Act I, Session 9

Settings

Starting Setting

Int. Block E, The Great Vranic Prison Complex (the Fringe), Near Throne, The Vranic Empire, The Great Continent, Prime Material, Kurra - About Eleven in the Morning, Four Days After Last Session

Ending Setting

Ext. Outside of Farglen, Northeastern Provinces, The Vranic Empire, The Great Continent, Prime Material, Kurra - Afternoon, the Same Day as the Session’s Start

Other Settings

• Int. Hallways Between Block E and the Arming Room - Noon, About An Hour After the Session’s Start
• Int. The Arming Room, The Fringe - Continuous
• Ext. Aurora, Somewhere in Southwestern Kurra - Continuous, Nighttime
• Int. An Unknown Tavern, Aurora - Continuous
• Int. The Lighthouse, Aurora - Continuous
• Int. Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Concurrently
• Ext. A Copse of Trees Near Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuously
• Int. Mitchell’s Cabin - Continuously
• Int. Caverns Underneath Aurora - Continuous
• Int/Ext. Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuous

Characters

The Party

• Abeni/Ekundayo Laramar
• Lottie (codename: ‘Spider Two’)
• Molar/Squawk (trapped with Team 2) ‡
• Persephone & Clip
• Rattigan

Block E - Team 2

• Ginger
• Lan
• Lannary
• Trink
• Grayson
• Zilch

Block E - Not on Mission

• Mae ‡

Prison Staff

• Walt (Block E)
• Rolento
• Ci
• Heyman ‡
• Nurse Maddie
• Talina (the Living Weapons therapist)
• Warden Marguyle ‡
• Borith Zela (the new executioner)
• Vikary (Block B, trapped with Team 2)

Other Characters

• A female Elven barmaid
• A half-Orcish man
• Barthor ‡
• Mitchell
• Kamlon (the sea creature)
• Lottie’s sentient tome
• The Shepherd of Fire
• The Raven Man ‡
• Rick Lambert
• Othwin ‡

Symbols
: Deceased
‡ : Referenced but not physically present or depicted

Quests

All: Survive the Fringe
All: Find a way out (either buying their freedom or escape)
Abeni: Return vengeance for Borith’s execution
| Enact vengeance on Heyman
| Enact vengeance on Warden Marguyle
| Enact vengeance on Celeste
| Enact vengeance on Vicary
All: Find more information about the Raven Man
Molar: Get ready for the raid on the Fringe in six weeks
All: Complete the assigned mission
| Travel to Farglen
| Figure out what was happening in Farglen
| Help the people of Farglen
| Stop whatever was attacking Farglen/fighting Team 2
All: Find out who killed Phillandra
| Find Miller
| Find out what Miller Knows about Phillandra
| Find Phillandra’s journal
| Find out why someone wanted her dead
Abeni: Discover the truth about Borith Zela
| Find out what Borith knows about his death
| Find out the reason why Borith thinks he is here
| Determine how he survived the execution
| Figure out where Borith actually came from (which dimension)
| Figure out how he got the Living Weapon tattoos
| Figure out why things are so different in the reality that he came from
| Figure out how Warden Marguyle is involved with all of this
Restore the Aurora Lighthouse
| Find Mitchell
| Repair the light
| Restore power to the light
Solve Mitchell’s murder

Rewards

• Lottie: A magical silver ring which transforms her into a werewolf
• Lottie: A set of silver hoop earrings which give her ultra dark vision and enhanced hearing

Super TL;DR

TL;DR

Int. Cell Block E, The Fringe, Near Throne, The Vranic Empire, The Great Continent, Prime Material, Kurra - Late Morning, Around Four Days After Last Session

