Session 89

* The Village of Renewal

**Previously...**

## And Now...

### Interlude Gar & Neara: Part 1. Hurry Up and Wait.

Recognizing Gar as a fellow 'Cursed', the villagers took him to see Neara, a kind of spiritual advisor and seer who lives in a hut just North of the City. When they arrive, she is in a deep meditative trance and is flanked by guards. She is an older, silver-coloured dragonkin woman with a slight, iridescent sheen to her scales. She appears to be missing one wing.

While waiting for her to finish, Gar examines the ruins. He notes that, while the architecture is definitely Dwarven in make, the spacing of things, height of doorways and shelves, etc... would seem to indicate that it was made for the benefit of larger, possibly human or elven-sized inhabitants. Judging its age, he estimates that its construction dates from the earliest time of human settlement in Terrinoth - almost certainly made for elves then - Gar begins to make notes and sketches and loses track of time.

### Interlude Gar & Neara: Part 2. A Shard of Shaping.

After about an hour and a half, Gar begins to realize that the low but constant chanting coming from Neara has ceased, though he couldn't tell when. Looking up, he sees her regarding him with gentle curiosity. She takes note of his work and asks what he has discovered. They chat briefly, and Neara is able to confirm that the settlement was, as Gar suspected, originally built for Elven habitation.

She then asks him about his transformation - his 'curse'. She knows more about such things than anyone else in the Village, but is always seeking to add to her knowledge. Following a brief back-and-forth discussion, she invites Gar to meditate with her. As Gar moves over to the spot she has indicated, he catches sight of a Runebound Shard. He expresses curiosity about it, and she replies, "You know what that is?"

In response, he presents is Fear Shard for her to examine. She does so, and invites Gar to examine hers in return. Gar feels a familiar sensation, much like the one which drew him towards Fluffy. The rune on the shard translates to something like 'Shaping'. As he touches it, he feels a strange sensation of completeness, like finding a long forgotten, but once-treasured childhood toy.

Watching the emotions play across Gar's face, Neara asks, "You have questions now, don't you? Meditate with me. Perhaps you will find your answers."

### Questions on a Prophecy - A New Friend.

Following Dandy's performance, several of the villagers press the heroes for details on the events at The Crack with the Ancient Dragonkin *(See Episodes 17, 18 and 20)*. One in particular, a grizzled, heavily-scarred elf with one milky eye, seems particularly intrigued, but swiftly becomes frustrated with Dandy's lack of focus. Leschrac encourages her to tell him about the Ghost Dragon in Archaut. He is very interested indeed in that and asks, if we decide to pursue it, that he would be more than willing to help. All we need do is send word for Thorn.

Leshrac then shows Thorn Thalandriel's Sword. He recognizes it immediately and is powerfully impressed. Many, he says, have sought it in the past and failed. He asks if the group had considered making arrangements for its return to the Elven people after they had made use of it. As this is happening, Dandy, her mind still on Archaut, asks if Thorn is affiliated with The Dreaming Cult. He replies that he isn't, but is aware of them. The group agrees that, when they return to Archaut, they will definitely look to contact him.

### Interlude Gar & Neara: Part 3. Ancient Visions.

Gar sinks swiftly into his trance, as the world swirls before him. When his vision clears, he finds himself in a strange, dreamlike place. Around him, he can see a dozen or so people of all races, arrayed for battle in ancient weapons and armour. As far as the eye can see, all about them is a blasted and barren wasteland. The group is on the march, trudging slowly but inexorably forward towards a distant gouge in the earth - some sort of vast, blackened pit or crevasse.

Looking about him, he tries to identify sigils or other markings on the others' armour and livery. While he doesn't recognize any, he can identify the symbolism as the sort used by companies of Monster-Hunters. On his own own armour, he can see a prominent sigil on his chest, but from his angle, it's hard to make out the entire shape. The armour itself appears very finely made, but is battered and scarred by countless hard-fought battles. Catching his face in the polished back of a shield, he sees a very large orc with prominent tusks, one of which has been pierced by a ring. In one hand, he can see that he is carrying a long pole arm of some sort.

His vision swirls again, and when it refocuses, some time has passed. The group has settled itself around a meagre campfire and an air of anticipation hangs over everyone. His attention is drawn as two scouts return and move near to the fire. Their faces are grim as one of them announces, "We've found her." A discussion follows as some members of the group argue for striking now with a chance of catching "her" unaware, while others argue the merits of resting while they're able, and attacking at full strength.

Eventually, the latter group is successful, and the company begins to settle in. As this is happening, Gar notices one of his fellows moving away. He follows them and finds a small group within the company performing some sort of ritual. At the centre of the group is a Star of Timmoran. As the ritual proceeds, Gar sees each member of the group begin to display subtle draconic features. Examining his hands, he sees these same features manifesting in him as well.

### Interlude Gar & Neara: Part 4. An Ancient Battle.

The next day, the company gather their kit and prepare for battle. The warrior carrying the Star of Timmoran leads their group in a ritual. All of those taking part begin to transform into a semi-draconic form. As he watches, Gar feels a terrible stabbing pain in his chest and looks down to see a large gem emerging from his flesh. There is a final pulse of searing agony and everything goes black.

The next thing Gar knows, the battle has been joined and he is at the heart of it. All around him, he can see his allies in pitched battle with a huge black dragon. He gathers his sense and tries to get a sense of who's who and what's where, but the whole thing is a wild, chaotic maelstrom and it's as much as he can do to get himself pointed in the right direction and not be swept away. Everything feels like a series of discordant images.

