Altheya - Episode 2: What's Yours is Mine

Katie Morrison as Daisy Thistleheart

 Kim Richards as Gruffudd of Tremorrew

Rhiannon Frost as Ophelia D'larosa

 Tom Hazell as Xantheus Auregan

**What's Yours is Mine** is the 2nd episode of the Altheya: The Dragon Empire Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the highrollersdnd Twitch and YouTube channel on the 12th of November 2023 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*Classes are revealed as the team heads to Blackrock Mine to apprehend some criminals!*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* There are no announcements this week.
* This episode was pre-recorded.

### Recap

*We find ourselves in the village of Burnell, located in North Vale of Caldra, a region of volcanic, fertile soil, forested hills, dark jagged mountains, and pleasant little villages (as we find ourselves in). Our heroes, having arrived here, have, for their own purposes, their own journeys, have met – they have begun to introduce themselves to each other but also the various peoples of Burnell. Some made friends that showed them around the town, some enjoyed moments of quiet contemplation, others had dark dreams. But as they go about their business in the rising sun, the early morning markets, commotion is heard as soldiers arrive to announce that the road south has been closed as the Duke’s armies search for criminals that have escaped into this land and are believed to be somewhere here in Burnell.*

*With the roads blocked and knowledge that a force from the north, from the great city of Kelscariss, is on its way, the party are locked in place – something several of them would like to be a different scenario, and so they are drafted into assisting in locating and possibly capturing these criminals, earning themselves a bounty, and perhaps a Duke’s favour in return. After investigating a few different avenues, there are perhaps some ideas of where to go next but no concrete clues or evidence to follow.*

### **Part One**

*Classes are revealed as the team heads toward Blackrock Mine to apprehend some criminals!*

Somewhere in the mountains, a distance from Burnell and out of the hearing of the party, there is a blood-curdling scream.

Ophelia and her skeletal servant, Percival, are dancing in front of an astounded and horrified Xantheus and Gruffudd. Xantheus is taken for words and neither he nor Gruff has seen anything like Percival before. They ask what is going on and Ophelia explains that she is repenting for the sin of working by celebrating joy and passion through dance. Xantheus declares that he does not know the ways of the people of Osseus, and while he does not want to offend Ophelia, he declares that this is all “pretty weird”. Ophelia tells him that some of their customs seem pretty weird to her, too – Xantheus has a steward who is living! Xantheus corrects her, saying that he was in need and Gruff helped him – contract ended (Gruff insists that Xantheus is still vulnerable and in need, so their contract is not over – Xantheus concedes the possibility).

Xantheus finds Percival macabre – he looks like someone who was alive once but is now perfectly clean and well-preserved, and yet silent with empty eye sockets. He asks who Percival was in life – Ophelia does not know since she did not know him in life. Gruff asks if Percival did something bad in his life (thinking that his outcome was some sort of punishment) but Ophelia tells them that he did good things, and as a worshipper of the Grave Father, he has been blessed with the gift of reanimation. Gruff clarifies that in Ossesus, if one is good, they come back to serve the living – Ophelia adds that because they get to live a life of peace and prosperity, in death, they repay the life that they have had by eternal servitude to the Grave Father in death. Ophelia hopes to ascend beyond this, however, and is already on the path: unless she dishonours the House of Blood, she is already well beyond Percival, who was a commoner.

Gruff explains to Ophelia that in Ilmera, it is taught that if one is worthy in life, one ascends to the stars, but if you are unworthy, you reanimate as a soldier in a horrible war, so in Ilmera, reanimation is considered to be a punishment. Ophelia believes this to be wasteful. Percival will do whatever Ophelia wants, never speaking, never refusing orders, simply serving whomever it has been instructed to do so, and this service is believed to be an honour.

Rowan has retrieved his longsword from his room, and brings it downstairs carefully, cradling it like a father holding a child. Daisy tells him that she discovered that Marrion has been quite stressed out and had had a recent fight with the Reeve – she suggests speaking to Marrion to find out what has happened. Rowan agrees, suggesting that they find the rest of their friends, walking out into the light of late afternoon. A figure is leaning up against the wall, almost as if waiting for them to leave – Authorator Zarron Tekis coughs quietly to get their attention before asking for a moment of their time. The Authorator is proud, noble, and an imposing figure – he smiles and asks them how long they have known Xantheus Auregan, and further asks about his condition on arrival in the town. Rowan tells the Authorator that Xantheus was tired, “as if he’d been running from something”. The Authorator asks further probing questions: what Xantheus’ business is in the town, where he is from or where he is going, and whether he has told them anything about himself – it becomes apparent that no one knows much about Xantheus, but Rowan tells the Authorator that Gruffudd found Xantheus on the side of the road. The Authorator tells them that he is interested in Xantheus only because he seemed nervous when answering the questions put to him earlier, but that it is the Authorator’s business to ensure that the Dragonborn is looked after and that everyone adheres to the laws of the Empire. Rowan and Daisy head to meet the others at the wall.

Daisy and Rowan advise Xantheus about the interest show by the Authorator in his situation – Xantheus is concerned about this but explains to them that he was tired because he had journeyed from Kelscariss and run out of provisions. Percival is busy cleaning Ophelia’s boots and leg armour where she has dirtied them while searching for clues.

