21 - 10/11/23 : Heart of the Sunrise
Lost in their eyes as you hurry by,
Counting the broken ties they decide
Love comes to you and then after
Dream on on to the heart of the sunrise
Heart of the Sunrise by Yes
As the dust settled in the wake of Yzzan's demise and the destruction of the Avatar of Lolth, the rush of combat stilled itself and the party faced the grief over their friend's sacrifice. Ozwik took charge, however, and reminded everyone that there would be time to mourn later; they still had a job to do, an antidote to find. After some quick searching, a tiny vial of moonbane poison was found in the facade of Matron Mother Argedia's throne, as well as a blue glass orb. Edea detected that the orb was a magical communication device, and Ozwik activated it to find out who was on the other side of it. After the orb scanned the room, a large illusory image of a regal human man wearing a crown appeared. King Dagult Ambermantle of Oceanus greeted the party and made the assumption that Argedia was dead. True to Open Lord Renaer's suspicions, King Dagult had a hand in the scheme perpetrated by the drow of House Arkennheld; he acted as a mediator and introduced Argedia to his old acquaintance Duran Stoneborn, and he also divulged the true nature of Aezora and the luck blade to Argedia, among other possible crimes. As the party promised to tell Renaer of Dagult's involvement, Dagult welcomed this; there was no concrete evidence, and he welcomed his son's ire and possible retribution. Satisfied with his rebuttal of the party's accusations, Dagult's image disappeared, and the glass orb shattered. As the party prepared to leave and return to the surface, they found the throne room to be host to slowly gathering drow of House Arkennheld, who cautiously approached the site where their matron mother and their goddesses' avatar had been struck down. Seeing an opportunity, Vesper took to the nearby balcony and spoke to her fellow dark elves, trying to persuade them to try a life free from Lolth. "Brothers, sisters, siblings of House Arkennheld. You might think myself and my companions are tired, easy prey for your blades and schemes. You would not be the last to make this mistake, with Lolth herself now amongst them. I will now give you all a choice that I know you will understand. You may listen to my words, or you can die." "I'm not going to offer you amnesty, or a promise of a better future. Should some of you live, you might do so in pain and agony. But the truth of the matter is that you have a choice in the matter for what may be the first time in your lives." "You stand now at a precipice, your matron mother dead and Lolth herself reeling from defeat. You stand now with an opportunity you may never be given again. You can choose now to scurry back to Uyen Asari, to find your way into a new house, to kill your way into a position held by one weaker than you. I would not blame you for this; Lolth often rewards those who would claw their way back from the brink to glory. But she does so through false promises. In her twisted mind, the weak must be culled by the tides of chaos and blood, and it can be any of you she chooses to next be swept away by these tides. The broken body of a twice-matron mother should be proof of this." "Instead, you can choose another path. The path lit by stars and paved in tears shed by a mourning mother. Desna once called herself our mother, and she wishes to lead her people back to the kind embrace of the stars above once again, away from the grasp of her sister Lolth." "I do not ask you to convert. I do not demand that you fall on your knees and sacrifice your babes to the Great Dreamer. Even I am still learning her tenets and her faith. To demand your worship would go against her wishes that you walk in the freedom that is now offered to you. All I ask is that you consider another path from that which you have known. Another road, another journey, one that need not take you through the dark and over the paved bones of a thousand less fortunate ones." "If you want to return to your life in Uyen Asari, then go. If you want to see where this road leads, then I ask that you gather in this place, and await the path to be made clear to you. It will not be an easy path on the surface; many will hate you for the acts of our people. You may face the wrath of the law above, and face justice for the acts of your house. You may face the guilt you carry for the acts of your own self, a guilt I can assure you that you will carry unto whatever oblivion awaits you. The new Open Lord is a good man, a kind man who sees more in people than their sins, but even that may not be enough to put what you have done behind you. But if you step on this path, you will do so knowing that it is yours, and yours alone. I can guarantee you that