Recap

Emma, Session 15

by Dennis••0•Posted inConjunction of Planes

 1th day of the 1st  ride of Summer-Flame , 1262

While breaking fast at the River Stone we divided the remaining tasks. Emrys was still fast asleep from a late night at the Golden Cockatrice. Luca and I would return to the Bournemouth Academy library for further inquiries. Astrid would arrange for a river-barge to take us upstream and sell the horses and the cart. We will have to acquire a beast of burden at Blackbridge. James pledged himself to a day of debauchery.

At the library I took a few directions from Falka and in so doing was quite successful in my inquiries. I found a fair few things about Admiral Karadim and his legend. I had brought Muirgheal along to see how it … he … she … would respond, but nothing too exciting happened. He murmured the same melody from before. Well, at least I appear to have recovered the right legend, but some things don’t sit straight. How come an artifact so ancient is knowledgeable of a legend that is considerably more recent?
I had hoped to come to know Muirgheal better through my researches but I come away with more questions instead. Most of these seem to lead away from the common goal I share with my travelling companions: follow in the step of Lord Destan and find the now somewhat less mythical Crimson Tower.
I will have to try and learn more about Muirgheal in another way. I have difficulty understanding the nature of him … her … it. There is power there, but to what end, and at what cost?  Luca’s researches have shed only a little light on the matter, but what it revealed was troublesome enough.  It seems that Muirgheal was a person at some point whose essence was imbued into the weapon by some bizarre arcane ritual.

While I was wrapping up Luca entered my study-room. He wanted me to join him and talk to the Margravin. She appeared to be studying things of interest to us. It seemed Luca was a little worried that he might reveal too much. Or perhaps he preferred me to make the mistakes for him.
We ended up with a fairly interesting discussion. The Margravin was investigating the ‘Skaven’ but two other types of creatures as well: dog-headed ones and bull-headed ones. These were all sighted throughout the Dærlan Empire.
We revealed that we were in fact eye-witnesses of the gnomish rats and provided her with some imagery. We explained that there is a connection to the Time of Fear and that if she were to focus her inquiries into that direction that she was likely to be more successful. We also explained that there is a suit of armor at the Lansdowne auction-house that she might find interesting to examine.
The Margravin was grateful and wondered how she could repay us. Luca suggested that she might relay anything important she might discover to the librarian Falka, who could act as a mutual contact between our group and the Margravin while we are away. I urged her to use whatever influence she might have to have the Dærlan Empire and the Kingdom of Lyria mend fences, since they might well need each other in the time to come, a time in which the Elder Races are likely to abandon us humans for the second time.

Luca and I retired from the library to meet up with the rest. Despite having been less successful in his inquiries into Lyrium crystals, he was pleased enough to have built some rapport with the Margravin.

James was drunk, Astrid was drunk and battered, Emrys was nursing a headache. By their own metrics they appear to be having a great day.
After lunch we decided that we would need to make some purchases for the road ahead. A few tents and some basic supplies for camping. We also went by a shop owned by a certain Barnaby, where we might get healing potions. We had found them rather steeply priced, so were reluctant to purchase them so far, but we are still lugging around ungodly amount of gold and we need to spend some of it surely!
Master Barnaby initially declined to open the shop, but eventually appeared in the window, looking rather distressed.
When we entered it was quickly revealed that Barnaby was suffering from an unwanted ‘visitor’ in his laboratory in the cellar. A supernatural creature of sorts. We agreed to purge the creature from the laboratory in exchange for the potions. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but a ruse or deception of some kind seemed to be the most likely.

How wrong I was. The truth was much more grim and horrific.

An ethereal looking lady was examining books in the laboratory and paid us no heed. When James approached it seemed unconcerned until he came too close and it started to look at him menacingly with dead eyes.
Meanwhile I noticed the muffled sound of dripping water behind a newly, shoddily built wall. I asked Emrys to point Toruviel at the wall and to blast it away. Behind it lay the decaying body of a woman, crawling with rats and other vermin. I asked Luca to cleanse the corruption with flame, something that unfortunately was necessary.