Gruff and Xantheus advise the two newcomers of what they have found, and Daisy has just enough light left to do a search of her own while Rowan advises the others about the argument between Marrion and the Reeve that Adrianna had told them about. Gruff goes out with Daisy to find any animals living near to Marrion’s cottage, the others following a little behind. Gruff sees a falcon darting into the river, trying to catch fish, and also notices some ferret-like stoat creatures that have a jagged stony hide with tufts of fur in between them – they are volcano ferrets or stoat ferrets, and their burrow is nearby at the edge of the river. Daisy sees, on a piece of the wall, what would look like an absent scratch on the wall – she recognises it as a thief’s code, and it says “meeting place” – the outer wall of the village where this appears is right up against the wall of Marrion’s cottage. She also notices that this piece of the wall has a seam and can almost see candlelight coming through it (where the rest of the wall is tightly packed and sealed with tar or resin).

Gruff casts Speak with Animals and talks to the family of the stoat ferrets.

The stoats tell Gruff that there was the smell of sweaty Dwarf and a strange smell of earth and burning that went up to the wall near the garden and the oranges and into the villages. Daisy is pointing at the section of the wall with the scratching on it, and the stoat ferrets agree that this is the place where the people (not just a Dwarf, but also a “lady” and a “big lizard”) entered the village. They had come from the river (“like fish”), went up the hill, through the wood, and into the people village. The stoats did not see the people come back out of the village the same way.

When Daisy puts her ear to the wall, she hears muffled conversation between the elderly couple, including a comment that Marrion is very late back – the conversation is much clearer than it should be. Daisy tells them that the section of the wall opens and shows them the scratch marks that indicate the meeting place. With Marrion being the foreman of the mine and the mine being one of the likely spots for the criminals to be hiding, Marrion having had an argument with the Reeve about money, and the three wanted criminals being seen to enter her house by an illegal entrance, they now believe that they are after Marrion as one of the criminal gang, and that the gang may still be in the village.

Rowan recommends taking the stoat ferrets to the Authorator, but Xantheus does not think that this is a good idea since he may not be able to speak to animals. Rowan uses his dagger to pry open the wooden door in the palisade – his dagger bends significantly, but he hears a pop and the sound of a piece of wire snapping, causing the door to swing ajar.

They decide to let Cade know about the illegal; entrance to the village, and while Ophelia and Percival head to get him, Xantheus and Gruff tell the others about Percival’s nature. Ophelia brings Cade back to the group and he insists that both the captain and Authorator must be told about it – Gruff tells him about the “eyewitnesses” that he has spoken to, but this is a bit beyond Cade who runs off to get his superiors, Rowan tries unsuccessfully to lure the stoat ferrets out of their burrow.

When the captain and Authorator arrive, Tekis glances between Xantheus and Ophelia, while the captain checks out the breach in the wall. There is no trap, but with some force, the door opens when Captain Vecaro pulls it open – it reveals a small store cupboard/crawl space that leads into a cellar below the cottage. Gruff tells the Authorator about the stoat ferret eyewitnesses that had confirmed the presence of the three criminals and a smell of burning, sweat, musk, and earth – he jots it down and allows that while it may be useful information as a good lead, it cannot be taken as proof or used as evidence. He mentions that the animals may not be able to distinguish between various Humans and Dwarves, so the quality of their testimony is not good. The Authorator advises that they will need to take the elderly couple in for questioning, given that their house is how the criminals entered the village, and that they may be complicit – he also says that they will take Marrion in for questioning.

Captain Vecaro tells them that he will send some troops to the mine at first light (since it is too dangerous to travel at night), but they will also check the town to see if the miners have returned to the town. Daisy recommends going after the thieves immediately, however, since thieves like darkness, doing most of their work overnight, and will likely disappear if they know that they are being hunted. Captain Vecaro agrees to start searching the woods and heading up to the mine immediately – he offers the group the chance to head up to the mine first if they wish to claim the bounty and the Duke’s favour. Meantime, the Authorator crawls into the crawlspace, insisting that he will investigate the house to see if there are any clues that can be investigated. The captain leaves to get his men together to head up to the mines.

The group decides to head to the mines so that they can try to apprehend the criminals, both so that they can get the reward and favour of the Duke, and also so that they can help the old couple who have become inadvertently embroiled in the criminal conspiracy. Before they leave, Rowan decides to bend his dagger roughly back into shape – it is roughly straightened but is not truly straight. The party grabs torches and lanterns and heads straight to the mine using the trails and roads available along the path of the Blackrock River. When Pyris’ fortress sinks behind the mountains, and the fortress of Meilyr begins to rise, they are left with silvery moonlight from above and see the Crown(see Trivia) taking its place in the sky.

