Chapters 1 & 2: A Bear, an Assassination, and a Reaper:
Lady Latharial (Current acting leader of Uud in Sinmark, half-elf) sent us to find Kor who stole a bear used for harvest sacrifice. We find out that Lord Vjord plotted to have Lady Latharial framed for killing the Earl of Sinmark Therax . A Reaper was hired for this plot. After a long hard ride on horseback at night we approach Uud in Sinmark to try to prevent the assassination attempt. We proceed past the main gate towards the great hall. We warn the Earl and the Lady of the attempt. We find out that the Earl pays off Reaper's contracts’ and that he’s not worried about them. We come to find out from the Reaper sergeant of the town that the attempt isn’t from one of them, but instead may be from some ex-Reapers. One of them was posing as Lady Latharial and was a changeling all along. We defeat the ex-reaper and the thugs, but not before the Earl takes an axe to the head. We manage to stabilize the dead Earl, and find the lady locked up and imprisoned. We release her. She was shaken, and was tortured for weeks. She pays us 4000 gold and we head away to a tavern. We all agree to talk later on when we’ve recovered from our wounds, and she from hers.Kerick is the Tavern owner where Silas stays at. We all drink the “good” ale. Ara gets tipsy. We find out that he is also interested in making ales himself.
Chapter 3: Power Vacuum, High Rock, and Shopping (Recreationally):
We wake up late and head out from the Tavern, heading to the Great Hall to see Lady Latharial. We met Sir Cyai (Cyai was once a slave under the Ulvari Cartel, earned his freedom, and became a major player working as a courtier between the cartels and powerful families of the Ulvari Coast. Silas learns that Cyai seems to have a lot of money behind his current efforts, so it appears that Cyai is a frontman for some larger organization. He wants stability in the region.) who is from the Ulvari Coast. He is a bit of an information broker and is here to see if he can help with the current state of affairs. We hand him the assassination letter and he describes that Thoren, who is Lord Vjord’s keeper is probably the one who wrote it as he recognized the hand writing. Lady Latharial decides to bide her time and wants to know if there are any other players in the game. Therax’s soul decides that it does not want to come back to the world of the living, leaving a power vacuum. Lady Latharial says that there will probably be a meeting of the Elders to decide what to do next at High Rock, the place of the High King of Zanidonia. After being dismissed and Silas and Null giving beautiful curtsies, Arakorlum stays to have a small talk with the Lady to offer assistance if she ever needs someone to talk to about her trauma.We decide that we want to go shopping and talk about our purpose for being here in Zanidonia. We decide to head to Morvin’s Mystic Mysteries first. We inquire about goggles of night (2500 gp), Ara gets a soul infused diamond for revivify worth 325 gp. We each give 500 gp. Silas also spends 500 gp to buy a Cloak of Billowing. Berrick buys some spell scroll for 300 gp.
We head to the smithy next, it is called the Blood Forge owned by a female Dwarf named Ballah Bloodforge. Silas gets his weapon cleaned. Null gets her shortsword silvered for 100 gp.
We headed to Galden’s General Store to pick up some winter clothing for Arakorlum. Galden is a Goliath. He is heavily pierced and tattooed. We buy a bloodied coat and gloves for Ara, a tent and cologne for Silas and head out.
We go to Borris’s Brews, the town’s apothecary, where there is an orc working behind the counter, he has a hippy braid and a burlap sack that was made into a coat, he is intoxicated! We pick up potions and also some stuff that’s like weed for Null and Silas Lastly, we head to the tavern! Silas and Null get into a fight with a goblin gladiator and win! We head to our table with the rest of the party. We have our food and drinks paid for the rest of the night as we talk about our next steps. We talk about Cyai the information broker (who seems a little weasley), and Lady Latharial. Null does “the move” again on Ara! She lets out a viking yell as we close out the evening as we advance to 6!
Chapter 4: Phase Spiders, Near Death: An Ary and Silas Adventure
Arakorlum and Silas almost die! Harvesting phase spider silk. When the morning began. Ary and Silas meet and greet. Suggest they spend the day together and improve their party skills until at least Berrik and Null become available again. So that the four of us can continue adventuring together. We decide to spar in the arena, to see what kind of fighting style and tricks the other has. The sparring session concludes with Ary winning a friendly wager between them. Two townspeople , a pair of twins, decide to step into the arena and challenge us. We win and gain a new found love between sword and shield. This "love" extends over into our need for more. The two adventurers go to the quest board and find three missions were posted: A yeti attacking a farm, a request to deliver paperwork and speak to a clan of giants and a request to gather spider silk from an abandoned mine. The two decide the 'spider silk' is best to make some quick and safe gold.Chapter 2: "Sheila you can't be serious..." Ary brings up one important thing. He doesn't have a horse and would like to buy one. Silas suggest we have sled to drag the pounds of silk we are expected to gather on our mission, to which Ary agrees. They talk to the stable owner and purchase a young grey painted mare named "Sheila" . The group soon takes off towards the mine.
