Time resumed as the town continued to celebrate. All was not well however. Kida, having been rather active during the fight with the wights, felt her hangover getting worse. She needed to go and get some rest while her companions celebrated. Jayr and Seraphina met in the barn to discuss Jayr’s plan to deal with the brothers. Seraphina could not approve of it as she was sure it wouldn’t work and was full of flaws; she would have nothing to do with it. Mitsui walked in and told them “no torturing good people,” then turned around and left.
Marthun came and found Jayr. He asked him what was going on, as he thought they had a deal. Their kenku companion had come up to him and his brother and told them they had to get along and rule together, whatever that meant. Jayr assured him everything was still fine, and Mitsui was just a bit odd. Satisfied, Marthun left. Seraphina, as convinced as ever that Jayr’s plan would fail, left for her room.
Jayr started talking with the brothers, trying to get Lezryk on his own to talk with him. He tried to lure Lezryk out with talks of working for an adventurer’s guild, which Lezryk scoffed at. He had an inheritance to claim and wouldn’t be stuck working in such a place. Jayr backed off but kept an eye on Lezryk, hoping to find him alone.
As Lezryk was heading behind the inn, Jayr followed and managed to find him alone. Jayr told Lezryk that he had been hired by his brother to kill him but was hoping to set him up with a new life and a new identity. He told Lezryk he had a deal with him. Lezryk declined, as he had no clue what the deal actually was. Jayr continued to try and convince Lezryk, warning him that others may come for his head as well. Lezryk told Jayr he was doing a poor job as an assassin, and Jayr agreed as he clearly didn’t want to kill him. When Jayr tried to threaten him with violence to take his deal, Lezryk yelled out for help.
At this Jayr turned around and left, bumping into Mitsui who was on her way to the one who had yelled for help. Mitsui found Lezryk, who told her that her tiefling friend was threatening him. Mitsui nodded and then left to look for Jayr. After searching for a while, she noticed Lezryk and Marthun were getting their horses ready to go out.
Jayr headed to Seraphina’s room, and told her that she was right. Annoyed that he had gone ahead with his plan and that he had bothered to come and tell her she was right, something she already knew, she threw a dagger at the poor tiefling’s head. He then unhappily retired to his room. Slowly, all of our heroes eventually went to bed for the night.
The next day, as they were preparing to leave, they saw Lezryk checking out on his own. Worried about Marthun’s safety, Jayr wanted to check the room. Xeric tried to get Jayr to check it on his own, but Seraphina suggested having the innkeeper do it. Jayr thought this was reasonable and convinced the innkeeper to come with him to check the room, just in case something had happened to Marthun. The two of them went up and checked the room, but it was empty. The skies were dark and cloudy, so our heroes decided to do a bit of extra prep to protect themselves from the elements. During this time they noticed Lezryk return to the inn, having noticed the change in weather as well. They ignored this and set out. Jayr was brooding as he was unhappy that his plan failed.
On their second day of travel, they came across a family of 5, 2 parents and 3 children. They asked for some food, explaining they were farmers who’s farm had been raided by giants. Xeric gave them some rations and his canteen of water. The group asked them why they were heading away from Everlund? They said there were more giants in that direction, and they saw some of the other farms being attacked as well. The group suggested that the family travel with them for safety, and they would find more opportunities in Everlund than Noanar’s Hold.The family accepted the protection.
Xeric got down to talk to the kids, but the youngest daughter was scared of him. Seraphina then cartwheeled over, and the kids clapped and cheered for her. She cheered them up, being about their size and playful, having experience entertaining her own siblings and other youngsters back home. Jayr stepped out of the cart, and seeing him, this also frightened the children. Mitsui tripped and fell into a horse, getting everyone’s attention, as Seraphina tried shooting an arrow at Jayr’s horn, to show he wasn’t that scary. This upset Jayr, and he just stared at Seraphina. Mitsui then tried to sneak behind Jayr and yelled “BOO” as she came up behind him. Jayr had noticed Mitsui the whole time and wasn’t the least bit surprised.
The group then travelled with their new companions for the night before settling camp. Seraphina took the kids aside and showed them how to make daisy chains. During this time, Xeric talked to Jayr. He told him not to be broody and stuff and to work with the group. He was supposed to be the broody one after all, and Jayr was supposed to be the optimistic one. As he was saying this, Seraphina approached them with the kids, all of them wearing daisy chains. Seraphina put a daisy chain on Xeric’s head and said to the kids, “See? Not so scary with a daisy chain.” Xeric swore under his breath, after what he just said he couldn’t take it off, even though this was not at all his type of thing. Mitsui then came forth and put her head down for one of the kids to put a daisy chain on her head. Jayr took his helmet off and put his head down as well. Seraphina asked the children if they still thought Jayr and Xeric were scary. They laughed and said no.
As they continued towards Everlund, they came across the family’s farm. Xeric turned invisible to investigate it. All the food in storage and all the animals had been removed. The farm was mostly intact, except for some door ways that had been broken. He found some toys and some valuables. He returned to Seraphina while invisible and gave her the toys. Seraphina made it look to the kids like she had done a magic trick to get the kids’ toys back. Xeric went a ways off, ended his invisibility and returned to talk to the parents. He gave them their valuables back, for which they were very thankful. They mentioned they didn’t think they could stay at the farm right now, both for fear of another attack and that they didn’t have the funds to start up again.