They follow the trails and roads through the forests and hills until they get to a clearing surrounded by rocky hills with dim lanterns shining in the distance. As they get closer, they start to see evidence of mining – quarried stone, deep ruts where wagons laden with rock and material have been dragged and moved around, and in the darkness, they see the entrance of the mine itself. From this entrance, they hear an echoing scream, as if from a great distance. In front of the mine entrance are tables, chests, barrels, and crates, and there is a sudden burst of movement that is caught in Rowan’s lantern light – miners burst from the mine, yelling, “They’re coming! They’re coming!” As the miners run towards the party, it becomes evident that there are forms skittering behind them. Because of the lantern light, some of the miners trip and fall over things they can’t see. Rowan puts his lantern light out as a result, but not before he sees the things chasing the miners – they have four-limbed creatures with digging talon-like pointed claws instead of legs and tiny arms on their chest that have scoop-like hands, reptilian bodies mixed with a carapace (like an armadillo) – xenomorph elements to them – they have huge jaws and no eyes. The miners start to run past them, screaming, “Run! Flee! Monsters! Vaultspawn!”

Daisy pulls a dagger from her hip and casts Light on it, her eyes glow gold momentarily before the dagger emits its light. She moves to a nearby wagon and hides behind it while also drawing her shortsword and trying to hide – the light-emitting dagger gives her away, even though she tries to hide it in the folds of her clothing. Ophelia asks Percival to hide behind a nearby tree before using her crimson gauntlet with an empty socket where a red gem should be to pull out a whip at her side, saying, “Crimson runs in every man, woman, and person, and all shall seek within the GRAVE!” She is bathed with a red light as she rages, the whip drips with a wet crimson liquid, and she smiles, showing pointed canines.

Ophelia moves forward, lightning fast, moving towards the alien-looking creatures. Gruffudd, seeing innocents in danger, yells, “Protect the vulnerable!” before charging forwards and invoking the Power of Oak and Thorn. As he runs after Ophelia, his body starts changing and out of his bodies starts growing oak, ash, and thorn, creating knightly-looking armour, but made of fresh branches that also sprout leaves – he pulls out his staff and shield as he dashes forward and calls the panicking miners to his side. Xantheus runs forward and tries to encourage the miners to stand with them rather than running away – seeing a glorious gold Dragonborn coming to their aid, some of the miners turn again to fight. Xantheus casts Mage Armor – twisting symbols and shapes coat his body, chest, shoulders, and arms – the geometric forms twist and spin until they slow to a stop and then fade into invisibility. He waves his torch to try to catch the attention of the xenomorphs. Across his left and right arms, some runes begin to glow with a slight illumination – these slowly-twisting, impossible shapes appear as if etched onto his skin, interwoven with his scales.

The skittering creatures rush out, some pouncing on the fallen miners, one other rushing towards an open chest on one of the tables that contains ore and minerals. The creature leaps onto the chest and begins scooping the gold and iron ore in the chest into its mouth and eats it – the ore vanishes. The rest of the creatures claw and bite at the fallen miners before a few more of the creatures appear at the mouth of the mine. Rowan slams his hands together, causing the geometric veins on his arms to pulse with a blue energy – he pulls his hands apart, creating an image of a large pile of gold under a nearby tree (Silent Image). The two closest creatures that are attacking the miners suddenly stop attacking, their heads snap towards the gold, their heads cocked and twisting.

The badly injured miners stand and try to hit the creatures – one hits, the other swings wide with his pick. The two that Xantheus had called to ready themselves defensively behind the party.

### **Part Two**

*The first battle continues and the team encounters a potential ally!*

Our heroes, after investigating some matters around Burnell, and pursuing some criminals on the run, have travelled to the Blackrock Mine at sunset. They have arrived as the local miners fell from the mine entrance, pursued by strange and deadly creatures.

Seeing the others run forward and looking inspiring, Daisy tells herself to be brave and prepares to attack. The voice in her head, however, tells her, “Be cautious, little one…” but Daisy tells it that she’s got this before running to the nearest downed miner and attacking the creature nearby with her shortsword. She finds a gap between the chitinous plates and thrusts the blade in, Nim advising her in her head when to strike. As the body slumps down, thick sizzling acidic dark blood splashes across the miner’s chest and begins to burn the skin. Daisy notices that the creature’s stomach under the chitinous plates appears bloated, and that when it dies, its armour begins to dissolve, almost as if it is digesting itself. The burned miner reels but moves behind the rest of the party to safety. Daisy then runs to find another hiding spot behind a nearby crate. Ophelia jumps on the table beside her and attacks a nearby creature with her whip, catching it across the neck, almost killing it.

Gruff attacks one of the creatures that has been distracted by the illusory pile of gold, crushing and wounding it with his quarter staff – Gruff positions himself between the miner and the creature. The armour on Gruff’s chest bursts with a green light, growing additional thorns and flowers (almost as if hitting the creature gives Gruff some temporary health). Xantheus runs towards Daisy, startling her, and then, creating a circle of runes in the air that he punches, casts *Chaos Bolt.* An orb of thunder magic shoots out at one of the creatures, slamming into it and erupting with a loud deep noise. The creature explodes, covering the miner in acid and felling him immediately.

The two creatures that have just emerged from the mine are immediately distracted by the false gold pile and stand, staring towards it – that is until the creature nearest Gruff loses interest in the fake gold pile, realising it to be fake, then none of the creatures are taken in by the illusion – the creatures have some sort of hive mind. The creature nearest Gruff begins trying to wrap its mouth around his coin pouch but the new armour protects him. Ophelia keeps her creature at bay with her whip before more creatures emerge from the mine. Rowan moves up behind Xantheus, casting *Heroism* on him. The miners at the back prepare themselves for an attack, should one eventuate. The miner next to Gruff attacks but misses, and another attacks one of the uninjured creatures, doing minor damage with his pick axe.

