Chapter 10 - To Slay a Lich

**Chapter 10** of Greetings Adventurers comprises Jaela's quest to slay Sinu the Red, with the help of her friends the Ätlän-tã Fælcons. Just like the last Chapter, it mostly takes place over the course of a couple days. It is notable for finally resolving the issue of Sinu the Red, (who was first mentioned in Episode 24 - Maps and Mystery, in April 2013!) but more importantly, introducing the character Rowan Grey!

We learn in a flashback to the Five Year Gap, that back when Lord Titus Harper was still a Lord, and also alive, that he had himself a bit of a vampire problem. He enlisted the help of the Night Cloaks, a group of Raven Queen followers, who send to him Rowan Grey and Denton Glenchester. Rowan, by the way, is the bastard half-sister of future Queen Ashayara Dayne, and who asked her to vet Harper, the man she is set to marry. Jaela also arrives to visit him, and decides to offer her services as well, despite the fact that her magical prowess seems to have diminished for some reason. Together, the four of them visit the vampire, Duke Byron Thorne. The meeting begins amiably, but after a few bad jokes at the expense of the living beings, Rowan grows weary of his japes, and attacks. They make short work of Thorne and his crew.

Back in 1708, the Ätlän-tã Fælcons have just saved Glaine, the Jewel of the East from certain doom at the hands of Jett Razor. Cheryl Meloncamp has just gone into labor, and her husband, Steve, brings his friends to Tidtowne, where she gives birth to the beautiful baby Xena Meloncamp! They afix a bust of a nude Aludra Wyrmsbane to the front of their airship, *Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap*, and together, they all fly to Deephome, Aludra's royal home. Aludra and Jaela say a tearful goodbye to each other, but vow not to be apart forever. The rest of them take off, leaving Queen Aludra behind...

The remaining Ätlän-tã Fælcons make their way to The Crypt of Sinu the Red, and on the way, Jaela gets a vision of a young crying boy, who tells her he is lost, and needs help. The boy then vanishes. Meanwhile, Toby reveals to First Mate Boris, that he is creating a clone of himself, in order to transfer his soul into should he die. They all then meet up to discuss what they know about liches. They need a phylactery for their soul to be stored in, and it can only be destroyed by a powerful weapon. If they destroy Sinu while the phylactery is still intact, he will remain trapped in the Material Plane.

The *D4C* lands at a town at the end of the graveyard that surrounds the Crypt of Sinu the Red. The citizen there are in a panic, and Jaela recognizes Denton Glenchester and Rowan Grey among them, giving orders atop a makeshift wall around the city. They all briefly inroduce themselves, before the village is attacked by a horde of zombies and undead things. After the battle, during which Rowan demonstrates her prowess with magics and an enchanted bow, the group heads into the town, which is named Tarry Hollow, for a stiff drink. Jaela meets with a young girl, who is crying and tells her her brother Teddy is missing. Her name is Betsy, and she and Teddy have an older sister, Katrina Dozar, who is a schoolteacher. She arrives and explains a bit. It seems that a charlatan named Nictis Cross stole a lot of the town's money, and he probably kidnapped Teddy.

The next morning, Toby has the Dozar family dog sniff around, which catches the scent, but stops at the edge of town. Assuming the Sinu the Red situation and the Teddy Dozar situation are related, the Fælcons jump on their Griffons and fly off to the Crypt. Inside, Denton Glenchester is horrified to find the corpse of his former mentor and love interest, Sofina Gadreel, who was last seen years ago on a mission to kill Sinu. He is even more horrified, as are the rest of them, when she attacks!

After the battle, Rowan finds a series of journals, written throughout Sinu's life. They detail his story, how as a young boy, Sinu was impressed by the Master, but over the years, the Master began to torture and abuse the boy. Eventually, he was able to escape, and did his best to do some good in the world, saving and helping those in need. This went on for a while until the Master called on him again, whereupon Sinu experienced extreme fear. He blacked out and tortured and killed his Master. These blackouts appear more and more frequently. Also, Sinu was searching for his sister, whom eventually found, along with their mother's brass locket.

The Ätlän-tã Fælcons rest, and return to town in time to fight back the horde of the undead that night. The next morning, they meet with Doctor Habe in the Temple of Ioun, who thinks Teddy is still in town somewhere, and also that they should go talk to a man named Brahm Bones. They go to speak with him, but he runs when he sees them coming, and as he approaches the edge of the city, he falls to the ground and dies, his body rapidly decomposing. Not sure why that happened, the Fælcons go to Mayor Balfis Vantas' house. The Mayor behaves amiably, but gets defensive when they ask a lot of question, and try sneaking around his house. He kicks them out.

Toby casts *Seeming* on Rowan to make her look like the late Brahm Bones, and she goes around investigating, asking people questions about Teddy and Nictis Cross. They get nowhere, until they investigate Brahm's apartment, where they find a ledger of everyone in town, with most of the names crossed off. Only two remain, and they go to the general store to question the first name, Hudson. Upon meeting him, Jaela's Raven Dagger begins buzzing and humming. Jaela casts *Zone of Truth*, and ask him if he knows anything, which he doesn't. Rowan jumps behind the desk and heads down the root cellar, and finds Teddy!

He is afraid, and all the Fælcons surround him. Toby casts *Detect Magic* for the first time in Tarry Hollow, and *everything* lights up. Revealing the illusion causes it to fall away, and they slowly learn that the entirety of Tarry Hollow was just an illusion, created from the ruins of the town, created by Sinu. The inhabitants were merely undead, attempting to keep the phylactery, Sinu's sister's locket, safe. Teddy was that locket, and also kind of represented Sinu, in the lich's fractured psyche. He now stands before our intrepid heroes, beckoning them foreword, asking for his locket.

The fight begins. Toby hides Teddy in an adamantine box, to keep him safe. Sinu casts *Power Word Kill* on Steve, killing him instantly. Toby grabs Teddy and pops into the Astral plane, whereupon Teddy disappears and transforms back into the locket. Toby returns, grabbing a giant floating boulder from the Astral Plane, and smashing it down on Sinu, destroying him. His soul moves into the locket, and Jaela *Revivifies* Steve, before using the Raven Dagger to destroy the locket. It shatters beneath the blade, ending Sinu's reign once and for all!

The Raven Dagger begins to disappear, but that's not the only thing. Jaela is taken to the Temple of the Raven Queen, who tells her that she must come with her. Jaela is not okay with this, since she has to get back to Aludra, and Raven Queen allows this, though she is disappointed in her, just as Erathis was. Once she returns to the ruins of Tarry Hollow, Denton is dismayed that she refused their goddess, and he runs to attack Jaela, but is teleported the same way she was, presumably to the Raven Queen as well.

Another job well done for the Ätlän-tã Fælcons! They discuss what their plans are for the future. Jaela is going to go back to Deephome and propose to Aludra, and Steve is going to return to Tidtown and stay with Cheryl, his adventuring days are over. Rowan has resources, in that her father is a king, and Toby has access to the sending network and teleportation circles of the White Spire, so they agree to join up and go on adventures together. The Chapter ends with the *D4C* flying into Deephome to meet Queen Aludra. A happy ending...

An epilogue shows up the two blushing brides' bachelorette parties! Many characters from the past make appearances, we learn that Wiggins the mouse is dead, and Jaela gets a visit from the ghost of King Titus Harper, who tells her that his death was not her fault, and that everything worked out better now that he is dead, so she shouldn't feel so guilty.

**Chapter 10**