Session 49

After a group of tieflings fall from the sky in front of them, the party has to regroup and recover before they can decide what their next step is. Of the fallen tieflings, one in particular seems interested in staying with the group for a while. 
== Summary ==
Tieflings fell from a tear in the sky, and Kiono cast on the falling tieflings. As they descend, all but one of them flicker out of existence. The final tiefling, Belxari, landed. Her face was cracked and she was missing an arm, though it was slowly reforming. She thanked Kiono, who expressed concern about having messed up her spell and making the others disappear. Belxari assured her, and one of the tieflings reappeared near them. After some discussion, Ephemera put Belxari on her back to carry her back to the condo, and Lei led the child with them. 
Ephemera attempted to make everyone rest, placing everybody on the master bed on the condo, but everybody resisted. Belxari explained that she had found Akaros' body and had been attempting to break the magic that had been cast on his body. In the process, she had been attacked by Hedemora. While she had avoided being destroyed in her own domain, she had been captured in her own jar. Xelbari had then sent a crack squad of tieflings to rescue her, of which the young tiefling, named Sors, had been a member. 
Renn asked how the new information about Nox's plans factored into the party's plans to beat Harbinger to Rama va Arel. They explain who Harbinger was to Belxari, and she offered to help. Ephemera reminded her that she would have to do it in the morning. 
Sors requested everybody introduce themselves. They did so, except Kiono, who Ephemera said would probably be out later. Sors explained that she was looking for Akaros. Akaros, suddenly interested since the topic changed to him, makes a comment. Sors recognized his voice, and Akaros declared that she was one of his clerics. They questioned him, and he explained that he had never met her before, but most gods don't personally meet or know their followers, regardless of whether they are the source of their follower's powers. Sors, however, said that she had spoken to him in a cave, where he had given her the weapons she wielded. She did not remember when or how she met him, only that she had met him during or after her capture by Nox's followers. 
Sors explained that she had the ability to see the past of an object. Veggrek offered her a stone that Dort had given him, offering it as a demonstration. She did so, seeing a vision of three goblins, presumably Mingal, Dort, and Veggrek, skipping rocks on the side of a lake. One of the goblins managed to skip a rock all the way across the lake. She described the scene she saw, and Veggrek confirms it as accurate. She further explained that it was this ability that had prompted the followers of Nox to kidnap her, to force her to gather information about Akaros. 
Ephemera gave Sors her Band of Kept Secrets upon hearing that the cultists still pursued her. Sors questioned why Akaros' body was alive and attacked them, but she sensed no thoughts within him. Belxari explained that there were enchantments on Akaros' body that were keeping his body and essence separate. She had been attempting to break them when she had been attacked. 
Ephemera talked to Lysaro to ask him to let the other Ascendant Dragons know about Nox's plotting. Belxari said that they could potentially perform a reversal of the ritual to undo the bindings on Akaros' body, they would just need to figure out how to get him to the ritual site. They decided that Bahamut's domain, located on the Platinum Disc, would be a good place for Belxari to set up the ritual. They discuss the possibility of gather allies, specifically the other Ascendant Dragons. Belxari offered the use of her airship to allow them to be mobile enough to perform their task in the short time they had. Lei excitedly asked numerous questions about the details of the airship. 
Confined to the bed by Ephemera, Teer settled in to dictate a strongly worded and misdirecting letter to Harbinger, while Renn began writing "farts" on many tiny pieces of paper which she fed to Akaros. Kiono left briefly to call Concludion. Unable to be stopped by Ephemera, Renn used Gaseous Form to leave. Kiono caught her just outside the door and cast , canceling the spell. Kiono said she had agreed to keep people in the room; Lei said she just wanted to go do some quick shopping. Kiono refused, not wishing to have Ephemera upset with her, and cast on Lei. Several moments later when Lei broke free of the spell, she agreed to stay, but Kiono waved her off, indifferent about what she ultimately did. She turned her back to Lei to call Concludion with the Sending Stone. 
She questioned Concludion about why he didn't return Varren's helmet to her once they were in Wolis. He claimed to need it to save Kitano and her. When she told him that she was concerned since she didn't know how it worked, he reaffirmed her need to stay with the party, that if she tried to find him, she would get killed. 
