Episode 8: The Treasures of Terlis

Lily makes a schedule, James reveals pact, Uggo finds a piece of home, Fahima makes a stink, and Siv is wounded. More importantly, the team wakes to a new day in Terlis, where they set out to acquire new items - and new information - for their quest. But a big surprise awaits that will surely impact the fate of one character forever!

### **GM/DM Intro**

It started as a simple dungeon run…

Where our players found the Secret Keeper’s Amulet, a powerful
artifact of chaos magic that grants them the power to communicate with you… and
grants you the power to affect their world with forces of good… and evil.

The discovery of this artifact has propelled our team into a grand
adventure.  They made contact with the Natural Order, an association of
Wizards who has been investigating the disappearance of the Wardens, Ain’s
100-foot tall ancient protectors.  Our team found and freed one of these
Wardens, and in so doing were transported into its mind to witness a secret
memory, revealing lost events of Ain’s history.

They set out to find and rescue more Wardens, but first, made a
stop in the bustling city of Terlis, to meet a wizard of the Natural Order
known as the Scholar.  They found him in his office inside Nightstone
Abbey, a university and library, which also happens to be the former home of
James Quillus.

The Scholar told them a Moratorium on Magic was in place in
Terlis, following thefts and a murder that all seem to be tied to magic.
To learn more about the team’s experience with the Wardens, the Scholar took
them to restricted room in the Nightstone Library to consult one of the few books
of history that remain from before Ain’s cataclysmic War of Ideas, hundreds of
years ago.  But as he removed the ancient tome from safekeeping, a
coordinated team of thieves broke into the library, paralysed the Scholar with
blowdarts, and stole it. Our team dispatched several of the thieves, but failed
to stop them from escaping, when Siv inexplicably dropped his rapier as they
fled with the book.

Admonished by one of Nightstone’s administrators, Audric Lucern,
the team decided to leave the Abbey to find respite in the city proper.
They ventured into Rosey Cheek’s Pub and Tavernhall, where Lily managed to win
a spirited drinking contest, and then decided to spend their winnings at Yarley
Market, Terlis’ lively outdoor bazaar.

While there, they picked up a couple of strange bits of
information.  An awkward exchange with a nervous leatherworker revealed
that some goblins may have taken up residence in the southeastern part of the
city - and may be in possession of an item useful to the team. And a shifty
blacksmith suggested they may be able to acquire magical weapons in the
shantytown outside the city gates to the north, beyond the reach of the
Moratorium on Magic.

But as they left Yarley Market, the team came face-to-face once
again with Audric Lucern, working in concert with the city guards, who
threatened to confiscate Fahima’s magical baby phoenix, Meep.  In
defiance, Fahima told Meep to fly away, angering Lucern, who promised he would
not forget the team’s insolence.

As we ended last week, the team paid for lodging at The Old
Lantern, an upscale inn and dining establishment in the eastern part of the
city.