Piper Aves

* Pre-Time Skip
* Post-Time Skip

## **Appearance**

Piper is covered in soft, white hair that looks a bit like down. When the sun catches it right, you could swear it was almost translucent. At 12 years old, he is taller than most his age, slowly, but not quite overcoming his older sister Rhea Aves in height yet, even though his lanky arms and gangly form foreshadows another growth spurt in the future. Piper has sharp angular eyes and face to match, with dark brown, almost pupil-less eyes, surrounded by dark eye sockets, remarkably similar to eye shadow. However, one of his more notable features is his thick, long neck.

## **Personality**

Piper is the most outwardly aggressive of the Aves. Incredibly bitter and angry at the treatment of his family, he often resorts to violence to solve problems that he deems unfair or prejudiced. He immediately confronts anyone, regardless of rank or status, that treat his family poorly.

Piper is loyal to Rhea and family above all else. If you are respectful to the Aves, Piper likes or tolerates you.

Piper hates nobility and will attempt to injure them or damage their property unless Rhea is there to stop him.

Defers to Rhea on all matters, even if it seems like the wrong thing in his eyes.

Loves to drink. It helps to accelerate bar fights, it provides an outlet of peace and is a cheap activity to get out of the house. Drunks forget society’s rules, so Piper feels more ‘normal’ and accepted around them.

Feels the allure of a life of crime, fighting against the nobility and their interests.

Lies about his age to get access to fight rings and bars.

Takes things literally.

Tries to shakedown the children of nobility when they are seen wandering alone and the children of families who treat the Aves as pariahs.

Secretly desires to be a noble one day, but no matter how many times he dismisses it as a childish fantasy, it keeps hovering in the back of his head.

Has a small collection of rocks and cool bits of wood found in the forest with Rhea. Piper's favorite is a small branch struck by lightning. Upon leaving to go to Northgate, Piper gave that small branch to Rhea Aves.

## **Background**

Piper was born in Salt Landing as the 4th child of the Aves family, hearty and healthy, like Rhea and Gale. The three of them are an anomoly, as the rest of the Aves children are not as fortunate health wise. Their parents, Paloma and Dotterel, had only recently moved to Salt Landing and no-one, not even their children, know exactly where they came from before.

Paloma and Dotterel were very human seeming, as well as Rhea and Gale. However, starting with Robin, the further down the chain of siblings, the more apparent the anomalies became. Piper's younger siblings began to display more and more strange bird-like features, eventually culminating in out and out feathers and, as they aged, the development of talon-like nails.

## **Childhood**

Piper constantly escaped house to wander the town and forest with Rhea. Looks up to her and attempts to protect her, though often fails.

An occasional extra breadwinner for the family, mostly through bullying the children of nobility or those who mocked the family, although also trawled the bars and underground fight rings to find loose coins and (rarely) participate if allowed

Somewhat of a loner, took after (and somewhat copied) Rhea.

## **Faith**

Piper follows The Warsinger Nayorak, the goddess of Battle, Hope, Change, Destruction, and Growth. Piper fell in love with her after experiencing *The Breaking*, a festival of testing ones limits. Sports, melees, jousts, games and tests of all skills can be found and it is said that the victors will enjoy Nayorak's attention for the coming year. A someone who likes to rebel, battle for change, and just fistfight in general, Piper found a divine mother to pair with his mother figure in the mortal realm, Rhea.

## **Relationships**

**Esmerelda:**

One of the few people Piper actively likes outside of the Aves family. Piper feels a kinship with Esmerelda and her family, since they are also treated as outsiders and live on the outskirts of Salt Landing as well. The colors, spectacle, and eye catching designs of her and her family mesmerize Piper. He has deemed Esmerelda under his protection, although he is never really around her and gets distracted easily. Except that one time he helped sneak her into the nobles' soirée through a hedge and fended off Rhys.

**Lissie:**

A friend of Rhea's. Piper tolerates Lissie, even if she does get a bit close to Rhea sometimes. Piper considers her a bit odd and potentially dangerous with all of the alchemical nonsense she does, but hasn't found any real reason to worry yet.

**Rhea:**

Piper's older sister by blood, but is more his mother than the one who birthed him. Rhea is the closest family member Piper has and considers her his entire world, which is why he constantly revolves around her. She is his moral compass and common sense. If anything would ever happen to her, Piper would erase from living memory whoever hurt Rhea.

**Thomas:**

The son of the tax collector. Piper does not like Thomas, in fact, he was one of the people Piper would go out of his way to steal from, punishing him for the sins of his father. However, after being invited to participate in a journey to seek fortune and weapons training in Northgate, Piper warmed up to Thomas, agreeing to protect him in exchange for honeycakes.

**Caelestus:**

Piper doesn't know him too well, but thinks Cael is a bit weird for hanging around a temple all day. He feels judged by the aloof and immaculately clean clergy of the Temple of Many, so already has an inherent bias against Cael.

**Alicia:**

Gave Piper a knife. Piper thinks she is pretty cool and is in awe of her strength and confidence. Piper may have developed a crush on her.

**Shurvi of the Iron Woods**

Piper's trainer for his time at the Seeker Academy. He considers her his mentor and was closer to her than anyone else, aside from Rhea. Piper latched on to Shurvi, as she was the only person he knew when training in the underground dwarven stronghold Ur-Hutvir, away from daylight and his friends. The battleaxe he wields is the one given to him by Shurvi when he left the Seeker Academy to go home to Salt Landing.

## Through Piper's Eyes

### **Session One**

Ogoneck trading company is in town, like a mercenary group.

Piper saved Esmeralda from a grubby looking boy named Rhys. Wanted to punch the absolute shit out of him but Rhea said no, even after Rhys threw a club at him. Not fair.

The first chance Piper gets away from Rhea, Rhys will be punched multiple times. But, Piper will listen to Rhea's recommendation and avoid the face.

We escorted Esmerelda to the gate of the noble party where Esmerelda wanted to infiltrate. She got eaten by a hedge, but was okay. Piper was nervous and thrust his face through the hedge to discover Esmerlda climbed through it to sneak in. Satisfied that she was safe, Rhea dragged Piper home to avoid Piper chasing after noble children.

Piper and Rhea went home to discover Robin and Gale were still not home. Rhea went to track Gale down, Piper went to find and fight Rhys. Unfortunately, Rhys was surrounded by his allies, so Piper sadly looked for his sister Robin instead.

Piper got distracted while looking for Robin again and got absolutely destroyed in a pushup contest with one of the powder monkeys near the dock.