  The session began with a very dejected Cell Block E. While they were on their mission, Mae committed suicide by jumping out of one of the Moon Doors in the block. Lottie cocooned herself into her part of the nook she formerly shared with Mae. She has not come out to eat, drink or have any contact with anyone, even Walt who left food for her that remained untouched. Elsewhere in the Block, the other residents ate their morning meal (delivered by the three guards that Walt has as his retainer.) No one spoke, but ate quietly. Abeni chose to eat apart from the rest as they were still in shock from everything.   Suddenly, Ginger shot up from the table. She said that she was done with all of this and ran over to the nearest Moon Door. She threatened to throw herself out of it as she was sick of the whole situation and demanded change. Abeni reached out and held onto her arm, said that Ginger had more to do before passing on and helped to calm her down. She began to cry and said that she didn’t want any of the horrible things that happened to her friends in the last several days.   Most people in the Block agreed that enough was enough and that something had to be done about their situation. Even Lan and Lanary wanted to assault Walt though they otherwise believed in non-violent conflict resolution. Persephone concocted a plan to force Walt to come into the block so that they all could confront him and air their grievances. Percy circulated a piece of paper where the members of the Block wrote down a sentence or two of their grievances to be taken to Walt.   They thrust the paper at Rolento (the grey Tabaxi) and Ci (the Half-Orc.) Rolento was hesitant and said that Walt was in the Infirmary. Percy convinced him that Ginger would not be stopped and would jump if Walt didn’t show up. Eventually Ci went to find Walt and was gone for what seemed like a while.   Ci came back with Walt, Nurse Maddie and Talina following closely behind. Walt looked like he was in rough shape: his hair was unkempt, he was unshaven and he looked like he hadn’t slept in a while but it didn’t seem like they had been having sex. Talina entered the Block and looked after Rattigan while Walt and Maddie remained on the other side of the portcullis. It took some provocation to get Walt to storm into the Block, closely followed by Maddie.   The Block took turns confronting Walt. Lannary wanted to kick him but didn’t; Lan came up to him and landed a right hook on Walt. Ginger followed Lan up by slapping Walt across the face and yelling at him for leaving them like this without any guidance or plan. From across the block Grayson said that he was shaping a rock into a hammer so that if anyone told him to, he would kill Walt and he seemed like he meant it. Molar was mostly quiet through the whole interaction and kept to herself near her cubby. Percy got into Walt’s face and yelled at him about giving the block hope then snatching it away from them. Abei took a different approach; they checked in on Walt’s mental health in the wake of losing his sister whom he seemed fond of.   Walt asked Rattigan if he wanted to throw him out of the Moon Door too; Rattigan said it depended on how soon they would go back to Farglen and fix things. Walt said that he would take them back to Farglen today and set things right. Rattigan demanded that everyone in the Block go with them, even those who did not want to go. Walt said that was more of their prerogative but he could make it work. As it seemed so important to Rattigan who now showed uncharacteristic drive and clarity agreed to go with them.   Abeni took a moment to approach Nurse Maddie. They apologized for ‘accidentally’ hitting the jar of Dream Weed into her face and hurting her nose. They said that violence of any kind is an anathema to them but explained that they feel they felt they were getting justice for someone who could no longer do it themselves. They explained that their partner Borith Zela was unfairly taken from this world and they had to seek a measure of justice for all of those who harmed him but that they did not delight in it nor did they wish for anyone not involved to be harmed.   They expressed that all of this was moot now that it seemed Borith returned from the dead. This startled Maddie as she had not yet put together that Abeni’s murdered spouse was the new executioner and her co-worker. Maddie called Walt over and the three discussed Borith’s apparent return from the dead. Abeni expressed that they were very sure their Borith was really dead and that it was in-fact him and not a powerful illusion. Abeni also believed that this was actually Borith returned and not an illusion or very close look-alike. Walt seemed deeply troubled by all of this and said that he would demand answers from Warden Marguyle.   As he turned, Percy pushed Walt into Lottie’s tangle of webs. They heard a little whimper from inside the mess but she still refused to come out. He tried to reason with her and convince her to come out so she could go on the mission with her friends. He apologized to Lottie that he wasn’t on the Block to stop Mae from jumping and said that he should have been there more for Lottie in the days since but he didn’t know what to say or do. This coaxed Lottie out of her webs, just enough to see that she had self-harmed by biting her own legs several times. Walt said that he had a plan to keep everyone together and he needed Lottie to be a part of it; she meekly agreed.   Walt told Lottie and the rest of the Block that they were going back to Farglen, to set things right but first he needed to confront Marg about Borith Zela. Abeni and Percy felt their collars snap into 1/2 power mode which allowed Abeni to cast Cure Wounds on Lottie’s legs. Walt quickly left into the Fringe’s many hallways but Talina and Mattie stayed behind. As the Block waited for Walt’s return, they began cleaning up their breakfast and returning to their normal morning routines.   Talina came to the door of the Block to see if Rattigan was ok; Abeni whipped out their homemade Rattigan emotion chart with pictograms ranging from angry rat face to smiling rat face. Rattigan pointed to a slightly angry one but Abeni thought it was ok for Talina to talk with him but Abeni stayed close by with Calm Emotions prepared just in case. Talina gave Rattigan some improvised and Warden-approved woodcarver’s tools, some pieced of cheese and soap for Rattigan to use for his creative expressions. Abeni nodded first to the soap then to Talina with the implication that they would encourage Rattigan to use said soap on himself and that the gift was appreciated by everyone. Talina also gifted Rattigan a small picture book of fables with many of them depicting rats which Rattigan seemed very interested in.   While this was happing, Percy discreetly called for Clip now that her magic was turned on again. Clip appeared and hid in Percy’s hair near her ear to avoid notice by the others. Percy filled Clip in on her thoughts about the whole situation and asked Clip to be prepared if things went down with Walt.   Lottie went over to one of the water barrels and threw herself in. It took the Block a moment to realize that she was not just thirsty but actively trying to drown herself. Abeni fished Lottie out of the barrel and tried to explain to her why she must keep fighting on even though Mae was not with her and in the face of so many bad things happening. Abeni gave Lottie the Queen of Cups card from their divining deck and explained its significance as a sign of healing and protection as they cast Healing Word to further close Lottie’s self-inflicted wounds.  