Chapter 3: " What was the idea again, Spiderman?": Adventuring into the mine proved a little perilous for every meter they descended into this forgotten shaft. After some time they two encounter what would be the first of many encounters with a 'Phase Spider'. They defeat several and encounter a treacherous path that would lead them to a nice surprise. They found a spot rich with glowing gems and an eerie presence of doom. Too WHICH, Ary throws caution to the wind to gather free bonus loot. All the while a vast horde of large white and blue phase spiders descended upon them as if by plan, a well engineered trap some might say. Too which the group swiftly ran for the entrance of the cave, with every step trailed by hungry vicious phase shifting eight legged freaks sent from the pits of the darkest points in this region. Ary with his cunning skills and silas with his longer legs safely find the exit , but not without setting a recently spilled oil reserve a fire to epically end the impending doom Ary brought on them. Queue FF7 victory music
Chapter 5: Bandits and a Troll: How do these Farmers Survive?!
The party meets back together in the tavern after Silas and Arakorlum’s near death experience. We fill up on food and stories as we wind down and talk about our whole ordeal. As thanks for helping buy Goggles of Night for Null, she gives the party some things. Berrick gets a liver for his spellwork, Arakorlum gets an encyclopedia of plants that exist in Ios. Silas gets a political map of Zanidonia. (Null and Silas hug it out, it means a lot to him and his mission of wanting to reunite his peoples).Sinmark (where Uud is), Baneland, Faden, Malway: these are the “territories of Zanidonia”
We decide on the trolls. As we are currently not prepared for the dignitary mission.
We decided to start our journey northbound. Our current mission objectives are:
The farmstead with trolls is 4 hours out of uud.
The dignitary to the giants is several days' journey, further north bound.
We ran into bandits during our trip to the farmland, who wanted 400 gold from us. We defeated most of them with a clutch lightning bolt from Berrik. About half of them run away. We search the bodies and find gold on them and split it (after they said they were going hungry and wanted to attack us for our gold).
We continue on to the farmsteads that were being attacked. We encountered a Hunter with a missing arm there who had tracked the troll to his location, which was along a river. We go in the direction the Hunter sent us, we encounter a creature there that was sleeping under the bridge. Arakorlum approaches it first while the rest of the party hide or hang back. It woke up as Arakorlum tried to approach it and though it didn’t outright attack him, it was very aggressive and tossed Ary’s shield. We couldn’t communicate with it, and it got more aggressive so we decided that combat was our course of action before Arakorlum got hurt. Combat ensues as the creature uses its claws to attack and also bites at us, while having a cold aura that does plenty of damage as well. The party manages to bring down the creature, and Silas suggests cutting off its head, as the creature was healing; with Berrick’s help the party also noticed that it couldn’t recover as fast if attacked with fire. As the party argues about what to do next, the creature comes back to life! Silas goes down as the creature comes back up, but the rest of the party manages to bring the creature down before Silas could be killed.. Berrick then turns the creature to coal. We decide to cut off one of the creature's claws as proof that it did die, and head back to the farmsteads. Once there, our adventurer’s dine with farmers as we discuss our pasts and discuss what we want to do next.
Chapter 6: A Wrong of Ice and Fire
The party spends the night in a workshop on the farm. During his watch, Ary is surprised by the sight of several farm buildings bursting into flame. As he wakes the party, the workshop roof begins to burn. One by one the party escapes the burning building and encounters a pair of mysterious assassins. A brutal battle ensues in which everyone except Berrik goes unconscious at least once. Eventually the tide turns and the assassins attempt to flee. Berrik fires magic missiles at them as they run and is seemingly successful in downing them both. As an injured Ary attempts to search the bodies for potions, the party’s attention is suddenly turned to the screams coming from the burning buildings of the farm. Berrik rescued an old woman with the aid of his magical abilities. Null rescued an average-aged woman who was on fire by dragging her into a snowbank and smothering the flames with her cloak. Ary and Silas made several attempts to rescue the inhabitants of the final house and were eventually successful in pulling a young boy named Nikolai from the flames.Exhausted from the battling the assassins and the fire, the group attempts to comfort the farm folk and hunker down for the evening. While Berrik begins casting Leomund’s Tiny Hut, Silas and Null wander off to look for clues on the bodies of the assassins. Upon turning the corner, they discover that the bodies are missing. They see a trail, however, that seems to imply that one assassin dragged the other away. The pair make the stunningly moronic decision to follow this trail without telling Berrik or Ary. Silas and Null attempt to stealthily follow the trail down a topographically ambiguous hill, for what seems like forever, before eventually coming to a frozen lake. Seeing a shadow stopped in the middle of the lake, the pair make the decision to cautiously advance after assessing the thickness of the ice. It’s difficult to see exactly what shape the shadow is through the dark and the falling snow, but still Silas and Null steel their nerves and advance further. They must know who attacked them and why. After getting closer, the pair are sure they have been spotted and are unsure whether to engage. Silas and Null are still hurt from the previous encounter and have no idea what state the assassins are in. They are alone and if they perish here, Berrik and Ary will never know what transpired. Tension builds and a decision is made - Null draws her crossbow and aims it at the shadow. Attempting to draw out some information, Null and Silas threaten the shadow. It taunts them in return - urging them to approach to find out. Rattled and angry, Null shoots at the shadow and there is silence. Silas and Null decide to shoot again. The silence continues for what seems like forever. Silas and Null decide to cautiously approach. As they get closer, they see a figure prone on the ground. The figure is one of the assassins and the other is nowhere to be seen. The dead assassin is a female Aeonian half-elf and they have never seen her before. They rifle through her corpse and find dossiers on the party that include portraits and descriptions of their fighting styles. They also find a note on the assassin from a mysterious figure called the Marionettist that calls the party interlopers and instructs the assassins to kill them. Stunned by what they have found, Silas and Null attempt to assess the situation. Suddenly a bead of fireball lands at their feet and explodes into a raging inferno. Null is immediately knocked unconscious, and both Silas and Null slip through the broken ice into the frigid water. With Null now drowning, a gravely injured Silas makes a valiant attempt to drag Null from the water onto the ice. He succeeds and follows suit. He pours a health potion down her throat and the pair, now soaked and singed, flee for their lives back to the farm.
