RealmsToowoomba Recap # 70 [RPG]

Session # 70 Recap

[flashback to 17 Flamerule 1372]

As Mellia and Fargrim walk back to The Gilded Horseshoe, Mellia casts a spell to communicate with Cain at a distance.  She tells the cleric that Fargrim is planning on leaving and even actively opposing their plan to recover the Crown.  Further, she says, he has the idea that Cain is becoming inhuman and that she herself is being selfish.  She asks the cleric for ideas on how to convince Fargrim to stay, and Cain suggests saying that he, Cain, must defeat the heathens in Nesme to retain his mortality and that Mellia is being selfless by helping him on this quest.

When Fargrim and Mellia reach the inn and find Cain, the dwarf demands to know the real plan for Nesme and says he doesn’t want to be lied to this time.  Cain replies evenly that Fargrim hasn’t been lied to; the plan is and always has been to destroy the heretics there and free the people by removing any hopes they have of staying.  The three adventurers argue about whether it would be best for the residents to stay in Nesme or face the wilds of the Evermoors.  Fargrim proclaims that “I will not burn the homes of children . . . it is as simple as that!”  He again asks how travelling to Nesme assists the task of rescuing Mellia’s daughter.  She retorts that she and Cain are magickally bound to travel to Nesme before Startop, and again says that Fargrim will be an oathbreaker if he abandons her.  Ralkin arrives and joins in the attempt to persuade Fargrim to stay, stating that Fargrim has been led astray by evil spirits before and is being led astray again.  Fargrim acknowledges Ralkin’s point, and says that his best course then is to return to Silverymoon where he has always been free of the malevolent nightmares that plague his sleep.  There, and after a journey to Mirabar, he plans to assemble an army to help him guard Startop Mountain and make sure no one seizes the Crown and unleashes the great evil it holds.

As the others talk, Ralkin hears a strange voice in his head.  The speaker identifies himself as “Gentleman Jack,” and says he’s an old friend of Dolcetto.  Jack says he hasn’t been able to get in contact with Dolcetto today, but that Ralkin’s the one he really wants to talk to anyway.  Jack explains a proposition to the kenku, whom he calls “the best trap-finder in the North”: a contest involving traps is being held at an undisclosed location, and the reward for coming in first place is over 153,000 gold pieces.  Jack says he’s willing to disclose the details in exchange for a 15% finder’s fee.  Ralkin is suspicious that the offer itself is a trap, and flatly turns it down.

Meanwhile, Mellia dismisses the likelihood of Fargrim finding others who would join him in such a task.  Cain adds that the dwarf need not bear the weight of the visions alone, as he himself is also burdened by the curse.  The best way to deal with worshippers of Myrkul, they  argue, is to have a god like Kossuth on their side!  Fargrim, however, remains unconvinced.  He places hundreds of platinum pieces on the table so that the trio can hire mercenaries to replace him, adding that his departure is only temporary.  He says he still respects the others, and will rejoin them when the time is right.  In time, he says, they will understand.  Mellia maintains an angry silence but then bursts out “Your name will go down in history as ‘Fargrim Oathbreaker’ as a warning to young dwarves about disloyalty!”  “If I must be an oathbreaker to save this realm,” Fargrim replies, “then so be it.”  He heads out of the inn, planning a trip to Mirabar and then Silverymoon to recruit followers to his cause.  Before he’s out of sight, Cain tries to compel him to stay through a paralysing spell, but the dwarf’s inner fortitude and willpower resists the enchantment and he leaves Longsaddle.

The trio of adventurers who remain discuss their prospects in Nesme, now that their strongest warrior has departed.  Ralkin volunteers to see if there are any mercenaries for hire in Longsaddle.  He returns with an elf named Euphrosyne, who claims to have both fighting and magickal ability.  Mellia interrogates the newcomer about his magickal prowess and, unimpressed, gives him a polite brush-off.  The trio then discuss whether they should reach out to Dolcetto and Markus and see if the pair have changed their minds.  None of the three adventurers are enthusiastic about the idea, but the consensus is that something must be done to bolster their depleted ranks.  Mellia says she’ll send a message to Markus once she’s able to memorize the necessary spell.

That night, Mellia tries on the new clothing she had altered in High Hold—it’s a different look than anything she’s worn before, with a bolder cut and stylized flame motifs throughout.  She talks with Cain, and expresses her disappointment with Fargrim leaving and her hope that he won’t stand in their way.  Cain offers solace by stating that he would stand by Mellia’s side, even he weren’t bound to do so.

[18 Flamerule 1372]

In Longsaddle, Mellia, Cain, and Ralkin spend the day taking care of errands and discussing strategy for Nesme.  Plans are made to contact Markus in the evening as a way to get reinforcements.

