Those Who Wear Masks

and

Justin as the DM

"**Those Who Wear Masks**" is the twenty-eighth episode of Rise of the Arcane, the third season of Tales From Del'nasra

The party all awakens on a brand new day in Port Creach having learned some truths about one another, as the masquerade looms only but a day away.

## Episode Synopsis

#### **Previously on Tales from Del'nasra**

*"You all reunited from your various locations around the city and returned to the Salted Goat Tavern and met with the owner, Falkus Brinestone in regards to the contract you took out against the Marquis. Offering to cut his price in half if you all investigated why the Marquis and Kastagar have been visiting the abandoned orphanage the last few weeks and look into why it’s so heavily guarded.*

*You all agreed, and would arrive to check the place out under the cover of darkness, but first you made way to The Strap to pick up the custom made costumes for the masquerade and spent most of the day getting the fittings right. With Antyr’s suggestion, you entered the sewers and snuck into the basement of the orphanage, seeing numerous sprites harvesting strange glowing crystals growing out of massive tree roots running throughout the tunnels under the orphanage.*

*The roots were discovered to be the leylines themselves, and the crystalized sap was in fact raw cathadiuum crystal, the physical embodiment of the weave itself. Grin blended in with the sprites and discovered they were placing the crystals in pewter basins and the whole operation was overseen by an elderly, bald elf eventually learned to be Kastagar, the creator of the Orbis Ancora. Aunty and Hopper attempted to harvest these crystals which seemed to coincide with a surge of magic that caused strange circumstances to unfold within the tunnels, briefly transporting the Feywild into the tunnels.*

*The effects faded, and figuring you all had learned enough for Falkus, you left the tunnels with haste, seeing some of the frozen Umbral Knights still moving their heads in the direction of your movements, while Torger spoke to the one moving its head. You all returned to the tavern, informed Falkus what you had discovered and took part in telling truths about yourselves under the enchantments of the bar before each of you retired to bed for sleep."*

#### The Episode

The party woke up to hot breakfast in each of their rooms, including notes written by Falkus recommending that the party left the tavern as soon as possible due to people loyal to the Marquis snooping around, aware of the party being spotted in the orphanage the night before. Hopper snuck out one of the windows and made their way to the brothel while the others exited through the front door, running into Kastagar who was in the midst of conversation with Falkus.

Kastagar mentioned he'd see them at the masquerade the following night, aware that they had received their invitations before he left. While Hopper was navigating through the alleyways of the city, they caught the attention of the violent vagrants that made the alleys their home and began to follow Hopper. At some point, Hopper clambered up onto a rooftop and began throwing a total of 100 gold coins from the rooftop creating both a distraction and causing the townsfolk and vagrants in the alleyway to begin to violently riot. Hopper then slipped away to the shack where they met with Druck and Dax a few days prior.

The others noticed the riots, with townsfolk running past sporting wounds and injuries and holding handfuls of coin, clearly more than these people had ever held in their lives. Following the commotion, the others found their way towards the shack where Hopper was hiding out. There was discussions, with the group settling on taking a stroll about the Marquis' manor and as they approached they discussed whether it was a good idea to attend the masquerade after all, and some of the party began to debate if trying to get the sword now before the masquerade was a better option.

Lionel suggested they cause a ruckus at the manor as a distraction and people can sneak in, deal with the Marquis and steal the sword. Grin thought it would be fun to do so, and seemingly urged Lionel to do so who ran off in the direction of the manor. From a distance, the party would eventually hear the noises of sheep and the explosions of fireworks, signifying that Lionel was casting one of his spells all over the manor grounds. Soon, alarm bells began to sound around the city while city guards and umbral knights alike began to race for the property. A few moments later, seemingly alerted to the chaos at the manor, the jabberwock descended from the clouds with Duskreaper Aelinor mounted upon it and made way for the manor.

As chaos began to ensue at the manor, the party could see Dax racing through crowds and alleys towards the property. Antyr cast *Sending* and learned that Druck and Dax were also planning on assaulting the manor, seeing Kena Peshan arrive there moments before. They wanted their questions answered and decided they'd use the distraction to their advantage. The party contacted Falkus who mentioned he'd be there in but a moment.

