Session 7

## Synopsis

The party spends time with their benefactor.

## Plot

Over the next several weeks, the party continues to regain its strength after their brush with Maltri Delkona. Vicora reveals to the group that Learan was a secret benefactor for the Drow resistance in the East, from her home country of Daschon. So this, by extension, reveals that Vicora is actually a rebel, and that Cedric is her protector. They also find out that Vicora and Cedric had been heading west, looking for Vicora's husband at a pre-assigned meeting spot in the west. As time goes on, Vicora spends most of her time reading and writing in the library, and acting rather friendly with the rest of the party and Learan.

Cedric, for his part, spends the majority of his time honing his skills with blade and shield. He is not exactly comfortable with the whole situation, what with being "trapped" in this cave and all. Learan is being nice, but he's being a bit *too* nice. Cedric has found in his life that people that are overly nice to you ultimately have some sort of agenda they need accomplished. He shares these thoughts with Vicora, but she reassures him that Learan is the real deal; so, he ends up going to Christine.

Christine has had a rather rough transition. She's let her muscles atrophy from lack of use, and has fallen into a state of deep depression. Draven has been extremely empathetic this entire time, always providing support and reassurance for Christine the entire time. However, Christine is slightly worried about him; his coloring is a bit paler than before, and he always looks exhausted. He dismisses her concerns, stating that dragonborn are made of tougher stuff than other races.

Learan visits each person individually to check up on their progress, recommending new activities to further their development and healing process. He gives Cedric some tips on sword combat, makes book recommendations for Vicora, and gives invigorating teas to Draven. As for Christine, however...

He visits her in her chamber, asking how exactly she is doing. She is elusive on the topic, giving half-truths and avoiding the question. Learan sees through her deception however, and says that he saw that she's no longer wearing her Raven Queen amulet. Christine glumly admits that she's had some... misgivings with the Raven Queen. She doesn't believe that she actually can protect her any longer. Learan completely agrees with her viewpoint, and says that she is correct to have no faith in the gods. He also makes a claim that she is much more than her blind devotion to the Raven Queen; that, according to Draven, she is brave, loyal, competent, intelligent, and a good friend. He also tells her that he senses greatness within her, some sort of spark with which heroes are made. With that, he pats her on the shoulder, and leaves.

After this, Christine starts to regain some of her confidence, and joins Draven on his walks through the caverns. She participates more frequently in conversations, and her overall mood improves. But, with all that, she has some growing suspicions of Learan... She too shares Cedric's mistrust of him. The two conspire to eventually confront him over his true intentions.

That night, they are all eating a dinner of olives, bread, and cheese, when Learan starts to talk about his views on preexisting social hierarchy, and how much he despises. He rants that the common men are being utterly crushed under the weight of oppression. There is a cyclical nature to these things: The lords and the wealthy get the best educations, and so they continue to control the world. Those that argue that the great have all the power are completely and utterly in the wrong. Great minds are crushed under the weight of peasantry and social imbalances; they never get a chance to even breathe. None of the peasants are even able to protest this, because they believe it is simply their lot in life to serve. And to keep them in check, the lords go through their constant warfare, constantly subjecting their subjects to suffer and die for them by the thousands. How can a peasant with great potential fulfill it if they are barely making ends meet each day? Learan concludes that the system is broken, and it ought to be rebalanced to favor not just those with money or power, but to give everyone the chance to excel.

Realizing that he's talked everyone's ears off, Learan apologizes and exits the room, leaving the party to sit there and muse over what he has said. At least now it makes sense why he has been supporting the Drow rebellion, seeing as how they were suffering the fate of being second-class citizens over in Daschon. Cedric admires what Learan had to say, but he doesn't really see how it could possibly be accomplished- those in power just have too much of it.

The following day, Learan goes to Cedric and apologizes again for his behavior the night before. He shouldn't have involved his guests with his politicking. Cedric said that it was really no problem, and that he actually admires Learan for having such a progressive viewpoint; he must've had very wise parents. Learan smiles, and remarks that Cedric has really been improving with his sword techniques. He offers to spar with him to test what he's learned, and grabs a black scabbard from the wall. As they enter the training room, he begins to say how this blade used to belong to his uncle, a man he had a great deal of respect for-but before he can finish this statement, he suddenly stops, and looks panicked for a moment. He excuses himself, and quickly leaves the room, disappearing.

Cedric tells the rest of the group what he just saw, yet they are all just as confused as he is. They do some speculating, but just arrive at the conclusion that something must've come up and he had to go there (a very solid theory, I know). Cedric decides to spend his time exploring the huge crystal in the center of the chamber, going through various caves and caverns to reach the top of it. There, he finds some sort of crystalline heart, which he touches soon after. He finds himself suddenly transported to a different location, and upon looking down, he finds that his reflection is that of a great purple dragon's. He hears a female voice in his head, demanding "Who are you?!" before he is torn out of this vision and back into his normal form.

He finds that his senses have heightened a great deal-- everything looks much more vibrant and vivacious than before. Using these heightened sense, he hears a voice talking to itself from down below. Looking down, he sees something white on the floor near the pool. He hears Learan talking to himself, assuring that everything is going to be okay, that he'll take care of everything. After climbing down, he picks up the object, which is discovered to be a white feather. He brings it to his companions, and they advocate to do some snooping-- though Vicora disapproves.

They choose Christine to sneak around in the cellars, seeing as how that's where Cedric heard the voice going down. She creeps into the cellars, where she comes across a locked door. She picks the lock, and enters the room... Where she sees some sort of tube of green liquid containing a figure.

Containing an angel.

(July 30th, 1 month time skip- September 1st, 443)

David's Rating: 7.5