The spirit did not take kindly to that and attacked. I’m not sure how it worked and what happened, but appeared that she was draining the life from us and was spreading a noxious corruption all around it. It managed to corrupt my body rather effectively. In a desperate move to allow James to move away I stepped into the fray and lunged at it with Muirgheal and ripped through it with great effect. In another desperate move Luca conjured fickle flames to disastrous effect. After a bright burst of flame, darkness descended upon me.

…

I came to a little later. Feeling badly corrupted. I begged Sedna to heal our group. Slightly dazed I got faint glimpses of what transpired next. James haggled angrily with Barnaby and seems to have pocketed a good supply of potions as well as two interesting items: a dagger and a pair of boots.
Emrys in the meantime had become … I don’t know really. There is light emanating from his orifices.  His hair has turned bright silver.

Luca covered up most of Emrys’ head and urged him to keep his eyes and mouth shut while they made their way back to the River Stone. Astrid and James accompanied me outside the city to a sheltered bend in the river where I performed a cleansing ritual to purge the corruption from my body.

Alfred Barnaby’s Pest Problem

Alfred Barnaby’s Pest Problem

by Dennis••1•Posted inConjunction of Planes

Previously, the adventurers split their time rather evenly between the library of the Bournemouth academy and the Landsdowne auction house. The library allowed them to find out more information regarding the Age of Fear, certain legends and about the probably destination of Lord Destan’s trip. The auction house was the scene for an auction where a Lyrium crystal pendant was being competed over by two groups of elder races, both intent on buying the rare crystal. In the end the dwarves walked away with the crystal, appearing to have the deeper pockets.

First Day, First Ride, Summer Flame, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning. Bloodmoon is waxing. Darkmoon is waxing.)

While Emrys was sleeping off his hangover from his visit to the Golden Cockatrice from the night before, and Astrid took the horses and carts to be sold before their voyage the next day, and James spent the morning in training to the point of gaining some level of clarity on what happened to him inside the Sheridan mansion that night where he was separated from the group, Luca and Emma returned to the library of Bournemouth academy to finish up some loose ends to their research.

Emma researched the story of admiral Karadin, gaining some insight in the history behind the song that Muirgheal had sang to her right after she had bonded herself to it. While an interesting story, Emma had hoped for a better understanding of what the trident was trying to convey to her, or even if it was trying to convey anything to her at all.

During this time Luca was frustrated in his efforts to find out more information about lyrium crystals. After hours of research yielded nothing of value, Luca concluded that the library may have been sanitised of information regarding the rare crystals and that a different source would like be required to learn how to make use of the crystals. He decided to take a walk around the library to clear his head.

When Luca came upon the luxurious reading room in which Lady Ulrikke was performing her own studies. Luca had noticed that she, too, had been frustrated in her attempts and he found her staring blankly out of the window while her guards had made themselves scarce. After a brief conversation, she revealed that she had been researching the sightings of skaven, khazra and minotaurs in the south, west and north of the Daerlan empire, respectively.

Emma was asked to join the conversation with Lady Ulrikke and introductions were made. Lady Ulrikke shared sketches of the beastmen she was researching. The skaven were identical to the ones the adventurers had encountered at Lynnecombe. The khazra were half goat half man and similarly savage and tribal, like the skaven. The minotaurs, however, seemed disciplined, martial, well armed and armoured.

Lady Ulrikke shared that some within the empire thought the beastmen to be set loose upon the empire by their rivals, Lyria and Hellmark. She was also keen to hear details about our adventurers’ encounter with the skaven in Lynnecombe and she was surprised to hear that the beastmen had been found in the heartland of the Lyrian kingdom. She gladly accepted Emma’s advice to seek out the curious leather armour at the Landsdowne auction house which was made of the same strange leather that the skaven wore.

