A Moment of Rest

Yremi, butler of the Mansion of the Silver Knight

A Moment of Rest is the twenty-first session of Campaign 1. In the session, Arine, Darcy and Orion recover from the events of The Battle of Brannagh's Bridge, debrief each other of their experiences, and speak with Archmage Grennis, Sir Cygnus, the Silver Swan, and Lord Jimothy Strayth.

The following contains spoilers for the Tale of Locksmith's Bane.

## Plot

Pray Day 1 Ilmoro 1021 TE

Orion looks out upon the battlefield. As Darcy shows a rare sign of affection to his elven friend, a scene of melancholy plays out around the trio: hundreds on stretchers; thousands limping; uncountable dead. Dozens of healing clerics and priests gush down the bridge, curing the injured. In the crowd, Orion stands alone. "I don't know where to go from here," he murmurs to his brigade, his chest heaving with breath and adrenaline. Darcy's body has collapsed upon Arine's. He finds it difficult to return to his feet. She remains crying where she fell.

"I guess we should rest right now," Darcy wallows to Arine.

"Fine fighters," Cygnus, having healed his wounds, and those of Sir Edwin, adresses Locksmith's Bane, "you are more than welcome to rest in the Mansion, should you wish!"

The trio agree. Orion, with little energy, wanders through the priests to Miriam, who remains at the side with Helena and Céline. "When you're ready, there's space in the mansion." Miriam does not look Orion in the eye. She merely turns in his direction, giving a subtle nod. Darcy joins the conversation, stumbling across the bridge. "Helena, Celine, you are both welcome too, of course."

"What do you say, Céline?" Helena looks down at her soot-covered little girl, "would you like to visit the mansion again?"

"Yes," Céline sheepishly replies.

As the afternoon continues, and Pontoporea recovers from its attack, Locksmith's Bane retreat. During the next few hours, as Miriam sits quietly, alone, in the parlour, Darcy goes to bed. Despite his exhaustion, he cannot sleep. Staring at the ceiling he waits for a new day to erode the memories of battle. Orion returns to his chambers, removes his armour and begins to wash himself in his room. Ajourning to his bed, he too cannot rest. As the gentlemen stare at their respective ceilings, Arine relieves her stress with a long dip in the bathing rooms, as Helena washes Céline further down the sauna. A collection of books from the library sit precariously by the waters' edge. Arine goes from cover to cover.

After many hours, and in the twilight of the battle day, Orion grows bored of his four walls, retreating downstairs for his evening meal. Along the way, he knocks on Arine's door. No answer. He knocks on Darcy's. None once again. Arine has repositioned herself in the library, having run out of reading material, whereas Darcy has taken her place in the bathing room, alone, sweating off the horrors of war. Downstairs, the paladin walks past Yremi, into the kitchen, and steals a loaf of crusty bread, some cheese from Northern Thorn, apples, and whatever cold meat his eyes could locate. He eats in the dining room. Alone. At the end of the table.

In the study, Arine sits at the Knight's desk, pen and paper in hand. She writes an entry in a journal. It begins:

> "Dearest father,
> Today I killed a Kraken..."
>
>

The night draws to a close. The adventurers all return to their beds. Exhausted, but awake. Orion only manages to get some sleep upon the hard stone floor. Arine meditates after a long day's reading. And Darcy practices his ceiling-staring once more.

Feast Day 2 Ilmoro 1021 TE

In the early hours of morning, Arine prepares her spells and eats in the dining room. Orion aches, and Darcy lays, exhausted, smoking in his bed. They each eat breakfast alone. Orion wanders the around the top floors, after cleaning his wounds. He dare not enter the chapel. A knock is heard downstairs. Orion hears Yremi welcome The Silver Knight back home. He goes downstairs to see his paladin comrade. Cygnus greets him with little words. He congratulates Orion on his efforts, thanks him. "Ilmater was on our side." Orion doesn't know how to respond to such words. Cygnus excuses himself, a long night speaking with those in charge, he needs a rest.