Int. Block E, The Fringe - About An Hour Later

  It took some time before Walt reappeared at the Block gates. As Ci struggled to open the portcullis, Rattigan displayed a piece of cheese that he carved to look like Walt before aggressively taking a bite out of it. With their powers now turned on, Abeni telepathically asked Rattigan what his big plan was. Rattigan replied that he was going to kill Walt, take his staff, free them all and then run away. Abeni relayed this information to Percy in a bid to dissuade Rattigan from such a violent and risky idea.   Eventually, Ci opened the Block gate allowing Walt to stride inside and update his wards. He said that they were going to complete the mission in just a moment and to prepare themselves. First, he had to update Abeni on the situation with their late husband.   Walt started off by telling Abeni that Borith Zela never died. This was impossible for Abeni to believe as they saw who they were fully convinced was Borith Zela. be tortured and felt the spirt leave their body. Marg insisted that Borith was actually kept in the Fringe’s Undercroft the entire time and that it was not him who died. Abeni did not buy this as the figure they saw die was their husband. Walt said that because he and Abeni were so interested in this, he sent Borith down to the Block for a meet-and-greet of sorts. Walt whispered ‘I’m sorry’ to Abeni as they felt their colar snap back into full restrictive mode and their magical abilities faded away.   Into the block walked a seemingly normal looking Human man in his late 30s with tanned skin. His dark brown hair was neatly parted from right to left and he sported a La Mancha. beard. he donned an immaculately cleaned and pressed uniform in the blue and gold worn by the Block Jailers. Under his arm, he carried the steel helmet with wide brim and pointed crest that he wore through all of his battles.   He said that someone had asked to see him but didn’t seem to have a clue whom it was. Abeni said nothing for a few moments as they stared in disbelief and horror at the sight of a person who looked exactly like the memory of a man who could not be there with them. After looking around, confused for a few moments he realized that Abeni was the one that he was supposed to talk with. In a shocked but slightly accusatory tone Abeni told Borith how they saw him die, how they held his remains in their arms and felt their spirit leave their body to endlessly wander the world. Borith was very confused by all of this and begged Walt to turn off Abeni’s colar so that they could see Borith’s thoughts. Walt refused out of an abundance of caution.   Abeni demanded to see Borith’s arm.. He pulled up his sleeve and bared his right arm up to his shoulder. He did not have the distinctive scars that Abeni knew to look for but instead had dozens of intricate tattoos, similar to the ones on Rattigan’s body..   Borith begged Walt again to turn off Abeni’s colar so that they may see through his thoughts; Walt relented as Borith technically outranked him. So Abeni telepathically connected with Borith and began to see all of the things he was thinking. In Borith’s mind Abeni was an important liaison between the Empire and the people of the Crater and Borith took a back seat. The Empire took Abeni hostage first and held them in a special carve-out in Block E with their own quarters and privileges until they no longer were useful. On that day Celste used her mind control to force Borith to strangle and kill Abeni. When he came to, he saw what he had done but couldn’t take it back. They forced him to throw Abeni’s body out of the Moon Door (instead of the opposite way in Abeni’s reality.)   Abeni showed him that in their world, he had been taken prisoner after a bout of political intrigue among powerful factions in Throne. When they came to demand his release, Abeni was also imprisoned then thrown in Block E as the Empire refused to acknowledge that they were a political prisoner or a temporary hold. They showed him how two weeks later, the Warden threw Abeni into an execution cell where Marguyle, Celeste, The Admiral and Vikary turned Borith’s execution at Heyman’s hand into a social occasion. Abeni was forced to never look away as their husband was hung, drawn and quartered.. Abeni showed how they suffered as they believed Borith was gone forever. By this point, both had tears streaming down their face but exchanged no words.   They also showed Borith how they took vengeance against Heyman (first slitting his throat then shocking him and beating him to death.) Abeni said how they swore many oaths and lived their life to protect the living and prevent suffering but they believed he was dead and that he would wander endlessly until this grievous injustice was avenged. Borith showed Abeni how he and a similar looking Molar snuck into the Undercroft before he drew a gun and executed Heyman for what he did to them..   Borith asked what it meant and Abeni posited that they lived different lives, in different versions of Kurra. He said that in his reality, he and Char (whom pointed to Charlette, aka Lottie) were put into Block A and he was given the job as executioner to help speed up his release. He looked around and noticed that Percy was not present at all in his reality, nor were Grayson and Zilch. He did recognize everyone else: the twins, ‘Ratta’., Trink, Ginger and Cisor (incisor instead of molar). He used Ginger’s formal name, Ms. Suppicony, which drew her ire as she didn’t want anyone to know her last tame.   Still confused by the whole situation, he asked Walt where his partner was. Walt was as confused as Borith was (as he could have easily meant Nurse Maddie) and said he didn’t know what he meant. Borith tried to elaborate and said Ginger’s sister, Rubina Suppicony whom Walt always called Beans. This flipped a switch in Walt who, until that moment, had no idea that Beans was Ginger’s sister. Ginger tried to explain that she had three sisters and four brothers but was not close to any of them and could not add any new information to what Walt already knew. He was also furious that she saw him cheat on Rubina with Maddie (even though he believed that Rubina was dead and there is no new evidence to suggest that she is alive.) They yelled at each other for a few minutes as Borith looked at them with deep confusion at the situation that he started.   Walt finally turned his attention away from Ginger and toward Borith. Borith said that Beans and Walt were happily married in his reality. Beans helped people transition to life after their sentence and Walt was a block warden. Borith was shocked, saddened and confused to hear Walt describe how Beans was taken from him and was still missing, presumed dead. Borith said that he would demand to speak to Marg and to the Emperor directly. The Block recoiled at this statement as the Emperor seemed extremely isolated from the rest of the world in their reality. Borith said that in his, he was a loyal lieutenant of the Emperor and could go to him for concerns like this. He described the Emperor as looking like Walt... But he said that was beside the point, that he would get answers and he quickly left the room presumably to find Warden Marguyle.   After Borith’s departure, Abeni stood silent and motionless in the center of the Block as no one dared to touch them or to speak with them after such a world shattering revelation. They said nothing for a long time until Walt reappeared in the block. He told Block E to come with him as they were leaving for their mission right now. The residents of Block E quickly readied themselves for the mission before Walt quickly led them out of the Block.  

