44 Years Later

[The following is a summary of major events in Rakos since the death of the party 44 years ago, as related to them by Cedric and his friends shortly after their resurrection. It reflects the clerics' limited knowledge and understanding, and it is not an objective, omniscient historical account. This is not necessarily the truth, the whole truth, or nothing but the truth.]

- At the Grand Council, shortly after the death of the party, the main topic was the war between Cindre and Valen over a slice of contested territory. After much negotiation and political wrangling, the duchy of Valen generously offered to stop fighting and to relinquish the territory to Cindre, but asked for a modest payment in exchange and, as a gesture of goodwill, an official pardon for the Duke of Valen's new behind-the-scenes advisor, Baldric. (Avisha suspects that he may have attained this position through mind-influencing spells.) The Duke of Cindre agreed to the deal, though she lived long enough to regret it.

- In the years after their death, the party became famous, thanks mostly to a famous tavern song and to an endless series of stories originating from the village of Fairway, traditionally attributed to a villager named "Old Tuck".

- Baldric rapidly grew his reputation as a competent adviser and administrator. About 40 years ago, five of the dukes (all except for the Duke of Cindre) voted to appoint Baldric as the first "Regent" to the figurative throne of Rakos. At first, the idea was that he would hold very limited power, but could better coordinate the joint endeavors of the six duchies and ensure peace among them. (And indeed, there has not been a true war between any of the duchies since that date, largely thanks to Baldric's mediation and political maneuvering.) But before long, he began to assume a greater role. The Regency (as his administration became known) was authorized to levy its own taxes, and it took direct responsibility for running the Treasury and the Capital Hall.

- About 30 years ago, Baldric established the Peacekeepers, (essentially his own personal army) who were originally intended to patrol the roads between the duchies. Their numbers have grown immensely since then, while the armies of most of the duchies have correspondingly dwindled.

- Also about 30 years ago, Rath (the halfling Sage of the Silver Tower) abruptly announced that he was graduating all the current students in the Tower, kicked out everyone except a small circle of close colleagues, and refused to admit any new students. Visitors are sometimes welcomed, but the few that actually do visit the Silver Tower unanimously report that Rath has gone mad and established a sinister cult around himself.

- The old Duke of Cindre, Lanna Greydale, was known to be a fierce opponent of Baldric. Coincidentally, she and her family were the target of multiple assassination attempts. (Her cousin Galbarth was killed defending her from one such attack.) She ultimately died of "food poisoning" about 25 years ago. She was succeeded by her cousin Saphira, who took a much more friendly stance toward the Regency. However, many rumors claim that she remained a steadfast enemy of Baldric behind the scenes, and it's well-known that Cindre maintains the strongest army among the duchies.

- About 20 years ago, Rawlish Boswell (the head of the Capital Rangers) was killed by wild beasts while traveling. He was succeeded by his nephew Emmon, but shortly thereafter, Baldric disbanded the Rangers, claiming that they were no longer capable of fulfilling their purpose. Emmon and most of the remaining Rangers later resurfaced as a group of bandits calling themselves the Outcasts, robbing merchants on the road between Wayport and Balenor.

- Soon after disbanding the Rangers, Baldric formed a new elite corps of bodyguards and soldiers called Seraphs. They are easily recognized by their trademark uniform (plate armor trimmed with white), and their fighting prowess is widely respected.

- About 7 years ago, Duchess Saphira Greydale and most of her family died in a tragic fire, leaving only one heir: Anna Greydale, granddaughter of the Duke who hired the party. But Duchess Anna was only eight years old. The other dukes agreed to let Baldric take responsibility for her, and she has lived most of her life since then in the Capital Hall of Balenor. She is reputed to be a shy, bookish girl who has passively accepted her situation and supports Baldric's regime.

- In the last six months or so, "soul sickness" has begun to strike the people of Rakos. The symptoms progress from apathy and listlessness to outright catatonia and eventual death over the course of several weeks. Nobody knows the source or cause. The epidemic appeared to start in the northern duchies and is more severe there, but there have been isolated cases throughout the island. Neighboring nations have set up a naval blockade in hopes of preventing the spread of the epidemic.

- In the last year, Rakos has fallen into crisis, which has been greatly accelerated by the emergence of the soul sickness epidemic. The cities and roads have been flooded by desperate refugees. Famines have struck several regions, and when the Regency collects food for its relief efforts, it seems to spread the famine rather than subdue it. To make the roads more safe, the Regency has begun to demand that travelers carry travel permits or risk arrest. Many of those arrested and some of the refugees have been shipped off to be "resettled", but are never heard from again.

Session Six: RUIN AND RETURN

The party exited the Treasury and proudly reported their success to Davros. The gnome was impressed, but warily asked about how much damage had been done. When he was told that “almost everything” had been destroyed, his dismay was palpable. “You’d best go off to the Grand Council, then. I would appreciate it if you would inform the Duchess of Highrock about what happened here.” Ardwyn spoke up: “Oh, I think I forgot my knife down there, do you mind if I go and grab it real quick?” The gnome narrowed his eyes, replying that “we’d be happy to retrieve it for you.” The rogue quickly retreated. “Oh, never mind! Found it right here, haha!”

The party set off for Balenor along the same road they had arrived on. Shortly after they passed an old man in loose brown robes, however, their journey was interrupted when a magical Forcecage sprung up around them.

“Please, calm yourselves. This is merely a precaution,” said the old man. He reached inside his robes and retrieved an object that appeared to be the severed hand of a devil. Adamir drew his bow, while Ardwyn retrieved her Tagger Dagger. The man pointed the hand at Adamir, and one of its fingers curled inward menacingly. The party was alarmed and protested, but he responded with a steady stream of reassurances. “I know it looks frightening, but don’t worry. Forgive an old man his caution.” One by one, he pointed the hand at each of them, and one by one the fingers curled. When he was done, he threw the severed fist to the side of the road.

“That,” he explained in a soft and measured tone, “was an exceedingly generous gift from my patron. The Hand of Belial. It contains, or contained, five words of power. Five of the same word: ‘Kill’. Suffice it to say, I can snuff out your lives in an instant. So don’t try anything...” He made a magic gesture, and his magical disguise faded away to reveal a younger man, with thin features and closely cropped brown hair. “You probably know who I am.” They did: he perfectly matched the description they’d heard of Baldric, the mage (or warlock) who had eluded them so far.

“Answer my questions, and I will let you go,” he told them. “First, who sent you? Who do you work for?” Ardwyn immediately shot back “your mom!” but Baldric merely glared and repeated his question. Daelon was incredulous. “You mean to tell us that you don’t know who sent us?” Baldric addressed him: “of course, Daelon, you are the Duke of Cindre’s lapdog. But the rest of you arrived all at once from afar. Who sent you?” The party looked at each other in confusion. “Yeah, I think you’ve got the wrong idea here,” said Tessel. Baldric seemed confused. “Then why did you risk your lives pursuing the demon?” They briefly explained their various motives, from money to holy idealism.

But Baldric just seemed more and more perplexed. “You’re just... a mere band of adventurers?” He shook his head and continued, speaking almost to himself. “My patron warned me that fate sometimes weaves strange patterns around those like you... that I must not underestimate you. But... I just don’t see it.  You seem so... ordinary.” He looked at them with obvious distaste.

“Another question, then. I offered you a deal: I would tell you where the demon was, if you would agree not to pursue me. Why did you not take the deal?” Ardwyn pointed out that a devil was perhaps not the most trustworthy representative, and maybe he should have sent a different messenger. “Or used a better illusion,” he muttered thoughtfully.

“One last question. I understand that your time in Rakos has been... messy. First the sage, then the assassin, then the demon. And I want to apologize for my part in it. I have no fundamental quarrel with you. I only seek to fix this broken nation. So... if I were to let you go, would you continue to oppose me?”

“If that’s true,” said Adamir, “why did you summon the demon in the first place?” Baldric admitted that it was not his best moment, but said that the demon was Sylvan’s idea, not his. For his own part, Baldric claimed that he desired power, but quickly realized that the demon was too chaotic and destructive to be useful. Fearing for his safety, he told the demon about the Gate scroll to make it go away. Then, realizing that he would be hunted down and punished for what he had done, he sought power elsewhere, praying to the demon’s enemies, the devils. It was confirmed: he had become a warlock, bound in service to a devilish patron.