The last thing that Luca and Emma agreed upon with Lady Ulrikke was that they could use Falka as a go-between, should either one of them manage to uncover more valuable information regarding the beastmen, while Emma implored the young noble woman to use her influence and standing to find a way to get the empire to work together with the Lyrian kingdom in the defence of what she believed was imminent; a new Age of Fear.

Falka delivered her treatise on the Age of Fear to Luca and she was paid her fee. Two items of curiosity were described therein that went beyond what was commonly known; namely the name and description of Aureus the Golden One, a very long lived saint of Paladine who was one of the founding members of the Senhadrim, as well as the dichotomy between rural and urban populations in Lyria and their different views on the un- and supernatural. This was caused by the devastating decline in the human population in Lyria. Humanity only saved themselves from extinction by banding together and hiding behind the thick walls of ancient fortresses.

While Luca and Emma were at the academy and Emrys was recovering from his  hangover, James and Astrid had found a seedy, waterfront bar where they – well, mostly Astrid – found some entertainment by getting into a fist fight with five lewd men. The fight was eventually broken up by the Bournemouth city guard, who promptly arrested the men. Astrid lost a tooth and had gotten some scratches, but she seemed to have enjoyed herself tremendously. James was intent on finding a high quality house of delight, but was disappointed to hear that there were no such places around. They decided to head back to the River Stone.

The adventurers came together at the River Stone and discussed what to do with the remainder of their time. Astrid had booked passage to Blackbridge by way of Egremont for the following morning and everyone had felt that their time in Bournemouth had come to an end. A decision was made to shop for some supplies that would be useful on the road to Pinefall, and one last stop would be made at Alfred Barnaby’s Concoctions & Decoctions to see about the healing potions.

Arriving at the curious alchemy shop they found that the door was locked. Right as they were about to depart, Alfred appeared to peer at them through the window and opened the door. He seemed scatterbrained, even for him, but let them into the shop. He was sorry to inform him that he didn’t have access to his potions. He seemed troubled and with some prodding the adventurers managed to get him to explain what was bothering him.

It seemed that his basement laboratory, where he kept his stock of potions, was curiously haunted by a strange spirit of an older lady. A deal was made that he would part with five healing potions, one for each of the adventurers, if they could take care of the spirit, that would be one thousand gold crowns worth of materials. The adventurers agreed and descended through a trapdoor into the basement below.

The basement was made up of two adjacent rooms. The first was mostly used for storage while the second seemed like a well-stocked laboratory. Shelves lined with books, tables filled with beakers, cups and tubes, and many curious items and cauldrons. Along one of the bookshelves the glowing apparition of an elderly lady could be seen hovering. She seemed not to take notice of the adventurers.

Emma could hear the muffled sounds of water running somewhere in the distance, and noticed that one of the walls of the second room seemed to have been recently bricked up. The brickwork was rather shoddily done and it gave Emma an idea. She asked Emrys to take out Toruviel and use it to cast a blast of wind against the wall. Emrys reluctantly shuffled forward until he was within range of the wall, all the while keeping his eye on apparition who still seemed to ignore the adventurers.

Emrys used Toruviel and the shoddy brickwork caved in to reveal that the room originally was much larger and that behind the wall lay the corpse of the old woman, surrounded by flies and rats which scurried away. Also, there was a grate which lead to the Bournemouth sewers.

The moment the corpse of the lady came into view, she screamed “Nooooooooooo!” and flew at Emrys, passing right through him, taking his breath away and casting icy frost all over his body, causing him a great deal of pain. At that point everyone went into action. Emrys retreated as Astrid and James engaged the apparition while Luca went for the body, believing that he should burn the body in order for the apparition to disappear.

Casting flames onto the body while James and Astrid fought the apparition, Luca ignited the body and Emrys fanned the flames, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. In the meantime the apparition was proving very difficult to defeat and it vomited a noxious stream of vapour towards Luca in retaliation for setting fire to her corpse.

Emma took Muirgheal and used it to the stab the apparition with great success. The apparition then revealed itself to be more than just a normal ghost as it turned from the old woman into a hideous pesta, a foul undead creature who brought with it plagues, blights and diseases.

