Session Date: 08/25/2024
Session Start: The Entire Party
We follow Major down, with Iskra in the lead of all of us. We make it down and the Major is standing and looking at what is going on in the lab: caskets are gone - stolen, kidnapped. Dia says she isn’t sure that she can reverse what was done, and Rohan says that we may be able to track them down because who knows what could happen with them gone. Iskra suggests that maybe Major can track them down, and Major focuses to say that he wants freedom for all of them. Dia asks if he wishes to wake everyone up, and he says yes, but not yet: brain… not… not enough, thoughts. He doesn’t want them to be slaves, and Dia agrees that we also don’t want them to be alive.
She explains he’s been awake for longer than the rest, and has gained the ability to have thoughts of his own. She explains that when they first wake up they will not have that, they will need to learn the world, and if things are not done properly then they might be hurt or can hurt others.
He focuses and points at Dia - he wants the ones that are awakened to go through a version of the ritual that he has. He wants them to be given more information, and be able to self govern and be free people. Dia explains she only came here to get Bertram and he brokenly explains that this is just what he plans to do, and he doesn’t want his people killed. Iskra recommends that perhaps the Bloodsoaked Banner can help with this? We agree that might be a good avenue for this.
Dia asks if we can dispose of the head of the mage and we agree, Iskra explaining we should take it elsewhere to burn it so that we don’t harm the other thouls.
The eyes on the mage’s head opens and she starts talking, eventually bargaining with us to stay alive and offer the location of where the caskets were sent over. Some of the thouls were sent to Acria. The mage tries to bargain for her life and we continue to threaten her and she explains that the goal of all of this is to destroy everyone. The mage explains that nobody looks at the stars and there’s one pale star that’s been glowing stronger, and stronger, and stronger over time. Rohan suggests that this is all that she has, and the mage starts to say she has one more thing and Iskra grows impatient and pulls out her tongue and burns her. She laughs and says something that’s mumbled, the last half saying what sounds like “complete,” but the first part is hard to tell.
We hear a loud booming upstairs and rush up the stairs as Bertram says god damn it repeatedly. Over the earpiece Dia asks what happened, and he explains that most of the prison is out of control at the moment. The Dragonborn Thenxel Narinn was released by someone and he blew out an entire wall of the place and hurt people because of it, and Rohan and Arythas advise just to let him go and we will run into him in the future, Arythas is certain. Bertram explains that the guards lost a lot of morale with the Major turning sides, so he believes that everything’s done. He thinks the biggest issue is that those that wanted to run have, but there are some who didn’t deserve it and had to do something. Bertram tells us to go up and join him for some meeting.
Before we depart, Rohan turns to Major and assures him that we will do our best to find his siblings and get them back to him.
We make it back upstairs and it has definitely been a battle. Besides the wall that was just completely gone and a few corpses of both guards and prisoners. Dia, Iskra, and Arythas go through the bodies and stabilize whoever are on the edge of death. Rohan goes to speak to Bertram and explained that there were signs of banshees patrolling the roads: he’s not sure that they’re gone with the mad mage dead, so the roads might be dangerous.
Bertram gives a short speech due to how exhausted he was from the fight, and then he addresses us and recommends that we eat something because the food will spoil otherwise. We sit down for dinner and Dia and Arythas recommend the nice guards be released to do what they wish, which Bertram agrees with.
Dia wants Bertram to come with us, but he explains that he has too much to do. Dia recognizes that he can’t actually come with us, but she wishes he could. She mentions we have to go to Acria and he agrees with Iskra that it is too dangerous for the two of them to be together. Bertram admits he has to talk to the princess to pick up the mess here. Dia mentions that the Major will be staying here and then explains everything surrounding Major and the mage.
Bertram and Dia speak about the rest of the family to discuss who might have connections to this, and Dia isn’t so sure that The Twins cares about this, and if the undead were real they’d want one of them play with. We have a side bar about the family and how much of a mess it is and in the interim Rafferty was mentioned.
