Wind in the Sails

## Sponsor(s)

Cantrip candles (TRIANGLEANDFLAME 10% discount)

## Announcements

* Guillermo should be back for the next live game
* Next week will not have a show, but starting on Saturday, there will be a marathon of all the VOD's , including Hellions
* Mid tier goal is re-roll, final goal is "Wind in the Sails"

## The Story

* The Dire wolf comes back, towering over them all, including Hyllenae
* Amalthea tries to speak with the Dire Wolf
* He knows of the party, Amalthea asks him how, he looks up at a large skyship coming overhead. A head peeks off the edge and a rope ladder is rolled down
* A man in a blue vest slides down the ladder. He is an Errol Flynn looking man, short salt and pepper hair, with blue eyes. He has a large bow on his back. He has a small tattoo on his right wrist, it is the same as the one that Trixie saw on the pamphlet she took
* Mona speaks to the man as Nathaniel
* Amalthea notes the subtlety with which he has arrived
* He says that they should go on his skyship, he wishes the meeting were under different circumstances. Mona has the same tattoo
* Mona wants to bring her chickens. There is room in the hold that can also hold the carriage
* Trixie doesn't trust this, she checks to see if Jingles can cast Feather Fall again in case
* The cart is brought with them, it looks pretty badass
* A halfling woman slides down the ladder with two large rapiers on her side, with a large black hat with a huge white feather with a worn captain's jacket
* Alchemon is the one place Nathaniel cannot go, but he can drop them close
* They ride the dumbwaiter up to the ship
* There are no engines on the ship, seemingly held up by magic with lodestones, large rocks with veins of blue stone
* A gnome is running around, somehow dirty on the coal and oil-less ship
* Nathaniel grabs the wheel, igniting runes, and the sails ignite with a blue shimmer
* The ship is moving around 60 miles per hour now, but there seems to be no feedback of wind
* Jingles shoots off a Firebolt off the side of the ship and it flies off after about 10 feet past the sails
* Nathaniel introduces the other members of the crew, Okles, the gnome, and Desna the Halfling
* The forest fades underneath them, giving way to desert. The party feels the air heat up
* Nathaniel pulls out his spyglass, causing Jingles to pull out "his" as well. Jingles get a glint of the sun, which Nathaniel tells him is why he should shade the end with his hand
* The Dire wolf told him where the party was, he has been "keeping tabs" on them after hearing of a woman walking around with a wolf. He sent her Camille, or his wolf, Fenrir, did
* Amalthea wonders how he knew about her to begin with
* Trixie notes the convenience of him just meeting her now
* Amalthea gives him some sass. Nathaniel meet her mother when working for the Fulcrum, she worked for an opposing Guild, she was not a thief, but she was part of the organization. They fell in love and both would have been killed. He had to flee, he ran into Mona years later and they had a secret mission. The party points out that they knew he and Mona were lovers. Those in command of the mission decided that they were expendable and sought to take them out, while they were still on the mission. They escaped, as did one other they knew only as Ruby. Nathaniel was known as Sapphire and Mona was Fox
* Jingles agrees that the timing is convenient for all of this
* Amalthea says that she now knows that her father was a thief, her mother was a thief, and he has come up with a nice little Romeo and Juliet story so she doesn't feel so bad for being a little mistake in the night
* Nathaniel says that they are going to need new clothes or they will look like outsiders. This sets Amalthea off a bit, she states that she has always been an outsider, she was a half-elf born into a full elf society and was outcast, she was bullied, not allowed to play with the other kids, driving her underground since they were the only ones who would accept her, where her thieves' blood came in handy. She met someone who loved her, they went off wandering, and he was killed by a dragon, now she is here and she has these beautiful people who accept her for who she is
* Jingles brings up the cultist army they fought and tell him that he should be proud of her. He is on the run, there will be no trial
* Nathaniel notes that they disguise themselves necessarily, pulling out a Hat of Disguise and switching between three personas then shove it into a coin purse at his side
* Nathaniel shows them to their "quarters", the middle deck
* Hyllenae is still a bit off, and Nathaniel notices and asks if she is ok. She says that she will stay with Helios
* Okles is in a shipping crate he has carved out as a kind of bed