Noxious fumes, disease and an unnatural hardiness, it took every once that the adventurers had to offer to defeat the pesta. A bizarre turn of events turned Emrys’ hair silvery white and his eyes radiating with an almost celestial light. This seemed to startle him as much as everyone around him.

Near the end, Luca unleashed scorching jets of fire in an attempt to best the undead creature, but instead igniting the built up noxious fumes, which horribly burnt both himself as well as James and Emma. Luckily, Emrys and Astrid managed to defeat the creature and use the ample stores of healing potions to revive the others.

Once Emma was conscious again she used the healing powers of Sedna to heal most of the wounds suffered at the hands of the pesta. James searched the room and found a cache of healing potions of different kinds, a potion of fire breathing, and a set of beautiful boots, which Emrys, with a little help from Toruviel, instantly recognised as Boots of Elvenkind.

Emma still felt incredibly ill and so it was decided to leave the basement and confront Alfred. He seemed relieved that the adventurers managed to defeat the pesta but was tight lipped about the body behind the false wall or about how it got there. Fearful that the adventurers would turn him into the Bournemouth guard, he offered a magical dagger as payment for their services after the adventurers said that the cache of potions had been lost in the fight. He was encouraged to tread very carefully, knowing that the adventurers would be keeping an eye on him.

Emrys and Luca decided to return to the river stone. Emrys donned a hood and blindfold in order to conceal the strange change he had undergone while fighting the pesta. At the same time, Emma wanted to visit the river Bourne outside of the city in order to perform a cleansing ritual in order to heal herself from the disease that the pesta had inflicted upon her. She was accompanied by Astrid and James. The returned to the River Stone in the early evening.

The adventurers decided to eat their dinner in their room together. Mostly so that they could have some privacy and keep the strange appearance of Emrys a secret. Luca decided to run one last errand and purchase two pearls that would allow him to identify any magical items that they might find while on their path, while also looking into the properties behind the dagger that James had found in the laboratory.

The dagger turned out to be a Dagger of Venom, which spawned a conversation about the morality of using such an item. It was decided that nobody had any deep moral objections against the use of the dagger. At least none that they openly shared.

Emma, Session 14

by Dennis••0•Posted inConjunction of Planes

10th day of the 3rd ride, month 6 , 1262

When the arrogant Dærlan noble-lady commanded us to vacate the reading-room, the men looked to me to take the lead. I saw no reason to start any trouble. We gathered our materials and headed elsewhere. There was some uncomfortable banter, and James sought to provoke the guards through blatant intimidation and insolence. They were either utterly unimpressed or too disciplined to take the bait. Either way, we departed without incident.

We settled for a much smaller reading-room. We ran into Falka on our way over and she had some news for us.  For one, she found a map of the village and the surroundings where Lord Destan had been rumored to have been seen last. The other news was that she had received a letter from the older Lord John that she was to not help the people claiming to help Lord Destan.
in other words: Don’t help our merry band of adventurers.
The letter seemed perfectly legitimate, which made everything rather uncomfortable. We decided upon a compromise, where she would no longer be actively involved in our researches but would still be available for some queries.
In that light I asked Falka to have a look at the queer golden coins we had recovered from the tunnels at the Sheridan Estate. She did not recognize them to be coins that might have been in circulation in any epoch of human history. They were not from the Verdant Kingdoms.

To inquire further about the coins I suggested that we visit the auction-house once more. James, Emrys, and I set out. We were welcomed in friendship and there was no hint that Willem had been contacted by Lord John in the same manner as Falka had been. Such had been James’ assumption.
We inquired about the leathers that had been sold and were allowed to examine them. We found them intriguing, especially since they seem to have been crafted from the same source-animal as the peculiar ones the gnomish rats had been wearing. The main difference was that these were crafted far more delicately and carefully. Willem was unable to tell us what the source-animal might have been.
We also showed him the coins, but was unable to tell us where they hail from either. He did say that he had met a sorcerous character not too long ago who had accidently tried to settle his accounts with some coins of similar ilk. The sorcerous character had ominously suggested that these coins were ‘not of this world.’