Xeric and Seraphina investigated some other nearby farms and found a few valuables as well as dead bodies.
Seraphina noticed on her map that there was a nearby fortress, Olostin’s Hold. She asked the parents about it, who told her it was a small village with a keep. Xeric mentioned they would probably be attacked next as the giants had scavenged all the nearby farms and recommended they don’t go there. The family and his party took his advice. Seraphina asked about shopping at the hold, and when informed there were some shops, told them not to say a word to MItsui. They then passed by and continued to Everlund.
Upon arriving at Everlund, the party and the family split up, the family thanking them again. The group gave them some of the valuables they had found in the nearby farms and wished them luck. Seraphina found a place to sell the horses, and the group then went to Danivarr’s House in order to present the Triboar badge to Dral Thevel and finally get their reward.
Xeric quietly and discreetly passed the badge to Dral, the one-eyed half-orc owner, who took it and examined it. He then invited the party into a small private backroom. He put a booster seat on a couple of chairs for Seraphina and Hark and invited the group to sit down. He then closed the door and put a shot glass in front of each person. He kept checking around him as he slid open a door and opened a locked vault. Grabbing a bottle from the vault, he poured a drink for each person, telling them to drink up as it was a very fine wine. At first Xeric said he would have to politely refuse. Seraphina however downed the drink. As soon as she did she disappeared.
Xeric and Mitsui were instantly on alert, wanting to know what happened. Dral had a laugh, loving their reaction. He explained to them that this was a shortcut to Moongleam Tower. They would be well taken care of there and get their reward. Xeric thought for a bit but decided to trust him and took a drink as well. Mitsui and Hark discussed whether they should go. Mitsui then took a drink. Finally, Hark was left on his own. Still unsure about it, Hark waited and waited. He did eventually take a drink.
Over at Moonsgleam Tower, Seraphina appeared in the middle of a room. She was surrounded by luxurious furniture and winged cat-like creatures called Tressym. She cast Speak with Animals and asked the tressym where she was and what was going on. They told her she was safe, that this happened from time to time and their owner would show up soon. At this point, an older gentleman, by the name of Krowen Valharrow, appeared. He introduced himself to Seraphina and explained to her how she arrived in Moonsgleam Tower. Noticing her interest in the tressym, and seeing that they liked her in return, he asked her if she would like one, to which she happily agreed, if one was willing to go with her. A Tressym named Lola happily flew into Seraphina’s arms as Xeric suddenly appeared. Krowen continued on, explaining that he was a member of the Harpers, a group that fought for the people to make sure those in power weren’t corrupt and taking advantage. Mitsui then popped in.
Krowen asked what they had done to be rewarded. They mentioned they had fought off some giants in Triboar. Krowen nodded, he had been aware of some recent giant attacks, including some in the towns of Bryn Shandar and Goldenfields. Seraphina, concerned for her family who set up their scrimshaw stand in Bryn Shandar around this time of year, asked for more information. Krowen told her he would get it for her.
He told our heroes he would appreciate it if they helped with the giant problems, and of course, if at any time they needed help to reach out to the Harpers. He suspected their ancient enemies, the dragons, were somehow involved. He provided them with a document that would allow them to use the Harpers teleportation network. At each location was a Harper agent who would cast the teleportation spell for them if they showed them the paper.
He then produced a box, telling them their reward for the good work they did in Triboar was within. When asked what was inside, Krowen told them he wasn’t sure, as the box chooses what to provide. He would be able to identify the items, though, if they were magical. Our heroes then asked if he could identify their existing items. Mitsui’s staff, which she took from the dead fire giant, turned out to be a Rod of the Vonindod. A magical rod used to cast the Locate Objects spell, with increased range for any adamantine items. Xeric’s cloak that was found after defeating the wights was the Cloak of the Bat.
Our heroes then opened the box, which contained 3 items. The first item was the Gentleman T.’s Rapier. This was a magical rapier which gained a boost in power when protecting the weak. Krowen hinted that he felt some sort of untapped power still within the blade, but was unsure as to the details.
The second item was a piece of paper with a boar on it. It explained that within the realm existed certain spirit animals, which may join up with people they find worthy. They can serve as allies and mounts. “The spirit boar is located in…” The rest of the page was torn off. Krowen suggested the remaining part may be located in Silverymoon’s library.
The final item was a Ring of Feather Fall.
Krowen told our heroes if they needed anything else to let them know. Xeric mentioned he would like information on a person known as the “Messenger of the Gods”. Krowen said he would see what he could find and provided our heroes with instructions on how to return Danivarr’s House.
Our heroes spent a week in Everlund. Seraphina was training Lola on how to scout, as well as practicing with the Cloak of the Bat. She also received more information about what happened in Bryn Shander. A group of 10 or so Frost Giants had attacked the town. They had initially tried to parlay with the town, demanding that an Artus Climber and all his possessions be turned over to them. When the townsfolk indicated they had no clue who this was, the frost giants attacked. Large parts of the town were destroyed and some people died, most believed to be guards.
Mitsui asked for Seraphina’s help, wanting her to teach her how to fly. Seraphina started by pointing out that Mitsui’s wings needed to be better taken care of first and proceeded to explain to Mitsui how to properly preen her feathers. She also began training Mitsui on wing stretches in the morning, to help build up muscle strength and get her aware of how her wings move.
Thus time slowed for our heroes,and our world came to a standstill.
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