All of them hear a faint droning but, to Rowan, it is a strange resonance that has an aura of authority of commanding, authority, and royalty it comes from deep in the earth and through the mine’s entrance (almost as if through a mouth) – as the creatures hear it, they are filled with a burst of energy, allowing them to move and attack immediately. One of the miners is hit and goes down before another creature swings at and misses Ophelia. Xantheus is hit but expends one of his charged runes, absorbing some of the damage of the blow.

Daisy jumps on the crate in front of her, next to Ophelia, and swings at the creature attacking Xantheus, missing with both dagger and shortsword. Ophelia tries to finish off the creature in front of her but it senses the attack coming and dodges out of the way – she leaps off the table and moves to Gruff, trips and stumbles, and picks herself up, but is slowed. The creature attacks Ophelia as she leaves and lands a bite on her. Gruff takes a deep breath and roars, frightening two of the creatures, who cower before him., before attacking one of the wounded creatures - it senses the attack coming and dodges out of the way. A miner hits one of the wounded creatures before Xantheus backs up (taking a hit from the nearby creature) and casting another *Chaos Bolt* – the orb is frosty this time, and the ice manages to flash freeze the creature, stopping the acidic explosion.

One creature hits Gruff, two hit Ophelia, and one hits Daisy as they rush up in a frenzy – some of them are so close to death but they do not seem to care, they are being driven by something to attack and have no hesitation or care for their own self-preservation.

Rowan is shaken by the noise that has come from the mine but attacks one creature with his longsword, smashing the bench in front of it instead. He looks at the downed miner and sees as he reaches out with healing energy that this one is dead – he instead heals a miner next to Ophelia who had been rendered unconscious by one of the creature’s attacks. One of the miners shoves the creature near Daisy and Ophelia backwards, knocking it prone, before another miner throws his pick at it – he misses, then panics when he realises that he will now be facing the creature unarmed. Another miner strikes the creature next to Ophelia, as does the miner next to Gruff. Three of the five remaining creatures now look like they are almost dead.

Daisy runs past the prone creature near her, stabbing at it as she passes, and rolling out of the way of most of the expected acid explosion, then finds a wagon to use as shelter. Ophelia moves to the nearest creature and sinks her fangs into it (*Reckless Bite)* – with its acidic blood flooding her mouth, she is filled with pain and rage, and the creature explodes, just catching Ophelia with some of the acid splash.

The miner next to Ophelia is now terrified of this snarling, crazed creature beside him. Gruff’s armour surges green again but coalesces down his arm and turns blue as a knife of ice forms in his hand – he throws the ice knife, which misses, but when it explodes, the injured creature dies from the ice shards – the creature explodes and acid splashes over Gruff. Xantheus runs towards Ophelia and casts *Firebolt* at the creature left fighting Gruff –  a blast of magical flame fires from Xantheus’ chest, but there is a red and gold crackle in his chest – the flame enlarges to an inferno, and a bolt of radiant hellfire launches across at the creature. As the flame hits the creature, and engulfs it, they notice that there is something about the fire that makes it cling to the creature – when the creature goes to explode, the fire burns faster, enveloping the acid blood, and the fire does not stop as it totally incinerates the creature. The dying flames reach out towards Gruff and the miner as if living, as if it needs fuel and needs to burn… before they die down and snuff out. Xantheus screams in pain as if casting the spell has hurt him (there is an inferno in his chest), he clutches his chest and falls to the ground. As everything dies around the last creature, it seems to snap as if waking up, and it attempts to run – Ophelia swings and misses, but the miner manages to kill the fleeing beast, both are splashed with acid, and Ophelia looks close to death.

The miners are overwhelmed and panicking – they mention helping Marrion and the others and look into the mine, but they also want to go back to town to get help. Rowan checks on Xantheus who insists that he is fine, so Rowan checks on Ophelia, who is bloodied but cleaning herself up and composing herself. Percival comes over and begins to fix her hair. Where the miners and the party have burns and scars from the acid splashes, Ophelia’s superficial damage seems to heal away in front of their eyes leaving no acid burns or scars.

Daisy is still on the floor, panicking, and thinking that the battle is still ongoing – she calls to Nim to ask what the creatures are and hears the familiar voice telling her that the battle is done and that she is safe. Nim does not know what the creatures were, they are of this world, not of the realms beyond. Nim then offers to allow Daisy to use her power to heal herself – Daisy uses *Healing Hands* on herself, the familiar power swelling up inside her and her eyes taking on the familiar glow as some of her wounds heal up – Daisy hears Nim’s soft song, the song that she sang to her as a little child, with a harmonious choir-like voice. Gruff is busy checking on all the miners and making sure that they are all ok before kneeling over the miner who died and apologising for failing in his duty to the man. One of the miners comes alongside Gruff, an Orc woman – she is sorry for poor Finn, who was always slower than the rest of them because of his duff leg. She promises that his body will get back to his family and thanks Gruff for saving the rest of them, reassuring Gruff that they have done a good deed. The Orc miner angrily blames Marrion and the three others that Marrion brought with her – whatever they did in the mine woke the creatures up, summoned them, or brought them here, and she says that Marrion needs to pay for this. The Orc warns Gruff that Marrion and the three others are still in the mine and that they are summoning or making more. Gruff tells the woman to go back to town and to tell Captain Vecaro to get to the mine immediately – she runs over to the table that Ophelia had been standing on, rummages around underneath it and pulls out a dirty and torn map, thrusting it into Gruff’s hands and telling him that it is a map of the mine. She tells him that the mine is a maze but that she’s fairly certain that Marrion and the others have gone into the newest shaft at the bottom of the mine – the mine had been running dry, and Marrion said that she had a solution, so took the three down into the new shafts where they had been trying to find new veins. The woman warns Gruff that it will be dangerous because there are chasms and cave-ins, but she marks a path on the map for them to follow that should be safest. The Orc then leads the miners back to town.