In Silverymoon, Markus’s spate of good luck continues.  Not only did he somehow survive the Evermoors, but he receives good prices when selling some of Dolcetto’s possessions, manages to track down some new magickal items, finds coins in the street, and even avoids an accident that otherwise would have befallen him.  As he’s returning from a bout of shopping and selling, he notices a heavily-armoured halfing walking in the distance, bearing the distinctive adornment of the reclusive ghostwise subrace of halflings.  Assuming that it must be Syd, Markus catches up to the halfling and greets him.  When the halfling turns around, however, Markus realizes it’s not Syd at all!  Still, Markus makes friends easily and soon learns that the halfling’s name is Rufus.  Markus’ luck continues, as it turns out that Rufus was looking for Dolcetto, whom he had heard was forming an adventuring party for Startop Mountain.  Markus explains that Dolcetto died, but says Rufus can still hang out with him.  He explains, however, with the backing of his Marauders, that anyone travelling with him should have a more magnificent name then simply Rufus.  The two agree on “The High Rufus Greenleaf,” and the halfling also introduces Sheila, his large riding dog.

Escorting his new friend back to Wayward House, Markus sees a bald, beardless gnome with dark brown skin looking at the handbill that Dolcetto had attached in the entryway prior to her death.  After an inquiry, it turns out that the gnome, named Wrex, had once met Dolcetto and another friend of Markus’, Mellia.  Wrex explains that he came to Wayward House to find Dolcetto, as, like Rufus, he had also heard she was planning an expedition to Startop.  Markus says the only way he’s going to Startop is if they can figure out a way to get there that doesn’t involve travelling through the Evermoors, and he tells the story of his recent venture there.  The three adventurers, accompanied by the Marauders and McBronzebottom, decide to share a drink and pipe-weed in the inn’s common room.  Rufus explains that he is actually a druid, and has the ability to change into the form of animals.  He demonstrates by turning into a baboon, much to the dismay of the chamberlain, and shares the secret that he communicate mentally with those nearby!  After the excitement, he leaves, promising to return in the morning to see if the others have come up with a plan for getting to Startop.

That evening, Wrex and Markus share another drink in a room upstairs.  Wrex confides that he was born far, far underground in a city of deep gnomes.  He explains that he spent years there, and hated every minute of it.  After finding himself imprisoned, Wrex says he learned a few tricks on how to survive—such as telling if someone is lying, disguising himself as someone else, etc.  Most importantly, Wrex says, he’s looking for a hidden object called the “Crown of Horns.”  He says he needs the Crown because a mysterious figure has been kidnapping people and holding them hostage until he gets the Crown.  As they’re talking, Markus’ luck breaks again: he hears Mellia’s voice in his head, inquiring whether he’s sure he won’t join her, Cain, and Ralkin, and suggesting a meeting place outside Silverymoon where she can come collect him.  Markus mentally replies that he’s interested and can’t wait for them to meet his new friends.  He says it’ll take some time to get everything ready, and a plan is made to meet on the morning of the twentieth.

[19 Flamerule 1372]

In the morning, Rufus returns to Wayward House.  Wrex tells him about Mellia’s offer, and says she can teleport them directly to Startop Mountain.  Rufus likes the idea, and explains that he’s hunting for treasure, as he has to pay off a land debt to some elves.  When Markus joins them, the swordsman says that the one thing he most wants before returning to Startop Mountain is a rare and exquisite type of sword that elvish metal-smiths make known as a courtblade.  Having failed in a previous attempt to obtain one weeks ago, Markus asks if Rufus and Wrex would be willing to try.  The two agree, and Wrex disguises himself as a wealthy weapons collector before the pair walk to the imposing tree-tower forge of Du’ael Trakin.  However, they have no more luck than Markus did, as Trakin is insistent that his finest works are for the good of his people, not for collectors or common adventurers.  After hearing the news, the adventurers discuss other—illegal—means to obtain the sought-after sword, but in the end, they take no further action.  Markus’ luck seems to have run out, as he also learns, after applying, that he is considered unqualified to become a Fellow of the Lady’s College; instead, he’s offered a position as a novice, which he turns down.

Back in Longsaddle, after another day of errands and planning, Mellia spends the evening going over spells and organising her possessions.  When Cain enters the room they share, he remarks on the change in her wardrobe.  Mellia says that she hasn’t always dressed in diviner’s robes.  She was once even a tavern-maid in the Dalelands!  The memory puts her in a more introspective mood, and she explains to Cain that it sometimes seems inconceivable that, once upon a time, she knew nothing of magic and that life centred on her work in the tavern.  She loved waitressing, she tells Cain, until one day the local lord’s son found her alone and assaulted her.  “That was the first time I ever burned anyone,” she reveals for the first time in her life, describing how magickal fire poured through her veins and consumed her attacker.  Out of that terrible night, however, Mellia says she gained two things: a realisation of her link to the eldritch world, and her daughter.  She thought that the Oracle’s Circle, the school of divination in the Dalelands, would be a safe place to learn to control her abilities.  But now, she says, she’s learned to embrace the power of fire and flame.  “There has been sacrifice, and purification,” she concludes.  “And I’m not going to hide anymore.”