Session 13

In the Feywild court of Laurel, the Lilac Queen, the party stood surrounded by towering treants and glowing myconid advisors and made their request - to be freed of the Shackles that bind them. Though Laurel showed deep respect to Frostwarden, her court was tense - the Empire's growing presence on Orpheus has pushed the Feywild to the edge of open defiance.   After hearing her advisors’ silent pleas, Laurel made the party an offer: she would break their Imperial shackles and free their souls from the Empire’s control… but only if they completed a dangerous task on her behalf.   Laurel revealed a living artifact called Psilofyr's Spore - a strange, green, pulsing egg infused with powerful myconid magic. She asked the party to carry it to Mt. Cantha and cast it into the volcanic caldera at the mountain’s peak. Only there can the Spore take root and help the Fey push back against Imperial expansion. Once this is done, she will know - and the party's shackles will be magically removed upon completing the task.   Accepting the quest, the Spore was placed into the party’s hands - warm, humming, and faintly aware. Their freedom now depends on delivering it safely.

With a single motion of her hands, Laurel summons a tornado of pink petals that transports the party back to the material realm. They awaken in an unknown location underground, in a cave surrounded by flowing water, but are otherwise unharmed and still carrying the Spore. Making their way out of the cave, they find themselves in the familiar Quarry Junction, and return to Brimstone just a short walk north. Once in town they visit Salda Mourn at the Saloon, where she pays them 300 gold pieces (60 GP each) for completing her delivery to the Oasis. After spending some gold at the local shops replenishing their supplies, they decide to pay their allies a visit at the Copperfield Estate.   Returning, the party finds Cornelius and NESTOR at the estate, seemingly planning the details of their next venture. When asked for an update, the party reveals to him that they have a way forward to remove their shackles that involves traveling east to Mt Cantha, though they did not share with him any details about the Fey or the Spore. Cornelius suggests that they could take his Airship there, although it is currently docked and getting repairs in Magdamar, the imperial capital in Eastern Cantha. This area is heavily patrolled by the Imperial Legion, so he suggests the party will need to find their own way there and can then board his airship once its outside of Magdamar's airspace.   As the party continues to strategize, suddenly in the corner of the room a faint hum of a broadcast emits from Cornelius' Palantir; a magitech crystal ball that projects Imperial broadcasts. During the broadcast, Thane unexpectedly sees his cousin Colin Boykos starring in a low-budget infomercial on the imperial public access - a jarring fall from the Boykos family’s former prestige. Concerned, Thane used the glyphs on the screen to call him. When Colin answered, the cheerful salesman persona disappeared, replaced by a frightened, exhausted man clearly terrified of being monitored.

Colin explained that Thane’s sabotage of his father Luthur’s mining operations in Colair had triggered an Imperial investigation into the entire Boykos family. The Empire uncovered evidence linking the family to resistance and separatist groups - not only through Thane’s actions, but through covert aid provided for years by Colin’s own father, Thane’s uncle. He had secretly worked with the Arakocran DonaKis resistance, quietly undermining Luthur’s expansion long before Thane ever joined the fight. Thane’s recent involvement exposed the full extent of this hidden network, and the Empire responded swiftly and brutally.   Both Luthur and Colin’s father have since disappeared after being seized by Imperial Inquisitors. The Boykos estates and assets have been confiscated, their status erased, and anyone tied to the family is now under Imperial scrutiny. Colin warned Thane that Avalon is no longer safe for him - the Empire sees him as a likely collaborator, and if he ever returns home, he would be arrested on sight. With a final warning for Thane to stay away, Colin ended the call, leaving the fate of the Boykos family in ruins.   With this heavy news setting in, the party decides to take the advice of Cornelius to stay at the Estate for the next few days to rest and plan their next move. The party gets some downtime to pursue their own activities, during which Thane decides to start some repairs on the Autocarriage. Searching Copperfield's study upstairs for some blueprints, he comes across an old photo, on it is a date and the words "Colair Digsite". The photo itself appears to be of an archaeological team at an excavation site - yet two members stand out distinctly to Thane - its Cornelius, with his great grandfather Gebaltar Boykos.

The Boykos line had once been an Avalonian pillar — respected miners, negotiators, and stewards of Colair’s rare earth metals. Gebaltar Boykos, Thane’s great-grandfather, built the family’s wealth through an honorable treaty with the Arakocran DonaKis clan, respecting their land and traditions.   His successors, Timothy and Gerald, upheld that harmony even as profits waxed and waned. But when Luthur Boykos, Thane’s father, inherited the operation, he abandoned the old ways. Driven by bitterness over the family’s declining influence, Luthur militarized the mines, broke every Arakrocran agreement, deployed mercenaries, and waged a private war against the mountain clans.   To Thane, it seemed simple: Luthur was a tyrant, and the sabotage Thane carried out for the DonaKis resistance was a direct blow against his father’s greed. But there was more - much more - happening behind the curtain.