there will be no such freedom found in Lolth's webs." With the drow pacified, the party found their way blocked by a swirling portal. Emerging from it was Halaster Blackcloak once again, who was overjoyed to see that the party had overcome the pest that was mucking up his dungeon. As Hilda embraced her 'grandpa', Halaster asked to take his magical diamond back, for he had an idea, and Hilda agreed. Halaster channeled some magic into the diamond and caused the duplicate of Hilda to reappear once again, but more fully formed. He explained that the diamond, suffused with enough of Hilda's essence, was now capable of playing host to a complete clone of Hilda, which he intended to take as an apprentice. Since this technically wasn't the 'real' Hilda, such an arrangement didn't violate the agreement he had with Tasha. Halaster dubbed the new Hilda "Hilda Blackcloak", which the original Hilda found delightful. Lastly, as a show of lasting faith and friendship, Halaster gifted the original Hilda with a velvety red bag, and instructed her to hold onto it and only open it when she looked upon a 'beautiful sunrise'. Hilda accepted the bag, and Halaster bade the party to step into the portal, which would take them to the bridge room of the first floor of the Undermountain, where they could ride back up to the Balladeer's Eclipse. The party stepped through, leaving the remaining drow of House Arkennheld free to make their own choice. The party rang the bell from the bottom of the Eclipse's well and awaited the long process of the chain bridge being lowered. As they waited, a voice spoke in their minds; Aezora taunted the party once again, saying that she had found an out all on her own thanks to some mysterious 'outside advice'. Aezora announced that she intended to use the wish of one of her new subjects to make her way to Avernus, the first level of the Nine Hells of Baator, to take advantage of 'shifts in power'. A new voice rang out; that of Urstul. Aezora relinquished her grasp on the departed Yzzan's soul and took Urstul's instead, and in exchange Urstul was granted his wish; for he and Aezora to be broken free of their planar bonds and be transported to Avernus. With a last laugh, Aezora and Urstul went silent, out of the party's reach. A new problem loomed on the horizon, but for now, the party was allowed to bask in their victory against Argedia. Ozwik decided to honor what would have been Yzzan's likely wish; to return to the Balladeer's Eclipse like triumphant heroes. As the chain bridge crested over the well's walls, Ozwik raised his sword up high to announce their return, earning thunderous applause from the patrons of the tavern. Sparing little time for celebration, the party made their way quickly to the Temple of Kamien and delivered the moonbane to Wavespeaker Oromo. Immediately getting to work, Oromo spent an hour concocting an antidote from the sample brought to him and dispensed it to an increasingly ailing Wyncaryn. Soon the color began to return to her face, and Wyncaryn came to for the first time in days. Ozwik and Edea welcomed her back, and explained everything that happened; including Yzzan's passing. Oromo insisted that they allow him to watch her for one more night to ensure her smooth recovery, leaving the party time to report back to Renaer. The scene they returned to was a tense one; representatives of the Xanathar Syndicate, including Xanathar Raeziel herself, had been summoned to the Palace to discuss their possible role in allowing the drow into the city above. This meeting had devolved into a shouting match, with Raeziel's strong dislike of Renaer coming to the surface as she and her people vehemently denied working with the drow. Ozwik broke the silence by announcing the death of the Matron Mother, bringing the meeting to a screeching halt. Together the party took the floor and spoke to both the Council of Lords and the Syndicate, delivering their report on the situation and confirming Dagult Ambermantle's involvement. This revelation united Renaer and Raeziel in their mutual hatred of the man, and the two sides eventually agreed to set aside their disagreements. The meeting was adjourned, and the Syndicate returned to Ramrider's Retreat peacefully. After Barik expressed his pride in Sinelthriandra and her work, Renaer opened the floor for the party to ask for rewards for their service. Barik offered Sin a leading role in the Masquerade, but Sin kindly refused, choosing instead to seek her identity out beyond her allegiance to the city of Revelmoore and the Masquerade. Vesper asked for consideration to be given to the drow of House Arkennheld, to allow them to start a new life as she once did in Revelmoore. She recommended that a joint effort be launched to re-colonize parts of Mount Ilvastarr to both give the