At one point, he's certain he catches a glimpse of a nearby black tower. In another, several of the soldiers rally themselves and drive forward, piercing the dragon in several places with their barbed, hooked and bladed weapons, but before any sense of victory can manifest, there's a horrible, echoing roar, an immense, slashing claw and a pair of hate-filled eyes burning with incandescent rage. Gar feels a horrendous sensation as he is flung backwards, the gem in his chest bursting into a cloud of shrapnel which flies in all directions, tearing into his allies and opponent alike. Just as the black stones rush up and meet him, the last thing he sees is the great dragon twist backward and plunge into the crevasse.

### Interlude Gar & Neara: Conclusion. What's All *That* About?

Gar and Neara awaken in Neara's hut. She is impressed. This is more than she's ever been able to see before, and she suggests to Gar that he has just witnessed how the Curse began.

Collecting his thoughts, Gar suggests that they may need to draw descendants of all the originals together. He also has some suggestions re: architecture and construction, but Neara suggests that he discusses that with the Village Elders.

*(As a result of this vision-journey, Gar is able to switch back and forth between forms at will until the end of the next session)*

Gar rejoins the rest of the group at the Feast and relates his experiences to the others.

### What Now?

Everyone catches up with each other on what they've missed. As they eat, they discuss their next course of action. On one hand, they could head directly to Bilehall at speed, while on the other, they could detour via Juliden's Keep and possibly gain an ally. Meanwhile, Leshrac outlines a plan to poison Alanthia should she catch up with us. Dandy consults the Tome of Secrets to see what sort of meal could possibly be enough to entice someone as single-minded as Alanthia. The recipe she discovers *does*, she admits, look super-delicious, but does involve two ingredients which we may not have to hand *(Dandy can, of course, use her ability to just happen to have one of them...)*. What's more, one of them is very rare, and the other is extremely perishable. It won't last long after being picked until it has to be used or thrown away.

### Meeting Neara.

At this point, Neara arrives, having assumed her non-Draconian form; an extremely aged Orc woman. Gar introduces the group to her. Dandy seems utterly charmed by her, and excitedly tells her all about our plans. In response, Neara offers to send some villagers as an escort. Thorn interjects at this point and comments that he would be honoured to be one of them.

We tell her of our current quandry, and ask if she knows anywhere nearby that could be helpful. She tells us of a place with a comprehensive library of Ynfernael and Forbidden Lore dating back at least 1500 years. Unfortunately, it's in the Misty Mountains. We all agree that it's probably best avoided for now, though it may definitely be worth a return visit. At this point, Leshrac takes an opportunity to scan Neara using his magical senses. She's carrying her Runebound Shard, her walking stick appears to be infused with some sort of health-giving effect, and she has an inherent gift for oracular ability.

The other location she knows about is an underwater temple to the North. It can be hard to find, but she can provide us with a map. We will, of course, need some method of breathing underwater and there is a local tribe of aquatic humanoids who can be a bit territorial. Thanden indicates that Goldie's mum might be there. Everyone's a bit exhausted to make a firm decision, so everybody settles into a kind of relaxed conversation. After some back-and-forth, it's discovered that Neara is Gar's great-aunt and that her side of the family is from the Barony of Kell.

### Interlude Leshrac & Gar: Care and Feeding.

Leshrac pulls Gar aside for a conversation. He tells Gar that he had a vision where he asked what the most immediate threat to the Village over the next few days could be and received an unexpected answer: Fluffy and Gorbmaw. They briefly try and put their heads together and work it out but eventually Gar suggests they talk to Neara about it. It's not long before they realize that she's aware of both the Butcher God and the Sword Lament. As they're conversing, Leshrac becomes aware that Gorbmaw is reaching for Neara's Runeshard.

The three hatch a plan to deal with the issue. First, Leshrac heavily sedates Gorbmaw with about 50 silver coins' worth of magical trinkets and then, with Gorbmaw securely strapped to Leshrac's chest, Neara allowed Gar to hold the Runeshard and allow Gorbmaw to touch it. As he did, Gorbmaw's physical form began to bubble and boil and he invoked the power of the shaping shard to transform Gorbmaw into the form of a tuxedo cat... more or less. His eyes are still a demonic and unsettling yellow, easily missed by a casual observer, his belly has a seam running along it, which can open up revealing a long, wide row of teeth and his mouth splits and opens four ways instead of two. ("Aww, like a little flower!" remarks Dandy)

### Interlude Azrah & Thorn: Professional Courtesy.

Thorn has a quiet conversation with Azrah. He wants to know what her role is in the group, to which she replies that she considers herself an infiltrator (she doesn't particularly care for the implications of terms like thief, rogue or scoundrel). She asks why the interest and he replies that he likes to know what his allies can or can't be relied upon to do if he's gonna throw in with them, and he hadn't quite managed to get a line on her yet.

He also mentions that, if he's going to be going into danger alongside allies, that they'd best remember him when it comes time to divvy up the loot. He's not a greedy man, but he's a professional, and he appreciates the courtesy of being treated like one.

In the interests of full disclosure, he also shows her his cursed form - that of a grizzled, battleworn red dragonkin.

### The Morning After The Night Before.

As the feeble rays of morning sunlight begin to creep their way through the Mists, the group make ready to leave the Village. Grundle introduces the group to three villagers who'll be acting as an escort for the group (one of whom is Thorn).

Meanwhile, Leshrac has organized a meal so that the party can use the Plate before setting off. Gar has asked Neara if she wouldn't mind granting us a blessing on our departure. While she's unused to Blessings, she manages to cobble together something based on pre-battle prayers and protective charms against misfortune.