Arriving back to the farm far worse for wear, Silas and Null explain where they’ve been and what befell them, showing Berrik and Ary the note from their new enemy, the Marionettist. Berrik decides to cast Tiny Hut in a more secure location, one of the nearby buildings and the party and the rescued farm folk sleep for the night. They all return to Uud in the morning together, with Silas gifting his Cloak of Billowing to Nikolai during the journey. Upon arrival to Uud, Ary generously gives coins to the farm folk to help rebuild their lives. The groups separate, with the farm folks heading to the tavern and the party going to the great hall to seek an audience with Lady Latharial. The party arrives and after some less than effective strategizing, eventually tell the lady of their assassin troubles and the attack on the farm. She is concerned but ultimately cannot tell them much about the Marionettist. However, she invites the party to join her shield wall in a week’s time for the journey to High Rock, as there is to be a conclave to choose the next earl of Sinmark. They agree (all in a pretty normal way except for Null, who interprets Latharial’s request to be less formal in the most awkward way) and then return to the tavern to plan their next week of preparations. (Silas wants to take Nikolai under his wing, situations too similar)
Chapter 7: A Murder of Wyrms
The party meets up with each other and finishes preparations to head out with Lady Latharial. Afterwards we all meet up with Lady Latharial to prepare for the journey. After riding for a bit we came upon the mountain range known as Dragon's Teeth. The Lady asks the party to head out in front of the caravan to search the pass for monsters or enemies that might endanger the group along the way. Along a small mountain side path the group encounters two small wyrms which the party makes quick work out of. The road is also slippery and hard to traverse, and the party slips and slides along the way as well. As we approach our checkpoint where we are supposed to reach out to Lady Latharial and let her know that's it's okay for her group to proceed, the party encounters another wyrm. Then the shenanigans ensue. Berrick explodes a fireball on the wyrm that causes and avalanche that almost kills Null. Sylas goes down fighting the Wyrms that appeared after the explosion and cries of the wyrm and almost plummets to his permanent death as well, but Ary manages to bring him to consciousness before he completely dies and the party manages to pull him back up off of a small ledge he managed to hang on before he died. Ary finds some things to salvage from the wyrms body, and the party waits there for the caravan to arrive. They also don't think about setting a fire, and tempt becoming exhausted from the cold before the caravan makes it to them. When they do arrive no one wants to completely admit how near to death they were to the lady and instead say they had a mostly easy time of it. Lady Latharial’s mages create a spell that opens a portal to something like the Great Hall of Uud, and this is where the party spends the night. Also making sure to sleep near the lady's quarters in case something happensChapter 8: Follow the Leader: Rogues, Trolls and Introspection on the Road:
As the column continues to journey the following day, Lady Latharial approaches Null and Berrik and asks them to accompany her while Ary and Silas stay behind to guard the travellers. Latharial informs Berrik and Null that the column is being followed by unknown pursuers and that she wants their help to flush them out, earlier a scouting party that was sent after them never returned. The group reach an outcropping near the road at the base of the mountain and lie in wait. As footsteps approach, Null accidentally makes noise from her hiding spot and ruins the element of surprise. A fight with several roguish-drow figures ensues. After a couple of fireballs from Berrik and some choice damage from Latharial and Orun, her large polar bear, the enemy group eventually attempts to flee. Some enemies are killed and some escape, while 1 is captured and kept alive to be interrogated. Latharial instructs Null and Berrik to take the lead on the interrogation, wanting to see how they meet the challenge. Berrik begins the interrogation as the two share Undercommon as a language - offering the captured Drow his life in exchange for information. Eventually they switch to Common. The drow, Fvieral, is low in the hierarchy of his group so he can’t offer much in the way of specifics. However, he confirms that the Marionettist reached out to the Brokers of Secrets (a mercenary group specializing in subterfuge) by way of the spell “Speedy Courier” (implying the Marionettist is a practiced arcanist) to have Latharial’s column followed and to report back on their movements and numbers. Fvieral confirms that the party could potentially outbid the contract with the Marionettist or find some way to extort information about the Marionettist from the Brokers in order to learn more. The Brokers of Secrets have no known HQ, but entering any tavern in High Rock, putting 21 gp on the bar and asking the bartender “Any rumors about town?” will result in contact with the Brokers. Null also suggests seeking out the High Rock chapter of the Order of the Arcane Eye for any leads, as the Marionettist is skilled in the arcane arts. Fvieral is sent on his way with his life, most of his belongings and some gold from Berrik. He expresses a desire to change professions as he leaves. Null makes a point to observe Latharial during the interrogation, and gets the impression that she is a curious sort, eager to manifest situations that keep people on their toes in order to see their natures and how they react.On the way back to the column, a large boulder comes barrelling out of the woods and hits Orun, displacing Latharial. A frost giant and his giant ice wolf ambush the party. Latharial enlarges herself for the battle, but after a couple of rounds goes down and reverts back to normal