Ascendant Justice

## Ascendant Justice (8/11)

### Dragon Tales

* The group is traveling with the survivors of the massacre, following the Northwest River towards the Poison Hill/Jungles of Gladrael's Soul. They are trying to decide whether to go to Murkwater or to an uncontacted tribe in the Poison Hills. They decide to head to Murkwater.
* Neko notices something flitting about near the top of the mountains, possibly flying. He takes a look with his scope.
* It gets late and Zhu Li finds a cave a bit up the mountain. The group forages the surrounding area and finds some plants for healing and wood for a fire. They gather around the campfire and start reading Eli's notes.
	+ Neko starts reading, and makes sure to skip over some of the crazier parts of the story to go over with the group later. Wiin picks up on Neko marking the pages and suggests that it's time for the survivors to rest so that the group can have some privacy.
	+ The group reads up where the original party had failed to defuse the bomb in the warehouse and get captured by the Sirex Calvary arrive.
	+ Levi sends a Thunderclap to try and contact Humble Downpour again.
* The group gets ready to leave the next morning. Levi climbs a tree so that he can try Thunderclap again, but there's no response. Flumph comes over because he senses that Levi is worried about Humble. Flumph asks if Levi thinks Humble can handle herself. Levi admits that she's better at that than he ever was. Flumph senses that this admission hurts Levi. Levi tells Flumph that he loves him.
	+ Levi starts dancing with Flumph. Akira joins in and plays a traditional CryoSphinx dance. Neko casts light on a bunch of rocks and joins in. Swift as the Wind pulls out a lute and starts playing it. Her daughter also joins in
	+ Levi casts Fly and touches Agile as a Zephyr so that they are both flying and dancing in the air. Levi waltzes with her in the air. When the flying starts, Zhu Li casts Minor Illusion to put flashes of color on Levi and Zephyr's hands and feets.
	+ Neko asks Zhu Li to dance and they waltz as well.
	+ Levi touches Elliot so that Elliot flies as well. Elliot is so happy he starts to cry a little. He flies over to Agile as a Zephyr and starts dancing with her.

### City Group

* Shadow, Xavia, and Kysona are in the pocket dimension and are preoccupied with getting White Widow's spider out of Shadow. Kysona suggests that he try to pull it out of Shadow with Mage Hand, Xavia suggests that she use Detect Thoughts on Shadow to try and combat White Widow mentally, and Shadow suggests that she take a poison, die, and then be revived.
	+ Kysona's plan does not work. They begin contemplating Xavia's idea -- Shadow is not a fan.
	+ Shadow tries to vomit out the spider but does not succeed.
* Kysona has another suggestion. They wait an hour for Kysona's familiar to reform into a tiny snake. Shadow changes form into a Goliath and Kysona has the snake crawl into Shadow's mouth. Shadow starts seeing through eyes that aren't hers -- she sees images of what's going on in the streets of the South slums and then what's going on in the refinery factories. The snake crawls through the throat and into the stomach but doesn't see the snake.
	+ Kysona summons the snake back towards him and has it crawl up the throat and into the nose where it finds it trying to burrow into Shadow's brain. The snake swallows the spider and Kysona teleports the snake into an empty potion bottle. The snake regurgitates the spider and Kysona teleports the snake out of the bottle and has it transform into Aria's usual form.
	+ In the process Shadow is downed but is stabilized by Xavia.
* The group decides to stay in the pocket dimension for the next six hours. Xavia and Kysona discover that they are Warlock cousins.
* Xavia and Kysona send their pixie familiars to see what's going on outside. First they send them to Anton's lair, which they find that the club has been completely wrecked and crawling with Yuan Ti
	+ Next Aria goes to Scorching Blaze's workshop and Kysona relays to Blaze that Shadow has been compromised and Blaze needs to get out of the Underflow. Blaze responds that she can't leave until she finishes what she came down here to do and Shadow needs to help her do that. Shadow owes it to her family.
* After 6 hours, the group leaves the pocket dimension and Xavia leads them to a grocery store which turns out to be a hideout for the Lions of the GynoSphinx.
* Franz leaves the lift and heads towards the river where he starts attuning to the necklace he stole from the Queen. Because he has an anti-Divination amulet on, attuning to the necklace means that the Queens guards will no longer be able to track it with Detect Object. Afterwards, Franz heads back to the lift and finds that it is temporarily shut down.
	+ The lift starts up again and only people who are confirmed to be Underflow residents are allowed on. Franz turns invisible and sneaks onto the elevator. He goes to Anton's lair, but sees that it is overrun with White Widow's people. He then tries to head to where he and Kysona picked up their reward money, but is stopped by a patrol group. They have a very accurate description/image of Franz, and attempt to apprehend him. Franz manages to get away, but not without almost dying.
	+ Franz sneaks back to the surface and finds a cheap inn to spend the night.
* Matthias wakes in the surface world in a doctor's bed. Anton says that his Admiralty contacts got them out of the Underflow, and Matthias will miraculously make a full recovery. Matthias says that they need to go back into the Underflow to meet up with or rescue the other members of the party. Anton advises against this because his Admiralty contact would not be able to get them out a second time.
	+ Matthias warns Anton that Vulture is in danger.
	+ Anton tells Matthias that Queen Jabari is (obviously) upset that her scarf is taken but also alleging that an assassination attempt was made on her. She's calling for the Admiralty to impose law and order.
	+ Anton says that there's a hideout in the Academic district, but that will have to be communicated to the others somehow.

## Of Unfurled Dreams and Unfurled Wings (9/4)

### Eli

* After seeing the poem carved into her bed, Eli decides to go on a walk through the air ship to walk off some nervous energy.
	+ The airship is small. Eli, Ina, and Liluth are in bunk quarters with two beds on each side. There's a kitchen, a bathroom, and a small seating area, but most of the ship is the ambassador's quarters.
	+ Eli returns to the room and checks whether she can still use her magic items (she can). Liluth asks her what Eli plans on doing once she gets back to Sirex, and Eli tells her that she hopes to find that her mother is still alive. She also will probably investigate the Void creatures that the Court of Owls invited into Arcadia. Liluth becomes uncomfortable talking about Dr. Perry's experiments and the Void creatures
* That night, Eli has a dream that she is a fox running from an unknown hunter and a mysterious clock sound. She's unable to see who the hunter is. When the "clock" strikes twelve, the moon gets very bright, blinding her and causing psychic damage. She wakes up and doesn't go back to sleep for the rest of the night.
* Eli spends the next day reading a book on different schools of magic. She doesn't take her meds. That night, she has another dream:
	+ This time she is a snake. She vaguely recalls that she had another dream similar to this one, and she remembers the parable. She slithers towards the ticking sound, but isn't able to find the clock. When she senses that the clock is about to strike twelve, she goes to try and hide.
* Eli wakes up and doesn't take any damage because she made the Wisdom save, but she could tell that whatever it was had been about to get her. Now that she's off her meds, she feels the static feeling much stronger, and it seems to be coming from her.
* Eli goes back to sleep and has a dream that she's a bear. She's aware of what's going on, and casts Toll the Dead at the moon. The moon glows bright, and the sun starts rising behind the moon. All of Eli's skin is burning from the head of the sun.
	+ Eli the bear goes searching for the clock and finds it in the forest. She tries to rip the clock hands off with her bear paws, but something seems to catch it and hold it in place. She hears Ina shouting for Eli to wake up, and Eli wakes up to see Ina, Liluth, and Burke standing over Eli's bed. Apparently, while Eli had been sleeping, she had cast Toll the Dead on Liluth.

#### Dragon Tales

* The group's supplies are low, so Verinen goes and fishes in the river. They settle down for the night and read Eli's notes. They read until Alexei and Mother's death, then settle down for the night.
* The next day during their travels, they find some Choking Cinder Fungus. Also, Verinen notices something near the peaks. Neko lends Verinen his telescope, and Verinen sees a gigantic bird that looks to be bigger than a dragon. It seems like the bird is following them.
* That night they catch enough food for everyone to eat well, and continue reading Eli's notes, ending at the Sirex party turning Rengad over to Yazmin's old handler.
* The next morning the group reaches the waterfall and try to figure out how to get to the bottom of the falls. There is a small campsite near the waterfall, and it looks like someone before them spent some time here. Suddenly, Verinen sees the giant bird diving towards them.
	+ The Roc attacks Zhu Li twice since she looks like the largest meal. Meanwhile, the civilians rush towards the cave. Wiin intentionally makes himself a target to draw the Roc's opportunity attack. Verinen casts Speak with Animals to try and warn the Roc away. The Roc doesn't leave, determined to get food for others.
	+ Once everyone is in the cave, Zhu Li creates a wall of icy fire. It also deals cold damage on the party's supplies. Similarly, Levi casts Control Winds to make the Roc land again.
	+ In retaliation, the Roc flaps its wings and causes Zhu Li and Wiin to slam into the cave wall, downing both of them. Neko goes to heal Zhu Li while Levi goes to heal Wiin. However, Wiin dies before Levi can get to him
	+ Verinen talks to the Roc and discovers that it is looking for food to feed its chicks
* The party eventually manages to chase the Roc away and lower themselves to the bottom of the waterfall. They hold a funeral for Wiin, and Verinen plants the Samasi tree over Wiin's grave. Neko feels guilty for not healing both Wiin and Zhu Li immediately.