Tessel challenged him next. “You say you seek to ‘fix this broken nation’, but unleashing a horde of demons doesn’t sound like it would do that.” Baldric answered that he had never believed that the demon would succeed in opening a Gate, and that he knew that the demon and the party were on a collision course. “Better to let you fight, and then deal with the survivor,” he explained. “Also, have you ever heard the saying, ‘never waste a good crisis’? I have a plan, and I needed something to frighten the people of Rakos.” But despite these rationalizations, and despite pressing each of the party members in turn, they refused to give in, and insisted that they would continue to fight his plans.

“I am out of questions,” the warlock finally announced. “Can you guess what happens now?” Tessel hesitatingly spoke up. “We go to the Grand Council?” Baldric slowly shook his head, muttering “they’re always so... stupid.” He raised his hand toward the party, fingers outstretched. Ardwyn quickly spoke up, challenging him once again, but he barely listened. “Trying to keep your enemy talking,” he observed. “A good strategy. But it won’t work.” Suddenly, he closed his fingers into a fist, triggering the spells he had placed on the party, and in an instant, they fell dead.

Four of them (all except for Daelon) woke up a moment later in a basement, surrounded by strangers and feeling awful. Most of the strangers around them were obviously clerics: a stout middle-aged man, a male dwarf, a young woman, and a very old dark-skinned woman. “It worked!” one of them cried. “Praise Bahamut!” In one corner of the room stood a young male half-orc, while in the opposite corner was a bed with the apparent corpse of a female dwarf. The party, needless to say, was confused.

The stout man spoke to them first, addressing Tessel. “What is the last thing you remember? Do you remember slaying the demon?” The paladin confirmed this. “Do you remember me?” the man asked in a hopeful tone. She couldn’t quite place him, but he continued, “I believe the last time we met I knocked you to the floor with a stick. My name is Cedric. I am the son of Celestahn, the priest you spoke to before setting off to slay the demon...

“That was 44 years ago.”

The party was shocked. But Valra, remembering the boy she had met just last week, decided to transform into a panther, and nuzzled Cedric just as she had when he was a boy. He smiled, and some of the tension in the room drained away. “Wait,” said Valra, after transforming back. “Are we zombies?” Cedric rushed to reassure her, “oh no, no, of course not.” He explained that they had been resurrected by the use of very powerful (and expensive) spell scrolls, which were capable of bringing to life those who had been dead for up to 100 years. (Daelon’s body, unfortunately, had been sent back to Cindre for burial at the request of the duke.) Less advanced resurrection spells were unable to do the job, since the party’s hearts had been removed from their bodies after they died...

In fact, Cedric explained, nobody understood how the party had died, since no wounds appeared on their body. What's more, the severed hand of a devil had been found nearby. That, along with their victory over Sylvan and the demon, had led to all sorts of stories and legends growing up around them.

They were known to be great heroes, so Cedric and his associates had teamed up to resurrect them. Over the next couple of days, the clerics told the party much about what had happened during their time in the afterlife. The party was horrified to hear that Baldric now ruled the nation under the title of Regent.

Cedric introduced the party to the others in the room. The young woman was an acolyte of Bahamut’s temple, named Rose, who had heard many of the stories about the party and idolized them. The dwarven cleric was named Thordan Orixbane, a local of Highrock who lived in the shrine where they all were speaking. The old woman turned out to be Avisha, the archer who had once tried to assassinate them as part of Danica’s crew; she had been taken in by a merciful priest of Pelor after her capture, and after a long period of reform and penance (and the magical healing of her once-missing tongue), she had decided to become a cleric of Pelor herself.

Tessel used her Deathoscope to investigate the corpse of the dwarf woman in the corner, and was stunned when it reported the impossible fact that the dwarf had been dead for less than a minute. The party asked the clerics about this. By way of explanation, Cedric introduced the young half-orc, Ralnur Unghart. (Ardwyn was shocked to hear that this half-orc shared her last name, and she gladly accepted Thordan’s offer of several strong drinks. Despite drinking copious amounts as she absorbed the news, she remained surprisingly unimpaired by the alcohol.)

Ralnur told the party about the "soul sickness", a recent mysterious epidemic that apparently sapped its victims of the will to live. When his adoptive mother Lorwyn Unghart fell ill, he sought out his friend Thordan. The cleric did not know of any way to treat Lorwyn, but they decided that he would repeatedly cast Feign Death, a spell that makes someone appear to be dead and which, as a side effect, halts the progress of any disease. It might not be safe to undo the spell yet, but it would hopefully buy them enough time to find a cure.

Ralnur was an interesting lad. Although only an adolescent (12 years old), he was bigger than anyone in the party, with greenish skin and unusual black eyes. Hoping to discover a cure for his mother, he had traveled far to the north, to the old ruins where it was rumored that the ancients had dabbled with powerful magic. There, he found a magical crow’s beak, which spoke into his mind and sometimes granted incredible fighting prowess (though he doesn’t remember what happens when he enters this “rage”). Now, he hoped to join the party and help them in their adventures. He kept the beak in a pendant around his neck, which he referred to as a totem. “I have a totem too! It’s a cat,” said Valra. Ralnur was ecstatic. “That’s so cool! Is there a spirit in that one too?” Valra shook her head. “Oh...” said Ralnur. “Well... that’s still cool!”

The conversation turned to their current situation. The clerics said that they had set up five safehouses scattered throughout Rakos, with each of the safehouses assigned to one of the clerics (plus one assigned to Perrin, the mage they had met in the Silver Tower long ago). The safehouses had protective wards, as well as teleportation circles that could be used (albeit with some expense) to move the party around. The clerics had also recovered the party’s stored equipment, and they had arranged for fake travel permits for each of them, claiming that they were a traveling band of entertainers. Each of them was assigned a fake name in these papers: Arlav, Michelle, Fartwyn, Petey, and Bigboy.

As for the question of what to do next, the clerics all had ideas:

• Thordan said that the party needed money and equipment, and he suggested that they return to the Treasury and rob Baldric’s regime of its wealth. Security had been improved since the party’s earlier visit, but their earlier experience would still be an advantage. 

• Rose said the party needed information about Baldric’s plans. Who better to speak to than Rath, the new Sage of the Silver Tower, and the only one who knew Baldric before his rise to power? Admittedly, everyone knew that Rath had gone mad nearly 30 years ago, but surely they would be able to persuade him to help.

• Avisha said that the party needed to find allies. She suggested either making contact with the clans of the Elfwood (who had recently begun fighting openly against the Regency) or replacing the Duke of Revo (an ally of Baldric) with his brother. This brother, Emmon, was the leader of the Outcasts, a group of bandits that formed out of the remnants of the old Capital Rangers after they were disbanded by Baldric.

• Cedric, finally, said that the party needed rest most of all, but perhaps there was a way to find money, information, and allies all at once. The new Duchess of Cindre was fifteen-year-old Anna Greydale, the granddaughter of the duke who had originally hired the party. Baldric kept her practically imprisoned in the Capital Hall in Balenor, ostensibly to tutor her. Thanks to the efforts of her forebears, Cindre was a hotbed of unrest against Baldric’s regime, and rescuing the Duchess could be extremely helpful. The only problem was that, according to those who had spoken with her, the Duchess was a willing prisoner and a passive supporter of the regime. 

The party gathered together to discuss their options. Ralnur walked in before too long, asking his “auntie” if he could join in. Still shocked by recent events, Ardwyn lashed out at him. They walked outside together, and Ralnur tried to explain his feelings. “It’s just... you’re so cool! And, I just wanna kill stuff with you, and I was thinking that, y’know... maybe we could kill stuff together?” They spoke a bit more about his mother and his upbringing, before Ardwyn softened her tone and invited the young half-orc to join them in their discussions, as long as he wouldn't call her "auntie" anymore. They went back into the shrine’s basement to rejoin the others.

