Post Caldor Chapter 3: Adventures in Valia

Here is an account of the Cloppenburg Post-Truth Patrol's adventures in the city-state of Valia, taking place in 745 AP.

## Escape from the Country

After the disastrous consequences of the Awbor Crisis Meeting, the patrol was arrested and thrown into Bryad Prison. They stood accused of manipulating dangerous magic and causing the deaths of the nobles. They were released on parole a few days later thanks to Abathar, on the condition that they did not leave the city. When they returned home to the Cloppenburg House, they discovered to their dismay that Maurice had become even crazier in their absence. The house had been turned into a thatched fortress, and the rest of its residents had fled. Bebun had quit, and Katy and Raymond were living at the Rokugani Embassy.

There was, however, one new face waiting for them: Alex. This old friend of Ravenster had travelled from the city-state of Valia to deliver a message. Ravenster’s family was in danger, and Alex had come to convince her to return home. At this point Ravenster reveals her true name: Acillia Lunaris.

The patrol saw an opportunity. The Awborian nobles were out for blood. The Arcane Council did not want the patrol to gain credit for the discovery of void magic. The patrol needed time to prove their innocence. Escaping to Valia was a convenient excuse to gain time, save House Lunaris, and warn the world of the imminent arrival of Atropus.

The plan was decided. Hida would stay at the Rokugani Embassy, protecting both Katy and Raymond, as well as the Void Magic Orb. The Embassy could then warn the party, via sand-phone, of any developments happening in Awbor. The party would pass on all their information on void magic to Azrael, Abathar, and Bebun, who would participate in the study of the void rift that had appeared in the Royal Castle. The party would then buy some trading goods and jump onto Alex’s ship and escape to Valia, using diplomatic immunity as an excuse.

As the group was making their preparations, Belgrin was summoned to the Arcane Order to undergo some testing before the trial. Naturally, he blew the test out of the water by scoring 11 out of 9, one of the highest scores ever achieved. The session deteriorated quickly after that, with Wong and Gilthunder having to intercede to save Belgrin from being murdered. Meanwhile, Jhere, with Lady Kuni’s help, finished creating her *Magic Circle against Spirits* spell.

Two days before the trial, Gilthunder came by the house and destroyed it, thereby stopping the other nobles from getting their hands on it. The patrol took this as their cue to escape. Acillia renounced her Awborian titles, the party said their goodbyes, and they fled on Alex’s ship.

## Welcome to the Jungle

The voyage to Valia took two months. Apart from some minor encounters with storms or pirates, the cruise was pleasant, and the atmosphere was relaxed. The ship finally arrived at the mouth of Valia, where they had to go through stringent border control checks and registration. This was much to the dislike of Belgrin, who tried to escape and only succeeded in wasting everybody’s time.

The patrol finally arrived in Valia itself, a city of extraordinary architecture and riches. Acillia Lunaris’ return created ripples throughout the city, and large crowds lined the canals to watch her pass. When Acillia arrived at the Lunaris Household, she was greeted by the matriarch Lady Lunaris, and they hugged it out. While the rest of the group enjoyed fine food and luxuries, Acillia spent her evening with Lady Lunaris, learning about the problems of House Lunaris. It's financial situation was critical, and the other Houses were attempting to outmanoeuvre them.

The next few days, the party settled into their new quarters and attempt to fit into Valian society. Alex checked out his bathhouse business. Jhere and Belgrin became Magi at the Eight Towers. Wong and Vadim became famous for slaying a 9-headed Pyrohydra in the arena, and commissioned some excellent equipment from the monster’s remains. In the evenings, everyone came together to meet Acillia’s family and get to know each other.

Eventually, the party headed out to investigate multiple monster attacks at the Lunaris Lumber Yard, several days’ travel from the city. After fighting off some rust monsters, they arrived just in time to save the workers from a swarm of giant wasps. In doing so, Alex was severely wounded by one of the wasps.

Further investigations revealed a void magic symbol a mile into the jungle, and the party set out to learn more. Inside a cave, they found a huge Blood Lion, infused with druidic and void magic. They were able to sneak up on it because Vadim covered himself in lion poo. After a long hard battle, Wong was able to deal the killing blow, though Heskath died in the fallout of the fight. As the rest of the patrol looted the corpse and investigated the cave, Jhere fell into a meditative state where she spoke with the World Serpent, who resurrected Heskath for her.