* Trixie tells Jingles that she doesn't trust Nathaniel for coming now that they have the artifact. They wonder if they should spy on him.
* Amalthea goes back up on deck to look out. Fenrir is curled up on the top deck
* Trixie has Princess go invisible to go find his cabin, they then go off to a location and pretend to talk as Trixie looks through Princess's eyes. He is stuck then pops back and stays as a spider. He spends 5 hours making a web on her neck. They agree to stay close together
* They decide that it is time to head to bed and have Princess watch them, just to be sure
* Amalthea is standing on deck looking out over the edge. She and Camille notice that the ship is moving around 80 miles per hour now, but pretty low, only about 40-50 feet up. Camille is looking up to the sky, seeming to indicate she sees something. Fenrir makes the same noise
* Amalthea goes over to Desna to ask if she knows what's going on. There is a giant sand worm below them, and they don't go too high to not attract wyverns, there is a screech that is one. They should wake up the party
* Okles pulls out a wrench and says he can try to help, but is not convincing
* The party heads upstairs
* Desna is being harried by a wyvern
* They had a short rest before this
* Initiative
	+ There is a desert type of wyvern. they are having trouble keeping up
	+ Camille holds her action
	+ Trixie casts Hex and fires Eldritch Blast at the one attacking Desna
	+ Hyllenae goes to the same one and attacks with her mace, but keeps hold of it. She hits with her second attack, adding divine smite
	+ Dorian makes his way up, rushes over, but can't do anything yet. He Bless's Hyllenae, Jingles, and Amalthea
	+ Amalthea goes up and attacks with her Chain and hook, but misses. She attacks with her dagger as well
	+ Jingles snaps his fingers, then Twin casts Firebolt, one at each wyvern
	+ The wyvern attempts to take Desna. The other swoops down and bites Amalthea, then tries to pick her up, but fails, provoking opportunity attack as it leaves
	+ Nathaniel  comes up and fires off an arrow
	+ Trixie fires off another Eldritch Blast
	+ Hyllenae ties her rope to the back of her spear
	+ Dorian summons a large spear that attacks the wyvern
	+ Amalthea puts a Hunter's Mark on the closer one and fires an arrow
	+ The wyverns are having a hard time keeping up. Desna looks over, tells everyone to hang on, then pulls a lever and the ship takes off
* (break)
* Nathaniel tells the party that the creatures were Camosats, bat-like wyverns that live in the desert
* Mona is holding one of her chickens
* Nathaniel takes the wheel again
* Hyllenae goes back below deck, Amalthea follow. Mona goes down with some personal affects, grabs some things, then heads back up
* Trixie goes back below deck to sleep
* Camille goes over near the dire wolf and curls up to sleep
* Jingles passes his sanity check for the wand again, still getting vision, but getting his full sleep
	+ He tries to analyze the battlefield, it seems sulfuric, volcanic landscape stained by the sulfur
* The ship lands and slides on the sand, but surprisingly smoothly. Nathaniel says that he is going to go off to do his own thing
* Hyllenae doesn’t want to leave the ship, Dorian says that he will get her wardrobe. Amalthea will stay with her. Jingles will get outfits for himself, Amalthea, Hyllenae, and Mugsy. The town they are in has a Moroccan vibe
* Princess lost sight of Nathaniel as he was walking
* They all get back on the ship
* Hyllenae is wearing her breastplate under the new clothes, Dorian is wearing his full armor
* Jingles wants to find a temple to help with Hyllenae’s problem
* Hyllenae find a sign for the temple of the Many faced god, Hedron. It has a large entrance with four passageways leading to a domed room
* Hyllenae already can’t hear Athena and is worried it will be worse. The party assures her that they are trying to help and she can let them know if anything feels wrong
* Jingles finds a member of the clergy and tells him that one of their friends needs healing from a problem on the Fields of Conflict. He seems to be able to help her, but it will require components costing a few hundred gold to clear her mind
* Jingles checks with Dorian to see if they are getting ripped off
* They all toss in money to help pay for the procedure
* The priest of Hedron lights some candles
* There are symbols that Jingles recognizes and some that he doesn’t, a sphere is being made that the symbols attach to
* There is some searing pain as the ball is placed on her head and her mind clears
* He pulls out some pamphlets and asks them to consider Hedron as their savior