size. Berrik casts Life Transference and brings her back up at the cost of his own health. The tide turns and the battle is won, with Null landing the killing blow. The trio are very wounded and decide to take a short rest before returning to the column. During the short rest, the trio have a heart to heart of sorts, with Latharial beginning by revealing how she came to have Orun as a companion. Orun’s mother protected Latharial from a pack of wolves at the cost of her own life, leaving her cub Orun behind. Latharial and Orun have been together ever since. Latharial also revealed how she became leader of Uud. She left her father’s home, not wanting a life as a smith, and found her way to Uud which was under the rule of a cruel and predatory man. Having herself been a victim of this ruler, Latharial at 14 years old decided to challenge him in single combat. In spite of the odds, she defeated him and won his title. Null and Berrik reveal some of their backstory and what brought them to Zanidonia. Eventually the questions turn back to Latharial, and Null asks what outcome Latharial wants from the Choosing at High Rock. Latharial speaks of her philosophy when it comes to leadership, and her desire to provide for the common people first and foremost. She wants someone chosen as Earl to embody those values. She does not aspire to the position and doesn’t think she will be chosen, but will reluctantly serve if she is called upon. She asks Null and Berrik if they think she would be a good Earl. Both express that her compassion, thoroughness and thoughtfulness would make her an excellent candidate to be Earl. As the conversation comes to a close, Latharial warns Null and Berrik that the King, Hector Haldras, is an unpredictable sort and must only be called “Hector”. Any additional titles or honorifics will be taken as the gravest of insults.
The trio return to the column and Latharial begins checking on her people. Null asks Berrik if he thinks they passed her test. Both conclude that maybe it’s not the type of test that’s pass or fail, but the type of test that teaches you about a person and their instincts. Eventually, the column pauses for the night and the mages summon another interdimensional Great Hall. The party picks their usual spot near Latharial’s chamber and, before tucking in for the night, notices Nikolai across the room playing with a half orc child. They wander over to speak to him. Still in his cloak of billowing, he and Null exchange sword handling pointers while they chat. They learn that newly-orphaned Nikolai is destined to be a ward of the King and that’s why he is journeying to High Rock with the column. As a ward he will be given a role in the King’s household and will receive an education, food and warm bed in exchange for his service. The party settles in for the night and Berrik and Null regale Silas and Ary with the tale of their day.
9 Winter is Coming
The party starts their day discussing the Order of the Arcane Eye and the Brokers of Secrets and try to decide what avenue would be the best way to approach learning more about the Marionettist. They also discuss the gods some. Arakorlum gathers some Frost Berries as the party travels. Null lets us know that getting more information from the Brokers could cost upwards of 10,000- 15,000 GP. The party decides that in order to even get that far along, they at least have to make it through the next day first! Silas draws maps of the local region and the mountain pass as the party drifts off to sleep. Berrick’s tension and stress of the battles in the past few days and near death experiences make him have a dream. He has a vision of being waist deep in snow somewhere near High Rock. He tries to make heads or tails of his dream. His path leads him to the water, watching a mounting hurricane happen. He sees bodies out in the storm and tries to go and see if he can save them. He comes near what seems like a corpse. He flips it over and IT’S SILAS! His throat is slit and has strings attached to his hands. As he looks around and he sees his companions dead as well, other vikings and Lady Latharial as well. Something wraps around his legs and pulls him into the water as he awakes from his nightmare. He looks toward the tools of his trade as he can’t get any sleep. He isn’t able to fall back asleep and doesn’t benefit from a good night’s rest. The party sits and has some breakfast and small talk. The day is clear as the party heads out. Berrick decides to discuss his dream/premonition with the party. Silas heads off to talk to Nikolai to tell him to stay safe and stay close, and to look for him if he’s ever in any danger. As evening approaches, the weather picks up and it starts snowing and breezing more. The party notices strange blue lights that seem to be emanating from coldlight walkers (white walker/zombie). As the party quickly discusses how to get the message to the lady and the column about them more till what seems like hundreds of these blue lights appear. The party engages in a fierce combat and somehow makes it through with Lady Latharials help. The party makes its way into High Rock. The Lady gives them a week to prepare.10 A King and His Subjects