The party entered the property seeing unconscious people lying about the grounds, scorched from fireworks and no sign of Lionel anywhere. In addition, they could hear something large snoring from the opposite end of the grounds. The manor grounds were decorated for the masquerade the following evening and it was all in disarray. Someone attempted to speak from the nearby bushes, where the party spotted Druck and Dax hiding and attempting to come up with a plan. The party joined them in the bushes and Torger cast Pass Without Trace so they could sneak through the manor unseen, which seemed to work quite well.

They entered the manor through a second floor balcony and could see numerous servant staff lying dead about the place, impaled by large jagged shards of ice. Druck and Dax exchanged knowing looks, mentioning that Kena would use such spells when they travelled together. The party followed the bodies while Vonkar broke apart golden toilets they found. Eventually, they came across a severely wounded city guard who explained everyone was congregating in the ballroom, and he wanted them to kill the Marquis, before the guard died from his wounds. With this new information, the assembled group made their way to the ballroom, sneaking the entire way.

As they approached they could hear ballroom music, and Druck opened the door a smidgen and peeked inside. Guests, guards and other individuals had been frozen in painful positions and enchanted to appear as in mid-dance and wearing costumes. A handsome, tall, pale elf man with long platinum blonde hair, and wholly crimson eyes danced between them wearing nothing but a black lace gown. Standing on the stage was the Marquis, and restrained a few feet away from him was Kena Peshan.

Druck asked who the target was, and when the party mentioned the Marquis, he fired off a bolt of red lightning from a magical crossbow in his possession which startled and nearly killed the Marquis.

#### After the Break

A battle engaged, and umbral knights began appearing in the crowd of frozen dancers. Everyone ran into the ballroom to engage both the umbral knights, the Marquis and Duskreaper Aelinor, who was assumed to be the pale elf. Druck dropped the Marquis with another shot, while Dax handled one of the umbral knights.

Hopper began to race towards the Marquis unconscious form to steal the stained glass sword on his side. A few of the knights swarmed onto Hopper while they bounded across the ballroom, landing on the stage and surrounding themselves in a bubble of protection via the *Sanctuary* spell. All the while, their Detect Magic spell was detecting Illusion and Enchantment auras surrounding Aelinor, with Illusion auras around Kena Peshan. Vonkar and Torger teamed up on Aelinor, stunning him and dragging him further away in an attempt to hold him still while Hopper collected the sword and delivered the fatal blow.

Falkus arrived moments later, and withdrew his musket and began firing at the umbral knights. Antyr, sensing that they could end this all right now, held onto their action to cast Haste on Hopper, causing it to fade from Torger. As Hopper grabbed the sword and raced towards Aelinor, Antyr's spell went off and allowed Hopper to close the distance and with a leap, plunged the blade into Aelinor's chest, killing them.

As everyone stared at the scene before them, they watched Aelinor's body drop to the ground and remain, unlike the umbral knights who bubble away upon death. Kena freed themselves from the restraints and approached, clapping and praising the party for making this far easier than anticipated and as they spoke their voice changed from Kena's drawl into a sophisticated accent, and into Aelinor's voice. The body of Aelinor on the ground, no longer affected by the illusions placed upon it, reverted to being Kena Peshan, revealing that Hopper had dealt the fatal blow to Kena instead.

The ruse explained why Kena had been acting strangely, and as Aelinor began to monologue he thanked them for helping him claim his birthright and would be bringing everyone "home". He pulled out both of the luminspires in his possession, and the room and outside began to flash with pulses of mint-green and just as reality was torn asunder around them, massive roots burst from the ground and ensnared the party bringing them elsewhere just as everything exploded in a flash of mint-green light.

Moments later, the party found themselves lying in a strange garden of jack-o-lanterns and colours. The sky above was filled with clashing colours and strange constellations as well as the roots of the world, the leylines had all erupted outwards from everyone on Del'nasra and had to begun to wrap around the moon. As they stared up at the sky, a familiar figure approached and as Auntie Gothel looked down at them she said “Well, dearies, you’ve certainly gotten into some trouble, hmm?”

## Featured Characters

### Player Characters

* Antyr Xiloscient
* Doe
* Grin
* Hopper Thimblefoot
* Lionel
* Torger Otrson
* Vonkar Eldsaga

### Returning

* Auntie Gothel
* Dax
* Druck
* Duskreaper Aelinor
* Falkus Brinestone
* Kastagar, Architect of Sorrowed Gloom
* Kena Peshan
* Marquis Torgol Marrshade