* Hyllenae tells him to be wary, there are cultists that are hunting artifacts to bring a demon into the world, and if they manage to find them, evil like has not been seen in thousands of years will be released
* Dorian and Trixie think it best that they not talk about the artifacts
* Hyllenae is also concerned that they will need to hand the artifact off, no one person should be dealing with it themself
* Jingles wants to find a way to dampen the effects of the artifact. Dorian suggests a lead box
* The party is concerned about talking with the emperor about the artifacts, as power may seek power
* The tiers seem to have a bit of a class status to them
* As the party heads up, there are guards that approach asking about their business. Dorian takes out his pendant and says that they are seeking an audience with the emperor
* The guards indicate that they should follow and begin to jog off
* The doors to the palace are about 200 feet tall
* The emperor agreed to an audience, but they will need to remove all of their weapons, they have something like a hotel cart to hold all the weapons
* Jingles goes to the restroom, which is somewhat communal. The guard goes with him. He says that he is a nervous pee-er, the guard responds "Aren't we all?". He Subtle casts Alter Self into himself, which absorbs items into his body, including the wand
* They walk into a small area, about 5 feet wide. There is a poof and Princess appears and a rune expends on the floor. They continue to walk forward. Jingles takes a step forward, triggering another glyph, he says that they were fighting the wyverns and he had put on Mage Armor. They enter a large room, with servants fanning the emperor, who is behind a curtain, so they can only see his shadow against the curtain.
* Jingles speaks. He tells him that they have traveled a great distance, crossing the Fields of Conflict and there is something dark happening, telling him of the cultists. The emperor asks them if they bring war here, they do not, they flee war. He asks if they can stay and use the resources to learn more of the cultists. At the mention of the artifacts, the emperor asks if they have one with them. They say they do not.
* Dorian points out, that, with all due respect, the emperor was set to keep one of the artifacts. The light behind the curtain dims and there is shuffling. Jingles Subtle Casts Alter Self again to hide the wand
* The curtains part and they don't see a man, but a little girl in grand robes. She introduces herself as Empress Lyrela, Emperor Pharam died long ago and she is ruling now. She thinks she knows what they meant when they mentioned the artifacts. She has only been ruling for about 2 years. The old Emperor was assassinated, they are looking into it.
* The artifact Dorian brought up was to be in her brother's care, they don't know when it disappeared
* Hyllenae says that the Thorn in Jingles' side may be coming into play
* One of the guards is magically speaking to the Empress, the same one that saw and seemed to notice Jingles doing magic
* They already know that they are carrying the wand.
* Hyllenae feels in her pouch and sees if the stone is still there, offering to sit with the Empress and contact her mentor about what is going on. She tells her of their mission to investigate the barbarian attack. They are aware of the assassination of the representative and have the assassin caught, a drow. The party wonders if it is Dawnash and ask to see him
* The guards point them out into the hallway
* They are led down a hallway, the Empress takes off her headpiece and gives it to the one that was pretending to be the emperor
* They head down to the dungeon depths
* They get to a row where everything is empty except for the last one
* The drow is slunched over, no headband, wearing a vest
* The empress goes over and the drow looks up, it is Dawnash

## Characters

* Okles - the gnome on Nathaniel's ship
* Desna - the second in command halfling woman on Nathaniel's ship
* Fenrir - the entity Nathaniel's dire wolf is an aspect of
* Ruby - partner in the secret mission Mona and Nathaniel were on
* Commandant Rodaho, Jorgan, Amelia - Nathaniel's disguises in the hat of disguise
* Camosats - bat like wyverns in the desert
* Empress Lyrela - the leader of Alchemon
* Emperor Pharam - previous ruler of Alchemon, Lyrela's brother

## Quotations

"A man that looks that good isn't bad." Jingles "You're going to get far in Life" Trixie @ 22:47

"Mother \*looks at Amalthea\* Father, I should say." Jingles @ 24:28

"How are you with him!?" Jingles, of Fenrir and Nathaniel, "Come on, you wanted to be with him, like, five minutes ago!" Trixie @ 2:21:08

"Counter spell, highest level I have...Wait a second, son of a bitch, hang on, I don't have Counter spell" Adam @ 3:24:27