Session 16: Ivasar

### Lenore's Garden

***"Better to take many small steps than to make a great leap only to stumble back."***

The crystal lizard proved to be taxing on all of us, but in the process I managed to grab the last unbroken egg. It made me a bit somber to see the other two eggs smashed on the floor, but Viter was only doing what he thought best for this difficult fight. Certainly I was knocked unconscious by a savage blow and neither me nor Ember are particularly sturdy adventurers, or really even Viter for that matter. Thankfully the reason why we had headed to the Lower House succeeded and we had found a lead, though old, about Ember's relatives. She seemed either shocked or mute with disappointment at first, but gradually she seemed to shake it off and said that this was good news.

We wished Anion well and I was sad to see him and his friends go, but happy that they would be rejoining their world. I can only wonder if that same draining magic couldn't be done to the rest of the Delerium in Sacena. If we could enlist their help and drain every cursed piece of rock then maybe things could go back to normal! But that is a monumental task that will have to wait for another day.

We set on out for the Piss Pot for some well earned rest, but fatigue makes for unwary steps and I was knocked out cold by finely made log trap. I think it was intended for the Gnolls, but their tracks showed them all walking around it. Finally limping into the Inn, I went to Bree straight away. After some banter and some accusations, I'm still wary that she knows much more than she's letting on, but I don't think she planned a Leshen for us, she departed with the locket to verify its authenticity. In the meantime Ember went for a pint of whiskey and Viter regaled the tavern about our fight with the Leshen. It looks like the monkier of "Viter's Acolytes" is sticking and its certainly what the tavern knows us as now.

I found Lorne, unsurprisingly by his lonesome self, left behind by his more cheerful brothers. He certainly knows how to make a crowd quiet and proceeded to do so at a little encouragement from me. Maybe its not always what people want to hear, but its definitely talent. Our vocal investment seemed to pay off and he mentioned that a bandit gave word of a beautiful blonde woman holding a a strange flower just north of here at Lenore's Garden. Maybe this was one of the Hags? It certainly wouldn't surprise me, and it was worth investigating.

It was the end of the night and everyone was turning in, Viter was flirting with a dangerous and pretty rogue and headed upstairs with her. Despite Ember's heavy drinking, I saw her construct a most elaborate warning system at the entrance to her room. I'm not sure how a pan, flour, eggs, milk and syrup worked with the whole construction but by the looks of it would thoroughly batter any intruder.

In the morning Bree came to us with good news, we had now become the newest members of the Queensmen and gave us each a carved token inscribed with the letter "J" indicating that we were apart of the Jackals. Over breakfast she described the various factions, locations and benefits of the group. The Undercity seems to contain a whole cast of unsavory types and more than a few connections. I asked if she could make a few inquires with regards to equipment that would help us brave the Delerium mists unharmed, and as if on queue my now backwards knees seemed to crack painfully. We can't have these mutations happening every step of the way if I'm going to attempt the rescue.

Furthermore there is a number of challenges in the fighting pits if we're keen and the rewards were described as such:

*Prize Pool 1: Tome of Clear Thought, Tome of Understanding, Tome of Leadership and Influence, Manual of Gainful Exercise, Manual of Bodily Health, Manual of Quickness of Action.*

*Prize pool 2: Flying Broom (unlimited flight, may need riding checks), Instant fortress (create a fortress anywhere. If thrown at an enemy causes 10d10 damage in a 20x30 square.), Cape of the Monteblank (Cast Dimension door as an action once a day), 3 Cubes of force (acts as Force Cage, Consumable), Ring of Jumping (cast jump as a bonus action, Horn of Blasting (5d6 damage in a 30ft cone, 10% chance of exploding dealing 10d6 damage to everything in 20 ft radius)*

Parting ways we decided to investigate Lenore's Garden before rejoining the Weezards at the encampment of the Acolytes of the Fallen Fire. The garden itself was in a state of disrepair and overgrowth, but still held great beauty. Little surprise as this place was celebrated in its day, commissioned by Queen Lenore herself and with an unmatched species of flora. Intricate murals of fey creatures and scenes of nature stretched along the walls, slowly crumbling as the endless rain wore it back to stone.

After much trouble, though really only Ember had trouble, getting through the ruined gate, we were greeted by the sprawling garden, overgrown and lush, crumbling and mossy with a veritable rainbow of colors. I spied one large plant, a Venus Man Trap, and warned the rest to stay away as they were known to eat, well really anything they could get their jaws around. They are particularly equipped to entrap the greedy as they each hold a false pearl deep with its mouth. A large snap sounded as soon as we walked past one, oddly enough I didn't see anything that would've triggered it, though perhaps Viter did as he was the closest. Perhaps the delerium had started to make it more sensitive to movement? Certainly wouldn't surprise me with all the other mutations I have been seeing.

I noticed one particularly, well, bushy bush, and decided to give it a prod. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place my staff on it until it reared up and tried to eat us. A shambling mound! And a large one at that! We quickly burned it down, with Ember to great effect searing its stems with her Hellish Rebuke. After an exhausting battle it crumbled and returned to the earth, a heap of smoking ash.

As we recovered we heard a gasp and looked up to see a maiden, with a brilliant purple flower in her hand. I don't know if she was surprised or simply scared after we had given shambler such a scorching, though she ran and we gave chase.