The Age of Worms/ The Demonscar Legacy pt. 3 / Bora the 17th, 3593 CE / 1-28-24

A new day has dawned over the volcano city of Cauldron. The ashes of the devastated Minuta's Board still smolder. Not By Choice prepares to make their way to the nearby town of Irongorge, hoping to warn the citizens there of Mayor Severen Navalant's plan to send his guardsman to capture members of The Chisel, Irongorge's governing body. Time is of the essence, and yet as they take to the air in Nari's flying wagon, the party's attention is drawn once more to a commotion at City Hall. This time the bell that rings is not the warning bell of an impending inferno, but the bell of a town crier, who is relaying official news from the Mayor's office to the gathered crowd. It seems among other things that those who participated in the riot in this very spot a week prior are to all be pardoned, with the noted exception of the accused instigator of the violence, Maavu Arlintal, who has been sentenced to death in absentia as an insurrectionist and enemy of the state. The crier declares that the challenge from Alek Tercival is to be considered null and void due to information that the paladin of Jeda is under the effects of a demonic possession. A reward is offered by the city for his safe return and exorcism. In other news, the half-orcs formerly housed at Minuta's Board have now set up camp just outside the city. As the party listens, they are approached by Jenya Urikas, High Priestess of Jeda, who entreats the party to find her wayward friend Alek. Though she does not believe the story of demonic possession holds truth, she does reveal a divination from the Star of Justice which only adds to the mystery, implying that wherever Alek is, he is in a place "trapped between glass and stone." Though still feeling rushed to begin their trek to Irongorge, the party agrees to follow up on a clue and visit Tygot's Olde Things, a local antiquities shop that the paladin had frequented in the hopes that some of the artifacts he sold could provide a clue to his current location. A short wagon flight later and the heroes are at the door of Tygot’s curiosity shop. The Tygot Mispas, the gnome proprietor is an elderly fellow with a blnk dog companion named Lepook. As Nari pets the magical canine, Lulu gets things rolling by asking after the whereabouts of the missing paladin and any clues Tygot might have. The old gnome retrieves what items he can recall were sold to him by Alek, most of which, while interesting for their own sake, don't provide any clear indication of the paladin's intentions or location. Tygot finally produces a strange silver plate. depicting an ancient, dangerous, and all-too familiar type of creature, a spell weaver. The spell weaver appears to be commanding a band of ogres in building something the accompanying text describes as the “Starry Mirror”, its purpose being to travel to other world. In the images, the spell weaver gives an elixir to its the ogre servants which grants them even greater strength for building the portal. On the reverse side of the plate, a crude map has been drawn with a key written in simple Jotun characters, possibly the handiwork of an ogre. It depicts a trail leading to a place called “Vaprak’s Voice”. Though not much to go on, it's a start for the hero's quest to locate the missing paladin. Tygot haggles a price for the plate, with some disapproving growls from Lepook, until Lulu proposes getting a rubbing of this plate and map, to which Tygot acquiesces, with the request that the party do what they can to find his friend Alek. The open road beckons, and the party boards Naris wagon, this time with Irongorge as their destination, passing over the vine covered walls known as the Basalt Bastions which once served as the city's main line of defense in the time of Surabar the Spellmason. The town appears far different than the threat Mayor Navalant has cast it as, with visible signs that its greatest days are far behind it. The party decides the best place to start gathering information is the local watering hole, a tavern called the Redheaded Miner, whose owner Mikimax is keen to tell all his guests that they will never go thirsty nor hungry while he was around. As the party mentions Mavuu Arlintal and a desire to meet him in Irongorge, Mikimax advises them party to stay the night at his establishment for the night while he arranges a meeting. The next day Mikimax gathers the party from their quarters and leads them throughs the inn's basement to a secret tunnel passage, finally arriving at a meeting room known as the Hall of Carvings. This is the headquarters of the organization known as The Chisel, and there the party is greeted by the other members of The Chisel's leadership: Maavu Arlintal, Honest Minstrel, the Foreman, along with Mikimax. Much discussion ensues after the party shared news of the happenings in Cauldron and Mavuu’s death sentence. After some deliberations the Chisel joins in the consensus that Not by Choice should seek to recover the missing paladin, using the rubbing of the tablet as a map to his possible location. Maavu Arlintal also volunteers his nephew as a guide to the wilderness surrounding Irongorge to help ensure this mission’s success. Meanwhile the Chisel will ready the village of Irongorge for a possible coming siege.