Session 28: The Gang Falls for a Liberal Hoax

The next morning, Vojta asks Joe about the Investor. Joe explains that the Investor is a mercenary lord who employs many adventurers, and thus will be valuable against the dragonborn if they can make it worth his while. He also convinces the group that it will be best to go to San’edhe first, because there’s no saying what will happen in Namos.

When the group prepares to leave, a half-elf charges in seeking adventurers. He explains that some valuable heirlooms have been stolen by a thief who left a cryptic riddle, and that he will reward the person who can solve it. Joe eagerly accepts the challenge and receives the riddle, which alludes to a sacred place in the woods. The group goes to the cathedral to ask about sacred places in the area. The clerics mention shrines built on crossings into the feywild.

The group heads into the woods, where Grombrin cuts down some trees and transmutes the wood into a cart, to replace the one they left behind. Vica searches the area and senses a dimensional breach. As they approach it, they enter a place where the vegetation is wilder and greener. Vica recognises it as the border-fey, where the prime plane transitions into the feywild. They then find a stone statue covered in a flock of butterflies, which rattle menacingly when approached. Arran throws a rock at the statue, causing the swarm to flock to him and attack him. The others barrage the swarm with magical attacks, destroying it and battering Arran in the process. With the statue revealed, it turns out to be a warning against proceeding into the feywild. Attached to it is a note with another riddle that alludes to the sewers.

The group heads back to town and seeks out the place along the harbour where the sewage pipes exit into the sea. Vojta turns into a rat and heads inside the pipe. Deep inside the sewer system, he finds a giant crocodile-like monster, with another note pinned to a pipe above it. He retrieves the note, but the monster awakens and attacks. Vojta turns into a wolf and flees from it. He then passes the note to the others before taking a swim in the sea to get rid of the sewage.

The new riddle allures to a shrieking skull, so the group goes to the graveyard. They talk to the deranged keeper, who says that burying people in desert sand is a bad idea, so instead they weigh the bodies down in barrels and “bury” them in the sea, with floating markers. The group finds that one of the markers has the symbol of a screaming skull. They pull the barrel to shore with a rope and find another note on it.

The new note allures to the voice of god. They go to the cathedral, where Joe teleports up and clings to the church bell. He finds another note attached to it, and teleports down with it. This note refers to the middle of nowhere and has a picture of a bucket, so the group goes to a shrine some distance into the desert. Next to the shrine is a well with a bucket, and inside the bucket is a note saying there is nothing here. Dissatisfied, Vica climbs down into the well and finds another such message. A nearby dwarf mentions that he saw a half-elf put the note in there.

The group heads to the address that the half-elf gave them. Enraged, Joe charges inside, but finds only an empty warehouse with a final note apologizing for this goose chase, saying that it wasn’t his idea. Joe asks around for the half-elf some more, but he has disappeared from the town. The empty-handed group returns to the inn to rest for the night.

When Joe is away, Arran reveals to Vojta, Grombrin, and Vica that this wild goose chase was orchestrated by him, to keep the group in Xandarbor another day. In the meantime, he received a response from the Ashen Archive, which is able to provide a wizard to assist them. Arran writes back that they will come to San’edhe soon, and requests that the wizard be ready to help them with interrogating a war criminal when they arrive.