After losing, Piper saw a heavily armored woman in blue and yellow dragging a struggling Rhys and threw him in the harbor. Piper immediately ran over to talk to her and told her Rhys was his quarry too, but he liked how she threw him in the harbor. The woman stalked around him and evaluated him and said when he is older, perhaps he would grow up to be something special, but needed to use his brains more. Said she was a general. Piper said Rhea was his brains and, when asked if he would ever kill anything, said he accidentally killed a squirrel once when mad, but would kill if he needed to protect his family, but not any innocent people. Didn’t enjoy it after, but liked it when he was mad. Alicia said it was hard for her to kill innocent people. Piper asked what her name was and she said Alicia and gave him a finely crafted stiletto (dagger) with rings on the pommel. Said that if he ever needed to kill, use that dagger. Her mood drastically shifted when one of her men came up to her and whispered in her ear. Alicia face hardened and immediately began barking orders to her men and left the conversation with Piper. She marched into the center of town with her men and continued to bark orders, making the town guard very uneasy.

(Piper doesn’t know yet, but she is a general in the Ogoneck trading company. Anatoli Ogoneck is the head of the trading company)

Anatoli commanded Alecia to make an example of someone in the crowd. She dragged someone out in the middle of the square at his orders and killed them with her flamberge. (It was the baker.) Anatoli said one random person will be killed every hour until he was given back what was stolen from him. Piper has no idea what was taken, but is a little upset with what Alicia did and wants to ask her if it was hard for her.

### **Session Two**

Anatoli commanded another person to be killed, this time a blacksmith that was a bit greedy as it was. Not a terrible loss, all things considered. Rhea ran around town trying to gather the Aves family together to make sure everyone was safe and not in danger of being chosen next to be killed. Piper stressed that we could go up to Alicia and ask what was lost and help them, therefore being on their good side and we would be fine. Rhea vehemently disagreed with that idea. Piper pouted.

Anatoli started gathering some people with his mercenaries and left, including Lissie’s family, apparently finding what he was looking for after a brief discussion with someone that we couldn’t hear.

He waved a handkerchief in goodbye as she boarded the skiff that took him to his ship in the harbor. Alicia was one of the last to leave and Piper ran up to her asking how to find her and prove he was worthy of training. She offered a hand out and said Piper could join now.

Piper said he had to check with Rhea first, sprinting back to Rhea. Rhea was spitting mad, venomous glares, screeching in anger at him for even considering it. Piper, tail tucked between his legs, told Alicia no he could not go, but if he could please get the location of where he could find them in the future. Alicia said he would have to survive the journey to get to their continent (Dyssia), or he could join now. She pushed off from the docks, Piper ran back to ask Rhea if it was okay. Rhea exploded, furious at him, before realizing, our brother Gale was on the boat with Alicia. Rhea charged as fast as she could, diving into the water, desperately trying to get to the boat to drag Gale off. Gale shamefully did not look at her or heed her cries. Rhea case mage hand and scratched Alicia in fury as she knew she would not make it. Alicia smiled back at her. Townspeople came out to the sea to help get Rhea back to shore. Piper complained that she allowed Gale to go, and Rhea, furious, had talons growing from her, and threatened to slice him up if he did not shut up.

Piper shut up.

We went home and Rhea tore Gale’s belongings and bed apart, hurt and angry at him leaving with Alicia and Anatoli. Rhea had a fitful sleep, while Piper sat in the kitchen/living area with his knife, thinking about the last 48 hours. From sneaking Esmeralda into the noble soiree, to townspeople getting executed, to Alicia offering him to leave with her, then Gale leaving with her.

Piper heard a knock in the morning, and Thomas arrived, thanking us for helping Esmerelda get safely to the party , and said they were leaving. Piper’s ears perked up as Thomas waxed about the cool adventure they were going to go on. Piper begged Rhea to let him go to earn some money for the family and get stronger. Rhea, upset and defeated, allowed Piper to go. They hugged for a long time, to the point Piper almost told her he would stay. He crudely carved a symbol on his favorite gnarled root and gave it to Rhea, saying he would learn how to write better in Northgate, where Thomas and friends were going. Piper promised to have Thomas help him write letters and send money home and that he would visit when he could, never forgetting his home. Piper reminded Rhea of the time she pointed out and watched a bird family build a nest, lay eggs, have chicks hatch,and watch them grow and fly away. Piper pointed out that the young birds leaving the nest was natural, it didn’t mean the bird mother was bad. Piper said Rhea was a lovely mama bird. They waved goodbye and Thomas got a carriage to pick up Lissie, Esmerelda, and Cael, as they left for Northgate. It was a week’s journey to Northgate, so at every inn they stopped at, Piper challenged the strongest person there to arm wrestle. He lost ever single time, 0-6 so far in his career.

### Session Three

Piper, Lissie, Esmerelda, and Cael arrived at Northgate and were let in, their cart taking them to the Seeker Academy. After wandering through the academy, a man named Tybalt directed them to Leo Suvalis, the person whom they were told to seek. (Except Piper was not there for the initial meeting in Salt’s Landing) Leo Suvalis said that Anatoli Ogoneck has a power ally, someone who can manipulate laws and treaties and other documents to show that anyone Anatoli has killed, was rightfully slain. Anatoli Ogoneck is part of the Seekers, after something, researching it, exploring areas of the world. Leo Suvalis does not know what is being sought after. Each of the four were promised their own rooms, food, equipment, and education/training. Leo introduces us to the Grand Seeker, saying that he found us as recruits in Salt Landing, covering for us. Piper kept saying ‘cool’ and how he wants to learn how to use big axes. The Grand Seeker asked if Piper knew how to play pipes, laughing. Piper was confused and said no, but he had a knife. Old man Grand Seeker said pipes can kill people too if played poorly and laughed again. Piper takes that literally and wasn’t to learn how to kill people with pipes as well as big axes. Piper likes him. After the meeting, Leo Suvalis said the Grand Seeker also had a darker side, being the one who trained Anatoli. Leo said all of the training besides basic weaponry were electives, whichever students wanted to pursue. We were led to our rooms, placed our stuff down and then to the training yard. Shurvi of the Iron Woods, a greataxe wielding dwarf, immediately told us to start running. Piper sprints right away and runs out of breath in the first training session, before anyone else. Having no cardio and all glamor muscles was his downfall. But, Shurvi wrangled him into shape.