## 9/15 Session

### City Group

* Xavia uses the Lions of the GynoSphinx code to get the three of them into the hideout. Xavia and the shopkeeper are arguing about how Xavia shouldn't have brought Shadow and Kysona here. Xavia says that it's okay because they owe GeronimoThe shopkeeper pushes a shelf and reveals a hidden tunnel behind the walls. The walls are smooth, as if they were worn away by water, and very winding and inefficient
	+ This network of tunnels were made before the dwarves were brought to Nymeria by the Queen Ledeepo, which is the queen who founded the Nymeria capital city (she became the first queen of the kingdom alliance). The local Nymerians didn't trust the dwarves, so they made their own set of secret tunnels using cave slime. The Admiralty doesn't know about these tunnels, and now it's controlled by the Lions of the GynoSphinx.
* Eventually they emerge and head to Blaze's hideout. They find a lot of dead White Widow henchmen. Shadow hears Blaze and Climbs with Vigor talking in the other room. Blaze is complaining about how late Shadow is while Vigor is enthusiastic about meeting Shadow. They have a large, toaster-sized pulsating green contraption that is blinking and beeping.
	+ Vigor is a black cat with green eyes. He's wearing workman's clothes and a jumpsuit with knickknacks, vials, and many knives.
* Blaze tells Shadow that they (Blaze, Shadow, and Vigor, need to go into the Etherium mines and set up the toaster-sized contraption. Blaze tells Shadow that they need to ditch Xavia and Kysona.
	+ Xavia and Kysona decide to go rest at a hideout of the Lions. Shadow will go to the Lions to find them, secondary meeting point being the worker lift by the chem tunnel.
* Blaze, Vig, and Shadow head out. Vig introduces himself, and says that the goal is to unite the ambushes, but they need more material and items. The three of them head into the Etherium mines and wander around for a bit.
	+ Blaze keeps consulting a map. Shadow takes a peak and sees that Blaze seems to be looking at two maps: one of the capital, the other of the mines.
* Meanwhile, Kysona and Xavia head back to the Lions of the GynoSphinx hideout. Xavia finds a body of Fireshine and they both take a drink. The alcohol gives Kysona a false sense of bravado and courage, and he's overly confident in all of his ideas, especially the bad ones. Xaiva grows an extra tail that is very dexterous and can hold things.
* Kysona asks Xavia what she meant when she said "they tried to reach out to you and you missed something.
	+ Kysona got his powers about 8 to 10 years ago when he was about 13 years old. He was trying to get away from the Lizardfolk on the edge of Bombyx Mori when a swarm of locusts appeared and devoured everything. He woke up alone, with only Arya there. He has been using these abilities for all these years without any explanation.
* Xavia asks if he really doesn't know who's on the other side of the mirror. Kysona says that he thinks that the being in the mirror is Baba Yaga, but he hasn't been able to talk to her. He pulls out the amulet with Eli the Fey in it, and mentions that he knows that there are other beings out there (Nathair), but he also hasn't been able to communicate with them. Eli the Fey appears.
* Xavia says that Baba Yaga is not on the other side of the mirror. Both Kysona and whoever is on the other side of the mirror made the deal with Baba Yaga.
* Kysona is confused and pulls out the mirror shard. He concentrates on the shard and puts a bit of his power into it and feels for something similar.
	+ He immediately touches upon a sensation of childhood, biological familiarity. Kysona tries to say hello. The hand on the side falters a little bit, and it gives an unsure wave, almost a pained wave. It's a human or half-elf hand, though a bit smaller and daintier.
	+ Kysona puts his hand on top of it and gives a wave as well. He asks: "Who are you?" He can sense the hesitation and trauma based pain on the other side of the mirror.
	+ Kysona tries to convey confusion and loss. He gets back an overwhelming sense of loneliness and abandonment.
* Xavia asks Kysona if there are any parts of his life that he doesn't entirely remember. Kysona responds No.
* Xavia explains that Baba Yaga deals in parallels -- two sides of a magic coin. One side is here in Arcadia, and they pull magic from the other side (she points to the mirror).
	+ Xavia went to bard college and became obsessed with having more magic. Baba Yaga explained that we are all innately tied to the magic of the world. Baba Yaga simply temporarily removes one of the sides of the coin so that it can be used purely as magic. You use each other's soul, basically.
		- Xavia was a bit older when she and her person went down to Bombyx Mori.
		- Xavia switches back and forth so that neither of them have to trapped there forever.
	+ Baba Yaga is a hag, and hags feed off pain, trauma, loneliness, and anger. Whatever they do for you is to create more of that.
* Kysona is horrified to realize that his powers come from someone else's misery. His misplaced sense of confidence causes him to grab the mirror and try to push himself into it. Xavia sees what he's doing and tries to pull the mirror shard from his hand. She tells him to not do it now, he doesn't know what he's doing. Kysona is determined to not let the abuse of the person on the other side continue. Xavia promises to help him figure out who is on the other side. She tells him to calm down and not be rash or he might make it worse. She tells him to rest now, they will need his spells back.
* Xavia's person on the other side is Geronimo. She admits that they were stupid.
* Matthias is in the hospital with Anton. Anton tells Matthias and says that he's thinking of retiring -- he has no intention of dying for this cause. Matthias walks through the hospital to the chapel. The hospital seems a little empty at this point. He sees a couple tapestries -- it's a Nymerian holiday soon.
* Matthias sits in the chapel and reflects upon his experience in the Underflow and reaffirms his commitment to Dol Arrah. He also prays to Dol Arrah to ask for guidance on how to aid his allies (Franz, Shadow, Kysona).
	+ Matthias feels a strong surge of warmth on him from the light in the chapel and senses that even if he has felt lost, he is still with purpose and is not alone. Matthias is reassured that Dol Arrah is with him and can do miracles (ex: his recovery). As he is meditating, he notices the light of the sun reflect off an airship, flashing for a second before fading. He sees the name on the airship is "Ascendant Justice."
		- Matthias heads towards the airship.

### Dragon Tales

* After burying Wiin, Verinen determines that they are about a day from the Poison Hills. They've been traveling for about 4 days now. The group travels for a bit before settling down for the night. Everyone is very down.
	+ Neko tries to cheer everyone up by telling a children's story about a rabbit trying to jump to the moon. The little girl doesn't seem too enthralled with the story but Neko does his best. While he is telling his story, they notice some glowing behind a big rock far in the distance. Everyone goes silent and is on high alert.
* Verinen tries to get a better look and check for signs of civilization. He doesn't see any signs of humanoids. The light doesn't look like light from a fire.
	+ The group decides that tomorrow they will send out a scouting party to investigate.
* Neko looks for Wiin in the night sky after everyone goes to sleep. He can't for sure, but there's definitely movement amongst the stars. He definitely sees Grand Master Qutt in the stars.
* The next morning, the group decides to send Zhu Li and Levi approach the rock. They try to be stealthy, but Zhu Li doesn't succeed. They creep around and see a field of glowing sunflowers. According to Clover's book, these are Arrowhead Sunflowers.

## 9/18 Session

### Dragon Tales

* Zhu Li and Verinen decide to head to scout ahead and investigate what was causing the light behind the rock. They find a meadow of Arrowhead Sunflowers. Verinen feels heat radiating off the sunflowers, while Zhu Li does not. They recognize the sunflowers as one of the rare plants that Clover wanted them to look for.
	+ Zhu Li goes to pick the sunflowers, but when she tries to return, the heat becomes unbearable for Verinen to withstand. Verinen tosses his portable home to Zhu Li and asks her to place the flowers that she picked inside of that hole.
	+ Zhu Li returns with the portable hole. Verinen opens the hole a crack, and the heat from the sunflowers gives him a rash on his hand.
	+ Zhu Li wonders if her lack of reaction to the sunflowers is because of her experience with the Untethered.
* They return to the rest of the group with the sunflowers in the portable hole. Verinen explains what they found, and Neko asks Zhu Li to open the hole again, while the rest of the group watches from a safe distance. Zhu Li does, and Verinen and Neko all feel the heat. None of the other characters do.
	+ Clover's book mentions that elves are allergic to Arrowhead Sunflowers. Neko becomes excited at the possibilities for biological warfare, and asks Zhu Li to gather as many flowers as she can and put them in special containers that Clover gave them. Zhu Li does so.
* After dealing with that, the group continues on, avoiding the meadow of sunflowers for Neko and Verinen's sake. They settle down for the night and continuing reading Eli's notes up until Shahd's assassination. Verinen comments how they stole his idea. The party is confused.
	+ Verinen's tribe had made a deal with the Protectorate: they would use their skills and resources to help the Protectorate in its war against the Orcs, and in return the Protectorate would protect the tribe against the Orcs. Unfortunately, the Protectorate didn't hold up their end of the bargain, and a group of Orcs ended up massacring Verinen's tribe. Distraught, Verinen vowed revenge against the Protectorate, and began plotting to assassinate Shahd. When he learned that Shahd had already been assassinated, Verinen wandered adrift and purposeless until he met the current party and found the Child of Bombyx Mori. Now his new purpose is to protect the Child.

