Blackblade 10.0 - To Riolythe They Go

Their business in the Mitsurhym complete, the adventurers set out on the two-week journey to the capital, hoping that once there, Jack could assist them with entering the elven country of Riolythe. As they were finally leaving the plains, they had a chance encounter with a Northman who walked down the same road they traveled. The group stopped to speak with him; he introduced himself as Broken Tusk, a wandering druid who kept a close watch on the health and prosperity of the natural land. He currently walked south in the company of his animal companion, the mastodon Traveler, with the aim of determining the source of the plague that cursed the south. The group explained that it was less of a plague than a magical curse, and that they had slew the one casting it upon the land. However, the bigger picture, involving the demonic enchantment that the tengu had been found with, had yet to be put into focus. Intrigued by this news, Broken Tusk asked to join them in their journey for the time being, for he had a particular interest in magic that could affect such wide areas, and was worried what these enchantments might portend for the natural balance. Willing to accept whatever help they could get, the others agreed, and the druid joined their group.
Days of travel finally ended when they reached Kalleandar, late in the morning. They went directly to the Groggy Goose, only to find that it wasn't open yet. Going to the rear entrance, they spoke to Lydia, who told them that Jack wasn't there, and wouldn't be until late that evening, if at all. Raito told her to tell Jack that he was here, and proceeded to give her a gem to finance the feast that should be held in his honour that night. Confused and bewildered, Lydia retreated back into the building. 
The group whiled away the afternoon in their own pursuits. Raito made his presence known at the AAA, and reveled in the service afforded to Platinum Members. Ragoom had a very good lunch, while Broken Tusk tracked down the scribe of one of the city's planners and gave an informative talk involving the need for and proper maintenance of park grounds. When evening fell, they reconvened and returned to the bar. They hung around, pointedly not purchasing drinks, for several hours before they were finally informed that Jack was there. They were led upstairs, where Jack appeared to have arrived shortly prior. He greeted them with mixed emotion; while he introduced himself to Broken Tusk warmly, he was somewhat terse with Raito. He informed Caelan that he had looked into the situation in Gaivoutna and, after confirming the truth of Caelan's tale, had begun to tell people to head there, to which Caelan thanked him. The group then told him that they needed his assistance to get into Riolythe, and gave a broken, half-structured recount of the events that had transpired since last they had spoken to him. He seemed unconvinced about the whole scenario, but once he was sufficiently confident that they weren't going to explicitly cause a scene there, he left the room. They talked among themselves for a bit before he returned and said that they should head to the town of Verdigris, where someone named Ridley would meet them and get them in. Jack seemed leery of the idea of them going there, but when Caelan stressed again that it was of the utmost importance, he said that if he really thought that they weren't involved with something serious, he wouldn't have helped them. After the meeting, the group left; Broken Tusk found a drunk man having a staring contest with Traveler in the nearby ally. He separated the two and left town to sleep under the stars, while the rest went to the AAA for the night.
The next morning they set out again, heading west. On the sixth day, they passed through Rochester, to find that it was starting to become more lively again. Broken Tusk went directly to the mill in order to speak with the workers there about proper forestation practices, while the others went to the AAA. Once there, they met a young woman behind the desk instead of Aiden. They spoke to her and learned that Mr. Grey was out of town, visiting his youngest daughter in Arlington, and Aiden was on vacation, by which she meant that he was working from his home. Raito left some messages at the desk, and, deciding that there was no particularly polite way to ask when his portrait sitting would be for his Wall of Fame picture, left. Broken Tusk met up with them again, and the group made their way to Yomiel's apartment. Despite the knocking, it took several minutes for the Leshrved to answer his door; again, he left the chain in place and greeted them with a dead glare. Raito spent a few minutes baiting him, saying that Yomiel was going to join them on a trip to Riolythe, to which he remained unresponsive until the Yetoman began inferring to the status he apparently held. Yomiel began to show increasing displeasure, until he finally declared that Raito should "prove it", whereupon he showed his tattoo. The anger was palpable, but Yomiel unlocked his door and gave silent permission to enter. His 2-room apartment was filthy and cramped, and it appeared that he had converted the bedroom into a explosives lab. The group hung around somewhat awkwardly as he begrudgingly, yet silently, packed all of his belongings into a Bag of Holding, took a shower and got dressed. When he was apparently ready, they left town with the Leshrved in tow.
Five days after leaving Rochester, they arrived in Verdigris. Broken Tusk found the manager of a local orchard, and found him to be highly knowledgeable in the matters of sustainable practices. The others looked around town until evening, whereupon they went to the Rusty Bucket, the bar where they had been told to meet with Riley. It was a crowded, lively place, and they had only been told that he was someone they couldn't miss. Indeed, a quick scan of the room revealed an elven man with a strange, distinctive haircut and an even stranger fashion sense. They approached him, and he introduced himself as Cor Rhederodendron, or Ridley when outside of Riolythe. His manner was dramatic, flamboyant and not particularly direct; he told them that actually getting into the country wasn't too hard, it was more a matter of no one discovering that they shouldn't be there. They would need a cover story, and to be particularly careful of what they say to whom. He also hinted at a few tidbits of Riolythe culture: everyone was a wizard to some degree, so no-one but the best were actually referred to as wizards; Caelan was actually of higher social standing than Ridley, despite never having even been in the country before; saying someone's given name or asking to look in their spellbook was taboo; people with coloured neckbands should be avoided at all costs, as they are the high class and would know immediately that the group should not be in the country. They eventually agreed to all act as Raito's attendants, which Ridley supported; he told them to come back tomorrow with their stories and outfits straight.
They spent the next day acquiring the appropriate attire to pretend that they were servants from Yeto. When they met back with Ridley, he approved of their unified, purposeful appearance and non-offensive tale that they were there for shopping and sight-seeing purposes. He led them out of town into the nearby forests, heading west into Riolythe. At one point, he told them to stop while he ran ahead, ostensibly to disarm alarms of some sort, then they continued throughout the night. When dawn just began to break, the forest began to thin, and Ridley parted ways with them. They waited in the early morning light, until an elven woman, wearing an intricate dress the style of which they had never seen, came their way. She introduced herself as Cor Allomanda, and said that she would be their guide, although her tone indicated some reservations about the arrangement. As she led them into the city proper, she off-handedly commented that she had seen armour like Raito's before, on a man who had visited Riolythe some time prior. With that ominous note, they entered the elven city.
Category:Banishment of the Blackblades