The less fun tutoring then began. Ollesin Eresh, the librarian, was the introductory reading and other book learning tutor. He was even more harsh than Shurvi, until he found a good way to get Piper to read: fantasy novels and weapon technique books. Walking outside the courtyard with Leo Suvalis and the others, Piper saw a statue and did a double take. It was a statue of his father, Dotteral Aves. He had a magnificent bow carved with him, nicknamed ‘The Condor’. Leo Suvalis told Piper that statues of seekers were for seekers of renown and put something of great importance in their vault. He said Dotteral was called the Condor, because once something was in his sights, he got it. Leo was shocked to learn Piper was an Ave, because Piper never gave his surname during introductions.

We were brought into a room with six people, Shurvi of the Iron Woods amongst them. Immediately, a man called Rupert Fletch, began to attack and mock Thomas, calling him not worthy and stripping him of all his belongings and gold. Thomas stormed out, telling his friends he will be in the courtyard. Leo assured Thomas he will not be kicked out. Rupert chuckled after Thomas left and said he liked him, just giving him tough love.

A sly and spooky woman named Meshira, told Cael she would train him in the shadows, as he desired.

Piper was not paying too much attention because he saw Shurvi grab a book and hide it behind her back. She would often do that right before throwing it at him, if it hit him, he would be ‘dead’. Piper ducked in time, squatting, and laughed saying, “Ha, you already killed me once today, I can’t die again.”

Dietrick Faust introduced himself and had a polite and adorable conversation that Piper zoned out off as soon as it got technical with various herbs and alchemical mumbo jumbo.

Ollesin Eresh chose to work with Esmerelda, saying he was interested in working with her divination and sleight of hand trickery.

*Piper’s first letter to Rhea will say how the blacksmith and baker were bad people and Alicia did not do anything bad by killing them. Piper added that some old man called Leo Suvalis said it wasn’t true, that they were innocent people, but it was a very confusing explanation. Piper would say how they got their own food and room and equipment. He would say he is scared, that apparently we may be in danger and that he misses her already. RHEA, THERE IS A STATUE OF DAD. HE WAS CALLED THE ‘CONDOR’ AND IS A SEEKER, HE HAS A BOW, LIKE YOU. THE STATUE IS OVER 160 YEARS OLD. I SAW IT. LEO SAW IT AS WELL. Leo is nice. Shurvi of the Iron Woods is training me. She has a big axe, I can’t swing it yet, but I can’t wait until I do. Ollesin taught me to read and right. I hate it, but I can spell my name and write this, with his help. REMEMBER TO ASK DAD WHY HE IS FAMOUS HERE. DOES HE HAVE MONEY? WHY DO PEOPLE HATE US? Piper would end with saying how he would be trained by Shurvi of the Iron Wood, a fearsome dwarf wielding a battleaxe.*
For the first two years, Shurvi takes Piper underground to train at a dwarven stronghold called Ur-Hutvir. Without seeing the sun, dwarven battleragers and berserkers trained him mercilessly, beating him down day after day. Eventually, after one brutal assault, a small spiritual bird flew out of him and passed threw the chest of his attacker, unnerving them and momentarily stopping their swing. More and more birds began to flock around after each particularly nasty attack until they started doing damage to the more vicious dwarves. After the two years were up, most dwarves hesitated before fighting him, not keen on spirits they could not fight off.
Shurvi then took him to train for a year with the elves, although quickly realized that their graceful fighting styles were a horrible fit for Piper, as his frontal and reckless fighting ‘style’ could not be taught out of him after the years with the dwarves and his own ‘break a lock rather than pick it’ attitude.
Shurvi and Piper returned to the Academy and she invited another person to help train him, Gnurl of Splinter Crag, an orc from the Plumewastes, the remains of an half-orc kingdom, who was a master of a barbarian way of fighting. For 6 months, Piper loved being with them, as he peppered the orc with questions about the Plumewaste, as the first book he ever read, the fictional novel that Ollesin successfully got him to read, took place in the Plumewaste.
This time of happiness ended when Rhea wrote a simple and brief letter back to him: “Our parents are gone.”
Piper went to Shurvi immediately and told her he had to go home. She told him no. He insisted and she said she was disappointed in him, she thought he had real talent and that his training was not complete and that he would never be a seeker if he left. Shurvi told him he knew how to fight but not who to fight and that there would be hell to pay if she found out bandits were using her techniques and knowledge. Piper responded by saying if he does not leave, his family may die, they are already destitute and without the money from the parents, they would starve. What good was being a seeker if you abandoned what you had already found, family. Piper added that it was an honor being taught by her and she was the closest thing he had to family, only Rhea was closer to him. Shurvi grumbled in disgust and told him to go tell the Grand Seeker he was leaving and to keep the sappy stuff to himself.. Piper turned and walked away, but after a few seconds, Shurvi yelled to get his attention. When Piper faced him, she threw her greataxe at him, hurling it with both hands.
Piper catches the greataxe by the handle avoiding the blades (nat 20 :D), shocking Shurvi and everyone else. She grunts and goes back to training her other students as Piper smiles and continues walking to the Grand Seeker, avoiding another sappy moment for Shurvi, touched at the parting gift of her axe.
The Grand Seeker dismissed him, forcing him to swear to never reveal anything he had learned at the Seeker Academy. Punishment would be swift and severe. Leo Suvalis swung by and told him to stay silent about what Lissie carried and to remind him about who his enemies were.
Finally, after 4 long years, Piper, using the same driver that got him to the Seeker Academy, got off the cart and stepped back onto the dirt of Salt Landing.

### Session Four

After a few years, Piper was working at the docks, supervising people coming into Salt Landing with goods. One day, bored, itching to take the leather helmet off that was part of his uniform, he was surprised by Cael, who informed him everyone else was back in town, meeting the patrician for dinner, Piper’s boss and the governor of the town. He took the party to The Mast’s Last Colors, a dingy but raucous tavern on the outskirts of town.

At the tavern, Esmerelda, Cael, Thomas, and Lissie asked farmers about a rot in the crops that was going around. Piper was not there for any talk about rot and was a bit confused why they cared about crops. He thought it may have been year 4 of the Seeker Academy, where they learned about plants or something.

The Brackish Baron is wanted in Salt Landing.

A group called The Dedicated have been growing.

Piper gave Linette, his young sister, a knife, to the chagrin of Rhea, who punished Piper by forcing him to wear a shirt to the dinner with the Patrician.
We met in the Patrician’s study first, and she expressed concern that the Brackish Baron has been poaching guards and others from Salt Landing and her own house. He claims to be the true ruler of Arresia (sp?). He claims that the Patrician is the bandits, not him and his house.
However, the Brackish Baron does employ a great deal of thugs, pirates, and other ne'er do wells like highwaymen.