At first, Adamir suggested that their best bet was doing as Thordan said and robbing the Treasury so they could afford better equipment for the trials ahead. Tessel objected to the idea of outright theft, and instead suggested that their best bet was following Avisha’s advice and deposing the Duke of Revo, possibly through assassination. “Wait a sec,” said Ardwyn, “is the paladin seriously talking about offing someone?” Tessel explained that it was righteous to slay evildoers, but, thinking along the same lines, she also began to reconsider the idea of stealing from the Treasury.

Other concerns were voiced. Valra said that she wanted to keep a low profile, especially while they were still believed to be dead. Ardwyn suggested minimizing their travel costs, and argued that trying to “rescue” the Duchess of Cindre was a big risk if she didn’t actually want to be rescued. Perhaps it was better to stick to situations where they could be honest about their identity, rather than immediately getting involved in a messy and unfamiliar political situation.

After much conversation, the party made a decision. The next day, they approached Avisha and told her that they wanted to help find the Outcasts and depose the Duke of Revo. The old cleric smiled and told them that they would need to teleport with her back to her safehouse: a shrine along the road between Wayport and Balenor. The Outcasts were based nearby, and often robbed the merchant caravans along that road. After saying their goodbyes, the party squeezed into the teleportation circle with Avisha and disappeared. They immediately arrived in a cozy room situated underneath an open-air shrine. Avisha pointed them in the right direction, and they set off on the road again, for the first time in 44 years.

Shortly after reaching the main road, they encountered a wagon, filled with six Peacekeepers and their captain, who called out to them: “Halt, citizens!” Ardwyn immediately hid behind a boulder. The captain, showing a nasty disposition, approached the rest of the party and demanded to know their business. Ralnur met his eyes and offered their falsified papers, claiming to be entertainers. The captain glared and examined the papers for a long while before handing them back. “You should be more careful. It’s dangerous to travel these roads alone.” Seeing that the coast was clear, Ardwyn left her hiding place, claiming to have been dealing with some private business. The captain grimaced and refused to shake her hand.

His troops, however, were distracted by the party’s cover story. “Do a trick!” called out one of them. Thinking fast, Tessel reached into her pouch of Zoomy Bloomies and threw a handful of them toward the captain. He drew back and drew his sword, sputtering, but he relaxed as the seeds sprouted into colorful flowers, drawing scatted applause from the soldiers on the wagon. Adamir, meanwhile, tried his hand at juggling as he walked around the side of the wagon. He quickly fumbled, and had no better luck at balancing arrows, but even these failures were entertaining to the soldiers on the wagon, who showered him with jeers and mocking laughter.

Ardwyn spoke to the captain, begging to be allowed to travel with the Peacekeepers for protection. He refused, claiming that it was against policy. But he took a more gentle tone when she pretended to be horribly frightened, and he offered to wait with them until a merchant caravan showed up.

They briefly considered this offer. But suddenly, Ralnur let out an ear-piercing “CAWWWWWWWWWW!” The half-orc drew his great-axe and charged toward the soldiers...

Session Five: TALK AND TALONS

Departing the Capital Hall, the party followed Tessel across to the opposite hill, where the mighty marble Temple Complex stood. As they approached, they saw the temple of Pelor on the left, the temple of Erathis on the right, and in the center, the temple of Bahamut. The paladin confidently strode through the main doors and found herself in a small chamber, where an acolyte sat behind a desk. After requesting a place to rest for the night, which was immediately granted, Tessel began to explain that the party was seeking information as well. They were directed to speak to the head cleric of the temple, Celestahn.

The party proceeded into a circular room with a font of holy water in the center flanked by four large statues of Bahamut. Inside stood a man wearing massive plate armor. He turned to them and spoke in a booming voice: “I am Celestahn, priest of Bahamut. Welcome, paladin!” United in their faith, the two greeted each other warmly, and Tessel explained that they had come looking for information about the demon they were tracking. “So it is true, then. Demons in Rakos...” the cleric intoned darkly.

He asked to hear what the party knew, and they explained what had happened so far. Celestahn identified two points of interest. First, he took note of the strange fact that they had encountered a devil on the road, who had interceded on behalf of Baldric. He voiced a suspicion: that Baldric had made a pact with a powerful devil, thereby becoming a warlock, while abandoning the demon to pursue its own aims. “Devils and demons would never work together,” he said, and explained the difference between the two: devils were creatures of order who sought to conquer and rule, while demons were creatures of chaos who sought only to destroy.

But that led him to his second observation: “This confuses me. Why have we not seen cities in flames? This demon is surely capable of greater destruction.” According to Celestahn, a demon would never pass up the opportunity to sow chaos unless it was working toward some even greater goal. Hearing this, Tessel spoke up: “Are there any magic artifacts or other sources of power that this demon might be looking for?” Celestahn went silent and thought for a moment. “There is one thing... Some years ago, a scroll was found in the catacombs beneath this temple. We could not identify it, so we sought the help of the Sage of the Silver Tower-- the former Sage, that is. He told us that it was a Gate scroll,” capable of opening a portal to the Abyss through which dozens or hundreds of greater demons could pour through. “We sent it to the Rangers for safekeeping.”

Shaken by this revelation, Celestahn offered to give the party more information on their foe, which they identified as a Vrock. But he was interrupted as the doors on the other side of the room swung open, and a five-year-old boy walked in the room, wearing a papier-mache copy of Celestahn’s armor and wielding a stick. He walked up to Tessel and struck her armor with the stick, calling out “I smite thee!” The paladin went down to the floor, playing along. Celestahn scolded him, “Cedric! This is a paladin of Bahamut!” “I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were righteous,” Cedric replied. He then walked toward Valra and looked her up and down. “Are you a druid? Daddy says druids are just cats in disguise.” “No,” said the increasingly exasperated cleric, “I said they could turn into cats, among other animals.” The druid responded by immediately transforming into a panther, allowing the boy to pet her head.

Celestahn apologized for the interruption, but since that the party didn’t seem to mind, he decided to go ahead with the discussion of the Vrock. Pulling out a large tome, he opened it to show a terrifying illustration of the vulture demon, and went on to explain their strengths and weaknesses. They were resistant to most magical effects, as well as the elements of cold, fire, and lightning. Their skin would resist most weapons, except those imbued with magic or silver. Their shriek could stun almost any mortal who heard it. They were immune to poison, and they could spread a cloud of poisonous spores from their wings. A vial of holy water could cure this poison, however. Celestahn offered to lend some holy water to Tessel on the condition that she would consider her hunt to be a holy quest of the gravest importance. She agreed. Once all their questions were answered, they bade the cleric goodbye, and Cedric proudly led the party to their beds for the night, petting Valra one last time before leaving them to their rest.

The next morning, the party decided to head to the Warren, the headquarters of the Capital Rangers. Before they arrived, Daelon shared a word of caution. “I still consider us to be a party working on behalf of Cindre. Though most people seem to trust the Rangers, their leader is brother to the Duke of Revo.” Given the fact that Revo had just turned against Cindre, “it could be a sensitive situation.”

A guard at the entrance directed them down a dark, narrow hallway to the office of the Head Ranger, Rawlish Boswell. They were passed by a messenger clutching a rolled-up paper. Ardwyn attempted to stealthily snatch the paper, but accidentally ended up punching the messenger in the stomach. Doubling over in pain, he shot the dwarf a nasty look. “Don’t you know that’s how dwarves flirt?” she asked, twirling her hair. He departed in a hurry, and the party entered the Head Ranger’s office.

Inside, they found a big man behind a desk, wearing scale armor and an enormous greatsword. “Huh? Can I help you?” he asked impatiently. By prior arrangement, Daelon took the lead, asking careful, delicate, pointed questions about what the Rangers might know about the demon. Rawley (as he called himself) responded openly, complaining about the lack of manpower due to the upcoming Grand Council and gladly welcoming the party’s help. He was expecting to get the report from Birch soon (and eagerly asked about what the party found at Inverelle), but the only new piece of information was a potential demon sighting near the village of Tarnsworth, a day’s travel east of Balenor.