Rafferty charges in yelling about the fiend letting Bertram go, but we are all sitting around the table eating dinner. Rafferty breaks down and starts crying and Dia hugs him, and then he goes to Bertram and starts apologizing. Arythas invites Shevore and the orc that had joined - Ivzuk - Rafferty to dinner. Shevore sits beside Arythas and joins in with dinner.
We discuss the family and how Dia is headed that way. Dia mentions the bounty on her head and is glad that it’s not a kill order, though it’s likely because of Prudence that it’s a bounty rather than a kill order. Iskra asks if this is the only bounty in the family, and Bertram says that Rafferty likely has one. Rafferty admits that one bounty hunter mentioned Ace Freeman and how the man has basically claimed dibs on Dia so the rest are going after Rafferty.
Rafferty resolves to fight the Family from the outside since he is not comfortable entering Acria to face them head on, and Shevore clearly approves of this. Wilhelm, at Bertram’s encouragement, agrees to help Rafferty in his adventures.
As The Evening Goes On
Dia
Dia is definitely drunk and is going around and doing harmless but foolish things. Arythas and Shevore are going around making sure she doesn’t hurt herself.
Rafferty & Bertram
They are having a drunken but serious conversation, and it is clear that there are things in this relationship that are being repaired.
Iskra
Iskra goes outside to look up at the sky to try to find the star that the mage had mentioned. He does not see anything with the naked eye, but he does leave a message about the star for Phoebe, and also asks if she is okay.
As he sleeps, Phoebe does not answer him. He has a nightmare, but there is also something else there as well. He has something of an out of body experience and his consciousness shifts someplace else, to a dark, dark forest - it may or may not be on the planet, it could be fey - but it’s very dark with very tall trees with deep green leaves. Iskra can smell blood. He can’t see Tristan, but he can hear Tristan’s voice, saying: “There you are.”
Iskra wakes up covered in sweat, gasping for air.
Rohan
Rohan has some questions to ask a few different people, but the first thing that he does is go to Major and asks what to call him. Major hadn’t considered it, and Rohan says that it’s okay for him to not have anything right now. He then has some questions for Denma:
- Is there any star or cosmic force alignment “thing” coming up in the near future we should be aware of?
- Above her paygrade. She can ask around, but she’s on a different plane of existence so they may not know the answer about that for the material plane. She recommends finding an astronomer.
In the evening, Ivzuk approaches Rohan and asks if he’d like to join an orgy. Rohan is stunned, then manages to get out he’d have to check with his partner to make sure it was okay, and Ivzuk understands. Rohan does ultimately end up going, and Shevore is also there?
The Next Morning
Iskra wakes with a start from the nightmare and as he’s starting to calm down, Dia wakes and asks if he’s okay. He explains that he had a nightmare and that he tried to connect to Phoebe but… He wasn’t sure if it was just his head, or if Tristan can actually sense him, then explains that Tristan said he’d found him. Iskra isn’t sure if this a real power or not, then admits that he has been sleeping a lot better since joining us.
Dia says that’s something to keep in the backs of our minds. She says that if he’s okay then that’s good, and Iskra says he’s as fine as he can be. He asks how Dia is, and Dia admits that she is not feeling well at all. She starts to dry heave a little bit and Iskra asks if she needs tea, or anything? Iskra tries to help her feel better and then Iskra lets her know of one or two of her antics from the night before. She’s so embarrassed, but gets up to go and find breakfast.
Ivzuk is the one cooking breakfast, shirtless. Rohan comes out explaining away the wild night, explaining that all the new bruises are from the fight, and Dia thinks he’s being honest and misses the innuendo entirely. Ivzuk ultimately explains what is going on and Arythas comes in in the middle of that. Ivzuk outlines what it means to Dia and the conversation quickly switches as everyone has breakfast.
Dia apologizes to Arythas for keeping him up and being a bother, and he tells her not to worry about it.
Acria has a university so they have a lot of planetary and astral scholars.
Dia explains that we will be going to Isara, the capital of Acria, to start off. We will likely be able to find an astronomer while there.
We review the plan:
- Visit the regular office of General Chase
- Visit Arythas’ family on the way out of town
- Secure passage to Acria