The Patrician says she rules through right of conquest since Vyckerous conquered them. She says the Baron’s family was compensated for their destroyed house and manors, as well as for their help in the transition of power.
The Patrician said that the Dedicated are ignorant, foolish and celebrating nonsense and demise, led by Harold the Dedicate.
Piper asked if instead of a bonus, if the Patrician could help the Aves family, a better home, better furnishing, more consistent and substantial food. The Patrician said yes, she would do what she could.
Piper got drunk at the dinner, rambled to Rhea about if we will find Gale or our parents first, and if she has spoken to Lissie yet. He had other drunken ramblings to the point where Rhea tricked him into drinking grape water instead of wine.
Rhea got him to head to a bedroom provided by the Patrician and he passed out, belly full and happy.

### Session Six

The group decided to go to Waddelstork and began to travel there. A few miles outside of the town a wagon driven by a large muscular man with a family inside, came trundling up and stopped upon seeing us. He held up a hand, and Cael spotted an arrow in his back. Thomas offered aid, Lissie protested, not knowing too much about healing and Piper said she was better at poisons. The man grew uneasy and drew his sword to keep it nearby at the talk of poison. Thomas talked him down and the man told us that the arrow actually came from the Baron. It was a past time of the Baron, taking shots at the townsfolk for sport. He explained most of the city does not like him, but fear to rise up against him.The arrow seems much bigger than normal arrows perhaps meaning a larger bow and stronger pull. Rhea compared her arrow to the embedded one and it was much longer and slightly larger. Thomas gave him a note as they left while Lissie did her best to patch up the arrow wound, leaving some of the arrow in.

By early evening, the party made it to the outskirts of Waddelstork and then split up, Cael and Rhea approached the city via the woodlands to avoid running into every traveler while Thomas, Piper and Lissie went on the main road. Lissie gave a sending stone to Cael and kept one herself.

Piper, Thomas and Lissie walked into town and found several old burnt husks of buildings as well as a freshly burning one, surrounded by men on horseback, some still adding torches to the building. After ducking around the corner, they talked about where to find oil and to use fire arrows in the keep. They did not want to be seen by the horsemen and thought it would be best to regroup with the party before taking any action, since they are outnumbered. Piper found a barrel of oil and they set fire to the swamp outside of the Baron’s keep. Before the fire, a ghastly shriek of a woman was heard and red smoke appeared over one of the towers of the keep. The guards looked up at the sound and continued their conversation, undisturbed. Piper, Thomas, and Lissie ran out of town to meet Rhea and Cael who showed them a secret passage into the keep they had found while we were in town setting a fire. After creeping through the tunnel, they came to a grate, about 10 feet above them. Cael is boosted up by Thomas to see what is there, and he sees Rhys and a prison. Rhys is boasting about how he will torture each of the prisoners inside. Cael attempts to distract Rhys with an illusion but it fails. Piper holds up Thomas to open the grate and acts as a ladder for the rest of the party to climb up him to get through the grate. (DM gave me inspiration for the creative action :DDD) Rhys grew increasingly less confident the more of the party emerged towards him. Rhys gives himself up as Rhea blocks the exit and Thomas surrounds him with Cael. Piper punches him in the groin for old time’s sake and Lissie makes Stewy the cauldron vomit its contents into Rhys to punish him as well. THomas directs Piper to drag Rhys into a cell and Piper does so happily. Many in the cells are Ishtari, wood elves, with a few humans mixed in. We freed them all.

Thomas finds Catherine Lynn in an adjacent cell and frees her as she explains the Baron is experimenting on people and that a fellow seeker is there helping him, the wizard named Styrmir. Catherine explains how a massive comet named Eunogu is coming, larger than it has ever appeared, and she is worried. She believes that the appearance of the Shrieking Wolves (gnolls) is as a result of this comet. She pleads with us not to confront Syrmir, as he is too powerful. The Baron has something that allows him to control things beyond his understanding. Catherine and the former prisoners leave through the open grate.

We sneak through the dungeon and Rhea placates a hyena with some rations in the barracks. The party blocks off one door before sneaking into a wide open hall and fight with another Helvast brother. After the party kills off a few other Baron’s men, Lissie finishes off the Helvast brother with a spray of poison.

### Session Seven

After the battle, Lissie healed Thomas, using Stewie to produce a strange liquid (Flavored Cure Wounds). The party moved to the only other door in the Great Hall area to reveal a smaller dining hall, with blood everywhere, on the walls, floors and tables. Piper tasted the liquid and confirmed it was blood, that tasted copper and irony, like blood. Rhea studied the blood and discovered it was about two days old. Piper ran back to the Great Hall to taste the blood of the Helvast brother that was mid change into a were-creature. The blood tasted the same, which could mean anything or nothing. It did make Piper’s stomach upset however. Continuing through the castle, we peeked through a slightly ajar door and saw a man with a beard sitting near a fire. The party was concerned it may be Styrmir and were considering what to do when the door closed shut on it’s own. Rhea said it must be the Mother telling us not to go in and we continued on. Thomas peeked through another door and found a red haired women who said she did not require the needs of servants. Thomas asked where the Baron was and she turned to ask him what his name was. Thomas replied, calling himself Roderick Castelon and she flicked her hands, a quill floating in the air and writing something down in a book by her bed. Thomas said we were new recruits looking to meet the Baron and asked where he was. She smiled and told Thomas you could find the Baron on the parapets.

Rhea opened a door across the way and a brown haired man was in there. He asked what she was doing and Rhea pretended not to know common. Thomas swooped in to say she was from Dyssia, (Rhea and Piper are Dyssian) and he was from the town, both being new people here.

Piper was tired of people opening doors without him and he ran forward to open the next door. It opened up to a larger room with two doors, one with a barricade in front of it, another with a large iron barred door, wide enough to allow a man on horseback. Piper saw the barricade and wanted to move it, so he did. Rushing forward, he opened the next door, because the first one didn’t count for him, since he didn’t get any cool people to talk to.

However, this door opened up to the parapets. The first thing that stole the show was an enormous stone pit full of bloody and broken bodies. Then, the Brackish Baron spoke to Piper. Standing next to the pit, he put away his longbow and grabbed his greatclub, saying it was rare for bodies to come to him. With three hyenas across the other side of the pit in front of three wooden cages containing Ishtari, battle began. Rhea shot a hyena over the walls. After exchanging blows with the Baron, Piper was attacked from behind by two hyenas (gnolls), with the wounds sustained by the previous battle, Piper could not defend himself from the last strike from the Baron, falling unconscious.

