Session 3

In general, YFPB managed to clear out the  brewery’s basement without much trouble or injury. The exception could be found primarily in Harlan, who nearly passed out after receiving a double digit number of rattling punches, and in Vireya, who took a nasty spider bite to the shoulder blade (but luckily avoided a nasty burn). In any case, the group needed to rest after their ordeal, and the two injured members needed to recover. The group staked out in a nearby tavern to both recuperate and wait for news from Justicar Wargreaves.

Harlan stayed mostly in his room, praying and performing rituals, which aided in his recovery and also provided some slight guidance that he was on the right path to salvation. Vireya roamed the city, talking to rats and attempting to find more drugs. She managed to overhear a few groups of people discussing the presence of a Knight of El within the city, a rare occurrence by the sound of it. Lorien spent his free time performing, for himself, for patrons, and for street urchins. This earned him a small 5g, but he was grateful for it nonetheless. Irene combed the city for information, checking libraries and post boards. She learned more about Serulea’s religion (the existence of esoteric religious texts called “Skin Bibles”) and that the war against the invading Ascendants was going poorly, with the enemy army mere days from the continent’s capital.

Resting in a tavern after their recovery, the group met with the Justicar, who informed them that he’d successfully identified a second adventuring group to assist in their assault of Buzzblade’s camp. He also told them that he had traveled to the site of Alkamer’s escape and discovered that Alkamer had escaped by burning his own flesh off to escape his shackles. After the team asked for help finding a talking sheep, Wargreaves mentioned that the name Glowkindle reminded him of the Arcane Blacksmith in Amberwater, but was confused because Glowkindle supposedly had died a year ago. After some risque flirting (and a potential SA threat), the Justicar agreed to drink with Lorien after the mission was completed. Thus the team set out immediately to  find Glowkindle and ask him about the missing sheep.

Walking through the city streets of Tomara, the group took a last look around the alleyways. Vireya and Lorien split from the group to accost a shady-looking individual that did in fact turn out to be a drug dealer. After some haggling, Vireya and Lorien paid a combined 40g to acquire two doses of Iggwyld Powder, a snorted substance that makes one giggle uncontrollably. Harlan and Irene, by contrast, found something much more serious. On an alley wall, they discovered an extremely intricate piece of graffiti, written in magically-charged blood. Harlan noted immediately that the structure reminded him of demonic purposes, but whether or not it was summoning or exorcism he couldn’t tell. Irene was much more affected, at first bearing a painful headache before passing out in front of the symbol. Once she came to, she revealed a small portion of her fears and her backstory to Harlan and eventually the rest of the group.

Along their path to Amberwater, YFPB took a wrong turn somewhere. As they strolled through a peaceful forest, the group finally began to open up to each other. However, Lorien became frustrated with the lack of transparency from the two girls, who both claimed that they had bonded with magical weapons in ways they didn’t understand or couldn’t remember. He revealed that he himself had been a low-level diplomat in the Arcane Collegium before he was ostracized for speaking out about the government’s general intolerance for dissent. He continued to speak out until one of his closest friends, an elven woman named Astrid, disappeared without a trace after giving a public speech denouncing the bad on spiritual magics. It was after his investigation that Lorien began traveling around the country seeking answers.

Before the other three members could react, Irene noticed that the forest had gone silent. Harlan spied a dead horse blocking the path ahead, and Vireya was so excited about the drugs she’d just bought that she bumped into her stopped teammates because she was staring at the powder in her bag. The group spotted goblin archers preparing to ambush them, lined up on the ridges of the path. Before they could even manifest, however, a lumbering automaton crashed through the trees and scattered the bandit goblins. On top of the mechanical golem sat a small goblin girl, who called herself Aly. After some difficult translations and third languages, the group eventually realized that Aly was attempting to help them by killing goblins that follow Buzzblade and not all goblins. She also led them back down their wayward path to help them find Amberwater.

After the delay through the forest, YFPB failed to make it to Amberwater in one day. As the sun set, they came upon Dogwater Inn at the crossroads leading to Amberwater, Tomara, and Old Byron. As Harlan and Lorien assess their position, Irene and Vireya began peering directly into the windows of the first floor to stare at the drinking patrons. The group then collectively burst into the barroom to rest and grab some drinks. As the rest of the group took their seats, Lorien approached the cute barkeep and attempted to hit on her. This was only slightly successful despite his suave seduction, and he left quite miffed. Luckily, another shady-looking patron in the back corner of the bar served as an acceptable distraction. Following Lorien’s attempt at flirtation, Harlan was almost immediately more successful; maybe he was simply her type? In any case, after some much more energized flirting from the barkeep, Harlan stoically requested drinks for him and his table before leaving without another word.

Through several room-long treks between the drug dealer and the rest of his party, Lorien attempted to negotiate the purchase of several curative (and sexually refreshing) mushroom caps, but his party deemed the cost too high. The drug dealer left the tavern, insulting Lorien for wasting his time, and the entire group immediately took off after him. Irene and Vireya whipped out their tried-and-true haggling method of threatening to call the cops, while Lorien tried to pickpocket the dealer while looking him straight in the eyes. Harlan for his part managed to distract his party long enough to let the drug dealer escape unmolested, and chastised his group for trying to commit a crime in public view of all the bar patrons.