Orion returns upstairs, wishing to speak with Arine. He knocks on the library door. No answer. He knock on her bedroom door. No answer. "I understand," he says, "you need time, it's fine. Come and talk when you're ready."

He moves to Darcy's room, who invites him inside. The stench of cigarettes and humid clothing fills the room. Darcy lays, shirt unbuttoned, frizzy hair, "What?"

"Do you want company?"

"Don't know if I'm great company at the moment."

"None of us are."

Darcy gets up, cleans up the papers on his desk, and opens the blind. Orion sits on the side of the Noble's unwashed bed. "How are you?" he asks, "you've recovered from the injury?"

With his words, Darcy suddenly feels the pain in his wounds, he hadn't thought about them since yesterday. He couldn't sleep. The claw marks clot around him. His shirt covered in blood. Orion asks if he can have a look. Darcy agrees, removing his shirt. Orion cleans the blood with water, and finds him a new top. Darcy looks to his healer, "Sorry to be a bother."

"That's nothing boring right now."

"Where's Arine?"

"She's not talking. She might be taking Deirdre's disappearance hard. She's not in the library."

"Weird."

"Something's really wrong."

The knock on her door again. They check the library. "She's not there," says Darcy, "she probably hates us."

"I don't blame her."

"I would hate me."

"Food, water, tea?" Orion suggests, "let's go back to your room." They turn around. Arine stands in the doorway. "Hi. Did you need me?"

"Talk?" Orion asks quickly.

"Do you guys need to talk," Arine responds.

"Well, yes," says Orion, "Deirdre, Stefan, people we know died."

Darcy interjects, "What happened to you yesterday morning?"

"Let's go downstairs and debrief eachother there," Arine suggests.

Downstairs, Arine relays the previous days to her party. "What?" Orion and Darcy share.

"A kraken," Arine states, "this giant... octopus... person..."

"So an octopus then," says Orion, "You can't tame a kraken."

"Um, are we forgeting the dark stone?" she retorts, "It was a very big octopus. The kraken is a big octopus. Therefore, I killed a kraken."

"Sure..." Orion gives in, before changing the subject, "well done... but how did you get the shield down?"

"Oh. I didn't. I tried to speak with Lord Rosen, burnt down his door."

"What?" Darcy is ignored.

"Forgot to prepare 'knock'. Rosen was out of it. Tried Grennis. Couldn't make it. Jimothy threatened guards [Darcy's eyes widen]. Blue mist answered my dream. Then it came down."

"And this dream..." Orion guides the rambling wizard.

"I had a dream, the night before the war started, where I woke up. But I wasn't entirely sure I was awake. There was mist, The Great Diviner, a spherical world, I was in a crystal ball. Spoke of my parents, called me the 'Eye of Fire'. Someone wanted me to answer a question, and asked if 'saving Pontoporea would be worth the sacrifice of souls.' I said yes."

"But, dream? You're a wizard, not a warlock aren't you?" Orion cries.

"Try to do an eldritch blast!" Darcy encourages his protegé. She shoots a firebolt across the room, managing not to burn something down for once.

"Not a warlock," Orion giggles, "so someone else was asking for you. Tzermir? Is that a long shot?"

"That would be fucking awesome!!!" Arine pipes up as a fan of the ancient wizard.

"Maybe he wants his book back. He was a wizard, right? Every wizard we know likes books."

The mood turns sombre. "I doomed literal souls." Arine states. Darcy and Orion bring up the shadows and Northolde. The collection of souls, there's something bigger going on.

"Did they cause the battle," Orion begins, "for more dead souls."

"That's how capitalism works," speaks the Nobleman.

"They were prepared," the paladin recalls, "They took all the dead."

"And the ghosts." The elf curls up into her chair. "We need to figure out where these shadows came from. Since the beginning, they have been here."

"I need to go West," Darcy explains, "or I may lose my power, Lillith may take it from me."

"West," Arine declares, "and looking for the shadows. They reminded me of something. It might be silly. The way my father died... I may have seen the shadows that night. There... there was a plague. It went down to Riveryew, it ended at Riveryew, stopping at the river. We were quarantined. I saw a shadowy figure behind my father as I looked out my window that night. It had horns though. Wings. Seeing him for the last time. Darkness over the rooftops."