Lissie attempted to heal Piper, but the experimental elixir gave Piper extra speed instead of health,and he remained bleeding out on the stone. After a round of combat, Rhea, fighting fear, ran over to her brother and gave Piper a goodberry, restoring one hit point and bringing him from the brink of death. Cael killed the second hyena. After standing up and attacking the Baron once again, the final hyena cowardly attacked Piper from behind, bringing him face down to the stone again. Seeing Piper prone once more, the Baron struck down Thomas next. Several rounds of combat passed, Lissie and Rhea surrounded the Baron, protecting Piper and Thomas, but barely upright. Piper was stabilized by Lissie and with the sheer brute force of the barbarian (nat 20 on death saving throw) stands up, impossibly, one more time. With a final swing, Piper sinks his greataxe into the Brackish Baron’s skull, dragging him to his knees. The thrill of victory was fleeting as the final hyena (gnoll) stabs Piper once more, unconsciousness taking the barbarian for the third time. Cael finally brings down the last hyena as it attempts to run away. Rhea feeds Piper another goodberry to restore life and the fight ends.

A greasy, black haired man slithered up through the door barely after the battle was over, wearing a cape. He said that the Seekers chose well sending us. The man looked strikingly similar to the man sitting in front of the fireplace, looking both young and old at the same time. By the description provided to us, and the mentioning of formerly being a Seeker, the party believes this to be Styrmir. Styrmir said the Baron helped him to see what the orbs could do, placing the blame on the Baron. Cael does not want to give the orb to Styrmir and bolts, but Styrmir casts Mass Suggestion and tells us to give the orb to him. Cael and the party think it's a grand idea to hand it over, all of use failing the save. Cael hands the orb to Styrmir. Lissie asks what the orb does and Styrmir answers, saying, among other things, it is a communication to Enogu. The red haired woman and brown haired man both emerge and talk about how impressed they are with the orb living up to the expectations Styrmir set for them. They both said they will be giving offers to him for the orb in the coming days. He asked for our names, Thomas said Roderick, Lissie said Elizabeth, Piper and Rhea gave their real names. Styrmir has a Black Quills tattoo on his forearm. Styrmir said he knew an Aves once and Piper pressed for more information. Styrmir said our father was a great seeker, rumored to have found eternal life with other seekers, queens pined for him and he was a great and powerful seeker. Rhea brandished a coin and Styrmir said the coin was Flame and Periatrix. He called Papa Aves an old flame (romantic? Party members? Referencing something else??) and tells us the coin may be able to find where our parents are. Styrmir continued that the Seeker Academy has ways of finding seekers, regardless of where they are.

After Styrmir left, Rhea stalked towards Cael and slammed him against a wooden cage, chastising him for trying to run with the orb, endangering us all, especially in our weak state. Cael angrily responds that we failed every part of the mission the Seeker Academy sent us on. Rhea insults the gods, Cael insults her, so Piper threatens Cael, grabbing him by his top. Lissie pleads for us not to fight, Rhea tells Piper to let Cael go and he storms off, with Lissie after him.

Lissie talks to Cael and they both search the Baron’s quarters with Thomas, who found a ring. They find two regular healing potions and an eversmoking bottle as well as some gold. Piper took a short rest after the brutal fight and Rhea took the Baron’s longbow, which is called the Longbow of Fenfall.

Thomas encountered a talking gnoll wearing glasses who scampered away from him, locking a door. Piper went with Thomas to make sure the gnoll did not kill him. The gnoll eventually let us into the room, which turned out to be a library, after Piper threatened him to let us in.The gnoll, named Ekk, said he came from the pit of dead bodies, not remembering his life beforehand. He said he was with Enogu. Ekk said Styrmir was a friend and nice to him. Thomas said we could help Ekk get home, but Piper was not having it. Ekk called Piper stupid and Piper decided he was going to kill the gnoll. After Thomas intervened, a steaming Piper said Thomas owed him a favor for not killing the gnoll that insulted him.

The townspeople thanked us for killing the Brackish Baron and gave us free reign to sleep and eat. Catherine Lynn was angry that we failed and told us Styrmir is already putting his plans in motion as we finally settled down for a well deserved rest.

### Session Eight

Marallis gathers herbs from the swamp (at least the ones that weren't set on fire).

Upon reaching Salt Landing we notice a large boat owned by the Ogonek Trading Corp docked in the bay. Rhea, panicked, started to run towards her house to check on her family. Marallis and Cael, cautious about the guards at the gates, stayed back and decided it was best that Marallis stay quiet.

A half orc named Krob sought out Robin as he had questions for Piper and Rhea. Supposedly he arrived before the boat.

As Cael and Marralis arrive at the town square, they see Gracia Morafi instruct the town guards to not allow any Ogonek guards off the ship.

Rhea found all of her family bar the twins. She found them at an inn alongside Krob, an 8 foot tall half-orc. He is apparently trying to find her mother, Paloma. She is the only one who he doesn't know the location of. He knows where their father is, but their mother is not with their father. They are 'old' friends, and he checks up on them frequently. They were once adventuring partners. He is worried something has happened.

He gave 2 11 year olds wine. He is from the Plume Lands, so apparently shits different there. Their father is in the Metrian Empire and has become an advisor to the Flame Empress. Apparently he was her husband. (WHAT THE FUCK?) He apparently isn't looking for their mother, so something is up.

Their mother isn't immortal, maybe???? Their father was an adventurer before the Seekers were a thing. The Empress, before she was an Empress, was part of that group. Krob believes that their father perhaps not left as willingly as Rhea believes.

Someone with Dyssian magic was keeping an eye on their father buy cutting down a path to a large tree that had a hidey-hole too far up for it to be natural. Inside was a bundle of sticks tied into a spiderweb shape with twine, and in its centre was the skull of a bird. Krob is going to the Council Kingdoms to find an expert. He believes that their Mother is with the person who laid the magic in the hollow in the tree.

Her Father and the Empress did not have a clean divorce. Apparently blood was spilt. He warns not to go searching for their Father as it could garner unwanted attention. He has given himself a month to find information. If not, he will personally accompany them to Nayoraka for an audience. It will be a latter with the scent of spruce, and writes a symbol of a circle with a line through it and 2 smaller circles  meaning cycle in Druidic. Plumeland exploratory guild in Corvonne, write there and the letter will get to him.

