18 - 5/20/24 : Coming of Age

"You bastards with destiny flowing in their veins can worry about 'killing the Frostmaiden' and all that nonsense. We here with our heads firmly under the clouds will worry about the real world. About surviving."  

Captain Skath

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  Wasting no time, Ragna, Melfina, and Tali sped off on their steeds, covering the ground between Storm's Call and the northern shore of the Mirrored Reservoir in just under a day. Upon arriving, they quickly reunited with Alithkav outside of Mirlake, who had acquired a red chocobo of her own.   Alith had followed the movements of the githyanki spelljammer that hovered above for just under two weeks, while the rest of the party saw to other affairs. While seeing to this tedious task, Alith had studied the Unending Circle of Zerthimon further, unlocking the fourth and fifth circles. She had also discovered that Mirlake had shut its gates to visitors, refusing entry to any and all.   As they pondered what the githyanki might want with the Taiga, a red dragon launched itself from within the spelljammer and landed nearby, alongside its githyanki rider. Other gith descended on chain-hooks and formed up behind the red dragon as the gith atop it slid down to the snow.   Alith recognized this githyanki to be a mighty kith'rak, one of the mightiest of the warriors serving Vlaakith, the undying queen. The kith'rak announced his name, Gen'a'as, and inquired if the party spoke for the Ten Towns. Alith hid behind her chocobo to avoid being identified as githyanki, or worse, as a clone of Vlaakith.   Melfina and Ragna took point in speaking with Gen'a'as, who demanded to know the situation with the ghaik, or mind flayers, in the area. Ragna proudly boasted that they had all been slain, to which Gen'a'as was doubtful. Gen'a'as also inquired about a magic field that was preventing their ship from leaving the Material Plane, which the party explained was a result of La Saia's control over the area.   Melfina tried to convince Gen'a'as to fight the Frostmaiden alongside them, but this request fell on deaf ears; to the kith'rak, the illithids had to come first.   The githyanki believed that even though the mind flayers had been stranded and frozen, more illithids might be lurking in the area. Gen'a'as intended to investigate thoroughly for potential illithid presences until his peoples' supplies ran out, after which they would force the Ten Towns to part with their own. Unwilling to allow another conqueror to run rampant, Ragna dared him to try, but also boasted that he and the rest of the Lonesome Few would solve the problem by defeating La Saia before such a thing could happen.   Gen'a'as was doubtful of this claim as well, but was impressed by Ragna's willingness to stand up for the Ten Towns against a foe as intimidating as the Githyanki. Eventually it was agreed that if the situation was resolved before the githyanki would be forced to demand tribute, then neither side would be forced to come to blows.   As Gen'a'as turned to leave, Alith caught his eye, and he called out to her. At first he thought her a githyanki soldier out of uniform, but soon realized her face was that of Vlaakith; one of the clone daughters of the lich queen, having escaped. Gen'a'as showed surprising deference to one Alith, and requested that she return with him to Tu'narath once everything was settled in the Taiga. He insisted that Vlaakith's plans for her were infallible, and that her people needed her among them more than they needed her walking free. Alith refused, to which Gen'a'as responded by leaving the issue alone but pleading with her to reconsider.   The githyanki returned to their spelljammer and rose above the cover of the raging snowstorm, leaving the party to catch up with Alith after nearly two weeks apart. Since Mirlake was barred to them, they decided to return to Three Streams, and spoke to each other on the way.   Alith shared the stories of the fourth and fifth circles of Zerthimon to a curious Melfina, who had finally picked up enough of the gith language to be able to speak it conversationally.  