Daelon began to gently approach the subject of the Gate scroll, but Tessel, who had been asked by the party to keep quiet, finally ran out of patience and burst out with an explanation of what had happened at the temple. Ardwyn, hoping to divert the paladin, flew into a violent coughing fit, pulling the alarmed Tessel into the hallway with her. Rawley gave a hearty laugh before turning back toward Daelon. “So what’s this about the temple?” The wizard reluctantly relayed what they had heard about the Gate scroll and asked what had happened to it. “We sent it to the Treasury in Highrock for safekeeping, of course,” Rawley said. He paused. “Are you saying that the demon might be trying to summon a Gate to the Abyss?” Daelon nodded. Rawley stared back for a moment, before declaring, “Fuck.”

The party agreed with his assessment and decided that Highrock would be their next destination. Rawley informed them that a gnome employed by the Duchess of Highrock was in charge of the Treasury and would be able to give them more details. With that, the party set off. All except for Adamir. The ranger waited in silence until the door closed behind his departing companions.

(In actuality, Ardwyn had tried to stay behind, crack the door, and eavesdrop. But, slipping once again, she accidentally slammed the door shut. The rogue nonetheless attempted to listen in by putting her ear to the door, but she strained to hear the conversation on the other side.)

“Hello, uncle,” said Adamir quietly. Rawley scowled for a moment at this oddly familiar greeting, but after a moment of confusion, his face softened. “Adamir?” he asked, in wonder. “I thought you were dead...” Rawley, it seemed, had not recognized Adamir until now. But the half-elf had recognized Rawley as a member of his father’s ka-tet. They had not seen each other since his father’s murder. Rawley, caught off-guard, greeted Adamir with awkward warmth, clearly not knowing what to say.

Adamir, on the other hand, had questions. He asked the Head Ranger to tell him everything about the day his father died. Rawley proceeded to haltingly tell the tale: they had made the mistake of taking an anonymous job, which was to involve driving off a small band of orcs in the nearby grasslands. But when they arrived, they instead found a full war party, and the orcs seemed to be expecting them. Badly injured, they were able to escape. Rawley believed they had not left a trail, “but clearly I was mistaken.” Adamir’s father had bitterly accused Adamir’s elven grandfather of setting them up, but said that he was sure his home would be safe, since the grandfather would never endanger Adamir’s mother. Later, the rest of the ka-tet got the news. “Bilston heard from the elves that all three of you had been killed by orcs. She was so upset, she left the Vastwood entirely, without even saying goodbye to that druid she’d been training. Gerra and I left as well... It was a dark time in my life.”

Adamir shared his own memory of that night: that before he was knocked out by a falling beam, he could swear he saw his grandfather stabbing an orc, shouting “too soon!” Rawley quietly absorbed this troubling story. “You know,” he said after a moment, “I’ve tried to keep my ear to the ground, listening for word about your grandfather. I may know where he’s heading. In fact...” He trailed off. “But, no, not yet. Adamir, you’re about to go hunting a demon. I don’t want you distracted. You go deal with this monster, come back here, and we’ll have a chat about your grandfather. Maybe we can go hunting together again. Like old times.”

There was little else to say. Adamir asked for any assistance or supplies that Rawley could offer. The Head Ranger said he had no money to offer, but took the half-elf into the neighboring room (brushing awkwardly past Ardwyn, still stationed at the door), where the Capital Rangers stored their arms and armor. Adamir was able to find a quiver of six silver arrows, and took a new set of splint mail armor for Tessel to use. With this new equipment in hand, he rejoined his companions outside the Warren. They asked what he had been doing, but Ardwyn interjected: “They were, like, ranger bonding over ranger stuff, and you’re a terrible liar Adamir. Let’s go!”

The party set off for some of the nicer shops that were clustered near the center of the city. Ardwyn spent the gold piece she had found in Saphira’s couch to buy a small lump of wax that could serve to deafen the party from the Vrock’s dangerous screech. Looking for more funds, they visited a dwarven alchemist, where Adamir attempted to sell the wereboar hair that he had acquired. “What? Does wereboar hair have alchemical properties?” asked the confused dwarf. But he was eventually persuaded to buy the hair for a mere 2gp. Luckily, just then, the party remembered that they had collected some money from Danica’s body after defeating her ambush a few days ago. Daelon decided to buy a vial of acid from the alchemist, while Valra and Adamir bought a few extra silver arrows in preparation for the fight ahead.

With their preparations complete, Ardwyn  suggested one final detour. Leading the party toward the rougher parts of town, she started looking for an appropriately seedy inn or tavern where she could get information from her fellow rogues. Sure enough, she spotted graffiti on the side of a building and immediately recognized it as Thieves Cant. The message promised information and gave directions to a nearby intersection.

Taking Adamir along as her bodyguard, Ardwyn approached the indicated alley and found a man leaning against the wall, whittling a small piece of wood. They greeted each other in Thieves’ Cant before she began to ask about where she might find Danica, not mentioning that the elf had died trying to ambush the party. At first, the man was uncooperative. Seeing her confusion, he explained that he was an information dealer, and that he would need to be paid “in coin or in kind”. At first, Ardwyn tried to haggle his price down from 10gp, with some success. But, unwilling to give up her last few coins, she instead tried to signal her bodyguard to rough up the man, though she was unable to communicate this clearly. Still, Adamir spoke up, telling the man that they could confirm that there was only one Capital Ranger currently in the entire city. Perking up at this, the shady information dealer started to answer their questions. Apparently, Danica had left town four days ago, heading north toward Inverelle.

But he also shared a more interesting tidbit: about three days ago, someone had arrived in town and shaken up the local Thieves’ Guild, “throwing lots of money around”. He didn’t know much about this new arrival, but had heard the name “Baldric” through the grapevine. Satisfied, Ardwyn asked for the man’s name, in case she ever wanted to find him again. “Cyrano,” he answered with a smile. “You can find me right here most days.”

Fully prepared, they set off on the road, deciding to skip over the village of Tarnsworth and head straight for Highrock. A few days later, about halfway to their destination, they encountered a large carriage on the road, which was flanked by several mostly-dwarven guards. “Keep your distance!” warned the woman who seemed to be leading them. “The Duchess of Highrock is proceeding to Balenor for the Grand Council!” Daelon approached and asked to speak to the Duchess. A voice from inside the carriage called out in response. “Let them in, Lena. I’ll speak to them.” The carriage came to a halt.

As the party climbed inside, they found themselves speaking to an old halfling woman with short white hair and a wrinkled face. Daelon identified her as Nellis Mirra, the Duchess of Highrock. “Are you here about the...” she prompted. Daelon nodded in response. She smiled and continued. “The demon? ...I was expecting to see a squadron of Rangers. But we’ll take what help we can get.”

The Duchess went on to explain what had happened in Highrock. “Several days ago, the demon attacked from the skies, heading straight into the Treasury. We were unable to stop it, but several of our brave guards were able to seal it inside.” She went on to tell them that her steward, a gnome by the name of Davros, was in charge of managing the Treasury. He would be able to tell them more and grant them access. Thanking her, they departed and continued on their journey.

After a few more days of travel through open green hills, the party arrived at the city of Highrock. As they approached, it looked like nothing more than a circular wall, standing alone on a flat plain. When they passed through the gate, they found that the the city was just built into the ground, with hundreds of small hill dwellings lit by skylights, and small stalls and parks above. In the center of the city was a huge circle of stone. A guard at the inner gate identified it as the Citadel of Highrock and sent them in, directing them to an inner room.

There they met Davros, an irritable gnome constantly adjusting the tiny set of spectacles resting on his nose. “I suppose you’re the ones who will save us all from this demon, then?” he asked, his voice flat. “Let me be clear. This is already the greatest disaster to strike Rakos in over a century.” He explained that the demon had been sealed inside the Treasury, but it had surely destroyed many (if not all) of the items kept inside. Luckily, the Gate scroll, along with “any other items that could be used by a potential thief to enter or escape”, was kept in a specially-warded chest. There was no guarantee that the demon would be able to be kept out forever, but Davros was hopeful that it had not broken through yet.

