Forbidden Ceremony (D&Do-gooders)

Forbidden Ceremony, also known as D&Do-gooders, was a campaign created by Jared using the 5e ruleset for Dungeons and Dragons. The adventure took place in Dremida, mostly around the Glorious Kingdom of God. Nothing bad happened, leaving the remaining party members heroes of the realm, and permanently changing the world around them.



When the hearts of poison are all still And the Deathless meets demise, When King of Light by friends betrayed And the Thief Lord takes his prize, The red sky will preach the Anathema In the month that Magic dies.

Players
Dungeon Master: Jared
 * Nicole Brandt
 * Panven Steelaxe
 * Bryseis
 * Aronaldo

"So a Thief, a Soldier, a Priest, and a Demon Walk into a Bar..."
The party arrives in Tirithell, a logging town in the northern part of the Glorious Kingdom of God, seated in the middle of the Twisted Wood, the day before play begins. At noon, they meet in the Temple of Sol Solus, a beautifully constructed building dedicated to the god of the Glorious Kindom, as they were told to do. They meet each other for the first time, though introductions are made later. Reverend Montgomus comes from a door behind them, talking with a man in armor and decked with weapons. After he sends him away, the man bowing as he leaves out the front door, the Reverend comes up and greets the party. He tells them that he appreciates that they have answered the call of the Church, even if they were brought here because of reward. He says that he unfortunately must send them away so that they can speak with the person who needs their help, a man named Brash, located at the Woodsman Lodge to the north of the town. As they leave, he blesses them in the name of Sol Solus.

While walking to the Lodge, they pass the noble, in title only, Lord Vyne, escorted by his well armed house guards. He pays them no mind, though, and walks to his manor. Eventually making it to the Lodge, they are greeted by two people in the same manner of dress as the man from the temple. Nicole tells them that they are there on business from the Reverend and need to speak with a man named Brash. One of the men, introduced as Phillip, brings them into the Lodge. Inside, the room is reminiscent of a military mess hall, and the attitude of the people just screams "soldier." No one really makes any remarks toward the party, except for some salutes towards Nicole and a comment on Bryseis (a pun about her attractiveness and skin color, something like "red hot"). They make it to the Captain's office, where they meet the man from the temple. He stands, introducing himself as Brash Ironbone, Captain of the Woodsmen. There, he tells them of their problem. The Woodsmen are a form of specialized guard. They are trained in dealing with the two things the Twisted Wood is named for. The first is lumber gathering: the trees in the woods grow in a strange, twisting and spiraling manner, making some parts of the trees hard as steel, and the Woodsmen are trained on how to fell the trees. The second reason is the twisted happenings in the woods. Evil beings dwell in the woods, creatures of Fay; horrible things happen to people who go into the woods without a guide. Brash tells the party that something happened to one of his men, Samuel. He has been gone for a while, and they need to figure out what has happened to him. His men are spread thin, all of them doing other important things, and the only one he could spare to search for Samuel is a rookie, Phillip, whom the party met earlier. Brash had asked the church if they had anyone they could spare to assist the Woodsmen, and the Reverend sent the party. Brash says that Phillip is going to head out at curfew, so the party has the option of burning time. After a dice game with Phillip, with Phillip losing every time, they decide to go to a bar and relax before they venture out.

Aronaldo leads them to the Thief's Wain, headed by a squat, pipe-smoking man named Hector. They spend time there, talking with people and defusing bar fights. Eventually, a man in Woodsman garb opens the door, warning people that curfew is about to start. The party takes that as their cue to leave, so they go and find Phillip. As they walk, they see people all rushing into their homes, and Bryseis and Panven see a mother dragging her daughter inside. The daughter protests, saying, "He wants to play, I want to play with him." They finally meet up with Phillip, who looks noticeably nervous. He leads them out the west gate of the town, into the Twisted Wood. The woods swallows them, and the atmosphere immediately changes to feel unnatural. As they travel, they begin to notice strange things.

Panven notices that he is being watched by a figure, quite far away. The only features he can make out is that it is humanoid, with large white eyes. When Phillip is told this, he gets much more angry and nervous than he was already. He quickly explains that what they are seeing is something very evil and very dangerous, and the locals have been calling it "the Shadowman." While they walk, the Shadowman continues to watch, from very far away. Phillip tells them that the Shadowman has a habit of taking children into the woods, talking to the children from far away, making them want to "play in the woods with him." Everyone is upset at this, Phillip possibly the most. Yet they continue to travel. Eventually, they stop, hearing some sort of unnatural noise coming from beyond them. Bryseis and Panven see a group of creatures huddled around something, the creatures' outlines vaguely humanoid. As they get closer, Phillip warns them that they are skritches, Fay beasts that live in the woods with long, needle thin and razor sharp claws, a blood-covered mouth full of horrible teeth, beady black eyes, and light blue skin. They have wings that look like a cross between dragonfly and butterfly wings. Nicole and Aronaldo charge ahead and do battle, with Panven and Bryseis bringing up the back with magical assistance. They take out the beasts, the party having their first taste of battle against the Fay creatures of the Twisted Wood. After dispatching the monsters, they find out that the skritches had been devouring a corpse. Phillip moves through the party, looking for any way to identify it. He finds a Woodsman insignia, and he tells the party that they finally found Samuel. Upset at the death of his comrade, he begins to lead the party out of the woods. However, this is more difficult than going into the woods. While walking, it appears that they are not moving at all. Suspicious, Bryseis looks back to see if they had made any progress. To her surprise, she sees a man-laid brick road. Even more surprisingly, she sees her old mentor, who begins to talk to her, trying to convince her to come with her to safety. The rest of the party notices that she has not been moving, so they turn around and are met with the Shadowman standing not 10 feet away from them, whispering Bryseis's name to her. Nicole shoots the Shadowman with her crossbow, snapping Bryseis out of her illusion. The Shadowman begins to grow, and the party begins to hear and feel a hum. As they prepare for battle, light explodes in front of the party, banishing the Shadowman with a wicked shriek. The party turns and sees the familiar form of Brash Ironbone holding a metal tube with smoke coming from it. Everyone wonders why he showed up, and he says he came in after them after Samuel came back. Phillip starts to lose his mind, the Wood taking its toll on him. He begins swearing, wondering who they found, and demanding someone to tell him. Brash says that it has only been around half an hour since they left, even though it felt that it had been hours. The party notices something wrong with Phillip. As he wails, screaming that nothing made sense, he begins to change. His skin begins to turn light blue, his arms begin to elongate, his face begins to morph and shift into a hideous form, and his eyes become black. Phillip fires his shortbow in a panic, hitting Aronaldo. Brash, who had been calmly unpacking his large crossbow, unloads a huge bolt straight into Phillip's chest, and he falls to the ground, dead. Brash, calmly yet firmly, orders the party to follow him out of the woods. They do, and they eventually get back to Tirithell.

Brash explains a few things (that the body the party had seen was actually Phillip's, and the Phillip they were traveling with was actually a Fayborn, though he himself had not known it yet) when they get back and shut the main gates. After that, he thanks them for their assistance, saying that the Woodsmen would appreciate their help again in the future. The party goes back to the Temple to speak with the Reverend. Montgomus meets them all there, repeating thanks and words of appreciation for their help. He pays them and the party find places to sleep (Bryseis, Panven, and Aronaldo at the temple and Nicole a room at the Woodsman Lodge).

Into the Woods
The next day, the party is called to Captain Brash once more. Once they arrive, they are briefed on the current situation with the Woodsmen: they are low on scouts, and need the assistance of the party. They would not be full Woodsmen, but they would be paid. Their job would be to go into the woods during the day (when things are much less maddening) and mark places on a map. Every time they come back with interesting locations or happenings, they will be paid. Captain Brash also alludes to the possibility of them becoming full Woodsmen eventually, depending on both their willingness and their performance. Their job is volunteer only, though, so it is their decision. They accept the job. Brash gives them each a metal canister in the same shape and size of the item he used to banish the Shadowman. He tells them that this is a device made by a powerful wizard many years ago, and if they were ever accosted by the Shadowman, they could escape in safety. Once they accept, they take the canisters and the map and begin to head into the woods.

In the woods, they find a stronghold of some sort. Outside of it is a sign that has the words "Midnas Case" written in Common, though scribbled onto that in red writing is something in an unknown language. Deciding to explore before they go to the Captain, they open the door and delve into the unknown. Inside the fort, they find several beasts of fay, mostly skritches and fayborn. Having a few problems with Nicole getting attacked several times, they deal with the hostile forces without any casualties. In one of the rooms, Aranoldo finds a locked box of black, stained wood and iron reinforcements. The box seems to change the temperature very noticeably, but Nicole takes it away from him before he is able to pick the lock, saying that she will give it to him when they get back to town. Going onward into the stronghold, they find a staircase that seems to go down for much longer than usual. Down below, they find a small prison area, which Panven notices is dwarven stonework and metalwork. They find some keys, and at the sound of the keys, they hear a weak voice coming from beyond, asking for help. They investigate, finding an emaciated old man chained to the wall by his wrists. The keys are for the door, and they open it to see if they can help the man. He introduces himself as Koschei, saying that he had been imprisoned by fay for a very long time, he repeats the description of his captor as a "brown robed bastard." He says that he is too weak to go on, begging for water. Remembering a well in the room before, Nicole begins to cart buckets of water to him, helping him drink. After much questioning, the party discovers that Koschei is ancient, saying that the last thing he remembers before being put there is the mass exodus of the dwarven people and the official foundation of the Glorious Kingdom. After twelve buckets of water, the party notices that he has been gradually changing, gaining posture and muscle mass. After the twelfth bucket, he says he has been satisfied. He stretches and breaks his chains, which was made from dwarven metal and should not have been possible to break. He wraps the chains around his fists and forearms, thanking the party for rescuing him, calling them his saviors. As he leaves, the party (with much curiosity, fear, and distrust) asks him for his assistance with clearing out the rest of the stronghold, and he happily accepts. There is only one room left in the stronghold, and inside there is (the party would learn what it is later) a fay druid tending to a tree. Battle commences, and it ends with Koschei grabbing the druid by the throat, turning the druid to stone. The party leaves after this, departing from Koschei. He wishes them well and heads in the direction opposite them as they head back to Tirithell.

Once back in Tirithell, they head to Brash, who pays them. He tells them to go to the Reverend for healing, since they have an agreement where he heals Woodsmen who get injured in the woods for free. After being healed, Nicole asks the Reverend if he knows of a man who goes by Koschei the Deathless. Montgomus tells them who he is: a very dangerous, very powerful old man with a deep hatred for the Glorious Kingdom and a personal vendetta against the King. Montgomus seems troubled by this and sends for a courier to go to the capital Venevrin to inform the higher-ups that Koschei is alive. After this, he asks the party to do a favor for him the next day. He asks them to go into the woods to meet with an acquaintance of his, Azreel. Montgomus instructs the party to tell Azreel about Koschei and that Reverend Montgomus sent them. The party agrees, and they decide to sleep, gathering their strength for the next day.

The Day of Many Drinks
The next morning arrives, and the party prepares for their task of seeking Azreel. Before they leave, Aronaldo leads Bryseis to a witch shop to purchase spell components. Panven and Nicole stay in the Tirwood Inn and eat breakfast. Bryseis purchases and uses the ingredients in a ritual to call forth a familiar (a lizard). While there, they meet the son of the witch who owns the shop, a twenty-two-year-old named Iosef (who totally makes several advances towards Bryseis). After they finish their business at the shop, they head back to the inn to get ready with the rest of the party. Once together, they head out into the woods in search of Azreel.

They find themselves once again in the familiar darkness of the Twisted Wood. They follow the marking that Montgomus made on their map, showing them where Azreel should be. After a short time of travel, they find three floating orbs of light. The orbs of light identify themselves as the Helpers of the Forests, and they tell them that they want to guide the party to their goal. Bryseis and Aronaldo like this idea, and willingly begin to follow the Helpers. Nicole does not trust them, and continues to tell them this while the other two tell her to relax, reassuring her that they are obviously friendly. Nicole makes it clear that she will not follow willingly, and insults the Helpers, who attack her in return. Battle commences, with only Panven helping her while Bryseis sits next to a tree playing with rocks while her companions are attacked by forest spirits. Aronaldo enters the fray of battle only when Panven is knocked unconscious by the powers of these spirits. After being brought back to consciousness, Panven heals himself with his cleric magic and they begin to travel once more, with Aronaldo and Nicole arguing and getting mad at each other.

Finally, they arrive at a small cottage home, almost completely covered by plants and vines. They knock on the door, and a wild old man with a large beard and a brown robe answers. They tell him that they were sent by Montgomus to tell him about something important. He begrudgingly lets them into his home and pulls up a bench for them, ordering them to sit. They then tell them the story of what happened with Koschei, about how he was released and how Montgomus told them to come to him and ask what to do. Azreel, cursing the gods, tells them a quick version of his story (which was not much exposition, it was mostly just him saying that he knew Koschei and Afonos since they were young). So, they ask him what they can do to stop Koschei. He has no idea, and after an intense brainstorming session with the party, he prays to his gods and he is told a clue on what they can do. He tells the party of Koschei's consort, a woman named Natalie. She apparently kept a diary in which she wrote about her days with Koschei. Azreel believes that there might be something in there with which they can stop Koschei. This diary is also apparently kept in an old church to the south in which she lived, and Azreel tells the party to venture there and find the diary, because he cannot leave his house. With their business there supposedly done, and all of them getting more and more uncomfortable with the bitter old man, they decide to go back to town and wait until the next day to travel to the church (believing that if they go out today, they will be caught in the woods at night).

Back in Tirithell, the party splits and spends their time differently, with Panven and Nicole going to the Lodge and Bryseis going with Aronaldo to the Wain. A very large Woodsman named Brutus challenges Panven to a drinking contest. People place bets and it gets wild, with Panven barely scraping through with the victory. Nicole gained some gold from this venture, betting for her companion to win the competition. She then says that one should "always bet on the dwarf." Good times were had by all there. After the drinking contest, Panven starts to recover and Nicole talks to Brash. At the Wain, Bryseis gets completely wasted on three tankards of Thief's Brew (given that she has not had any experience with alcohol). This leads to hilarity, because there is now a heavily intoxicated half-demon making a ruckus. After a while Iosef shows up and orders a drink, explaining that he gets off work at his mother's shop around this time. Iosef then explains to a drunken Bryseis how he got stuck doing a job which he hates: he was caught doing a job with Hector's men (Aronaldo might or might not have also been there) and the guards decided to do the worst possible thing for Iosef and told his mother.

After a fun night of alcohol, the party reconvenes in the middle of town as they walk to the church. After seeing that Panven goes there safely, Nicole goes back to the Lodge to sleep. Before she sleeps, she puts her mattress over the window, the creatures of the woods finally getting to her. The rest of the party (Bryseis, Aronaldo, and Panven) go to their respective rooms in the church, sleeping off their inebriation in order to recover their strength for their task the next day.

"You Just Got Socked by a Demon Woman"
The next day, the party awakens in their usual areas with Bryseis, Aronaldo, and Panven at the Church and Nicole at the Lodge. Bryseis awakens with a horrible pain in her head from the previous day. Panven, being more resilient, only has a slight headache. Bryseis decides that she needs to cure her hangover before they leave to the woods to obtain the book. Whenever everyone arrives in the main area of the church, Aronaldo asks, very loudly, how they are all doing. Panven winces in pain, but Bryseis retaliates with violence and punches him in the face. It is obvious that he is upset at this and will attempt revenge. Thinking back to her encounter at the witch shop, Bryseis heads that way, Panven and Aronaldo accompanying her. When they get to the shop, Aronaldo says that he will go to the Wain, and, as he turns to leave, picks Bryseis's pocket for sixteen gold pieces, which he begins to hand out to people for his cons. Bryseis goes into the shop and meets Irina, the owner of the shop. Irina says that she can cure her pain with a potion, but it will cost 500 gold, much more than Bryseis owns. Bryseis decides to make a deal with Irina for the potion: she will work in her shop to pay off her debt. She agrees, and they shake hands, sealing the deal. Bryseis takes the potion, which cures her instantly. While this happens, Nicole eats at the Tirwood Inn, then heads out to the slums to find her companions. After she does so, the gang makes their way to the woods. They decide to try and cut through the woods from the path in order to save time and just go straight to the church with the directions Azreel gave them. Their attempt is met with a run-in with the Shadowman, who attempts to lull them into a cold sleep. Nicole acts quickly and uses her canister to shoot forth a flare to dispel the Shadowman, and he disappears with a wail. They head back to the trail and use it the rest of the way, for safety reasons.

They finally find the church, an old, stone, vine-covered building in the middle of a small clearing. Entering, they find it dark. Panven uses his magic to assist Nicole's human eyes, and they find a torch to keep with them. They enter a small room with a large door, and when they go close to it, a spirit emerges. It has the form of a beautiful woman, and she gives off a soft green glow. She introduces herself as Natalie, and says she was tasked by her "beloved" to guard the church in life and in death. She tells the party that there is a trial to obtain the book, her diary, that was made by Koschei to keep out Fay and "those of the brown robes." Going on, she tells them that they must answer four riddles by four spirits. Each of these spirits will give them a key if they answer correctly, and they need all four to gain the book. She also warns them of the beings that guard the halls of the church: horrible undead created by her beloved to protect his secrets. They accept the challenge, and delve into the darkness of the church.

In the main area, they find a group of ghouls guarding their end goal, a large door of colored magic. After dispatching them, they begin exploring. They go down a corridor ending in stairs, choosing to go down instead of up. They wind up in a prison area of sorts, an area with cells and various torture equipment. They also find zombies, which they are able to dispatch with ease. They find their first spirit, one which takes the form of a wealthy man, dressed in fancy robes and jewelry. He says that they must free him before he is able to give them the riddle. They find the "warden," a large Wight that guards the key, and defeat him, freeing the ghost. They answer his riddle and gain his key. They venture onward to the next area, going upstairs into what looks like a broken-down sleeping area for the clergy of the church. They look through different rooms, finding shadows and skeletons, slaying them all, and occasionally finding something valuable for their efforts. They then enter a room that looks like an actual bedroom. Inside is the spirit of a servant girl, who gives them a riddle. They answer with ease and take the key. Heading to the main area, they find another hallway and another staircase heading down. Panven and Aronaldo, having both lived in churches, recognize the area as an undercrypt. Traveling through the Crypt, Panven finds a magical hammer that he takes, admiring the craftsmanship. After slaying ghouls and ghasts, they meet the next ghost, a dwarf. He warns the party to flee, but before anyone can react, the doorways close with magic and a skeletal wizard appears, clad in robea and rings and wielding a wand. They battle, the magical undead nearly killing the party. However, they prevail and take the undead's possessions, two rings and a wand. They then speak with the dwarven spirit, who gives them another riddle, which they answer correctly. He disappears, leaving a key, which the party takes. They go back to the main room and meet Natalie, who says that she is the last of the spirits they must answer. They answer her riddle, and she gives them a key before bidding them farewell. They use all of the keys to open the magical wall of light, which disappears in an explosion. Inside they find the book and some treasure: a ring, some potions, some boots, and a medallion.

Gathering all of their loot, they head to Azreel's home. They get there with no problem, and he lets them into his home. They give him the book, and he begins to read. Cursing, he tells them that he does not understand what any of this means. However, he does say that he can ask some friends of his to help him, but it will take time. He tells the party to go back to town and wait for him to call. Before they leave, he blesses them with a strange spell and tells them that the beasts of the woods will not bother them for the rest of the night. After returning to town, they all go about their business. They get their items identified at the witch shop and go turn in the map to Brash. He questions the markings that were scribbled out (he is unaware of Azreel or his home), and Aronaldo tells him a fib that he sees through, though does not press. He pays and dismisses them, wishing them good day.

The day ends with Bryseis closing up the shop with Iosef and going to the Wain. Iosef leaves around midnight and tells her that they should meet up again sometime after closing. She agrees and goes into the church to sleep for the night. Aronaldo and Panven go to the church as well, retiring to their respective rooms. Nicole spends her evening up until midnight performing her watch around the city. She sees a vague image of the Shadowman watching her, and finds another crossbow bolt. She picks it up and carves "N" into it, leaving it in the woods before retiring at the Lodge.

The Wolves, the Wizard, and the Words
The day begins overcast and rainy. Aronaldo, going to the slum area of town, is met by Montgomus. He tells him to gather his companions and come to the church to talk to him, saying that he has an important mission for them. Once they arrive, Montgomus tells the party that there is a problem that he needs their help with. A member of the church, Felix, who is also the blacksmith of the town, needs their help. Something has happened to his daughter, Opal, and they believe that it might be the fault of the Wood. They agree to help and go to Felix's home. Felix, a friend of Aronaldo's and a good man known around the town, seems to be a shell of who he really is: tired, stressed, and saddened. He tells them that during curfew, he had locked Opal in her room, since she had been very restless and almost violent wanting to go outside. A little while after that, he had heard a crash and ran into the room, where he had seen an empty room with a broken window. Opal came back two days later, after the Woodsmen had declared her dead because they had not been able to find her. When she came back, though, she had completely changed. Where she had once been a child full of energy and always playing, she is now very quiet and complacent, almost like a machine. He also brings up that an old brown cloak, belonging to his late wife, was stolen that same night. Later he would say that his wife had found it when they had just begun courting, when they were walking through the woods. Aronaldo investigates the cloak while the others ask Opal questions. After looking around at the other valuables still in the room, he deduces that it was no normal thief that stole the cloak. Nicole has been asking Opal some questions, and she tells her about an "angel" that led her into the woods, wanting to play with her. It had led her to a tower somewhere in the woods. Nicole leaves for the Lodge after saying farewell, with the rest of the party staying with Felix to ask more questions. Nicole goes to the Lodge and asks Brash some questions, and he tells her of a small hole made by wolves where Opal probably got out. He also tells her that he knows the location of a tower, possibly the tower at which Opal wound up, to the northwest of town. Before she leaves, Brash tells Nicole that Opal's story is not the first like this; there have been two other children who also mentioned a tower and an angel, and both of them came back different. One child is made blind, and the other unable to stay awake. Nicole thanks him and leaves, going back to Felix's shop to tell that she knows where they need to go. After this, they assure Felix that they will save his daughter, and they leave.

While in the Woods, they are ambushed by Fay gnolls. After a dangerous battle that almost claims the life of Bryseis, they find the path once again. They find a strange merchant who has set up shop on the path, his wares placed on a barrel. After an infuriatingly silly conversation with him and Nicole, they learn, through common sense and deduction (not by him actually saying it), that he is the wizard that once helped the Woodsmen, Grigori. They ask him about a tower, and he tells them that he actually knows where a tower is. When they ask for him to guide them there, he says that he cannot because he "has a business to run." The party agrees to buy his things, some silly trinkets and a ring, if he comes with them. He asks for a moment to "pack up:" he rolls his barrel behind a tree, waves his hands, and the tree disappeared. After this, he leads them through the continuing storm to the tower. After leading them there, Grigori says that he will remain outside, not giving a real reason about why he does not want to go into the tower. Everyone shrugs it off and goes inside.

They enter the tower, dark and dusty from lack of use. They venture forward, their path illuminated only by the light of Nicole's lightened blade. Exploring the area, they fight several large spiders, dispatching them with ease. They find what used to be a library that seems to have been deliberately burned and purged of all books. Searching it, Nicole finds a small, partly charred journal of a man named Cain. Still exploring the tower, they find a secret room hidden within the walls. Inside was a small, study-like room. They do not find anything of much interest in the room except for a brown robe, which reminds them of the mysterious group of people known only as "those in the brown robes." They are interrupted by the large scraping sound of something huge walking through the hallway. They close the door and hide inside, waiting for it to leave. When it does, they sneak out of the room and down the hallway, away from the noises. Exploring more rooms and fighting more spiders, they stumble upon another hidden room, though this looks more like a workshop than an office. Inside they find a small construct about the size of a child. They activate it by throwing a switch, and, once activated, it introduces itself as Arthur, a construct created to translate languages. The party begins asking it some questions, and it does its best to answer. He tells of the residents of the tower, a group of people known as the "Chanters," but he does not give any information other than that. After the party finds he has no information about Opal, they deactivate him and leave, hiding from the Mithral Guard once more. Eventually, they find a staircase going up. They venture upward, finding a door at the top. Inside this room, they find a large flesh construct performing magic. The room is filled with books and magical lights, and the walls have words in an unknown language carved into them that the party find themselves unable to read without pain and discomfort. The party interrogates the Construct as soon as they can. They learn that the children had been led there, and that the Construct has been ordered to "fix" them by the Chanters, using the powerful magic of the "Lingua." The party, however, knows that the place is empty, and that there is no one inside. When they point this out, the Construct is rendered confused and stunned, but visibly "resets" after a few moments. The Construct, newly angered by their presence and questions, demands that they leave. The party, adamant in their search for answers, refuses, continuing to ask their questions. The Construct loses patience, screaming "Long live the Seven! Death to the Kingdom! Death to Afonos!" before attacking them. A long, deadly battle commences, the party able to scrape by with a victory.

After the battle, the party splits up in order to find out how they can help Opal and the other kids. A heated argument brews within the party as Aronaldo and Bryseis wish to help only Felix and Opal, while Nicole and Panven wish to help the other two as well. Nicole, Bryseis, and Panven stay in the room with the books, trying to find any information about this "Lingua," and how they can reverse it, while Aronaldo goes downstairs. He goes downstairs to find Arthur to translate the words on the wall, because what they seek might be there, and they are unable to understand it. He finds Arthur and brings him back upstairs after he assures Aronaldo that he is able to translate. Meanwhile, the other three have been looking around the bookshelves for anything relevant. Nicole finds a book titled "A Treatise on the Lingua Necrimors," written by the now familiar Cain Caldwell. Inside, Nicole learns the theories behind the Lingua and how it works, including how to reverse some of the effects. The Lingua is a powerful form of magic, created by a group of people known only as "the Chanters," which allows anyone to use magic simply by speaking a word. The words were created by the "language of reality itself," and is apparently very dangerous. In order to reverse the effect of one of the words, Nicole learns that she has to say the word backwards to the person who is affected. Nicole experiments with this power, deactivating the large Mithral Guard with a single word. The power almost proves too much for her, though, and it takes much of her mental strength to stay upright. Aronaldo comes up with Arthur, and Arthur helps them translate some of the words needed to help the children. The party leaves the tower, with Aronaldo taking the diamond eyes out of the Mithral Guard and Panven taking its hand, heading back to Tirithell with Grigori and Arthur accompanying them.