Lei, having listened in, asked if it was okay for the party to discuss Concludion having the helmet; Kiono expressed indifference. She then asked Kiono about her eyes and why they were turning green. Kiono said it was a result of having siphoning the Devoured through her and that it had caused no other changes. Accepting her answers for now, the two rejoined the group in the bed and the party spent the rest of the night resting, maybe even sleeping. 
The next morning, Belxari attempted to scry on Harbinger. They saw him standing at a map, a projection of the Dragonlands, and going through the process of attempting to locate Rama va Arel. He had narrowed the search down to one of nearly fifty locations, allowing the party to relax somewhat. After confirming this, Ephemera helped Teer break out of the full body cast. His roots have fully repaired and have a few flowers on them. 
Kiono briefly says hello to Sors by way of introduction, and the party prepared to go to Life is Pain for breakfast and being upset with Xelbari. Along the way, Lei told Ephemera about Teer's desire to create a replacement hoard for Akaros. 
At Life is Pain, the party encounters Alan once more, who was promoted to assistant manager. The party ordered breakfast, and Sors ordered a bag of meat, which she prompted began to feed to Akaros. Their orders placed, they went into the office to speak with Xelbari. The party confronted him about his use of child labor, recruiting Sors to help search for Belxari. He dismissed the matter in a very Xelbari-like manner. After briefly going off-topic, the party leaves the office to eat their breakfast. 
While they are eating breakfast, Veggrek takes note of an aasimar writing furiously in a notebook. The aasimar had made a face when the party had entered and appeared upset, so he approached to make sure everything was alright. The aasimar refused to hold a particularly long discussion with Veggrek, refusing to even shake his hand. 
The party continued their discussions about what to do with the twelve-year-old they had accidentally picked up. Sors explained that she'd had an entire childhood of bad things she didn't want to experience, but that she did want to travel with this group. The party continued to be hesitant, already concerned that they continued to allow a sixteen-year-old to be a member of their party. 
Teer called the Burnett residence in hopes of receiving advice or help. Sylmore explained that he had messed up in most ways when raising his own tiefling orphan being pursued by cultists and that he couldn't recommend those methods to the party. He also explained that he didn't wish to place that danger and difficulty on his family, so he couldn't take her in. He suggested that they consider whether it would be safer for Sors to be with them or wherever they might leave her. He also told them about a local orphanage that might have the excitement Sors might be seeking. 
The party considered their options. Keeping Sors with them would make them a bigger target, but a single target would be easier to defend. They could potentially use themselves as bait to draw Akaros' body to the ritual site Belxari would set up. Lei took Sors outside to keep her from having to deal with such discussion. Ultimately, Teer, Ephemera, and Veggrek decided that it was probably safest to keep her with them so they could try to protect her. 
Before leaving, Ephemera suggested to Xelbari that he hire additional help for Alan. Xelbari agreed and began to contemplate the possibility of cloning Alan. Ephemera also let Belxari know that the party was going to take Sors to the oceanside, since she had never been to one, so they would be ready to go to the airship somewhat later than anticipated, and that she could join them if she wished. Before she returned to the party, Xelbari handed her a key, claiming it would be useful to them. Meanwhile, Lei called Here and There with Ghesquiere to find out when Julien and Cecily would arrive. She was told that he had only departed about two weeks prior and was expected to be gone for several more weeks. 
Teer and Sors went shopping for a bathing suit for Sors. Meanwhile, Lei told Veggrek about Teer's plan to create a hoard for Akaros. Both contributed to the hoard immediately, which Ephemera stowed away in the Bag of Holding. They then went shopping for supplies and more hoard materials. The group met back up at the beach, and spent a fair amount of time there. Suddenly, the waters pulled away and a great tidal wave approached the land. It crashed on the shore, depositing a ship in the sand. As the waters retreated to their normal height, passengers began to emerge, and Cecily, sword on her hip, emerged on top of the capsized ship, killing Steak instantly. 
== NPCs ==
=== Returning ===
* Belxari
* Concludion
* Xelbari
* Alan
* Cecily Cardew
=== Mentioned ===
* Nox
* Bahamut
* Cienat
* Tiamat
* Kitano
*Prince Haziz
* Julien Ghesquiere
== Items Gained ==
* A key (given to Ephemera by Xelbari)
* Bathing suit (purchased for Sors)