Xantheus has recovered by now and is standing close to Ophelia – rather than appearing terrifying, she had looked impressive to Xantheus. Daisy wanders over to Gruff to have a look at the map, getting Nim to have a look at it as well, knowing that this was her job at a former point in time. She hears the voice, *“I’ve memorised the route, little one. Yes, there’s many twists and turns, but I think I can see the logic of where these miners have dug. I can see the ambush points, I can see where I would strike, and… yes, I have this memorised”*. Daisy knows that she does not have that memory but that she can call on Nim to give her that memory when she needs it as an image in her mind.

They turn to Gruff and ask what they should do next. He sighs, allowing his armour to disperse and revealing multiple bleeding wounds, but tells them that with Marrion and the three criminals being in the mine summoning these creatures, they must go directly in and stop them. The creatures that they have just killed are mostly dissolved in their own juices or blood, excepting the one that Xantheus snap froze – none of them has ever seen a creature like it. It has chitin and rock plating with a fleshy underbelly, parts of it look worm-like under its armour, but it also has digging, scything talons and scooping hands. It has elongated, worm-like tails, bulbous heads, but no eyes, an elongated head, and distended bellies that seem to be shifting and murmuring.

Rowan touches the ground, feeling a faint presence deep within the earth, far deeper than where the miner indicated to Gruff that Marrion would be. The presence is immense – its discordant wail and resonance is like a mournful cry of rage, hunger, and desire. It is not pleasant and makes Rowan very uncomfortable, but he takes some solace in that it is very far away and that there is seemingly no awareness to it. Rowan has always had a natural talent to feel the harmonies and resonances in the world’s stone, but he feels that the stone in the mine is suffering, the area is unhappy, and that there is something unnatural that is bringing a wrongness here that the earth does not like. Rowan tells them that the “belly of Altheya is very angry” and that the whole land is suffering, that something is wrong. He tells them that the wrongness is deeper than what Marrion is doing but that it is like poking at an upset stomach.

The party expresses its surprise at each other’s abilities while Ophelia’s eyes dart back and forth from Gruff’s bleeding wounds, and she feels a building hunger but manages to control it for now. Xantheus suggests not pushing their luck and going into the mine in the shape they are in. As they are conversing, there is a stirring in the rock beside the mine entrance – the rock almost ripples like a pond before someone steps out. A Tyfling, one of the children of Saint Tyfeen steps out – they have a deep emerald green skin, twisted and jagged, almost stone-like, horns, and they are bedecked in very rich looking clothing, brown, dull orange, and gold in colour, and they are dripping with jewels – dozens of rings, necklaces, and gems. They appear suddenly and take an appraising look at the land around them before noticing the party standing nearby. “Hello,” says the Tyfling, with its mellifluous voice, before asking them if they are in pursuit of a Dwarven thief and announcing that “Berrick must be nearby”. They notice the state of the people around them, bloodied and scarred, realising that they must have been in some sort of scuffle.  Daisy insists on knowing who the Tyfling is – they introduce themselves as Kalifris, a trader and liaison who works with clients.

Kalifris tells them that they arrived there via a magic spell that was designed to bring them to ‘the source of somebody who has upset someone that they work with’. Kalifris was hoping that there would be some soldiers or similar who could be enlisted to assist them. Noting their condition, Kalifris asks if they would like some assistance – he opens his coat and reaches into a pocket, pulling out two red vials, holding one in each hand and spinning them around in his long fingers – they see his long nails that have been painted gold and studded with gemstones. “Consider this compliments of Kalifris”, he says, holding them out to the injured party members.

Xantheus puts a hand out to stop Ophelia from moving forward. Ophelia looks puzzled, however, asking if Kalifris wants anything in return. He tells them no and asks them to consider them a gift – he asks for nothing in return and asks for no payment. It is clear that none of the party trusts Kalifris as he smiles at them – Xantheus has had experience with traders before, including those who offer something for free, knowing that they are building up to something else. It is the offer for free that hooks the unwary and lures them into a bad deal. Gruff sees a million and one plans being hatched in Kalifris’ dazzling eyes – he is taking each of them in and analysing them with a wild grin. Daisy reaches into her mind, projects the image of Kalifris, and recites his words back to Nim – for the first time in a long time, she hears alarm in her friend’s voice, *“By the light of the peaks!”* She speaks a word that sounds like a chime – it is language but does not sound like language, it sounds like a harsh sound, like a curse or expletive. *“A traitor! An agent of a realm! Do not trust this one!”*