Once they arrive at Tirithell, they begin helping the people. Aronaldo and Panven go to Felix and tell him that not only have they found his wife's cloak, but they are also able to help his daughter. Felix, in tears of joy, embraces them both. Aronaldo attempts to give Felix his wife's cloak, but Felix gives it back to him, saying that "Anna would have wanted you to have it," as a way of repaying him. Nicole comes back to Felix's home after learning the location of the other kids from Brash. She restores Opal's spirit, and everyone is happy. She and Panven go around to the other kids to heal them as well, and they are met with praise and appreciation from the other children's parents.

While this has been going on, Bryseis has been babysitting Grigori. He sets up his shop in his old place at the front of the town, near the south entrance, saying that now they will have his services as a great wizard. He also agrees to mentor Bryseis in the ways of wizardry. Bryseis, after making sure Grigori is okay, goes to Montgomus with Arthur, and tells them what has happened. When she mentions that the construct said something about the "Chanters," Montgomus becomes much more serious and rushes her to the scroll room in the back of the church to speak with her in private. That ends with her explaining what happened at the tower and telling him about the Lingua and the Chanters. He is very serious and somber, possibly a bit anxious by what she tells him. Bryseis leaves Arthur there to assist Montgomus with translations, and Montgomus is not seen for the rest of the day and the next night.

The day ends with Nicole, who had been exhausted by her repeated use of the Lingua, being escorted back to her bedroom, now with two mattresses, by Brash (since she is so obviously exhausted). He bids her good night and leaves her. While this happens, Panven sleeps at the Church, and Aronaldo, Bryseis, and Grigori go to the Wain. Everyone makes the mistake of letting Grigori drink, and, after a single mug of ale, he is wasted and causing mischief, ultimately ending with him embarrassing Bryseis in front of Iosef. Grigori is told that he should go home, and he agrees, magically teleporting away while nodding his head. Aronaldo goes back to the church after his business at the Wain is done, and Bryseis does the same when Iosef says that he is going to leave, thoroughly put off by Grigori's actions.

"A.G."
The party, after waking up, goes to the witch shop to identify some of their new equipment (the Robe of Whispers, the Wand of the War Mage, the Ring of the Cat, and the Dagger of Sacrifice). They begin to spend their time as usual, waiting for Azreel to contact them. Bryseis goes off to talk with Grigori (who tries to put her into his tree), and Aronaldo goes to talk with Montgomus. The Reverend now looks tired and stressed due to his translating with Arthur, as well as his finding out more than he wanted to know about the evils that dwell within the woods. Montgomus tells him that a courier from the Vyne family came by and asked for them by name, saying that Vyne wanted to speak with them.

After Aronaldo gathers everyone up, they head to Vyne Manor. Once there, they are escorted inside by a member of the house guard. They are put off by the grandeur of Lord Vyne's home. He is obviously obscenely wealthy; golden busts, hedge mazes, statues and paintings galore (there are three paintings that are usually right next to each other: one of Lord Vyne, one of a man and a woman, and one that has a black curtain draped over it). They traverse his huge house, finally ending up at the study, where Lord Vyne waits for them. As they converse, the party is now certainly put off and angered (none more so than Aronaldo) by the wealthy noble's attitude. When they enter the room, Aronaldo, who wears the Robe of Whispers, hears the whispering echoes of people repeating the number "seven" a few times, eventually disappearing.

Vyne talks to the party, telling them that he needs to ask for their assistance in a very important matter. He tells them that a group of bandits had broken into his home and stolen a box from him, hiding it in the woods. He says that he needs it back by the end of the day, since he has business to attend to outside of town that he is leaving for today. When the party shows some uncertainty, Vyne nonchalantly offers them each 500 gold pieces. Though Aronaldo says that he doesn't want it, instead saying that he will accept Vyne evening out the road between the upper and lower parts of town (which is very obvious and annoying) as payment. He agrees, and the party says they will get his box. They are escorted out of the manor and head to the woods, after being given a hint by one of Vyne's house guards (he tells them that there is a small symbol for which the party needs to look out). While traveling, they are met by a returning group of Woodsmen, who tell them that they were ambushed by Fay creatures that used darkness (and true to their word, Dark Fayborn creatures ambush the party in magical darkness, though they defeat them continue onward).

While walking, Nicole is nearly shot in the head by a crossbow bolt fired from seemingly nowhere. When she investigates the bolt now embedded in a tree, she recognizes it as the one she'd carved an 'N' into before -- the same one she shot at the Shadowman. The party notices the Shadowman watching them from an uncomfortably close distance, but at Nicole's insistence, they ignore him and keep going.

Eventually, they find the symbol carved into a Twisted Tree. The party is confused that something was able to carve the steel-like wood. They follow the arrow under the symbol (a crown inside a circle), and find a fake tree with the symbol carved into the trunk. They dig at a place with a gap between the roots, and they find a box. They recognize the symbol carved into the top of the box and notice that on either side of the lid are two letters, an "A" and a "G". The box also has a large, enchanted padlock on it that bends Aronaldo's picks when he attempts to pick the lock.

The party decides not to waste time and heads back to town, but they go to talk to Iosef first to see if they can find out what exactly it is that they are giving to Lord Vyne. Unfortunately, Iosef says that he cannot tell what is inside the box due to the enchanted lock. They ask what the symbol is, and what the "A" and "G" mean, but Iosef does not know. The party argues for a while about whether or not they should give this box to Vyne, but eventually they decide to give it to him. They take it to him, escorted once again by the house guard. They are taken to the dining room (which is large) where Vyne is eating his meal (which is very large). Aronaldo takes the chest and drops it right down on Vyne's meal, making a large mess, though Vyne does not react with more than a smile. Vyne is noticeably excited and pays them, asking his guard to escort them out.

The party converses outside in the street, arguing about whether or not that was the right thing to do. Panven and Nicole both give their payment to Aronaldo, telling him to ensure it goes to "the right people" -- whether beggars or assassins is left to interpretation. They resign themselves to figuring out what the symbol and letters mean and decide to go back to waiting for Azreel. At that moment, a large owl swoops down from above, landing right in front of them. When someone wonders if this means that Azreel is ready for them, the owl speaks and rudely tells them so. After he tells them that Azreel needs them there quickly, he flies away. The party immediately sets out to Azreel's cottage.

Miraculously, they are able to get there without being attacked by beasts of any kind. When they arrive, Azreel grumpily tells them to enter, saying that he has news. After they pile in, Azreel says that he (with his "friends"), has translated a section near the end of the journal. He reads it to them:

"/2 AU, the first day of the Month of Mists/ Dear Diary, my beloved Koschei has gone once again to that seeress. If I did not know my beloved as well as I do, I would accuse him of being unfaithful. But I know my love. He does what he must in order to save them, even if it involves speaking with that hag, Vera. Oh, how I hate when he leaves. Aril seems so far away from my home, and the sun does not shine when he is not with me. I count the days until I shall see him again. /2 AU, the ninth day, fifth week of the Month of Mists/ Dear Diary, Koschei has returned with news! And what great news it is. My love no longer needs to speak with Vera, and has told me that he will not be going back to Aril any time soon. When I asked my beloved what had happened in Aril, he responded in his usual, cryptic manner. 'I was taught to defeat death with a single word!' he told me. Oh, my love. If saving the world doesn't work out, perhaps being a riddler would. /2 AU, the seventh day, week two of the Month of Sun/ Dear Diary, Koschei told me that we must move again tonight. I begged for him to tell me why this time, and he finally relented, but again, he insisted on speaking in his riddles. He told me that they were the wicked men who wished to conquer the world, and they wouldn't rest until he was slain. Odd, he laughed when he said that, and I couldn't help but to laugh with him. The thought of constantly running was not a comforting one, but as long as I am with Koschei, it doesn't matter. He asked me where we would go, and my beloved seemed to be running out of ideas. When I offered the old church, he smiled and my heart soared. He said we will pack up and leave tonight." Azreel believes that this "Aril" is the old name for the town south of Tirithell, Arildale. So, he tells the party that their next step would be to go there and find out what they can about the seeress known as Vera. The party, both invigorated by their progress in finding a way to defeat Koshchei and slightly discouraged by what they found in the diary, agree to go to Arildale and continue their quest. Before they leave, however, Nicole asks Azreel (who is ancient) if he knows what the symbol is, as she describes it. He says that the circled crown was "Afonos's symbol for his new kingdom." Nicole, now worried, asks if Azreel could tell her Lord King Afonos's last name. Azreel, slightly confused, tells her and the party that his name is "Afonos Goldwyn." The party suddenly feels very worried as to what this means for the chest that they gave to Vyne (and Nicole very angry that she was tricked into stealing from the Lord King). Azreel asks what prompted the question, and they tell him. He, now upset, tells them that the chest was buried by Afonos and Azreel a long, long time ago. Though, when questioned, Azreel tells them that he has no idea what was in the chest, just that it was a book Afonos wrote in a lot. Regardless, Azreel tells them that they need to focus on what they know: there is a lead in Arildale. He blesses them once more as they leave the cottage so they would not be attacked on their way back to Tirithell.

Once back, they begin to bid their farewells to their friends. Nicole tells Brash that they are going to Arildale, and he tells her that she is welcome to stay with the Woodsmen that are stationed there. As she leaves, he tells her to be careful. Panven, Bryseis, and Aronaldo all spend their final night in town at the Wain, with lots of chummy things (including Aronaldo putting his planned cons into action) happening and Bryseis finally hooking up with Iosef. They end the night at their respective beds (except for Bryseis, probably), and they gather their strength to travel to Arildale in the morning.

Of Assignments and Rescue Missions
After an embarrassingly mediocre night with Iosef, Bryseis wakes up in the young sorcerer's bedroom. Unwilling to face him, she sneaks out of the window -- frightening several passersby -- before meeting up at the party's usual breakfast spot. Nicole and Panven both have a pretty typical morning. Panven praises his Dwarf deity, and Brash gives Nicole a letter to deliver to the Woodsmen in Arildale and tells her to be careful. Aronaldo, however, is up to something different. He takes the gold Nicole and Panven gave him the day before and divides it up so that he can give each business in the slums an equal portion. He also writes several "official letters" to go along with the gold (the letters say that this is a donation from the Vyne family, and are signed AG). He hands them out to every business before regrouping with his companions.

After their usual amount of bickering, the four are ready to depart to Arildale, but before they can exit the gates, Grigori shows up and gives Bryseis a blank book. He leans over and whispers something aggravatingly cryptic in classic Grigori fashion, "ultimate knowledge." Thoroughly confused but ready to be on their way, they rent a carriage and settle in for the several-hours-long journey through the Woods. Aronaldo attempts to play I-Spy, but seeing as the only things to spy are trees and dirt, the game is a failure. Besides spotting the Shadowman watching them from very far away, nothing notable happens until they arrive at the front gates of Arildale. Nicole tells them to split up and try to find information on the mysterious Vera.

Bryseis decides to approach a city guard for info. She figures the direct approach is the best way to go and simply asks if there is a Wizard somewhere in town. The guard tells her that their seeress, Vera, died about a week or two ago. He also mentions a magical items shop that she decides to investigate.

Aronaldo, ever the street rat, begins scoping out the "underworld", so to speak. He finds the symbol of the Guild of Shadows outside of one building, and heads inside to acquaint himself with the thieves in Arildale. The shopkeeper is a beautiful young woman that Aronaldo immediately starts chatting up. He obtains information about Vera, the Guild, and the mayor from her, and also asks her out for drinks sometime. Bryseis arrives sometime during this conversation, as this is the shop the guard pointed her two. After comparing notes, Bryseis and Aronaldo decide to go speak with the Mayor about gaining entrance to Vera's tower.

Meanwhile, Nicole and Panven start their search at the city's Woodsmen's Lodge. It is smaller than the one in Tirithell, and oddly empty. Nicole asks the only other Woodsman inside if she can speak to the commanding officer, but he tells her that their captain has gone missing. Temporarily forgetting about Vera, she demands details. Apparently, there is a fort in the woods that has been taken over by crazed cultists that captured their captain and ten men. Nicole vows that she will find the missing woodsmen and starts to leave. Before they can, however, Panven asks about Vera. The Woodsman tells them that the seeress died a while ago, and if they want in her tower, they will have to talk to Mayor Crane.

And thus, the party reunites in front of the Mayor's manor. They verify that they all learned the same thing, and Nicole mentions the missing woodsmen. They agree to look for them after they speak to Crane. Like Lord Vyne's home, Crane's manor reeks of wealth and selfishness. They approach the two guards and demand an audience with the mayor. After a bit of a snark-fest between Nicole and one of the guards, they are granted entrance.

Mayor Crane is an older man with a very poor attitude that clashes with Nicole and Aronaldo. Bryseis and Panven do their best to be polite and respectful. They ask if they can enter Vera's tower, and Crane immediately shuts them down. He says he will allow one member of the party to enter, but seeing as the group cannot agree who should be the one, that deal falls through. Eventually, they work out a deal. If the party can convince the Woodsmen to not interfere in the politics and arrests of the city, he will give them Vera's journal. The group accepts this offer, with a good bit of reluctance from Nicole.

Nicole and Bryseis go back to the Lodge to inform them of the deal and to get more information about the fort full of cultists, then the party prepares to enter the Woods. Before, however, the Woodsman warns them of the dangers of the Woods. They locate the fort with relative ease, only having one close call with the Shadowman and a group of (maybe) wolves. The building in question looks decrepit, and when they enter, they are greeted with a grizzly sight: several heads on pikes stuck into the wall. They battle their way through the fort, every member of the party almost dying at least once. They find in the center of the fort a gruesome shrine dedicated to what seems like a god, though none are able to discern which god. Nicole brutally interrogates one cultist and learns that the captain and three Woodsmen are still alive. She kills him immediately afterwards. After a few more battles, they finally locate the three Woodsmen, who are locked in a cell. They free them and give them weapons, and the group starts the search for Captain Rainne. They find him having been tortured almost to death, skin peeled off his arms and legs, several important-looking tendons removed. They heal him as best they can, and the remaining Woodsmen agree to take him back to Arildale. Captain Rainne stresses the importance of reclaiming Fort Caldwell, as it was the fort where one of the greatest High Generals in the Glorious Legion was stationed, High General Cain Caldwell.

The party eventually tracks down the Chieftain of the cultists. Using a strange magic which involves using his own blood as power, he proves himself a dangerous foe, but the party kills him. Injured and exhausted, covered in wounds Panven cannot heal, they leave the fort. To their horror, they realize that the sun has already begun to set. Night encroaches on the Woods. They book it back to Arildale, barely making it back in time, hearing the horrifying sounds of laughing children coming from behind them, and look for a church of some kind to supply healing and shelter. They locate a small shrine dedicated to Sol Solus and Saint Agricus, and the priest there heals their wounds and gives them a place to sleep for the night. Aronaldo, however, sneaks out and tracks down the pretty woman from the Guild. She has been waiting for him in the local tavern, and the two of them talk for a while before Aronaldo almost collapses from exhaustion.

The next day, Nicole and Bryseis return to the Lodge while Panven and Aronaldo go to speak to the priest's dwarf friend just for fun. Aeric, the elderly dwarf, greets Panven with great enthusiasm, ecstatic to meet one of his kinsmen. Nicole explains the very complex situation to Captain Rainne, who is now permanently crippled, and he gives her his word that the Woodsmen will not give Crane any more trouble. Nicole apologizes profusely for everything before the two girls head back to Crane's manor. The boys meet up with them there after Panven finishes bonding over rocks. They tell Crane that they did what he asks, and he gives Bryseis the journal before shooing them out.

Once they are outside, Bryseis wastes no time in opening the book -- with some help from Panven, as it seems to desperately want to stay shut. The book actually contains a part of Vera's soul and talks to Bryseis. Vera tells her that she can give them a way to kill Koschei. She also mentions some very powerful magical items located in her tower that sparks the wizard's interest. Aronaldo and Bryseis agree that they need to get into that tower.

"So She's Talking to a Lizard and a Book."
It takes time, but Aronaldo and Bryseis manage to convince Nicole and Panven (especially Nicole) to break into Vera's tower. The front entrance is guarded, but there is a window in the back that leads to Vera's bedroom. The Seeress' soul tells them that -- should they be able to reach it -- they would be able to enter without a problem. The party waits until midnight, and then they put their plan into action. Panven and Bryseis use a combination of their magics to stage a haunting at the front of the tower, effectively terrifying the guards into running away. During the ensuing panic, Nicole uses her ring of the cat to jump up to the window ledge and open it. She ties a length of rope to the bed and lets it down so that Aronaldo can climb up as well. The two of them look around the bedroom for a while, looking for anything noteworthy. Aronaldo finds a book while Nicole locates a suit of full plate mail to which she takes a fancy. Meanwhile downstairs, Bryseis and Panven decide to just enter the tower through the front door, since they were so successful in scaring the guards away. With Vera's aid, they are able to avoid the traps she has set up to ward against intruders. The party is reunited in the bedroom, where they discover someone else has broken in earlier and stolen several of Vera's powerful artifacts. They do find some useful things, however, and Nicole discovers that the plate mail is called "armor of invulnerability."

Instead of traveling back to Tirithell in the dark, the party decides to stay in the tower until morning. Vera tells them that there is an escape passage in the tower that will take them just outside the city, and they decide to meet up there in the morning. The boys leave to find a bar while the girls turn in for the night in the guest room.

Aronaldo and Panven find the local tavern, and Aronaldo buys the dwarf one of the many drinks he owes him. Panven spends his night drinking with Aeric, the other dwarf. Before they part ways, Aeric gives Panven his tankard, which is apparently magic and special. Aronaldo finds the woman from the guild again, and she greets him. She shares with him a report from Tirithell, where Hector and his men have pulled off the heist at Vyne Manor. They have managed to get away with a good haul (that Vyne probably will not miss), but one of the guys is injured. Apparently he has lost his senses and is only capable of muttering "the seven" over and over. This troubles Aronaldo greatly, and he and the woman spend the evening drinking and discussing Vyne.

The next morning, the party find each other just outside the city (Nicole wearing her new armor that no one can harm). They hire a carriage to take them back to Tirithell, and during the long journey back they talk to Vera. She gives them a brief overview on how to kill Koschei -- which involves locating a box that contains his soul. When they get back to town, however, they decide to take care of personal business first. Bryseis tries and fails to talk to Iosef, and instead goes to spend time with Grigori. Panven accompanies Nicole back to the Lodge, but on the way there, they encounter one of Vyne's guards standing in front of his manor looking terrible. Nicole agrees to take over his watch so the poor man can get some rest (he claims to have been awake for around three days). While the two of them stand around essentially wasting time, Captain Brash stumbles upon them. After Nicole explains exactly what she is doing, Brash tells her there is a situation at the Lodge that needs her immediate attention. Confused, she and Panven follow him back. He leads them to her room, and inside they find a horrific scene. A dead wolf lies on the floor, entrails and blood everywhere, a rancid smell permeating the immediate area. Nicole dryly remarks that the Shadowman should just leave a note next time. After dealing with the wolf, she and Panven discuss the events of Arildale with Brash, and he gives them a history lesson about Fort Caldwell and the surrounding area.

During her time with Grigori, Bryseis learns that he and Vera once had a history. She also learns how to use the book Grigori gave her earlier (cryptically and vaguely, as he is wont to do). According to Vera, one can write any question in it and receive an answer. It is quite literally a source of ultimate knowledge, but one must be careful with it. It can drive one insane. She implies the book is part of what shattered Grigori's mind.

Aronaldo goes immediately to the Wain upon his return. He seeks information from Hector about the heist and asks to see the man that has been injured. Hector reluctantly agrees, leading him to a room at the back of the Wain where the man is being kept. Aronaldo tells Hector that he needs to be alone with the man for a bit, and while he is suspicious, the bartender leaves them be. The man is clearly out of his mind as he mutters "the seven" repeatedly, not responding to anything Aronaldo does. The thief's cloak of whispers hisses a word which he recognizes to be lingua. He realizes what must have happened to the man and dares to say the word in reverse. The power of the lingua repairs the man's mind and exhausts Aronaldo, but he is able to cope. He asks the man to tell him exactly what happened at Vyne's manor. He explains that he stumbled across a hidden room that contained a huge jewel and a creepy painting. The painting had seemed to draw him in, hypnotizing him. Aronaldo thanks him for the information and leaves to find his friends.

The party ends up in Nicole's room at the Lodge, and they discuss their next move. They agree they need to take the book to Azreel, and Aronaldo brings up his concerns about Vyne. Nicole agrees -- for once -- with Aronaldo that Vyne needs to be taken care of. Grigori is brought in at some point, as he seems to know everything. Bryseis asks if he can find out what is going on at Vyne manner, to which he replies he can show her. He takes the tiefling to the manor, leaving the other three party members a little confused. Grigori and Bryseis travel to the manor, where they try to question the guard. Or rather, Bryseis tries to question him. Grigori simply grabs his head and asks a few questions. The guard says "horrible things" are going down, then promptly falls over dead. Understandably, Bryseis is freaked out, but Grigori assures her that he has been dead for five days.

The wizard duo shares this unsettling news with the others, and they decide that they need to do something quickly, before Vyne returns to the city. They decide to do what they did at the tower in Arildale again, hoping to sneak Aronaldo and Nicole into the manor to do some snooping. After Nicole's watch, near two in the morning, the spellcasters start up another haunting. This time, they make a fake Shadowman that sends the guards screaming in terror. Meanwhile, Nicole and Aronaldo use the knowledge of the guild of shadows to enter the manor via secret tunnel. The two look around for a bit and find the secret room of which the man spoke, but they are unable to unlock any of its secrets. They do, however, find Vyne's journal. This proves very useful and gives them information about the mysterious "Seven." It also tells them that Vyne gave the box he had hired the party to obtain to Koschei -- the leader of the Seven.

"The Worst Armor Ever. Of All Time,"/"Did You Know Nicole was a Woman?"
The party retires to their respective bedrooms, reuniting at the Tirwood Inn the next morning. They decide that they need to show Vera's journal to Azreel, and set out for the forest immediately, with Bryseis in the lead with the map. After a while, however, she notices that the path they are following appears to be twisting and turning in ways it should not. She realizes that they are fully lost and explains this to the party, who are understandably panicked. They decide to keep going, though, and hope they find the right path.

They stumble across a strange statue. It is of a humanoid creature with various animal-like features, such as antlers, a giant beak, wings, and huge claws. There is a pile of stone chain underneath where the arms of the statue would have been, and a good portion of the statue seems to have crumbled over the years. Panven, being a dwarf and knowledgeable about rocks, discovers that this was Gnomish Marble, a stone that was used by the gnomes when they were slaves to the Platinum Empire. This, Panven knows, makes this older than the Wars of Dominance between the Dwarven and Elvish empires. After bothering the statue a bit, investigating various mundane things about it, they decide to leave it alone and go back to wandering.

As they walk, they begin to hear another set of footsteps following behind them. After a moment, a mysterious voice greets them. Aronaldo's cloak whispers "the Maiden" over and over, and when he repeats this, the voice seems surprised. They begin to speak with the mysterious voice, Bryseis being very friendly with it and everyone else being (rightfully) put off by the disembodied voice that seems to control the winds. It begs them for help after talking with them for a while, and in return for their help, she will help them find the way to Azreel's cabin (since the dummies got lost).

The party, following the direction of the voice, find a rather grisly scene in a small clearing. There are three skeletons laying on the ground in different-colored armors (red, purple, and green) and one leaning up against a tree. The one against the tree wears a locket, and it is apparently what the spirit wants. Bryseis goes and picks up the locket off of the skeleton's neck, but when she does so, the three skeletons behind her spring into action and attack the party. Though no lasting damage is done during the fight, Nicole is left without armor (when the skeleton attacks her, her armor teleports off and three feet behind her, as the enchantment says that the armor itself is not able to be hit). After the battle, they retrieve the locket for the Maiden, and when it is presented to her (back at the path), the winds swirl and enter the open locket, and it floats into Bryseis's hands. The locket, the chain being held by Bryseis, points into the direction of Azreel's cabin. Bryseis opens the locket and a huge gale of wind shoots outward, and Bryseis shuts it, her curiosity satisfied.

Once they arrive at the cabin, Azreel lets them in. The party then talks to him, letting him know of all of the things that they have gotten up to, from Arildale to Vyne being a member of the Seven. They even let him hold Vera, and the two begin to converse. What happens next is a bit expected, but Azreel is furious with the party for not defeating Koschei already, given that they know what to do and where to go in order to do that. Though their argument is reasonable, being worried about what Vyne is doing, Azreel still shouts at them that Koschei is more important, and that they should deal with him as soon as possible. He then hurries them out of the cabin, and the party goes back to Tirithell.

The party spends the rest of the day in Tirithell, doing various things around the town. Panven buys some potions (preparing for the upcoming battle), and Bryseis spends time with Grigori. Nicole decides to make herself feel better about her armor situation by packaging the enchanted armor and leaving it as a "thoughtful present" for Lord Vyne. Later on, Panven and Aronaldo go to the Wain to drink alcohol, Aronaldo paying some debts to his dwarf friend. This results in Panven drinking most of the spare alcohol in the Wain, and him becoming incredibly drunk when Hector challenges him to do one more pint with some Brew. Aronaldo walks Panven to the church after this, helping his buddy to bed. He spends the rest of his night at the Wain. Sooner or later, the party has all retired to their respective beds. Bryseis, however, is woken by Grigori. Rightly confused, she asks what is going on. Grigori, strangely coherent, gives a cryptic warning to her before he leaves the bedroom. ''"There is something coming, Bryseis. Beware the Anathema. I hope I may teach you one day. Be safe." ''Barely awake to begin with, she falls asleep again.

Something is Bugging the Party
The morning comes, and the party wakes up as usual. Aronaldo, Nicole, and Bryseis get ready for the day without difficulty, but Panven is feeling the consequences of his rampant drinking the night before. He is unable to complete his morning prayers due to a monstrous hangover.

Bryseis wakes up early and uses her book of ultimate knowledge. She asks it how she could restore Grigori's mind to what it once was, but when she receives a frustratingly vague answer, she gives up and heads towards the Tirwood Inn. Bryseis asks the bard there to tell her the story of the Maiden and shows him the locket. The bard attempts to keep the locket for himself, much to Bryseis's ire.