### Session Nine

Piper talked to Nylemar, a town crier of the Ogoneks and gave him a gold piece to give a message to Alecia, a Marshall of the Ogoneks. Piper wanted to tell her hi and that he was the boy from Salt Landing who wanted to join. He asked how she was and how Gale, his brother was.He mentioned he studied at the Seeker Academy and that his dad was immortal and described in great detail; about his home, Salt Landing. Piper was convinced by the speech given by Nylemar, who talked about how the Ogoneks were there for the downtrodden and offering free passage to Dyssia for anyone interested in a better life, away from the politics and enormous class disparities.

### Session Eleven

Piper had a lovely conversation with Cael who informed him more about Nayorak, the goddess that Piper was interested in. Cael told Piper that Nayorak was also about growth, change and hope, not just for fighting. Piper really enjoyed that and was happy to know that the goddess wouldn’t look down at him if he ever stopped fighting. It gave him some thought and Piper will make an effort to be more religious.

Piper told Cael that Rhea seemed like she was bearing a heavy weight the past month and he was worried about her. Piper told Cael that if he approached her to apologize, the rift that formed between them after the orb incident with Styrmir, would be mended.

Cael told Piper that the boxes of food and clothing and other aid that would appear outside the Aves’ home came from him. Piper told Cael he was in his debt.

Piper and Rhea went ahead to go to an event happening in town, Hisskrela's Dyssian Bazaar. They were interested to see if they could learn more about Dyssia, but their first encounter was…horrible. They had a human zoo to allow nobles to see ‘savagery’ of some lizardfolk native to Dyssia, which made Piper turn quiet and the simmerings of anger began to brew at the exploitation of his country for the entertainment of the nobility. It reminded him of the treatment he and his family got at Salt Landing, harassed and abused for being different. Piper was sickened that Dyssians created an entire bazaar to demean themselves for money. Piper was so excited to learn more about the nation he came from and was angered that this false view was being fed to the nobles to create an illusion that Dyssia was savage and beneath the civilized nobility here.

The beginnings of nationalism began to stir in Piper. Revenge against nobles was not enough for him. Piper began to despise the entire structure of nobility in Vyckeros and the treatment of Dyssians. He wanted to fight back and leave this Vyckeros or help to fight against this country for Dyssia and it’s honor and for Dyssians, downtrodden.

The second show was a show off of Big Game in Dyssia, gross in concept, but Piper loved hearing the tales of killing massive scary creatures that test your mettle. A giant sloth in a cage was wheels on stage and Faust, the poacher and presenter, asked if anyone wanted to shake the Giant Sloth’s hand. Piper raced up to be first and slipped his hand inside the cage to give a forearm clasp. Faust was alarmed but the Giant Sloth did not attack Piper. Piper looked into the Giant Sloth’s eyes and looked him up and down to see if he was being treated okay. After rolling a 19 on Animal Handling, he was convinced the sloth was being treated okay. Rhea and Piper shared a connection with the Giant Sloth, as it was a creature from Dyssia, as were the Aves.

Finally, Faust revealed that the first few rows were not seating, but a land dragon. The seats shifted and a massive anaconda slithered away, large head flicking its tongue at the guests, before leaving. At the end of the show, Piper was allowed to feed the giant sloth, named Pepper, bananas, of which he ate a few as well. Piper asked Faust if he heard of his father, Dotteral Aves, and to Piper’s surprise, Faust said yes. Faust said that Dotteral Aves never missed with a bow, but that he existed over two hundred years ago. Piper asked Faust to look for information about Dotteral Aves if he came across it.

Piper told Rhea and Cael that he finally found his purpose, to be openly Dyssian and stand up for Dyssians, correcting others and fighting for Dyssia to be an equal. Rhea was happy that he felt called towards something and Cael was surprised Piper had found something worth living for after their earlier conversation.

G’ken’e karie is the name of some figures and worship in Dyssia. The person at the shrine being shown off was named Magatha, who said that the goddess was related to and could very well be an early representation of the goddess Eskenairie. Cael touched the shrine and had a vision of Dyssia, vast leafy jungles and furred beasts in a lush atmosphere. Piper touched it and saw nothing.

There was a Dyssian history tent that included several things, including a pyramid with an altar that is of unknown purpose, larger than any other buildings in Northbridge, where the fair is currently located. The tent thinks it belongs to the original empire of Dyssia called the Rule of Want, the Dread Empire. Some of the carvings of Dyssians were covered in feathers,that looked a bit like the Aves with the feathers. Cael said, perhaps we are of noble blood in Dyssia, which troubled Piper, since he hated nobles.

After talking about Lissie and Thomas maybe liking each other, Rhea asked if Piper liked men and Piper responded that he likes people who can prove themselves in combat with him. Piper was worried that it would ruin his romantic chances with a potential partner if he asked them to fight him to prove both of them worthy. Piper wants to make sure they can take a punch and defend themselves in a brawl and likes to wrestle and fight with Piper from time to time for training, work, or pleasure.

There was a tent with a type of toad shaman inside where inside, to communicate with this shaman, Dyssian toads were to be licked. Upon licking them, Piper, Rhea, and Cael all went on a drug trip. Piper in his trip, killed armies single handedly, squished castles, threw and dethroned kings, an ultimate and massive power.

Rhea’s trip involved sailing across the seas to enact revenge on Gale and Alicia, as well as our father.

At the gift shop, Piper bought a Miniature Pyramid and asked if a feather could be inscribed on it. He bought it to remind himself of the glory Dyssia once had, when they built the pyramids and altars. Piper had them inscribe a feather on it to remind himself that the old glyphs had people with feathers and other bird-like features, just like Piper and Rhea and the Aves.

We are going to meet the owner of the Bazaar, Lady Hisskrela and settle Cael’s entrance fee as well as ask her more about Dyssia, Piper specifically asking about Dotteral Aves, his father.

### Session Twelve

While Cael and Rhea went to the library at the Seeker’s Academy, Piper and Thomas talked about what to bring on their journey, drilling holes in furniture for drainage, stuffing a dresser full of clothes and wineskins. Piper and Thomas wanted to see how much Piper could hold and got a bit carried away packing, replacing most of what they had gathered back into the dorm.

The party set off to find the Lost Knight with a merchant caravan, acting as protection while they traveled to Bolstanar.

Piper saw a passing caravan with pamphlets bearing the Ognoneck Trading Company insignia. Piper excitedly followed the caravan and had the elderly man read it off to him. Piper asked where he could get one and the old man said they were being handed out in Bolstanar. The pamphlet said it would guarantee a home for a family up to 5, a job, and protection from the Ognoneck militia upon leaving from the city of Oxenbrass for Dyssia. Piper asked the elderly man to say hi to Alicia and Gale.

