Episode 74
General Summary
Collective Action wake in the Water Dragon Tavern, following a night of song, celebration, and drink. The tavern staff look at them with amused expressions.
Outside, Kureta City is buzzing — and not about Dragons, archmages, or frozen ruins. Every street corner whispers the same headline from the freshly printed Kureta Chronicle: “The People’s Princess.” Lyra’s smiling likeness beams from the page, her tale of romance, sacrifice, and heroic legacy already taking on a life of its own. The party unanimously decide that lingering in the capital may be hazardous to their collective sanity.
They make a swift exit and meet their caravan driver, who cheerfully estimates a three-day journey to Nistaun, assuring them the road is safe, dull, and entirely uneventful.
He is, of course, wrong.
The journey is plagued by strange magical disturbances: sudden, localised hailstones the size of fists batter the caravan without warning, air pressure shifts unnaturally, and odd flashes of arcane residue hang in the air long after their source is gone. Nothing catastrophic — but deeply unsettling.
Despite this, the party arrive in Nistaun exactly on schedule.
As they pass beneath the town’s weathered gates, Chance pauses. Her lucky coin, which has felt dull and unresponsive for some time now, suddenly settles in her palm with a familiar warmth. It feels right again. Like an old friend finally speaking.
Naturally, the adventurers’ first decision is to join one of Nistaun’s famous ghost tours.
They head to Shadows of Nistaun, an inn renowned for such excursions, and soon find themselves following Calvus Mireholt, a dramatic and deeply enthusiastic guide. He leads them through mist-choked streets and shadowed alleys, recounting tales of a town once besieged by evil — and the heroic adventurers of old who stood against the darkness and saved it.
The tour concludes at the graveyard, where the party take a quieter moment. They deliver an amulet to its rightful resting place, fulfilling a promise made to a long-dead traveller they once met in The Great Ice Desert. As the amulet settles, a soft, unseen force washes over them — a blessing, granted in gratitude.
As they prepare to leave, Chance hears something else: a pained groan, drifting through the graveyard mist.
Investigating, they find a young woman with long white hair, collapsed and in a bad way. She manages to open her eyes, offers Chance a faint smile — and then loses consciousness once more.
Healing Magic brings her back, but something is terribly wrong. She has no memories. No name. No sense of self. Barely fragments.
The party bring her to the Inn on the Lake, enlisting the help of Blair’s old friend and former employer, Yssandra Scaleweaver. Yssandra grants them use of the back rooms and ensures the woman is fed — though she seems oddly confused by the act of eating, as if the sensation itself is unfamiliar.
Through gentle questioning, the woman recalls only this: she carried a metal object, stolen by a blue-skinned Goblin. She does not know who she is or where she came from, but she is certain of one thing — she fell.
Yssandra frowns. She believes she knows the creature: a Treasure Goblin, a rare and dangerous nuisance that has been haunting the area.
Groban confirms the worst. These creatures are fiends, servants of the archdevil Greed, existing solely to gather valuables and return them to The Hells.
Yssandra points them toward the Goblin’s last known territory, and Collective Action set out once more.
They find the creature quickly — hunched in a forest clearing, busily stashing loot into a strange magical bag. Knowing it is more likely to flee than fight, Celine and Chance move silently into position.
Celine strikes first, landing a devastating stunning blow. In the heartbeat that follows, Chance looses her arrow — a perfect shot.
The Treasure Goblin explodes into viscera, leaving only its bag behind.
Turning the bag inside out destroys it, but releases everything within: gold, gems, powerful magic items — and the metal object the woman lost.
Chance picks it up.
Something about it feels… different. She flicks it into the air, like a coin.
It lands in her palm, standing perfectly upright on its edge.
Balanced. Impossible. Intentional.
The implications are immediately clear to the half-elven assassin...
Outside, Kureta City is buzzing — and not about Dragons, archmages, or frozen ruins. Every street corner whispers the same headline from the freshly printed Kureta Chronicle: “The People’s Princess.” Lyra’s smiling likeness beams from the page, her tale of romance, sacrifice, and heroic legacy already taking on a life of its own. The party unanimously decide that lingering in the capital may be hazardous to their collective sanity.
They make a swift exit and meet their caravan driver, who cheerfully estimates a three-day journey to Nistaun, assuring them the road is safe, dull, and entirely uneventful.
He is, of course, wrong.
The journey is plagued by strange magical disturbances: sudden, localised hailstones the size of fists batter the caravan without warning, air pressure shifts unnaturally, and odd flashes of arcane residue hang in the air long after their source is gone. Nothing catastrophic — but deeply unsettling.
Despite this, the party arrive in Nistaun exactly on schedule.
As they pass beneath the town’s weathered gates, Chance pauses. Her lucky coin, which has felt dull and unresponsive for some time now, suddenly settles in her palm with a familiar warmth. It feels right again. Like an old friend finally speaking.
Naturally, the adventurers’ first decision is to join one of Nistaun’s famous ghost tours.
They head to Shadows of Nistaun, an inn renowned for such excursions, and soon find themselves following Calvus Mireholt, a dramatic and deeply enthusiastic guide. He leads them through mist-choked streets and shadowed alleys, recounting tales of a town once besieged by evil — and the heroic adventurers of old who stood against the darkness and saved it.
The tour concludes at the graveyard, where the party take a quieter moment. They deliver an amulet to its rightful resting place, fulfilling a promise made to a long-dead traveller they once met in The Great Ice Desert. As the amulet settles, a soft, unseen force washes over them — a blessing, granted in gratitude.
As they prepare to leave, Chance hears something else: a pained groan, drifting through the graveyard mist.
Investigating, they find a young woman with long white hair, collapsed and in a bad way. She manages to open her eyes, offers Chance a faint smile — and then loses consciousness once more.
Healing Magic brings her back, but something is terribly wrong. She has no memories. No name. No sense of self. Barely fragments.
The party bring her to the Inn on the Lake, enlisting the help of Blair’s old friend and former employer, Yssandra Scaleweaver. Yssandra grants them use of the back rooms and ensures the woman is fed — though she seems oddly confused by the act of eating, as if the sensation itself is unfamiliar.
Through gentle questioning, the woman recalls only this: she carried a metal object, stolen by a blue-skinned Goblin. She does not know who she is or where she came from, but she is certain of one thing — she fell.
Yssandra frowns. She believes she knows the creature: a Treasure Goblin, a rare and dangerous nuisance that has been haunting the area.
Groban confirms the worst. These creatures are fiends, servants of the archdevil Greed, existing solely to gather valuables and return them to The Hells.
Yssandra points them toward the Goblin’s last known territory, and Collective Action set out once more.
They find the creature quickly — hunched in a forest clearing, busily stashing loot into a strange magical bag. Knowing it is more likely to flee than fight, Celine and Chance move silently into position.
Celine strikes first, landing a devastating stunning blow. In the heartbeat that follows, Chance looses her arrow — a perfect shot.
The Treasure Goblin explodes into viscera, leaving only its bag behind.
Turning the bag inside out destroys it, but releases everything within: gold, gems, powerful magic items — and the metal object the woman lost.
Chance picks it up.
Something about it feels… different. She flicks it into the air, like a coin.
It lands in her palm, standing perfectly upright on its edge.
Balanced. Impossible. Intentional.
The implications are immediately clear to the half-elven assassin...
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