He explained what would come next. “I have placed a magical lock upon the entrance to the Treasury. I have set a magical alarm on the other side to ensure that the demon is not too near. I can suppress the lock briefly to let you pass. When you return, you will identify yourself by means of a passphrase of your choosing.” The party choose “Galby sucks”. “Ah,” said Davros, “Galbasux. Very well. I won’t ask what it means. One last thing. Do not think that you can take whatever you like from the Treasury. I know exactly what it contains, and if anything is not accounted for, the Duchess will be hearing about it. Are you ready, then?” He then led the party through the corridors until they reached a gate that was blocked by a huge disc of stone. The gnome ordered a couple of guards to shift the stone, and he then proceeded to whisper something to the gate. It opened, and he stepped aside. The party passed through, and the door was closed, locked, and sealed behind them.

They were plunged into utter darkness and silence, made worse by the wax that each of them had pressed into their ears. Most of the party could see in the dark, but Tessel needed to light a torch to see ahead. However, they worried that the torchlight might alert the demon to their presence. It was decided that Ardwyn would proceed slightly ahead of the others, stealthily scouting the halls and reporting back what she saw. With this plan in place, they began walking down the ramps, further and further beneath the ground.

As they walked, they encountered a series of horrors. First they found the bloodied, mutilated bodies of the guards who had been locked inside the Treasury. One corpse was being continually stabbed by some kind of enchanted dagger. At the bottom of the ramps, they began to see what had happened to the storage rooms. In one, piles of silver and gold had been scattered and partially melted. In others, precious books and documents were burned to ash or ripped into pieces. Another held a variety of objects, most of which had been apparently dissolved in a pool of acid. One held four apparently precious magical objects that had been utterly destroyed, as well as one intact specimen: a shining, perfectly spherical black orb.

Once they reached the middle of the storage rooms, Tessel took the opportunity to call upon her Divine Sense. It seized her with the sudden knowledge that a fiend was indeed present, perched on the side wall of the final storage room. The party gathered to put together a plan of attack. They determined that they should capitalize on the element of surprise and rush the demon all at once. Daelon was the first to run in, and he found the vrock, a foul creature with huge wings and claws, clinging to the wall exactly where he expected it.

The wizard began the assault with a flurry of spells, summoning a Flaming Sphere and slamming it into the demon twice, plus throwing a fire bolt and his vial of acid for good measure. The demon was able to resist much of these spells, but the acid, along with a well-shot silver arrow from Adamir , struck true. Valra nearly stumbled on her way in, but she called on her Lucky Ducky and was able to follow on the ranger's heels, casting Faerie Fire along the way. Miraculously, the spell penetrated the demon’s spell resistance, surrounding it in purple flames. Ardwyn, tapping into her expertise as an assassin, expertly threw her magic dagger at the monster, piercing through its thick hide in just the right spot to injure it severely. Tessel waited until the right moment, then ran in and cast a magical Protection from Evil on the rogue.

Enraged by this sudden and devastating attack, the vrock launched itself into the middle of the group, attacking Tessel with its beak and Ardwyn with its claws. It followed up by throwing its wings wide, scattering a cloud of poisonous spores. Most of the party was able to fight off its effects, but Adamir felt the poison sink in. Luckily, Tessel was quick to empty a vial of holy water on the ranger before the poison could seriously hurt him. Ardwyn teleported to recover her dagger and ran to attack again, while Valra and Adamir struck with more silver arrows, aided by Valra's Faerie Fire.

The vrock, now truly at the edge of death, unleashed its terrifying screech. Thanks to their homemade ear plugs, they were again able to mostly resist the awful sound, but Ardwyn, standing right next to the demon, caught the full blast, momentarily stunning her. The demon took the opportunity to fly over to the other side of Tessel and Adamir, again lashing out with its beak and claws. But a final flurry of fire from Daelon struck the vrock once more with his Flaming Sphere, finally killing it. With one last demonic shriek, it melted into a pool of vile ichor.

Adamir used the empty holy water vial to scoop up a few drops of ichor as proof of their victory. After briefly looking around, they decided to head back (without pilfering any of the intact treasures). They uttered their passphrase “Galby sucks”, and after a moment the door slid open once again, and they stepped back into the Citadel...

Session Four: BEASTS AND BURDENS

After a few more hours on the road, Valra noticed a hidden Druidic message on the edge of the forest: “Mortal danger. Unnatural beast in forest. Road is safe.” The others were alarmed, but since they had no plans to enter the forest anyway, they continued on their way.

That night, as they got the campfire started, a chipmunk appeared, examining Ardwyn first, then hopping down to see the rest of the party. All of a sudden, it transformed into an elf-- a druid! The elf bluntly informed the party that a “fell beast” in the shape of a boar was killing travelers, and only the intervention of the elves of the forest was keeping the road safe (since the beast avoided getting too near to them). But, he declared, he could see that the party was able to handle itself in battle. Therefore, the elves were going to retreat, and the party was going to slay this beast. “Build your fire high tonight,” he told them.

This one-sided declaration was met with hostility from Ardwyn and the others. The elf did not improve their disposition by deriding Adamir and Valra for “smelling of the city” and not being “a true druid”. As their mutual dislike grew, the strange elf only reluctantly gave information on the threat, revealing that it had shrugged off a shot from his longbow and that it had “mostly targeted dwarves”. Only Tessel indicated a sure willingness to help, but this was enough for the elf, who departed into the forest in a huff.

The party decided to try to prepare for this unwelcome surprise as best they could. Adamir and Ardwyn spent a few hours digging a trench, while Tessel stoked the fire to great heights. Valra decided to prove her druidic prowess by transforming into a bear, but unfortunately was unable to sniff out the boar. Daelon, for his part, went into his trance and rested.

Several hours after dark, the boar finally emerged. But to the party’s surprise, it appeared to be more of a boar-person hybrid, standing on two feet and gripping a massive maul in its hands. Snorting and snarling, it charged toward the party.

Two members of the party were especially fast to respond. Adamir fired off a well-aimed shot from his longbow, hoping to keep his distance from the creature, but to his dismay, the arrow merely bounced off the beast’s hide. Tessel ran forward, striking the boar with her longsword, but similarly drew no blood. The quick-thinking Adamir, seeing that his arrows were of little use, pulled out the new toys he bought from Jilbin, the Spicy Buffalo Rings. Three rays of fire sprouted from the rings on his hand, arcing through the air and striking the boar, scorching it and causing it to roar in pain.

Ardwyn, crafty as ever, had stealthily hid in the woods before the boar arrived, but she now saw that her options to attack were limited. Recalling the creature’s apparent hatred of dwarves, she stood out in the boar’s path, shouting out a string of vicious insults, trying to draw it towards the fire. “Bitch,” growled the boar as it charged towards her. The beast succeeded in goring her with his massive tusks, though the swing of his massive maul did not find its target.

The party wracked their brains trying to recall any useful knowledge about a monster such as this. It was Daelon who suddenly understood: “Of course! It’s a shapeshifter! A lycanthrope! A wereboar!” He struck it with a Flaming Sphere and began to ram it into the creature, painfully burning it over and over again.

The beast initially shook off Valra's signature Faerie Fire spell, but when she heard that it was a shapeshifter, she cast a druidic Moonbeam spell, calling down a cylinder of silver light. When it hit the wereboar, it screamed as its skin sizzled and split, shrinking down into the form of an ordinary dwarf (albeit naked, angry, and with oddly boarlike features).

Around this time, the party’s prisoner, Avisha, decided to make a run for it. Struggling in her bounds, she shimmied off into the woods as fast as she could. Tessel caught up to her with little effort, held her ropes to a tree, and magically fixed her Stiffy Staff in place to bind the captive woman to the tree.

Adamir, running out of options, charged the dwarf and shoved him into the pit he had dug before. The dwarf fell prone, even dropping his maul for a moment, but was able to climb out of the pit. With his beast blood, he was able to continue taking all this punishment and keep fighting, but the party was slowly wearing him down. The ranger followed this up by lighting a torch and attacking again, but though the fire dismayed the dwarf, his attack were still unable to pierce the wereboar’s skin, even in its humanoid form.

Ardwyn, having put a safe distance between herself and the wereboar, threw her new Tagger Dagger, and was glad to see that its magical blade succeeded in hurting the wereboar. She quickly teleported to the dagger, retrieving it for a follow-up attack. But before she could strike again, the mad dwarf swung twice with his maul, knocking her to the ground, leaving her unconscious and on the verge of death.

