Session 127

Dain replied to Tyllaetha, explaining what happened to Mythwell, and then quickly ran outside and around the corner to Chandira's Hole-in-the-Wall to tell her the good news. Once Chandira waved him in, he told her that Tyllaetha was still alive, but unfortunately there was no word on whether there were any other survivors. Dain decided that it would be a good idea to go to the Ashlands first on the off-chance that they might learn something useful there, as they could teleport to Greentide, but not Gothir, and traveling by boat from Reshyk to Gothir would be faster than Arak to Gothir. Dain contacted Tyllaetha and asked her and Medril to investigate the Bakari and Gothir in general, as well as to look into Skinner's extended family there. Meanwhile, Skinner talked to Chandira and asked if she might have an item that could store magic to be used later so he could wield Dain's excess magic, but Chandira did not have anything like that on hand. He also asked about boots that would make him fly, but all she had was a broom, so she promised to keep an eye out for such a thing for him. Skinner then asked if she wanted a drinking companion, to which she eagerly agreed. Before Chandira drank herself silly, Dain asked about what he would need to create a weapon empowered by light to use against the spirits of Thalassarion, and was told he would need some manner of material that emits intense light. She suggested asking the Ashenfolk or his own people in Greentide, given their access to the Deephollow and proficiency with such materials. Chandira and Skinner then began to drink, and Chandira got so drunk that she began to moo like a cow. While stumbling home later, Skinner thought of his family, and remembered being told as a child that his family was originally from a town called Marakan in southern Gothir.

As Merrick searched the city for a library to try to find some information on which of Aellorah's deities might match the description of the blue-skinned woman he saw in his vision outside of Thalassarion, he passed a woman that was familiar to him, and recognized that she was the one he saw in his final vision. Catching up to her, she seemed to be waiting for him, and cryptically addressed him by name, casually mentioning the Deep One's recent silence, saying that it must be him who she has to thank for that. She revealed that she too was an Adamant, a unique person immune to the whispers of the Deep One, which caused those within the Whispering Abyss to have knowledge suppressed -- such as the knowledge that they cannot breathe in the water, or that they should not jump into said water, and that they should listen to their crewmates warning them against it. She said that this is why they both survived that day, and revealed that she was one of Merrick's parents' research fellows, and a member of the Antiquarians' Guild, and that they had been on a voyage to investigate why so many had gone missing in the Dreaming Wastes. She said that when all the crew jumped overboard, she inexplicably found him on the deck after seeing his parents jump overboard with him, which Merrick explained was due to Orick's intervention. The woman, who introduced herself as Arwyl Laelithar, said that she believed Merrick was on the path to end their forced servitude to the Deep One and that she had discovered something critical about his ability to eradicate information, saying that he seemed incapable of erasing written information. She implored Merrick to keep a journal of any information that he could not afford to forget and to ensure that the Deep One never learned of this weakness in his abilities and to never let him see the journal. Merrick then asked about his parents, and was told that their names were Athon (his father), and Akila (his mother). He thanked the woman for this information and went to find a library where he purchased a journal and ink to use to record his most important memories, immediately writing down his parents' names. He then browsed the library and found a book about religious accounts of encounters with deities and easily found a first-hand account of a description of a woman matching the description of the blue-skinned goddess seen in Merrick's vision -- Aellor. He reeled at this, wondering if this could mean that the Deep One is a fragmented portion of Aellor's personality. He immediately found an isolated section of the library and Communed with Orick, asking him if the Deep One erased Aellor's memory of himself, and was told that he had not. He then asked if Aellor knew of the Deep One or vice versa, and was told no to both questions. Unsure what to make of this, he continued browsing the library looking for information about Gothir and stumbled upon an account of a monstrous military invasion committed by the Kingdom of Derunadel during the Upheaval period, in which the Letheni had taken a number of Ettinor villagers hostage while retreating from a battle and publicly branded them, worked them to death, then cooked their bodies and flung them back at the Ettinor with a message reading "EAT UP!". The Ettinor had rallied together and slaughtered all but 1,000 of the Letheni, eating half of the remainder alive while the others watched, and then putting the survivors through a ritual called Sari'negol, where they were killed and immediately Soulbound, then put back into their mortal bodies. They were then buried in 100 ft. deep holes, alone, to rot for eternity in isolation. Disgusted by this, Merrick found another book that described the early days of the Spellscar eruption, with an account saying that lightning had cut a swath across the western quarter of Gothir, scarring the land, and when the Ettinor went to investigate and check on their kindred there, they found the Bakari, who attacked them relentlessly, and it described how their bite could turn an Ettinor into another Bakari. Merrick decided to rendezvous with Dain and reveal the things he had learned to him, and the two spent time processing this revelation about Aellor.

