indirectly responsible for the outbreak of the Grave Rot Plague. He said that they couldn't afford to let this get out, saying that it's too much, and that they had to keep this a secret until after the creature was dealt with. The party objected, saying that the Humans deserved to know -- however, Nashar believed the Humans would hate the Cabal for this and they couldn't afford this kind of political nightmare while they're already dealing with so much. Tyllaetha agreed, and asked the party to help with gathering support. Dain told Tyllaetha of his vilified status in Mythwell, and she told him that if not Mythwell, perhaps he could venture to the Atrautum School of Wizardry in Artus in southern Myr. She told the group a bit about the city, including the strange At Matica technology found there, and told them to seek the Letheni head of the school there, named Medril, and that he would be able to point them towards some who may be willing to help. With this, the party set out with Chandira toward the flying city of Artus...