dark elves somewhere to live and to foster cooperation with Revelmoore's dwarven population, many of whom wished to reclaim their ancestral home in the mountain. The rest of the party settled on asking for assistance in establishing an adventurer's guild somewhere on the Akadian Coast. Renaer agreed to this provision, and also agreed to Edea's subsequent request for a travel cart. After this, Vesper's mentor Izerna Sundever decreed that it was time for Vesper's achievements to be recognized with an official knighting ceremony. Vesper's protests were rebuffed; Izerna asserted that even the grandmasters could not boast of slaying an evil god's avatar, and that knighthood was the least honor they could bestow upon her. With Izerna administering the oaths and Renaer performing the knighting motions, Vesper was knighted as Ser Vesper of the North, Knight of the Rose. Vesper also took the time to ask Renaer to speak to her privately afterwards, intending to settle the matter of Urstul's blade. As the two walked off, Vesper asked Sin to meet her at Troll Skull Manor the following morning. After the party slept for the first time since their ordeal, Sin followed Vesper's request and met with her at Troll Skull Manor in the North Ward. Vesper, now bearing Urstul's katana that had once been in Renaer's possession, led Sin inside to introduce her to her close friends, Contrast and Makoto, and then gave them a summary of events as well; much to Connie's horror, of course. His horror was abated, however, when Vesper utilized Makoto's connection to Halaster Blackcloak to have the dwarven tapestry depicting the creation of the walking statues transported nearby for Connie to study and sketch. Contrast and Makoto had been working on investigating the noble family Melshimber, who had turned up as a group of interest during their initial adventures together. However, their investigations had been stonewalled by the Melshimbers' fervent seclusion from the outside world. They had only managed to learn that the Melshimbers had been meeting with the legal team representing Victoro Cassalanter, a noble who had been charged with treason, murder, and devil worship during the Dragon Heist two years ago. Connie and Makoto had reason to believe the Melshimbers were devil worshippers themselves, but were unable to confirm this. Vesper declared her intentions for the future; after working with Renaer to ensure the peaceful resettlement of the Arkennheld drow, she intended to find a way to go to Avernus to find and free Urstul's soul. Sin protested this course of action, but Vesper confessed that a part of her would always be in love with the Urstul she once knew; because of this, she would not be able to live with herself while his soul languished in misery. Connie and Makoto made it clear that they would go with her on this quest when the time came, much to Vesper's comfort and delight. Unable to dissuade Vesper, Sin said her farewells to the Moonlighters. Vesper asked for her to give the rest of the Fairhill Four (or perhaps five, now?) her best, and proceeded to get to work with her friends. Sin proceeded to the Spring of Creation to meet the rest of the Fairhill Five. There the party spoke with Reilly, Fala Lefaliir, and Quistis about their future plans. Ozwik and Edea commissioned Reilly for two projects; the first, to fashion the white dragonscale Ozwik recovered from Yzzan into a shield so that his friend could protect him in battle even in absence; the second, to take Ozwik's old blade Sturtzstrom and transform it into a more powerful blade for Renaer, who had lost his primary weapon when he returned Urstul Floxin's katana to Vesper. Reilly gladly accepted these jobs, curiously remarking that Vesper's right to 'an arm' per fey law had been satisfied in an odd way with the sword commission. Upon learning of the plan to create an adventuring guild, Quistis offered her services as an artificer out of a desire to be useful and to have more opportunities to spend time with her daughter. Ozwik and Edea accepted this proposition, and promised to let her know once they had a s pot picked out. Afterwards, the whole of the Fairhill Five; Ozwik, Edea, Wyncaryn, Hilda, and Sinelthriandra; departed Revelmoore for the first time in years on their new carriage, seeking to scout out a location for their new adventuring guild. As they made their way along the road, Hilda noted the beautiful sunrise above, and decided now was the time to open the bag given to her by Halaster. Within she found another of Yzzan's white scales, having been secured by Halaster in the aftermath of the battle. Using her magics, Hilda performed the reincarnation spell on the scale, pulling Yzzan back into the world of the living once again in a new form…
Counting the broken ties they decide