Orion opens his mouth to speak, but words spring from Darcy's. "I may have just had a mini stroke," the warlock grabs his chest, "I may have seen the shadows too. Okay, I'm way more motivated now."

"What?!?!" cries Orion.

"In Duirith. Nowhere near Riveryew. The same shadow, with horns, wings. No plague, but I suppose I lost my soul as a child..."

"Don't you need a soul to sell it to a patron?" asks Arine.

"Oh yeah... anyway, Northolde."

"We can't go back," says Orion, "maybe Grennis knows something. Maybe Cygnus, maybe we check up on Céline, Helena, Miriam. Arine probably wants to see Fownai."

She rolls her eyes.

"Rude question," Darcy states before rudely asking, "What is the name of your dead dad?"

"Fie."

"Rude question again, who carried you? and... birthed you?"

"I don't know."

"Are you interested."

"No."

"Okay then." Orion takes over. "So you've both seen it. There may be something important to this. More information is good, but not now, what do we do first?"

Orion goes to the parlour. Inside sit Miriam, Helena, and Céline. Orion offers tea. "Thank you," the first words of Miriam since Stefan fell. Even Céline says a thankful 'okay'. Meanwhile, Darcy walks out of Silverhall and into The Castle's Keep. He thought it was evening, but there are birds. He walks to The Cathedral of Sune, where the dying an injured are being kept. He doesn't see familiar faces among the crowd. Arine sits in her bed, taking out the book she had saved from Grennis' collection, "*On Chaos*." She read it front to back. Orion cleans himself up, and finally faces the chapel. He spends time thinking of the war. Deep prayer. He feels hands clasping his wrists, a roaring storm of turmoil on his chest. Darcy finishes the day drinking whiskey by the piano, improvising melancholy tunes. Arine listens.

The trio go to bed. Another day lost. [TIE DREAM - ANA HELP PLEASE].

Moon Day 3 Ilmoro 1021 TE

The group finally eat together again at the table. Orion sits down beside his comrades, shirtless, "I ran into Cygnus this morning. He asked if we wanted knighthoods..."

"Are we not going to acknowledge your nipples?" Darcy asks ignoring Cygnus' offer.

"Oh sorry," the Paladin blushes, "anyway... um.. so, knighthoods, we've been offered knighthoods..., and Grennis, Archmage Grennis requests an audience with us as representatives of the city..."

"I don't want to be knighted," states Darcy, bluntly, "nor do I wish to be linked to this city."

"I agree," Arine interjects between mouthfuls.

"Yes, well, as long as we're clear then," Orion concludes, "this isn't like the tournament, a knighthood and we'll be known across the lands as ambassadors of Thorn."

"I don't want my name on paper," Darcy discloses.

"Anyway, we should really continue the quest," Orion begins, "into Tyrnia once again, maybe passing The Cave of Mortund on the way?"

"I don't want to go back there," states the Lord.

"But there are rows and rows of gold and platinum," the paladin chimes in with glee, "just because you're rich."

"You'll get your riches another way then, what if Mortund comes back?"

"He won't."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"The city," Arine speaks, "what about Wolbeth? You didn't debrief me."

"Oh," pipes up Orion, "Céline speaks, sings actually, and Wolbeth..." Orion recalls the burning wreckage of the poorer side of the city... the scent still linger in his nostrils and in the Westerly winds, "does anyone want to play cards?

"She ran away to sing?" Arine continues.

"Cards, hide and seek? I just want to do something, " Orion bursts.

Darcy smiles.

Locksmith's Bane ignore their troubles, if only for a moment, and play cards. Darcy wins. He cheated.

The game is interupted, however, by Yremi, calling Locksmith's Bane to a meeting with the Archmage, the Silver Knight, and the Heir of Xan. Outside wait numerous guards who promptly escort the adventurers towards Silverhall Castle, where they climb the long stairs of the right-most tower. At its peak, a corridor, lined with famous faces of Pontoporean history, and an open doorway. Inside, sit three of the most powerful men in the city. Grennis to the right. Jimothy, the left. Cygnus, the centre. Darcy takes his own place at the head of the table, Arine to his left, Orion his right. The doors are shut. The six are alone. After a friendly greeting by Cygnus, the Archmage takes the stage.