### City Group

* Blaze, Shadow, and Vig wander the Etherium mines until they come upon a cave-like opening. Some mining debris is in their way, and they try digging it out with little success. Some stray slimes also give Vig and Shadow a lot of trouble.
* Franz is in his hotel room when he hears a loud knocking on his door. He tries to say that he didn't order room service, but the knocking continues. Franz is about to jump out his window when he decides that White Widow goons would probably not bother with knocking and opens the door. Byrd and another Black Company operative is on the other side. It turns out that anti-divination amulet that the Black Company had given them also doubled as a tracker. Byrd asks for a rundown on what happened.
	+ Franz gives a quick summary of what happened, glossing over the fact that the heist had been to make some extra money. He says that the Tyger Claws have friendly and unfriendly factions, and Shadow was probably a double agent working for White Widow, given how fast White Widow's men had all of their real faces. Kysona is likely still an ally, and at this point is the only way to get in contact with the friendly Tyger Claw factions.
* Matthias heads towards Ascendant Justice. On the streets, locals are getting ready for the holiday that's coming up. There are front page articles about the attempt on the Kasaeyo Queen's life. Lots of restrictions have been put in place at the entrance and exit of the Underflow.
* As Matthias gets closer, he can see that a lot of small airships bringing people down from Ascendant Justice to a series of temporary triage stations where they are being given food, water, clothes, and medical attention. It appears to be a refugee welcome area. He sees some volunteers wearing Arasaka uniforms while others are not.
	+ Matthias approaches and offers to help. The volunteers explain that the Ashenta Tyger Claw ambush (led by Salt Maw, who is very focused on defilement of religion) has recently attacked some villages in the Uru kingdom, and Ascendant Justice has brought a lot of those refugees to the capital. The volunteers are working on getting the refugees the essentials and getting them situated at local hotels.
* Matthias is sent to the medical tent which is very understaffed. Everyone in the tent have injuries of varying severity. Matthias uses Lay on Hands to stabilize the most severely injured. The worst is what appears to the leader of the village who is suffering from partial dismemberment. Another one of note is a GynoSphinx priest who has some particularly nasty claw tears across their chest.
* After a few hours of healing, Matthias takes the opportunity to try to get the know the other volunteers and get a sense of who they are and what organizations they are a part of (if any).
	+ The leaders of the medical operations are direct soldiers of General Kaguro. She has been on a very reactive campaign going to different sites across Nymeria that have been impacted by Tyger Claw violence. The general sentiment is that Yori Nobu has been stirring things up lately and caused an increase of attacks and she's on a campaign to mitigate that damage.
	+ Matthias asks if there's any attempts to reign Yori Nobu in on the Arasaka side. The soldiers begrudgingly say that they don't know the details but that is the reason Kaguro is in the capital. She's trying to make some sort of play to shift Arasaka power policy. That's going to be focus of the speech with the Tarrin governor. She is trying to shore up support amongst the Kingdom Alliance.
* There are also other local volunteer organizations. Some do work in the Underflow, but can't get to the Underflow right now due to restrictions so there are a lot more of them available here to volunteer. They normally run shelters here. Matthias says that he's interested in helping improve the conditions below. The organizations mention that they are associated with the Lions of the GynoSphinx.
	+ Matthias gets contact info with the volunteer arm of Arasaka and separately the different volunteer organizations in the capital.
* Matthias is trying to keep an open mind. As he's leaving, he catches a glimpse of Kaguro. He feels instinctual disgust and hatred.

## 10/2 Session

* Blaze, Vig, and Shadow arrive at the spot where Blaze wants to plant the bomb. She tells Vig and Shadow that she will need to take the bomb out of its case to plant it, which will attract slimes that will want to consume them and the bomb. Blaze can put the bomb into a nullifier that will scare away the slimes, but transferring it will take some time. Vig and Shadow are in charge of keeping the slimes away in the meantime.
* Vig helps Blaze transfer the bomb. Meanwhile, Shadow spots a giant wall of black ooze heading towards them.
	+ Shadow throws Etherium cells (that she stole from Anton) to distract them and shoots them with exploding arrows. The force of the explosion does enough damage to split the ooze into two, and later to reduce them in size.
	+ Vig attacks green slimes (which can combine with the black ooze), and then spins the platform so that Blaze is as far away from the ooze as possible.
	+ After a few minutes, Blaze says that she needs a hand. Vig tries to help her, but his paw shakes from nerves. He downs a vial of pure rum to steady himself, and succeeds in helping Blaze transfer the bomb into the nullifer. The oozes start to leave.
* The three of them hide the bomb and Blaze reprograms the bomb to explode after 4 days regardless. Then they leave.
	+ Shadow asks Vig and Blaze if they have heard of Witherbloom. Vig vaguely recalls hearing about it in the news. Something to do with the capital, not with the Underflow.

* They have almost reached the South Slums and they hear a dog howling in the mines. They go investigate and find a forlorn dog howling at the ceiling. It has a wheel that has replaced one of its back legs. Shadow recognizes the dog as the pet of the little boy that Shadow ran into at the Lions of the Gynosphinx hideout.
* Buck (the dog's owner) appears. The three tabaxi hide while the dog runs to Buck. Blaze reminds Shadow and Vig that no one leaves that knows that they are here. Buck is getting ready to go, but Rex looks towards where the tabaxi are hiding and whines. The tabaxi drop some food and sneaks away. Buck asks if someone is there.
	+ Blaze wants Vig to kill Buck. Shadow argues against this, and manage to convince Blaze to let Buck live, but Blaze no longer trusts Shadow.
	+ The tabaxi double back and blow up the tunnels leading to the cave where the bomb is located to make sure that no one can easily get to the bomb.
* Meanwhile, Matthias is heading back to the hospital (amendment: Matthias would have met volunteers who are with the Lions of the GynoSphinx). Anton tells him that they have made contact with Franz outside of the city and want to go meet up with him.
	+ Franz tells Matthias that he thinks that they were betrayed by the Tyger Claws, either by Shadow or someone else. Franz suspects it is the Carver faction that betrayed them since Carver didn't want to work with them anyway. However, he does think that Kysona is still on their side.
		- Matthias doesn't want to believe that Shadow betrayed them. Franz says that even people who are very close to you can betray you (i.e. Sarovar)
* Byrd mentions that he has a location on Kysona (or more accurately, Kysona's stuff). Franz announces that he is retiring, and gives Matthias the River scarf.
	+ Kysona's stuff is still somewhere in the Underflow slums.
	+ Byrd asks Anton to stick around until Matthias meets with Vulture
* After the meeting, Matthias goes to the Academic quarter and visits the library. He starts with the plant section, then starts looking at political and geographical maps. He finds no mention of Witherbloom, but discovers that around the time of Arasaka's founding, there is an exodus of elves out of the North to Nymeria. These elves are not capable of using magic, and seem to have been abandoned by their god.