On the day of the meeting, the party reunites before meeting up with Lady Latharial. She and Cyai approach Nikolai. The party then heads out to meet Hector. He says that the Lady meets his criteria for leadership, and tells the party to approach him. He asks each person their reason for being in Uud, and their reasons for following Latharial. Silas asks what the lady did to meet his criteria, and he tells them about what he expects of leaders. He wants them to be able to lead smartly and bravely. To be able to help their people flourish, both in and out of combat or peacetime. He decides that he likes the party enough to be the Lady’s Seconds, and flips a coin to make his choice. He tosses it to Null when she asks to see it and it hits her on the head. Silas laughs. The coin ends up having both sides that are “heads”. Afterwards, Hector takes the Lady and Nikolai to talk. The party decides to go to a tailor to get clothes made with Latharial’s colors. They then head to the god’s grove to ask about soul gems. They speak to Keeper Asage. The soul gems that god’s grove has come from “donations” of people trying to redeem themselves. When they do this, the people believe that it helps lead them to Valeria (Valhalla). Berrick buys 3 of them. This is something that Arakorlum does not approve of and decides to break off from the party to try and find his own information. The group tries to decide which guild to approach to get more information about the Marionettist. Silas asks Null about her ability to face change to be able to be disguised and approach a guild but Null goes pale and says that’s a no go. The party decides to go with a more neutral approach and decides on going to see the Order of the Arcane Eye. Berrick would be their “in” since he is a wizard. Ary inquires about shields and armor and heads back to the inn. We approach the Order and speak to the Sage of the Chapter, Viviana who is a gnome. We get information about the order and try to pry information about the Marionettist. To no avail. It seemed that an indirect approach to try and breach the subject was a no-go. Until the group outright asks with a spell from Berrick that only Viviana could receive. The Marionettist is connected to an organization known as the Cabal of Power. He is believed to be their leader. Influencing things and people since the fall of the Aeonian dominion. They have set up cartels and other powers all over Ios. She suggests picking up true sight, muffle, non-detection, scrying, see invisibility, detect magic as spells to combat being spied upon.. They later meet up with Arakorlum at the tavern to give him an update. Once the team meets back up, Silas decides that it's time to start opening up to the party about who he really is and things that were going on in the world at the time of The Fall. Two house factions during the fall, House Azher led by Magister Alistair Azher (there were twelve total, but these were the main two). They wanted to be separated from the gods and believed their magical might and technological prowess would let them achieve that. The other faction was led by Oniamus Cildur. Who was the second to last remaining Emperor of the Aeonian dominion. He was assassinated by an Agent of Azier. Who took up his seal and disappeared during the last days that led up to the cataclysm. House Azier aligned with the followers of the Fallen Gods who were called the Demon Princes of the Abyss (The Fallen Gods were called this not their followers). There was plenty of fighting at the time of people vying for power but those were the main two. Silas reveals his identity as an Aeonian Elf and reveals his pale hair. He reveals some of his personal past as well. The party accepts who he is and what his purpose is here in Zanidonia and agrees to continue letting him be a part of the team.11 Monsters in the night and a coordinated assault
The party closes out the night at the Broken Blade. Berrick sets his alarm, Silas says a prayer to Aeon. Null plays the fiddle as she lulls herself to sleep. Ary sleeps. Berrick’s alarm goes off and Silas is awake to see silverish marbles that release aberrant creatures! The party is under attack! After fighting off the aberrations, Silas sees a figure slinking out of the tavern, seemingly pleased at the outcome of events as it looked like the party was losing at the time. Silas tries to chase after the figure but is fireball’d. He wants to give chase to the mysterious figure but as he sees Ary try to start putting out the fire, he decides to help. At the same time, Null and Berrick try to start saving people trapped inside of the tavern. They manage to save everyone they can as Berrick destroys a wall to help people out of the building where his room used to be. Two people are trapped and die under a destroyed wall as Ary revives them. When he picks one of them up, they pass out from the pain. Some of that pain is transferred over to Berrick as he uses life transference and transfers some of the pain and burns onto his own body to help keep her alive. Snow falls around the party as they are outside, assessing the damage and trying to see if everyone has made it out. The party finds a way down some stairs behind the tavern, where they see a half-orc that has asphyxiated from smoke inhalation who seems to be the son of Morna the tavern owner. Morna arrives to find her son and mourns her loss as they gather the people and take them to her home. The party goes to find Hector to let him know as Null opens an envelope she found in an empty room. It is from the Marionettist. A letter telling them to stay out of his affairs and to mind their station. Though he finds them interesting, he wants them to quit butting in. The party talks to each other as they approach the keep about how to proceed. There is a tension in the air as it seems that the keep has also been attacked. We are asked by the guards to wait at the entrance, and then proceed after they have taken Berrick’s spell casting gear. It seems the inside of the keep has been attacked by an Arcane user, someone who knows how to use magic. Three out of the four lords who were attacked were killed with only Latharial surviving along with her seconds- us. We talk to Hector about what is going on. Only Lord Vjord and Lady Calitrax ``Sal eh trax” were not attacked. We let him know about everything that happened and then we head to the medical bay to speak to Lady Latharial. We see plenty of wounded warriors, along with Orun the polar bear who is also very burned and wounded. Lady Latharial is very burned from one side of her face. We asked her if she would have us stay here, but she wants us to rest. We can tell that she is feeling vulnerable, as she also tells us that she is no longer in need of our services. The party then decides to stay with her out of loyalty and friendship and watches over her for the night.12 An Assassin Named 14.
