Session XVII - Arch-Mage

Travelling southeast briefly, then turning southwest, the party spends a day travelling through the woods to a hilly region, making their way to Port Town. Progress is slow because they are not following a road and the cart is cumbersome.

* Shadowsong and Norman cautiously enter the town and finds no ships currently docked there, while Loobie stays with the entombed creepy book.
* A poster board has a wanted poster, offering 500 crowns for capture of the party, who are wanted for "capital crimes against the empire". Shadowsong steals it.
* Norman pretends to be an old man with a hood.
* Shadowsong enters the Inn and decides to stay the night. He learns that there are no ships scheduled for arrival for a few days. (A guard explains that ever since the implementation of the high-speed tram and the flying airships, travel by boat has become much less common.)
* The next morning, Shadowsong encounters an official-looking Aslan, who is handing out wanted posters.
* Separately, Norman sees a figure on a distant hill, overlooking the clearing where they are camped. He also notices some bird-like creature that may be spying on them, as it flies back to the figure on the hill.

The party continues their journey southeast, pulling the cart through the rough terrain.

* The party encounters a lone figure in a clearing, standing next to a worn statue. They avoid the figure and circle around.
* The party camps near a shallow river. While on watch, Loobie notices some fairly-like creature watching him. They tell him that they're concerned about the "hunters" before departing.

Early into the next day, the party reaches a road, leading southwest and east. They follow it east, which allows them to cover more ground. The party reaches the village of Dawnleaf that evening.

* The party "obtains" some shovels and moves the Liber Hereticus Malfectorum to a wooded area near the village and buries it just below the surface.
* The party then spends the night in the local inn.
* The next morning, the party hears a commotion and sees a devilish hunter with a bat-like companion in the street below. The bat-creature is conversing with the town guard.
* Norman makes his way downstairs and overhears a stern woman speaking to the innkeeper about the party. The innkeeper tells her of the group and Norman retreats upstairs.
* The party escapes out the window. Shadowsong nimbly takes no damage, while Norman slips and falls, injuring himself. Loobie lands on Norman, compounding the problem.
* The party sneaks to a nearby hillside and watches the Minister of Intelligence, along with several of these 'hunters' split up and leave town.

The party decides the leave the creepy book hidden and travels east to the railway, finding a platform nearby.

* The party boards the tram, though Norman steps out the door at the last second and waves at Loobie and Shadowsong as they are carried away.
* The museum curator is riding the tram and tells the party that he was fired.
* Norman makes his way back the Dawnleaf, sneaks through the village, and camps in a clearing just outside of the wooded area where the creepy book is buried.

Loobie and Shadowsong take the tram to the last stop and enter the Southern Ward. They climb the long stairway at the south end of the ward, which leads to the Arcane Temple.

* The party meets "Skittles", who is actually a large dragon covered in rainbow-hued metal plates. They tell him that the High Wizard Thorton-Tyranis sent them.
* The Arch-Mage Chromium Occtalis Fulgar tells the party that he can open a gate to many different elemental planes, but he will need a day to prepare.