### Dragon Tails

* The party discusses what to do. They hear about the hearthstone in the Yuan-Ti infested area that can grant any wish. They also don’t want to risk the Yuan TI nor the poison hills
* They decide to fashion 2 rafts to float down to Murkwater to drop off the civilians to avoid both. They notice holes nearby so Verinen casts silence to stop the raft from making any noise and alerting people
* Verinen notices something covered in white silk, little objects around it too, like a scarf almost. Neko notices something white. Verinen goes fishing, catches some river fish.
* They (one person, don't remember who), sees hints of spiders in the water
* During the night, they decide to tie up the rafts and keep watch. Those with night vision watch at night.
* Neko uses someone’s shirt and some reeds to make a sun shade. It breaks easily
* Zhu li is able to scavenge the okay berries, but for the next two days is rough and exhausting
* They make jokes, Neko hurts themself as part of the joke.
* They do a PG puppet show of Eli’s notes.
* That night (a few nights after the berry scavengering), Neko hears a rustle behind them. Neko wakes Levi up and lets him know. Levi is looking into the water, While Levi is looking, Neko sees some humanoid figures and a spear fire through and land right next to them. Neko stars yelling to go to other shore
* Everyone try to protect civilians. They originally were gonna go to the other shore and instead decide to just get as far along as possible. Dave fixes the back raft sail, causing the back raft to go ahead of the front raft, which has a broken sail.
* Neko gets sick of the fighting and steps into the air, eyes turned red, feet turned blue, and basically tells the attackers to fuck off. It works

## 10-8 session

### City Group

* Blaze, Shadow, and Vig return to the Lions of the GynoSphinx hideout and see two Lions there with Xavia. They recognize Blaze and are not happy to see the Tyger Claws due to ideological differences.
	+ Xavia tells the group that Kagero's speech has been postponed 3 days due to the ruckus in the Underflow (at least that's the excuse given). As a result, the worker's strike has been postponed.
	+ Blaze tells Vig to tag along with Shadow and keep an eye on her.
* Kysona wakes up from his nap and casts Dream to communicate with Franz once Franz finally goes to sleep. Franz is having a nightmare about Aelis which Kysona interrupts. Kysona explains to Franz what happened with White Widow and that Shadow didn't betray them. Franz tells Kysona that Matthias is at a hospital in the capital (since Matthias has the scarf) and they agree to meet there before going to see Vulture.
	+ To prevent them from being tracked or traced, Kysona gives his anti-Divination amulet against Shadow
* Xavia leads Kysona, Vig, and Shadow to Vulture in the ChemVats. There are many dead Yuan Ti and Sasami guards in the area, and Vig and Shadow pause to harvest some Yuan Ti venom. A mechanical bird leads the party to Vulture, who looks worse for wear. La Signora and a human female, Domino, is also with him, and Shadow is shocked to see her because she thought Domino was dead.
	+ Vig helps Vulture repair his mechanical wing. Shadow learns that Domino is part of the Lions of the GynoSphinx
	+ Domino tells Shadow and Kysona that the worker's strike has the backing of powerful people, including someone high up in Arasaka. She tells them to listen to Kagero's speech if they want to learn more.
	+ Vulture helps the party get to the surface via an exhaust valve. Vig considers relaying this exit to the Tyger Claws
	+ Vig notices that La Signora is playing a flute that is part of the enchantment family.
* Franz notifies Matthias that he made contact with Kysona and they will all be meeting at the hospital. Matthias waits at the hospital, and hangs out with a Dol Arrah priest in the meantime.
	+ Kysona arrives and sends Arya to get Franz. They all head to Vulture's hideout
* Matthias casts Zone of Truth and asks everyone to get into the circle so they can confirm everyone's allegiances once and for all. Domino, Vig, and Xavia also join the circle. The party recaps everything that has happened to them.
	+ Domino asks Vig and Shadow if they (the Tyger Claws) are planning anything that will endanger Underflow or Capital innocents. She dislikes their evasive answers, then gives Matthias the address for a Lions of the GynoSphinx building in the capital. Matthias tells her and everyone else what he learned about the Arasaka elves and their lack of magic. Domino thanks him and then walks out.

### Dragon Tales

* The entire party is surprised by Neko's star walking. They continue going down the river, occasionally encountering threats like a passing poison storm. Levi pulls one of the poisoned arrows out of Neko's armor, and Neko is very dramatic about it. The arrow is very well-made.
* Eventually they spot a giant, ocean-faring pirate ship just sitting on the river. It looks abandoned. Levi looks around for threats and then spots a band of Aarakocra flying down towards them. The leader, Adu the Deathmaker, announces that they are here on behalf of the Mufusu empire and demands to know who the party is. Levi introduces everyone and says that they are seeking refuge in Murkwater. The entire party bows to Adu. Adu asks if they want to visit the Mufusu Empire, and the party agrees.
	+ They board the ship, and the ship takes off into the sky.
* The party arrives at a floating city in the sky. Adu announces "Behold the Mufusu Empire" and leads them to King Mufusu. On the way, they talk to a citizen of the city, a Tabaxi, who tells them that most of the people here are seeking refuge from the conflicts and natural disasters in Nymeria.
* The King Mufusu welcomes them and offers them permanent residence and free healthcare. The civilians decide to stay in the Mufusu Empire rather than head back to Nymeria
	+ Verinen and King Mufusu bond over the fact that they used to work for the collector. Verinen asks Mufusu to lend his empire's might in their fight against Arasaka, but Mufusu says no. He doesn't want to endanger his empire -- his empire seeks to escape all that Arasaka nonsense. He suggests that they go to the Heartstone, which can give them what their heart desires but in a way that you don't expect.
	+ The Mufusu empire uses Wind Dragon magic to make the city float.
	+ Levi asks if they have seen a Storm Dragon. King Mufusu says that there have been reports of two dragons fighting over the poison hills.

## 10-16

### Dragon Group

* King Mufusu provides the party a very enthusiastic list of suggestions on what they can do in their time at the Mufusu Empire. Visiting Frimpong the Literate is at the top of the list.
* The party wanders through the Snow Land for Cold People where they meet a small community of Moon Elves. Neko is very happy to meet another Moon Elf and asks how they came to be here. They explain that a disease wiped out their tribe, and they took the opportunity to travel. They wandered across the Protectorate before finding and settling down in the Mufusu Empire
	+ Verinen asks the Moon Elf if he has come across the Kana tribe. The Elf has not personally of any Kana, but Sir Frimpong keeps records on all the inhabitant of the Mufusu Empire.
	+ Zhu Li greets the penguins, thinking they are another sub-race of Kenku.
* They cross the Bridge of Big Brains and head towards the Center of Legislation and Record Keeping. They wait ten minutes to meet with Sir Frimpong. Frimpong leads them through the library to the Room of Secret Stuff.
	+ Sir Frimpong is given the title "the Literate" because of the founding members of the Mufusu Kingdom, he was the only literate one
* The party waits outside while Frimpong retrieves a magic artifact from the Room of Secret Stuff. He comes back with a severed head with its mouth sewn shut. The artifact can bind the words of someone such that they physically cannot share information about the empire with anyone besides refugees who might want to live in the Mufusu Empire
	+ Everyone in the party consents to having the artifact being used on them.
* Once everyone has bound themselves to the magical artifact, Frimpong asks the party if there's anything else they need
	+ Neko asks Frimpong if he has any books about the split between Moon and Arasaka elves. Frimpong says he does and that Neko will have to fill out a requisition form.
	+ Verinen asks Frimpong if any Kana tribe members have come through here. Frimpong says that he will check the record for Verinen, and send a carrier pigeon to Verinen should he find anything.
	+ Levi asks Frimpong if he knows about a certain wizard who came to Levi's village and used powerful magic, including time-stopping spells. Frimpong asks Levi to write down the list of spells that he saw the wizard use. Frimpong says that the only thing that he knows that can stop time is the Orb of Planar Melding
* Frimpong gets a small statue of the GynoSphinx and sets up a temporary Zone of Truth. He asks Levi to confirm, the best of his ability, that the wizard used the spells that Levi listed.
	+ Zhu Li mentions that the Lore Keeper at the Storm Enclave that a wizard damaged the Storm of Knowledge.
* Frimpong runs back into the room of secret stuff to fetch another magic item. He comes back with a pair of glasses that creates an illusion of what the wearer sees in their mind. Levi puts it on and thinks back to when the wizard attacked his village.
	+ Levi wakes up and realizes that Cinder isn't in bed next to him and his book isn't next to him. Levi goes into his dragon form and flies to the bar near their house. Cinder and the other villagers are there. Cinder tells Levi that he was threatened by a one-eyed man who told him things that no one should know about him, his mother, and the Untethered that Levi defeated in the village. The man threatened the entire village unless Cinder brought him the book. Cinder is very sorry but he asks Levi to re-establish connection between the book and the Raiju Storm of Knowledge.
	+ Just as Levi re-establishes knowledge, Cinder pulls out his sword and begins attacking Levi. The other villagers go insane and begin attacking each other.
	+ A book flies in and takes Levi's book and brings it to someone outside. Levi lightning bolts Cinder, transforms into his dragon form, and goes after the wizard. The man morphs into the person that sent Levi into the whole journey. The wizard teleports Cinder and a clone and tells Levi to choose one to save. Levi luckily chooses his husband. Just as the illusion ends, a very powerful fireball engulfs the village. The wizard laughs, takes the book and tosses it, and tells Levi that if Levi tries to come after him, the wizard will come back and finish the job. Levi can't go into dragon mode anymore because of trauma.
	+ As a result, everyone abandoned the village because it wasn't safe anymore.
* Frimpong recognizes the wizard's appearance and runs to the library. He comes back and slams a copy of Arasaka's most wanted list. The wizard's appearance matches the appearance of Damian Rourke.
	+ Levi's story happened 60 years ago, but Damian Rourke is no more than 60. Frimpong questions how Damian could have done it given the timeline.