Daisy insists that they need to go back to town immediately. Kalifris, dripping with sarcasm, tells her that that would be a terrible shame given that he doesn’t know how much time they have (as he looks back into the mine). He suggests that Berrick will cause quite a problem if he is not dealt with almost immediately, and reluctantly begins to pull the potions away from them. Daisy relays this conversation to Nim, asking why they can’t trust Kalifris and whether they should leave. Nim tells Daisy that the *“Tyfling has made a deal with one of the Primordial Court. They are an agent of an Efreet, a Djinn, a Dao, or some other planar lord. Your friends need help and they are likely right, this criminal, this Dwarf, has meddled in matters that it does not understand. Be wary. This creature has sold its soul – it’s damned itself to an eternal life of suffering and war. It is trying to get into the world that I left behind.”* Daisy asks if they should get in and out as quickly as possible, but Nim can only tell her to trust her own judgement but to be wary at the same time.

Xantheus apologises to Kalifris for their trepidation and explains that it comes on the heels of him appearing out of the rock immediately after a rough battle. Kalifris bemoans the fact that if only he had arrived sooner, he would have been able to help – when Xantheus repeats the “if only”, Kalifris grins, cheekily. Xantheus asks who Kalifris works for – he clearly does not want to give a name, so refers to them only as “the Baron”. Kalifris tells them that Berrick has stolen something that belongs to the Baron, and while he was trying to reclaim it, Kalifris prefers to avoid direct confrontation – he was hoping to encounter some soldiers or hero-types who could reclaim the item for him, and he would be able to offer them some assistance… such as potions to mend wounds, or something more exotic that might be crimson in colour. It is clear that Kalifris somehow knows about Ophelia and as he grins at her, his canines become gold fangs before returning to normal and retreating. Daisy asks about the Baron’s actual name – Kalifris says that it “sort of is” their name but because he is a liaison and the Baron is a client, he must maintain client privilege and privacy, but he does reassure them that the only thing that the Baron is interested in is recovering their stolen property.

Daisy asks what property has been stolen and, unlike the Baron’s name, Kalifris is more than happy to tell them about this – he tries to give them the healing potions once more, Rowan declaring him to be very generous (at which Kalifris is delighted). Kalifris tells Rowan this time that while he is offering the potions for nothing material, he is hoping that they might buy him some trust or a moment of their time, and that is all. Xantheus and Ophelia are still not sure, but once Kalifris swears on his mother whom he loves dearly, Ophelia eventually gives in and grabs one of the potions out of Kalifris’ outstretched hands. Kalifris smiles, calling her a feisty one. He offers the second potion to Gruff once more in a cheerful tone, but Gruff is steadfast and not amused – he flatly refuses the offer, so Kalifris simply makes the other potion disappear. Rowan apologises, telling Gruff that normally he would be able to help, but that he’s exhausted his means for now.

Kalifris does not miss a beat and starts telling them about the property that he is trying to recover for the Baron – he tells them that it was “held for a little bit” by the Shrine and Priestess of Misara, and that they only acquired it because they arrested an agent of the Baron a long time ago, taking the property into their custody. The Baron was fine and understood that the Priestess would look after the property, according to Kalifris, but Berrick has taken the item for a different reason, and the Baron does not like this. The object in question is a rod called The Hand of the Lightless Pilgrim: it is a relic but a “minor trifle in the Baron’s collection” and was useful to an agent of his long ago. Its purpose is to help one find veins of precious metals, ores, and minerals but Kalifris believes that  Berrick may have damaged it when stealing it and that this has caused it to malfunction. This malfunction appears to have caused the rod to have called to Belaynn, the Embered Goddess: Belaynn is also known as “She Who Hungers” and “The Worm of the Depths”. Belaynn is an ancient terror and Kalifris tells them that such an evil of Altheya cannot be allowed to interfere with this matter – he proposes that the rod is retrieved, and returned to the Baron, after which there would surely be some reward given.

Kalifris notices that Ophelia is staring intently at the potion she has taken from him but not yet imbibed it – he encourages her to do so, seeing the state that she is in, Ophelia still isn’t certain of his motives, however, so keeps looking at it desperately. Xantheus asks whether the rod was, until very recently, in the possession of a certain priestess, and Kalifris confirms that it was. He then asks Kalifris why Authorator Tekis is so interested in catching the Dwarf, Berrick – at the mention of the Authorator, Kalifris explains that he hates cults of the Embered, and believes that Berrick is a member of Belaynn’s cult who stole the rod to use in some ceremony of worship. Kalifris does not believe this, however, believing that Berrick is more interested in his own financial gain. The Authorator and Berrick are known to have a long history, and when the Authorator came to learn that Berrick might be a member of the cult (Kalifris is “not sure where he got such an idea…”), finding some books and scrolls in one of Berrick’s hideouts (and again, Kalifris does “not know how they got there…”). It is obvious that Kalifris has set Berrick up. Ophelia tells Kalifris that he weaves quite a web, to which Kalifris replies that spiders are quite clever and pretty. As he says this, he focuses for a moment and multiple eyes start appearing over his face – they blink in unison, and then his face is suddenly normal again.