Int. Hallways Between Block E and the Arming Room, The Fringe - Continuous

  The members of the Block passed by the once familiar hallway which led to Block D. There was only a sort of metal fnce and the yawning chasm of the world below where the entire block used to be. As they walked along some of the members of Block E watched the building seem to wabble an move in ways that suggested that it could be alive. Walt did not let them linger and they soon navigated their way to the Arming Room.  

Int. Arming Room, The Fringe - Continuous

  Walt once again set the pace by rapidly gathering his equipment and opening the portal for everyone to go though. From the other side of the portal, they heard Vikary’s familiar voice chide Walt for taking so long to come back. Walt send Team 2 through first to join Vikary on the other side. Then Molar went first for Team 1, followed shortly later by the others and finally by Walt.  

Ext. The Other Side of the Portal, Somewhere in Kurra - Night

  On the other side of the portal, Walt found that he, Abeni, Lottie, Persephone and Rattigan were in a completely different place than he expected. They were standing atop a steep cliff that ran along a coastline, in the dark of night, in the pouring rain. As it was noon, clear skies and not on the coast at their destination, Walt assumed that something was horribly wrong. They were not sure if they had traveled through time or if they were in Kurra at all with the series of strange happenings at the Fringe in recent days. They did spot a trail which led from their position, down the cliffs and terminated with a few buildings dwarfed by a large lighthouse. Walt tried to contact the Fringe, Marg or Vikary but couldn’t raise them on his sending stones.   They decided to make a break for the little buildings if only to get out of the rain. As they did, Abeni tried to orient themselves trying to place which ocean they were looking at but they had never seen it before.. They came into the main space between the buildings; Walt saw a tavern sign and directed everyone to quickly duck in there for shelter.  