## 10/29 Session

### Dragon Group

* The group takes out Eli's notes and reviews where Damian appears. Then they continue where they left off.
	+ During the dragon hunt arc, Levi nervously asks if there was a red-headed woman in the band of dragon hunters. The book doesn't mention such a woman.
* Frimpong is skeptical whether Eli's notes are true. He leads the group to the room of Unfound Treasure, which is full of notes and letters from the Collector notifying treasure hunters of unfound bounty.
	+ One scroll says that the orb of planar melding is in the Anvil Islands, and Verinen recognizes that this is what his pirate crew was looking for before it capsized.
	+ Frimpong isn't sure whether the orb is real, but he's also never known the Collector to be wrong.
	+ There's a scroll with a dragon on it. Levi opens it and it describes an underground civilization in Southern Aurelia that worships a great beast and has artifacts for controlling the great beast.
	+ Other treasure that is requested is anything from Silverhearth, and the eyes from a many-eyed monster in the orc army
* Levi asks about the Heartstone. Frimpong says that the Heartstone can help you achieve your dreams, and Mufusu used it to help create the empire. However, Frimpong is skeptical of it. But if the group does want to seek the Heartstone, Frimpong has a map on how to find it.
* Neko asks about the Arasaka elves. Frimpong says that the Arasaka narrative is that Saburo emerged from Elderwynn 600 years and created a small settlement in Elderwynn. Saburo is an elf, but unable to wield any kind of magic. There were elves with him that were also without magic. It's said that there's something in Elderwynn that helped Saburo rise to power. Soon they became a technological powerhouse -- they built a partnership with Sigil and created trade relationships.
	+ As a follower of Sosen no Ein, it's hard for Neko to believe that she would abandon one of her following. Frimpong says that they should find a religious Arasaka elf to see if the story is actually true.
* Dave asks if Frimpong can turn him back into a humanoid. Frimpong says that if Dave is looking for unconventional help, the Heartstone can help with that.
* Zhu Li asks about the Untethered. They are a splinter group of monks that believed that the Symphasian path was inadequate, and pursued a more violent and Void based method of action. The Untethered believe that we have deviated so much from the path already that it's time for violent, direct intervention. They sought some communion with the Void. They believe they are alive, but they may not be alive according to the traditional definition of the word. Levi killed one prior to meeting Damian.
* In conversation, Dave reveals that he never actually told his boyfriend that he turned into a lizard and just ran away. Everyone is extremely confused.
* Levi wants to go to the Tower of Artifacts to talk to magic users and get a sense of what kind of mage Damian might be

## 11/5

### City Group

* The group buys a bunch of magical items from Vulture, including: Raiju's Bolt, the Fey Stellari, a few potions of healing, the sending stone earpieces, plate armor (for Matthias), and the lens of tracking.
	+ The group sells the Arasaka gun, a potion of animal friendship, and potion of flying to Vulture and buys some studded leather armor for Shadow. They convince Vulture to toss in 20 crossbow bolts.
	+ Kysona also convinces Xavia that Anton has a share of the reward, which decreases her share.
* Vulture says that it was a pleasure doing business with them and that if they have the time to kill a competing arms dealer, let him know.
	+ It's been about 2 weeks since they've left the ambush. They tentatively agreed to meet up with the other group after 6 weeks (?)
* The inner circle of Nymeria is the palace circle where the queen of Nymeria is. The middle circle is the academic circle where most of the bardic colleges are.
	+ Library of the Arcane on the historical and cultural aspect of the arcane arts (cleric-hood, regligious magic, magical monsters).
	+ The Scholla Institute -- division of the Academy of Sciences that is focused on the plague. Jafaris Reeves is the head of the Scholla Institute.
* Kysona and Xavia head to the dorms to find students who will do the research for them. Kysona finds a group of nerdy students who are very interested in magic and bribes them into researching Witherbloom by promising to show them fae magic
	+ Xavia asks Kysona about what he's going to do about his person on the other side of the mirror. Kysona says that he needs to get his affairs in order before they trade off.
	+ Kysona asks Xavia about his blackened arm. Xavia thinks that Baba Yaga is messing with Kysona.
* Shadow, Vig, and Matthias head over to the academic library to research Witherbloom. They look at news articles and gossip magazines from the past 10 years. Vig reads some Artificer books about how to turn Saranwood into magical instruments and magic items.
	+ Matthias finds out information about Jafaris Reeves. He grew up in the capital. His parents were academics and he's been an academic his entire life, eventually becoming head of the Scholla Institute. Matthias finds an article of Jafaris presenting some big findings of the plague with Clover (who is on Arasaka's most wanted list).
	+ Clover was studying under Jafaris on the plague. The article implies that Clover, and by extension Jafaris, is advocating studying necromancy to cure the plague and that both are connected to the College of Whispers. It seems like over time Jafaris starts to distance himself from Clover, at least publicly. There's an article about Clover getting seriously injured (his leg gets mangled in an accident) and then he disappears, eventually reappearing amongst the Tyger Claw ambush. According to the police report, Clover was found almost drowned in a pool of his own blood by his academic advisor Professor Canary. Clover's testimony about what happened was recanted, and Professor Canary was promoted and seems to still be in the Scholla Institute. Clover was put on the list of most wanted around 5 years ago (2 years after he disappeared).
* The gossip articles don't mention Witherbloom, but there are some allusions to power shifts within Arasaka and the rise of Yori Nobu almost as a replacement for Saburo. Saburo hasn't been seen in a long time. There was another hiring spree in that time where Aegnor was hiring a bunch of people from the Academy of Science and they were working on the advancement of their anti-magic fields and early automata prototypes.
	+ Charontis Pharmaceutical Company got into a lot of trouble for selling fake plague cures. These "cures" would temporarily make the patient feel and look better, but then accelerate the deterioration later.
	+ There were a few professors (Cleansing Rot and Curden Moonbane) that were arrested for necromancy and pledged fealty to Professor Rickety Log, who 40 years ago published a paper on the plague contending that the plague was necrotic in nature and pleaded for the academic community to lift the ban on the study of necromancy. 30 years ago, he was arrested for founding the College of Whispers, a secret community of academics frustrated with arbitrary moral boundaries.
* Matthias looks at the abstracts of some of Jafaris Reeves's papers. The Scholla Institute doesn't believe that the death of the Child of Bombyx Mori caused the plague, but they reference it in the cultural sense. They do agree that the plague probably started in Clarstrome village. The Nymerian plague acts like no other known disease, its contagion methods are inconsistent and undefinable. The Institute's work has been to define how the plague spreads. They theorized that it might have to do with the shifting nature of the jungle, but that's contested by the fact that plague spread south of Nymeria where there is no jungle. The spread of the plague has declined over time, but it's still the leading cause of death in Nymeria. Key symptoms include: slowed pace of breathing, low heartrate, increasingly blackened extremities, fur abnormalities (amongst Tabaxi subjects), almost like internal rot. In extreme cases of the plague, the bodies decompose into noxious miasma that exudes a powerfully alluring odor that draws victims in.
	+ Generally, Jafaris's work can be put into two buckets: how the plague spreads and how to stop/revert it.
* Kysona researches the Underflow Condemned zones. The Admiralty releases an announcement every time they condemn an area. Reasons for condemning an area include rock instability and structural integrity issues due to the ancient Sarlac that tore through many years ago.
* Before the group leaves for the night, Kysona summons a fae and lets the students meet her. Kysona pays for everyone to stay at a decent hotel and in the night Kysona casts Dream on Zhu Li to contact the dragon tales group (timeline wise, it is right before the Roc attack), They exchange information.