Daelon fired a quick Fire Bolt, finally killing the wereboar... Or so he thought. Incredibly, the reeling beast recovered its balance and prepared to attack again. Luckily, Valra’s Moonbeam continued to follow her target as he moved, and with one final burst of burning silver light, the wereboar finally fell dead. Tessel quickly revived Ardwyn with her holy healing powers. The party burned the body in the raging fire and took a well-deserved rest.

Leaving camp the next day, Ardwyn again found herself facing a chipmunk in a tree. Recalling the druid from the day before, she pulled out the Mouthbeast, using the puppet to ask the cute animal if it was just a normal chipmunk. “What you mean, just normal chipmunk?” it replied indignantly. Just then, the strange druid walked up from further up the road. “WHAT are you doing?” he demanded haughtily. After dispensing with his confusion, he gruffly thanked them for killing the wereboar, and offered a handful of herbs that would prevent any lycanthropy infection from taking hold. Ardwyn, thinking it better to be safe than sorry, applied the herbs to her wounds before the party continued to Inverelle.

Upon reaching the village, the party was met by a very young woman, who seemed to be in charge. The woman demanded to know the party’s business and why they were carrying a captive into town. “You’re in luck,” she told them. “There’s a Ranger in town.” She directed them to the man further in town, a member of the country’s Capital Rangers.

The Ranger introduced himself as Birch. He recognized Avisha as a member of “Danica’s crew”, seemed unsurprised to hear that they had been caught on the wrong side of the law. He used a magic set of iron bands to bind Avisha and, knocking her to the ground, forced her to drink from a small canteen he produced from his pocket. “You try to break those bounds or make a run for it,” he told her, “and your heart will burst before you make it ten paces.” He took the party around a corner and took a swig from the bottle himself, revealing it as harmless. “Usually scares them enough that they don’t try anything” he explained. “Now what brought you to Inverelle?” The party explained that they were investigating the attack, and Birch brought them over to the burned-out tavern to discuss what had happened.

He explained that he had been investigating the wreckage and speaking to the few surviving witnesses. His working theory was that it was, indeed, a demonic attack, that nobody fitting Baldric’s description had been seen, and that it seemed to be a “recreational” attack. The disaster had left “a lot of widows and orphans”, including Maya, the young woman who had declared herself the “acting mayor” of the town. Adamir inspected the grounds and saw the evidence in the rubble, including bones that may have been damaged by claws or talons. The party informed him that it may not have been a demon after all, relating the story of Sylvan’s trickery. The Ranger promised to take this into consideration, but confessed his confusion. After all, he said, the witnesses had described a flying, vulture-like creature, not a mage.

The party, presuming that the attacker would continue south toward the city of Balenor, headed back toward the main road. Along the way, Daelon told them that it was imperative that they destroy the demon before the Rangers; otherwise it would be interpreted as other duchies picking up Cindre’s slack.

“Pardon me.” Their walk was suddenly interrupted by a devil appearing behind them at the crossroads. “Relax! I’m only here to talk.” The devil (who revealed that he was appearing as a magical projection and thus “not really here”), proposed a deal: he would tell them about the demon’s aims and location, but only if they would pledge not to pursue Baldric any further.

Tessel was the first to refuse. “Ah, Tessel,” said the devil, “uncompromising as ever. I expected nothing less.” But he pressed the paladin, asking if no champions of Bahamut had ever compromised for peace, and if order was not preferable to chaos. But she stormed off, ready to lead the others away from evil.

They did not immediately follow. The devil tried to persuade the others. Valra stubbornly refused to answer to his offers of “enlightenment”, while Daelon was unconvinced by his pressure to “help clean up Cindre’s mess”. The devil offered to “sweeten the pot,” tantalizingly telling Ardwyn that “I know where your sister is”. But even this was ultimately not enough to sway the party, and after Tessel came storming back, this time they followed her away. “Despite everything, I’m surprised at you,” said the devil, as he disappeared in a swirl of smoke. Adamir checked for some means of tracking it, but found none. Returning themselves to their path, the party continued onward.

They reached Balenor the next day, passing through the giant crumbling walls and ring of abandoned buildings of the old capital city. Eventually, the party reached the center of the city, where the nicer shops, the Temple Complex, and the Capital Hall were located. Ardwyn asked around and heard about an alchemist and a shop for magic weapons, but Daelon suggested visiting the Capital Hall and dropping in on the Cindrean ambassador to get an update on what the Duke was up to.

The ambassador turned out to be a charming and somewhat flighty young woman named Saphira Greydale, the younger sister of the infamous Galby. She warmly greeted them and offered drinks, though Valra spotted that she was served from a separate pitcher. The druid looked closer at the pitchers, prompting Saphira to offer to trade glasses; it turned out that hers was a non-alcoholic version of the fruity drink, but she happily downed Valra’s glass in one gulp.

Saphira informed them that the Duke had “set everything to right” in the city and had set off for Balenor a couple days ago. She asked them where they were headed next, and cried out in horror when Daelon pulled out his hand-drawn map. She quickly searched through her cabinets and pulled out a map of Rakos for them to examine. Saphira went on to chat about some of the other regions, including Valen (“all they have up there is snow and orcs”), Highrock (“now that’s where I’d want to live if I were a sheep”) and Cindre itself (“in my great grandfather’s day you were either a pirate or a farmer, but now!”).

Fortified by the drinks and the spirited conversation, the party said their goodbyes and exited to the streets of Balenor once more, though not before Ardwyn rescued a forgotten gold coin from the cushions of Saphira’s couch...

Map of Rakos

Session Three: TREATS AND TRICKS

Rushing over to Sylvan’s corpse, Daelon patted out the flames on the dead sage’s scrolls, trying to recover as many as he could. With this done, he searched the body, discovering a magical glass lens ringed with ornately-carved gold, which he pocketed for later.

Galbarth Greydale re-entered the room, having watched the battle from the safety of the side room. Ardwyn and Adamir immediately surrounded him, distracting him with a strange and intimidating dance until the hapless man was able to extricate himself. “I’ll send a rider out for the duke to let her know what happened,” he suggested. “You all can finish handling these two [captured bards] and get some rest.” With that, he left, saying he would search for the remaining loyal guards.

The bards were duly interrogated, but yielded little new information. It seemed that both of them had joined Sylvan more for the impressive speed of his coup rather out of any real belief in his cause. One of the guards, seeing that there was no way to talk himself out of imprisonment, even admitted to recognizing the Faerie Fire spell that Sylvan had pretended was “demon fire”.

Galby returned alongside a large dark-skinned man in battered armor, who introduced himself as Djonnos, or Jon for short. “And where were you during all of this?” asked Ardwyn, with a hint of accusation. “Following Galbarth’s orders, of course,” he answered. “We did what we could to gather the loyal guards and make an assault on the great hall, but, well...” He gestured to the bodies scattered throughout the room. “I’m just grateful that Galby was able to find you and lead you back here.”

Galby again suggested sending a rider to inform the duke of what had happened, but the party was skeptical that a single rider would be certain to navigate any dangers remaining near the city. Daelon spoke up to note that he had been able to identify some of the recovered scrolls (except for a single especially-complicated one), and they included a scroll of Sending, which would allow them to send a 25-word message to the duke and receive a reply in like kind.

The party took a moment to carefully craft a 25-word message, informing the duke of what had occurred, mentioning Rath and Baldric, and closing with the code word “Galby sucks”. Less than a minute after the message was sent, a reply came back: “Already heard about attack on Cindre, turned army around. I ride ahead, will arrive by morning. Appreciate the warnings. Good work so far. Galby sucks.” With that, they took a well-deserved rest in the guest rooms upstairs.

The next morning, they were woken by a nudge from a servant (except for Ardwyn, who coolly warned the man not to touch her), informing them that the duke was downstairs awaiting them. On the walk down, Adamir quietly questioned Daelon about the nature of the final scroll. The wizard began to explain, but upon hearing the ranger’s exclamation (“holy shit!”), the rest of the party became curious as well. Tessel recognized the Planar Ally spell from her training as a paladin: it would allow them to beseech a god for aid and receive some otherworldly servant, who, for the right price, could then be persuaded (or magically bound) to do a service for the spellcaster. Tessel surmised that this was how Sylvan had originally summoned the demon.

