Game 54

Previous Game | Episode List | Next Game

As the battle subsides, the group sifts through the possessions of the cultists for valuables and answers. Within moments, Tahndun learns that Meera is below and takes off after her. Later, she comes back with Meera slumped over her shoulder. Bjorn takes out his bow which Damian recognizes as the bow of (look up later).

* \*6 short swords
* \*4 spears
* \*6 daggers
* \*4 sets of leather armor
* \*A wand (standard arcane spellcasting focus of +1 to spell attack) This mage also had a key on their person.
* \*packs have the standard number of rations. 30 total.

\*Rowan: Thin metal box. Inside it has a portrait that has been scratched out several times. The rest of it is a tender box with 10 portions worth of smoking tobacco. And a potion of superior healing.

\*Aziola: A very long cane. On its pommel is a cloud giants’ face, blowing outward. Moustache curled to the side. It is a sword cane of 1d8.

\*Otto: Dungeoneer’s pack. Regular healing potion. A sewing kit that looks very ornate. Once opened, the needle levitates. Once activated, this “can sew anything.” On the backside of the pack there are three candles that have arcane glyphs on them. (Everburning candles). Inside there is something that has been sewn into the bottom that causes the pack to be very heavy. It contains 2 silver matrom and 343 green matrom.

*A note is found: “Quickly. Make secure our exit. Are the crates ready? Excellent we’ll need them in Cormyr by the end of the day.”*

**Origin of Specters**

Tahndun and Rowan have fought smoke creatures (specters) before. Dreams that wander here can get lost on the way to the well and get angry we can fight to protect all dreams. When a dream returns to the source, if it lingers or becomes corrupt, since things can take a more physical nature, like we saw today. We are supposed to banish them. Otherwise they are returned to the cycle. I’ve never seen a nightmare work alongside other creatures like this. It is very troubling when they linger too long, there is a ritual we can cast if they are particularly bad. There is a place under the surface of the Feywild, much like your world, that we banish them too.

When I saw her before when I was in Rowan, I had been tracking her for so long. She is the first star in our order. The priestess’ blade answers only to the first Star, Selune’s Resurgence. I kept it to her, and when I called to her she didn’t know me. It is terrifying. Your friend spoke of these men probing his mind, his memories. And when she doesn’t respond to me what can I think.

Damian has the same dream.

* \*300 green matrom (single sphere)
* \*gold key with a number on it
* \*partially through writing some sort of letter that seems to have been jerked at the end, the ink starting to pool at the bottom of the letter.

\*David murders Korrim Baleus. Bjorn murders the witnesses.

\*Man who follows us with black cloak and mask of the fool has white and gold armor just peeking out of his collar. Damian recognizes it as being the same colors as Cormyrian armor.

After we cut down an alley, Damian casts an illusory wall. As the man approaches it and appears as if he is going to pass through it, Rowan casts blindness on him which causes him to duck and bolt, letting us continue where bjorn leads us.

(Troll tusk. Bjorn places his hand on it and speaks a word that causes it to open.)

\*Once safely inside, Damian reaches into David's Mind

He closes his eyes and focuses on David’s face. As he reaches out, David has his eyes open but he won’t look at him. Damian finds himself sitting in a cell, looking at David. He’s holding something in his hands. Overhead, there is the *cawing of crows*. He looks up and there is a crow perched on the cell. He looks down and sees the rock in David’s hand, covered in blood. Lying next to a nearby post is a drow man with his face smashed in. There is a chanting woman’s voice. Old.

*“Life and death become unbound*

*Seeking a circle yet unfound*

*Seeking a truth to be told,*

*the Bird’s bell, rusted and old*

*A pact in blood to clean the water*

*A cheater’s death brought before the altar*

*For lives traded, a life gained*

*The Beast’s moon, waxed and waned”*

-This repeats, again, and again, and again.

There is a presence. Not one, but three-four ravens. A flapping of wings. On the edge of the chambers everything is covered in ravens. Black shapes hang on every corner. In and around everything, watching Damian. He’s seen something like this before. On a river crossing in the moon wood, a man stood with a red mask, all of the ravens behind him.

Sitting in front of Damian is not David, but an old woman. She smiles, a tooth broken smile. It is terrifying to behold. This is grandma Anastra. The one who was tutoring…**[The Witch of Ireleth]**

Anastra: *“You stand before me again. Why do you come here?”*

Anastra: *“His life is forfeit. He is ours now. We will use him to strike out at those who have done us harm.”*

Damian: *“The living?”*

Anastra: *“And the dead.”*

Damian: *“And how do you decide the righteousness of these actions?”*

Anastra: *“Because we have power to. Ask your friend. She knows.”*

And the vision ends. As it does, Damian is overwhelmed by the power of the spell. This is pact magic.

As Damian begins to question Bjorn and Tahnden about the vision, the hatch opens and Meera comes down the hatch.

**Master of Dreams**

*“The master dreamer, yes, has many powerful magics. I was hoping that perhaps he could dispel whatever is in Meera’s mind. He is a famous arcanist of Faerun."*

There is a particular bard known who has attained spectacular mastery; the highest echelon of skill, serving those come and perform funeral ceremonies. It is said that this bard, who has hair the color of ash and bone, eyes like blood, has past onto the next world. It is said he can be seen wandering the earth to help the lost and misguided souls to the other side.

The man, though given grim countenance, laughs easily, full of life has been seen to play for the joy of noble and common person alike. One could spend their whole lifetime waiting for a perfect song from this traveler who wanders...