### Dragon Tales

1. Neko and group goes to Snow Land for Cold People and they start a snowball fight. Then they go to the hospital to get more medical care and Neko sees a dentist.
2. Neko goes to a marketplace and opens a luck stall. Afterwards, they go to see the stolen statue of a god. The statue is of Gol Gorsom, of the Dwarven Pantheon. Nearby, kenku are parasailing from the top of the Kenku Perch.
3. The group goes to the Hall of People Who Do Magic to try and figure out what kind of mage Damien is. The Hall is an an ecletic bunch of sorcerors, bards, and druids crammed together studying magic and doing pranks on each other. They meet a Dragonborn sorceror, Mr. Fraziros. He studies magic taxonomy and introduces the characters to the concept of the 4 unanswered questions of magic.
	1. Long Range Teleportation
	2. Undeath (true revival)
	3. Control of Time
	4. Wield magic with no innate ability, no ordained ability, and no magic focus -- the lost art of wizardry

## 11/13

### Dragon Tales

* The group continue talking with the Dragonborn soceror, Fraziros, about the various types of magic. He explains that there are three different types of magic:
	1. Ordained Magic: This magic is obtained from a higher power, such as Clerics or Warlocks. The downside of this power is that it can be taken away at any time.
	2. Natural/Physical Magic: This is magic drawn from the environment or another source outside one's self (Not from gods or higher deities). This includes Bards, Druids, Artificers (?), and Wizards (Rumored). This magic necessitates the use of a focus or foci to cast spells.
	3. Innate Magic: This is magic that comes from within someone or anyone that can use magic innately. This category defintely includes sorcerors. Some authorities include Paladins as well, but this is debated.
* Fraziros believes that Etherium is a source of magic (Magic item) and so does not fall into one of these categories.
* Fraziros believes that Damien could be a high-level sorceror trained in a physical magic, such as a Bard. He thinks that would explain most of the spells used. He brought up that Damien, as a master of illusion magic, could have altered Levi's memory. Levi suggested that they use Greater Restoration to dispell the potential mind fuckery, so Fraziros directs us to Professor Bartholomeow.
* Professor Bartholomeow casts Greater Restoration and Levi's memory holds firm.
	+ Neko attempts to start a prank war in the Hall of People who do Magic. Bartholomeow and Whizband the Kenku run off to mess with Fraziros.
* Professor Bartholomeow also temporary changes Dave back to his original, half-elf form, but eventually loses concentration and Dave reverts back to his lizard form.
	+ The group does some impromptu couples therapy with Dave to help him realize that Hagnar will love him no matter what form he has and that he should go back and explain everything to Hagnar.
* The party goes to the Tower of Artifacts and meets Owlbert, the little owl who runs it. He offers Levi a Bag of Folding (Same as Bag of Holding except it has magical unlocking powers as well). The downside is that it can talk and is vaguely, uncomfortably sexual. The party will think about magical items that they may want to trade for and ask Owlbert about them in the next session.

### City Group

* The group eats some continental breakfast before heading back to the college. The campus is crawling with police because a professor turned out to be a necromancer and attacked someone in the school last night. Reads with Wind has found a lead on Witherbloom and brings them to the Library of the Arcane where a man covered in tattoos in different languages is trying to read them and translate the stories.
* The man says that he woke up this morning on a park bench with no knowledge of who he is (not even his own name), covered in tattoos, staring at the words "Find Witherbloom, need to consult with the dead." He doesn't know where the tattoos came from or why he has them.
	+ The man decides to call himself Phoenix
* The party translates all the tattoos on the man's body
	1. Pensive Paw's founding of the Elder Tree
	2. Tygron who is saved by a Sphinx from Arasaka
	3. Cleric saved from death and found a new path
	4. Why was no one stationed near Shadh who could cast Revivify
	5. Reporter who disappeared years ago and then showed up at the Sirex embassy just recently. This reporter reported on the BMD in Sirex.
	6. **Elizana Nimblefoot: Ina's apprentice, at Norbury with the werewolf, at Shadh's assassination trial, in the Nymerian capital** (this story is bolded on Phoenix's body)
	7. Ex-College of Whispers affiliate turned...
	8. Find Witherbloom. Need to Consult with the Dead
* Kysona realizes that he knows these stories and tells Phoenix to come with them. The party decides to track down the necromancer professor and ask him what he might know about Witherbloom. Kysona rubs his DracoSphinx tattoo and it warms.
* Xavia and Matthias go to see what the police have discovered. Matthias goes up to a police officer and offers his help, but is rebuffed. Xavia reads the officer's mind and learns that Professor Antion Nuemann is the one wanted for necromancy.
* Kysona, Shadow, and Vig go to ask the college students what they saw. One student says that they left the library and heard an inhuman screaming from one wing of the academy and saw some shadows moving around.

## 11/20

### City Group

* Shadow disguises herself as an Arasaka guard and interrogates the police officers. The officers tell her that they discovered that the professor was involved in necromancy through a College of Whispers informant. They brought a large group of kingdom alliance guard to arrest the professor, but were attacked. There are no survivors, but what they can put together it seems like there was another group that showed up and attacked the kingdom guard. Some of them have had their memories wiped. Shadow asks to see the scene of the crime, but the officers say that other Arasaka guards already saw it (implying they shouldn't need to).
* Kysona and Shadowquestion the students about what they saw. They learn the professor's name and find out that before all of this happened, there were some rumors about a student in the professor's class named Walks Through Mountains. The two had a close relationship (some people think they had a relationship), and Walks Through Mountains disappeared a month ago.
	+ Professor Neumann was a professor of transmuatation.
	+ Vig and Phoenix try to trail Kysona and Shadow, but do a very bad job.
	+ The party ends up in the yearbook room to get an idea of what Professor Neumann looks like. They also notice that in the yearbook, Walks Through Mountains is in a lot of pictures with another student named Marcus.
* Kysona sends Arya to take a look at the crime scene. The crime scene fits what they heard about a three-way battle between different groups. It took place in the professor's classman, and it's pretty demolished. Kysona sends Arya to take a look at the desk to see if she can find anything useful. The investigators have already looked through the desk and found a secret compartment in one of the drawers, which they probably emptied, but in the secret compartment there's a carving into the desk. The carving is of a pile of skulls. It looks like the investigators took all the documents in the desk.
* The party realizes they have a Lens of Tracking and can use it to simply follow the professor's "footsteps". Kysona and Shadow go back to the scene of the crime pretending to be students. Kysona tearfully goes on a long-winded story about Walks Through Mountains and how she disappeared a month ago. This performance is meant to distract the guards while Shadow looks around through the Lens of Tracking.
	+ The guard tells Kysona that they already looked into Walks Through Mountains, and concluded that her rich family probably just pulled her out of the school.
	+ Shadow sees the professor's footprints coming out of the classroom. She leaves Kysona to follow the footprints, and tells the group where she's going through the Sending Stone earpieces.
* The footsteps wrap around the Library of the Arcane and seems to be headed towards a closed off, unidentified building. The footsteps are starting to fade, so Shadow doesn't wait for the rest of the group to catch up. She disguises herself as Marcus and goes into the closed off building.
	+ The footsteps lead Shadow towards an antechamber. There, she can see a human figure bent over on the ground. He's mumbling to himself and fiddling with something. Shadow takes off her Marcus disguise and steps back.
	+ The person turns and it's Marcus. He has tears in his eyes and a torn bit of fabric in his hands. Eventually, Marcus gets up and walks to the abandonned library wing. Shadow follows him in
* The abandoned library wing has been converted into a magical lab of sorts. There are patches of magical darkness and a massive pile on at the far end of the room that's sparking. Marcus has put on a creepy clown mask and has picked up a lute. He is dancing around, whistling and tapping on the coffins, his mood seemingly switched very quickly.
	+ The party arrives in the antechamber. Matthias uses Divine Sense and the undead levels are off the charts. Kysona, Vig, and Xavia help Matthias put on his Plate Armor before they go into the abandonned library wing, reducing the amount of time needed to put on his armor to 7 minutes
	+ In those 7 minutes, the spots of magical darkness dissipate to each reveal a pile on which all crackle with electricity.
* The party enters the library wing. Marcus demands to know who they are and asks if Neumann sent them. Kysona attempts to placate Marcus, but is undercut by Matthias who tells Marcus that it's not too late to give up on his necromatic ways. This causes Marcus to declare that they aren't there to help him and undead begin bursting out of the coffins.
	+ Round 1: Shadow and Vig attack the zombies using their arrows and knivest to try and damage the zombies. Kysona and Matthias attempt to reach the other end of the library wing to get to Marcus. Xavia casts confusion on the zombies. A stone wall appears in front of the door, blocking it. Phoenix runs and hides next to Shadow.
	+ Round 2: Kysona enters the magical darkness and tries to charm Marcus. It does not work. Marcus runs out of the darkness and pulls a lever which causes a bolt of magic energy from the pile on in the back to shoot into the magical darkness. The darkness dissipates, revealing an undead beholder. Vig and Phoenix remember that there were rumors that the Orc army used beholders in their ranks. Kysona tries to counterspell the lightning, which causes a wild magic surge to appear. The undead previous Child of Bombyx Mori (unicorn) appears.
	+ Round 3: the undead unicorn lets out a horrific screech. Kysona makes the save, takes psychic damage, and sees the death vision he had at Dr. Perry's lab. In the vision, Kysona's soul is torn from his body. With the new knowledge that he has of his patron, the vision changes to Kysona and his other half being pulled into the mirror for eternity. Marcus does not make the save; he falls to his knees crying and starts clawing his eyes out. The wall by the door disappears and the door can be opened again. Xavia teleports over to Kysona, turned him invisible, and ran. Vig and Phoenix are attempting to run.
	+ Round 4: Vig reaches the door and opens it to find Byrd and Ice Man on the other side. Vig slams the door closed and runs away shouting "Feds! Feds!". Matthias moves forward and attacks the undead Child and successfully destroys it, leaving behind only a portion of its horn. After that Byrd steps forward and casts Sleep on Vig and Phoenix. Ice Man ice storms the remaining zombies.