Rowan says that he feels uneasy and that Kalifris does not seem to be forthcoming. Kalifris is mortified – he has given them gifts and answers where he can but apologises if he appears to be duplicitous. Kalifris thanks them for the chat and warns them that while they might be able to grab a few minutes of rest, he would not recommend waiting for the troops from town – he thinks that Berrick and the others will be dead, the rod lost, and more of the creatures (hundreds, thousands?) might come out from the mine. Ophelia asks Kalifris if he knows what the creatures are, “Creatures of Belaynn”, he responds, “spawn of some kind of the Embered Goddess. Belamorphs, I think they’re called. They feed on gold and gems, but in their stomachs, they have a sort of portal that sends it to their Goddess”. Their stomachs, he tells them, can be harvested by wizards to be used as materials to create bags of holding, although the frozen Belamorph is small, so while it might be able to be used as a reagent, it will not be able to be made into a bag of holding itself. Kalifris does tell them that the stomach might get them 50-100 gold from the right buyer – Xantheus suggests that they trade the stomach for the second healing potion and a little bit of blood for Ophelia. Kalifris is impressed with the Gold Dragonborn, whom he says has the mind and eye of a businessman. Kalifris agrees to take the corpse in exchange for the other potion of healing and some blood, but he needs them to go into the mine, get Berrick, and return the rod, once again promising them a reward for doing so.

Xantheus and Daisy ask for a moment so that they can talk amongst themselves – Kalifris happily moves to a ladder-like thing and lies down, completely relaxed with his tail swishing. As he examines his nails, his whole arm begins to slim down, his body shifts as it begins to take on a more feminine form, the hair grows, curves develop, and suddenly Kalifris is a female Tyfling. Xantheus, talking quietly to his companions, asks, “Before we talk further, you can still hear me, can’t you, Kalifris?” Kalifris is pretending to examine her make up and drawing eyeliner on, but her eyes dart quickly in Xantheus’ direction as he speaks – Xantheus is certain that Kalifris does not intend him to notice this and knows that they are still listening to him. He nods to the others to indicate that anything said will be overheard. Xantheus suggests that Kalifris may be right and that they might need their help – Rowan suggests that they do not need to agree to anything since they would not be rewarded until the job is finished and that they were going to go down anyway. Daisy is concerned because everyone is terribly injured, but Gruff says that he will go down anyway, for Finn and for the Duke’s favour, adding that they may make deals with the trickster, but that he will not. Gruff says that he will sort himself out, and that it is against his code and his morals to deal with such a slippery eel – he will not hear any more arguments from Xantheus and walks towards the mine entrance, glowing briefly as his wounds start to heal *(Heroic Short Rest(see Trivia)).* Rowan follows Gruff.

Xantheus asks Daisy whether she is heading in – she will but does not want to work with Kalifris because she does not trust them. Xantheus insists that he has traded, *not made a deal* with Kalifris. Ophelia still has not taken the potion and does not know what to do – she does not want to work for anyone or make a deal with anyone, but she needs blood. Xantheus decides to head to the mine, and Ophelia, realising that there is blood in there (in the bodies of the three criminals), decides to follow, putting the potion at her feet – Kalifris picks up the potion with her tail and it disappears. Kalifris wishes them good luck and tells them that she is sure that she will see them again before bidding them farewell.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

0:00 - Start
1:02 - Intro theme
2:04 - Part 1
1:39:56 - Part 2
3:23:57 - Outro

## **Characters**

#### **PCs**

* Gruffudd of Tremorrew
* Rowan
* Xantheus Auregan
* Daisy Thistleheart
* Ophelia D'larosa

#### **New NPCs**

* Finn (dead miner)
* Unnamed Orc miner
* Kalifris (Tyfling)

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Percival
* Adrianna
* Authorator Zarron Tekis
* Captain Lucas Vecaro

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Marrion
* Reeve Lynette (sp?)
* Marrion’s parents
* Berrick Brassfist (sp?)
* The Baron (Kalifris’ employer/client)
* Priestess of Misara
* Belaynn, the Embered Goddess

