Episode 50

The group spends some time catching their breath after being jumped by the Ebony Wings. The cultist that had been engulfed by K’s sand gets tied up against a tree as Anthos and K have a loud dispute. Anthos urges K to stop acting foolishly and to stop reacting to the cult’s whims. He expresses how distressed he is about how K ran into combat. Marisol stops treating the party’s wounds to break up the argument, pitching in her own opinion about the situation. She also appears distressed.

Lily acknowledges the “guest”, who introduces himself as Smith. He greets the party by their personal names. As Lily interrogates Smith, Marisol and Anthos go around to deal with the bodies. Marisol starts carving symbols into them between the shoulder blades. No one stops her, but it’s clear that those witnessing it are very confused.

The questioning continues.

Lily asks why he joined the Ebony Wings? He says that he wanted revenge and power, and through the cult, he was able to receive them.

K asks who is in charge of the cult? Smith answers vaguely, for he doesn’t know her by name. He says that only the Primaries do, like the one that left during the encounter. He goes on to explain that there are 5 Primaries, each with their own group of “feathers”. The one from earlier wasn’t here to fight, but to gather information on the group and their fighting styles. It appears to have been successful. To add, the Ebony Wings are hesitant to “take” K by force, since doing so would just draw attention to the group.

Ingred pitches in, asking why they tricked the goblins? He laughs at that, saying that they were just pawns. They used the goblins as a distraction, promising them a reward of their biggest desires in return for killing Soulfire.

K goes back to the man’s original statement, asking who it was that Smith wanted revenge on? He appears confused, mentioning Vegzet before K cuts him off to clarify. He states that it doesn’t matter, he has already gotten his revenge. They are long dead. K is interrupted when walking away from the scene as Smith asks him “at what cost are you willing to get YOUR revenge?”. He shakes it off and continues to leave.

Marisol goes to stab at the man, but is stopped by Lily and Ingred. Smith seems amused by this and reveals that he can’t be affected by traditional torture methods. He cannot feel fear or pain.

Ingred asks Smith something about blueberries. He appears confused by it. Apparently the Ebony Wings aren’t a dark guild. They are in business with dark guilds, though! Their weapons and poisons have been supplied by members of the dark guilds.

Anthos asks what stakes the guilds have in this business? The answer: Money. Lots of it. Smith goes on to say that they live normal lives outside the cultist, many working in the food industry, taverns, stables, guard, you name it. Smith is a blacksmith by trade. They have connections and wealth.

Someone is always following Soulfire. So far a couple of their tails have been killed, so someone outside of Soulfire is aware of them. They’ve been using magic to scry on them, as well.

Smith claims that the Primary from earlier is known as Crila (at least, within the Ebony Wings). She notarizes letters for a living. According to him, they communicate through letters, not magic. They “hide in plain sight”. He also doesn’t know the main location of the Ebony Wings.

When asked more about the Primaries, he adds that the five are very strong. They all get their powers from Vegzet.

With all their questions answered, Anthos retreats into Seipora’s bubble, followed shortly by Ingred. Smith asks for some final words, but gets his head cleaved off by Lily before he has an opportunity to share his “special saying”. Marisol loots the bodies. And the body of Smith. Smith’s corpse goes missing sometime during the process.

After taking a (tense) short rest, the party heads to Posette. They travel quickly, approaching the high walls within the next two hours. Guards are seen scrambling to the ballista as the group makes their way to the shut gates. Lily announces their arrival and job offering. She meets a guard half way, showing a scroll for identification before the party is led inside. The gates shut behind them.

The architecture here is mostly built with stone and timber. Hard-packed dirt streets navigate through the similar-styled houses and buildings. Lily asks one of the captains for more details about their job. He says to look for the foreman at the mines. It is a half day’s journey from the main town.

The horses are tended to and the party is led to a tavern/inn. Ingred leaves wordlessly to drink alone in her room, followed shortly by Anthos and Marisol. They all do their own things before settling down for the night.

They head to the silver mines in the morning. The mining operation takes place in a massive crater, with roads spiraling down to the very bottom. Stone giants can be seen among the various workers processing lots of heavy stones and ores. A large boulder has been placed in front of the mine entrance, sealing off whatever creatures may be inside. Standing by the entrance is a white/silver dragonborn foreman, Gloyver, loudly giving out orders. He says that there are ten bugs that they know of. Ingred asks for some lumber to make a fire with (having mentioned that she has some bug-repellent petals) before the party dives into the mineshaft.

They head to the right after encountering a Y in their path. It is a tight squeeze for some, and the atmosphere gets more tense the deeper they go. The party sees a glow coming from the right side of an alcove as the path opens up. Two lightning bugs feed on the silver ore. Electricity can be seen running through their bodies, arching off of one another with a greenish hue. The few up front quickly discuss a plan of attack before rushing in.

Lightning from the bugs arches off metal weapons, hurting both Ingred and K as they attack. The first two bugs are dealt with easily. Lily points out that there are two more in the alcove next door. They hold their position and lure the neighboring creatures in. One of the bugs burrows into the ground, but it doesn’t do much. It dies quickly. The second one follows suit. They move the dead ones into the original nook. The session ends with Lily gaining the attention of other bugs deeper in the mine.