Nicole has been getting odd looks from the Woodsmen since she came back to the Lodge without armor, and it is starting to worry her. Before she leaves for the day, she listens in on a conversation between some of the soldiers and hears her name mentioned several times. She assumes she is being insulted and approaches them, intent on stopping any malicious gossip. The Woodsmen fall silent when they spot her, and when she asks what they are talking about, three of them say the fourth has something to tell her before leaving them alone. The remaining Woodsman, Gregory, starts to say something, but Nicole cuts him off with a snort and an order not to talk about her behind her back. Not realizing that she had actually scorned a young man's affections, she leaves for the Inn. She arrives in time to witness Bryseis's argument with the bard and attempts to diffuse the situation. The girls eventually manage to reclaim Bryseis's magical trinket. As they wait for the others to arrive, Nicole tells Bryseis about the weird way the Woodsmen have been acting around her. However, since the tiefling is even more socially inept than the captain, she cannot provide any insight into the situation.

Aronaldo leaves the Wain after waking up and goes to the Church, where he discovers two things. One, Panven has a massive hangover, which is odd. Two, Montgomus is not present, which is even more odd. Aronaldo takes his poor dwarf friend to Irina's shop to get a cure for his ailment (more like ale-ment) and stops by the Wain again to tell Hector about Montgomus's disappearance. The two then head for the Tirwood Inn.

Though it takes a while, the party is finally united. They begin to discuss their next course of action. Bryseis tells the party about Grigori's cryptic warning the night before. Vera is able to define "Anathema" for them, but otherwise no one has any clue what the wizard could have meant. They decide they should start looking for Koschei's box, but first Bryseis decides to seek out Grigori. The others agree to wait at the Inn for her, and if she is not back in fifteen minutes, they would go after her.

When Bryseis reaches the spot where Grigori's shop is usually located, she finds it deserted. This alarms her. She remembers the day before, Grigori upset a customer who threatened to report him to Vyne, and heads in the direction of the manor. Meanwhile at the Inn, fifteen minutes have passed and the others begin to worry. They start looking for Bryseis, running into her before she can reach Vyne Manor. Bryseis is absolutely distraught. She begs the party to search for the wizard, but seeing as they have no clue where he could have gone, they refuse. This angers the tiefling, who is powerless to do anything for Grigori by herself. Instead, she rather angrily leads the party into the woods.

They head in the direction of Koschei's Tree, but eventually they realize the will have to venture off the path. Nicole expresses her concern, recounting what happened last time they took their adventures off road. Her worries are dismissed, however, and they step off the path. They become lost almost immediately as the air around them grows colder and colder. As they walk, Nicole hears what sounds like buzzing. She turns in the direction of the sound and sees what appears to be a Woodsman stumbling through the brush. She alerts the party as he grows nearer. The Woodsman, who says his name is Sian, lurches forward and is caught by a very concerned Nicole. The party decides to take him back to town to get him healed. On their way back to the path, Nicole tries to gently interrogate him to find out what happened to him and his patrol. His answers become repetitive, and Nicole gets nervous when he cannot tell her the name of the Woodsmen Captain. She hears the buzzing again, seeming to come from Sian. After a while, she pushes him away when his body seems to writhe under her arm and he begins to say the same thing over and over, getting louder and louder. Eventually he just screams, and as he does so, large flies begin to shoot out from his mouth, and then his nose and eyes as well, and as the swarm of insects empties out of the man, he deflates like a balloon. Aronaldo recovers from his shock first, and when he cannot come up with a battle strategy for a literal swarm of flies, he decides to withdraw from the situation (read: run away). As he runs, however, he passes another buzzing creature. As the other three do battle with and defeat the swarm, with Nicole suffering minor injuries, Aronaldo uses his cape to incapacitate the disgusting fly-human hybrid. His method of incapacitation involves wrapping the cape around its head and suplexing it. After dispatching the last of the flies, the others are shocked to find their rogue wrestling with a fly-man. They attempt to question the creature, but do not achieve much, as it just starts creaming that it will "see them upon the altar sacrificed to its god," and that it will "see their blood spilled in the name of Zhantol." Panven recognizes this as the name of the Ancient demigod of pestilence, disease, and vermin. Since the worship of Ancient gods is forbidden, Panven attempts to burn the fly-man in holy fire. When the creature does not die, Nicole simply puts her rapier through its eye. Noticing that its amulet is magical, Bryseis pockets it (and one of the thing's wings), much to the discontent of Panven. They then mark the area on the map before heading back to Tirithell.

They all eventually return to the Lodge, where Nicole notices the way the Woodsmen still stare at her. She also notices Gregory's friends in particular seem rather hostile. She simply sighs and retires to her room. The others decide to investigate the Woodsmens' odd behavior. Aronaldo is able to deduce that the Woodsmen have been talking about Nicole because of her being an attractive woman out of her armor. However, when she laughed at Gregory, that caused their words to become a bit more harsh (though his friends seem more upset about it than he does). Aronaldo then goes to talk to Nicole about it. He finds her moping in her room. She tells the rogue that she does not understand what she could have possibly done to anger them, and when Aronaldo mentions what happened with Gregory, she scoffs. She has never had those under her command think of her as anything more than a Captain and therefore finds the notion of any of the Woodsmen being attracted to her outlandish.

Meanwhile, Bryseis attempts to lighten the mood in the Lodge by bringing out the wing she got from the Zhantolite. Most people find this disgusting, however, Panven included, and a few of them leave. Panven himself excuses himself after the sight of the wing almost makes him sick. Realizing her mistake, Bryseis puts the wing up. She instead attempts to entertain them by making Morthos fly around the room.

As Aronaldo attempts to get through to Nicole's thick skull, Captain Brash interrupts them. He asks to speak to her in his office. There, he talks to her about what Bryseis accidentally let slip about Azreel living illegally in the woods. Nicole takes all of the blame for the deception, despite Brash holding them all responsible. She tells him most of the truth -- at least, the most important bits of it. Brash says that he will talk to Montgomus about keeping things like that from him when the Reverend gets back. He also says that he will confront Azreel some time in the future, and Nicole wishes him luck with that. Nicole then reports what happened in the woods that day with Sian. Before she leaves his office, she asks if she has somehow offended the Woodsmen. When Brash realizes exactly how oblivious Nicole is to affairs of the heart, he merely assures her that whatever she thinks is the problem, it is not the case.

After an exhausting day, the party eventually sleeps.

Never Have I Ever Been Sent to Hell
The next day, the party goes about their daily routine, eventually ending up in the Tirwood Inn, seated at their favorite table. Montgomus is still missing, as is Grigori. Aronaldo discovers that Hector is now absent as well, along with several of the guild members. After meeting up, the party finally decides that the time to stop Koschei is now. But of course, they have a few more things to take care of in order to prepare. Nicole and Bryseis deliver the map of the Twisted Wood to Captain Brash. Upon reaching his office, they enter through the slightly open door and see him looking like he has not slept all night, still in his commoner clothing, tankards stacked in a corner behind him. As payment for their help, he gives them the choice of either money or supplies. Bryseis takes money, while Nicole gains a few potions. Aronaldo and Panven go to check if Vyne has returned. There are new guards at the front gate and servants tidying up the yard. Aronaldo talks with one of the guards, who look a lot bigger than others in the past, and the guard tells him that Lord Vyne should be returning some time that day. Satisfied, Aronaldo leaves to go to the Lodge.

The party meets up when Nicole and Bryseis are walking to the Witch Shop before heading out. However, a large and intimdating man in plate mail and a dark tabard is there, demanding that Irina complete an order for "Lord Dire." As he leaves, Nicole realizes she knows Lord Dire, a Legate of the Glorious Legion. Nicole, curious about why an agent of Lord Dire is in Tirithell, asks Aronaldo to tail him, which he does with great skill. Following the man, Aronaldo sees him walk through the gates of Vyne Manor, the guards giving a sort of salute as they let him in. When Aronaldo comes back and reports this, everyone is alarmed. They take care of their business in the Witch Shop and head into the Woods. They meet with another party of Woodsmen on their way in, and the leader of the group tells the party that it has been a very slow day, nothing really taking place. Their words appear to be true, as the party has nothing really happen to them on their way to the tree that would result in violence, besides an encounter with the mysterious Shadowman.

They find the tree deep within the Woods, a great big green oak tree. The area around the tree glows with a green light, illuminating the area around the clearing. That is the only source of light, as there is no sunlight. There are large doors that lead downward situated along the roots, and as he approaches it, Aronaldo feels his cloak go silent. He hears only one voice, one different than the rest, who tells them to enter, calling them trespassers. As they explore the Lair, Bryseis is approached by a talking rat, who addresses her as "my Lady," vowing to serve her because she wears the symbol of Zhantol. No one else likes the fact that she is talking to a rat, and the rat does not like the fact that he is not eating Bryseis's party members. Though Bryseis is the only one who can hear his insults and threats, he still gestures angrily at the rest of the party.

Fighting through three guardians, they successfully triumph over a huntress (wielding a magical bow and wearing a colorful cloak), a warrior (wearing a tabard of the Old Kingdom and wielding a magical shortsword), and a mage (who holds a magic wand). They take their items as rewards for their battle, Bryseis accidentally using her new magic wand to turn herself blue. After defeating those three guardians, they are able to enter the main chamber of the Lair. Doing so, they are shocked to find a spectral looking human, appearing different than the other guardians. He wears the armor of a soldier of the Legion, and wears the insignia that Nicole recognizes as the symbol of the High General. The spirit, instead of rushing into battle, converses with the party, introducing himself as Cain Caldwell. He tells the party that the least he could do is give them answers, saying that they will either die in that room or "go about in fixing [his] mistakes." So, Cain answers all of the questions they give him, about Afonos, Koschei, the Seven, and himself. Among many of the other things they learn, Aronaldo learns something about himself: that he might be related to Lord Vyne. After they finish with their questions, he, with noticeable regret, begins to fight them. Though the battle is difficult, and even though they are sent to a literal plane of the Hells during it, the party defeats the spirit of the High General. They narrowly escape the closing portal leading back to the material plane, grabbing Cain's staff (which in reality belonged to Vera, though it turns out that all of the magical items they had gotten from the Lair were the items that had been stolen from Vera's tower) as they leave.

Finally back in the mortal plane, they go to the reason they were there in the first place: Koschei's box. Lying on the bed at the end of the room, the party sees a golden box with no lock. Inside, they see a sewing needle, right next to a charcoal drawing of three young men and a painting of Natalie, the woman from earlier. When Panven picks up the needle, he gets a vision in his mind of Koschei, now looking very young and very strong. Koschei suddenly gets very worried, and begins talking to Panven (not realizing it is him), demanding to know who he is and what he is doing. Since the wielder of the needle wields Koschei's soul, he has no choice but to obey what they demand. So, Panven and Nicole make him punch himself, while Aronaldo commands him to go to the nearest member of the Seven and kill them. Unable to resist, Koschei goes into the city he was just leaving, walking into an official-looking building, the guards leaving him alone. He knocks on a door and enters. The party sees a fat man in brown business attire sitting at a desk, who greets Koschei as "master" and is wondering what he is doing back. Koschei, with a tear in his eye, walks over and grabs the man by the throat. The Deathless turns his throat to stone while crushing it at the same time, making it crumble in his hand and killing the man. Satisfied, the party shatters the needle and kills Koschei, who explodes.

The party finds some journals that belonged to Koschei, which detail his own journey to where he ended up. Reading a few passages to her party, Nicole pockets the journals and begins to have doubts that they did the right thing. Bryseis finds a little snippet that involves the Anathema, which apparently is part of a prophecy. The only part that she is able to find is a bit that is written by two different people, with the passage, "the deathless meets demise," looking old and some comments regarding it scribbled beside it.

Exhausted, everyone returns to Tirithell. Back in Tirithell, they find imposing figures in golden plated armor, with large swords and spears strapped to their backs, thick purple capes on their shoulders, stationed at several points in town. Nicole recognizes these figures as the imposing and skilled members of the Custodes Regis, the personal bodyguard of the Lord King on High. Though the party is alarmed, they attempt to go about their business. Aronaldo and Nicole go to Vyne Manor, Bryseis goes to where Grigori's tree was to perform the ritual to access the Book of Ultimate Knowledge, and Panven goes to the Church. At Vyne Manor, Nicole gives another gift to Vyne: the tabard of the old kingdom that the guardian was wearing, giving it to one of the guards. Aronaldo and Nicole make snarky remarks about Koschei's death (staying vague the whole time) before leaving. Nicole goes to the Lodge and begins writing a report on the history of Cain Caldwell. When Panven gets to the Church, the Custodes who are standing guard at the front recognize him, and says that his party has been summoned and need to come to the Church immediately. Panven gets nervous and runs to find his friends, going as fast as his stumpy dwarf legs can carry him. He runs into Aronaldo first, whom he tells to find Bryseis and bring her to the Church while Panven gets Nicole. Aronaldo interrupts Bryseis's ritual, so it fails, and she is quite irate about that. But he brings her to the Church in the end, and Panven brings Nicole.

When they enter the building, the party is shocked to see eight more Custodes along the walls, Montgomus (who looks very nervous and flustered), and the Lord King on High himself, Afonos Goldwyn. He asks them to eat with him (Montgomus prepares the meal) as Afonos wishes to speak with them. Before much else can happen, the party warns Afonos about the Seven conspiracy, giving names of some members of the Seven that they have discovered. Afonos tells them that he came to this place to thank them personally, and reward them for their help in saving both his own life, as well as the life of his kingdom. He says that there is only two ways he can reward such an act, and one is with answers. He answers more of their questions and, when they run out, he gives them his second gift. He hands them each a golden medallion, upon which the symbol of the old kingdom (Afonos' personal seal) is engraved. Afonos tells them that their second reward is title. He names them all members of the Order of the Crown, which is what the medallions are meant to represent. This makes them members of the nobility in the Glorious Kingdom, which gives them access to many things, such as land, political rights, and special training. As they thank the Lord King on High, he says that he has to leave, for there is something he has to take care of before he leaves for the capital. He bids them farewell, and the party respectfully does the same. Aronaldo goes to Montgomus and the two have somewhat of a father/son moment. Nicole returns to the Lodge to work on her report before her watch. Panven returns to his chambers, as does Bryseis, though Bryseis attempts to finish her ritual before she sleeps. It works, and she asks the Book, "What is the rest of the Anathema prophecy?" The Book responds by giving her a passage in a language she does not comprehend, though she copies it down anyway.

Though the party has defeated Koschei and saved the kingdom, answering many of the questions that they have asked since the beginning, they have found that even more have sprung up, demanding answers. What is the Anathema? Who are the rest of the Seven? What will happen to the Seven? Did they do the right thing? And, the most important to a certain demon-blooded wizard, where the hell is Grigori?

In Which One Wizard Returns, Another Wizard Leaves, And Everyone Is Confused
After an exhausting day and a well-deserved rest, the party awaken in their respective sleeping places and, after eating breakfast, they meet up at the Tirwood Inn. Of course, the town is abuzz with gossip relating to Afonos showing up yesterday. The party, now all together and fed, discuss what they should do now that they have defeated Koschei. Various ideas are thrown around, one saying they should continue with their previous job of scouting the Woods, another suggesting that they go to Azreel's cabin and inform him that Koschei has been slain. The party agrees on the latter, and they decide to head out into the woods that morning to the cabin. Before they leave, Bryseis remembers that she has the completed prophecy, thanks to the book Grigori gave her, but in Dwarven. Thankfully, her companion Panven is kind enough to translate it into Common. The prophecy, which is strange and foreboding, reads:

"When the hearts of poison are all still and the deathless meets demise When the King of Light by friends betrayed and the thief lord takes his prize The red sky will preach the Anathema

in the month that magic dies." The party is a bit overwhelmed with this knowledge, and begin to guess what in the prophecy could mean what. They venture to guess that the "deathless" in the prophecy refers to Koschei, though they do not really know what to do with that information. They decide to pocket it for a while and begin their track to Azreel's cabin. However, there is an upset with the party when they see a tree right in the middle of the road outside of the inn. Bryseis is ecstatic, while Aronaldo and Nicole are the exact opposite. When they approach the tree, they notice a small, moat-like pond in front of the tree. When they approach it, a fish jumps out and begins to talk to them. Bryseis seems to be the only one patient enough to deal with the fish, since it is only able to speak when it jumps out of the water. Bryseis's curiosity gets the better of her and she attempts to enter the tree. To the amazement of both her and her party, she sinks into the tree and comes out into what seems to be a stone tower.

While Bryseis has her scene in the tree, two of Vyne's guards appear and approach the party and the tree, trying to figure out what happened. After an argument with Aronaldo regarding the existence of the tree, and Aronaldo being very persuasive, he manages to get the guard to place his hand on the tree. This activates some sort of magical defense, and the guard is blasted back to the other side of the street, breaking barrels when he lands. Nicole guesses that this guard is still actually alive, since he only just started working for Vyne. Panven goes for a healer from the church to fix the guard's broken bones. While the guard is disoriented, Aronaldo steals his key ring.

Inside the tree, Bryseis explores a bit. The inside is much bigger than expected, with desks and bookcases surrounding the room and a staircase going up and down in the back of the room. She goes up and finds a glowing orb of light hovering in the middle of the room. It begins to pulse and, in typical Bryseis fashion, the two begin to have a conversation, the orb of light speaking with an almost childish voice. This conversation does not reveal anything that important, but Bryseis finds out that Grigori is indeed back, and possibly looking for her. After this conversation, she bids farewell to the light and leaves the tower. When she comes out, she and the party split, Bryseis looking for Grigori and the rest of them going into the Woods to talk to Azreel.

When the party enters the woods, they meet a returning party of Woodsmen, dragging lumber. As they pass, they mention to Nicole and her companions that the Woods are really quiet, and they have not seen anything dangerous all day. The party acknowledges this and carries on. During their trek through the woods, they find that the Woodsmen who passed them were correct, and the woods are more quiet than they should be. This causes them to worry and begin to suspect that they are going to be ambushed. Looking around for anyone bearing ill will, Panven notices something ominous in the distance. He sees the eyes of the Shadowman, but what troubles him the most is that he sees a great amount of creatures standing by him, just watching the party, almost as if there were a wall of some sort barring their movement. They attempt to ignore this, but they find it difficult when they hear a child's voice asking them to come play. Nicole gets angry at the small voice and tells it what she thinks of it. The child's voice almost seems hurt, but it does leave them alone. Along the trail, the three discover the murdered bodies of the Custodes that accompanied Afonos to Tirithell. While Aronaldo loots their bodies, Panven and Nicole begin to wonder what could have done this damage. Nevertheless, they continue to Azreel's cabin, noting more bodies along the way. When they finally arrive at Azreel's quaint little cabin, they find the final Custodes impaled on a tree just outside of the cabin, facing the party. When they meet Azreel again, they have their typical chat, in which people are confused by what the old man is talking about, and Azreel is mad that they do not understand. Azreel also curses the gods at some point. Azreel admits to killing the Custodes, though he says it was self defense, as when the last time Afonos and Azreel were together, they did not part on good terms. This apparently meant that Azreel was expecting Afonos to come and do harm to him, so he killed his guards. Azreel also is upset at the necessary murder of Koschei, who was apparently an old friend of his. When they leave, Azreel pulls Nicole aside and warns her, telling her that if the Woodsmen, who were scouting around his house, do not leave him alone, there will be consequences. Nicole acknowledges this, and the party goes back to Tirithell.

Meanwhile, in Tirithell, Bryseis finds Grigori arguing with a baker about the ownership of the bakery. Bryseis manages to coax him back to his tree, with Girgori acting in typical Grigori fashion (confusing as hell and hard to keep up with). He goes into his tree and invites Bryseis to come in as well. She accepts, and the two begin to talk, which is really difficult when one of the people in the conversation is Grigori. However, several times during their conversation, Grigori seems to change for a split second, and appears to have a moment or two in which he can actually focus, but it is very brief, and only occurs when a few key words are spoken. Grigori goes and does his thing downstairs (where Bryseis is not allowed to go, though she can go anywhere else in the tower), and Bryseis speaks with the spirit. She asks the spirit if it knows anything that can bring Grigori's mind back, and it responds with the usual "powerful magic" answer, though it does expand on it, saying that a spell known as a "wish" can bring him back. This prompts Bryseis to ask Vera if she knows anything about the spell. Vera tells her that although she never knew the spell, she had a powerful ring that could grant five wishes, though three were already used up. Bryseis decides this information is very important, so she asks where it might be. When Vera tells her that she last had it in her tower, Bryseis decides that she needs to go back to Arildale and find this ring. Feeling she does not have time for a carriage, she asks Grigori to teleport her there.

After several failed attempts and some annoyances including time travel, Grigori finally manages to poof her there. Once there, she heads to the mayor's place to ask for entrance to the tower. One of the guards, named Elliot, says that this is a bad time and that she should make an appointment. This is when Bryseis shows her medallion and her rank, saying that it is very important business. Elliot and Bryseis quickly become friends as Elliot basically pledges himself to her due to her status, saying that he can be her bodyguard. He escorts her to Crane's office, and business is done. After a short talk, Crane says that he cannot offer any help due to the fact that he has been stripped of his power, and the tower is guarded by people not loyal to him. When Bryseis asks him to explain, Crane says that he is no longer in political control of the town, and is being forced to step down. Someone named Lady Eden is taking his place, though technically she already runs another city to the south. When asked specifically about a "ring with five rubies in it," Crane says that when Lady Eden was in town last, she took it, saying that it was very nice looking, and began wearing it around her neck on a chain. Lastly, she asks when she might be back in town, and he tells Bryseis that Lady Eden will come back to formally take command in the next few days. She thanks Crane, and, along with Elliot, she takes her leave. Shortly after, Elliot takes her to the town courier, where Bryseis sends a letter to Nicole telling her exactly what is going on. The Mentarius tells Bryeis that he will be able to give her the letter by the end of the day, and sets out on a horse. Eventually, Elliot leads Bryseis to an inn, and the two stay there for the night, Elliot guarding the door at all times.

When the others arrive back in Tirithell, they split up for a while, Nicole going to the Lodge, Panven and Aronaldo going to Grigori's. At Grigori's, Aronaldo and Panven deal with magical items, even making a few purchases from Grigori before the wizard decides that his shop is closed. Afterward, they go their separate ways again, doing their own personal business until they turn in for the night. During this personal business, Aronaldo finds that the members of his guild are back in town. He goes to speak with Hector, who tells him that he was on a trip to have a meeting with the other notable thief guilds of the area. This was called by a man named Orion, leader of the Alley Hounds gang, who had stolen something very big. Orion gave each of the guild leaders either a piece of armor or a weapon, Hector getting a helmet. Aronaldo, remembering that Orion called himself the "Thief Lord," pins this to the prophecy and tells Hector about it. Hector realizes that this is probably more trouble than it is worth and gives the helmet to Aronaldo, wishing him luck in whatever he is doing.

Nicole, at the Lodge, practically begs Captain Brash to leave Azreel alone, bringing up the fact that he would basically be throwing away the lives of his men. Before she leaves, Brash relents and says that he will give the order to avoid the cabin until further notice. Later that night, a courier shows up at the Lodge, giving Nicole Bryseis's letter. Reading it angers her, and she pulls rank on the courier and orders him to give her a ride to Arildale. He rides with supernatural quickness to the town, arriving there within an hour. Nicole finds Bryseis and Elliot at their room in the inn with ease by simply asking for the blue demon girl. As they discuss what exactly Bryseis was doing, Elliot being very confused in the background, Nicole realizes that Crane's removal and the takeover of Arildale might be a plot by the Seven to strengthen their hold in the Kingdom. They resolve to discuss this with the other companions the following day, and they break for the night.

A Split Party Creates Political Upset; or "The Book was Right"
The next day, Nicole wakes up early, around six. She goes to Bryseis' room, where Elliot is still awake. Nicole bangs on the door, spooking Elliot and waking Bryseis up. Nicole and Bryseis have an argument about whether or not Bryseis should come back to Tirithell to help with the Lord Vyne plan, but Bryseis wants to stay and work on her plans to help Grigori, saying that she really wants that ring. Bryseis and Nicole agree (barely) that she will stay in Arildale while Nicole goes and helps her companions. She pays for the courier to take Nicole to Tirithell. They learn that his name is Vidrik, a member of the Mentarii, the royal postal service.

Back in Tirithell It is a wonderful morning in Tirithell, with beautiful weather. Everyone in Tirithell performs his or her morning rituals (breakfast, praising Valrud, and meeting up at the Tirwood Inn). Aronaldo speaks to Hector in the morning, in private, regarding a power struggle if Vyne were to "disappear." According to Hector, the Vyne family has no heir, so power would probably go to the people for a while, at least until the royal government does something about it. Aronaldo asks if Hector could make a distraction, leading the guards away from Vyne manor. Hector says he can make one for tomorrow night, saying Dean can take care of it. Aronaldo eats breakfast, then goes to the Tirwood Inn. Before he leaves, Hector tells him to be careful. To their confusion, Panven and Aronaldo notice that the rest of their party is absent. They decide to check at the lodge for Nicole.

Back in Arildale Bryseis and Nicole arrive at the home of Vidrik. After a somewhat awkward conversation, he agrees to take Nicole back for a fee. He summons forth his magical steed and heads off to Tirithell at blinding speed. Elliot and Bryseis go to the market in Arildale. Nicole enjoys her supernaturally swift ride back to Tirithell.

Back in Tirithell The party goes to the lodge, and Aronaldo kicks open the door causing a ruckus before someone recognizes him as one of Nicole's companions. Everyone relaxes after that, and the Woodsmen tell them that Nicole went out of town. One asks if they want to train with them in the yard for a bit. They accept and work out with the Woodsmen, Aronaldo showing off his dexterity, while the rest of the Woodsmen show off their strength. Panven admires his hammer some more before hunting for homeless people to help, since he is a kind dwarf. Aronaldo goes to the blacksmith, where Felix is excited to see him. Aronaldo shows him one of the Custodes Regis' swords. Felix is fascinated by the sword's craftsmanship. Aronaldo says that he found it in the woods, but Felix recognizes that this is one of the swords that the LKOH's guards were using aslo dropping some knowledge on the armor that the Custodes use, saying that it should be impossible for a normal man to wear armor that heavy. Aronaldo gives one sword to Felix to study and another to sell. Felix is excited about this and thanks his friend.

Nicole finally arrives in Tirithell and heads to the Lodge. Everyone is relaxing from their workout, and one of the Woodsmen tell her that her companions are looking for her. She goes off and looks for her companions after dropping off her stuff in her room and writing a letter. Completely bypassing some Grigori shenanigans, she heads to the Wain to try and catch up with Panven and Aronaldo.