The party awakes around 8 in the morning next to Lady Latharial who seems to be sleeping peacefully. They talk to a healer who has been working throughout the night and also checked on the lady to let her know that Hector needed them in the morning. They spoke to an exhausted Hector who stayed awake throughout the night working. They spoke about what their next move was and Hector let them know that they found someone that was headed west that matched the description of the assassin who attacked in the night and decided following the figure for clues was their best course of action. He also gives them 1000 PP to help them prepare. They head off to see Nikolai before going on their journey. Nikolai needs practice but he’s giving it effort! He playfully kicks Silas and tries to trick Ary as well who trips Nikolai instead. Ary pays one of the trainers to run away and protect the kids in the practice yard and we would find them under the name White Bear if anything was to happen. The party goes shopping afterwards before heading out. We buy 3 potions of fire resistance. Ary buys random supplies he needs for healing. We head west/southwest following a trail. Looks like the person is on a horse that is galloping away. We decide to ride hard to try and catch whoever the culprit is. Null spots a cabin nestled in a wooded area as we approach the beach. There is smoke coming out of the chimney suggesting the person they are following is hidden inside of it. Berrick uses detect magic and senses that there is an alarm spell which he dispels. The party tries to move stealthily forward. Ary almost steps on an alarm spell as Berrick dispels that one as well. Ary steps back a little bit as the party approaches the cabin to allow them to stealth better. The party approaches the cabin and Null sees two figures sitting and talking. Silas goes and checks it out and sees that they are two people from the last two attacks. They decide to fight. The party makes it out alive after a good fight, striking down the fighter with two scimitars inside of the cabin, and following and tying down the caster on the outside towards the coast. We go back into the cabin afterwards to interrogate the hooded figure (a female elf). Party also finds 500 gp worth of diamond dust. 1000 gp worth of amber exaltium. A spellbook, a miniature bag of holding, 2 vials of wyvern poison. 2 high quality scimitars from the two people they fought. They begin the interrogation. The assassin calls herself 14. We find out that they are also part of a larger collective and all consider themselves " The Marionettist". She is difficult to approach and Silas cuts one of her fingers off.. The assassin blasts herself with a bead of fireball she had embedded in a false tooth. The party also discovers two dead bodies in the house that it seems the assassins killed at some point before bunkering down inside this cabin. Null wants to display the bodies in a macabre way to get back at this enemy group, and Berrick wants to take the bodies back to be in front of Hector to question them and speak with the dead. After setting up a tiny hut and an alarm spell, the party takes a long rest and prepares for the trip back. They head back to High Rock. We question the corpse in front of Hector.We ask:
- Why is Lady Latharial not conducive to the Marionettist’s plans- “She is too independent, too strong”
- What is the end goal of the marionettist's machinations in Zanidonia? “IDK. We just want to control who rises to power.”
- Who are you helping to win the choosing? “Anyone that we can control. That is malleable, pliable”
- Where is the Marionettist planning on striking next? “Everywhere. Nowhere. We are Legion. We are among, beside, with you”
- Is Lord Vjord an ally to Lady Latharial? “Neither ally, nor enemy.”
Hector says that for now Lord Vjord and Lady Calitrax will remain unbothered on their way to the Choosing. An idea is tossed out for Lady Latharial to seem as if she was killed in the last attack to lull the enemy into a false sense of security. In the end Latharial asks Ary to follow her to heal her a bit, she is still very weak after the attack.
(Silas wants to broach the subject of Cyai’s Organization with Lady Latharial)
On the way down the rabbit hole we goooo. Party levels to 9!