Piper also began to pray to Nayorak for the first time as they walked. Every day, at least once a day, he would ramble about hoping his family is okay and safe and he wants to be badass in the next battle and look super cool. (rolled a successful religion check and felt that he needed to make his own luck and win his own battles and not to beg Nayorak for things)

While traveling, suddenly a horse collapsed that was pulling the spice cart with Thomas and Cael inside. Piper rushed over and found puncture wounds that lead to large, pulsating purple veins. It had foam around its mouth and was in clear distress on the ground. He called to Rhea for help and she identified it as bite marks. Cael and Thomas found two other horses that also had the same bite marks. All three horses died unfortunately, but Rhea was able to skin them for horse hair and hide so their sacrifice was not in vain.

The caravan was able to combine all of the supplies into the remaining carts and we were able to successfully arrive at Bolstanar. A purple tiefling named Harakrin approached Thomas and threatened him since Thomas and Harakrin both work for the Colonel. Thomas came to Bolstanar to audit Harakrin and brought along an old woman to look over the books. Piper was infuriated at the threats and gave a graphic one back, saying he will skin him alive and rip his head off by his horns. Herakrin laughed and said better people had tried and he looked forward to a potential duel to see if brains beat brawn.

### Session Thirteen

Cale, Rhea and Piper went out into the forest to hunt for a worthy sacrifice for Eskenarie as part of local custom and to curry favor and protection in the Grand Wilds. Lissie and Thomas found a book that contained a dangerous spell in it. They deduced that it was an assastiantion attempt on the Patrician of Bolstanar. The group decided to set off inside of Stewie, while safely away. Tragically, Stewie was melted and died due to the corrosive nature of the spell. Lissie was able to salvage the heart of Stewie to re-make him.

As Lissie was kneeling there, Harakrin appeared with a magic user, Bori and exchanged insults with Thomas before attacking the party. Harakrin shimmered and three other illusions of himself appear. He struck down Lissie in one round, Thomas brought her back up with a health potion. After some intense fighting, Piper beheaded Herarkin and his illusions with a mighty backswing of his greataxe and Lissie killed Bori by shooting him in the forehead with the heart of Stewie.

We brought Herarkin, Bori and the moose to be sacrificed at the Temple of Eskenarie. The priestess Senestria, accepted the sacrifices and began the prayer. Piper piped up in the middle of it and said they were also killed in honor of Nayorak, which she was not happy with, but smiled softly when Piper protested that he thought everything was equal here. She continued and the party received the favor of Eskenarie before they ventured out in the Grand Wilds.

### Session Fourteen

We were told trees in the Grand Wild know everything that one tree does, if a tree hugger is in the wild, a tree will hug them back. All trees will also know if someone harms one tree. They can move branches and sway unnaturally, but no reports of trees uprooting and walking.

Senestria told us that the knight we are searching for, Sir Wyncroft, sacrificed a lion before entering the Grand Wild and that his armor was in need of a cleaning. Rumors are that Nayorak lives in Nayoraka, which Piper absolutely believes and will brag going forward about how his goddess can be seen and get autographs from.

After a night of drinking and arm wrestling (Piper won), we set off with the squire George at point. Piper hugged the first tree he saw, said we were looking for a knight, but if the knight was being mean to the forest, then Piper understands if the trees want to hurt him. A single leaf fell down on Piper’s nose as he was talking to it, and he accepted it as a gift. Piper put the leaf in his waterskin for safekeeping, because plants like water.

George revealed that the knight we are looking for is second-in-line to the Alvand throne, Hotspur Syrcrest. The prince is looking for the Crown of Cressida that will legitimize his claim to throne instead of his older brother Oliver Syrcrest who is a bit of a hedonist and could be bought by the Metrian Empire, an antagonizer who may restart a multi-state war once again.

The Metrian Empire has sent the Brigadeers of the Black Sun to grab the Crown of Cressida before Hotspur…or take it from the prince’s body if he got there first.

### Session Fifteen

After a night in the forest, Lyssie stumbled across something while gathering herbs, it was a plant with hands that helped pick herbs for her, but when Piper went to check on her, it was not there. Lyssie started becoming unsure if what she saw was real and told the others not to worry.

The next day as the party was moving through the forest, Rhea discovered a tripwire and was looking around on how to disarm it, when Piper decided to trigger it on purpose. A voice in his head reminded him that failure and biting off more than he could chew and taking challenges was part of following Nayorak. The tripwire triggered a footloose that dragged Piper up in the air, enveloping him with other ropes. Rhea refused to shoot him down, so Stewie was sent up by Lisse to free him. As the party was focused on Piper, a pack of wolves and a woman appeared,introducing herself as Ulyssa The Queen of Wolves. She said she was a Seeker taking a bit of a break to return to the forest, she was raised by wolves after they slaughtered her family. Seekers found her and helped her adapt to humankind as she grew older, but still enjoyed the company of the wolves and the hunt.

Ulyssa brought us back to a clearing and asked Lyssie to take a look at two dead bear cubs, since she was well versed in poisons and alchemy. Lyssie determined it was a weapon wound that delivered the poison, not an animal. After we agreed to help find out what was happening, Ulyssa began to grill us on why we were here. After not believing Thomas’ explanation on why we were here, Piper told her that we were here to find a prince, not a knight. Ulyssa revealed she was the former Hunt Mistress for the Alvand throne and was able to put two and two together, figuring out that we were searching for Hotspur, who in turn, was searching for the Crown of Cressida.

Piper asked her about Dotterel Aves, but Ulyssa did not see him, even though she knew of him as an ancient seeker. She did not initially believe that Piper was his son, but his innocent honesty convinced her. When Piper brought up Alicia and the Ogonecks however, Ulyssa spit on the ground. She hates Anatole and Alicia and the rest of the Black Quills and Ogonecks, heavily desiring to kill them both, Alicia was apparently responsible for the deaths of Ulyssa’s Seeker party and friends. Thomas finally figured out after Ulyssa left that she was Alicia’s sister.
We continued traveling until a strange feeling came over the group, as if we were going mad, little details beginning to slip about everything before entering the Grand Wilds. Heads swimming and the overwhelming pressing aura around, the party set up camp to rest and hopefully sleep it off.
Helped Lissie try to grab some eggs on a branch off a cliff. Branch broke, but Piper held strong and pulled her up by the rope she was attached to.
BITE words echoed in head. Rage,lust,desire,passion,anger,power,primal,BITE
two suns in sky, one burned brighter and higher and closer than the other. Burned so bright that it made the normal sun seem dark.