They meet up with each other outside of Felix's shop. She tells them that she was unable to bring Bryseis back to Tirithell, and that she is not coming back. Instead, Bryseis tells them to come to her after their business in Tirithell is done. Aronaldo goes to the Witch Shop.

Back in Arildale Bryseis and Elliot first go to the bakery, which is run by Alvar, a big, bald guy with a mustache. He is apparently a very good baker. Bryseis orders a bunch of pastries because she likes sweets. While waiting for her order, Bryseis goes to Alotel's Emporium and buys some magical stuff. While she is there, Alotel asks if Aronaldo is in town. She says no, and Alotel is kind of disappointed. After that, she goes back to Alvar's shop. He gives them an amazing basket of amazing pastries. They go to a "public sitting area," i.e. a bench. Bryseis tells Elliot to sit down next to her, which he does awkwardly. Bryseis gives Elliot half of all of the pastries, which Elliot appreciates, certainly not expecting it. Bryseis and Elliot have a good time handing out.

Back in Tirithell Outside the Witch Shop, Aronaldo puts up the hood of the magical item he got form Grigori, and he changes into an ugly old man. Disguised as this old man, he goes into the shop. Iosef is running the shop, and he does not recognize Aronaldo. Aronaldo, still an old man, asks him to identify the Helm and the Wand that he also got from Grigori. Meanwhile, Nicole and Panven are spying on Aronaldo, but they become bored and play some dice. Iosef is unable to identify the Helm, meaning that it has great magical properties, and finds that the wand is a tricked item, spelled with an illusion that tricks people into believing that it is very important. Aronaldo goes back outside and becomes himself again while Nicole and Panven question him, to no avail. Panven goes into the shop and everyone follows him. They have some items identified, Nicole shoots down Iosef's advances, and then everyone leaves (but before, Aronaldo drops some info regarding Vyne and his plan). The party then goes to the Wain to discuss things further.

The party goes to an unocuppied booth and begin to talk about their plan. Aronaldo brings Panven and Nicole up to speed on the "Thief Lord" situation. The party in Tirithell then comes up with a plan to break into Vyne Manor again, without Bryseis's help. They decide that they will do the exact same thing that they did last time they broke into the Manor, with Panven staying outside scaring off the riff-raff while Nicole and Aronaldo break in through the back. They decide to initiate this plan the next day, so they go off to pass the day away. Panven and Aronaldo drink at the Wain. Panven drinks some Brew. People bet and have a good time whenever Panven does not pass out. Everyone cheers. Panven continues to drink, as does Aronaldo. Meanwhile, Nicole goes to Felix's shop. She wants new armor, but she does not want the equipment that Felix is selling, so she just gives the Custodes Gladius she intended to use for trade to Felix. He says that in a month, he will be able to give the party better weapons after learning how the Custodes Gladii were forged.

Back in Arildale The next morning, Bryseis shares the rest of the pastries with Elliot for breakfast. Bryseis notices that the town is much more lively, with more people in golden tabbards as well as more Woodsmen patrolling the area. Bryseis approaches a Woodsman, who pulls out his sword (Elliot doing the same) because he is spooked by her appearance. She explains herself and he stands down. She asks the Woodsman what is happening, and he tells her of a bad murder that happened that night. They tracked some prints going inside the town. He tells her that Lady Eden is showing up that day as well. She then goes on her way, telling the Woodsman where she is staying in case her assistance is needed. Bryseis decides that she wants to help the Woodsmen.

She starts talking with Vera (who is very upset that Bryseis forgot about her) to see if she knows anything or where to start looking in order to help. Vera tells her that the only group she knows about with the capacity for such violence around Arildale are the Volkvera, which are still very much alive and well. Bryseis and Elliot go to the crime scene where they meet Captain Raine. Raine tells them that they found who it was that was murdered: the former Mayor Crane. Bryseis tells the Captain that the Volkvera are probably to blame. Raine is still very crippled, and cannot afford to have the magical healing needed to help him walk. Bryseis has a great idea and commissions Aeric to make a chair with wheels for Captain Raine. She goes around and finds more ways to help the Woodsmen.

After Bryseis sees a dwarf about a wheelchair, she makes Elliot take her to the General Good shop, run by a Miss Olivia, an elderly woman who compliments Bryseis's skin color. Bryseis buys a pillow with the intent of making Captain Raine's chair more comfortable. Bryseis also looks at the books that Olivia sells. When she finds a book that looks older than all of the others and opens, she finds she cannot understand the written words. However, she values the hand drawn pictures of wolves and dogs. She asks Vera if she recognizes the language, but she does not. She wishes to purchase it, but Olivia just gives it to Bryseis because no one can read it, as well as the fact that the old lady took a liking to the strange, blue girl with a tail that walked into her shop. Bryseis leaves, wishing Olivia a good day.

Bryseis finds Lady Eden, who had recently arrived, and she notices that she is wearing a chain with Vera's ring on it. Lady Eden is speaking with the guards near the tower, but about what Bryseis is unable to tell. The guards, and Elliot, pull out swords at Bryseis's approach, but Eden calms them. Bryseis just makes chit-chat with Lady Eden, simply saying hello and goodbye. Bryseis and Elliot go back to the room, where Bryseis tells Elliot that she needs Eden's ring in order to help her friend. Instead of pulling rank alone or doing as Elliot begins to suggest (him using violence), she says that she will wait for her friends to come back, telling Elliot that they are all members of the Order of the Crown, which Elliot geeks out about. Bryseis and Elliot go to Captain Raine at the Arildale Lodge, where Raine tells Bryseis that they have learned nothing new about the Volkvera. Disappointed, Bryseis goes back to burning time until nightfall.

That night, Bryseis uses the Book of Ultimate Knowledge, asking it "Who of the Volkvera killed Crane." The Book answers back "Bodark." Bryseis is, understandably, kind of freaked out about this information, and tells Vera (who is quite upset with her using Grigori's book). Bryseis decides that she will tell Raine about this development tomorrow. Elliot is freaked out by this, but goes over to Bryseis and says that he will protect her no matter what. Bryseis, having taken a liking towards the boy, tells Elliot that he should come with her back to Tirithell after this mess is over. Elliot is happy at that prospect, and Bryseis goes to sleep with Elliot guarding.

Back in Tirithell People make their morning rounds and do what they do in the mornings, and Hector tells Aronaldo that the distraction will go down that night, around curfew. Everyone meets up at the Tirwood Inn, sitting at their regular table. They begin to prepare for that night, going over the plan. Nicole tells the party about the new weapons that Felix plans to make, which Panven does not like, since he is completely satisfied, if not more, with his hammer. The party passes the time until curfew.

Night falls, and curfew is in effect. Panven is in position; Aronaldo signals him with a bird call. He spooks the guards by making the ground shake, thunder boom, and ravens caw, opening and shutting the gate doors. Two guards run away. Panven magically whispers things to the other two and they run. More guards show up to find out what is going on, and Panven makes fog roll in, continuing to harrass the guards. Eventually, all of the guards flee.

Nicole and Aronaldo make it to the end of the secret tunnel that they used last time and sneak into the Manor, ending up in the front entryway. They see the gates rattling, knowing that it is all part of the plan, but they also see another figure walking towards the gate. The two believe that it is a guard and leave it to Panven. Using the map, they head to the basement and the secret library where they were before. Aronaldo pulls out the key, causing the painting frame to glow, and the pedastal flips over to show a keyhole. Aronaldo puts the key in the keyhole, turns it, and the pedastal opens up to reveal a scroll. The scroll has, in fancy writing, orders. It is a decree for the Vyne family, saying they have been chosen as the elite of the people, one of seven families, to help overthrow a tyrant. It goes on to instruct, "With the paintings of the founders, continue this project through your progeny until you control the kingdom itself, and then overthrow the Tyrant." At the end, it says, "Long live the people. - Koschei." With the proof they need, they put it in their bag and leave the secret shrine.

Panven notices the character that walking toward the gate and sees that he is bigger than the other, average guards. Panven makes the nearby torches flare bright purple to scare the newcomer away, and the light shows more of the mysterious figure. He is a large man, dressed in thick armor, wearing a black tabbard and weilding a halberd. The man, exasperated by Panven's constant barrage of annoyances, proclaims, "Enough," and holds up an item that glows bright white. All of Panven's magical effects disappear. Panven, thoroughly spooked, flees into the alleyways of the market district, where Woodsmen are patrolling. One looks, notices Panven, and pulls out his sword. He begins to question Panven. The Woodsman says Panven needs a uniform in order to walk around at night and should go to the Tirwood for his own safety. Panven convinces the Woodsman to let him patrol, but the Woodsman insists he obtain a uniform the next morning.

Inside the manor, Nicole and Aronaldo head up the stairs to find Vyne. They remember his study area and plan to try that first. Nicole suggests that she distract Vyne long enough for Aronaldo to get into a "back-stabby" position. Passing by the extravagance of Vyne Manor, they reach the door of the study. Nicole looks into the room and sees Vyne, who sees her. They speak while Aronaldo sneaks into a better position. Nicole questions Vyne, who proceeds to answer in an arrogantly cryptic fashion. When confronted with the accusation of murdering in order to rule the kingdom, he says he does not wish to rule, but he knows someone who would be better suited for the throne, "if there would even be a throne." Nicole charges Vyne with treason and subterfuge, which Vyne admits must be done "for the greater good." They continue their back and forth, both of them insulting the other with venomous hostility. Aronaldo sneaks from behind and stabs Lord Vyne with his sword, going clean through his torso. Nicole stabs him as well, and Aronaldo finishes the job. With his last breath, Lord Vyne curses the party, calling them "fools." Aronaldo loots his body and finds another key. He also finds a brand on Vyne's left shoulder, which looks like an intricately designed seven. Nicole looks through his desk, trying to find documents that Vyne might have made that could shed any more light on the situation. Whenever Vyne died, though, a nearly invisible shockwave emanates from his body. As it goes by, all of Vyne's papers and documents begin to smoulder and burn, much to Nicole's exasperation.

At that moment, Panven sees the magical shockwave coming from the Manor, passing through everything, barely noticable. The large man guarding the gates notices it and, after shaking his head, walks out of town, vanishing down the main road. Panven hears a scream and runs toward the source. There, he sees numerous skeletons dressed in Vyne's colors. He is rightfully concerned and turns around to run in the direction of the Manor.

In the Manor, Aronaldo follows his map to the main vault, which is hidden behind a simple-looking door. Using the golden key he looted off Vyne, he unlocks the door to show a steep staircase. They descend and find a vault, in which are cases upon cases of gold stacked nearly to the ceiling. Nicole and Aronaldo take 1500 gold pieces. When they leave through the front door of Vyne Manor, no one is there. Nicole goes to the Lodge while Aronaldo runs to the Wain.

Aronaldo sprints in and drags Hector to a back room. He tells the confused Hector that Vyne has been killed and that his vault is filled with gold and other riches. He hands him the key and the map of the Manor, telling Hector that he needs to go there as soon as possible. Hector, after his amazed confusion, makes a signal, and the whole Wain becomes alive with the quick movement of shadowy people in dark clothing leaving through various exits. Panven arrives, just barely witnessing this event, and informs Aronaldo of the guard skeletons as well as the man clad in the black tabbard. Aronaldo hops behind the counter and makes a mug of ale for both Panven and himself, for both celebration and to calm their nerves, dropping ten gold to pay. Afterward, they go to bed.

Meanwhile at the Lodge, Nicole arrives before her watch and notices Brash frantically giving orders to Woodsman, who are even more frantically attempting to follow them. Nicole asks what is going on, and Brash tells her of the chaos that has erupted with all of the Vyne guards turning to skeletons. Nicole offers to help, and Brash tells her to assist anyone during her watch. Saying that they probably will not get much sleep that night, he departs with a squad of Woodsmen to go and check if Lord Vyne is all right. Nicole does not say anything in response to that. She patrols for the rest of the night, choosing to forego sleep.

Aronaldo awakens during the night due to a horrible burning pain on the back of his shoulder, but only for a brief moment. Touching his shoulder, he feels a slight bit of raised flesh in the shape of a seven.

Aftermath
Nicole does not sleep that night but goes with Brash to Vyne's manor. There, Brash sees that Vyne is dead. They hear a scuffle downstairs and go check it out. They find the scene of a battle in the vault, where thieves are trying to make off with Vyne's gold. A few dead bodies of both thieves and Woodsmen already litter the floor. When Nicole and Brash confront the thieves, they dissapear (with the help of a squat man in black leather), except for one which Brash catches in a headlock. Brash tells Nicole that he will take the man to be questioned, and Nicole spends the rest of her night staying on watch and helping the Woodsmen. When morning rolls around, she goes to the Tirwood to talk with her friends.

In Tirithell, Aronaldo and Panven wake up in the Wain. Panven prays and then goes to the Tirwood. Aronaldo finds that the Wain is completely empty. When he leaves to go to the Tirwood, he notices that there are Woodsmen standing around as guards, and there is tension in the air. He goes to check on Iosef in Irina's shop, but she tells him that Iosef is not there. She is upset at this.

At the Tirwood, Nicole confronts Aronaldo about the thieves in the vault. Afterward, Aronaldo and Panven follow her to the Lodge. Panven and Aronaldo stay in the front area while Nicole joins Brash in the interrogation room. She finds Brash with stained hand-wraps leaning against the wall, as well as a man who looks bloody and bruised tied up to a post in the middle of the room. Nicole, being a soldier who worked in the field, is not exactly used to seeing the domestic side of the peacekeeping in the Glorious Kingdom, but she does not make a fuss about it. Brash tells her that he has been questioning the man to no avail. Nicole drops Aronaldo's name, catching the man's attention, but not as much as when she admits that she was the one who killed Vyne. Brash is furious at this admission, and the man is doubtful. Nicole says that she will explain as soon as Brash brings Aronaldo for her. Angry, he does, and Aronaldo is told by a sweating, bloody Woodsman to follow him. Panven is left alone and slightly confused.

Aronaldo talks with the man, Oscar, another half-elf in his guild. Oscar tells Aronaldo, in elvish, what happened: Hope, a new member of the guild, panicked when the Woodsmen showed up and pulled her knife on them, attacking, even though this was against the rules of the guild. This led to the debacle that Nicole witnessed, and Oscar mentions that Hector was the one who pulled them out of the fire. Brash demands that Nicole explain what is going on. The following conversation includes Nicole getting mad at Aronaldo for not giving her the evidence that proved Vyne's traitorous actions, Brash getting mad at Nicole for not telling him that she was in the Order of the Crown, and everyone leaving the holding chamber. Brash apologizes for his actions, but says that he had to do what the law stated, and the murder of a political official of Vyne's status is very illegal. When Brash leads him out of the building, he tells Oscar to leave town as soon as he can. Aronaldo, Nicole, and Panven meet up again and decide that it is time to go to Arildale and finally meet up with Bryseis. As they leave, Grigori meets up with them and gives them a box, telling them (in a very annoying and forgetful way) that it is for Bryseis, and to not open it before they give it to her. Panven asks Grigori to help put the gauntlet from the Mithril Guard on his hand, and Grigori does so, slipping it on the dwarf's hand (however, now it will not come off). After they conclude with that business, they head to Arildale.

In Arildale, Bryseis awakens at the inn. Elliot only kind of slept, and is leaning against the wall propped up by his sword. They go to Aeric's shop for the chair, which Aeric calls the "dwarf chair." They take the dwarf chair to Captain Rainne. Raine appreciates it very much and goes out to get used to his new method of transportation. Some time after this, Bryseis and Elliot discover that there has been another murder: Ms. Olivia, from the General Goods shop in town. She was murdered the exact same way as Crane was, and when Bryseis and Elliot get to the shop, they find Woodsmen there questioning people, one of them being Olivia's daughter Katherine. The shop is in ruins, blood everywhere, and the door has been ripped off of its hinges. They question her after calming her down, and she tells them that she was woken up early that morning by a huge crash in the shop. Other than that, she does not have any information. One of the Woodsmen from inside finds a note with two tally marks written on it in a fine, black ink. This confuses people, and the Woodsman says that he will give it to the Captain, then leaves. Bryseis spends the rest of her time comforting Elliot and waiting for her companions to get there from Tirithell.

Finally, Aronaldo, Nicole, and Panven arrive in Arildale, quickly finding Bryseis. They catch up, Bryseis introducing them to Elliot. Elliot is very excited to meet other members of the Order, but is told very quickly to not make a big deal out of it. Nicole gives Bryseis the box from Grigori, and inside she finds a petunia that she puts in her hair, a clam that has a pearl-shaped ruby inside of it, and a small glass circle. Bryseis tells her party about the murders and Lady Eden, while the rest of them tell her about the happenings in Tirithell. The party then splits up for a while, each going their separate ways in order to gather more information.

Aronaldo and Nicole go to the mayoral mansion to see Lady Eden. They gain an audience with Eden by posing as a representative of Tirithell's Woodsmen lodge, which wants to ensure the deliveries of lumber will continue to make their normal rounds. Meeting with Eden proves to be a much friendlier affair than meeting with Vyne was, but she still reeks of affluence. While they sit down for tea, which Aronaldo and Nicole both fake drinking, it becomes obvious that Eden is throwing advances towards Aronaldo. Everyone is uncomfortable with this. Nicole leaves shortly after to go and speak with Captain Raine, while Aronaldo stays at the manor. Eden offers to give him a tour, which he accepts, and she says that he is welcome to stay the night if he needs to. He is made slightly more uncomfortable, but remains polite and says that he will consider it, then leaves.

The party does more sleuthing before ending their day. They meet once more, discussing recent events. They talk about the murders, the happenings with the Seven and how Lady Eden might be a member, and what this might have to do with the Bodark. Afterward, Panven gets a room at the inn where Bryseis and Elliot are staying, and Nicole goes and sleeps at the Lodge. Aronaldo takes one for the team and spends the night with Lady Eden. That night, he notices that she takes off her necklace and places it on her nightstand. He also notices that there seems to be a raised bit of flesh in the shape of the number seven on her hip, matching the one that Vyne had, and now Aronaldo has, on his shoulder.

The next morning, Aronaldo awakens and finds that Lady Eden has left. A servant tells him that she apologizes, but she had some political matters to deal with that morning. After finding all of his stuff and ensuring that nothing has happened to it, he snoops around the room a bit, noticing a very lovely mirror that leaning up against the wall. Not finding anything that could link her to the group of traitors, he leaves to find his party. Nicole wakes up, eats breakfast, and finds her companions. Elliot and Bryseis wake and eat breakfast at the inn, noticing that Panven is leaving the inn to go to the local shrine and pray. Whenever Panven arrives there, however, he is disgusted to find that the shrine has become another murder scene. The inside of the shrine has been almost destroyed, banners shredded, tables flipped, and the statue of St. Agricus has been broken. Brother Julian, the priest, is the victim of this murder, and what is left of him is spread around the small room. The rest of the party find out about this and meet up outside of the shrine, where they find another scrap of parchment, this time with three tallies marked on it. It is now obvious that the killer is numbering his kills. Captain Rainne decides that enough is enough and tells the party that they have one full day of free reign to find the killer. Thus, they plan to confront the murderer by following the initial blood trail: the one discovered where Crane was killed.

They discover that the blood trail leads to the secret tunnel that the party used when they needed to escape from Vera's tower. Entering the secret tunnel, they walk down a dark corridor. At the end of the tunnel is torchlight, and they see the silhouette of a man. The man speaks to them, with only Bryseis speaking back to him. The man tells them to come and speak with him face-to-face, and the party decides that there is no point in debating with him, so they go down the hall into a surprisingly well-furnished room that certainly was not there when they came through the tunnel last time. When Aronaldo sees the man, he is suddenly bombarded with screams and a feeling of terror and anxiety coming from his cloak. The man, a ruggedly wild-looking fellow with strange, solid-yellow eyes, wears nice but casual clothes. He greets them and tells them to sit. Most of the party does so, and they begin to interrogate the man. Surprisingly, he is both honest and willing to answer their questions. This man, when asked, tells them that he is the creature known as the Bodark. He also tells them that he is the one responsible for the recent murders, and that he is going to continue killing until he receives orders otherwise. When asked about who is giving the orders, he tells them that Lady Eden is the one who has a figurative "chain around his neck." The party is given a deal: if they help him out and free him from his "contract," then he will leave the area around Arildale alone for 220 years. If they do not, he will continue to kill and do her bidding. The Bodark makes an offer to teach Bryseis magic, if she is willing, and gives her a demonstration of his magic: he shows his true form, the eight-and-a-half-feet-tall, hunched, feral form of a blood werewolf. Nicole daringly steps in front of him, though he did not intend to harm anyone then, and he returns to his other shape. He then the party to consider his offer and leave.

They head back to the Lodge and tell Captain Rainne everything that has happened. Upset, he tells them that he is going to put guards all over the town and even ask for reinforcements. Even though it might be fruitless, he will still fight to keep the people of this town safe. He tells them that he will allow them free reign on the case for more time, given the circumstances of the matter. When they tell him that the beast wants Eden dead, Rainne tells them that he cannot do anything about that, since there is no evidence against her. However, he mentions that, if something were to happen to her, he would not think much of it, and the Woodsmen would look the other way within reason. Rainne dismisses them, and they go their own ways.

Bryseis asks Vera if she knows how to defeat the Bodark. Vera tells her that normal arcane magic would not be able to do much, though a strong connection to the divine might, if the idea of the Bodark being a creature of evil is true. Aronaldo suggests another method of defeating the Bodark: using the wish that is held within Vera's/Lady Eden's ring. Bryseis is very against this idea, as she means to use the wish to bring sanity back to Grigori. They continue to debate this for a while before splitting off to do their own thing again for the rest of the day.

Panven takes Elliot, who was rendered almost catatonic after their encounter with the Bodark, back to Bryseis' room in the inn, laying him down in her bed. He stays there until he falls unconscious, and when Bryseis goes back to the room, she sleeps on the floor.

"The Guards, They're Like Pigeons!"
The next morning, Nicole wakes up early in order to meet with Bryseis and Elliot at the Flying Toad. When she exits the Arildale Lodge, she encounters the Woodsmen asking around about another murder, one that happened just outside of the Lodge. When she asks, the learns that the man was a Woodsman himself named Nicolas. Everyone seems to know this man, making this murder a bit more tragic. After learning what she could and talking to an angry, tired Rainne, she leaves for the Flying Toad.

After she wakes Bryseis and speaks with her, she asks her to wait outside while she has a talk with Elliot, soldier to soldier (technically) regarding duty and bravery. She tells him the dangers of adventuring with them and adventuring at all. However, Elliot, who refused to talk comfortably until he had his sword with him, gives a small speech about how protecting the Order of the Crown is his higher calling. Nicole relents, but says that he needs an upgrade. So, she gives him the Sword of Thunder (even though he insists on keeping his old sword). She also gives him her Nightcap of Pleasant Dreams, saying that it would "keep the nightmares away," which Elliot seemed to understand. After this, Bryseis takes Elliot and Nicole to Arval's to buy pastries for everyone.

Panven wakes up and praises Valrud in the park area near the center of town, since he does not wish to go back to the local shrine. While there, he encounters Vidrik, who gives him a letter, which can be assumed was in response to the letter he sent back to Kurzul-Dul. He reads this letter, then goes off to find his companions.

Aronaldo, who had spent the night again in Crane's old mansion, wakes up in Eden's guest bedroom. Looking around for anything neat, he notices a bust. He does not notice that it resembles the late Crane. Instead, he notices that it is staring at a conspicuous painting that he believes might be hiding something. He begins to investigate, but is interrupted by a servant knocking on the door. When he answers the door, the servant invites him to Lady Eden's morning meal. After enjoying the bountiful breakfast that only the most noble of nobles can enjoy, he steals three apples and starts to look for his companions. Before he can find them, Vidrik approaches him and hands him his own letter.

Eventually, the party meets up at the Flying Toad to come up with a plan, speaking in an inconspicuous area so that people will not be wise to the fact that they are plotting to murder a high-ranking noblewoman. They do their best using Elliot's inside information from his time as a guard to devise an attack plan for that night. Afterward, Nicole, Panven, and Elliot spend most of their day training in the Lodge. While there, Nicole speaks to Captain Rainne about patrolling that night in order to establish an alibi. Nicole continues to train Elliot, finding that the young man is very handy with a sword, and enjoys spending more time with him. Panven leaves to speak with Aeric. The topic of Panven's hammer comes up. Aeric, a trained Dwarven smith, recognizes the spell on the hammer, but Panven refuses to believe that it is cursed. Aeric gives him a small elixir, telling him to drink it before he sleeps that night. Panven accepts, confused, and then leaves to meet up with Nicole and Elliot for their "watch." All this time, Bryeis has been learning the Fly spell, a crucial part of their plan. This takes her six hours and proves to be very boring work. Also at this time, Aronaldo goes to Alotel's Emporium to purchase an invisibility potion, also a part of the plan.

Night falls, signalling the beginning of their plan. Aronaldo, putting on his most suave act, complete with a rose in his mouth and everything, does his best to seduce Lady Eden. This succeeds, and Aronaldo proves once again to be the hero of this mission. After Eden is asleep, he carefully ties her to the bed and opens the window. He uses his Hood of Facades to take on the guise of a ten year old boy, then takes the Ring of Five Wishes from Eden's nightstand. Seeing this, Bryseis uses her new spell to fly up into her room without being seen. Once she gets there, she uses her burning hands spell to cast fire at Lady Eden. The Book was proven right once again, as Eden burns away in a fantastic, mystical fashion, turning to ashes. However, the room is now on fire and the guards are heard approaching. The rogue and wizard skedaddle, Aronaldo snagging a box from behind the conspicuous painting. He tricks the guards following him by drinking the invisiblity potion after shouting some confusing nonsense. After losing them, he takes off the Hood and meets up with his crew at the Lodge.

They tell Rainne that the murders will not be happening anymore, and he thanks them. The man looks dead tired, and he rolls out of the room to his own chambers to get some much-needed rest. After they celebrate their successful mission, their attention turns to the ring. They brainstorm a bit on how to best phrase their wish before Bryseis takes the ring and wishes for Grigori's sanity. After an impressive magical display that wakes up and angers half of the Lodge's residents, nothing really happens. In the aftermath, Aronaldo fishes out the box that was hidden behind the painting. He picks the lock and finds inside Crane's will and testament. The document says that he will leave all he owns, including his mansion, to the person who delivers a small stone coin also found in the box to a man named Godfrey Crowstead. While they are thinking this over, there is a knock at the door. Confused, they open the door, revealing Grigori. He looks different without the huge, vacant grin on his face, though he is still smiling. He thanks them individually and gives some proper introductions. He even speaks to Panven in Dwarvish, which Panven really enjoys. Bryseis is overjoyed that Grigori is there and that her wish worked. She hugs him. When he hugs her back, she geeks out and makes a dork of herself. Aronaldo had hidden, but he eventually speaks to Grigori, who lets him keep all of the things that he took from him. They speak with Grigori about many things. He tells them what he can about the Anathema, mostly that he does not know a lot about it. He does say that it was by investigating the Anathema that he lost his mind. He also tells the party what he knows about the Shadowman: he is the decaying remains of the Ancient God Beschil.

