Strange Aeons / Dreams of the Yellow King pt. 17 / Galen the 2nd, 3592 CE / 9-22-22

It has been 28 days since a group of Adventurers awoke in Stonebriar Asylum with no memory of how they got there. In that time, Esp and Hemlock have foiled the curse that afflicted the asylum, though not without the loss of some companions; they rescued the cleric of Ishtalar Trakir from the forces of an evil cult of Hastur which terrorized the town of Rushton, and succeeded in destroying the cultists and driving them out; they learned that their former employer, Baron Haver Lowell IV is responsible for both disasters, and could be responsible for more if he is not stopped in his mad quest for occult knowledge. They also learned that he was the run responsible for robbing them of their memories in a Dreamlands ritual. Taking the waterways of Northern Anoria, the trio of Hemlock, Esp, and Trakir began a pursuit of the Baron. Along the way they acquired more companions, such as the half-orc hunter of eldritch creaturers, Zolkri, and the margoyle adventurer Mason, freed from a 50 year stasis. They have learned that the Baron's Dreamland rituals had brought him to a mysterious prophet called the Mad Poet, to whom he sacrificed the memories of Esp and Hemlock, and to whom they know hope to bring gifts in order to get those memories back. They learned much of this from a being called the Yellow King, the splinter of the Baron's psyche left in the Dreamlands which contained his moral compass. The party has now acquired 2 of the required gifts, but there have been misadventures during their river journey in the waking world as well. The most recent has just occurred after leaving the town of Dabrile. A group of humans in noble-garb motioned to their ship, the Starling, from a dock in the war-torn nation of Corwyn. Though wary of past encounters with strangers, Captain Fred is short-handed after losing several crew members to attacks by the monstrous creatures pursuing the party, and sees a chance to impress some new sailors. When a landing party goes ashore to greet the troubled looking nobles, they learn that they serve Lord Emilio Demaine, a noble fleeing the oppressive regime of local warlord Baron Morcar. Lord Demaine is hiding in a barn just up the hill, but as the party moves to retrieve him, there is the sound of approaching hoof-beats. It is Captain Glower, Baron Morcar's chief enforcer, and her team of trackers. Having already had a confrontation with the "Grey Lady" and vowing to spill blood the next time he saw her, Zolkri is spoiling for a fight and he is not disappointed. A battle is engaged, and in the end he gets his wish, laying the Grey Lady low and Lord Demaine and his surviving servants are ferried onto the Starling.