Side Stories and Leads

The Journal of Enderson Rettle

During the events of Into the Dragon's Den, Langly Snaketail gifted the group with a selection of items from her hoard, personally selected for their potential value. Dorian selected a simple canvas bag which, when opened, revealed a small satchel of jewels and a tattered grimoire, bound in leather and buckled with worn belts, its previous owner inscribed inside the front cover: Enderson Rettle. She passed the book over to Charlie Anderson for future investigation due to the indications of magical knowledge inside. Charlie and Dorian began decoding the cryptic ciphers, discovering several spells Charlie could copy over to his personal spellbook and maps to an unspecified location.   Over the next few days and well into Charlie's downtime, a story began to take form, the last known moments of Rettle's life. Rettle was a Half-Elf living within Kalom-kalom. At some point in his life he came in contact with a hidden group known as the Cinders of the Everflame, a society intent on preserving an unknown artifact called the Everflame and the study of the arcane. His curiosity got him entangled with the group and he was captured by the Legion Marred for pursuing forbidden knowledge. He escaped thanks to the Cinders and fled the city for a purpose he does not describe in the journal. He added a number of coded maps and other navigational riddles to his intended destination: a spot deep within the desert near Keld.   During one Downtime, the group traveled through Ira Hotu to the Rust Sea. Thanks to the map they navigated through the desert to a small oasis with a dry well in the center of a reservoir of water. Inside they found a hidden cavern which lead to a short series of challenges to reach a set of underground ruins in much the same style as the Derelict Ark occupied by a snarky fragment of STACI, a cloistered Ancient Brass Dragon named Cybil, and signs of Enderson Rettle. After some negotiation, Cybil allowed STACI to join together and presented a handful of gifts to the group and teleported them back to the Derelict Ark on the promise that they return at some point. Charlie Anderson recorded a teleportation circle to the site for future use.

The Trial of the Allfather

During the events of Into the Dragon's Den, Langly Snaketail described an entity called the Allfather. All attempts at the time to recall information on them failed.   Mal Auvryani during a later bout of downtime did further research into this figure, gathering a small amount of additional information from ancient tomes. The Allfather is a god of gods of sorts, a scale to which the divine order is balanced and an entity that judges a god as worthy of their throne or not, it is assumed that in the wake of the Sundering the Allfather cast the gods down to the Material Plane in order to reascend or be replaced. The Allfather is never depicted nor worshiped by mundane creatures as their influence lies purely over the gods.

DJ Kraken

Over the course of a period of Downtime, Shahana Zinvalur meditated on her bond with her god Umberlee, Queen of the Depths with a drinking challenge within a shrine made of bed sheets and pillows. As Shahana concentrated, she was granted a vision from the eyes of someone she did not recognize, an eccentric musician known as DJ Kraken, while playing a set in an underwater club. The DJ, named "Rori", finished her set and returned to the dressing room where she saw another figure, presumably Shahana, in the mirror.   While relaxing at the beach in Luciden, Shahana meditated on her bond with Umberlee, God of the Depths who is believed to have been incarnated as Rori. When she dived below the water she felt a cold chill swoop over her and the symbol she carried shifted to the shape of a broken mast. While talking about it with Charlie Anderson, he noted that in the northern reefs of Euri'dor a number of shipwrecks during the icy winter months led to the founding of Imposse-salv, a now large water-borne city that is home to many aquatic races. It is believed that this is the current location of Rori.

The Ratking is Watching

While partying during her Downtime, Zahiri Sapir floored during a bar brawl, saw a strange symbol carved into the bottom of a table along with an unsettling message:     Later on, Zahiri attempted to recall information on whoever the Ratking may be, remembering that the Ratking is an urban legend who's temperament varies from settlement to settlement. They are known as an entity who trades in worthless things and secrets, a boogieman type entity who steals away children from horrid parents, or a thief of unfathomable talent, among many other faces.   The group continued their investigation over time, finding mentions of a Rat King scattered throughout their travels, Ira Hotu included. During a time when they were travelling towards the Rust Sea for Enderson's Journal, Athen Ligrant called them back due to a mysterious customer who seems to have been meandering in the Ragged Possum. The group called off their investigation and begrudgingly returned home finding Bird Feather missing and Ome Samayo manning the bar. A stranger introduced himself to them before quickly revealing his true self when the bar is closed down temporarily, a Changeling by the name of Tomes and the current Avatar of Vecna.

Lorthan

Lorthan seemingly recognized Mal Auvryani while they were travelling together to Terre-coval on the Railroad.   Mal Auvryani began investigating into how Lorthan knew him and became curiously certain that he has never met Lorthan but still finds him curiously familiar. Some research into them revealed Lorthan to be a war hero from one of the squabbles after Xiroth the Marred's disappearance before retiring to be a bodyguard.   While in Luciden to make contact with other rebel groups Mal sought out a high sunny point to meditate on his connection to Pelor, the God of the Sun with the intent of discovering their potential whereabouts. After a grueling hour or so in the sun, a vision came to Mal of Lorthan who seemed to acknowledge Mal's presence.   During Aggressive Expansion, Dorian told Lorthan Thetris he was the Avatar of Pelor, God of the Sun, seemingly awakening latent memories within him.

Memory Loss with the Claws

After a tense encounter with three Claws of Xiroth aboard the Calypso Galleon en route to Luciden the group found a number of them (Charlie Anderson, Shahana Zinvalur, and Zahiri Sapir) had mysteriously lost all recollection of the event. When prompted they were only able to bring up small pieces of information, shapes and sounds, but nothing detailed. Ome Samayo was able to dispel this effect with a Greater Restoration. Charlie Anderson seems to have had something occur much earlier in his life on the night he faked his own death. He recalls only vague shapes and a thick mist on the night of their arrival.   Further time dealing with the Claws seems to indicate that whatever the cause for the memory loss may be, it can be resisted by those with certain strengths in attributes. It is not yet known what attributes these are. Additionally, during a chase in Luciden, the Claws of Xiroth employed a number of unknown agents with the intent of subduing the group. Dorian succumbed so some ill-effects, being afflicted with Sightrot that required Ome Samayo to cleanse quietly. The group managed to collect a handful of used projectile syringes to investigate at another time.  

The Mysterious Signal

During their venture into the depths of the Derelict Ark, the Reclaimers discovered a communication and navigation room seemingly casting the same message out in Human:     followed shortly with a reply:   No significant attempts have been made to decipher this message but much of the translations are difficult as this appears to be an ancient form of Human with no easy direct translation.