Everyone makes plans to go celebrate at the Mead Hall, but before that, Aronaldo and Grigori speak in private for a bit. He asks the old wizard about the Seven, and about his "skin condition." Grigori, who remembers the Seven as just a rich person club, tells him that he doesn't have to worry about his blood, that he is a good person regardless. He also tells him that if Aronaldo worries about any members of the Seven, he should worry about anyone named "Dire." He was apparently a bad man many generations ago, but he does not go into much detail. Aronaldo also asks Grigori's opinion on Afonos. Grigori is hesitant to talk that much about him, but tells him, "People like me shouldn't be in positions of power." After that, they both wind up at the Mead Hall.

Everyone, except Elliot, has already been drinking before Grigori and Aronaldo arrive. Nicole has a bit of a buzz, Panven is an animal, and Bryseis is slightly messed up. Panven challenges Grigori to a Dwarven drinking game, which Grigori happily accepts. Aronaldo and Nicole join in, but Nicole tells Bryseis that she cannot play, because Nicole has officially taken on the role of Team Mom. The game goes as such: Aronaldo takes one drink and passes out, happy to take a long nap after the hell he has been through the past few days; Panven and Nicole both down three tankards before passing out, which impresses everyone because Nicole is a human; and Grigori becomes slightly tipsy, but the game is over before he is able to get any further. Elliot takes a single sip and collapses onto the floor.

Bryseis and Grigori, the only two people still standing, take them all back to the Flying Toad, paying for them all to have a room. After they talk a bit, Grigori thanks her once more. Bryseis says that she wants to talk to him more, but Grigori might not be able to because of how he now remembers all of his "duties." Since he saw that this disappointed her, he gives her a notebook that functions as immediate communication between the two who have them. She gives him a hug and then passes out. He tucks her in and then departs, probably for Tirithell.

A Venomous Encounter
Everybody awakens at the Flying Toad. The party does what they usually do, with the only exception being Aronaldo, who is more cautious than usual, in that they all meet up at the inn for breakfast and to plan their day. They decide that they are going to try and find out more about this "Godfrey Crowstead" fellow, except Bryseis and Elliot, who spend their time getting pastries for the party after everyone eats breakfast.

While Nicole and Panven go to the Lodge to speak with Captain Rainne, Aronaldo goes to Alotel's Emporium. When he is there, he learns a bit about Crowstead, mostly that people do not meet with him personally. Alotel appears to have some sort of connection, however, as she believes that she could have him in Arildale personally in the next few days (given the circumstances of the will). Nicole and Panven learn a little about Crowstead, mainly that he is the leader of a shady group known as the Crowstead Syndicate that has many business ventures, though they are very open about their charitable dealings. When Nicole and Panven go to Alotel's to try and find the suspected Syndicate correspondent, they find that Aronaldo has already gotten the answer that they need.

When Bryseis and Elliot finally arrive at the Emporium, Bryseis and Panven begin to purchase magic items. Panven buys a small coinpurse that makes everything inside disappear, while Bryseis asks for a magic weapon. Alotel brings out a small, rusted farming sickle that some Woodsmen brought in recently. Disregarding the fact that Alotel is using cloth and is trying her best not to touch the weapon itself, Bryseis grabs it, and suddenly hears a voice inside of her head, introducing itself as "John." When the party hears of this, they are reasonably upset and demand that they go to Tirithell to have Montgomus exorcise the spirit, if that even is what John is. Everyone thinks this is a good idea and Nicole, Panven, Elliot, and Bryseis all use Samson to get to Tirithell quickly. Aronaldo stays behind to talk to Alotel and help her around the shop. She is very appreciative about this.

Before they arrive in Tirithell, Bryseis speaks with John about many things. She helps John figure out that he has the ability to possess people, which John thinks is "neat," and learns that John was once a farmer in his life. However, once they arrive in Tirithell, they head straight to the Church of Sol Solus. Bryseis, linking arms with Elliot, tells him that after this, they will have a tour of the town. Elliot thinks this is a good idea. When they get to the Church, everyone goes inside except for Elliot, who says that he will guard the door. Montgomus attempts to exorcise John from Bryseis, though he remarks that he "thinks" it worked, since she did not feel bad afterwards, and they have a nice chat. After this, Bryseis and Elliot go about the town.

In Arildale, Aronaldo and Alotel spend time together. He sees how she works, and the ins and outs of her job. Eventually, a raggedy old man comes in and demands that they take a wooden block of souls. Nobody knows what this means, and when Aronaldo mentions that he knows someone who can identify magical items, Alotel asks if he could go and get it identified for her. He takes a carriage to Tirithell, happy to help her out. She asks him to come back at the end of the day so they can go out for drinks.

Nicole, Panven, Bryseis, and Elliot encounter a man wearing weird robes on a box in the middle of town, preaching some doomsday prophecy. Nicole, knowing the law in the Glorious Kingdom, tells him to step down. He introduces himself as Sanza, and says that he is preaching the new word of Hazik. Panven knows this is an old Elvish god of poisons, treachery, and snakes. Sanza is pressured to remove himself, but says that the will of Hazik "demands a demonstration." He assaults a Woodsman with magic, causing a panic, and then disappears. The crew take the wounded Woodsman to Montgomus to be healed, and then go about questioning people about this Sanza fellow. Apparently, Sanza had been in town the past few days preaching but only became violent today. He also has been successful, with a small following appearing, calling themselves the "Priests of Poison." This is no more than some newly formed street gang of teenagers and young adults harassing people, and the Woodsmen seem very tolerant of them.

Meanwhile, Aronaldo arrives, catches up with Montgomus, and then goes to Iosef to get the box identified. He notices that something is off when Iosef is not his usual, snarky, confident self. Instead he seems nervous and dodges all answers regarding if he is okay and where his mother is. He is unable to identify the magic behind the Box and says that he is going upstairs. Aronaldo, worried for his friend, follows him. He confronts Iosef, wondering what is going on, and after pressuring him for a while, he persuades Iosef to open up (after closing the windows and locking the doors). Iosef tells Aronaldo that after the Shadows left town, the Alley Hounds swooped in. He tells them that they were looking for information regarding a "golden helmet" and kidnapped his mother so that Iosef would talk. He told the Hounds that he did not know anything, and they forcefully inducted him into their ranks "for his help." Iosef, not having the backing of the Shadows anymore, was powerless to do anything. He asks Aronaldo for his help by joining the Hounds with him so that he will not be alone. Aronaldo declines, staying out of the Hounds, but vows that he will find another way to help his friend. He departs from the Witch Shop to join his companions, leaving Iosef behind.

Events

 * Iosef has been made to join the Alley Hounds
 * The Guild of Shadows is "no more."
 * Something about Crowstead showing up in Arildale in two days.
 * There was a mysterious spirit of a farmer named John that briefly inhabited Bryseis' mind. He seems to have been eradicated though.
 * The official story in Arildale regarding Lady Eden's death is that a lamp fell onto her bed, catching the flammable bed and surrounding furniture on fire.

Intrigue, Murder, and Embarrassing the Captain
Date: 49, Month of Sun

Continuing from last session, the party is reunited inside the Woodsmen Lodge. When Aronaldo asks to speak privately, Nicole leads them to her room where she finds a rose sitting on her bed. Immediately assuming it is another Shadowman gift, she shoves it into her bag and turns her attention to more pressing matters. Aronaldo catches everyone up on the Alley Hounds situation and requests their help in rescuing Irina. They agree, though they have no clue where the Hounds even are. Thus, the investigation begins. Bryseis uses her book/cellphone to ask Grigori for information. It takes a lot of persuasion and a mention of the Anathema, but Grigori agrees to meet her later that night.

Aronaldo leads the party around the shady part of town and "interrogates" a couple Priests of Poison. They end their walk around town at Felix's blacksmith shop. The blacksmith and his daughter are wary at first, but delighted to see four friendly faces. The party then has tea. After a while, Aronaldo excuses himself and makes his way to the Wain. He is shocked to discover the place has come under new management and that said management has made some changes. After some shenanigans including the rogue getting a man super drunk and picking his pocket, it is discovered that the Alley Hounds are in control of the Wain. This is incredibly upsetting to Aronaldo, who decides to check up on Iosef. Meanwhile, Bryseis, Nicole, and Panven return to the Lodge to train Elliot. They notice that the young guard seems to be distracted.

Back at Iosef's, Aronaldo finds the door to the shop locked. He breaks in with ease. Snooping around, he hears two Hounds rummaging through Iosef's stuff and muttering cryptic things. Aronaldo tries and fails to make a silent escape that results in him leading the Hounds on an epic chase around Tirithell. It ends when one Hound catches up to him in an alley. The ensuing fight is made all the more interesting by the fact that Aronaldo uses the Murder Dagger, which is as literal as you would expect from a GrigoriTMcreation. When he slays the man, a murder of crows appears from seemingly nowhere and devours the corpse in a horrifying display of feathers and squawking. It is in no way subtle, so, thinking fast, Aronaldo throws on his hood of facades and assumes the appearance of a young boy. As more and more people appear to investigate, he begins to fake cry. One Woodsman carries him back to the Lodge. The Woodsman is more than happy to deposit the adult-man-disguised-as-a-child in Nicole's arms and scram. Nicole passes the child to Bryseis, who realizes that it is, in fact, Aronaldo. She drops him. Aronaldo drops the hood and recounts his adventures both at the Wain and Iosef's place. It is decided that he and Nicole will return to the Wain to do some more snooping while Bryseis and Panven wait for Grigori.

Although Nicole's status as Captain of the Legion makes things tense, her affiliation with Aronaldo helps to smooth things over. Even more shenanigans ensue including but not limited to: tricking the barkeep into giving the two a private back room for things, an almost serious conversation between the Captain and thief, Aronaldo turning into a cougar, some sick burns, Aronaldo punching a man in the dick, more sick burns, and implied lesbian action. During all of that, Nicole learns a bit more about the new proprietors of the Wain, and Aronaldo finds a hint about the Hound's location. After all of that, Nicole being thoroughly embarrassed, it is finally time to meet with Grigori. The wizard is not happy to share this information and practically begs the party not to go. He does, however, tell them exactly where they can find the Alley Hounds. He and Aronaldo talk privately while the others chat with Grigori's familiar rabbit. The rabbit gives some advice and words of wisdom to all of them and also freaks them out because why is the rabbit talking.

The party go their separate ways after an eventful evening. Elliot decides to not join Bryseis and Panven at the church, claiming to be afraid of Montgomus. He instead gets a room at the Tirwood. Aronaldo goes somewhere and Nicole goes to the Lodge. Before Panven sleeps, he drinks the potion given to him by Aeric and, in his dreams, realizes that his hammer is horrible and evil.

Events

 * The Alley Hounds have apparently infiltrated Tirithell itself, and appear to run the Wain.
 * The location of the Alley Hound's home base is in the Free Territory, in the city of Beoford.
 * We finally know what the Murder Dagger does.
 * Order in Tirithell is an illusion.
 * Iosef was not at the Witch Shop for some reason.
 * Grigori reluctantly gave the information about the Alley Hounds, and warned Aronaldo about attacking the Thief Lord's Den head on.

A Return to Their Roots
Date: 50, Month of Sun

When Panven awakens the next morning, he realizes just how wicked his hammer is and spends the morning (after praying) burying it in front of the Tirwood. The rest of the party witnesses this as they make their way to their meeting place and are all relieved to know they no longer have to worry about the dwarf going into a magical beserker rage any time he takes damage.

Nicole spends her morning contemplating the roses that keep appearing in her room and the rumors that are surely going to spread from the previous night's supposed illicit activities.

Bryseis goes to wake up Elliot, who has once again overslept. He is very much embarrassed by this and swears to do better in the future.

Aronaldo checks in on the witch shop and is pleasantly surprised that Iosef has returned. Although he can't share much information, he does identify some weapons for him and also makes him a potent poison for his newly acquired poison blade.

When the party is assembled in their usual booth, they discuss their plans. Aronaldo is adamant that they aren't ready to face the Thief Lord, yet Crowstead won't be in Arildale for another day. Thus, they are stuck. They eventually decide to go back into the Woods, to train themselves, give Elliot experience, and just possibly update that map they were supposed to be creating. Oops.

Elliot is much more calm than expected, referring to the horrors of the forest as "interesting." This confuses and worries everyone, except maybe Bryseis, who is proud of her son. He barely freaks out when they spot the Shadowman watching them from a distance.

Bryseis attempts to play I Spy with said child-stealing monstrosity, much to everyone's frustration.

After a couple of hours of wandering, the party stumbles upon a graveyard, in the middle of which is an axe imbedded into a stump. The stump is surrounded by bones. Most everyone decides that randomly touching the mysterious thing is a distinctly bad idea and regard it with caution. Bryseis throws rocks at it, which, technically, isn't touching it.

The spirit that resides within, however, doesn't care for the distinction between touching and throwing rocks. One fiery transformation later, they are face to face with a headless suit of armor, bright green flame where its head should be. The spirit -- introduced as Sir Bertor of the Knights Auraltum -- lifts the axe and challenges the party to a... challenge. Nice one.

When Panven tries to pull rank on the spirit, Nicole explains that the Knights of old are a step above the Order of the Crown.

Aronaldo notices the symbol of the old kingdom on the axe and uses this as an opportunity to get more information about the helmet he got from Hector. Bertor is shocked (and magically repulsed) when he pulls out the helmet, but he does answer questions. The helm once belonged to Sir Gorreth, another member of the Knights Auraltum, like himself.

After all of the exposition is out of the way, it is time for the challenge. Bertor briefly explains the rules. Two of the party members will fight him. If they win, he gives them the axe and is put to rest. Should they lose, the forest will claim all of their souls. Nicole volunteers to be the first fighter and chooses Aronaldo as her second. This proves to be a wise decision when the rogue manages to deal the final blow, but not before antics from Bryseis and Panven enrages Bertor, since they were against the rules of the challenge, and nearly costs him his life. As Aronaldo was the one that ended the battle, the axe can now only be wielded by him.

It's not quite evening yet, so the party decides to continue exploring. After a while, they begin to hear music. Which is never what you want to hear in a creepy forest, honestly. They find the source to be a handsome elven man entertaining a group of thoroughly relaxed Woodsmen. They seem coherent enough, identifying Captain Nicole and giving the correct date, but they can't seem to recall who, exactly, the elf is, or when he arrived. Nicole tries to order the man away. Shenanigans happen. Bryseis is charmed, and Aronaldo turns the man into birds. After that weirdness is over, the party travels back to Tirithell with the freed Woodsmen (who seem totally unaffected by said weirdness).

Back in town, they are greeted by an unusual sight. Vidrik of the Mentarii has posted a banner and notice of some sort. When they go to investigate, they learn that The Lord King is looking for property of his that has been stolen and offering a handsom reward. Despite having two of the items on them that moment, they choose to play ignorant. Elliot is wise enough not to question that with Vidrik still in earshot, but does question their somewhat 'illegal' tendencies. Nicole explains that sometimes, for the greater good, laws need to be bended a bit. Although confused, Elliot does not waver in his commitment to the group.

The group's evening is relatively calm, and they decide to teach Elliot some new tricks, or at least try to. Aronaldo attempts to teach Elliot how to pick locks and is surprised when he picks it up quickly, while Bryseis starts to teach the boy how to read. Bryseis is happy to see that he quickly understands the concept of reading. Panven jokes about teaching him the ways of the Dwarven gods, but that would just be silly.

Eventually, the party retires for the night.

Events

 * Iosef came back, and is able to create and supply the party with poisons, for a price.
 * Iosef tells Aronaldo about this beggar that comes in almost every day, trying to sell him a wooden coin of some sorts.
 * The higher ups of the Glorious Kingdom are willing to pay graciously for information regarding a collection of stolen artifacts
 * The party faced Sir Bertor, an undead knight, in his challenge. They defeated him, gaining his axe.

Home Sweet Home / The Party Plans
Date: 1 - 2, Month of Scythes

When the party wakes up the next day, they all meet each other in their favorite booth at the Tirwood Inn. Once all there, they eat breakfast and travel to Arildale in order to meet Mr. Crowstead. They arrive at Arildale around 10 in the morning, seeing that Arildale has changed for the better (it seems) after the deposition of Lady Eden. No one is speaking of it, and there are around 20 - 30 guardsmen of unknown allegiance patrolling the area. According to Aeric, these people just showed up and started keeping the peace.

Aronaldo needs to speak with Alotel, and there is a good chance that Crowstead would be around there (at the least, it is a good place to start). Unfortunately, Alotel is not there, instead, there is a woman who identifies herself as "Ms. Joanne." She tells the party that she represents Mr. Crowstead, and they do their business with each other, trading the strange token for a signed deed to Crane's Estate. Nicole remarks that this is a bit anti-climactic, and Aronaldo is displeased that Crowstead himself did not show up. By means of giving the representative a large, expensive diamond to demonstrate how serious he is, manages to get Ms. Joanne to convince Crowstead to show up the next day.

Bryseis purchases a staff for 200 gold while she is at the magic shop. She does not know what this does, but later it is revealed to turn into a snake whenever thrown on the ground.

Afterwards, the party goes to their new home, which is now unnamed (due to the fact that "Crane Manor" is no longer applicable). Their home is also unfurnished, unstaffed, and altogether empty due to "debt." The party begins to explore the place, seeing what was left, and they discover that not everything was taken. There is still the large mirror in the master bedroom, and upon further investigation by the resident wizard, it is discovered to be magic. The party leaves it alone for now.

Nicole decides to go out and spend some time stocking pantries and such so that they have something to eat in the house. The party also goes out and sells some stuff, clearing out their inventories and getting some money.

This takes up most of the day, and later that night, they eat some stew that Nicole made. Elliot goes outside with Bryseis, and asks if he could sleep in the old guard shack outside. Though confused, Bryseis, and later the rest of the party, agrees. Bryseis also says that he can get a dog.

Once the party is together, they all decide what to do the next day. They are going to speak with Crowstead, now that Aronaldo has sacrificed a good deal of money in order to make that audience happen, and then they will travel to Cuitamba, where they can order things for their new home as well as do recon into the member of the Seven that may or not be residing there.

Events
 * The party now owns what used to be Crane Manor, a three story mansion that is currently devoid of furnishing and staff.
 * Alotel is not in Arildale right now, for some reason or another. It is told that she will return, though, within a few days.
 * Elliot was the one giving Nicole roses.

The Gang Accomplishes Nothing
Date: 3 - 4, Month of Scythes

After waking up and going about their normal morning routines -- now including Nicole freaking out about flowers -- the party gathers in their new kitchen for breakfast. As they discuss their plans for the day, they realize the distinct absence of Elliot. Bryseis goes to fetch him and finds him staring pensively out into the back yard. He is somewhat confused and spacey, but joins everyone else.

Aronaldo has a meeting with Crowstead to attend, so that's where he goes. The man is about as reclusive, secretive, and kind of creepy as you'd expect of someone with the name 'Crowstead.' Aronaldo uses this meeting as a chance to get as much information about several different subjects. First, he learns about the destruction of both the Guild of Shadows and the entire Council's Republic. He then grills Crowstead on any information he has regarding the Alley Hounds. Crowstead, however, only allows four direct questions.

Meanwhile, Panven and Elliot buy a goat for some reason.

Also meanwhile, Nicole is summoned by Captain Rainne. They discuss his imminent retirement and subsequent plans for the Woodsmen. As it turns out, Captain Ironbone is being promoted, which will leave both Arildale and Tirithell without Woodsmen leadership. Nicole is offered Rainne's position. She is hesitant to accept for a multitude of reasons and is given a week to decide.

After everyone's meetings are over, the party reconvenes at their currently-nameless manor. Aronaldo fills everyone in on his conversation with Crowstead, which leads to an unnecessarily long planning session where they debate the pros and cons of doing one quest or another. Finally it is decided that they will travel to Cuitamba to both scope out the next Seven member and gather resources for their plan to take out Orion. They have a few errands to to take care of first, however, like speaking to Aeric about vaults and poison knives, and buying obscene amounts of alcohol.

The ten-hour drive to Cuitamba is altogether uneventful, if you don't consider the antics of a very drunk half-elf eventful. The party arrives at night, just as the sprawling city begins to sleep. Bryseis' wizardry and demonic appearance put the guards on edge immediately. Nicole sends the rest of the party to the Huntsman's House while she tries and fails to talk to her mother.

In the Captain's absence, Aronaldo spills wine on the wizard, Bryseis critically fails at drinking, Panven stands around, and Grigori shows up. Once everyone settles down and Grigori detoxes the tiefling, they are able to have a semi-coherent conversation. It is decided that Grigori will lend the party magical assistance in creating a trap for Orion, on the condition that they do not kill the man.

Nicole arrives from her failed rendezvous, buys several tankards of ale, gets severely intoxicated, and then notices the fact that Elliot isn't present. Once the obligatory "he's not with you? I thought he was with you" is over and Nicole is done drunkenly sobbing, Bryseis decides to venture out and find him. She finally finds him staring at the church of Sol Solus. He gives some stuttering excuse of wanting to find St. Agricus' shrine and tries to go back to the inn, but Bryseis isn't having it. She all but drags him inside -- noting his strange behavior as she does so -- to pay his respects to the farming god. After some more weird staring, the two retire for the night.

The next morning, everyone goes about their respective business. Bryseis, Elliot, and Grigori go shopping for furniture and dogs, Panven does something, and Nicole once again heads to her mother's house. Aronaldo follows. The ensuing conversation is awkward, and the sudden appearance of a random half-elf only makes things more awkward. The two do, however, manage to get some information on the Seven member presiding over Cuitamba.

Events
 * The party has a plan to lure the Thief Lord into a trap
 * Nicole has a chance to become Captain2
 * Elliot is allowing the spirit of John to inhabit his body
 * Nicole's mother has "invited" Nicole for dinner. She also has some opinions regarding Aronaldo, her daughter's "companion."
 * Iosef's mother might be closer to Tirithell than believed.

The Gang Strongly Considers Making a Plan
Date: 5, Month of Scythes

this was the session before last, and I admittedly don't remember much of what happened

Events
 * Aronaldo makes friends with Cuitamba's local delinquents
 * Bryseis and Nicole have been arrested
 * Nicole meets some interesting characters while gathering information

Starting a Fake Gang War: A How-To Guide
Date: 6, Month of Scythes

The party reconvenes the next morning in the Huntsman's House. Panven had noticed an increase in the city guard during his morning prayers, and relays this to the others. Elliot is awake on time, for once. He requests permission to return to Arildale, to watch over the manor there. While everyone expresses that they will miss him, they agree to let him go, even lending him their magical horse for the journey.

The rest of the morning is spent attempting to create a plan. Aronaldo shows off his fancy new map and Nicole shares some insider knowledge, but nothing concrete is decided. The soldier and thief go out to gather information while Bryseis and Panven wait for Grigori to arrive in the inn. In a bout of idiocy, Nicole decides to intimidate a guard for information. While he doesn't tell her anything, he reveals that the guard knows the party by name -- cause enough for alarm. Aronaldo goes to the (_) to hopefully learn more about the Court of Justice. An informant is willing to sell him the info for an exorbitant amount of money that he doesn't possess. Instead, Aronaldo uses his Alley Hound dagger to trick him into believing that 1) he is a Hound, and 2) the Hounds are in Cuitamba. That gets him the information he needs at the price of everyone's friendship and respect.

Nicole meets up with Panven, Bryseis, and Grigori to discuss the problem of the guards. Some magical shenanigans happen with Bryseis and Grigori when they go to investigate the Court of Justice.

On the way back to the Inn, Aronaldo encounters another Priest of Poison. He uses his newly purchased tome of poisons to mess with the man, for reasons no one really understands. Once back safely, he feeds his invisible dog and talks with Panven.

Nicole visits her mother once more to get a bit more information. After that awkward encounter, she joins the boys.

Meanwhile, Bryseis uses her amulet of Zhantol to communicate with a rat. While she doesn't actually give any orders, the rats seem to accept some kind of blood oath. Never a good sign

The night ends after one last planning session that almost accomplishes things. The party at the very least barely has a plan.

A Plan is Set in Motion
Date: 7, Month of Scythes

The next day, the party splits after discussing the plan once more (and after Bryseis goes to speak with Schmuel, who it turns out was not at his shop. She also goes to the City Chapel, where she gives the local Reverend the heretical amulet for destruction). Bryseis and Nicole go to one of the market squares for their part; Panven goes to the entrance to the sewers for his; Aronaldo goes to the Court of Justice, disguised as a gnomish child, for his.

Bryseis begins her distraction by flying around the square with magic, shouting in demon-speak and shooting fire from her hands. Needless to say, this is a very effective form of distraction, and the guards come running. She is brought down and shot (when she attempts to make a run for it), and then incapacitated. When she is picked up by one of the Judicial Corps guards and carried to the Court of Justice. Nicole follows this guard, disguised as some normal looking Joe.

Panven, while venturing into the sewers, gets accosted by an unusually large and evil swarm of rats. He almost loses his life while battling these swarms, but survives and escapes by the grace of Valrud. He discovered a tunnel that seemed to have been used recently, but was devoid of rats.

Aronaldo, still gnomish, uses the shortage of guards in the Court of Justice to sneak into the tower. After following his map to the central staircase, he dodges more guards and more officials until he gets to the very top, where he sees a door being guarded by two Judicial Corp officers.

Still following the guard carrying Bryseis, Nicole channels some otherworldly form of witchcraft in the form of luck to be able to sneak past two guards and is able to waltz into the spiral staircase that is central to the Court of Justice, and descends the staircase after the guard. When she hears a guard, she ambushes him, knocks them out, and steals their uniform (which does not fit very well, but not noticeably enough to arouse suspicion). Once disguised, she enters the door at the very bottom of the stairs, where she finds the gigantic complex known as the Judicial Corps Containment Complex. Ordinary people do not care for the long name and just shorten it to what it is: the Prison, a huge, three tiered area full of small cells, which is full of the cries, moans, and groans of the imprisoned.

