A2: Ch5: Chey

The party has Daxius open a portal for them to the Faerin temple. Once they head out of the temple into the abandoned city they hear voices coming from the town center. As they approach closer they see that there is a group of spellbreakers gathered around a charred stake in the ground with a pile of ashes at the bottom. One of them then starts sniffing and acting strangely and asks him comrades "Do you smell that?" as they sense magic nearby. They party springs into action and initiates combat with the spellbreakers making quick work of them.   Shen buries the bodies and Bink finds the flute of the magically inclined gnome child which is who they burnt. Bink sneaks into his village and goes to his grandparents where they are overjoyed to see him. They tell him that they are fine and the Arruce army being stationed in town is an inconvenience however, they are not a threat to the lives of everyone who continues to live there. Bink grabs his stuff he left and leaves.   The party then teleports back to Galren and then from Galren to Ghandon with Master Folen. Most of them go to the library to check out different books and then they rest for the night. The next day they head down the 8,000 steps and pick up their horses and carriage from a surprised stable-keep who had thought they were gone for good. They get their chest and carriage back and head out toward the city of Chey.   Along the way they run into an elven camp preparing to attack Dawnton Keep the next day. They tell stories of their defense of Galren and give some of the potions they got from the spellbreakers to them. Later in their travels they also ran into an Arrucian soldier left alone who had lost his head. He wandered into the woods enamored with a beautiful fey spirit promising him power. In a cruel joke they removed his head, but did not kill him. He does not need to eat or drink, but he now has to live carrying around his head. Afraid of going back to his company who would likely outcast him or kill him for his unnatural magic and afraid to go to cities aligned with the elves of the west or Galren for they could kill him for being Arrucian. They party debates helping him but decides it is too risky and send him on his way toward the monastery as they continue toward Chey.   As the party arrives at the gates of Chey the guards ask them their purpose for entering, names, and any weapons they may be carrying. Xar and Bink give fake names, the guard writes it down, and they enter. Inside they stable their horses and head to an Inn. While eating a meal an waif girl enters in asking for help. The owner rushes over with food, gives her some and ushers her out asking her not to trouble the guests. Shen goes and talks to her and she asks him to help her with her dad. The party splits, Shen goes with the little girl, Bink & Xar go to the market to look for clues as to Mattias' whereabouts, and Aire finds a tranquil area to meditate as the full moon in that night.   Shen finds that the girls father has become a revenant and is on a quest for revenge against the Ministry of the Mind, but more specifically it's leader Dr. Lubo Krau. He ropes Shen into going to the ministry with him to start an attack. As the revenant kills the two nurses outside, Shen manages to run away by moving underneath the ground with mold earth.   At the market Xar finds that Herve LeRue has a shop in the city. He goes in and catches up with Herve who mentions that strange happenings have been occurring since a littler over a month ago. The ministry of the mind has been taking mentally ill and others off the streets to help them. Meanwhile, Bink is buying tea at the local tea shop and Xar goes to meet him but on the way asks some passers by where he might find records of people who are in the city to which he is pointed to the Council building. They head over to the council building and notice a line of people outside one of the chambers. They talk to the receptionist who asks if they are here for the debate. They ask for records of people in the city and ask if there is a Mattias Veys here. She looks through the records from about a month or so ago and finds him and informs them he is infact in the city. They then head to the debate out of curiosity. The debate is for the open 9th council seat and is between two candidates: Mido Garnes and Dr. Lubo Rezek. They debate about magic, the war, and the purpose of the ministry. During the debate, Lubo brings out what seem to be props to most people, but Xar recognizes as spell components. Bink falls under the spell and while previously agreeing with Mido, starts to cheer for Lubo and boo Mido. Once the debate opened to audience questions, Xar uses the time to confront Lubo for using spells on the crowd. Lubo laughs and denies it then charms Xar. Xar and Bink head back to the inn where Xar's charm wears off, but Bink's does not.   During this time, Shen makes it to the market where he also goes to LeRue's, but does not talk to him. Instead he inquires about the books in the corner and talks to the assistants while the dog growls at him. He then heads to the inn.   Night falls and Aire meditates under the full moon and visions begin to fill his mind. He sees three quick visions of the three temples to Maerin, Faerin, and Celrin, thena vision of a vast desert and something glimmering just above the surface of the sands. He heads back to the Inn.   At the Inn, Xar reads Bink's journal to confirm his theory that he was charmed and still is, he shows Shen when he arrives and Shen asks Pazuzu what to do to which he says any harm to him will snap him out. Shen magic missiles Bink snapping him out of the charm. They order some food and when the waiter comes back he hands a card to Xar saying someone left it for him. The card just says "Thank you for you question". Freaked out, Xar asks someone to share their room with him and take watches. In the night Lubo visits Xar in his dream telling him to leave teh city tomorrow morning or he will be having a lovely stay in the ministry. Inflicting a physic attack on Xar's mind he awakes screaming and cannot sleep. Shen, who was staying up all night writing hears it and heads over. They make a plan to talk to Mido.   The next morning they head out to find Mido and see someone following them flipping a copper coin. Once they find Mido he takes them in and they make a plan. They lead the cloaked follower into a trap, in an escape attempt he runs and turns into a cloud to pass through a wall. Aire easily follows him and knock him out of his cloud form unconscious. They wake him up and question him. Shen takes his belongings including clothes and Xar kills him and Shen buries the body. They make a plan to attack the ministry. They are going to get by having Shen dress as the man who was following him and use disguise self and bring Xar in as his captive. Bink and Aire will wait outside looking for a lighting blast out a window as the signal to join and attack.   Shen and Xar get through the lobby and past a door where a Ministry worker flipping a coin says "What's on my mind". They try to play it off and he leads them to Lubo's office. As Xar sits down Shen tells him to attack immediately. He shoots lighting out the window and runs toward Lubo while Shen tries to stab the man who led them there. Aire and Bink jump through the window and Lubo attempts to charm them but it fails. Shen uses his new found power to tear open a yellow portal and eight giant snakes fall out and kill the other two Ministry personnel. Lubo then appears to sit down and say he is willing to talk. Blind with rage, Xar slashes at him anyway, distroying the illusion. He checks under the desk to see a cloud traveling into a trapdoor.   Shen uses his snakes to hold the doors closed and kill anyone who manages to get through as Xar and Aire chase after Lubo. At the bottom of the ladder they find themselves in a prison of sorts. The closest cells they can see have a pile of Ministry bodies in them with one of the bodies upright and talking yelling to let him out. In the other cage is a man curled up in the corner. Lubo manages to get to the cell with the curled up man, gravely wounded, and manages to charm into seeing Aire as his enemy. The ministry man stares at Lubo and Lubo seizes up paralyzed. Aire figures out that the undead looking ministry man is the revenant in a new body and hands him his bow. The revenant knocks the arrow and lets it loose. As the arrow pierces Lubo's chest, both he and the revenant fall limp to the ground.   Shen has his snakes get the keys from Lubo's body and Aire opens the cell to figure out the man curled in the corner is Mattias. Xar rips off Lubo's belongings while Aire uses his poisoned arrow to paralyze Mattias who does not want to go with them. Xar thinking the stone is in Mattias' pockets rips off the man's clothes but upon seeing the glow is still coming from his torso area decides to pick him up and leave. Aire opens the rest of the cells in the area and leaves. The all escape through the window and with a naked Mattias with them, start to run toward Mido's house.