Finally we inquired what was up for the block today. Willem told us about a collection of fine paintings but that the star lot of the night was expected to be a bejeweled pendant. We asked him if we would be allowed to see the pendant and he happily obliged. The pendant held a Lyrium Crystal. Upon learning this we decided that we would join the auction that evening. Willem was delighted to have us.

We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for that evening, while we let Luca continue undisturbed. After dinner James and I headed back to the auction-house. Emrys decided to visit the Golden Cockatrice. We asked Astrid to keep an eye on Luca, and to make sure he would eat a little something.

I wasn’t fully comfortable at the auction. Far too wealthy and presumptuous a crowd for my taste, but I lingered around the lots keeping an eye and ear open for whatever would come up. The people were clearly engaged in some sort of social game of cat and mouse to gauge each other intentions. Almost a ritual one might argue. I wasn’t too well at home in this particular ritual, but at least my demeanor wasn’t too conspicuous either.
James was much more at home in this environment, and this was all for the better, since he was able to procure good information. He talked to a group of dwarves and a group of elves in turn. Each of the groups  hailed from native lands, and each was there for one lot in particular: the pendant with the Lyrium Crystal. James discovered that the Elder Races realize that a new Age of Fear will be upon us soon, and that they intend to hide from its onslaught as they did the previous time.

This will not improve their standing in the eyes of humans. Emrys and James will likely suffer even more from the callousness of the Elder Races.

We partook in the auction and made a bid for the pendant. The excitement of an auction is quite something to behold and contagious, so I begged Sedna to calm the spirits in the room during our lot, but to no avail. Admittedly, I had been infected as much as anyone there. We failed to procure the pedant, but left with our gold supply intact. The dwarves picked up the pendant for one-thousand-and-six-hundred crowns.

We returned to the inn to rest. There we caught up with Astrid and Luca. Luca was in a foul mood when he heard about our endeavors. It was a bit unfair if you ask me. We left him to his own devices at his express wishes, and then he faults us for not including him in the proceedings of the evening. His also made his attack against me rather personal, after I had opened up to him. That was unnecessarily hurtful.
There is a light inside that boy that is kind and helpful. But there is a darkness in there to, that is bitter and hard and unforgiving. I pray we can keep him in the light.

Lyrium and Lore

by Dennis••1•Posted inConjunction of Planes

Previously, the adventurers arrived in the bustling city of Bournemouth and found lodgings at The River Stone, an inn in the harbour district where they found that during Lord Destan’s stay in the city, he garrisoned his guards at the inn, while himself staying as a guest at the Landsdowne auction house. Luca and Emma immediately went to the library while the others rested in order get an early rise. Luca met up with an acquaintance, Falka of Dunagore, who was a lecturer at the department of ancient history and a part time librarian. She had helped Lord Destan out with his research when he arrived and she agreed to do the same for the adventurers.

The following day, Luca and Emma spent their time at the library searching for information on the Crimson Tower. They managed to find some of Lord Destan’s research findings; the first half of a poem which mentioned the tower explicitly. They managed to find the second and final piece of the poem, which Lord Destan never managed to.

In the meantime, Astrid, Emrys and James went to explore the city and found a curious alchemist’s shop and the Landsdowne auction house, where they spoke to one of the auctioneers who recalled Lord Destan staying with them and how honoured they were. Unfortunately little else was discovered and the trio split up, with Astrid going to see if she could book passage to Blackbridge through Egremont on a barge going upriver, while the others went to the library just in time to find Luca and Emma being ordered out of the reading room that Falka had assigned them by a sharp eyed noble woman by the name of Margravine Ulrikke von Rossenberg and her four heavily armed guards.

Tenth Day, Third Ride, Summer Light, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning. Bloodmoon in waxing. Darkmoon is low sanction.)