They soon entered the meeting room, where they found the duke shuffling through reports, still wearing her armor and the dust of the road. She invited them to sit down, and Adamir opened the discussion by asking for payment. The duke was quick to grant 250gp to each of them, and even to allow them to permanently keep the magical items on loan, but she insisted that this was only a “bonus” and that the job was not complete until the demon was dealt with.

The duke went on to proclaim that the events of the past few days to be “a fucking disaster”. “The city is full of looters and terrified commoners, half my guards are dead, the war with Valen is a fucking mess, and I was embarrassed in front of my entire army.” She revealed that, after her army had turned around, her ally (the duchy of Revo) had surrendered rather than fight against Valen alone. In exchange for peace, Revo had agreed to support Valen and to call a new Grand Council (a meeting of the dukes). Now the legal basis for the war (and all of Daelon's hard work on that front) was in jeopardy.

The duke also had questions for the party, starting with Valra. “Druid, we have a captured guard who swears that he saw you summoning ‘demon fire’. Care to explain yourself?” Valra told her about the Faerie Fire and other spells. “Do you mean to tell me,” said the incredulous duke, “that this madman took over my city with a bunch of PARLOR TRICKS? Didn’t he know I had an ARMY?” The party could only shrug. “Then tell me, what exactly happened at the Tower?”

After hearing their story, the duke put her head in her hands. “So that’s how the demon showed up. We received a report this morning that a village called Inverelle was burned.” The duke tasked the party with tracking down and destroying the demon as soon as possible (likely starting at Inverelle), then meeting her in Balenor (the capital) to help with the Grand Council. The Council would start in about two weeks, and would last another three or four after that, so she presumed that there would be plenty of time.

In parting, the duke suggested that they get whatever supplies they may need from the shops in town, perhaps including the magic items from Jilbin’s shop. Daelon spoke up to comment that this was an excellent idea, though he knew Jilbin to be “a bit of a strange one”.

That turned out to be a polite understatement. Jilbin’s shop, located in the back alleys of a commercial district, turned out to be little more than a small room with a huge oak tree growing out the ceiling. Jilbin herself was a small gnome, who leapt to her feet when the party arrived. “You! Whatsyername!” she cried, pointing at Adamir. He declined to answer. The gnome turned to Tessel, still pointing at the ranger. “You! Whatshisname?” she yelled again. “Adamir”, replied the confused paladin. The gnome whispered the name to a small white envelope, then threw it into the air, where it folded itself into a paper airplane and gently glided toward Adamir, unfolding itself and falling into his hands. “Ha! I call it the Airmail Envelope!” said Jilbin, throwing a small card toward the ranger that gave a small description and price for the item.

So it went for the others. “You! Druid, right? So... you like animals! Here! And... here! Yes yes.” Jilbin handed a series of animal-themed items to Valra, and went on to each member of the party, placing strange items before them for their consideration. “Can you believe that Jilbin was passed over for the position of Sage of the Silver Tower?” asked Daelon. “How differently things might have gone!” Jilbin agreed, demonstrating her “Sandwriting” invention by throwing a handful of dust in the air, which briefly floated in the shape of the words “Sylvan is a twat”.

After much consideration, Tessel ended up buying the Airmail Envelope and Sandwriting, as well as the Stiffy Staff (an iron rod that could be magically fixed in place), Zoomy Bloomies (a pouch of flower seeds that could grow instantly), and the Deathoscope (a spyglass that revealed how long someone had been dead). Daelon bought the Zippy Skippes (pebbles guaranteed to skip on water) and Jarring Jar (a scream trapped in a glass jar), while Adamir chose to buy the Splattercat (a whittled cat figurine that could absorb falling damage) and the Spicy Buffalo Rings (a set of three rings with the power to shoot rays of fire).

Ardwyn spent some time considering the Mouthbeast, a sock puppet that allowed the user to speak to animals, and she decided to give it a try. Spotting a squirrel on the oak tree, she spoke through the Mouthbeast: “how do you keep your tail so lustrous?” The squirrel, obviously touched by the compliment, stroked her fluffy tail and chattered back. “Take good care of it!” But Ardwyn ultimately chose to be practical, purchasing the Tagger Dagger (which allowed the wielder to teleport to its location) and two Masquereggs (which could each be used to craft a magical disguise).

Valra was the only one to spot Ardwyn's conversation with the squirrel, and she quietly took Jilbin aside. After a whispered conversation and an exchange of gold coins, Jilbin presented the Mouthbeast to the rogue as a free gift. For her own part, Valra purchased only one item: the Lucky Ducky, a duck statuette that grants an occasional lucky break to whoever carries it.

After their purchases were complete, Jilbin’s eyes suddenly filled with tears of gratitude. “You just bought more than anyone ever has,” she said with a quavering voice. But she soon perked up again. “I’ll make more! Yes, I’ll meet you in Wayport with more magical things!” The gnome scratched the location of the city of Wayport on the party’s hastily-drawn map, then started to hastily put away the clutter of unsold items, seeming to forget about the party’s presence in an instant.

They hit the road soon after, and by dusk they were able to reach the village of Fairway for the third time. Upon entering the inn, they again found Tuck, the old villager who they had encountered on each of their visits. This time, however, he was in better spirits, surrounded by other villagers at a large table. “There they are,” he shouted as they entered, “the ones who I was telling you about! The ones who slew the demon!” The party was soon awash with new fans, and tried to tell their own versions of the story. Valra, hoping to get a bit of space, used her Druidcraft to give off the faint odor of a skunk, but the adoring tavern-goers politely tried to ignore this. After some prodding from Ardwyn, one villager even drew a crude picture of a horse as a gift for the druid (with a tiny skunk in the corner as well). After a long evening with lots of attention and lots of free drinks, the party finally made it to bed.

The journey to Inverelle would take about five more days, however, and for the first time since arriving in Rakos, the next few days passed uneventfully.

Eventually they met a group of travelers on the road that stood out from the usual traffic, including a half-orc with a greataxe, a dark-skinned woman with a bow, an extremely stout pair of twins, and a red-haired elf leading the entire group. “Hail, friends!” The elf introduced herself as Danica and chatted briefly with Daelon, claiming to be the leader of another party of adventurers as she approached.

But when she reached the wizard and shook his hand, she drew a hidden dagger and jammed it toward the wizard’s gut. Only a reflexive magical Shield was able to deflect the attack. Cursing, Danica slipped behind her compatriots as they pressed the attack.

The battle began as a farce, with both of the twins utterly failing to hit Tessel. One of the twins flailed out with his club so hard that he dropped it, and Adamir retaliating by losing control of his shortsword in the same way. Daelon and Danica traded insults in Elvish, while the half-orc proved to be so surprised by the surprise attack that she briefly forgot to join in.

Nonetheless, the fighting quickly turned fierce. Daelon began with his trademark Sleep, but only the archer fell victim to his spell. Valra cast Faerie Fire, highlighting Danica in purple flames. Ardwyn moved to grab the fallen club, but ended up grappled by the twin who had dropped it. After a struggle, she was able to throw the thug to the ground and finish him off with her dagger. Without his usual backup, the other twin was soon set upon by Adamir’s twin swords.

Seeing the tide turning, Danica shouted to her remaining minions: “Kill that fucking wizard before he gets away!” The half-orc dutifully pursued Daelon with her greataxe as he tried to maneuver his Flaming Sphere toward Danica, who in turn struck Adamir with a sneak attack. Luckily, Valra was able to fit a Healing Word between shots of her shortbow, and Tessel was able to heal Daelon just before running up to the half-orc and sending her lifeless body flying with a divine smite.

With her party mostly dead, Danica tried one final ploy: running up to the injured Ardwyn and threatening to strike her down unless the party backed away. The rogue flirted in response. Tessel quickly cast a Sanctuary spell, redirecting Danica’s attack toward herself. With the danger gone, Daelon threw a final Fire Bolt, catching Danica in the chin and sending her to the ground, finally dead.