### Dragon Tales

* The party is at the Tower of Artifacts where Owlbert asks them what they need
	+ Zhu Li asked for items that would help her protect others or something that can hold multiple spells at a time. She offers some of her magic mushrooms and a sample of her blood. She says "I respect your country's isolation, but one day you will have to act so be ready for when that day comes"
		- Owlbert suggests that she go see Mr. Froziros so that he can analyze her blood. He also hands Zhu Li a cloth with a drawing on it and tells her to bring it for Froziros and he will tell her what it can do for her. If Zhu Li doesn't want it, Owlbert will find something else for her.
	+ Dave asks for something that will help him understand how to heal others, and also a love potion. He offers some "services" in return. Owlbert gives Dave four Philters of Love and tells the party to keep an eye on Dave. He also gives Dave a self-help therapy book.
	+ Neko asks for something that will help him interpret the stars, and offers some of his rare prayer beads in return. Owlbert suggests that Neko seek out Eda Bia'ar who is an elf astronomer who runs the Mufusu. He also gives Neko a little telescope, though he tells them not to open it until they talk to Eda.
	+ Levi asks for a bag of holding and something that will help him communicate with other species in a way that won't make them afraid of him (because he's a dragon). Owlbert gives Levi a bag of Unfolding and Ekolus's Lavaliere of Boundless Empathy. Levi uses it on Owlbert and understands that his primary driver is the preservation of the Mufusu Empire as a shelter for people who wouldn't be as happy in the rest of the world and he wants to spread this message.
	+ Verinen asks for something that will help him better understand the natural world so that he can hone his skills as a ranger and also to communicate with any Kana tribe survivors. In return, Verinen offers any expertise that he has gathered on the last couple of excursions for the collector. Owlbert gives Verinen a Charm of Plant Command made from a druid
* Zhu Li talks to Mr. Froziros who does some tests on Zhu Li's blood. Mr. Froziros discovers that while the Etherium in Zhu Li's blood is giving her sorceric powers, each use of those powers is consuming her. However, something in Zhu Li is separating her mind and soul, protecting Zhu Li's mind at the expense of her body. Zhu Li informs the group that she has been seeing chains ever since she got knocked out by the Untethered.
	+ Mr. Froziros lays out the piece of fabric that Owlbert gave Zhu Li and tells her that this is the symbol of the Untethered. If Zhu Li attunes to this symbol, it could further shield her mind from her body at the cost of her body.
* The group goes to the Airforce Training area to ask Barbarossa to train them. Barbarossa takes out the artifact that allows the group to project their memories of them fighting. Barbarossa goes through each character and asks them to state their strengths and weaknesses, then catalogs their role in combat (area control, healing, etc) or how they can contribute to the battlefield.
* Phases of combat:
	1. Surprise. Hit biggest threats hard and fast. Focus on buffs, damage, and positioning.
	2. Adapt. All your plans will fall apart. Keep focusing on damage but switch buffs to healing and counters.
	3. Outlast everyone. Don't kill everyone, destroy enemy morale, and accept surrender.
	4. Trust the healer, don't let them die.
* When the enemy surprises them, the party should have instincts and a formation that they can fall back on.

## 12/4

### City Group

* Matthias butchers and burns the undead beholder. Byrd shouts "do you know how expensive and rare that is?" but Matthias ignores him.
	+ While everyone is distracted by Matthias, Kysona uses his Mage Hand to grab the unicorn horn.
* Kysona asks if Byrd was following them. Byrd says that he saw that they were headed here, and they were already aware of the lab. They came to ensure that the apprentice didn't do anything rash.
	+ Kysona informs Byrd that Witherbloom is tied to necromancy and that they were looking for the professor to get more information.
* Byrd tries to make sure that Kysona is still focused on the ultimate goal of obtaining the Orb and is not getting distracted with Nymerian politics. He warns Kysona and Matthias that there is untold suffering and they should not go out trying to solve all of that or else they will end up accomplishing nothing. He specifically tells Matthias that he must ignore some sinners in order to achieve the greater goal
	+ The reason why Byrd asks is because he can grant them a brief interview with the necromancer professor. However, Matthias must reframe from trying to kill him. Byrd offers to let Matthias execute Marcus
	+ Matthias executes Marcus by cutting his head off and then burning the body with the undead beholder.
* Matthias drags the sleeping Phoenix and Vig out of the abandonned library wing into the antechamber, leaving Kysona to interview the professor alone. Byrd suggests that the group drop Phoenix at the earliest opportunity because Phoenix is dead weight and a loose end.
	+ Phoenix comments that he recognized Byrd but doesn't know how. Vig gives Phoenix some poison for his knife in case the Black Company messes with him again.
	+ Once in the antechamber, Matthias shakes Phoenix and Vig awake and explains what happened to them. Vig sneaks out the window and over to the abandonned library wing's window in case Shadow needs backup.
* While everyone waits for the professor to show up, Byrd tells Kysona that the Arasaka board technically controls Arasaka and there tension created by Kaguro against Yorinobu. Black Company intel suggests that Jafaris Reeves is disinfranchised with Arasaka. He is also apparently drunk a lot of the time and falling off his rocker a little bit.
* Professor Neumann and Walks Through Mountains climb into the room via a rope through the window. Walks Through Mountains is playing with a glowing red artifact in the background. Prof Neumann says that reanimating the beholder was a goal of his, but obviously that's not happening anytime soon.
* Kysona asks Prof Neumann about Witherbloom and the prof admits that it is a place. It is an offshoot to the College of Whispers. Some members of the college are very focused on solving the plague via necromatic means. They, led by Tishala Ironsi, fled the capital for an isolated camp that they refer to as Witherbloom. They seek to manage the potential of necromancy to overcome the plague. You wither with the plague and then you bloom with the reanimation.
	+ It's said that Tishala hid the clues on how to find Witherbloom with the dead Professor Rickety Log. The common mantra is that to find Witherbloom you must consult with the dead. Prof Neumann believes that more practically this means reviewing some of the late professor's confiscated works and finding the clues hidden within them.
* The conversation ends and Prof Neumann and Walks Through Mountains leave the way they came. Vig sees them climb down and disappear into the shadows and treets. Matthias and Phoenix re-enter the room where Iceman is dousing everything in gasoline. Some splashes on Shadow and she gets a mouth full of gasoline. Kysona uses Mage Hand to lift the unicorn horn
	+ Kysona tries to get Shadow out of the wing without alerting Byrd. Byrd finally tells them that he knows Shadow is there and to stop trying to sneak.
	+ Byrd tells Matthias that he knows Phoenix because he has a history of sneaking around.
* The party invites Reads with Wind to dinner with them. Reads with Wind casts Identify on Kysona's Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Divination and discovers that the amulet has a built in backdoor that lets the Black Company keep tabs on the wearer (Kysona).
* The next morning the party goes to watch Kaguro's speech. The first parts of the speech are traditional Nymeria-Kingdom Alliance celebrations. Clerics for all of the sphinxes come and perform for the crowd. Eventually, Kaguro takes the stage. Protestors hold up signs as Kaguro begins her speech.
	+ Kaguro directly acknowledges the walkout and says that it is time for change. She has decreed that all Underflow sub-corporations that Underflow working hours will be cut in half but pay left untouched. Further, Arasaka ethics boards are being assigned to each corporation to review worker safety. To support this, Arasaka export quotas will be cut in half and Arasaka will bear the entirety of the debt created by this decision. This is to motivate the Corporation to find a fair, long-term resolution.
	+ It is time for Arasaka to change, Nymeria to change, and the Protectorate to change. 45 years ago, Nymeria, Sirex, and Tarrin signed the Lakeloria Accords, the trade agreement that has defined Nymerian foreign trade. The conditions are antiquated and were masterminded by then Chancellor Odelifus. She talks about the exploitative nature of this deal and frames it as a very Sirex lead trade agreement.
	+ She talks about how the Admiralty is an antiquated tool of a bygone era of exploitation and inequality, and it's time for the Underflow to represent itself.
	+ Tellingly, Kaguro does not mention Saburo or Yorinobu once, implying that the leadership is taking a new direction, possibly trying to assert herself instead.
	+ She concludes her speech by endorsing Tarrin governor Olivia Hawkins for Chancellor of the Protector, saying that she's the one who can fix the Protectorate and repeal the Lakeloria Trade Accords.
* Olivia Hawkins takes the stage.
	+ She talks about how Tarrin and Nymeria have a long history and references all of the historic trade alliances that Tarrin and Nymeria have made together. She promises to repeal the Lakeloria Accords.
	+ She talks about Sirex led corruption and perversion of the Protectorate. It's meant to be a primarily defensive alliance, but Sirex elites and the Church of Dol Arrah have manipulated it to sequester Rayon political power. She talks about the corruption of the Sirex ruling class, including the late Chancellor Shahd, and promises to work with the Free People's of Rayon should she be elected.
	+ She makes a point of stating that Kursk is choosing succession over the will of the people.
* As Olivia Hawkins is concluding her speech, a massive bomb detonates underneath the capital. Half the International Building collapses into the ground, Hawkins and Kaguro both disappear in the blast, but Kaguro reappears with her armor activated and turning into a jetpack. Ascendant Justice begins dropping pods and mini-air ships towards the explosion. Kagero's squad appears and rushes towards the explosion.
	+ Matthias rushes forward to help drag people out of the explosion zone and stabilize them. Shadow goes and helps bring people to Matthias to stabilize. Kysona goes around comforting people. Matthias gets recognized by some Lions of the GynoSphinx medics.