The party returned to the Dead Goose to spend the night, a strange experience with Icarus there to hear him shouting obscenities at Cheese throughout the night. After waking in the morning and finding breakfast elsewhere, Dain decided to pay a quick visit to check in on Giselle, asking her if she had any or knew how to make potions that would allow him to resist necrosis and mind control, but Giselle admitted this was wildly outside her area of expertise. She said that she could potentially create more if she could see an example potion, but that anything enchantment related was highly illegal so she had no idea where to begin with that. Dain handed over a Potion of Necrotic Resistance, and Giselle promised to try to analyze the potion to create more. Afterwards, Dain contacted Gardain, asking if he was in Greentide and if he could meet him at the docks. Gardain confirmed, though he was confused. With that, Dain teleported the group over to Greentide's docks, startling the locals and the Runeguard, who brandished their weapons and demanded to know what Dain thought he was doing. Dain tried to settle the tension but wasn't really diffusing the situation until Gardain arrived and dismissed the Runeguard, who oddly listened to his commands, referring to him as Captain Gardain. Dain teased him about this, annoying Gardain, but the two caught up and Dain let him know that he would be traveling to the Ashlands. Gardain told him to try to stay out of trouble and left, and Dain spoke with the dock master to figure out how to charter a boat to Minok. After being told that the captain of a ship would be leaving to Minok in two days and that he could find him at the Jaded Jackass, the group set out for the inn. Inside, after giving them a hassle, Albrecht pointed them toward the ship's captain, a Dwarf named Dalmar. They approached the man and were told that it would be 25 gp per person. Dain attempted to pay the man 100 gp, but the man clarified that Dain's "Forgeborn" would also be 25 gp, frustrating Dain. They paid, and Skinner decided to give the man an extra 25 gp and bought him some Frostfire Mead, which Dalmar admitted he hadn't had before because it was too expensive, and he immediately downed the entire mug, quickly becoming overwhelmed and passing out, falling out of his chair. Dain sighed and cast Lesser Restoration on the man and dumped water on his face to wake him, which annoyed Dalmar, who was enjoying his stupor. Dain asked where to find Dalmar's ship and was pointed toward the northeastern part of the docks.

The party spent some time shopping around Greentide for various things, and at one point, Merrick was hoping to have some scrolls made of several spells, but the Dwarven wizards had no idea how to produce the divine spells he wanted. So, Merrick went out in search of a Cleric who could cast the spells he needed. Eventually giving up after not finding any, he stopped in at the Jaded Jackass where his eyes settled on someone who he felt oddly drawn to, and he felt as if the man had the air of a Cleric. Introducing himself to the Luminari man, he was given a steep price of 2,000 gp to produce the spells onto scrolls, but without the required funds, Merrick decided to contact Dain, who just so happened to be walking into the inn at that moment. As Merrick called Dain over, hoping to borrow the money necessary, Dain sat down and saw the face of Merrick's new friend -- his old companion, Anlon. The two greeted each other, and Dain explained their background. He briefly caught Anlon up on what they had been up to and their current quest. Anlon made a brief mention that he would need to report what had happened to Mythwell to the Primarch, but agreed to help Merrick, giving him a reduced fee of 1,000 gp. The group went over to Aellor's Astonishing Archive, where Anlon cast the necessary spells for him. As Anlon went to leave, he briefly told Dain to "keep his nose clean", tipping Dain off that he knew about Dain's bounty and past transgressions. Dain apologized, and Anlon said that he just hoped there was more to what he had heard, and turned, sprouting wings, and lifting into the air blindingly fast, tipping Dain off to the fact that Anlon had perhaps become a Sentinel. After waiting out the two days, the group boarded Dalmar's ship, where they set out for Minok. Along the way, Dain enhanced one of his warhammers with a Moonstone he had bought in Greentide to imbue it with the light of the sun.