Love comes to you and then after
Dream on on to the heart of the sunrise
As the dust settled in the wake of Yzzan's demise and the destruction of the Avatar of Lolth, the rush of combat stilled itself and the party faced the grief over their friend's sacrifice. Ozwik took charge, however, and reminded everyone that there would be time to mourn later; they still had a job to do, an antidote to find. After some quick searching, a tiny vial of moonbane poison was found in the facade of Matron Mother Argedia's throne, as well as a blue glass orb. Edea detected that the orb was a magical communication device, and Ozwik activated it to find out who was on the other side of it. After the orb scanned the room, a large illusory image of a regal human man wearing a crown appeared. King Dagult Ambermantle of Oceanus greeted the party and made the assumption that Argedia was dead. True to Open Lord Renaer's suspicions, King Dagult had a hand in the scheme perpetrated by the drow of House Arkennheld; he acted as a mediator and introduced Argedia to his old acquaintance Duran Stoneborn, and he also divulged the true nature of Aezora and the luck blade to Argedia, among other possible crimes. As the party promised to tell Renaer of Dagult's involvement, Dagult welcomed this; there was no concrete evidence, and he welcomed his son's ire and possible retribution. Satisfied with his rebuttal of the party's accusations, Dagult's image disappeared, and the glass orb shattered. As the party prepared to leave and return to the surface, they found the throne room to be host to slowly gathering drow of House Arkennheld, who cautiously approached the site where their matron mother and their goddesses' avatar had been struck down. Seeing an opportunity, Vesper took to the nearby balcony and spoke to her fellow dark elves, trying to persuade them to try a life free from Lolth. "Brothers, sisters, siblings of House Arkennheld. You might think myself and my companions are tired, easy prey for your blades and schemes. You would not be the last to make this mistake, with Lolth herself now amongst them. I will now give you all a choice that I know you will understand. You may listen to my words, or you can die." "I'm not going to offer you amnesty, or a promise of a better future. Should some of you live, you might do so in pain and agony. But the truth of the matter is that you have a choice in the matter for what may be the first time in your lives." "You stand now at a precipice, your matron mother dead and Lolth herself reeling from defeat. You stand now with an opportunity you may never be given again. You can choose now to scurry back to Uyen Asari, to find your way into a new house, to kill your way into a position held by one weaker than you. I would not blame you for this; Lolth often rewards those who would claw their way back from the brink to glory. But she does so through false promises. In her twisted mind, the weak must be culled by the tides of chaos and blood, and it can be any of you she chooses to next be swept away by these tides. The broken body of a twice-matron mother should be proof of this." "Instead, you can choose another path. The path lit by stars and paved in tears shed by a mourning mother. Desna once called herself our mother, and she wishes to lead her people back to the kind embrace of the stars above once again, away from the grasp of her sister Lolth." "I do not ask you to convert. I do not demand that you fall on your knees and sacrifice your babes to the Great Dreamer. Even I am still learning her tenets and her faith. To demand your worship would go against her wishes that you walk in the freedom that is now offered to you. All I ask is that you consider another path from that which you have known. Another road, another journey, one that need not take you through the dark and over the paved bones of a thousand less fortunate ones." "If you want to return to your life in Uyen Asari, then go. If you want to see where this road leads, then I ask that you gather in this place, and await the path to be made clear to you. It will not be an easy path on the surface; many will hate you for the acts of our people. You may face the wrath of the law above, and face justice for the acts of your house. You may face the guilt you carry for the acts of your own self, a guilt I can assure you that you will carry unto whatever oblivion awaits you. The new Open Lord is a good man, a kind man who sees more in people than their sins, but even that may not be enough to put what you have done behind you. But if you step on this path, you will do so knowing that it is yours, and yours alone. I can guarantee you that there will be no such freedom found in Lolth's webs." With the drow pacified, the party found their way blocked by a swirling portal. Emerging