Int. An Unknown Tavern, Aurora, Somewhere in Kurra - Continuous

  As the four prisoners and their jailor hurried into the tavern, a semi-startled Elven woman came out to greet them. She told them that they were in a town called Aurora on the southwestern corner of the Great Continent. She wasn’t surprised as one of the village’s residents works for the Agency and often gets a bad teleport. She had never heard of it being off by most of a continent before, just little bits here and there. She left the main dining room to brew a pot of tea for her weary guests   Walt tried to contact the Fringe again. With the aid of a second stone he was able to get a weak enough signal to reach Marg. From only hearing half of the conversation, it quickly became evident to Team 1 (missing Molar) that Marg ha done something. When Walt was done with the call he told the others that Marg had in-fact done this intentionally and though he didn’t give a reason, Walt believed it was punishment for demanding answers about Borith Zela. They had a new mission to turn the lighthouse back on so that an Imperial ship could dock and offload their cargo without running aground. Walt said that they had no choice in the matter, especially if they wanted to get back to Farglen in any time to help Team 2, Molar and Vikary.   The Elven barmaid returned with several cups and a hot kettle of tea. As she poured, she asked if they were here to restore the arcane fire within the lighthouse. Walt nodded but he said that he wasn’t so sure how they would get it running again as they had no idea what the original source of the arcane power was. She said that they should ask the lighthouse keeper who lived in a little shack right next to the lighthouse itself. A gruff Half-Orc man entered the room and told them that they should inquire with Mitchell, the lighthouse keeper, but should do it soon as the shipment would soon arrive.   Percy took the opportunity to ask the locals if they saw her blue Tiefling compatriot (Barthor). The half-Orcish man said that someone with that description died just one week ago. There was a big flash of light then the man matching that description fell into the water a far way from the coast. The just assumed that the man fell from the sky and landed with a huge impact on the water which would have killed him. No one bothered to check on him or find the body as it seemed pointless and difficult out in the tumultuous ocean.   As the rest of the group warmed up in the tavern, Lottie grew bored and snuck away from her friends. She left the tavern all together in search of what happened to the lighthouse.  

Int/Ext. The Lighthouse, Aurora - Continuous

  Lottie snuck around the side of the tavern and began to climb up the side of the lighthouse with her Aracni abilities. They quickly got to the top of the building without trouble and entered the lamp room. They quickly saw a set of muddy footprints which led from the room down the winding stairs to the interior of the building. They carefully followed the footprints, without stepping on them herself. They came to a landing where the footprints deviated, entered a supply room, appeared to pace around then went back down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she saw that the door was obviously broken in by the damage to the handle and lock but someone used some rope to keep the door from flying open in the storm.  

Int/Ext. Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Concurrently

  Not noticing that Lottie left, the others exited the taven and ran over to where the Elven woman said taht Mitchell lived. Percy knocked on the door and it swung freely open. They entered a modest living space with simple furniture, a fireplace with no fire, an empty bed and a body in the middle of the floor. Percy cast Firebolt to light the formerly unlit candle sconces at the four corners of the house.   Now with more light, they could clearly see the slain Dragonborn man, face down on the roughly hewn wooden-plank floor. Abeni immediately went over to see if the man expired and found that he was very dead. They flipped the man over to reveal seven stab wounds made by a long, thin dagger about six inches long (or maybe four depending on who you ask.) The body didn’t seem to have any defensive wounds or signs of struggle.   Rattigan thought that it would be a good idea to search for the dagger, so he began sniffing around the room using his form of Detect Magic. He tore back the bedspread to find a jewelry box.. He shook the box to find that a silver ring and a pair of silver hoop earrings fell from it onto the bed.   Before his friends noticed what was going on, Rattigan slipped on the silver ring. He immediately transformed into a gigantic gray wolf. He was fully himself and not motivated to attack his comrades but it scared the living daylights out of them. Rattigan tried to talk with his team but they only heard incomprehensible wolf-like sounds. He wanted to know why everyone suddenly freaked out. Abeni telepathically asked if it was Rattigan and he said of course it was. So Abeni took a hand-mirror and showed Rattigan what he looked like. Rattigan freaked out and tried to attack his own reflection by running after it. He knocked Abeni over, tore through the wall of the cabin and found himself out in the dark and raid outside. Wald drew his pistol and sword to protect Abeni but tried his best to get Rattigan to calm down.  