Lady Ulrikke casually told the adventurers to vacate the luxurious reading room. James, who had already checked to see whether the large glass windows could make for an easy escape route, tried to act casual while snacking on some food he had carried along with him from the breakfast table. Luca wasn’t paying attention to the distraction, choosing rather to focus on the book in front of him, and Emrys was looking for someone to take charge. After a few seconds it was Emma who placated the young noble woman and calmly told everyone to pack up and vacate the reading room, thus avoiding any conflict.

Luca took his time to gather his things and meanwhile Lady Ulrikke brought a stack of books to the lectern that he was clearing out. She looked over the reading materials that Luca had displayed and took note of the poem they had unearthed, and similarly Luca took note of the old tomes and folios that Lady Ulrikke brought in, but unfortunately couldn’t make out what subjects they were on.

The adventurers decided to find another reading room. The library was almost empty of people so they were confident that the could find an empty reading room, and decided to try to find one on the far end of the library hall, putting as much space between themselves and the entitled lady. Just as they arrived in the far hallway, a small door opened and Falka came walking through. The adventurers quickly informed her of Lady Ulrikke’s intervention and she let out a resigned sigh.

Falka brought good and bad news. The good news was that the department of Transport and Maritime had a large section of different maps and miraculously she had found a map of Pinefall, which she handed to the adventurers. They noted that the village of Bristlecone was on the southern shore of a large lake called Lake Llygad, but none of them recognised what the name meant or from whence it heralded. The bad news was that Falka was called away because a raven had arrived carrying a letter from Lord John Sheridan, urging Falka that the adventurers were not in the employ of House Sheridan, no matter what they claimed, and that any attempt on her part to prevent them from pursuing Lord Destan would be handsomely rewarded.

It was decided that Falka would no longer assist the research that the adventurers would perform. Instead, she would write an essay on all the important information regarding the Age of Fear, commissioned for two gold crowns a day by James. At the mention of gold crowns, Emma asked Falka whether she recognised the coins that Luca was carrying with them, which they had retrieved from the catacombs underneath Lynnecombe. Falka did not but was certain that these coins did not hail from any time in Lyria’s history.

A discussion was held on whether or not the group was going to purchase the healing potions that Alfred Barnaby had for sale. They were considered very expensive, but James said that they could be the difference between life or death and that it might be worth having one or two of them while they were crossing the wilderness to get to Pinefall.

Emma, Emrys and James decided to pay another visit to the Landsdowne auction house where they talk to Villem Landsdowne and find out that his passion lies with the Equestrian arts, but that he is specialised in paintings and jewellery. The adventurers convince him to show them the leather armour that Lord Destan showed interest in which is being stored in the Landsdowne vaults.

The full set of armour is of exquisite quality, complete with breastplate, gorget, skirt, greaves, arm guards and gloves. The designs are intricate, but unusually. Neither having the flowing elven patterns, symmetrical dwarven or the usual human designs. The origins of the leather is again unclear, but the adventurers do recognise that it’s likely to be of the same source as the leather scraps that the skaven were wearing. The adventurers also learn that the armour was put up on auction by House Blackbriar, hailing from the Fulham.

That evening an auction would be held to auction off a lot of several paintings by an artist from northern Silesia. Included among them will be some jewellery, and it’s on that jewellery that the adventurers focus once they learn that a silver necklace with an orange crystal pendant would be auctioned off, with the starting bid begining at 150 gold crowns. The pendant was retrieved from the vault and the adventurers were offered to take a look at it, confirming their suspicions that it was indeed a Lyrium crystal as far as they could tell. They asked whether they could be welcome at the auction and Villem Landsdowne was happy to extend them an invitation.

Emrys decided to visit the Golden Cockatrice that evening to see if he could secure a spot to perform and departed. Emma and James met up with Astrid to have some food after which Emma and James went back to the auction house and Astrid went to meet up with Luca.

At the action house, Emma and James (who introduced himself as Radeck Payton) mingled with some of the visitors and potential bidders. They found that most people were interested in the paintings, most of which had been on display. They found that the Silesian artist’s name was Annora Coehoorn. Emma was sure she had heard that surname before.