The session ends with Bryseis waking up in a small cell with all of her things stripped from her things, Panven walking into a tunnel and finding a steel ladder (which is assumed to lead to the Court of Justice), Aronaldo looking at the door to what he believes is Rosaria's quarters, and Nicole in the same prison as Bryseis, but on the outside.

Events
 * Schmuel is gone, for whatever reason
 * While in the Court of Justice, they find men in black tabards guarding a door

The One Occasion Where Honesty was the Best Policy
Date: 7, Month of Scythes

Nicole finds herself at the top of a multi-story prison complex. She incapacitates and locks up the only guard on patrol then begins the tedious process of inspecting every cell. Meanwhile, on the bottom floor, Bryseis attempts casual conversation with the prisoner in the cell next to her. He is not very sociable.

Panven climbs the ladder in front of him to the best of his dwarven ability. He ends up in a very disgusting, bloody torture chamber. The torturer does not notice the dwarf emerging from the sewers as he exits the room. Panven follows.

Bryseis sees the torturer and questions her new prison buddy about him. He tells her that he is a dangerous man to be avoided at all costs. As Nicole makes her way down, she passes the same torturer and manages to avoid his scrutiny.

Meanwhile, Aronaldo is struggling. He is still a gnomish child, which does not make for very convincing cover stories. Still, he does his little best to bluff his way past the guards watching over Rosaria's room. With a stroke of luck, he convinces them that he is the now-orphaned bastard child of Lord Vyne, come to find his father's killer. They ignore the fact that he is a gnome and let him into the room to wait for Rosaria. He wastes no time in snooping about. He quickly finds a secret room, along with evidence connecting her to the Seven, her personal journal (which mentions Nicole by name and describes the rest of the party in detail), letters to and from (it is safe to assume) Lord Victor Dire, and a shrine to some Ancient gods. Having seen all he needs to, Aronaldo pockets the journal and leaves, bidding farewell to the clueless guards. His luck runs out when he runs into the same creepy torturer man the others have been avoiding. As it turns out, this man is not fooled by the gnome's stories.

Back in the prison, Nicole has finally made her way to the bottom floor. She sees Schmuel locked up in one of the cells, and more importantly, she sees Panven peeking out from around a corner. She reunites with both the dwarf and Bryseis, still locked in her cell. They discuss strategy for a bit before their attention turns to the figure in the cell next to them, whom Bryseis had spoken to before. He is a huge, horribly scarred orc that is missing an arm and half his face. Not an attractive gentleman, really.

Through interrogation, Nicole learns that this is Urgig Ma-Ulagar. Nicole realizes that this is a general of the Ulagar Kingdom. Not everyone takes this news well. Panven is righteously offended, as the God King Ulagar is sitting on land that once belonged to the Dwarves, ruling a kingdom that should be theirs. His heritage demands this man be his enemy. Nicole is uncomfortable, as they are two military officers on opposite ends of a war. There is blood on both of their hands that cannot be ignored. Bryseis is completely fine with this and just wants to make another friend. The orc agrees to cause a diversion to cover the party's escape, on the condition that he leave the Glorious Kingdom forever once he is free. With great trepidation, Nicole and Panven let Bryseis and the orc out of their cells.

Aronaldo is desperately trying to talk his way out of this situation. He is being led to the dungeons by a suspiciously cheerful torturer that obviously knows he is full of if. He spins a tale about being found in the woods, taken in by Captain Rainne, etc etc. Eventually, they reach the prison, where the rest of the party hears their approach. Nicole ushers the others into the still open cell with the intent of ambushing the man. She lures him in front of the cell and unleashes the orcish general, who wastes no time in savagely ripping the man apart. Aronaldo is traumatized.

The orc starts a riot while the party leaves the way Panven came -- the sewers. They encounter the rats, though do not have any problems with them and make it out safely. On the surface, the city is in chaos. Prisoners are escaping from the Court of Justice, people are dying, it's pandemonium. Aronaldo leads the party first to the inn to gather their things, and then to the only place he can think of to lay low. After the "fake gang war" incident, he can't expect a warm welcome, but fortunately, the Trickster Square is too busy preparing for war to notice. The party convinces Thammund to capture Rosaria alive instead of attempting to kill her.

Bryseis consults her book of Ultimate Knowledge in order to find out how to properly kill Rosaria. As she completes the ritual and receives her answer, something cracks in her mind, permanently damaging her wisdom, though not severely.

The answer, it turns out, is ''Truth. Not something easy or sensible like A sword or Fire. ''Instead, they get a riddle. Bryseis is the one to suggest putting her on trial, and the thieves are more than willing to have one. But first, they have to capture her. Aronaldo and Panven go with the attacking criminals while Bryseis and Nicole stay to prepare.

At the Court of Justice, it is chaos. The orc they had freed is not at all handicapped by that missing arm, ripping people apart with ease. Rosaria stands above her subjects and watches. She uses the Lingua, a threat the party has not dealt with in a while, to incapacitate the orc with a single word. The old magic tires her, however, providing an opening for Aronaldo to grab her.

When they arrive back at the Square, the court is called to session with Honorable Judge Nicole presiding. Bryseis, Panven, and literally everyone else present are prosecutors. There is no defense. They hurl accusations at the woman including abuse of power, false imprisonment of the innocent, being a jerk, and heresy. Eventually, it is the charge of heresy that kills her. As a man in the crowd calls her a heretic, she bursts into flame and dies. Everyone is happy. Except, probably, Rosaria.

The party wastes no time in leaving Cuitamba, Arildale as their destination. Before they leave, Nicole leaves a message for her mother and Aronaldo gets heavily intoxicated. Elliot greets them back at their manor, obviously excited to see them. He also presents them with four letters, addressed to all of them, from different sources. The session ends as each party member ponders the opportunities presented to them.

Events:
 * The Seven is aware of the party's actions, which is cause for concern.
 * Rosaria is dead

The Gang Gets Back Together; Children of Truth Arise
Date: 7, Month of Sanctuary

It has been one month since our party has been together. After they arrived back in Arildale and read their letters, they each went their separate ways to go and see to the opportunities given to them.

Panven went back to Kurzul-Dul to become a Shinepriest of Valrud, and went through the training and ritual to carry his own shinestone. He was sent back to Arildale and the kingdom of men in order to preach the word of Valrud. Nicole went back to the Legion to resume her duties as a Centurion, under the command of Legate Marcus Septimus. After getting back into the swing of things, militarily speaking, she is sent back to Arildale on order to follow through with some investigations that the Woodsmen are having difficulties with regarding missing people and activities within the Arilwood. Bryseis enrolls within the Academia Arcana in Penmach to further her studies in the arcane arts, returning to Arildale to meet back up with her companions for some "field work." Aronaldo does his own secret dealings unknown to the party, usually staying in the manor having some drinks.

Once everyone is back in Arildale, they return to business, investigating some of the issues that have been going on in the Arilwood. Enjoying a break from hunting down conspirators, they venture into the woods to find out more about the disappearances, kidnappings, and murders. The Woodsmen believe the culprits to be the Volkvera, the Bodark worshiping cultists that dwell within the Arilwood, as they have a history of doing such heinous acts. And when the party looked into it, it did seem that they were responsible, given that they had some captives in wooden, makeshift cages. Battle commenced, but not due to the actions of the Volkvera or the party, but because of a third group of well equipped soldiers wearing purple tabards with star designsthat surprised everyone involved by attacking the Volkvera. The party decided to assist the soldiers in their battle, and with their help, the Volkvera were killed. After the bloodshed, the party questioned the group of soldiers who identified themselves as the Children of Truth. The apparent leader of the Children of Truth shared some heated words with Panven, and then he and his crew leave. Upon further investigation of the carnage, the party discovers that the prisoners had also been slaughtered, leaving the party perplexed.

The party leaves the Arilwood, as the day get closer to night, and returns to town with the knowledge of who the true villains of this situation might be.

Events:
 * The manor has a new maid, Cassandra
 * A new faction reveals itself: The Children of Truth
 * Cuitamba is under new management, and it is doing okay, relatively speaking
 * Ironbone has been reassigned after going back into the Glorious Legion, and a new person is the Captain of the Woodsmen in Tirithell.

A Quick Trip into the Arilwood
Date: 8, Month of Sanctuary

The session opens with the party walking back into Arildale. They return to Captain Rainne and inform him of the group that is truly responsible for the brutal murders: the Children of Truth. After this, they go to the manor, where they partake in some silly shenanigans such as naming Elliot's small shack in the back "the Boy House" and ruining dinner somehow. Bryseis muses with the party on starting a cheese making operation out of the manor, Aronaldo and Nicole go to the Mead House to purchase dinner and have several drinks, and Panven stays with Bryseis to eat some sandwiches that she made. Later that night, thoroughly sozzled, Aronaldo clumsily sneaks into the manor, waking everyone up and ruining a perfectly good bottle of elvish wine.

That next morning, Nicole makes everyone breakfast, but finds a letter attached to the front door, signed in Panven's name. In this letter, Panven explains that he must leave the party to assist his people in their Holy War against the Ulagar Kingdom. The party is saddened by this, but are understanding. He had to do what he had to do. After a filling breakfast, they go to buy new clothing for the winter season, as it gets rather cold in the north during that time. Everyone gets a new outfit and they have fun trying things on.

After this, they begin their next expedition into the Arilwood, looking for the base of the Children of Truth, though they only know the direction of the supposed base. Before they go, they come in contact with some Woodsmen who are changing shifts, who explain that around this time of year, a thick fog covers the floor of the Arilwood, and that it can be slightly more dangerous. They give the party some lamp harnesses before they enter. While inside the Woods, the party is attacked by a corpselike creature that the party deduces is responsible for the fog (mostly because of the large amount of fog pouring out of its half broken jaw and the gaping hole in its skull). Bryseis is able to dispatch it, so it seems, as the creature disappears in an explosion of light and sound. Bryseis discovers a large pit beneath the fog and, acting in the spur of the moment, jumps into the foggy pit with the assistance of an amulet of featherfall. In the pit, she sees that the pit is not full of fog, and that the fog is staying above the pit, almost like a blanket. She sees that the pit, around 35 feet deep and 40 feet wide, is full of bones surrounding a pedestal in the middle. Upon the pedestal, she sees a small lockbox.

The session ends at this point, with Aronaldo and Nicole wondering what the hell Bryseis is doing, and Bryseis considering snatching that lockbox.

Events:
 * Panven leaves the party, off to assist his brethren and church
 * The party finds a large pit in the Arilwood where they discover a large amount of bones and a mysterious lockbox.
 * Aronaldo feels like he recognized the remains of the creature's tabbard.
 * The creature is found to exist.

What's in the BOX??; or, Aronaldo Makes an Investment
Date: 8, Month of Sanctuary

The session opens up with Bryseis considering the lockbox and the rest of the party slightly panicking, because they don't know if Bryseis just died or not. Of course, she is alive and fine, but the party does not know this on account of the thick fog and silencing effect that seems to be affecting the bone pit. Eventually, after many shenanigans regarding the entering and leaving the bone pit, everyone enters the pit and considers the lockbox. After some time, Aronaldo listens in on his Robe of Whispers to see if he can glean any information. He learns of two things: a new word of the Lingua, and the name Ophelia. Aronaldo ends up opening the box, finding a key, made of tarnished, faded, emerald colored glass, and the party takes the key. Deciding to call it a day, they head back to Arildale. They go to the Lodge first, where the find some harrowing news: Captain Rainne is bedridden by a combination of illness, old age, and the wounds he sustained a few months ago. His office is taken over by his nephew, Provisional Captain Thomas, who is none too pleased about the party bringing a potentially dangerous item into his town, which is already plagued by the Green Priests, more active than usual Fay, and his sick uncle. After an argument, the party agrees to take the key out of town tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Aronaldo goes to see Alotel, whom he has not seen in a while. Upon arriving to her shop, he sees that it is in a state of disrepair, and people are inside boxing up merchandise. The people wear some sort of uniform, which Aronaldo has seen before, but seemed to have forgotten in that moment. They tell Aronaldo that the profits have not been what was needed in this location, so they are packing up and changing location. After getting the new location name, Aronaldo leaves for the Mead House. He meets up with Nicole there, while Bryseis went back home to make sandwiches for everyone.

At the manor, Bryseis makes sandwiches for her friends and employees. She then goes on a personal mission to teach the maid how to read. She wanted to teach Elliot how to read, but suddenly he is able to read just fine. She goes out to find books for her friends, eventually giving Nicole a book of famous generals of the Legion and giving Aronaldo a book of wine [I think]. Meanwhile, Aronaldo and Nicole drink at the Mead House. This goes on for some time. Eventually Nicole leaves to go back to the manor, and before sleeping, she realizes that she is being watched. Troubled by this, she nonetheless goes to sleep.

Aronaldo, staying behind, makes a deal with Jade to "renovate" the VIP section of Mead House for a substantial amount of money. After this, Aronaldo returns to the manor. The party, as a whole, then goes to sleep.

The session ends with the party being awoken by the town call-to-arms and alarm. Looking out the window, they see Arildale covered in a thick fog.

Events:
 * The party, or just Nicole, is being watched by someone, somehow
 * Captain Rainne is very ill and in poor health. There is a Provisional Captain in place at the moment.
 * The Green Priests are very popular in Arildale, having a large following.
 * An important priest of Sol Solus, Orphus, and his "team" are coming to visit Arildale by 10, Month of Sanctuary. How this will impact the current events is unknown.

Three Hours of Fighting, One of Progress
Date: 9, Month of Sanctuary

When the party awakens and investigates the alarm, the Woodsmen are enforcing a curfew and getting volunteers to help protect the town. They are arming men and women as some people stay indoors to protect their families. After gathering their equipment and gaining their bearings, they make their way to the front of the town where the Woodsmen are setting up makeshift barricades. The fog continues to roll in from the Arilwood, coating the town.

Time passes, the party and Woodsmen are on edge, when one of the party members sees movement coming from the east of the town, while some people hear screaming from the inside fo the gates. The party and the Woodsmen split up, with the party going to head off the attack from the east while the Woodsmen go and protect the townsfolk.

When the party ventures into the Arilwood, going much deeper than they had anticipated, they are attacked by a huge centipedal creature made of mulch, bones, and skin. They party fights long and hard in order to defeat this monster, though a few of them are battered by the unholy creature. It is defeated by Bryseis' magic, however, disintegrating due to a large ball of fire.

Intending to meet up with the Woodsmen back at Arildale, they find that the entire town has been covered in fog. They see a familiar face floating around, the fog creature from the bone pit. Bryseis hurls an insult at it, and combat begins once more. Though the creature is much more illusive, covering the party members in thick fog and flying around, it is defeated once more and disappaers into dust, which blows away in a sudden wind.

Going into the town, they find that the entire populace has been petrified.

Using the word of the Lingua that he had learned the other day, and surviving the fatigue due to the potion that he had taken, Aronaldo summons the Fay creature once again. However, given that Aronaldo is conscious this time around, he discovers that he is able to communicate with the creature. He learns a great deal, including the identity of Ophelia, of the fog creature, the reason behind the Fay's corruption, and the true purpose of the key (that being a way to enter into the realm of the Fay), as well as the doorway location. He also learns that the petrification of the townsfolk will end at dawn.

Aronaldo wishes to head that way immediately to help free the Fay people of their corruption, but he is talked out of it by the other party members, who instead vote to gather their strength before heading into another dimension to fight a Fay Queen. Aronaldo reluctantly agrees, saying that there are other things that they need to do before going off on a venture of that magnitude.

Grigori is summoned by Bryseis and converses with the party. He is asked to take the Fay Key back to the bone pit, which he says he shall do. Other words are said.

The session ends with the party going back to their manor to wait until daybreak.

Events:
 * Everyone levels up
 * The party learns a small amount of history regarding the Fay, Ophelia, the fog creature, and the Key.
 * Grigori takes the key back to the bone pit.
 * Jared decides to make the party keep track of a Quest Log and promises to try and not give the party anything else to do until it gets cleaned out.

A Few Months Really Changes the Place
Date: 9, Month of Sanctuary

The session opens with the party waking up at their manor in Arildale. A member of the Woodsmen comes knocks on the door early in the morning, informing the party that they should take a headcount of the household just to make sure everyone is accounted for, as well as telling them that there will be a town meeting in the town square to detail the events of the past night as well as for people to ask any questions they may have. Interested, the party decides to attend that at noon. The party spends that time talking to one another, as well as watching Bryseis play with some of her many magical items. During their waiting period, they are visited by a travelling courier, who gives them a letter from Felix, the blacksmith out in Tirithell. He informs them that he has figured out how to work with cold iron, and to come visit when they can for some gifts, and that Opal would love to see them. There is also a coded message for Aronaldo, informing him of some troubles and dangers in Tirithell.

The time comes for the town meeting, and the party goes to the square to take part. The Provisional Captain Thomas is taking charge due to the town no longer having any other leadership (Mayor Crane and Lady Eden had both been killed, so the town has no other leadership), and though he is trying, the way he is going about it does not sit well with Aronaldo, who repeatedly challenges his words and actions. This eventually stops (after Thomas and Nicole, in the crowd, lock eyes for a moment), and Thomas reassures the town that real leadership is coming by no later than tomorrow morning in the form of Reverend Orphus, though this visibly makes the Green Priests among the crowd uncomfortable. After this, the party goes to Tirithell (though separately, with Aronaldo dropping by the Mead House beforehand, passing some information on to Jade).

Bryseis and Nicole arrive at Tirithell first, and notice the massive changes that the past hundred days have had for Tirithell. They go to the Chapel to see Montgomus, who is looking very much worse for wear. He is excited to see them and brings them inside the now run-down Chapel for tea and exposition. He tells the party that things have changed since the last time they were there. The Green Priests with their seemingly infinite amount of money have been welcomed into the town and are well liked by everyone, even having a large church where the Wain used to be. The merchants have become wealthy, though the Followers have become persecuted and ostracized. There are not many other people besides the Reverend who publicly follow the faith anymore, which is why the Chapel has gone into such disrepair. The vast majority of the populace has converted to the Green Priests' religion. When questioned by Nicole as to why the Woodsmen allowed such horrible actions, Montgomus tells her that it was not like that at first, as Captain Ironbone kept the Green Priests in check and made it his mission to not allow them to recruit, but whenever he was promoted and relocated, his replacement captain barely did anything (Montgomus doesn't even remember seeing her more than once). The Woodsmen have changed too, it seems, and barely do anything that they used to do anymore. Dismayed by this, Bryseis and Nicole leave the Reverend to go and speak with Felix (gaining a blessing beforehand).

Meanwhile, Aronaldo arrives and, disguised, goes to see his old friend Iosef. Iosef has also changed, becoming much more muscular, and has a very familiar dagger on his belt, showing that he is a full member of the Alley Hounds. After Aronaldo sheds his disguise and the two share a quick, friendly embrace, Iosef tells him another side of the story, telling him that both the Green Priests and the Alley Hounds now run the town, though there are enough new people there for it to start being seen as a city. He informs Aronaldo that the High Priest of the Green Priests, Sanza, stays in his quarters at the Green Church (Aronaldo is surprised at the fact that the Wain is now a multi storied church). Aronaldo shows Iosef the Words of the Worm, and he reads off ingredients of several very dangerous poisons, such as Dwarfbane and a mythical poison Aronaldo named "Godsbane," and Iosef agrees to make him several things of Dwarfbane, which will be finished in about a week. Unfortunately, Aronaldo learns that Iosef still does not know where the Hounds are keeping his mother. Eventually, they part ways, with Aronaldo intending to go to the Chapel to speak with Montgomus, but meeting Nicole and Bryseis on the way to Felix's shop.

Entering Felix's shop, Felix finishes up his business with other patrons and then closes shop. While Bryseis and Opal play in her bedroom, Felix gives them their gifts (a rapier for Nicole, a dagger for Aronaldo, a circlet for Bryseis, and a warhammer for Panven (Felix is disappointed to be unable to give him his weapon)), and tells them more of the same information. He warns Aronaldo that the Hounds have a pretty large bounty on his head, and laments that he has not been able to see Montgomus in a while. Felix gives Aronaldo some homemade treats that he and Opal made to deliver to Montgomus. After spending some quality time with Felix and Opal, the party leaves the shop to head their separate ways. Nicole goes in the direction of the Lodge, Aronaldo goes to visit the Reverend, and Bryseis goes to do something that Jared cannot remember. But this is where the session ends.

Changes in Tirithell
 * There are now wooden walls around the town
 * There are many many more people now than there were beforehand
 * There are also more buildings than there were before, some being built as extensions of other buildings
 * Some buildings have changed. The Tirwood Inn has doubled in size, the Wain has become the Green Church and has increased in size a few factors as well, and the Chapel of Sol Solus has fallen into disrepair
 * The Green Priests and the Alley Hounds seem to run the town now, somehow.

Events
 * The party remembers that they need to construct a large vault to trick the Thief Lord
 * The party is not in the good graces of the Woodsmen in Arildale
 * The entirety of Tirithell seems to have changed

The New Captain is a Course Old Bag
Date: Still 9, Month of Sanctuary

I can't really remember a lot of the stuff that happened action-wise in this session. The party continues to walk around Tirithell to find out more things about what has happened. They find out that most of the old Woodsmen from when Brash Ironbone was in charge have been relocated to different areas when they complained about the new management. After this happened, new recruits coming into the Woodsmen were described as "thugs" with no real training or military attitudes. The Lodge has become almost nothing more than a glorified bar. Nicole finds out that after she and her companions had left, some great progress was happening in the Tirwood; they were able to defeat the Fay and make certain areas safe at all times, even being able to create a permanent "half-way point" within the Tirwood. After the new captain was instated, they began to go out into the Tirwood less and less, and just maintained order around the town.

In Arildale, close to the end of the day, Orphus and his people have arrived earlier than expected. After a stern talking to from Nicole, Thomas confesses to being a poor leader, and is relieved that Orphus has come into town. Nicole is not pleased and leaves town back to Tirithell.

In Tirithell, the party comes up with some form of a plan in order to do things, involving infiltration of the Green Priests and other things. Aronaldo breaks into the Captain's Office in the Woodsmen Lodge, and finds what looks to be a burlap sack in the shape of a person. When he attempts to cut off the head of the sack-woman, it inflates into the shape of a younger looking, red haired woman in a captain's uniform. She introduces herself with a fake name, and gives her real first name of Lara. She talks with Aronaldo for a little bit, explaining several things to him before telling him to leave. Slightly confused and curious, he leaves the lodge and heads somewhere else.

Possibly to continue on with the plan that the party had decided upon. I think Bryseis was going to go and infiltrate the Alley Hounds with a forged letter.

Events
 * The Seven are, unsurprisingly, linked to the happenings in Tirithell.
 * Montgomus knows Orphus well, apparently
 * Orphus and his crew are in Arildale now

Huh, What's This? A Plan?
Date: STILL 9, Month of Sanctuary

Bryseis, armed with a forged letter from the Thief Lord, she infiltrates the Alley Hounds in what was once the Wain under the pretense of assisting the management of the "goings-on" in Tirithell. Rancis, the leader of the Alley Hounds in the area, buys this bold-faced lie completely, showing immediately a fear and misunderstanding of the magic that Bryseis has control over (as well as the fact that he is about as smart as a bag of rocks). Leer, the bartender who had to read the letter to Rancis, leaves. Bryseis, in order to cement her persona as a higher up of the Alley Hounds, assists Rancis in torturing an Alley Hound slacker. Pleased with her help, Rancis takes Bryseis to the Witch Shop to use a "truth spell" to see if Iosef is lying about not knowing where Aronaldo is (who is very much still wanted dead by the Hounds for his actions in Cuitamba). Of course, he does, but Bryseis convinces Rancis that he is telling the truth by putting on a magical show. Angered, he leaves to go back to the Green Church. Bryseis leaves as well to wander around.

Meanwhile, Aronaldo infiltrates the upper area of the Green Church, disguised as a middle aged woman. The green robe makes him quite invisible, and he begins questioning a man after getting the lay of the land, so to speak. He learns that Sanza, when he is not leading service, spends his time with the "Initiated" in the "meditation chambers." He also learns that every morning, Sanza leads service himself. Taking this knowledge and playing mind games with the rando, Aronaldo leaves. He follows Bryseis and Rancis, and then goes to the front gate in order to wait for Nicole to come back.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Nicole is in Arildale. She swings by the old magic shop finding it abandoned except for Green Priest squatters. Unhappy, she goes to speak with Reverend Orphus before going back to Tirithell. She shares a nice conversation with the older man, who seems to be quite nice and friendly. He tries to reassure her that he will do his best to bring order and Sol Solus' will to this area once more. Internally still feeling kinda dicey about it all, she rides back to Tirithell. Once back, she goes to the Tirwood Inn, (still disguised, Aronaldo follows her in) where she is immediately recognized by the innkeeper, who is delighted to see her. Nicole is offered drinks, food, and a room on the house, reminding her that she and her companions were seen as local heroes by the people of Tirithell.

The party begins to trickle into the Tirwood Inn, eventually all getting a meal, a drink, and a bed (Aronaldo is still disguised). After eating, they secretly meet up in Nicole's bedroom to converse about a plan. After a while of deliberating, they decide upon a solid plan to be implemented the next morning, where they will hopefully knock out both Sanza and Rancis (an added bonus is Aronaldo sending a message to the Thief Lord) at once. Before bed, Aronaldo converses with Iosef, asking for his assistance in the plan. He accepts, the two share some more words of good will, and they depart to prepare for the morning.

Nicole has a dream involving the Shadowman.

Events
 * A solid plan is made
 * The party finally gets some sleep
 * The Shadowman is lonely

Plan is Put into Action
Date: 10, Month of Sanctuary

Their plan is put into action! The next day, after getting their breakfast (and paying for the broken window), the party springs into action, going to the Green Church. Disguised, Nicole and Aronaldo go upstairs to the chapel area, where they witness firsthand the service of Hazik. Which is very underwhelming and only slightly creepy. At the end of their service, the Green Priests line up and take gold out of a large bowl, a collection of gold presumably to give to the needy in their mission work. Whenever they do this, Aronaldo notices that the people holding the bowls look rather creepy and snake-like. These snake-like people then disappear into Sanza's office. Downstairs, Bryseis and Iosef do their own parts in the plan, distracting Rancis until the time comes when they need to make Sanza and Rancis brawl. During this time, Leer leaves the Wain, and does not return. When the service is over, Aronaldo and Nicole go to the Green Father Sanza and distract him as well. They are lead into his office and speak with him about the tenents of their religion. When Rancis bursts into Sanza's office and challenges the priest, Sanza uses dark magic to kill Rancis almost immediately. Using this as an opportunity for a surprise attack, the party battles Sanza, nearly killing him before he disappears into a puff of smoke and down a secret passage to a hidden area. Afterwards, the party burns the building down (after finding it suspiciously empty of people, Aronaldo steals some documents of the Alley Hounds), then leave for the Chapel of Sol Solus to speak with Montgomus. They speak with the Reverend and Arthur (the return of this good boi), and gives the automaton some books taken from the Green Church, translating from the Old Elvish that it is written in. It will take a week or so to finish the translation, but the construct works dilligently.