### Session Seventeen

At the wood elf camp, they were celebrating a recent victory, most, if not all, were completely naked. Piper stripped and joined the festivities, drinking, wrestling, eating, running through fire.

Kill Harold

While wrestling wood elves, Harold the white bald human looking person, asked if Piper was going to wrestle him, and Piper agreed. Harold won the wrestling contest and then proceeded to make 4 attacks on Piper (in one turn!) pummeling him again and again until Piper was on the verge of death’s door.

Piper spat at Harold’s hand when it was offered to help him up and said that it was not a fair fight. Piper vowed to kill him when it was a fair fight and stormed off to find his axe. In a furious rage, he searched for Rhea to help him find George. She refused, seeing how livid he was. Piper stormed off towards the only corridor in the building, where he last saw George head down. Piper eventually found him, with Rhea, Lissie and Cael in his wake. Piper threatened George to give him his axe or else Piper would kill him first. George stepped aside and allowed Piper to find his things and grab his axe. Upon turning around, Rhea blocked the door, refusing to let a feral Piper pass. Piper pushed past her, but Lissie used Command and stood him in place, Rhea cast Web to trap him and Cael knocked him unconscious.

Waking up hours later, Piper was broken in both spirit in body, having never been utterly emasculated like that in his entire life, all of the training and skills he worked so hard for was meaningless against the thing called Harold. Piper whispered to Nayorak that he hoped it was true that she viewed failure as worthy as success in her eyes. He confided in Lissie that he was lost and achieved none of his goals yet. He did not find his parents nor his brother, he didn’t become a Seeker, he didn’t know he was Dyssian, the only thing he knew was his strength and Harold stripped that from him. Lissie and George stayed there and sat with him as he licked his wounds.

The meat was poisoned, the bear meat the elves ate was poisoned by the evil druids and everyone that ate it fell asleep. Druids came in and began to massacre the wood elves, Veranakis, one of the wood elves who was on watch and uneasy about celebrating too soon, shook Lissie awake, who in turn shook Piper awake.The druids were attacking.

### Session Eighteen

Bitches be fightin.

The enemy ambush was successful, as Harakrol beat down and dragged an unconscious Nekrobian away with four giant centipedes following him. Piper and Cael lay unconscious and bleeding on the ground as Thomas, Rhea, and Lissie watched the figure recede in the distance, nursing their own wounds.

### Session Nineteen

Rhea chased after the centipedes and Harakrol and they abandoned Nekrobian to stall Rhea. She dragged him back to the wood elf camp and fed a Goodberry to him as well as Piper to bring them back from unconsciousness. Lissie and Cale talked about acupuncture, joking about the needleblights that stabbed with pointy needles, and Piper asked to be stabbed with needles as well to build up a stabbing tolerance, not understanding the concept of acupuncture.

Complaining to Nekrobian about his weapon being stolen, Piper found out Cael had taken his axe, not the wood elves. Furious, but too tired and on death’s door, he vowed to acupuncture Cael. While fuming, Piper realized Harold was not present for the fight and asked where he was. He then asked why Nekobrian let Harold in because Harold was full of bad energy and feeling, saying Nekrobian may not be the best judge of character.

Piper stopped by Veranakis and told her she was right, outsiders should not have been let into this wood elf family camp and apologized for not being able to save any of the wood elves, like Fern. (Fern is a wood elf that Piper partied with the night before and randomly assigned a name to her because she was super fun to wrestle, dance and drink with.) Lissie argued that letting people in can give new information and things, like the antidote that she administered to cure Nekrobian. Piper cursed tradition and nobility and what that has done, not wanting it to spread here. He said that progress outside the Grand Wild left people behind, like Piper and his family and thousands more that are impoverished.

Piper asked for the first watch so that he could think about what has happened over the last few days. Harkening back to the days he trained with the dwarves, Piper took his frustration out on rocks, but instead of breaking them, he carved the symbol of Nayorak on them. A simple flame sigil was carved into 24 rocks by the time his watch was over, creating a simple cairn to his left.

Through the pouring rain of night, Veranakis appeared through the trees, investigating the noise Piper was making. Piper confessed how powerless he felt, failing at fighting and protecting and unable to save any wood elves. Veranakis said this was the life she and they had chosen, that his choices matter, that he does not have to choose the life he currently leads. Piper shared that he really had no choice, he didn’t want his younger siblings to grow up without parents. He needed to bring their parents back, since they were kidnapped and make sure Gale was okay after he left with Alicia years prior. (He does not yet know the truth). Piper continued saying that there was no future for him in Salt Landing, since the poor in the country had no past, present or future. This gave his life some purpose, there was no other choice but suffering. Vernakis mentioned that family may not always be trusted, since those closest to you are the ones who betray you. Piper scoffed and said he and Rhea trust each other and share everything with each other while protecting and caring. Vernakis asked him if Rhea really felt the same way. Piper grew quiet but still didn’t believe Rhea would betray him, but it clearly troubled him. Verankis said he is an honorary wood elf and welcome back at any time before leaving him with his rocks and with more to brood on.

After a bit of arguing with Nekrobian, he relented to disperse his cache of weapons to other tribes of wood elves if they join them in the Wild Hunt against the Blacksap Druids. Necrobian promised to assist us with finding George’s Prince and the crown. He shared  an elven secret with Rhea privately as they planned to go on the offensive against Harakrol. Piper asked Rhea to help him find his short pants, which are the only clothes he ever wore, refusing a shirt Rhea begged him to wear.

Vernakis plotted the route to The Fountain of a Thousand Sapphires to rally the three wood elf thrones, and gathered the horses. Piper found one of the stronger horses, calling them Fern, in honor of Fern the wood elf Piper named. Vernakis was an amazing navigator, perfectly guiding them in their journey, Piper could not help but marvel at her ability, even when she removed a bear from their path, not with violence, but with some emotional connection.

She stops at a noise she could not recognize or understand. Rhea listened and spotted the Wild Hunt airship, with its poisonous fumes and gas loudly flying above. The party told them it was Metrians searching for the crown and Nekrobian spit on the ground at the mention of them, calling them the worst of the humans. Thomas mentioned that the airship must have a great deal of weaponry and metal, manipulating Nekrobians greed. Nekrobian then targeted Piper’s pride and convinced him to use his strength to throw a grappling hook onto the airship when the time would be right, saying he would earn the title ‘The Hook of the Black Cloud’ if he is successful.