The reason it persists as a legend, is there are still sightings/stories for the last 100 years, save the last 5-10 where no sightings have been reported.

*“Our Master Dreamer hopes to usher dreamers to the afterlife. The site where this happens is the Vault of Dreams. It is where the Estelar first came to our people. While in your world, people talk of gods, here we lived amongst them. At least we did until she was taken from us. Quile Valoren. Apparently this one’s mother.” she says, indicating Bjorn.*

Then Damian asks *“Have any of you ladies seen this woman?”* as he creates an illusion of Grandma Anastra.

*“This is one of the Seven Sisters of the Rashimi.”*

One of the leaders of Aziola’s nation. She officiated over her right of passage.

After some time Aziola admits to Damian that she knows her.

**Atempt To Heal Meera**

“The fish was a gift. Titania did not share who Mira’s father was. But it is said that whoever he was, that he brought her a pair of coy. When ever she would play, it would manifest as a fish. It is a manifestation of her father’s *intention; dream* for her.”

Damian casts identify on Mira. He sees himself standing in a dark space. He hears the sound of a whimpering person. He hears music, and the image begins to fall through after Damian as he falls many circles past his depth. He places his hand on Meera’s shoulder. She is ice frigid cold. There is the sound of ticking. In a raspy voice *“We haven’t met you before.”*

*“Let this one go.”*

*“I don’t think so.”*

*“Give yourself to me.”*

*“You don’t want me.”*

*“Oh, I think I do. I’ve been watching you for a while now, Damian. That’s what they call you, isn’t it?”*

*“Yes, but that’s not my name.”*

*“Of course. A classic arcanist. Fine. If you have nothing to give, we’ll just have to take it.”*

The smoke begins to try to take over him. Damian tries to sever the connection, but the voice says “You’re too late. I’m already inside you.” Damian begins to see eyes sprouting over his arm. He sees hands reaching up. Meera’s hands grabbing his throat. “We-- no, I know you. We’ve seen you at the tower of glass. WE HATE YOU!”

Damian’s note: “Deep magic. Enslavement spell. \*describes the experience of going into the space where she was\*.

He goes on to say that he thinks this entity of eyes is either Merric or has taken him over.

There was a time in Otto’s life where he encountered something like this before. The many eyes of Ba’a’barabas. He remembers fighting an afflicted priest. An eye formed on his back that seemed to see his eye before it was coming. These eyes are the same.

**The Dark Prince; Bjorn of the Court of Stars**

-Bjorn and Meeratel Tell their Story

Bjorn: *“My house was betrayed. My family was a great and noble house. As formidable and rhetoric and court as we were in battle. The other houses became jealous and they sought to tear down and scheme behind us. It was we who first closed and sealed the gates of Vhaeraun, an ancient primordial here within our Dark Wood.”*

Meeratel *“I’m sorry my prince, I must interject. I have not been forthcoming through the years. There was a problem with the Nethrelese. We sought to leverage an advantage. And as your house indeed was a great conqueror, sought to move our claims forward we invaded the Dawn Court and our house was brought to the brink of collapse for your grandfather’s grievous overstepping of power. And out of the chaos a boon was discovered;*

*A mighty gift he said he’d received from a great power, your ancestral bow that allowed him to conquer and move forward with the territories.*

*That’s when the Nethralese appeared. By claiming dominance over the well of silence. The other houses could not withstand his might. However, a deal was struck for a treaty. Representing all of the unified houses. Quile Valoren, of the daughters of the moon, pledged herself to the general’s heir. Whenever that might come to a worthy successor. Seeking to solidify ourselves with the Nethrelese, with a great Nethrelese General that came hoping to help with an ancient problem*." -the party assumes Sigard (Knight of Black Flames)

*“Yes, it makes sense. The Emperor’s wife was pregnant at the time.”* Meeratell refelcts.

*“Did you know the Emperor?”* Rowan inquires.

*“No. Just seen him. He was an ally to all of us in the Feywild. He tried to broker a peace between each of us. A peace that was violated, I’m afraid. At first we welcomed the Nethrelese. The trade they brought. I’m afraid your uncle allied himself with the Nethrelese and appeared treacherous. He appeared to break the concord and break the peace that we all held to pieces. When your mother disappeared, the Nethrelese claimed they knew nothing of her disappearance and yet the high priestess of the Daughters of the Moon gone, and the General's pressure and the drums of war soon after. Titania with the Dawn Court led the charge. And your grandfather was not the hero I professed to you. I Thought I would spare you as a younger man the ideal of a younger man.”*

It’s as if a sudden weight has been placed on Bjorn’s shoulders. *“The bow then.”* Meeratel shakes his head.

Then, The Listener begins to speak. She begins to whisper words *“Cut your own throat.”* Damian’s hand begins to shake, but steadies himself.

“Priestess Quile Valoren. The Protector and Watcher here. The priestess of Selune was abducted by Merric Zalatos. Her fate remains undiscovered. I think she’s dead

Cyric Karsus was the full name of the Emperor.

\*Bjorn mentioned a white tree at a crossing, but there was a witch holding a position across from a river in he Twilight Vale that prevented him from retaking his ancestral home.

\*To do in The Feywild:

* Meera has been abducted.
* Titania has been abducted. Tahnden mentioned tablet.
* Bjorn has asked to reclaim throne and find out about his mother.

Previous Game | Episode List | Next Game