As the party arrived in Minok two weeks later, they took in the sight of a strange haze overtaking the atmosphere around the island. As they disembarked, they saw what appeared to be snow on the ground, but when it fell on their skin, it left behind soot stains. Pulling up their cloaks, they took in the sight of the ash fall that gave the Ashlands its name. Approaching one of the local Ashenfolk, they asked how they might go about speaking with a local elder or leader. This confused the Ashenfolk, who explained that Minok was King Thorfin's territory, and that he was in Kantor to the north, under the Basalt Peaks. The group asked for transportation, but the Ashenfolk was again confused, not knowing what a horse was and becoming confused at why the group needed animals to transport them. The group consigned themselves to march the way there and made their way out of the town through the forests of Farnia trees, responsible for creating the ash filling the air around them from their gray bark. The wilds were eerily silent, devoid of sounds of wildlife, and they continued north for a two week walk until they came to the base of the Basalt Peaks, where they saw a pair of Ashenfolk guards flanking the entrance to a large tunnel. They approached and asked about how to gain an audience with King Thorfin, but were told this would not be something King Thorfin would agree to for outsiders, and suggested that they speak to his advisors if they needed to organize a formal greeting. Asking what the party wanted with their city, the group explained needing to know what the Ashenfolk knew about Soulbinding. The Ashenfolk were confused why the group would come to the Dwarves for knowledge of the Ettinor's practices, but directed them to Geir Soldan, their local archives. Proceeding down the tunnel deep into the ground, the group eventually came out to an opening that widened to a massive cavern miles in diameter, with basalt carved buildings all over the ground, the cavern walls, and even on the stalagmites and stalactites. In the distance, they could see a large waterfall, some geysers erupting with steaming water, and endless shimmering lights giving the cavern a mystical, ethereal quality.

Proceeding onto the streets, they were curious to see that there were even some Forgeborn integrated into the Ashenfolk society. They questioned a random local, who was incredulous at their appearances, and was less helpful due to the fact that he was drinking a liquid that smelt heavily of alcohol -- a drink he said was called Ajongir. The man was difficult to deal with, but eventually gave them vague directions to the Geir Soldan in the western side of the cavern, before returning to his home to drink more. The group moved along toward the hot springs near the center, where they witnessed several Ashenfolk, some nude, moving in and out of the building in front of the hot springs, where a massive geyser eruption blasted them with heat and spray of hot water. Proceeding west where the man had directed them, they eventually made their way to a building where they entered to find a librarian tending to a number of large rows of book shelves. They asked the man for information about Soulbinding. After some initial confusion about why they had come to Kantor for this information, he searched the archives and found a book that described the process of creating a Soulstone, in which a metal called Akronite which could absorb both animate and spectral Flow, had a crushed crystal of some sort added to the molten metal before being cast into spheres which could store the spirits that the Soulbinders bind and beckon. The man did not know how to help them further and directed them to the Runescribes of the temple called "Karsil Allor", who may be able to help them further. The librarian loaned them the book, making sure to tell them to bring it back, and the group asked for directions to Karsil Allor before returning to the streets, heading to the northern portion of the city to seek the temple. Seeing the waterfall, the group found the nearby temple and made their way inside, where they found silence as a number of Ashenfolk went about their daily chores and prayers. As they wondered where to begin, they heard a voice clear behind them, and Dain heard a familiar voice address him, as his cousin Gloin asked him "Lookin' for something, cousin?".