That left the archer, quietly snoring on the ground. Valra relieved her of her longbow, while Adamir expertly hogtied her, leaving her face in the dirt when the Sleep spell wore off. Adamir began a harsh interrogation, but even his kicks and threats failed to elicit even a word of response. Tessel took the next turn, lecturing the tied-up woman on justice, but the woman only began to laugh. As she laughed harder, the paladin saw the reason for her silence: she had no tongue.

The party needed information, and was only getting spat upon by this stubborn captive. Daelon eventually decided to try a Charm Person spell, despite knowing that it was unlikely to succeed. In a stroke of luck, the charm took hold, and the archer suddenly became as friendly and cooperative as she was recalcitrant before. With paper and quill in hand, the woman (who identified herself as Avisha) began to answer their questions.

Avisha claimed that she lost her tongue as a child in Artha, a nation across the sea to the southeast. Danica had led her and the others to try to kill the party for a simple reason: money. They had been hired by a somewhat nondescript man who fit the description of Baldric. In her charmed state, Avisha promised not to follow or attack her captors if they would just agree not to kill her.

This was not an obvious decision, as killing her was Adamir’s first suggestion. She would have done the same to them, after all. But Tessel spoke her mind plainly: “in good conscience, I cannot kill this woman”. Valra and Daelon suggested simply leaving her tied up, out of sight and out of mind. Avisha herself wrote the suggestion that was ultimately adopted: the party could take her to Inverelle and leave her captive there. She had traveled through recently, and despite the demon’s attack, the town was far from deserted. The party agreed, though they left the job of carrying the woman to Tessel. Adamir finished their work by expertly tying the woman up, with her full cooperation, before Daelon canceled his charm and allowed her to return to her original hostility.

With their new captive in hand, the party again set off on the road to Inverelle...

Session Two: SONGS AND SAGES

Floor by floor, Ardwyn, Adamir, Valra, Tessel, and Daelon climbed to the top of the Silver Tower, passing by the assembly hall and libraries until they entered the quarters of the Teachers, the Masters, and the Sage.

Marcilinus, carried along on Tessel’s back, informed the party that his colleague Rath was being imprisoned in the Sage’s closet. After the party (with Valra’s Guidance) thoroughly checked for traps, Daelon opened the closet and found the fat halfling bard sitting in the corner, bound and gagged. Though they didn’t trust him immediately, the party was soon convinced to release him, and he quickly deduced that they had been sent from the Duke.

Rath’s first priority, however, was taunting Marcilinus. “Welllll, look what happened here! I always knew it would end like this, but you made it happen even sooner than I thought!” After confirming with the party that they were not planning to let the already-injured mage die, Rath clocked him on the chin, knocking out Marcilinus yet again.

With that business out of the way, Rath and the party began swapping information, trying to piece together the events of the past few days. After some brief arguments with Ardwyn and Daelon as he vigorously asserted the Tower’s independence, Rath apologized for being “testy” and shared what he knew. He confirmed that the sage, Sylvan, had apparently “gone mad” and convinced himself and his masters that the world was to be conquered by a demon god, and the broken Magic Circle on the ground was evidence that they had in fact summoned and released a demon of their own. It seems that Sylvan was headed west toward the city (much to Daelon's alarm), while the demon and the third Master (Baldric) might be headed south. Rath was saddened by the news of a student’s execution, but was prepared to try to lead the Silver Tower and “set things right”.

Adamir expressed the hope of getting some new equipment or other assistance on the way out, but Rath pointedly reminded the party that whatever remained in the Tower still belonged to its residents. He did, however, offer to send them off with some “inspiration” from a song. After a brief detour down to his quarters to retrieve his sorely-missed lute, Rath treated the party to a magical bardic performance, benevolently ignoring Ardwyn as she longingly handled all the silver in the room. After this pleasant pick-me-up, the party turned around and headed back toward the city, accepting a generous lift from their carriage driver.

They traveled steadily, reaching Fairway by nightfall. The village was totally deserted. Or so they thought, until Tessel spotted a pair of eyes poking out from the corner the inn, which quickly disappeared. Following along, the paladin called out, promising protection. Eventually a frightened voice replied, and the man emerged from hiding. Tessel quickly recognized him as Tuck, the man they had met in the inn’s common room on the previous night, though sadly he was not able to remember them (or anything else from that night).

Tuck explained that a man (soon determined to be Sylvan) had come through town prophesying doom, claiming that a demon had taken over, and that they were all conscripted into his army on pain of death. This madness was made more persuasive by a display of magic including floating in the air, purple flames, glowing eyes, and other fearsome spells. Tuck, paralyzed by fear, was the only one who didn’t follow the man toward Cindre or flee to the countryside. After the party calmed him down a bit, he suggested they spend the night in the abandoned inn. While Adamir guarded the door and others helped themselves to a few free drinks, Ardwyn tried to help bolster the poor man’s confidence. Though he was still frightened, they at least left Tuck feeling a bit better, and after a nice rest, they set off for the city.

They passed almost no one on the road all day, until eventually spotting a man on the road, garbed in the armor of a Cindrean soldier. “Halt, citizens!” he called out haltingly. Ardwyn quickly melted into the forest, while Daelon approached him to speak directly. Before the conversation could proceed very far, however, he flipped up the visor of his helm to reveal that it was Galbarth Greydale, the Duke’s cousin and captain of the guard. “Daelon?? Oh thank god!”

Galby hurried to tell the party what had happened: in a sudden and bewildering coup, Sylvan had brought an army of confused commoners to the city and soon took over the palace. His tricks had even convinced some of the guards to join him. Galby had responded by encouraging the loyal guards to fight back, while he escaped out of the city to find help. The party reprimanded him for abandoning the city in its hour of need, and Ardwyn decided to reveal herself by flipping down from a tree and flipping the visor off of Galby’s helm.

After stashing Galby and Daelon in the bottom of the carriage, the party rolled into the city without incident. A woman ran up to Tessel begging for food, claiming that the shops were all closed. Indeed, it seemed that most people were staying indoors, with an air of fear hanging over the city. Tessel shared her rations, and the party followed Daelon along a back-alley path to the palace.

There was a brief detour when the party saw the light of a fire and backtracked to investigate. They found a bonfire in a plaza, surrounded by a small crowd. Adamir and Ardwyn crept forward stealthily, and determined that there were a few apparent looters and several drunken commoners partying by the fire. After assessing their priorities, the party decided to leave the looters for another day, creeping away toward the palace.

They entered the Duke’s palace by a side door, and soon the party had access to the great hall. Ardwyn crept in stealthily... and found herself face-to-face with a guard dragging a dead body to the wall. With a startled shout from the guard, the battle commenced.

Sylvan was sitting on the Duke’s throne, shuffling through scrolls in a panic. “GET THEM!”

Daelon immediately cast Sleep on the throne, and the two bards flanking Sylvan dutifully collapsed on the floor in slumber. Valra soon followed up, Entangling the bards (and, for a moment, Sylvan himself) in a patch of magical vines. Ardwyn was nearly bowled over as Tessel and Adamir bolted into the room, quickly bringing the guard near the door to the edge of death. And soon the rogue herself was throwing her daggers and making nimble attacks with her battleaxe. The guards ran forward to attack, but they did little to stop the adventurers’ momentum.

The Sage of the Silver Tower was not going to go quietly, however. Using a scroll, he cast a Fear spell upon most of the party. Adamir briefly fled from a terrifying vision of an ogre before regaining his senses and sending arrows back in retaliation. But Sylvan used magical Shields to protect himself, and tried to turn the tide by casting a magical Suggestion upon Tessel, encouraging the paladin to stop the fighting. Amazingly, she was able to keep talking without even a moment's break, but now she turned around and began righteously asking her friends to lay down their weapons. Luckily for them, she continued to heal them as she fruitlessly pled for peace.

Valra was able to turn one of the sage’s tricks back on him, casting Faerie Fire to engulf Sylvan in purple flames. With such an easy target, the rest of the party was able to to hit Sylvan again and again. Daelon struck him with a Fire Bolt, nearly burning some of the scrolls, and a well-placed shot from Valra’s bow was finally able to strike him dead...