Ext. Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuous

  Eventually, he looked at his hands and noticed that they were paws and also noticed that the silver ring was still attached around one of his toe beans. He slowly put two and two together and realized that the ring turned him into a wolf.   While Rattigan was putting things together and Walt had the drop on Rattigan, Lottie climbed down the side of the lighthouse and spun a net of webs around Rattigan to restrain him.   Now completely restrained and with Lottie standing on top to claim her conquest, Abeni noticed the silver ring on Rattigan’s paw and investigated it. They were able to take it off of his toe bean which ended Rattigan’s tenure as a wolf; back in his normal form he just shouted “help! I’m a dog!” which the Party was able to understand for the first time. The webs that Lottie used to constrain Rattigan now just slid off as he was much smaller and didn’t have the outward pressure to keep them pressed tightly against him. While holding the ring, Abeni got the sense that there were very powerful magical properties associated with it but couldn’t know more unless they found someone who could cast Identify on it.   Lottie said that she could identify the ring and grabbed it and the two earrings from Abeni. She immediately put the earrings on her own ears to see what they did. The others noticed that Lottie’s eyes immediately shifted to a sort of yellowish tint. Lottie noticed that she could see and hear far better than she could even with Dark Vision and her own sense of hearing.   She heard a voice within her own mind (different from Abeni’s telepathy which she could tell came from outside of her mind.) It asked if this was Mitchell; Lottie replied no it was Lottie (and gave her real name not her codename.) The voice asked if she was a new initiate and she said no she was Lottie.   Abeni noticed Lottie’s eyes and sensed that she was speaking with someone so Abeni tried to telepathically communicate with her.. The voice in Lottie’s head sensed Abeni’s presence but did not shut off contact with Lottie. The voice asked again if Mitchell was there; Abeni asked if he was a Dragonborn and described the body in the cabin. The voice confirmed that was Mitchell and it cut out all communications.   Abeni shifted their telepathic connection to Walt and told him about the earrings and the voice in Lottie’s head. This greatly worried Walt who urged Lottie to take the earrings off but she stubbornly refused. Walt tried to reason with her again and again but she refused. He ultimately relented as the Party returned to the interior of Mitchell’s cabin to investigate further.  

Int. Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuous

  Percy and Abeni returned to Mitchell’s body. They searched it for further clues to his death but found nothing of importance on it. Abeni doubled-checked the depth of the wounds to make sure their first assessment that the dagger was four to six inches long was correct and it was.. Percy found that on Mitchell’s simple leather armor there were moon-shaped symbols carved into it.   Meanwhile, Rattigan and his rats set about scouring the small cabin for clues to what happened there. He searched for traps before rifling through a small desk and some other personal items. They didn’t find the dagger but Mesquite reported ‘something green’ outside of the cabin that would interest him.  

Ext. A Copse of Trees Near Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuous

  Mesquite led Rattigan out of the cabin, into the rainy night and toward a copse of trees by the sea. They came across a multi-armed green sea creature who said his name was Kamlon. He seemed friendly as the tried to warn Rattigan that ‘the Shepard of Fire would soon be here’ therefore he and his friends should flee. Rattigan said that he wasn’t too worried and Kamlon responded “don’t say I didn’t warn you” which Rattigan took literally when he returned to his friends and didn’t mention a thing about the meeting.  

Int. Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuous

  After Rattigan came back, Walt found a piece of paper that appeared to be a correspondence. He handed it to Percy to read while he continued searching for clues. It was a written conversation back and forth between two people and dated with lunar dates. One person asked if there was anything they could do to help their people ascend and signed off with M. Another responded that they would be sending instructions soon and signed off with H.   Lottie also joined in looking for clues in the cabin. She went under Mitchell’s desk to see if there was anything interesting down there and found a little recess. She touched it and the entire desk shifted over and revealed a hole with a ladder which descended beneath the house. Unafraid of the consequences, she quickly descended down the ladder followed by the rest of the Party.  