Two curious companies of people were present; a group of dwarves and a group of elves. James decided to have a chat with both. The dwarven delegation was lead by Dunatrim Hardstone of clan Thoradun. He was quite forthcoming with his reasons for being at the auction; he was neither interested in the paintings or any of the jewellery save the pendant, and tried to make sure that James knew that if he was planning on trying to outbid the dwarves that his pockets must be very deep. James managed to uncover that the dwarves were planning to use the crystal to seal their gates in time for the next Age of Fear to arrive. James uncovered that if he had access to more of the lyrium crystals he could approach Dagran Forgewright in Kingsport, the unofficial ambassador to Ard Thoradun.

The elves were less forth coming. They made note of James’ elven heritage but did so in a way that sounded condescending. The elf in charge introduced himself as Eibhear and he hailed from Duén Gwyndeith in the Worthwilde. James inquired whether they too were there for the pendant, and they were. James also managed to uncover that if he had access to more such crystals, he would be welcome at Duén Gwyndeith.

When the auction started the elves and dwarves remained relatively inactive until the paintings had all gone under the hammer. When it came time for the jewellery to be auctioned they started to pay attention. James and Emma had decided to participate in the auction of the pendant but not to exceed 800 gold crowns. The bidding started at 150 gold crowns and was immediately fierce. Emma prayed to Sedna for her inner peace to radiate to all in the room, and the rough edges were taken off the bidding. In the end it was a heads up bid between Eibhear and Dunatrim, and much to the elves dismay, Dunatrim won the auction with the final bid of 1650 gold crowns.

Some socialising was done in the aftermath of the auction, after which the adventurers retired to The River Stone.

In the meantime, Luca had been burning his candle at both ends and was feeling fatigued. When he departed the library he saw that Falka was still hard at work on the summary that she was preparing for James on the Age of Fear. He also briefly stopped by Lady Ulrikke who was surrounded by guards who were fatigued and snoring. She was still standing at her lectern, her brown furrowed, frustrated at her research. When Luca briefly spoke to her, her tone seemed to have softened towards him a bit. Luca noted that the books she had collected were old, and that she had been searching similar parts of the library as he had.

First Day, First Ride, Summer Flame, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning. Bloodmoon is waxing. Darkmoon is waxing.)

Back at The River Stone, the adventurers found the tavern nearly empty. They came together while Elmond was retiring to bed and spoke about the day’s events. It was decided that Astrid would sell the horses and cart before they departed to Blackbridge by way of Egremont.

Luca expressed his deep dismay about not being consulted before Emma and James decided to engage in the auction. He reasserted that he has valuable knowledge on arcane matters and matters of history, and that he was elected to be the master of coin, so he should be included in all matters that concern the finances of the group.

Emma, Session 13

by Dennis••0•Posted inConjunction of Planes

9th day of the 3rd ride, month 6 , 1262

We arrived at Bournemouthe in the late afternoon, as the bustling city was starting to wind down. We got a glimpse of the bustle and prosperity of the town. It is evident that there is a wealth of exotic and uncommon items available here. We will do well to stock up on supplies here. If we can’t find it here, we will not likely find it further on in our endeavor.

After consulting a local we decided to quarter at the River-Stone Inn. It was described as a reliable if somewhat dull place, which well suits our needs. The dullness is pervasive and emanates from the large dour-faced owner Elmund. Emrys failed to bring lightness to the place, but did procure a good amount of information on Lord Destan.
It seems that he quartered his guards at the River-Stone, while he enjoyed the hospitality of local notables: the Lansdowne family. The Lansdowne family operates an auction-house, where the Sheridans auctioned off magical items to establish their wealth.

We had a good meal at the River-Stone and discussed our plans. Emrys, James, and Astrid would spend the next day to find some supplies as well as visiting the Lansdowne auction-house to inform about Lord Destan. I requested 25 crowns worth of silver dust, so that I might make more holy water. Luca suggested to find healing potions. Luca planned to spend all of his time at the academy’s library and I volunteered to assist him where I could.
While the others retired in exhaustion, Luca insisted to start out for the library immediately. I escorted him there in the darkening warm evening.