from it was Halaster Blackcloak once again, who was overjoyed to see that the party had overcome the pest that was mucking up his dungeon. As Hilda embraced her 'grandpa', Halaster asked to take his magical diamond back, for he had an idea, and Hilda agreed. Halaster channeled some magic into the diamond and caused the duplicate of Hilda to reappear once again, but more fully formed. He explained that the diamond, suffused with enough of Hilda's essence, was now capable of playing host to a complete clone of Hilda, which he intended to take as an apprentice. Since this technically wasn't the 'real' Hilda, such an arrangement didn't violate the agreement he had with Tasha. Halaster dubbed the new Hilda "Hilda Blackcloak", which the original Hilda found delightful. Lastly, as a show of lasting faith and friendship, Halaster gifted the original Hilda with a velvety red bag, and instructed her to hold onto it and only open it when she looked upon a 'beautiful sunrise'. Hilda accepted the bag, and Halaster bade the party to step into the portal, which would take them to the bridge room of the first floor of the Undermountain, where they could ride back up to the Balladeer's Eclipse. The party stepped through, leaving the remaining drow of House Arkennheld free to make their own choice. The party rang the bell from the bottom of the Eclipse's well and awaited the long process of the chain bridge being lowered. As they waited, a voice spoke in their minds; Aezora taunted the party once again, saying that she had found an out all on her own thanks to some mysterious 'outside advice'. Aezora announced that she intended to use the wish of one of her new subjects to make her way to Avernus, the first level of the Nine Hells of Baator, to take advantage of 'shifts in power'. A new voice rang out; that of Urstul. Aezora relinquished her grasp on the departed Yzzan's soul and took Urstul's instead, and in exchange Urstul was granted his wish; for he and Aezora to be broken free of their planar bonds and be transported to Avernus. With a last laugh, Aezora and Urstul went silent, out of the party's reach. A new problem loomed on the horizon, but for now, the party was allowed to bask in their victory against Argedia. Ozwik decided to honor what would have been Yzzan's likely wish; to return to the Balladeer's Eclipse like triumphant heroes. As the chain bridge crested over the well's walls, Ozwik raised his sword up high to announce their return, earning thunderous applause from the patrons of the tavern. Sparing little time for celebration, the party made their way quickly to the Temple of Kamien and delivered the moonbane to Wavespeaker Oromo. Immediately getting to work, Oromo spent an hour concocting an antidote from the sample brought to him and dispensed it to an increasingly ailing Wyncaryn. Soon the color began to return to her face, and Wyncaryn came to for the first time in days. Ozwik and Edea welcomed her back, and explained everything that happened; including Yzzan's passing. Oromo insisted that they allow him to watch her for one more night to ensure her smooth recovery, leaving the party time to report back to Renaer. The scene they returned to was a tense one; representatives of the Xanathar Syndicate, including Xanathar Raeziel herself, had been summoned to the Palace to discuss their possible role in allowing the drow into the city above. This meeting had devolved into a shouting match, with Raeziel's strong dislike of Renaer coming to the surface as she and her people vehemently denied working with the drow. Ozwik broke the silence by announcing the death of the Matron Mother, bringing the meeting to a screeching halt. Together the party took the floor and spoke to both the Council of Lords and the Syndicate, delivering their report on the situation and confirming Dagult Ambermantle's involvement. This revelation united Renaer and Raeziel in their mutual hatred of the man, and the two sides eventually agreed to set aside their disagreements. The meeting was adjourned, and the Syndicate returned to Ramrider's Retreat peacefully. After Barik expressed his pride in Sinelthriandra and her work, Renaer opened the floor for the party to ask for rewards for their service. Barik offered Sin a leading role in the Masquerade, but Sin kindly refused, choosing instead to seek her identity out beyond her allegiance to the city of Revelmoore and the Masquerade. Vesper asked for consideration to be given to the drow of House Arkennheld, to allow them to start a new life as she once did in Revelmoore. She recommended that a joint effort be launched to re-colonize parts of Mount Ilvastarr to both give the dark elves somewhere to live and to foster cooperation with Revelmoore's dwarven population, many of whom wished to reclaim their ancestral home