The session ends with them having tea with Montgomus.

Events:
 * Please put stuff that happened here that you guys want to remember or take note of
 * There was a locked door in the downstairs area of the Wain, made of stone.
 * The party found a key and Sanza's diary in his desk.

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall(s)
Date: Still 10, Month of Sanctuary

After concluding their meeting with Montgomus, the party decides that it would be in their best interests to, as the kids say, "get the hell out of Dodge." Packing up and saying their goodbyes to those who mattered (Montgomus and Felix, mainly), they head back to Arildale on their magical carriage of convenience. They spend a few hours relaxing after the events of that morning on the way to Arildale.

Upon arrival at Arildale, the party notices that things are much more peaceful in this town. It is the picturesque cozy little town, calm and covered in a thin sheet of snow. There are no more Green Priests walking around out in the open, and Nicole eventually finds out that they are being held in the old guard barracks until the following day. The party goes back to their mansion, still toting the mirror they had gained from Sanza's office. They then go off to do their own things for a while.

Aronaldo takes the documents he took from the Alley Hound strategy room into his bedroom to study them, and after several hours of decoding, discovers the beginnings of interesting information.

Bryseis and Nicole find out some concerning happenings with Elliot, who has not come out of the shack since they had been gone (according to the maid). When Bryseis takes a magical look into the shack, she sees stacks upon stacks of books around the room, she sees Elliot sitting at a desk writing things down, talking into a crystal ball, and reading from a very large book. She is unsettled by this, as are the party members that she tells.

Later, Bryseis (and Nicole, after she gets done talking with Reverend Orphus, who gave her a way to stop someone from scrying her without her permission) figure out how the magic in the mirrors work. She discovers that they are windows used for communication with several different "channels." As Bryseis (with Nicole watching) flips through the "channels," they see many different scenes. Vyne's old secret chamber, they see themselves (through one of their other mirrors), one that is basically just a bunch of static, they see the office of the High Judiciary Corps that once belonged to Rosaria, the Captain Office of the Woodsman Lodge at Tirithell (with the 'coarse old bag' looking butchered for some reason), and eventually they see some new scenes: a large, affluent looking bedroom full of beautiful paintings and sculptures, a large bed with some sleeping, naked, men and women, and an abundance of purple silk. After that one, they see a dark room that belongs to the ever-present threat of Legate Dire, the one that the party had been warned about. However, when they view through the mirror, Dire notices and shatters the mirror, rendering them still usable but only barely. Anyone looking into the mirror will not see clearly enough to get an accurate picture.

The party nopes out of there rather quickly after that.

They then decide to relax for the rest of the day, going through their to-do list and deciding what they should do the next day.

They then go to sleep.

Events:
 * It appears that Dire has been the one scrying on Nicole
 * There might be an execution soon
 * Something suspicious is happening with Elliot, though it may just be him being an angsty teenager.
 * Aronaldo continues to recruit for his secret project at the Mead House.

A Revival in Tirithell
Date: 11, Month of Sanctuary

The party awakens and plans to venture into the woods to root out the issue with the Children of Truth. However, these plans go awry whenever they discover that there was a murder in the barracks in Arildale where the Militants were keeping the Green Priests. After gaining permission from Reverend Orphus, they enter the barracks to investigate. They learn that a Green Priest had become some sort of reptile creature and killed a Militant, though the priest was eventually killed by the Militant's companions. Because of this, they learn that Orphus will be executing the entirety of the captured priests early. Aronaldo does not like this, seeing a good chunk of the priests have no real connection to Sanza and Hazik and are therefore not deserving of death, so he goes to Orphus to speak with him. The rest of the party goes as well, but the conversation is not a cheery one. Reverend Orphus refuses to backdown his execution of the heretics. Nicole is thrown into a existential breakdown, Aronaldo prepares drastic measures, and Bryseis pulls rank and demands that he at least reach a compromise. Orphus is not happy about this, but does so regardless.

Feeling down about everything, the party ventures forth to investigate a vision Bryseis had when visiting the Green Priests, which involved Sanza ascending to some sort of snake creature in his meditation chambers. So they go back to Tirithell, finding the place devoid of any patrolling "Woodsmen" and Alley Hounds. They speak to Montgomus about the dangers of the Militants coming to Tirithell in search of Green Priests. They then find a locked door within the burned ruins of the Wain, which unlocks with the key that the party found in Sanza's office. Going down, they find the mediation chamber, and they do battle with a wounded Sanza and two Initiated. Through great battle tactics and some good luck, they manage to slay Sanza before things get too dicey. At his death, a shockwave is felt emanating from his dying body; the Initiated seize up and die, the statue of Hazik turns to rubble, and possible much more. After looting the place, they go back outside before the meditation chamber crumbles.

Outside, they see the empty streets are now filled with people moving towards the Chapel. They hear them full of repentance, and Montgomus is stunned at most of the city coming to his church for forgiveness. After sharing some words with the party, they leave him to his churchly duties. Bryseis goes to the empty Witch Shop to identify some magical items. Nicole and Aronaldo go to the Lodge, where they find a real Woodsman cleaning up the place. They learn from him that the "coarse old bag" has been damaged and that body, along with some bodies of Alley Hounds, has been put in the basement.

The session ends with those two going back to the Witch Shop to speak with Bryseis.

Events:
 * Sanza, the Green Father, has been slain
 * Sanza apparently has been in correspondence with members of the Seven, shown by his letters to Dire as well as a few other members.
 * They have found another Aural Armament, the Blade of Sir Colgrevane

Everyone Writes a Letter
Date: 11, Month of Sanctuary / 12, Month of Sanctuary

I already wrote this down once, spent like an hour doing it, but the internet did something weird as soon as I hit "save page," so its all gone now. Because of my frustration, I am just going to do an Events thing. If anyone wants to add some stuff on this or even looks at the wiki, then by all means go ahead and add stuff.

Events:
 * Everyone wrote a letter
 * Elliot is now free of John
 * John is now on the loose, and it has been revealed that his name is John Aril. He is also much more powerful than thought of before, powerful enough to become a lich.
 * Aronaldo was told by a Crowstead agent to go to the Witch and Flail at noon for a meeting.
 * In the meantime, the players are in possession of an ancient Netherese Book.

Truth is Revealed
Date: 12, Month of Sanctuary

The party decides to venture into the Arilwood in search of the Children of Truth, however, since Aronaldo has a meeting scheduled for that afternoon, they decide to wait until after that is finished before they go off exploring.

When noon rolls around, Aronaldo goes to the Witch and Flail, where he finds the place eerily empty of patrons, instead populated by Bremon, the barkeep, and a handful of Crowstead Associates. One of the Associates leads Aronaldo into a back room, a large VIP meeting room, where the meeting is to be conducted. Inside, through the darkness of the candlelit room, he recognizes several things: first the smell of the tobacco smoke that fills the room, then the man who is responsible for the smoke, Hector, who was until now presumed dead in the catastrophe that destroyed the Council's Republic.

The two have a nice, if not brief, reunion. Hector, who now only has one arm and no legs, reveals the reason behind the meeting. As it turns out, Hector is very familiar on a personal level with Orion the Thief-Lord. Hector had caught wind of Aronaldo's provocation of the Thief-Lord and wanted to both warn him and give him some advice. As things are going, says Hector, Orion will not come himself. He will send a high ranking Hound to steal everything from Aronaldo and then kill him and his companions. In order to make Orion show up himself, he gives Aronaldo an ivory dragon chess piece, which was stolen by Hector from Orion whenever they split up, with Orion never forgetting that insult. He tells Aronaldo that all he would need to do is make it public knowledge that he owns the piece, and Orion will take it as a personal challenge. So he is warned to enact the plan only when everything is ready and they are prepared. They spend over an hour catching up before one of the Associates starts to wheel him out, saying that the meeting was over. They bid farewell to one another once more.

Once back home, the party decides to head into the Arilwood to finish up things with the Children of Truth. They go deep, deep into the woods, being accosted by roaming dirt constructs, dire wolves, and eventually a large amount of armor-clad Knights of Truth whenever they find the fortress. In a large battle, the three adventurers emerge victorious. They begin exploring the large fortress, eventually finding the leader of the Children of Truth himself, Sir Baggon. In a battle that could have gone a lot worse, they defeat Sir Baggon, taking his sword and cape. They continue to explore the fort, finding an office area with a diary that was held in a locked drawer. Within this diary, they read the most recent entry. After, they explore the downstairs area, finding a large pit with an unsettling amount of what seemed to be the remains of a number of Volkvera and Green Priests. They then go upstairs, where they find a large library full of books about astrology, astronomy, and even a treatise on the Lingua and how it relates to the stars. On a balcony, they find a telescope, a sundial numbered one to thirteen, and they discover that it seems to be night outside, with a clear sky full of stars. It turns out this is the doing of the sundial (which is actually a stardial). They manage to loot this as well, and they return home.

Getting home safely, they spend the rest of the evening taking care of personal items. Bryseis discovers the true nature of the stardial and the telescope. The party then goes to sleep.

Events:
 * The Children of Truth have been defeated!
 * The party learns vital information regarding their upcoming conflict with the Thief-Lord
 * Bryseis' letter has returned, with Lady Morgana saying that the safest thing to do with the Netherese Book would be to place it into an extradimensional space, or even a small pocket plane of existence.
 * Apparently, the old man Leer has something to do with all of this.

One Week in Four Hours (a Much Needed Break)
Date: 13, Month of Sanctuary - 20, Month of Sanctuary

The day starts with the party waking up on the chilly morning of the 13. Nothing much happens, as each party member decides to just relax after doing so much work. Luckily for them, the first Festival of Peace is being held in town to celebrate the resolution of the Ulagar-Protectorate War that has been going on for many decades. Each party member decides to use this time for their own, with Bryseis taking Samson (their horse) to go to Penmach in order to deliver the Netherese Book to the Academy for safe keeping. This task takes all day to complete, so it keeps her quite busy, constantly on the road except to get a few bites to eat. Bryseis and Aronaldo decide to enjoy the festivities, purchasing a few goodies (Bag of Everything That You Don't Need, Bag of Folding, Spoon of Holding, and an iron box that seems to have some sort of vicious little beasty within) for Bryseis since she is out of town. Aronaldo speaks with Aeric and commissions a dwarven safe for his Thief-Lord plan. He also attempts to infiltrate Vera's tower, meeting with hilarious failure. Nicole, who is one of the few people who feels the real impact of the end of the war, spends her night alone, her fallen soldiers on her mind.

Bryseis gets to Penmach, but discovers that the Netherese Book has faded, and has been fading since she left Arildale. She rushes to the Headmistress, who was told of the young wizard's impending arrival and thus was waiting for her, and the Headmistress quickly tosses the book into a bag. Bryseis spends the rest of the night and the next morning in Penmach, staying in her Academy room and purchasing many goodies for her companions before heading home.

The party then has a combination of a shopping montage and a time skip, waiting for letters and deliveries. After picking up the safe and memorizing the special combination, they work on gaining the venue for the Thief-Lord operation: Vera's Tower. After gaining the seeress' permission to use her old home, they enter the old tower and are accosted by her "guardian familiar," who is actually a trickster spirit. They make an agreement with the spirit for it to do what it can to kill the Thief Lord whenever he comes to take the chess piece. The spirit, who wants to kill, accepts. Nicole does not like the spirit.
 * Nicole: Gets a letter from Tribune Vespatrix telling her that he has sent a Legion Captain and two Immunes to bring order back to Tirithell. He also mentions that if there are more issues later on, he will send more soldiers to act as Woodsmen. She also gets a letter from Legate Marcus, commending her for her actions against the Children of Truth and the Green Priests, and saying that her next actions should be the simple action of assisting the townsfolk.
 * Bryseis: Doesn't really get any letters.
 * Aronaldo: Get's a letter and then later a delivery from Olgid One-Eye from Cuitamba, and after an odd exchange, Aronaldo gains a small wooden coin. Apparently, this item can assist in "killing the unkillable." He also gets a letter from Agent Decanus, giving him a list of the missing Aural Armaments to assist him in his investigation.
 * The Party: They get several letters. One from Reverend Montgomus, saying that Arthur has finished translating all of the works that they left for him, and to come pick them up when they can. Next, from Aeric, saying that the safe is done, and for them to come pick that up. Finally, they get a mysterious letter from an anonymous sender, addressed to all of them. This unsettles them slightly, but they focus on the matter at hand first.

Events:
 * The mansion is now fully furnished
 * The party got their money from all of the stuff that they sold
 * Elliot has made a full recovery!
 * The Thief-Lord Operation has begun!
 * Nicole really does not like the trickster spirit.
 * The Wand of Wonders is quite dangerous, but really funny.

A Lot of Stuff Happens
21, Month of Sanctuary - 25, Month of Sanctuary (I think)

Several sessions were left undocumented for various reasons. Here I shall bullet-point the important things that happened during those sessions.
 * The Thief-Lord attacks the party in their manor by ambushing them and filling their home with traps. He does battle with a powerful weapon of dwarven make that can shoot projectiles at a rapid and deadly speed (a gun), as well as a poisoned crossbow. During the battle, a trap is sprung that catches the kitchen ablaze. Thinking cleverly, though not very intelligently, Aronaldo tackles the Thief-Lord into the flame, and the two explode as the powder touches the flame. Aronaldo and the Thief-Lord both perish, however thanks to powerful magic that was found in an old wax doll Grigori had given him a year or so ago, he is brought back to life, though he is much weaker.
 * The Thief-Lord is defeated! Though he inevitably took his prize...
 * From the Thief-Lord, the party gains a powerfully enchanted cloak and compass, both of which seem to be involved with the Aural Armaments.
 * The party received a Letter from Lord Lawrence Pastion, a member of the Seven. Through much convincing, Pastion is able to tell the party of the plans the Seven have been cooking up for generations. Though it had taken years to prepare, the time is almost right to unleash Legate Archorius, also known as the Butcher, the most infamous war criminal in the history of the Kingdom. This plan, however, because of the actions of the party, has been all but thwarted, with Dire now in hiding and the Seven almost entirely destroyed.
 * Pastion begins to slowly teach the party how to use the Lingua, as well as teaches them a few words of his own.

The Gang Plans a Field Trip
Date: 26, Month of Sanctuary - 27, Month of Sanctuary

The session opens in a very cold morning, with all of the party members waking up to free breakfast and recognition of them being heroes. Once they all are fed and relaxed, they go to the church to speak with Montgomus, as Nicole stops off to speak with Arthur. At the church, Bryseis and Aronaldo speak with the Reverend for a good bit, asking for his advice on what they should do with the information of the treason. Montgomus, who as a priest of Sol Solus holds the Lord King on High in a religious esteem, tells them that they should make bringing the information to the Lord King on High the greatest priority. And after confiding in and sharing a brief, yet touching, father-figure / son-figure moment with the priest, Aronaldo begins planning with the rest of his party. Using math, they discover that if they use their magic steeds, then they will be able to reach the Capital with two day's travel if they stop at a midway point to rest. They decide to stop in Laisi, a port town which Nicole is familiar with. After everything has been planned out, the crew departs from Tirithell.

Meanwhile, unknown to the party, a dark figure silently rages above a crystal ball which shows no image. Scowling, he rises to his feet, and walks out of the room, and out of sight.

The trip is very boring, with Bryseis actually knocking herself out practicing the Lingua. That is, boring up until the party is accosted by some sort of bewitched tree creature. The creature, though packing a wallop, is no match in the end for our heroes. Recovering, they get back on the road to Laisi, eventually making it there and staying not at the nice and friendly tavern known as The Knave, where people are kind, the air is warm, and there is cheerful music; but they decide to go to Saint Pious', a tavern frequented by sailors, pirates, and other ne'er-do-wells. Nicole and Bryseis are disrespected by some disrespectful sailors, and Aronaldo attempts to broker a business venture with the head honcho, an elf named Mertre.


 * That night, Nicole dreams of the Shadowman back in Tirithell. It is quite different this time, however, as she wakes when the creature asks for help.
 * Bryseis is awoken by the sounds of a scuffle from outside her bedroom. She investigates, looking out the window, and sees an older man slumped over in the alleyway clutching a wound. As she rushes out to investigate further, she brings a healing potion, and saves the old man's life. The man, who tells Bryseis that his name is Warder, says that as payment, to look him up any time she is in the Capital. He also gives her a small runestone, though she does not learn what it does. After Bryseis gives him back his walking stick, he takes out a runestone from his pouch, and snaps it in half, disappearing. Bryseis goes back to sleep.

The next morning, (27, Month of Sanctuary) the party heads off to complete their journey to Vinevrin. Though they travel until the evening, they make it in time for the gates to still be open. The session ends with them getting close enough to see the gates of the great city.

Events:
 * The race to the Lord King on High begins! Will our adventurers make it? Tune in next time to find out!
 * Nicole drops off a book she found, "Stars and the Language of Death," at the Scriptorium for Arthur to read.
 * Aronaldo begins to wrap another business up in his own schemes.
 * Nicole has another spooky dream, what could it mean?
 * The coldest winter in years? Does this have any depth?

The Dropping of Metaphorical Bombs
Date: 27- 28, Month of Sanctuary (midnight)

The crew arrives in the capital city of the Glorious Kingdom just after sunset of the 27th. Once inside, passing various guards by pulling rank, they begin the second part of their mission: Bryseis will accompany Nicole as she goes to inform and gain the assistance of her Legate, while Aronaldo will use his station as a member of the Mentarii to gain an emergency audience with the Lord King on High.

Nicole and Bryseis manage to gain an audience with Legate Septimus at his manor in the Holy Royal Quarter. He welcomes them inside, though is confused as to why the captain and her companion are there. The two don't waste any time in telling them about the conspiracy to take the Lord King on High's life, and Septimus reacts with fury at the idea that Dire might have anything to do with it. Though at the prospect of proof at the Palace, in the hands of Aronaldo, he puts his trust in his subordinate and rides with them to get it.

Meanwhile, after flashing rank to get past the hulking masses known as the Custodes Regis, the personal houseguard of the Lord King on High, Aronaldo manages to get an emergency audience with Afonos. At first he is happy to see Aronaldo, always finding his frank manner of speaking to be refreshing, though as the conversation goes on and Aronaldo accuses his dear friend Victor Dire of conspiracy, the mood darkens. Aronaldo gives him the proof in the form of a large collection of letters and other documents implicating Dire and his partners as conspirators. This causes the Lord King on High to go into a barely controlled rage, as his battle armor materializes magically over his casual dress, he is calmed by Aronaldo from doing anything too rash. Afonos tells Aronaldo that he and his companions have until dawn to do whatever they need to do, at that point, Afonos will seize all of Dire's property and execute all those loyal to him for high treason. As Aronaldo exits the palace, he meets up with his party.

Septimus departs from Nicole and Bryseis, saying that he will assist the Lord King in High in this matter, leaving the party alone on the steps of the palace in the dead of night on the coldest winter in years. Oddly enough, the Custodes Regis do not pay attention to them, staring off in the distance like statues.

The party infiltrates Dire Manor, and quickly find out that he is not there anymore. Instead, they find a house full of armed guards. They also find, deep under the Manor, a large teleportation circle is found. Bryseis guesses that Dire must have used this in order to escape.

The session ends with the party being found by Dire's houseguard, and combat will most definitely ensue.

In Which Jared Has Not Updated This in Months
Because of how long it has been since I have last updated this thing, I will just skip the narrative aspect and document what has actually happened.


 * Dire has been slain, poisoned by Aronaldo in a very stupid, clever, and lucky sneak attack.
 * The Lord King on High was emotionally destroyed because of this betrayal. Regardless, he, by means of his Steward, rewarded the party greatly. Included in these rewards are a large amount of gold, land to the south-west of Arildale, anything that the party found in Dire's manor, and legitimate noble titles. In addition, there will be a ball held in honor of the party on 39, Month of Sanctuary.
 * The party spent several days traveling back to Tirithell when Grigori visited Bryseis in a dream, telling her that he must speak with the party.
 * The Anathema prophecy has been fulfilled. What this means in its entirety is unknown, but given the wording of the prophecy, things do not seem great. In order to combat this, Grigori suggests preparing a ritual to contain the Anathema before it can destroy magic, which is found within the ever changing Words of Old. The first ingredient necessary to construct the ritual is "Metal of Power from Throne on up High."
 * Grigori believes this to be a reference to Thunderous Iron, a powerful natural metal found only at one place: The Mountain Seat of the Storm King. So that is where the party went.
 * Once at the Mountain Seat, miles and miles above the sea, they are accosted by cloud giant guards. They demand to be taken to the Storm King, and, finding the notion entertaining, the guards take them to the Storm King. This is where the last session ended.
 * The current date is 31, Month of Sanctuary.

A Rocky Conclusion
Date: 31, Month of Sanctuary

Finally getting to the top of the Mountain Seat, the party is surprised to see that the beautiful castle that they had seen since they arrived was only the shell of one. As such, the throne of the Storm King is in a large, ruined courtyard. The party first attempts to convince the Storm King, who turns out to be a little friendlier than was previously thought, but that ends up failing as the Storm King refuses to part with their ultimate weapon (Thunderous Iron) simply by means of discussion. So instead, the party takes on a mission to help the Storm King in order to receive it as their reward. This quest is discussed as "fetching the Storm King's father's drinking horn" from the mausoleum under the Mountain Seat.

The party ventures into the mausoleum, only to discover that some of the giant dead do not appreciate being intruded upon. As such, the party does combat with giant skeletons until they venture into the royal section of the mausoleum, where the Storm King says the drinking horn was last held. When they enter the chamber, they are attacked by a giant sized basilisk that had made the chamber its home. They eventually defeated it by forcing it to gaze into the polished shield of Captain Nicole, forcing it to stare at its own eyes. But that is not before the basilisk was able to turn one of their own, Aronaldo, into stone. Dragging out their petrified companion, they return to the throne for their reward, which they are given: a small piece of Thunderous Iron. Using the Legate's Symbol, the party teleports to the Astral Chapel, and then back to Tirithell where they drop off Aronaldo at Montgomus' church.

At the church, a tearful Montgomus pleads with Sol Solus to save his child. Thankfully, his prayers are answered, and Aronaldo returns to the flesh. Without a moment of rest, he ventures to the Tree, as his companions had already done.

Within the Tree, Grigori takes the Thunderous Iron and the book seems to be satisfied, revealing the next line of the ritual: "Ice Everlasting where no Good Men Lie." Grigori seems nervous, less because the party must venture into Cania, the Eighth Circle of Hell, and more because of the old "friend" they will need to talk to: Madame Yaboga. The session ends with the party spending the rest of the day around Tirithell gearing up for the next adventure.

Events:
 * The party gains the next part of the ritual, and in that gains their next quest.
 * The party defeated the giant basilisk and completed the favor for the Storm King, gaining the piece of Thunderous Iron!

A Much Needed Update
Date: Inconsequential

Over the next week, our brave party members undertake dangerous and thrilling tasks in order to retrieve the ritual pieces. After gaining the piece of Thunderous Iron, the party was instructed to go into the Eighth Circle of Hell, known as Cania, with the help of a warlock who lived deep within the Twisted Woods known as Madame Yaboga. Using her infernal powers, along with the agreement that they will grab the soul of a person who did not belong there for her, Yaboga gives them safe passage to the Eighth Circle. Fearlessly, the party plunges into the frozen depths of Hell, moving past long dead spirits and devilish guards, eventually being confronted by the Lord of the Eighth Himself, Mephistopheles. Despite this, the party gains the next piece of the puzzle, known as Hellwraught Steel. They return to Grigori in order to find the next ritual ingredient.

During this time, Nicole lets slip something about her dream to Grigori, regarding the Shadow Man. This causes him to go into the Twisted Woods, inadvisably so because of the fact that during the Anathema, he is dreadfully weak outside of his tree. Regardless of this fact, Nicole accompanies him to a place in the Woods, a shrine devoted to the Shadow Man, corrupted and rotten. Grigori, upon stepping into the clearing that the shrine stands in, is attacked by the Shadow Man, who knocks him to the ground. Before he is able to kill Grigori, Nicole takes a torch and burns the shrine, releasing a powerful amount of energy. The Shadow Man is destroyed, leaving behind a vestige of Beschil, the Ancient God of the forest. Beschil, who had mistaken Nicole for a famous folk hero of this area from when he lived, had been hyper focused on her and thought that she could help release him from his corrupted form, and he is happy to have been right. He says that it will take some time, but he begins to go about and fix the Woods, straightening the corrupted trees and curing the disfigured creatures. Grigori regains consciousness and is escorted back to his tree to recover, and tells Nicole that he will explain everything once they get there.

Once at the tree, Grigori explains his own role in the story. As it turns out, his true name is Tayondil, and he is an Elvish Demigod of Magic. Though born human during the time of the War of Dominance, he earned the favor of the Elvish Goddess of Magic who turned him into an immortal with the promise that he will use his magic for the good of all. In his quest to do so, he stumbled upon a prophecy and the Book of Ultimate Knowledge. He made it his life mission to stop the Anathema before it began, and by doing so, inadvertently set it in motion, performing a ritual that the Book told him would "help him find the catalyst," it being himself. He "Twisted" the woods around him and corrupted the avatar of Beschil that was sent to stop him, creating the Shadow Man. The backlash of the ritual also caused him to lose his sanity. He would remain in this state for thousands of years until a kindly tiefling named Bryseis would use her only wish to save him.

With the stakes having been revealed, and Grigori's motivations made clear, he tells the party of the next ritual ingredient. "Heart of Fire, on Crimson Wings Fly." Simple enough, the party must kill a red dragon and take its heart. Normally this would be a difficult task, but Bryseis had gained the favor of the great Force Dragon Salazaxamaxafazar by saving his favorite goblin bard, Gorp. Using this favor, the party is able to quite easily slay the nearest red dragon and take its heart back to Tirithell. Grigori is proud of our heroes, and tells them as much as he gives the heart to the ritual book, as he has done with all of the other pieces. The next ingredient is possible the most readily available, in the form of a Wish spell: "Then Seal with a Wish to Stop the Red Sky." He tells the party that he will take care of this one himself, and gives them a day of reprieve from adventuring. The party goes about their day, doing things that they need to do. Aronaldo spends time at Vyne Manor, putting things in order; Nicole spends time around Tirithell, speaking to the Woodsmen (who seem at a loss now that there are no evil creatures in the Woods to protect the townsfolk from), and spending some time with Beschil, who seems to have taken a liking to her; and Bryseis spends time in Grigori's Tree and hanging around Tirithell. At last, the new day comes, and Grigori has the last ritual ingredient, which shocks our brave heroes: "The Life of a man Unable to Die."