Int. Subterranean Room Beneath Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuous

  At the bottom of the latter, Lottie pulled a lever which lit up seven magical torches to reveal a rather large room beneath the home.   With the room now somewhat lit, Abeni looked around at they symbols and found bunches of moon symbology. They had not seen such symbols before, especially those honoring the small of the three moons, The Journeyman. There was also a suspicious lack of symbols of the Heroes or any references to them. None of the symbology looked like things Abeni encountered before.   The symbol of the three moons in states of waxing and waining, holding up Kurra caught there eye. The three moons hand chains going down to a large war hammer. It was also a symbol they had never seen. Abeni showed the symbol to Percy who also had no idea what it was.   Percy thought to ask her patron Thulene about the symbol. Thulene definitely knew of it; she said it was the symbol of the Breaker. She indicated that Percy as a Fey-creature should know about the Breaker. She said that “even after the Gods die, their weapons are revered. And in times of weariness and weakness, everyone looks to something that can bring them back from an age before.” She said that it caused the rift between the Prime Material and the Feywild which led to the creation of the Nix.   Thulene said that in this world it caused a similar rift hundreds of years ago. Percy didn’t know as much about the Fey Wild on Kurra as on Sergaia. Abeni told her that it was not The Crater Sea as she originally suspected. Thulene said that there was a slight connection to the Fey as she could feel just a shimmer of their presence in the world.   Lottie was very curious about what would happen if she put on the ring and stood in the middle of the room; so she did exactly that. She immediately transformed into a slightly smaller wolf than Rattigan but was distinctly a wolf. The alter began to move on its own until the warhamer was replaced by a symbol of the war hammer lying on the crescent moon (instead of chained by it.) The alter also revealed a small tome-sized book.   Before anyone could stop her, Lottie tried to pick up the book which the alter revealed. She felt a slight tingle on her fingers but passed a constitution check to determine if there would be other effects from it. On the first page, Lottie saw a yellow eye laid into the page that moved and looked right at her. The book began to flap and flutter before being released from her wolven hands.   The book asked aloud who Lottie was. Lottie asked it if it was Mitchell and it said that was preposterous. Lottie asked if it was the one that she talked with in her head before. The book said that was one of the other members but it apologized to Lottie as its mistress. It asked if the ones with her were initiates and Lottie said yes they were. It asked if Mitchell was teaching her all of the required lessons and she replied that Michell was dead and she was trying to find his killer. After some initial shock about Mitchell’s death, the book told her to never wear her ceremonial vestments for more than two hours or else she would be stuck in her wolf form forever. It said that the vestments were only for times of prayer and battle but not for any times in between. The tome elaborated that the ring and the earrings don’t add anything to Lottie but greatly enhance her innate abilities to turn her into the best predator she can be..   While all of this was happening, Abeni cast Detect Good and Evil centered on them. When the spell clicked into its effect, the whole room lit up as extremely evil. It seemed like the tome, the ring and the earrings were the most evil but all of the other symbology seemed evil to Abeni as well. They subtly communicated this to Walt as it greatly concerned them about Lottie’s safety. Walt approached Lottie and eventually convinced her to take the ring and earrings off until they were in combat (as the tome suggested.)   Just after Walt coaxed Lottie to take the ring and earrings off, one of Rattigan’s rats urgently whispered that the murder weapon was close.. She indicated that it smelled stronger upstairs. So the rat led Rattigan who led the group back upstairs to investigate the source of the smell.  

Int. Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuous

  The group clambered back up the rickety ladder into Mitchell’s cabin. As they did, Abeni’s Detect Good and Evil sense an extremely evil presence that they did not feel before, even more evil than the book and the alter below. Rattigan looked out the window of the cabin to see two large and one smaller alligator-like monsters standing outside of the cabin. In front of them stood a seemingly young, Human man with grayish, ashen skin and molten orange eyes. Even in the darkness it was easy for Rattigan to see the man twirl a stiletto dagger in one hand.  