13 Star-Crossed Villains
The meeting begins. Hector says that the Lords and Ladies have to compete and find an item of interest for him. The party has to travel to the Deep Roads. And once there, go to duergar ruins and find something there before they get to the throne room. They discuss with Latharial who seems more like the likely threat of the two new arrivals. Lord Vjord is an older man and old school who seems honorable. Lady Calitrax (elven woman with white hair) is more of a wild card and seems shifty. She also seems to consider Latharial a rival since she is also a woman of power. They find a note that seems to imply that Lord Vjord’s son Saren and the Lady Calitrax are in cahoots, that says "be prepared, the time draws near" under the chair Saren sat in, the writing being in fancy calligraphy in Elven. The party tries to figure out what to do with this information, and Null decides to do some reconnaissance to see if there is any information she can find around the castle. As she's walking through the halls, she hears a "K'thunk!....k'thunk!...K'thunk!" Of someone throwing and hitting something, and as she approaches the door, she can hear Saren saying something about him being so "ready to get rid of the old fool" most likely speaking about his own father. And to Null's surprise, he hears Lady Calitrax respond to him! She starts to make her return to the party when she sees Calitrax exit Saren’s room, looking dishevelled. Null spots a glimpse of “VII” beneath Calitrax’s back tattoos, which marks her as part of the Marionettist collective. Null goes back to the party to inform them of Saren and Calitrax’s sexy alliance, as well as Calitrax’s marionettist connection. Null attempts to copy the found note so that the party keeps one copy as evidence and is still able to leave a copy for Lord Vjord, to warn him of his son’s betrayal. The forgery is immaculate and now no one can tell which was the original. The party, however, speaks to Latharial who feels like it's a bad idea since the letter isn't really proof of anything, so Null throws one copy of the note into the fire and destroys it.After an afternoon of studying for Berrik and potion shopping for Silas and Null, the party bunks in the barracks for the night within the protection of Berrik’s Tiny Hut. When Silas awakes from his trance, he realizes the tiny hut is gone. He is alarmed and wakes the party whose first instinct is to check on Latharial. Before they move though, Berrik realizes that they are being spied on through a scrying spell. He manages to dispel it before they proceed. The party rushes to Latharial’s room and Null picks the lock so as not to cause a ruckus, and open the door to a growling Orun and a VERY naked and armed lady Latharial. She asks the party what the hell they are doing there and the party lets her know that there might be danger near and about the scrying. While Berrik notices a second Scry following Latharial, Null tries to go and investigate the rooms to see if she can hear anything. Getting to Calitrax’s room, she hears chanting coming from inside and after confirming that Saren is snoring in his room, she returns to the party and informs them that their spy is likely Calitrax. Berrik dispels the Scry and Null decides to tempt fate and check Calitrax’s door one more time. As she puts her ear to the door she feels a burning pain in her head as she gets zapped with a Feeblemind spell (THIS IS AN 8TH LEVEL SPELL. SHE SCARY). When the party realizes Null is taking too long, Silas goes and checks to see what's wrong and sees her slumped down against the wall with a blank uncomprehending look on her face. He realizes something is wrong and drags her back to Latharial’s room where luckily, Ary is able to fix her up. Silas turns cold at this point and is out for blood, but Latharial tells him to calm down because this isn't proof of anything either, just that someone was defending their room. Silas realizes she is right, and broods in a corner. Latharial tells them to save their energy for the Choosing. The party ends their night sleeping there in Latharial’s room.
14 The Roads are Bloody, Dark and Deep
As the day begins the party also realizes that they've been robbed of their potions and soul gems! The rest of our rivals seem to have already gotten a head -start. Latharial leads them to the throne room where behind the throne there is a picture frame that has been moved aside that has a stairwell leading downwards. As the party moves downwards, the temperature cools and the light dims. They are in the Deep Roads. The party moves into a clearing where it's pitch black and decides to move forward in darkness to have a better chance of staying concealed in case of enemies. Null explores behind a rock off to the side, prompting some carrion crawlers to attack us as they come down off the walls. The party manages to proceed after defeating the creatures, this time deciding to instead light the way forward so as not to be surprised. Null scouts ahead and lets the party know there is a U-shaped crest overlooking a chasm and that she heard skittering ahead...the party decides to cut the lights and begins to move around the chasm stealthily but unfortunately Silas slips in an eroded area and almost falls, prompting a large group of Nothics to attack the party. We proceed forward to a broken bridge where we see a glowing object on the other side. We decide to try and explore the area on the other side, and as we move forward we hear shifting, and thinking it's a puzzle try and test our movement to see how the stone would act. The glowing stone, and another stone, not glowing this time begin to move, as we see them unfold into Roper monsters, as the party once again engages in combat. The fight is tense as the two Ropers attack from both sides of the broken bridge, pulling party members in all directions and dangling over the abyss below. As the glowing Roper that is holding everyone except Latharial nears death, Berrik saves the day by casting Wall of Force to provide a platform below the melee, preventing a fatal fall once the Roper dies. The end soon comes for the glowing Roper and Null snatches the red gem from its mouth. Before too much longer the other Roper is dispatched and the party soon gathers with Latharial to catch their breath. Berrik identifies the large gem as red exaltium and Latharial confirms that it would be a great boon to present to Hector. After finding a main road and confirming that they are not far from the Throne Room, the group decides to take one last short rest to gather their strength before the last leg of their journey. They reflect on their time together and how fulfilling it has been. Latharial thanks the party for their service and the party replies that it has been an honor to be on this journey with her and that it will be a privilege to see her on the throne ofSinmark. Latharial seems a little embarrassed but everyone is heartfelt as the conversation veers off in many directions. This feels like the end of something.