What the patrol discovered in the cave was deeply concerning. It seemed like a renegade druidic circle, the Nightshade Enclave, had obtained a void magic caster. They understood that it was of vital importance to alert the authorities about this threat, and avoid another Desolation. Unfortunately, as they stepped out of the cave, they were cornered by the Pelter’s Guild, as they were technically trespassing on the pelters’ land. Having had enough activity for the day, the patrol teleported and escaped back to Valia. They distorted the truth just enough so that Lady Lunaris believed the party was in the right and used her protection to delay that particular diplomatic incident.

A couple of days later, Vadim became a bodyguard for Lady Lunaris at a high profile dinner party. He foiled an assassination attempt against Lady Lunaris by stabbing the assassin with a champagne flute, before offering a new glass of champagne to the Lady. Since then, the matriarch has been paying a lot of attention towards Vadim.

## The Void Magic Meeting of Valia

Acillia and Alex wrote a letter to Acillia’s Uncle in Law, the Lord of Waves, to explain the dangers of void magic. They obtained a meeting with the Keeper of the Sky, who paid attention to their claims, and escalated the matter to the Lord of Waves. For the first time, someone took the party’s warnings seriously (though they soon started to doubt the Lord of Waves' sanity). A special meeting was organised, with representatives from every major noble house, the Eight Towers, the Church of Valia, and the Druidic Departmento. Using the Lord of Waves' authority, the party organised the meeting inside Alex’s bathhouse, whose top floor was turned into a beach for the occasion.

The Void Magic Meeting finally took place. Some of the most powerful people and casters of Valia took a seat and listened to the patrol as they made their case. Some internal politics between the houses slowed the meeting, but otherwise, it was a success. The Valian Archmage corroborated the stories about Timothy Timsworth, who was confirmed to be a powerful Chronomage with full mastery of void magic. A Valian Void Council was created to oversee the protection of Valia from this new magic. Alex manipulated Lady Amisra Flori into becoming the Chairwoman of this organisation, and he was rewarded by being chained to a desk. Using the anti-void magic developed by Belgrin, the Eight Towers were tasked with creating wards to detect and negate void magic.

Over the next month, the party was hard at work. Jhere and Belgrin made lectures for the Eight Towers on the subject of void magic. Belgrin also acquired the funds to start a new publishing company *Wizards of Awbor.* Wong and Vadim use their fame to find jobs as high profile guards and trained together to synergise their fighting style. Wong also made friends with another Hakkonite, Yu Suk, a guard from another house. Meanwhile, Acillia started searching for the culprits of the attack, nine years ago, that killed her father and that nearly killed her….

## Warlock Rumble

As the party worked away, they were visited by a demon binder, Damian, who brought news from Awbor. He had come to join their cause, as he also had had an encounter with Timothy Timsworth, and wished to find others who were fighting him. He relayed the stories of a mad thatch prophet in Zingherra, where the food supply was still precarious. Meanwhile, Katy warned Belgrin that the nobles were slowly becoming more committed to bringing the patrol to justice.

The Valian Void Council had heard rumours of void magic in Old Valia, the ancient ruins of the first Valian city. The Cloppenburg Post Truth Patrol set out to investigate and found large traces of void magic infecting the city. In doing so, it turned Belgrin into Acillia, and the real Acillia and Wong became enamoured with each other. The guards of the city, led by the Nightshade Enclave, rebuffed the group's initial attempt to investigate further. Confused and disorganised, the group decided to return home early.

Back at the Lunaris household, Belgrin caught a shapeshifter spying on their chambers, and a mad chase occurred across the grounds as the party attempted to catch it. The spy was caught but killed himself before they could interrogate him further. He left behind, however, a box that led to another plane where a huge eye was watching. Acillia had seen this eye before when she had almost died 9 years ago.

That night, Wong, Acillia and Belgrin had a dream of a citadel and awoke with purple eyes and long black hair. They were left with a prophecy, and a mysterious organisation was spying on them. Throughout the next couple of days (and several more dreams that converted the rest of the party to the same goth look), the party discovered that Acillia has been Chosen to fulfil a prophecy, but she was not the only "Chosen one". There were five other potential candidates, and it was these people who were behind the assassination of Acillia and her father.

While all this was happening, Vadim had been enjoying a nice relaxing week of fishing with Acillia's grandfather.

Armed with the knowledge about the Warlock prophecy, the patrol set out to track down these candidates to learn more, or in Acillia’s case, get revenge. They tracked down and killed the Lizard, the leader of an underground city. In their escape the party caused a minor diplomatic incident with the church, costing House Lunaris a hefty fine that it struggled to pay off. With the information from the Old Bull, leader of House Baldo, they found and spoke with the Fisherman, who had given up on the prophecy and was attempting to live the rest of his life peacefully. The party chose not to fight him, and Acillia decided to forgive him.