Grigori attempts to take responsibility for his actions that started the path towards the end of the world by saying that he will give up his own life. Our heroes, who have started to form a liking for the once mad wizard, some more than others, are against this idea, wondering if there is any other way. Grigori concedes on the ultimatum that if they do not find a replacement, he will sacrifice himself. The party begins to think about who could possible sacrifice themselves to save the world. Aronaldo and Bryseis begin their own back up plans, with Aronaldo's remaining secret to this day and Bryseis' to make herself immortal so that she could sacrifice herself in Grigori's stead. Nicole ventures into the Woods to speak with Beschil, to ask him of his opinion and if he might be able to do it. He says that he will not, as he has much work to do and is not too keen on sacrificing himself for the people that forsook his kin, but he does tell of the various immortal people within the borders of the Kingdom. He tells of Madame Yaboga, made immortal by her bond with Asmodeus; Azreel the Priest, made immortal by a curse of the Ancients; Tayondil / Grigori, a demigod; Koschei, though he is dead; and Afonos, the Lord King on High. He also mentions the Bodark, using his true name of Varcolac. Without a clear answer, Nicole leaves to go back to her companions to discuss a course of action. After much debate, they decide to go speak to the Lord King on High about all of this.

They travel to the Capital City to speak with Afonos and find him in a terrible place, after finally getting through and gaining an audience. He is locked in his study, disheveled, unclean, and reading various journals. He tells the party that they are journals of the Seven, mostly written by Lord Dire. He says to our heroes that although he has been betrayed many times by his friends and companions in the many years of him being alive, Dire's hurt the most, because Afonos thinks that he may have been right. Deep in his depression, he looked through the documents of the traitorous cult and found a list of things that Afonos did wrong; all of the "uprisings" destroyed, the acts of violence during the early days of the Kingdom, the crusades, and the philosophy that "men should be led by their own kind." When the prophecy is revealed to him, as well as the last requirement being the "life of a man unable to die," he considers it. It is decided that he will ponder on this for a week. In the meantime, he will clean himself up and interact with his kingdom once more. The party is escorted out of the palace after this.

A festival happens.

Our heroes return to the north, taking care of some miscellaneous business, including giving business to Aric the blacksmith in Arildale, giving him dragon material to make into weapons and armor for the party. While in Arildale, the party learns that Elliot is missing, and a note was given to the Woodsmen in case they came looking for him, written in smooth penmanship. When the party remembers the fact that Elliot cannot read or write, they conclude that the spirit of John Aril must have taken him again and become determined to save their friend once more.

That is where we left off. There will be one more update to the Forbidden Ceremony page in the form of a decently sized conclusion, wrapping everything up nicely.

Ceremony's End
After our brave heroes have discovered that Elliot was missing, they sprang into action. The young man had become very close to them, having been symbolically adopted into their little “family,” so the fact that he was gone and most likely in danger caused a sense of deep alarm within the party. They began looking for answers, interrogating the people of Arildale, trying to at least get a lead on where the boy had gone. Though most people knew of Elliot, nobody knew where he had gone. The only lead that they had was the handwritten note from Elliot, or more accurately from John. Remembering that the Aril family was the family that founded this town, Bryseis decides to ask Vera, who grew up when the town was called Aril. Vera tells her, who in turn tells the party, that although she does not know where he went, she does recall that when she would visit the Arils, she would go to their family cottage which remained outside of town.

The party decides to investigate there as soon as possible, but before they are able to go, they are tracked down by a messenger who tells them that Aeric wishes to speak with them. Upon reaching Aeric’s shop, they find that their order had been completed much faster than they had anticipated, and each of them acquires a fine piece of dragonscale / dragonhide armor made to suit each of them: Nicole gets a suit of dragonsale armor, Aronaldo an outfit made of dragonhide, and Bryseis a robe made of finely skinned dragonhide. Each of these pieces of armor are much stronger than they have any right to be because of the inherent magical qualities of the material that they were made from. Included with this order are dragon-tooth daggers and dragon-claw swords. After thanking Aeric and donning their new equipment, they leave for the Aril Family Cabin.

They find the cabin deep within the Arilwood, though to be frank it is barely a cabin at all. The wood is rotten and the vines and plants of the woods have nearly overtaken it completely. On the outside of the cabin are decorative statues, nearly turned to rubble by the damage of time forgotten and unattended. As they approach the cabin, they realize too late that the statues are enchanted with protective magic, as the rubble animates and reforms them into guardian statues. Our heroes fight these statues and prevail, their newly improved weapons and armor giving them a noticeable edge in combat. Ready for more combat and the tricks of a long dead wizard, they venture into the cabin. Aronaldo, using his keen eyes, is able to find both a hidden cellar door within the dilapidated walls of the cabin, as well as a multitude of traps erected to hinder the wayward adventurer. Expertly he disarms the traps, allowing him and his party to proceed.

Going into the cellar they find a long tunnel that stretches farther than their torches can light. While they continue onward, Aronaldo and Bryseis find more traps, though these seem more recent, and some of them are magic. As they walk, they find the tunnel enters into an actual room, made of stone masonry. Looking around at the various slots in the walls and inscriptions all around, they deduce that they are in a very, very old mausoleum. Their suspicions turn out to be well founded when they discover that it is not just any old mausoleum, but the family crypt of the Arils. Further they walk, ready to encounter anything, until they hear the sounds of pulsating energy. Following this, they go through corridor upon corridor until they reach a large room that is currently being used as a ritual chamber. They see their friend Elliot, holding and reading from a book that seems stained with dark liquid. Around him is visible magical energy, swirling in streams from around the room, into his hand, which is holding a small and rusted sickle, directed towards a stone coffin in front of him. While Elliot / John focuses on the ritual, the party concocts a plan: Aronaldo will skulk in and look for some sort of opening, while Nicole battles Elliot / John head on and attempt to break through John’s control with some sort of appeal to Elliot’s emotions. Meanwhile, Bryseis will stay in the back and study the ritual to find out what they should do to stop it. Their plan goes into action, with Bryseis using magic to turn invisible and wrack her brain, Aronaldo slipping into the shadows with his daggers drawn, and Nicole walking confidently into the middle of the ritual chamber.

John is furious at the interruption, and screams in his own voice through the mouth of Elliot for them to leave. Elliot breaks through and pleads for them to do so as well, for their own safety. Our heroes, ever the picture of arrogance and stubborn heroism, do not waver, and combat ensues as multitude of undead creature pop out of various coffins and crawl out of slots in the wall. Nicole is unhindered by this, continuing to try and talk Elliot down as she slashes through dozens of the living dead. Aronaldo continues to skulk, unseen by the enemy, until he is near Elliot / John, and waits for his next move. Bryseis, finally understanding the ritual, communicates telepathically to her companions that they need to destroy the sickle, it being the focus of the entire ordeal. But they need to do it as soon as John leaves Elliot’s body, otherwise John would still be in there. Timing will be key. The act is played perfectly, as Bryseis reveals herself to frighten John, who understands that a magic user would be able to deconstruct the ritual, and he hurries up his actions, all the while unaware that Aronaldo lays in wait. Bryseis helps Nicole as stronger and stronger undead are created to fight them until, finally, Elliot / John declares his victory. They witness a sickly purple and black light leave from Elliot’s mouth into the sickle, and as soon as all of it inhabited the sickle, Aronaldo burst from the shadows with his new dragon-claw sword, smashing it down onto the sickle, causing a powerful burst of energy that knocked the heroes to the ground.

When they recovered, the party notices that Elliot has been rendered unconscious, but not injured. They heft him up and take him back to the manor to nurse him back to health. Unfortunately, this would be the second time that he was forcefully inhabited by the malevolent spirit of John Aril. They would spend the next few days with him, catching him up on their adventures when he awoke, and spending quality time that they have not been able to spend. During these few days, Bryseis had more nightmares of the Anathema, causing her a great amount of stress. On the third day, there was a knock at the door, in the dead of night. Though the party is used to this sort of dramaticism by now, they are nonetheless irked that someone would wake them up so late at night. When they open the door, Aronaldo recognizes the man at the door as the Mentarius who lives in Arildale, his senior. He lets him in as a second man follows, and although this person is covered from head to toe in dark travellers clothes, and though a dark and heavy hood is pulled up over his face, none of them could mistake the powerful aura of the Lord King on High who stood before them, unaccompanied by his guards.

Afonos tells them why he is here, though the party at first refuses to believe it. He wishes to fulfill the ingredient of the Anathema ritual. An argument is made, the most outspoken person against this plan being Nicole. Afonos tells Nicole that this is something that he must do, for his Kingdom and every kingdom in the world, and tells her that if his Kingdom can be full of people like her, then they would not even need him going forwards. The party, more than somewhat reluctantly, agrees, and begins to escort the Lord King on High in solemn silence to Tirithell, and to Grigori.

It is still very dark when they arrive at Tirithell. The party leads Afonos into Grigori’s tree, who understands immediately what is going on. He is completely against the idea of Afonos sacrificing himself when there are so many people that depend on him as their king and figurehead. Afonos seemed ready to counter this and pulls something out of his pack: a leatherbound journal. As Grigori reads the journal, Afonos explains why he has decided to come here, and the safeguards that he has put in place to help his people. Simply put, he says that “it is time for men to be led by their own.” He has left a Regent in charge who will act as the ruler, and a system for selecting a new king or queen has already been discussed, thousands of years ago. Afonos is determined to be the sacrifice. When Grigori finished reading the journal, he relents. He takes Afonos up the staircase into the room with the ritual book, with the last ingredient still written in gold, glowing letters. The party takes their time to quickly skim through the book, which was a journal written by Victor Dire describing the philosophy of the Seven, and why the Lord King on High was no longer needed. They hated to admit it, and Nicole refused to at all, but the arguments made were solid. In any case, the decision was made, so all they could do is watch as the millenia old king laid down his life for the people of the world.

As Grigori began the ritual needed to take the life of Afonos, the entire area began to glow a golden hue. Bright light began to escape from Afonos’ chest, flowing into the book. Having only happened a few days ago, this reminded our heroes of the events in the Aril Crypt, and they understood that they were looking at the very soul of Afonos Goldwyn. It was a beautiful golden white, and it flowed like a calm spring into the book. If people were paying attention, they might have seen the hint of a tear forming in the Captain’s eye. Suddenly the room shook violently, though the ritual continued. From the look of surprise on Grigori’s face, the party knew that this was not expected. A booming sound is heard from all around them, though they could not understand it. When Afonos, who had been silent until now, shouted back in that same noise, they understood that it was a conversation in a language they could not understand. A back and forth ensued as the ritual went on, with the disembodied voice getting louder and louder to the point where our heroes’ ears ached. Throughout all of this, Afonos remained calm and collected in his responses, and Grigori continued to perform his magic. As they looked between the two divinities before them, the party realized that Grigori had tears going down his face as he listened to this going on, apparently understanding what was being said. Just as suddenly as it started, the booming ended, and the room became much colder. The last words of the Lord King on High were half a whisper, half a groan: “Remember this. Long live my people.” The last of the bright energy left Afonos’ body and went into the book, which then snapped shut and began to float, humming softly with magic as Afonos’ lifeless body dropped to the floor. The deed was done, all that needed to be done now was the ritual itself. Grigori explained, upon being asked, that the conversation was in High Celestial, the day-to-day language of the gods, and could not be told to mortal ears. As he said this, there was a look of genuine sadness on his face. He had lost someone whom he had considered his peer and friend.

After he composed himself, Grigori walked to the floating ritual book. It was very simple, all he needed to do was speak the words and the ritual would be completed. He took a moment to thank our heroes for their part in all of this, and called them exactly what they were: heroes of not only the Kingdom, but of the entire Material Plane.

When Grigori touched the book and spoke the words, all in attendance saw what happened, millions upon millions upon millions of miles away, deep in space. They saw it with their own eyes: The Anathema. It was huge, at least sixty feet tall and thirty feet wide at its widest. Its skin was a sickly gray, and had hundreds of eyes all along its horrible face. Its mouth was like a leech, a huge gaping, circular maw with hundreds upon hundreds of teeth. It had four gigantic arms, two on each side, and its huge mouth was in the middle of its torso instead of on its head, like one would expect. Instead of legs, beneath its waist there was a mass of uncountable tentacles. Two large, veiny bat wings shot out from its back, and they flapped slowly as it glided through space towards their home. This was something horrible, something terribly unnatural. Simply gazing upon it caused our heroes’ heads to hurt and eyes to itch. Forming from around the Anathema, materializing out of nothing, came gigantic walls that followed the great thing as it flew straight ahead; if the thing noticed the contained quickly forming around it, it did not care. As the walls appeared, so did large chains, glowing bright red with powerful energy as it bound the creature’s innumerable tentacled limbs, as well as the great powerful arms and wings. The creature remained silent and unmoving as the walls continued to form, and a great muzzle-like piece of metal appeared and clamped itself around the great leech mouth, closing off its horrible maw. The walls sealed around the thing, closing off all visibility. The contained then began to spin around, faster and faster, until it was a blur, and with each rotation it began to shrink.

The vision ended, and everyone was back in the room in the tree, with a small metal container on top of the ritual book, which was no longer floating. At its largest, the contained was six inches tall, and three inches wide. An unnatural sense of dread fell over the party when they realized that within this small contained dwelled a horrible creature that would destroy all of magic. Small chains appeared around the box, wrapping around and around until it was covered in thick, metal links. A padlock of almost comedic size appeared next, locking the chains together as they magically sank into the walls of the now miniscule contained. Everything was quiet, everything was calm. Our heroes and Grigori exchanged glances, and everyone smiled; Bryseis cheered.

They had won.

An Epilogue: Two years have passed since the events of this campaign. And each of these characters have had their own future after it, and the places they have affected have been changed forever. Bryseis: Bryseis is now the full time apprentice to the wizard Grigori. She is still considered a student at the Academia Arcana, but given that Grigori himself taught some of the professors there, the Academia Staff had no problem with him being her private tutor. Also, Bryseis has undertaken a ritual with the assistance Grigori that would give unto her the same immortality that he has, making her divine.

Aronaldo: His fingers are in many pies, as his mission to create his own guild continues and begins to find many footholds. His information network runs wide across the Glorious Kingdom. After defeating the Anathema, he set his sights on his plans to spread across the entire continent. One of his first acts during these two years was to find and save Iosef’s mother, who, though alive, was still being held captive by remnant Alley Hounds.

Nicole: Nicole spends her time between her duties in the Legion and her stronghold in Sylvenza. Though she technically owns the territory between her companions, she has been left the de facto, sole Countess of Sylvenza. She has been promised, due to exemplary performances in service to the Lord King on High and His Kingdom, a promotion to the rank of Legate, which will make her the youngest Legate in the history of the Kingdom.

Elliot: Elliot recovered fully from his ordeal with John, and still enjoys the occasional visit from his friends. He has become friends with the maid of the manor, where he still lives, and has hired a tutor to teach him how to read. He has plans on becoming a full time adventurer one day, inspired by his friends.

Tirithell: Tirithell, despite its infertile ground, has miraculously become a farming town, even during the harsh winters they are able to farm produce. The trees have been returned to normal, and the Shadow Man that once threatened to steal their children in the night has become their protector. The Woodsmen who are stationed there became normal guards and normal woodsmen, but also became farmers to help with the new land, supplied by Aeric and his smithy.

The Glorious Kingdom: Without their King, the Kingdom has changed drastically. Afonos left no known heir, and Sol Solus has not spoken to the High Bishop since Afonos’ brave sacrifice. Though the Kingdom is in a sense of uncertainty and discomfort under the rule of their new leader, Divine Regent Octavia Leona, they continue to live as they always have. An unofficial cult has formed and has become popular among the military and working class, devoted to the hero that saved their Kingdom and the Material Plane: Afonos Goldwyn.

It is unfortunate that we were unable to continue, but real life happens, and that is understandable. I pray that the party had fun while it lasted, and thank the players for their patience and contribution to this story. It was a lot of fun for me personally, and I will always have fond memories of the things that happened in this story. Thank you. - Jared

Notable Groups

 * The Woodsmen - The Woodsmen is a volunteer group that has many purposes: a) go into the Twisted Woods to collect lumber from the strange, hard-to-harvest trees, b) scout the strange areas inside the Woods, and c) defend the towns they are stationed in by combating the wicked creatures that inhabit the Woods.
 * Volkvera - A mysterious cult that lives and operates within the Arilwood. Less is known about these cultists, though the Woodsmen stationed near there tell that they hold a reverence towards a creature known as "the Bodark," a powerful lycanthropic creature.
 * The Seven - Another old, enigmatic group. They are connected with both the Lingua and Koschei, who appears to be their leader. They are repeatedly mentioned throughout the party's adventures in the Woods. One notable member is a certain Lord Vyne, the opulent merchant lord of Tirithell, and if his actions are indicative of the group's activities, then their goals are less than benevolent. The party discovers, through the words of Cain Caldwell, that the Seven is a group of seven very old families that have been chosen by Koschei, recruited by Cain, to conspire against the Glorious Kingdom, with generations working up to the highest point of society in order to destroy it from within. Though they know a few members, such as Lord Vyne, they do not know all of them. They appear to have some influence in the Legion, as Victor Dire, a Legate of the Legion, is one of the Seven.
 * The Knights Auraltum - An old group of knights that predates the Order of the Crown.
 * The Alley Hounds - A guild of thugs, mercenaries, assassins, and thieves. They are known for their ruthlessness and brutality, among for their reputation of taking any job and getting it done at any cost. They are led by the legendary "Thief Lord" Orion Half-Steel.
 * The Green Priests - Also known as the Cult of Hazik, it is a group of people that worships an ancient Elvish god of poisons, and is effectively a doomsday cult. Though the cult was very popular, after the destruction of the Green Father Sanza, they completely disappeared.

Notable People

 * Reverend Montgomus - The leader of the temple in Tirithell devoted to Sol Solus. He is a large man, being both very tall (around 6'8") and pretty fat. He is a very kind man, showing mercy in Aronaldo's childhood and kindness to Bryseis.


 * Brash Ironbone - The Captain of the Woodsmen in Tirithell. A retired veteran Captain from the Glorious Legion, Brash is a soldier through and through. He is tall and well-built. He has light brown skin and black, short-cropped hair. He has an eyepatch over his left eye. He has a friendly relationship with Nicole, calling her by name (when it is just the two of them). He is shown to have a great deal of reverence for the law, following and enforcing it even if he does not wish to. He has taken a promotion into the Glorious Legion, and has moved away from Tirithell. After the destruction of the Seven Conspiracy and the end of the Ulagar / Protectorate War, Brash has returned to Tirithell to lead the now aimless Woodsmen.


 * Lord King on High Afonos Goldwyn the Tenth - Holy King of the Glorious Kingdom of God, now deceased, having sacrificed himself to save his Kingdom, as well as the entire Material Plane.


 * Iosef - The 22-year-old son of the witch who lives in Tirithell. He runs her shop most days (as punishment for being caught running a job with Hector's men). He is a pale man with dark black hair that he pushes back. Recently he has become rather large due to the rigorous workout regimen that the Alley Hounds have. An ally of Aronaldo's, he is now a full member of the Alley Hounds.


 * Irina - Iosef's mother and the owner of the witch shop in the slums of Tirithell. She is an elderly woman who wears her hair in a bun and is almost constantly working on a potion or around her shop. She made a deal with Bryseis that the demon will work for her in her shop for a potion that would cure her hangover (which she cannot afford). As of right now, she is missing, presumably held hostage by the Alley Hounds as leverage against Iosef.


 * Grigori Mercer - At one point, an imbecilic madman who lived in a tree and peddled enchanted trinkets. In reality, the Elvish Demigod of Magic, Tayondil.


 * Vera [Deceased, though a book] - A seeress who had lived in Arildale for a very long time. As of now, she has transferred her essence into her journal in Bryseis's possession. Her advice leads the team to Koschei's soul, which they destroy, and she has since remained an ally.


 * Elliot - The young former houseguard of Mayor Crane turned bodyguard to Bryseis, he has sworn to protect her until his dying breath. After being introduced to the rest of the party, Elliot was adopted into their ranks. The sixteen year old was used as a puppet by the powerful lich John Aril, until he was saved both times by his friends.


 * John Aril [Deceased, but still kickin'] - The ghost that had inhabited Elliot for a short time. He was the son of the founder of Arildale, and was supposedly killed my bandits. It is revealed that he had been using Elliot in order to complete a Lichdom ritual, using a Netherese Book, which shows the magical prowess that John possessed. Defeated by the party.

Members of the Seven

 * Lady Grace Eden [Deceased] - A high ranking politician of some sort, she had recently gained control of Arildale. She was quite beautiful with golden blonde hair, expensive robes and jewelry; it was quite obvious she was extremely wealthy. She was slain by Bryseis, and the Eden line has been confirmed to be involved with the Seven by Grigori.
 * Lady Angelina Rosaria [Deceased] - A member of nobility in Cuitamba, and was the former Military Judge. After attempting to recover her city during the great Prison Riot, she was kidnapped and put on thieves' trial, where she was eventually killed.
 * Lord Avario Vyne [Deceased]- The most wealthy man in Tirithell. He was tall, slender, and dressed in beautiful green robes and splendid jewelry. Most of what he wore was gold, except for his skull earrings, which were silver. He was a vain, greedy, obviously less-than-kind man. For some reason, he was particularly spiteful towards Aronaldo, to whom it is discovered he might be related. He was apparently a member of the group known as "the Seven," and appears to have known at least one word of the Lingua. After defeating Koschei and uncovering the Seven Conspiracy, the party coordinated a strike on his Manor that ended with him dead.
 * Lord Victor Dire - A member of the Seven and Legate of the Glorious Legion. Not much is known about him by the party, but they know enough of him to deduce that he is a dangerous and influential man who happens to be conspiring against the kingdom. Grigori warns the party that the Dire family is a very dangerous one, and if they were to be wary of any of the Seven, it should be Dire.
 * Lord Gordon Lutsworth [Deceased] - The member of the Seven that was killed whenever the party had command of Koschei. Not much is known about this man except for his affiliation with the conspirators.
 * Lady Lara Olthsom [Deceased] - A member of the Seven. She was responsible for the large Hazikian cult presence in the northern part of the kingdom, and its domination of the city of Tirithell. She also was responsible for the devolution of the Woodsmen in Tirithell, as she had taken command by impersonating the captain and shipping out all loyal Woodsmen in favor of thugs from the Alley Hounds. For letting slip valuable information to Aronaldo, Dire executed her.
 * Lord Lawrence Pastion - An ex-member of the Seven. Frightened at the death of Lara by Dire, which went against their foundation, he left to give insider information to the party. He has mastered a different type of Lingua magic unknown to Dire, and has been shown to be, albeit reluctantly, able to teach it to the party. He is currently hiding out in the New Order, far away from the Legate.

Other NPCs:


 * Leer: an old man who has a talent for illusion. He might be a member of the Hounds, though if he is, he has no love for them. It appears that he is much more involved in this story than initially thought. It turns out that Leer was being backed by the Seven, using his powerful beguiling magic to spread their influence and realize their plans. Though the Alley Hounds and the Seven have basically been defeated, Leer has not been found.
 * Rancis [Deceased]: The muscle of the Hounds in the Wain. It is revealed that he is the leader of the Hounds in Tirithell, if only by virtue of being the guy who hits the hardest.
 * Cain Caldwell [Deceased, twice]: The famous High General Caldwell, Cain distinguished himself during the Wars of Unification and became a hero of the Glorious Kingdom. He was thought to have died long ago, but the reality is much more harsh. Caldwell was a practitioner of krovomancy, a taboo form of magic that involves using life-force found in blood to amplify rituals. After using this magic to bolster his own forces and give his army strength during a battle they would have otherwise lost (none of them knew, however), his secret was discovered by Koschei. In return to keeping his secret, Caldwell agreed to help Koschei. He was tricked by Koschei, though, ending up stuck in eternal servitude to him. Even in death, he worked for the man, using his krovomantic arts and tactical genius to Koschei's ends. Caldwell is responsible for the creation of the Seven Conspiracy, as well as the group known as the Chanters. He is put to rest by the party.
 * Koschei the Deathless [Deceased, ironically] - A strange man that the party found imprisoned in a fay stronghold. He is an extremely tall and toned man with long wispy white hair that has not been cut since his imprisonment. After being freed, he assists the party in clearing out the rest of the stronghold, leaving with respect after arriving in the woods, going in the opposite direction of the party. Apparently, he is a very dangerous man with a personal vendetta against Afonos. He is shown to have a direct connection with the mysterious group known as the "Seven." It was recently revealed that, though his body is immortal, his soul, which has been placed in a box and buried somewhere under a great tree, is vulnerable. The players use this to have him kill a member of the Seven, then break the vessel to kill him.
 * Hector - The barkeeper of the Thief's Wain, a seedy bar/brothel in the south side of the town. He is also the leader of the local branch of one of the Dremidan Thieves Guild, the Guild of Shadows. Though he was injured in the destruction of the Council's Republic, he remains alive and well, being one of the leaders of the Opportunist's Guild in Porthold.
 * Godfrey Crowstead - The head of a shady "charity group" known as the Crowstead Syndicate, "Mr. Crowstead" is a skinny, well dressed man with a hooked nose and a lot of information. He seems to be very wealthy and confident. His voice carries power, and his smile can be described as "predatory."

Magic Items

 * Orb of Kehldo
 * Dagger of Sacrifice
 * Robe of Whispers
 * Key of Planes
 * Copper of Greed
 * Wand of the War Wizard
 * Grigori's Tome of Knowledge
 * Vera
 * The Murder Dagger
 * Sword of Thunder
 * Amulet of Zhantol [Destroyed]
 * Cloak of the Chanters
 * Wooden Box of Souls

Those Important Items That People Are Looking For

 * The Axe of Sir Bertor
 * The Helm of Sir Gorreth
 * The Blade of Sir Colgrevane
 * Unidentified Cloak
 * Unidentified Compass