## 3/27 & 4/9

* The Dragon Tales group put on a play about the burning of the Elder Tree in order to convince the Mufusu citizens to join them in their resistance against Arasaka Corp.
* After putting on the play, the Dragn group sets up a booth for interested parties to come and join their cause. They attract the following characters:
	+ **Elliot the airship pilot** - is equipped with an impractical number of knives
	+ **Xa the potioneer** - is terrified of blood but okay with violence
	+ **Coffie the bard** - wants to spread the party's tale and can given inspiration during battle
	+ **Flumph** - he is Flumph
	+ **Elysia the wood elf** - was friends with Nibbler (known to her as Thesra) in Bombyx Mori and is searching for her. Seems to be a child, powers unknown but can turn invisible
* The party and the interested characters go with Adu the Deathmaker to the Poison Hills where Humble Downpour was last seen fighting another dragon. They find a giant ice wall, and inside is a dead Humble Downpour with her side frozen and shattered.
	+ Levi is adamant about taking Humble back to the Mufusu empire so that she can cocoon and reanimate. It's difficult for the airship to move Humble Downpour because she is a dragon and all the while the Poison storms are approaching.
	+ Finally, Neko casts Divination to ask Sosen No Ein how to turn a dragon to their human form. Sosen no Ein tells Neko that he needs to remind Humble of her time training with Levi. Levi does so, and Humble turns into a female humanoid, and Levi brings her on board. The ship starts flying away full throttle, with only a few people on board getting mildly poisoned.
* Suddenly, a massive dragon appears and attacks the airship. It takes out a the front mast of the ship, and crashes into the ground. The players are able to get a brief glimpse of the dragon, and it is bigger than any dragon that any of them have ever seen. It is covered in shifting elements and seems unaffected by the poison storm. Neko also thinks he saw bits of fur and metal. Elysia thinks it was a really old dragon, hence why it was so big.
* When the party gets back to the Mufusu Kingdom, they find a note from someone named Stryx who claims to represent a large number of Mufusu citizens who follow the Sphynx religion and are willing to fight to protect the Child. He doesn't care that the Child is draconic, and is not opposed to working with dragons. However, he needs to meet these dragon allies before he's willing to ally with the party because he doesn't want to send his people into a suicide mission.

## 4/10 & 4/21 & 4/27

* Matthias, Shadow, and Kysona help the victims of the bomb, including a mother and her child. Vig leaves.
	+ Eventually, there's nothing else they can do and they head back to the hotel. On their way, they meet Vig who says that Blaze found something and needs to see them immediately.
* They follow Vig to the Academic quarter and find Blaze with Jafaris Reeves strung up on the wall. Jafaris Reeves confesses that Yorinobu has been taking his students and bringing them to the Condemned Zone. Aranor, Arasaka's chief scientist, was there leading research on the Lazarus Project.
	+ Matthias interrogates him, and he confirms that he's not a necromancer and he doesn't know if Project Lazarus has to do with necromancy. They're recruiting a pretty diverse group of students so it's hard to tell what they're working on.
* Kysona steps out to compose himself. Matthias follows him. Outside, Kysona tells Xavia that he will try to get in contact with the person on the other side of the mirror. When Matthias shows up, Kysona gives him a large carved gryphon and tells him that if Matthias is ever in need of assistance, the gryphon will assist him. If he has need of it, Matthias should say its name, Norovor.
	+ Shadow lowkey confronts Blaze over the size and damage of the bomb. Blaze tells Shadow that she's either in or she's out. Shadow isn't going to change anything by avoiding violence.
	+ Matthias and Kysona go back to the hotel and get Phoenix before meeting up with everyone at the Tyger Claw safe house.
* Shadow, Matthias, and Kysona debate over what their end goal is and what they should do from there. They decide to stick with the ambush to get more information and support.
	+ Vig tells them that he was able to get in contact with the ambush, and given the rarity of the opportunity Starfall and Carver are going to come themselves with Tyger Claws. Also, if the group is able to sneak out of the city, they can link up with the ambush and get some much needed medical attention.
* That night after everyone goes to bed, Kysona leaves the safe house and goes to the hotel room that he booked before Kysona re-enters the dream world and ends up swimming down a body of water until he hits up against what feels like a glass wall. He places his palm against the glass wall and sees the same hand that he saw before press up against the wall against his hand. No matter how hard he tries, he's not able to cross the barrier. However, he's able to see a glimpse of the person on the other side, and they're a female half-elf. Kysona stays down there until Xavia shakes him out of his trance. .
	+ Xavia and Kysona leave the party and set off to find a way to get the person in the mirror out. Their first stop is the mimic village.

* The party wakes up to find the note that Kysona left. Matthias is a little devastated while Shadow is wracked with guilt.
	+ Vig feels that the Tyger Claws probably should have warned the populace before setting off the bomb, since the bomb is now a PR loss for the Tyger Claws. He also insights that there's not total clarity on what Starfall condoned in advance versus what happened. Currently the suspects behind the bomb are the Tyger Claws, Yorinobu, and White Widow.
	+ Kysona's note tips Matthias off to the fact that the Tyger Claws (including Shadow and Vig) might have been the ones to set off the bomb. He goes outside to pray to Dol Arrah and figure out what to do next.
* While Matthias is gone, Vig confronts Shadow about her apparent doubt in what they are doing. He tells her that if they do not fight against Arasaka, the Corporation will kill everyone they care about. Shadow replies that she doesn't want to end up becoming the same monsters that they are fighting against. Her entire family was killed by an Arasaka bomb, so the bomb that Blaze set off is very triggering for her.
	+ Vig admits that Shadow's conscience is important, but she can't let it get in the way of action.
* Outside, Matthias considers what to do next. As a Sentinel for Dol Arrah, he's tasked with protecting the innocent, and the Tyger Claws have harmed the innocent by setting off the bomb. However, he doesn't have any other lead on how to get to the orb, and sticking with this group is his best bet.
	+ He goes back inside and tells Vig and Shadow that his ultimate goal is to try and locate a Dol Arrah artifact and that he's sympathetic to the Tyger Claws's cause. However, if he witnesses Vig, Shadow, or any other Tyger Claws harming an innocent again, he won't hesitate to strike them down.
* Vig goes to the basement where Jafaris Reeves is imprisoned. He offers Jafaris some food and suggests that Jafaris join the Tyger Claws and conduct research with Clover. Jafaris reluctantly agrees.
* Matthias goes to the Lions of the GynoSphinx to try and find a way out of the city for the group. He tells them that he wants to get himself and his newly converted believers out of the city so he can continue his missionary journey. The Lions tell him that they have petitioned Arasaka to allow one of their group to leave in a few days, and can try to add Matthias and his "followers" to that group. However, it may be difficult because Matthias is a Tabaxi, and apparently the suspect that Arasaka is looking for is Tabaxi as well.
* The party decides to enter the sewers which will bring them into the Underflow. From there, they will leave the Underflow via the Chemvat exit that Vulture showed them and meet up with the ambush. They buy masks, which Vig modifies for use in the sewers.
	+ They disguise Jafaris and walk him across town to the university area where they wait by the sewer entrance until night before entering.
* The party gets separated from Glint and 3 other Tyger Claws members. They head towards the Underflow exit, but Shadow spots some Yuan Ti and Wermlings in mechanical suits getting ready to ambush and warns the rest of the group.
	+ The party fights off the White Widow group for a while. Blaze shoots explosives at the enemy, causing some parts of the tunnel to start caving in. Debris almost hits Shadow and Vig wonders if Blaze is trying to get rid of Shadow.

* Just when the waves of White Widow fighters start to feel overwhelming, a mysterious figure appears and takes out a bunch of enemies. He tells the group that more are coming and that they need to follow him. The group follow him, with Matthias bringing an unconscious Wermling.