Int/Ext. Mitchell’s Cabin, Aurora - Continuous

  The man looked up and saw Rattigan in the window. He gestured toward the house and the two creatures immediately moved toward it. Inside, Rattigan yelled that they had company. From outside the man heard that and demanded that they all come out so that he could talk with them. The Party for the most part with Walt taking the lead, Rattigan and Lottie behind him, Percy in the doorway of the cabin and Abeni behind her.   Lottie asked the man if he deactivated the lighthouse; he responded that he did to bring them here specifically. He said that he was the Shepard of Fire. Shepard also said that their friend Molar was associated with a rival of his, The Raven Man. Shepard claimed that they were competing immortals who were after the same things. He also claimed that he was an arbiter of balance but the moon whisperers sought to change this balance to the world. Percy told Shepard that she carried the domain goddess of this world who would restore the order; Shepard seemed deferential to Thulene and claimed to be a servant of her light.   Percy asked Thulene if this was the truth and if he could be trusted. Thulene replied that this man was no servant of hers. She showed Percy that the man was really a lich who would pervert the balance of the world to his own needs. Thulene advised Percy not to attack the man like she wanted as he was far too powerful for all of them to take on.   Shepard said that the Party would serve him, that they would fight or die. He disappeared into a puff of smoke as his creatures ran forth to attack the Party. Walt was ready for combat and immediately charged into the fight against one of the two larger creatures. The other large creature, not in combat with Walt, charged Rattigan but missed its attacks. The smaller one charged through the side of the house, trampled past Abeni and pinned Percy against the opposite wall. Abeni cast Spirit Guardians on themself to produce both happy and terrifying spirits of the dead floating around them; they then approached the smaller creature which their spirit guardians tore into and held in place with their long spectral arms. With the creature now distracted by Abeni, Percy took the opportunity to Misty Step away to the front corner of the cabin and escape the creature’s attack range. Lottie who was mostly unnoticed made a great sneak attack to the large creature attacking Walt for a sizable amount of damage.   In the second round of combat, the first large gator monster broke away from its combat with Walt and made for Percy. Walt tried to take an attack of opportunity with his pistol but it missed wide. The creature barreled into the house, took Percy by surprise and beat her to within an inch of her loosing consciousness. The smaller creature, now with only Abeni near it, whipped around and tried to trip Abeni with its tail but missed; it did land a bite for a bit of damage against them. Rattigan commanded his three rat swarms to harass the monsters and they did a healthy chunk of damage. On Abeni’s turn they healed Percy and received a bit of temporary HP before they tried to cast Sacred Flame on the smaller creature which missed. Abeni pivoted around the monster to get between it and Percy but remained in its reach as not to trigger an attack of opportunity and to keep it within the range of Spirit Guardians. Percy cast Spray of Cards on her turn which sliced the large creature in front of her enough to hit a major artery and killed it. Lottie made another sneak attack for decent damage and tried to cast Webs which missed.   On the third round of combat, the fight came it its conclusion. The remaining large monster saw the death of its commrade and rushed against Percy once again. It did a little bludgeoning damage against Percy but she was ready and braced herself this time. The creature also came within range of the specters floating around Abeni (which it was not prepared for at all they clawed at the creature’s flesh, tearing it away until it was within a few blows from death. The smaller creature did a little tail whip against Abeni which landed for some damage against them. It tried to attack a few times but missed all three of its blows. On Rattigan’s turn, his rat swarms gnawed and gnashed against the larger creature which killed it. Abeni drew their long machette from their pack and landed an almost decapitating blow against the smaller creature but didn’t kill it. Percy landed the fatal blow with a tiny beam of energy which pierced right through its skull.   Now seemingly out of combat, the Party heard the voice of Shepard from outside. He said that they did well but it was time for them to go again. The three creatures they had just killed rose from the dead and began to run toward the Party. Suddenly, there was a massive bolt of lightning as the first creature dropped dead. A split second later, a second bolt killed the other large monster. Shepard said that he would meet them again and disappeared. With that the smaller creature dropped dead once again and the lighthouse turned back on seemingly on its own.   From the darkness, Rick Lambert. approached the Party. The group took a short rest as Rick regaled them with the stories of his recent life. He was on this side of the Great Continent to check out some things in The Dominion of Free Peoples (orc bobbies and alcohol mostly) but recognized Percy and thought that he could help.   He also mentioned that he was in with the Revolution and knew some about the forthcoming raid on the Fringe. To the Party’s surprise, he said that Older Sister moved up the attack to tomorrow so that the Empire wouldn’t have time to move whatever was in the Undercroft that Older Sister wanted. Percy asked Rick to keep Older Sister away from Walt as she would kill him; Rick said he would try but that there was so stopping Older Sister. Rick also mentioned that he had seen someone who looked like Walt before, in the statues of the Emperor when he ascended to the Throne but those were carved 90 years ago.   Percy asked if he had seen Barthor which he replied that he unfortunately had not. He had not seen or had been contacted by any of the boundary breakers or really anyone who was not from Kurra. Percy asked him to keep trying and Rick said that he of course would.   While all of this was going on, Walt communicated with the Fringe again and told them that they completed the mission to turn the light back on. They opened a portal for him and the Party to finally take them to Farglen to reunite with the rest of Block E and to complete their mission. Walt cut Rick and Percy’s reunion short as they had to go soon.  

Ext. Farglen, The Northern Provinces, The Vranic Empire - Continuous

  When the remainder of Block E stepped through the portal, they immediately encountered an exasperated Vikary who said it was about time for them to arrive. In the sunny afternoon light they saw Team 2 fighting a bunch of people while villagers screamed and ran which is where the session ended for the night.