15 A Coup and the Fall of a Nation. Rest in Peace Friends.
The party proceeds quietly forward so as not to be ambushed again. At a turn/corner, Null sneaks forward to get a better view so Arakorlum doesn't give the party away because of his armor, and sees a courtyard with what seems to be guards in it, she hears talking as well and assumes that it's Lord Vjord’s men. Berrik heads up with her to see what's going on and eventually Silas does too. They decide to just walk up to the procession since as far as they know, they don't have anything to fear. Regardless they are all still on their toes as they approach. They realize that these men have all been paid with the group's items to stop them from advancing! The party tries their best to reason with the thugs and give them a chance for everyone to walk away with their lives. At first, the thugs aren't too agreeable but once the party offers them a bit of gold along with their lives, the thugs decide it's for the best to let the party pass. Berrik pays each thug 10 Platinum to walk away, and Silas pays their leader an additional 20 to give the party their items back. Luckily this engagement ends with no blood being shed. Null once again volunteers to go forward and scout for the party as she heads towards the ancient throne room where Hector and his officials are supposed to be waiting. Null approaches a large door, and tries to listen in, but it's "dead quiet" (sorry). She also tries to peek under the door into the room and realizes it is pitch black inside as well. She goes back to inform the party. Once the information is relayed she heads back to the door to see if she needs to pick the lock, but realizes that the door is already unlocked, an eerie invitation, possibly to their deaths. The party huddles back up to decide what to do next. The party proceeds forward, Null taking her potion of greater invisibility as the first one through. The rest of the party hung back a bit to try to gauge the situation properly. What they see as they enter is something out of a horror story. Dead bodies and blood everywhere, as they realize that these are Hector's men strewn out across the room, no one alive. Null approaches the throne area invisibly. With Berrik behind her around 10 to 15 feet, when the lighting comes back on inside of the room. Poised atop the throne is Lady Calitrax herself. To the party's horror, to her right and to her left are the heads of Hector and his Orc bodyguard lady, Vjord, and Saren, as she chuckles in the chair, leans forward and says, "I win". At the same time, Null is trying to quietly approach her to deliver a quick and lethal strike, as she had applied her wyvern poison to her blade as well, and as she goes to strike and combat initiative begins- Calitrax unfortunately takes no damage as she has some kind of Invulnerability spell on herself. The party has a difficult battle ahead as they fight Calitrax, but they manage to bring her down to her knees. Sadly, before the party is able to bring her down she manages to kill Arakorlum hitting him square in the chest with a spell that disintegrates him and turns him to dust. She calls upon a higher power as she's about to die saying, "Master, I have failed you '' as black and purplish tendrils come out of the air, seeming to take control of her body making her seem like...a puppet. As these tendrils take control of her body, it turns into a fight for survival for the party as these tendrils that have taken control of Calitrax also manage to reanimate the bodies in the room that also turn on the party to attack them as well. Null bravely approaches her and tries to put the bead of fire ball in her mouth to try and blow her head off, and when it failed she said screw it and blew it up anyways, managing to evade the blast altogether as Calitrax took a big hit from it. Unfortunately, with all the zombies in the room that kept being reanimated somehow and with Calitrax’s new found powers, along with the death of a party member things start looking bad for the party. Berrik doing an excellent job of countering most everything Calitrax could throw their way was also running out of spells as well. Seeing things through the eyes of a grizzled war veteran, he realizes that this battle isn't winnable for the party right now and calls for a retreat. Things looked bad for the party numerous times, each of them coming close to the clutches of death at least once as they tried to make their retreat. They manage to escape the room (each of them almost not making it) as they run for their lives trying to escape the horde. They reach the chasm they had to cross on the way to the ancient throne room again, Latharial jumping first and throwing a rope across, Null going next, then Berrick, and Silas crossing last as the hoard approached and managed to actually hurt Silas as he made his escape. They manage to escape back out into Hector’s throne area where they quickly decide to go look for Nikolai. Latharial leads them to where he would be, and the party approaches, but again here there is carnage. A fight had gone down here too. The instructors of Hector’s wards lay here dead as well, and even Latharial’s own Orun lay dead. Orun had managed to bring down the last of the assailants here but succumbed to his wounds as well. It seemed that he was the final defense though, and he died a hero managing to save the lives of five of the young wards that were being trained here. Realizing that time is of the essence and they had to make an escape as quickly as possible, Latharial gives Berrik a scroll of teleportation to use and also a vial of Sierronian wine (that Berrik almost drank) to try and teleport them out of here. Luckily the spell does succeed as they teleport to Sierrona, located in the Ulvari Coast. All of a sudden in a seemingly peaceful area, the party has some time to try and make sense of what happened and to register their losses. Latharial leads them all to a tavern as they discuss what to do next, and everyone toasts to the lives of Ary and Orun. Null asks Latharial about her ally - it is Remmi, a former lieutenant of the Massani Cartel who helped to overthrow them. Remmi now leads the Remmington Syndicate. Everyone heads to their own rooms after a while. Berrik does some haruspicy with his livers, but finally lets himself be vulnerable and gets weepy for his friends. Null wants to honour Ary's memory and use Whispers of the Dead to change her proficiency to Religion. Despite her spiritual beliefs lying somewhere between agnostic and “doesn’t give a shit”, she wants to honour Ary’s steadfastness and maintain a connection to their fallen friend. She doesn't know if it's from exhaustion, her sadness, or something else, but when she does this she can almost hear Ary there, the gruffness of his voice and the clanking of his armor. Silas has a bit of a ptsd moment burning his hands in the fireplace, replaying everything he's lost up to now, but realizing that his friends are right and that he has to push forward and be strong for the ones that are still here. He prays to Aeon believing that even though he's loved and lost, that Aeon is still here looking out for him, somehow. Choosing to have the same kind of faith in something greater like Ary did before he passed away. Flare begins to glow as it does when he casts divine favor on it, and Silas grabs his blade in both hands by the handle. It starts to burn his palms intensely, but Silas doesn't let go and instead steels his resolve for whatever lies ahead as the blades develop and more ridges appear, and the blades light up on fire, Flare Awakens.The party levels to 10!