For a Queen

Maudit finds a little goblin girl(20:12), rifling through Leona's bag. Maudit offers her some food and coins, and a few other things to leave. She tells him that she's looking for a long, skinny, shiny, jagged treasure for her queen. As she describes what she's looking for, he gets the feeling that she's looking for a key. Maudit tells her that they don't have the key, and she takes the gold and goes through the other bag, freaking out when she gets to the Bag of Holding. Kesra whacks her and she scurries off into the woods.

Deirdre sends Amaryllis(38:33) to follow the goblin, who finds her sneaking up on Maudit. She runs off again, and Amaryllis follows. The goblin goes back to where a group of goblins is sitting around, and goes to a specific tree with a cage wedged into it. The goblin girl speaks to someone in the cage, who calms her down. Amaryllis flies closer to the cage and spots a Brownie, and Deirdre summons Amaryllis back to her.

The group discusses(43:36), and decides to send Amaryllis back to speak with the Brownie. The Brownie tells her that the goblins found her two weeks ago and now seem to worship her. The group heads to where the goblins are, and convince them to let the group go try to help the queen.

Deirdre approaches the cage(1:05:18) and speaks to the Brownie. The Brownie seems surprised to learn that Eachthighern is still alive. She tells the group that a mean guy put her in the cage because she made fun of his nose. Deirdre tries to tell the Brownie that she used to live in the Feywild, but a pain in her head stops her. Maudit picks the lock on the cage, and the Brownie hops out. Deirdre puts the Brownie in her pocket.

As soon as she does so(1:19:10), the goblins attack! Maudit casts an illusion spell to make it look like he put the queen back in the cage. Leona also offers up a silver mirror to them, and the party hurries away quickly.

The group heads away (1:31:27) and Leona and Deirdre discuss the pain she had when trying to discuss her time in the Feywild. They decide it's probably just as well that she not discuss it right now anyway. Deirdre tells Leona a bit about what life was like with Eachthighern.

The group rides toward the sunrise(1:51:04), and Rey tells them that his friend is in Adare, which, it turns out, is Deirdre's hometown. They come across two Crownsguard(1:57:30) on the road, who, it turns out, are looking for Andromeda Skyseeker, who abandoned her post as the Seer for the Empress.

They arrive at a river(2:03:28), which has Crownsguard swarming the bridge. The Crownsguard question them briefly, but allow them to cross. Another couple has been stopped coming in the opposite direction. Deirdre sends Amaryllis to go investigate the woman, but the woman somehow seems to dispel her.

They continue down the road(2:13:03). Deirdre tries to teach Maudit some Sylvan, but struggles to to figure out how to explain things to him. Kesra does some whittling. Rey gets to know Maudit a little bit. Rey also mentions Journa, a city that was razed by a black dragon, not quite 20 years ago. He says the crown has a group of dragon-hunters who deal with dragons that destroy towns.

Eventually, they make camp (2:32:08). As Maudit goes to look for firewood, he runs into a tall half-elven man with long black hair. He says he's a ranger and offers to help Maudit gather some firewood. He says his name is Alok. He warns Maudit about some Crag Cats and orcs in the area, and Maudit introduces him to the rest of the group. He tells them they can stop at the town a few miles down the road the next day and give them his name, and they'll be treated kindly. Leona sings and dances around the fire. Kesra and Rey spar for a bit, with Kesra busting his nose and kicking him in the crotch.

After Aloc says goodbye (3:12:50), the friends go to bed. On Maudit's watch, he sees a human man with black hair leaning against a tree. He introduces himself as Zephaliar the Black. He says he knows a lot about Maudit. He tells Maudit that destruction is a part of his nature, and that it's not inherently a bad thing. He says that Misery has been dealt with, and will not bother Maudit again. Maudit asks if he is with the Cult of the Dragon Queen, and he says no - the cult works for him, and he is a consort of Tiamat. Maudit asks about his mother, and Zephaliar says that he doesn't know why she left him. He hasn't seen her since Maudit was born, and he's been unable to find her. She wasn't a tiefling, and Maudit is his only non-draconic offspring. He shows Maudit an image of his mother - a fallen aasimar woman with skeletal black wings. He says that "she changed her mind", that the life she created for herself was not what she wanted. He tells Maudit not to be afraid, that he is powerful, and has an incredible lineage. He gives Maudit his mother's name - Theophania Runebringer. He also says that all of his traveling companions are cursed along with him. He tells Maudit that Leona works for the Silence and has told them all about Maudit. He says that Maudit should be cautious of the Covenant - that they want to kill Maudit because of his father.