in the mountain. The rest of the party settled on asking for assistance in establishing an adventurer's guild somewhere on the Akadian Coast. Renaer agreed to this provision, and also agreed to Edea's subsequent request for a travel cart. After this, Vesper's mentor Izerna Sundever decreed that it was time for Vesper's achievements to be recognized with an official knighting ceremony. Vesper's protests were rebuffed; Izerna asserted that even the grandmasters could not boast of slaying an evil god's avatar, and that knighthood was the least honor they could bestow upon her. With Izerna administering the oaths and Renaer performing the knighting motions, Vesper was knighted as Ser Vesper of the North, Knight of the Rose. Vesper also took the time to ask Renaer to speak to her privately afterwards, intending to settle the matter of Urstul's blade. As the two walked off, Vesper asked Sin to meet her at Troll Skull Manor the following morning. After the party slept for the first time since their ordeal, Sin followed Vesper's request and met with her at Troll Skull Manor in the North Ward. Vesper, now bearing Urstul's katana that had once been in Renaer's possession, led Sin inside to introduce her to her close friends, Contrast and Makoto, and then gave them a summary of events as well; much to Connie's horror, of course. His horror was abated, however, when Vesper utilized Makoto's connection to Halaster Blackcloak to have the dwarven tapestry depicting the creation of the walking statues transported nearby for Connie to study and sketch. Contrast and Makoto had been working on investigating the noble family Melshimber, who had turned up as a group of interest during their initial adventures together. However, their investigations had been stonewalled by the Melshimbers' fervent seclusion from the outside world. They had only managed to learn that the Melshimbers had been meeting with the legal team representing Victoro Cassalanter, a noble who had been charged with treason, murder, and devil worship during the Dragon Heist two years ago. Connie and Makoto had reason to believe the Melshimbers were devil worshippers themselves, but were unable to confirm this. Vesper declared her intentions for the future; after working with Renaer to ensure the peaceful resettlement of the Arkennheld drow, she intended to find a way to go to Avernus to find and free Urstul's soul. Sin protested this course of action, but Vesper confessed that a part of her would always be in love with the Urstul she once knew; because of this, she would not be able to live with herself while his soul languished in misery. Connie and Makoto made it clear that they would go with her on this quest when the time came, much to Vesper's comfort and delight. Unable to dissuade Vesper, Sin said her farewells to the Moonlighters. Vesper asked for her to give the rest of the Fairhill Four (or perhaps five, now?) her best, and proceeded to get to work with her friends. Sin proceeded to the Spring of Creation to meet the rest of the Fairhill Five. There the party spoke with Reilly, Fala Lefaliir, and Quistis about their future plans. Ozwik and Edea commissioned Reilly for two projects; the first, to fashion the white dragonscale Ozwik recovered from Yzzan into a shield so that his friend could protect him in battle even in absence; the second, to take Ozwik's old blade Sturtzstrom and transform it into a more powerful blade for Renaer, who had lost his primary weapon when he returned Urstul Floxin's katana to Vesper. Reilly gladly accepted these jobs, curiously remarking that Vesper's right to 'an arm' per fey law had been satisfied in an odd way with the sword commission. Upon learning of the plan to create an adventuring guild, Quistis offered her services as an artificer out of a desire to be useful and to have more opportunities to spend time with her daughter. Ozwik and Edea accepted this proposition, and promised to let her know once they had a s pot picked out. Afterwards, the whole of the Fairhill Five; Ozwik, Edea, Wyncaryn, Hilda, and Sinelthriandra; departed Revelmoore for the first time in years on their new carriage, seeking to scout out a location for their new adventuring guild. As they made their way along the road, Hilda noted the beautiful sunrise above, and decided now was the time to open the bag given to her by Halaster. Within she found another of Yzzan's white scales, having been secured by Halaster in the aftermath of the battle. Using her magics, Hilda performed the reincarnation spell on the scale, pulling Yzzan back into the world of the living once again in a new form…
TO BE CONTINUED
Portraits
HALASTER BLACKCLOAK
THE FAIRHILL FIVE
THE MOONLIGHTERS
NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
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