"The wizard Arine," he begins, "you spoke to me once of the shadows. Now they appear." The group are interogated, somewhat of their knowledge of the shadows.

"That's all we know," Darcy puts an end to the mage's questioning.

"These shadows, they are known to have been seen in Northolde," Grennis recalls, "prior to the unjust arson of the historic town's public house."

The wizard stares down Darcy. "Hall? Is it? You resemlbe your father, you know?" Lord Hall stands, thrusting his chair back with a terrific screech. He storms out of the doors. Jimothy gently gets to his feet and rushes to the hallway.

Grennis smirks with a breathy chuckle, "a nobleman...," he looks to the remaining party, "how well do you know this Lord?"

Orion stands, "I think we have answered enough questions this day," he declares as Arine gingerly joins him.

Cygnus, ever polite elevates with his fellow fighters. "Thank you all for coming, it seems we still have little knowledge of these events. I do hope you will join us on the 5th. There will be a ceremony in the cathedral for the fallen."

"We would be delighted," the paladin speaks for his friends.

Leaving, Orion and Arine interupt the noble pair as Jimothy returns to the room. Darcy sits on the steps of the tower, lighting a cigarette.

"What a piece of work," the Paladin calls, risking the echoes of the chamber.

"We can't trust him," Darcy rebukes.

"He tried to blackmail us, told us not to trust you."

"Well, do you?"

"Well, you would have killed me long ago."

"Jimothy told me that he'd overheard his father speaking of the shadows before." Darcy describes, "They were linked to the city guards in Xan. He's said that he'll see if he can find out anything else there."

"Were they used as weapons?" asks Arine.

"Well, they were definitely corrupted," the Lord replies.

"So that's two leads, Northolde and Xan," Orion counts.

"Four if we count the horned figures of Arine and my memories," Darcy adds, "Where there is death, there is shadows."

"I don't want to stay here for long, if I am honest" Orion admits, "Grennis' disposition makes me weary."

"Well then we should go now," Darcy declares.

"There's the memorial, though." Orion recalls, "it might be nice to at least stay, have some kind of closure. After that, we continue."

"But where?" Darcy asks

"Well," says Arine, "if we start heading west, your patron will give us a sign of where to go."

"She's mean," Darcy abrupts. "We need to speak with The Barbarian Brothers, didn't that orc at the Rei-Peak ask us to bring them back?"

"We promised," recalls Orion, heroically, "and," revealing a hidden temptation, "whilst we're there..."

"No. No cave."

"Why not?"

"Arine, back me up here!"

Arine starts to walk downstairs.

"I'll buy you lots of books with the gold," Orion calls down to her.

"I'll give you a house," follows Darcy.

Locksmith's Bane walk outside, arguing over the location of the brothers. Leaving the comfort of Silverhall, the adventurers walk into a protest, led by Soregn, the former face of the tournament. Screaming protesters continue her chants: "And What of Wolbeth?" Arine, Darcy, and Orion shuffle through the crowds. "And What of Wolbeth?" They squeeze through the injured, the homeless, the grieving. "And What of Wolbeth?" The crowd extends throughout The Castle's Keep and out into Brannagh's Town. It takes over an hour to reach The Windy Way (Inn). There, Wolandar welcomes the trio, congratulating them on surviving the ordeal. Esrafin even comes out to join them. He thanks them for their help with the city and the soup, offering them some on the house one final time. They ask of the brothers, to which Esrafin recalls spotting them helping restore the adventurer's guild up the road. Locksmith's Bane finish their soup and head to the adventurer's guildhall. Outside, Fentos the Cruel lifts a weighty table. He stops to look at the group. Edhron the Mighty steps out, ready to haul in more goods, he sees the group and struts over intensely. "Glad to see you guys made it."

The session ends there.