Charging back through the bar to the field behind, YFPB spotted some Ordinary Sheep, which chewed their grass contentedly as Lorien played some soft music on his lyre. Vireya tried to speak with the sheep, but with their smooth brains and everlasting hunger they had little to say except to comment on the large number of violent and wild animals around lately. Vireya stormed off in frustration, taking her anger out on a Schmorange tree before realizing that the fruit was edible (and then immediately pocketed 6 of the fruits). Lorien’s music attracted a previously hidden sheep from the underbrush, who told Vireya that the wild animals have felt like they’d gained human-like intelligence recently.

While Harlan went back inside the inn to reserve some rooms, Irene and Vireya snuck into the back storeroom to loot. Vireya managed to find a tin of preserved fish in some ration stores, and Irene found some old guest logs. There she discovered that the last time Glowkindle had stayed at this inn was over 18 months ago. On their way back, Vireya overheard some patrons talking about lost livestock, and interrogated the farmer ruthlessly. Back at the bar, Lorien managed to disentangle himself from his new sheep fans to assist Harlan in reserving a sleeping space. Another adventuring group (one likely to be very familiar to YFPB in the future) had booked out all the individual rooms, so Harlan had to reserve a common room. At this time, Irene and Vireya had already snuck upstairs to check the guest rooms for unlocked doors.

As the four members of YFPB settled down to sleep, strong winds began to howl around the inn. Nobody had nice dreams that night. Irene dreamed of slogging through ink and oil before slipping too deep and drowning. Harlan dreamed of those he could not save and the deaths of those he may yet fail to save. Lorien dreamed of chasing faceless friends and family down dark hallways, always being blocked by twisting corners and locked doors. Vireya dreamed of wielding the power of a goddess in her hands, but every time she used it to shape the world, it burned her from the inside out.

Irene woke with a start from a particularly loud burst of wind clattering the outside furniture. Looking out the window, two things immediately stood out to her: One, the Schmorange tree was now bare of fruit, glowing, and was host to a dancing, glowing woman. Two, in the distance where the sheep were grazing during the day, a disturbing horned ram wearing a medallion was staring directly at the window. Irene quickly woke the rest of her team, and after some trouble with their door, the team ran outside to find what they believed to be the sheep they were seeking. But it was gone. Light tracks led deep into the forest, but the team, especially without a torch, were loath to begin tracking so late at night.

Their attention turned to the dancing woman in the tree, and they gathered around slowly. Irene felt the energies deep within the tree, while Harlan was reminded of old Sylvian rituals. Lorien played a reverent song as the group asked the woman if she’d seen the sheep. She pointed not towards the forest, but back towards the inn. Vireya sprinted back to see if the sheep had manifested in their bedroom, but it had not. The group spent a bit longer in the presence of the woman, relaxing and enjoying the blessing of her dance. They were inspired with visions of future glory, and returned to sleep in a better mood than they’d felt in weeks.

The party woke to a loud crashing downstairs amidst screaming patrons. Sprinting downstairs, they found the same ominous ram that they’d seen the night before crashing through tables and tossing plates everywhere. The sheep immediately attempted to ram Vireya, but she deftly dodged out of the way as Irene attempted to wrap a rope around its neck. The sheep tackled Harlan next, swinging his medallion against his head. Harlan, fearful of the note on the job board, was extremely hesitant to do anything that the sheep wanted, but Vireya, who could understand his panicked bleats begging for the medallion to be opened, grabbed the necklace. The medallion opened immediately, burning a small scroll of Animal Speaking, and the whole party could understand him.

As the sheep exclaimed in joy, he also urged YFPB to flee the inn. Before they could even ask why, an orcish warrior began banging on the front door of the inn and threatening the residents. With little hesitation the group jumped after the ram and attempted to flee across the northeastern bridge. Two wolves stood to block their path, and one managed to grab a hold of the sheep’s leg. As Vireya and Irene slew one of the wolves, Guff the orc burst from the back door of the inn with two more wolves. Lorien’s psychic attack caused the second wolf to let go of the sheep, and he fled immediately. Harlan and the second wolf became entangled, and the extra time resulted in a large bear crashing through the inn’s doorframe.

Fleeing, Irene managed to hit a running eldritch blast through the heart of the wolf. Their path unblocked, Harlan and Lorien fled with the rest. The sheep led up eastward into the stony hills, and explained that he was in fact Glowkindle. He had been turned into a sheep by his apprentice, Noke, and had been a prisoner for more than a year. He also explained that he was an Arcane Blacksmith, one of eight magical creators that designed Divine Weapons and explored methods for mortals to overcome the gods. He told the group that in order to defeat Noke and recapture his Arcane Forge, they would have to acquire his Divine Weapon: Dispositor. Glowkindle singled out Vireya, noting that she should already be familiar with the concept of divine essence in weapons. Unfortunately, Vireya was lost in thought, unresponsive.

Glowkindle explained that an Arcane Forge in the wrong hands was incredibly dangerous, because the Forges were vital pieces of Ascension, the process by which a mortal could become a god. He briefly explained the difference between Old Gods, New Gods, and Ascended Gods, but much of his words went over the party’s heads. After a few more questions, the party realized that Aly had also saved Glowkindle during his escape, and, more distressingly, the Rattling Monk was currently a prisoner of Noke’s.

Finally reaching Glowkindle’s hidden cottage next to a massive waterfall, the group was frightened by the sound of baying hounds. In no time at all they ascended the final staircases and solved the entrance riddle to the cottage. Upon entering, they were stopped by a black wolf wearing a cloak and a sword. They paused in the doorway, but were pushed through by a ram’s charge.