We noticed that Ioun Island, which houses the Academy was guarded by Crownsguard instead of local Bournemouth guards. On the way over I thanked Luca for having my back with the whole Vadoma ordeal. His honesty allowed me to see the matter in its proper perspective. I expressed my desire to deepen our friendship, and the bonds within our group.
The Island was fairly quiet, which all manner of students quietly studying or practicing outside in the warm evening. We found the library without trouble.

At the library, Luca immediately inquired after a certain Falka to a librarian and he hurried of to find her. Falka turned out to be a middle-aged woman, who studies and teaches ancient history at the Academy. She was both surprised and happy to see Luca. It appears the two had been in correspondence, and that Luca is in the possession of one or more books that would interest Falka. I did not interfere in their greetings.
Falka explained to Luca and me how the library was organized and that she would be available from time to time to assist in our research. And that we were more than welcome to make use of the study-rooms of the library. Moreover, she explained that she had helped Lord Destan as well and could help us find one or more items that interested him. She also explained that Lord Destan was very much interested in the Silver Crusade.

Since it was already late, and I felt my connection to Sedna weakening, I decided to retire to the River-Stone. Luca was adamant to stay and start work. Falka joined me and we departed. We chatted on our way and I inquired about a Dunagore legend, since she hails from Dunagore. She revealed two interesting things. First that Dunagore Castle is unlike most Lyrian castles in construction methods and scale. The latter is especially interesting, since it seems to have been built for individuals of extraordinary size. Secondly, she could tell me about a certain Admiral Karadim who was betrayed by his daughter, which all happened at Dunagore, but, as Falka emphasized, was not from Dunagore.
She wasn’t particularly interested in the legend, but said she would be happy to see if there was more for me to read on it.

10th day of the 3rd ride, month 6 , 1262

The night was thankfully dull and I got a good night sleep. After breakfast I headed back to the library, while Astrid, James, and Emrys set of into town.

Back at the library I found a sleepy Luca, who, despite his stubbornness, had been overcome by sleep. We were joined by Falka a little later. Luca asked me to excuse myself while he and Falka sorted through something. I waited outside the reading-room until a clearly indignant Falka came storming by. I went to join Luca and inquired about what had happened. It turned out that Falka was unable to read from the book that Luca had brought for her, and neither could I. I have no understanding of why this might be, but it seems that the contents of the book is privy to young master Luca and no-one else.
Given that Falka might prove crucial to our endeavors here at the library, we sought her out to make our apologies and to regain her trust. I mostly served as a beacon of calmness to allow Luca to mollify the indignant Falka. He did so to great success. So much so, that Falka offered her services for free and immediately sought to provide a particular poem that Lord Destan had been interested in.

The ancient poem is possibly the only record in which the Crimson Tower is named by name. The poem provides an artistic description of the tower and introduces direction to it, but these were missing. Falka explained that Lord Destan had been looking for the second part of the poem, but couldn’t tell if he had actually found it. We decided to make our own effort to find the second part. Realizing that Luca would be much better suited in this task than me, I beseeched the Mistress to help young master Luca in his quest. After some hours of work, during which I doubt my efforts were particularly useful, Luca achieved victory and recovered the second part,

The second part of the poem provides a set of cryptic directions to find the Crimson Tower. Many parts make rather disturbing allusions and suggestions, but for now we are focused on the name of the lake in which the tower is supposed to stand: The White Eye.

Could the legend be true after all? I would almost hope that my previous assumption was true, that we were merely chasing after the wackiest of three brothers who himself was on a pointless endeavor.

I started transcribing the entire poem.

A little later we were joined by Emrys and James who were seemingly impressed with Luca’s work. Before they could tell us about their adventures in the city the door opened and a stern, if not arrogant looking young lady ordered us to vacate the reading-room.