Know that the Rising of the People against the illithid was a thing built upon many ten-turnings of labor. Many of the People were gathered and taught in secret the ways of defeating their illithid masters. They were taught to shield their minds, and use them as weapons. They were taught the scripture of steel, and most importantly, they were given the knowing of freedom. Some of the People learned the nature of freedom and took it into their hearts. The knowing gave them strength. Others feared freedom and kept silent. But there were those that knew freedom and knew slavery, and it was their choice that the People remain chained. One of these was Vilquar.     Vilquar saw no freedom in the Rising, but opportunity. He saw that the illithid had spawned across many of the False Worlds. Their Worlds numbered so many that their vision was turned only outwards, to all they did not already touch. Vilquar's eye saw that much took place that the illithid did not see. To the Rising, the illithid were blinded.     Vilquar came before his master, the illithid Zhijitaris, with the knowing of the Rising. Vilquar added to his chains and offered to be their eyes against the Rising. In exchange, Vilquar asked that he be rewarded for his service. The illithid agreed to his contract.     At the bonding of the contract, a dark time occurred. Many were betrayals Vilquar committed and many were the People that the illithids fed upon to stem the Rising. It seemed that the Rising would die before it could occur, and the illithid were pleased with Vilquar's eye.     It was near the end of this dark time when Zerthimon came to know Vilquar's treacheries. In knowing Vilquar's eye, Zerthimon forced the Rising to silence itself, so that Vilquar might think at last his treacheries had succeeded, and the Rising had fallen. He knew that Vilquar eye was filled only with the reward he had been promised. He would see what he wished to see.     With greed beating in his heart, Vilquar came upon the illithid Zhijitaris and spoke to his master of his success. He said that the Rising had fallen, and the illithids were safe to turn their eyes outwards once more. He praised their wisdom in using Vilquar's eye, and he asked them for his reward.     In his greed-blindness, Vilquar had forgotten the knowing of why the People had sought freedom. He had lost the knowing of what slavery meant. He had forgotten what his illithid masters saw when they looked upon him. And so Vilquar's betrayal of the People was ended with another betrayal. Vilquar came to know that when Vilquar's eye has nothing left to see, Vilquar's eye is useless. The illithid gave to Vilquar his reward, opening the cavity of his skull and devouring his brain. Vilquar's corpse was cast upon the Fields of Husks so its blood might water the poison-stemmed grasses.   The Fourth Circle explains how Zerthimon organized the Rising of the People against the illithid in secret, teaching them the way to defeat their masters, the knowledge of steel, of how to protect their minds and use them as weapons.   But Vilquar, instead of seeing freedom, saw opportunity and betrayed his people to his master, Zhijitaris, who used Vilquar's eye to locate dissenters and devour their brains. Zerthimon figured out what Vilquar was up to and hushed the brewing rebellion, making him believe it was over.   Vilquar returned to his master for his promised reward, but was only devoured himself.

Zerthimon was the first to know the way of freedom. Yet it was not he that first came to know the way of rebellion. The knowing of rebellion came to the warrior-queen Gith, one of the People. She had served the illithids upon many of the False Worlds as a soldier, and she had come to know war and carried it in her heart. She had come to know how others might be organized to subjugate others. She knew the paths of power, and she knew the art of taking from the conquerors the weapons by which they could be defeated. Her mind was focused, and both her will and her blade were as one.     The turning in which Zerthimon came to know Gith, Zerthimon ceased to know himself. Her words were as fires lit in the hearts of all who heard her. In hearing her words, he wished to know war. He knew not what afflicted him, but he knew he wished to join his blade to Gith. He wished to give his hate expression and share his pain with the illithid.     Gith was one of the People, but her knowing of herself was greater than any Zerthimon had ever encountered. She knew the ways of flesh, she knew the illithids and in knowing herself, she was to know how to defeat them in battle. The strength of her knowing was so great, that all those that walked her path came to know themselves. Gith was but one. Her strength was such that it caused others to know their strength. And Zerthimon laid his steel at her feet.   The Fifth Circle tells of Gith, a warrior-queen and one of the People. She served as a soldier for the illithids and knew the ways of war, weapons and conquest. She knew the illithids, and knew how to defeat them in battle. So strong was her knowing of herself that she inspired others to know themselves and follow her. Even Zerthimon laid his blade at her feet.