## **Featured Locations**

* Caldra
	+ Burnell (village)
	+ Blackrock Mine

## **Trivia**

* **Lore drop:** In the Empire, the undead are not common, and necromancy is not a common magical tradition. Religious powers and factors teach that when one dies, if you are worthy enough, you are chosen to ascend to become a divine saint, joining the two Scions, the Goddesses Meilyr and Pyris, up in the heavens (the stars), living on as an immortal protector almost like a god. If you are not deemed to be worthy, your soul is held until it can be reborn into a new body and a new life where you are given a new chance to become worthy. Dead bodies are typically returned to the earth (buried or cremated with the ashes scattered). Those considered unworthy are “reanimated as a soldier and made to fight a horrible war” (according to Gruff). (note this is similar to information provided in episode 1 but contains some slight differences).
* **Lore drop:** Orcs of Altheya are regarded as heroes in the Empire. A long time ago, they suffered – before anyone knew how to fight, and before the Dragon Empress came to build the Empire, during the Equinox War between the gods and the Protomagi, the Orcs used themselves to shield other races from harm, from the terrible creatures of the Brightstorm. As a result, they earned scars that are passed down through their bloodlines and glow with a slight magical light, and they are regarded as protectors and warriors.
* **Lore drop:** Magic is common enough in Altheya that someone using their abilities to talk with animals would be generally ignored, but for some it might be somewhat unusual. Knowing magic is not a huge issue, however. More powerful magic is quite rare, and not everyone knows magic – you do have to train, learn, or be gifted with it.
* **Lore drop:** Caldra, in the last 20 years, has discovered a rudimentary black powder (gunpowder). Flintlock pistols and Wheellock pistols are a new thing but are very rare. The fire powder is found in the volcanic mountain ranges. It has a strong sulfuric, pungent, acrid smell.
* Kim referenced a parrot that gave a witness statement in court in the real world, suggesting that the stoat ferrets might be able to give testimony. Kim suggests that the parrot may be in witness protection because it knows names.
* **Lore drop:** Mark has changed many of the races in his world – most races do not have darkvision, many have low light vision, and only Dark Elves and the Duergar/Duener (sp?) have darkvision. Ophelia also has darkvision due to her nature.
* **Lore drop:** The sun is the fortress of Pyris, the moon is the fortress of Meilyr – these are the two Scions. The moon is small on Altheya but gives off a bright silvery light. In addition to the sun and moon, there is a third celestial body that graces the heavens, and it only moves a small amount each day – it is a larger, broken moon, and it is being broken apart with parts crumbling and breaking away. It gives off a faint, golden red light, and there are black cracks woven across its surface. This is The Crown, which to the Ilmerans, is the moon in which the creator deity, Sovereign, is bound. To the Ilmerans, Sovereign was overcome with grief and rage and tried to annihilate everything in the Brightstorm. To the Osseans, Sovereign was not the creator, but an enemy and a fool that the Grave Father banished and sealed into the Crown for provoking the Protomagi. This was the Grave Father’s way of resolving the issue. The Crown is barely visible during the day, but its intense glow makes it visible during the evening. The Sun and Moon keep an ever-watchful vigil over the Crown. There are scholars who track how much the Crown is breaking apart and the Church of the Scions tells people that everything is fine, and that it is kept intact enough that Sovereign cannot escape. The Crown moves slowly over Altheya and passes over all continents (including Osseus), although it is in some areas more than others. The Crown is very large by comparison to both the fortresses of Pyris and Meilyr (Mark compares it to looking at Draenor from Outland in WoW).
* The players’ minis are larger than normal so that they are easier to spot on a battle map and the bases are colour coded.
* Kim spent the first two rounds of the first combat thinking that Gruff’s movement was 25 ft. It is, in fact, 35 ft, but she had encumbrance ticked on D&D Beyond which reduced it. Mark advised that they are not using encumbrance rules.
* Kim confirmed that she is playing a custom subclass made by Mark. She is playing a Druid with a subclass Circle of the Green Shield. This is a more martial druid, inspired by The Green Knight and the Warden class from 4e.
* It was confirmed that this campaign will use the usual Mark Hulmes crit rules – max the damage of the dice then roll and add that damage on top.
* When Ophelia is not raging, she is very upright and proper. When she is raging, she is more hunched forward and feral.
* Mark indicates that looking at and memorising maps was Nim’s job.
* Mark says that the best way to imagine a Belamorph (the creatures that attacked them at the mine entrance) is to imagine a Tyranid or Termagant from Warhammer:
* Mark commented in Discord: “As a point, I’m using both the Altheya term and standard dnd ones, because I don’t want people going “this guy doesn’t know how to pronounce tiefling” or “what the fuck is a Nalunari”, so saying tiefling or tyfling is fine either way.”
* Mark commented in Discord: "The Armour of Oak and Thorn temp hp triggers when you take the attack action, cast a melee spell attack, or restore hit points using a spell of 1st or higher."
* **Lore drop:** Tyflings are the children of Saint Tyfeen, one of the sacred saints. Tyflings are those who have demonic or infernal heritage.
* **Lore drop:** Belaynn (also known as “She Who Hungers” and “The Worm of the Depths”) was one of the original Gods that came with Sovereign to Altheya and helped shape the world. The Protomagi killed Belaynn, so Sovereign resurrected them with their flame. When they came back to life, they came back full of grief, rage, and anger just like Sovereign. As a corrupted Goddess, she wanted to wipe out all life on Altheya, warped from her original purpose. She is now one of the three Embered, ancient beings that have become evil deities. Belaynn is often tied to greed and the depths, and is said to live in rock, deep in the earth, and loves to devour gems and ore. She is particularly feared by the Dwarves who themselves become those materials, since Belaynn is said to hunger for their transformed bodies. Anyone who now worships and Embered God is said to be a cultist and a heretic by the Church of the Scions – the punishment for this crime is execution.
* Katie described the Belamorph stomach that they were proposing to take as the “new piece of enemy carcass that we drop off in a town and then never go back to collect” (AKA wyvern hide armour from the Aerois campaign).
* **New Rule (homebrew)**: Once every 7 days of in-game time, the players can use a short rest as an “heroic short rest”. Instead of this taking an hour, it takes 5 minutes. You gain the benefits of a short rest, but you push yourself to do it – you cannot gain the heroic short rest again until you have 7 days of down time (spend a week in a town, village, or settlement doing nothing).