  Ragna recounted the adventures they had over the past two weeks, including their recovery of the Gjallarhorn from Jarlmoot, the fight against the Knights of the Black Sword, and their narrow escape from the dragon Arveiaturace.   The party soon reached Three Streams, where they checked in at the town hall to inform Speaker Waylen about the githyanki and the reason behind their presence. However, it seemed that Speaker Waylen and Captain Indra were preoccupied and stressed already as they arrived. Ragna delivered a report about the githyanki affair, for which Danneth thanked them profusely.   They soon learned that Danneth and Indra were dealing with a betrayal from within; Prudence Tarkwold, the halfling secretary for Three Streams' town hall, was revealed to have been a spy for the town of Mirlake when she aided thugs in stealing the magic cauldron that the party had recovered weeks prior, spiriting it away to Mirlake instead.   Mirlake locked down their gates soon after, having made a deal with the barbarians to provide them a place to stop and replenish their supplies after sacking Whiteridge in exchange for sparing the three towns on the shores of the Mirrored Reservoir. The Lonesome Few offered to infiltrate Mirlake and retrieve the cauldron, an offer Danneth could not officially endorse, but welcomed regardless.   After resting in Three Streams, the party set out on the short trek to Mirlake and arrived outside of its gates. They quickly formulated a plan to use Melfina and Tali's magics to render the party invisible to avoid detection, vault the walls with Alith's psionic jump ability and well-placed ropes, and then infiltrate the Brounthian Arms where Speaker Maxildanaar conducted his business. The plan went off without a hitch, and the party was soon inside the inn, invisible and undetected (even after breaking in the front door while trying to make it seem like a strong gust of wind had blown it in).   The party confirmed the presence of the magic cauldron on the ground floor, but proceeded upstairs to confront the speaker for his crimes. When they reached the second floor of the inn, they heard speaking behind a closed door; not Speaker Maxildanaar's voice, but that of Captain Skath, leader of the Mirlake militia, as well as the voices of several barbarians. The barbarians spoke of the presence of a 'kingling' leading the occupation of Mirlake, which Ragna predicted to be Ulfur.   The party snuck in and attacked, starting a fierce battle in a spacious meeting room. None of Ragna's siblings could be found, but the barbarians and Skath put up a fight despite this. Soon, Skath was injured and tried to make his escape by casting the darkness spell and jumping through a window. When Ragna tried to pursue, she was set upon by a screeching, younger barbarian; their younger sister Soley, who proclaimed her title as 'The Steel Flurry' and then tried to wrestle Ragna into submission.   As the rest of the party cleared out the rest of the barbarians, Ragna subdued Soley, not wishing to cause her any serious harm, and then carried her outside while trying to catch Skath before he could escape. Melfina used haste on Alith, who also joined the chase, and together the two were able to halt Skath and knock him unconscious.   Soley tried to wriggle out of Ragna's grasp, hurling insults and threats at her sibling while swinging fists and axes alike. Ragna was able to talk Soley down little by little, revealing the evils that their family had perpetrated in their quest to conquer the Ten Towns. Eventually, a defeated Soley admitted defeat, ceasing to struggle against Ragna.   Ragna gave Soley a hug and then talked her through everything that happened and everything that they had learned, including news of Gunnar's passing. Soley spoke of her mission to Mirlake, and how although Speaker Naerth and his cronies worked together to steal the magic cauldron for Mirlake, it was Skath's idea to ally with the barbarians; an idea that Naerth resisted, and was taken into custody for.   The party then woke Skath up and interrogated him. Skath refused to apologize for his actions and doubted the party's claims of being able to stop the eternal winter. After interrogating him for any useful information, the party decided that he was better off dead, and Alith executed him.   With Skath dead and the siblings reunited, the party had to then decide what to do next with the newly liberated Mirlake and with Soley. Soley would not fight Ragna, but also refused to fight the rest of her family, much like Brynjar before her. Soley asked for Ragna to tell her more about the Lonesome Few's adventures in the meantime, including their interesting encounter with the gastrointestinally challenged Speaker Siever of Vrath Keep.